Hi all.
I'm looking for an electric guitar and amp for a 13yo boy with no previous guitar experience. Happy to spend up to around $500, happier to spend less. Anything in particular I should be looking at?
Electric Guitar for Teenage Boy
fantombloo on 15/11/2021 - 15:53
Comments
Looks cool. Thank you
For a 13y.o., I would be setting a maximum budget and take them to choose one themselves.
If you go to a good musical instruments shop, they usually let you try a few out and provide advice on what may be best, and also usually bundle up guitar / amp for entry-level buyers.
Probably wouldn't be under $500? Lots of music shops aren't the cheapest, though it would be good to go in and see what the kid likes. Then you can probably find a model off GB or FB Marketplace for a cheap price.
My local shop has a pack of the following for $369
- Squier Stratocaster (black or sunburst)
- Squier Frontman 10G amp (with headphone output
- Fender padded gig bag, 10' cable, strap and picksOther options at $429 and $579
Pretty much all that a 13y.o. would want
+1 for choice as it allows ownership
Also consider an amp that will allow them to plug their phone into and play along
And most importantly for you - has a headphone jack
Buy a used one cheap off Gumtree until you know hes going to stick with it..
Would be happy to but don't know what to look for.
Best to go to your local music store and speak to them. Stick with your budget guitar specialist, aka epiphone, Yamaha, squier and the like.
I'd recommend going into a physical store and getting him to try them out.
A few beginner guitars to look at in that price range:
- Squier Stratocaster
- Epiphone Les Paul
- Epiphone SG
- Yamaha Pacifica
- Ibanez RG Series
As for amps, you only really need a small 10W modelling amp if its just for practice.
Check out Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace if you don't mind pre-owned musical instruments as you can usually grab a bargain once you know what type of guitar he wants.
Some good suggestions here - Squire Strat/Tele would be my choice.
One other thing however - you will want to get the guitar professionally set up. When they come from the factory, they are often set up badly which could make learning very difficult. They almost certainly won't do this in the shop for you when you buy the guitar, unless they have an in house luthier. It's definitely worth paying someone to set it up, and it will make learning to play go from frustrating to (hopefully) fun.
Setup should cost around $100 I think.
Rent one and see? if your son wants to continue, then consider buying one.
I started off with an Epiphone SG and a Roland Cube 10GX. Looking at current prices, might stretch the $500 budget a little too far. With sales coming up though, you might snag a deal. I went with the Epiphone because the neck and frets are noticeably bigger than the Squier and a bit more forgiving when trying to make basic chord shapes.
The amp was rock solid as well. Few different settings so can go from clean to really crunchy. Gives it a bit of versatility.
Some other things to consider - The Epiphone SG and Les Paul will likely have humbucker style pickups which will give it a crunchier "metal" rock sound where as the Squier Strats will likely have a single coil pickups which gives it a cleaner bluesy sound. As others have mention, it's not a bad idea to let him try some. If it's something he connects with both style and sound wise, he'll be more likely to stick with it.
Will a suitable distortion pedal make up for the lack of in the single coil pickup? (So he can have both?)
It would, but an amp like the one above has it built in so you wouldn't need the pedal.
Sorry to hijack the thread but I currently have an LTD Strat which I have been using to learn to play rock/metal. I've since realised that I need a tremelo bar. What would be a decent upgrade or something similar that has humbucker pickups and a tremelo bar?
No hijack. The kid wants to rock and play metal and especially RATM so any advice here is good.
If they're into rock and metal, something with humbuckers would be good. They're the bits under the strings where you strum that pick up the strings vibration. An Ibanez Gio would be a great starter guitar with both humbuckers and a tremolo bar.
Thanks @pkol I'll check out the Ibanez Gio! (any supplier in particular I should look at picking one up from? SE Melb, or online?)
I bought my first electric about 14 mths ago, with the aim of playing Metallica's Master of Puppets… I have some very basic experience with an acoustic guitar so that would have helped somewhat? 14 mths on, I'm still no where able to play it cleanly at 1x speed, but I've gotten the muscle memory down to the beginning of Kirk's solo now. The bit where he hits the harmonic is where I'm currently stuck at with no tremelo bar.
I probably couldn't have chosen a harder song to learn to play, however it is a great motivation to be able to keep learning bits of it and getting better every time (while mixing it up with some of the easier songs/riffs along the way). @afoveht maybe your son will feel the same as he pursues his RATM dreams!
@highon2str: Nice! Having something like that is great, it gives you some motivation to grow.
Mannys in Melbourne is pretty good. Looks like you can get a Gio there for around $450? If you've been playing for a bit you might even want to look at a level or two above that, if money allows. Ibanez has heaps of different models, but the RG is their most popular afaik.
If you have a look here you can see the different levels for them. The higher the page, the better it'll be and the more it'll cost
https://www.ibanez.com/na/products/model/rg/Mannys Ibanez GIO in black
https://www.mannys.com.au/ibanez-rg170dx-rg-gio-electric-gui…@pkol: I did have a look at the Gio from Mannys in your link, looks good. I could probably justify paying a bit more for something better - I've heard that the Gio RG170DX can go out of tune with too much trem use. What would you recommend one or two levels up from the Gio, HH or HSH with a trem that I can yank away at without putting the guitar out of tune every 5 mins?
The kid needs to realise theres a long road to go before playing RATM…. which is where many give it away
18 months solid practice at least I reckon
That'd be RHCP though… where they give it away.
Don’t forget drop D tuning.
Depending on the music played, single coil for clean/lighter rock, humbuckers for heavier rock/metal.
There's a Yamaha Pacifica model (112V) which has two single coils and a humbucker (in the bridge) which can also be switched to single coil, making it quite versatile.
Agree. Anything Yamaha and you're all G.
Yup. I'll take a Pacifica than a similar priced Squier any day.
You can get a bargain used but unless you know what to look for, I think its better to buy new. I'd recommend Artist Guitar. They are very cheap and all their guitars are given a basic setup before being sent. They also have a 100 day hassle free return policy.
It's probably best to bring the kid to a shop where he can try out a few (and lower his expectations to match your budget), then you'd have a better idea of what to buy second hand. If you have a friend with some experience they might be able to help you pick gear that doesn't have issues, or help with a basic setup etc…
My suggestion would be to to buy something like a line 6 POD rather than an amp, so your kid can use headphones and you don't have to suffer for the net few years.
Is he a lefty?
Politically, yes. Dominant hand, no.
You can get brand new guitar and amp on ebay for around $200
Most likely playability will be poor and sound very average. A great way to make your kid give up early if that's your MO.
Yes that's my fear.
But I'm thinking $500 should cover something decent - is that true or should I be looking at more?
$400 as per my original link above will be more than fine. If you really want you can spend another hundred for a pro to set it up (dial it in so to speak) and you have a perfect beginners guitar where the student can't blame the instrument when the can't play RATM after a week.
Artist Guitars STH
$189
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Artist-STH-Black-Electric-Guitar…
Intheblues review (Australian)
https://youtu.be/21Sl6LzhgOU
Bear in mind that Les Paul style guitars can have issues with tuning stability due to the angle of the headstock and strings (this would also apply to an SG). If he wants some metal crunch then a Squier or Yamaha with a humbucker in the bridge (the pickup closest to the end of the guitar), could be the go.
Fender Squire, Yamaha Pacifica, Ibanez. Roland Cube AMP (portable, runs on DC Adapter or AA batteries and packs a nice punch). Fret buzz, intonation (height of strings and fretboard) and how well it holds its tune are the 3 key things I would ask about.
Good luck with the journey 👍🤘
Artist guitars +1.
Split coil humbuckers give a great range of sound to suit almost all genres. Quality is good. They have beginner packages in all styles with practice amp included. Everything needed to get you started for around $250 and Artist are an Oz company.Fender Squier all the way. Preferably one with a humbucker in the bridge position. You can't go wrong.
Squier affinity HSS
Ok, I'm coming from this as a Musician.
Playing by yourself is nice but gets boring quickly, good for practice only.
I would get a cheap Guitar and amp from Gumtree. Then with the extra dollars buy a combination drum/loop pedal, will be 50% of the money.
This is just a random video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlrLRrku5vs
Then he can learn and play along.
This will give him his best chance of sticking with it IMO.Maybe after 6 months or so of consistent practice.
I'd highly recommend the Digitech Trio+ to keep a beginner interested.
For a good price, try https://www.soundseasy.com.au/products/digitech-trio-plus-ba…
On advice of some of the more knowledgeable ppl on here, when I started out I upgraded the $20 kit amp to a VOX DA5 that I found on ebay used. Made a huge difference with the effects! Then a few mths later got one of the spark amps which has awesome connectivity and downloadable tones - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/658727
+1 for Artist Guitars. Great value for money, plus 100 day free returns and 3 year warranty.
My son got his first guitar and amp from Artist when he was in kindy. The amp was a bit basic and was upgraded within a year, when we knew that he was going to stick with playing guitar long term. He still plays that first Strat style guitar and has no complaints about it. Subsequently he also got the Artist 59 Telecaster clone (TC59L), which is awesome sounding and plays well, but is probably the heaviest guitar you'll ever find. He loves playing it, despite the weight. And we also have a 3/4 size Artist bass, which was cheap, but again is a very acceptable instrument given the price. That bass has been lugged to and from school and bass tutorials several times a week for years now and it shows no sign of any issues. It's seen a lot of vigorous playing, mainly some fast slap.
The Artist 59 Tele with Split coil BB has a great range of sounds making it pretty versatile twangy country tone to heavy metal. Those humbuckers do it all. Yep, it's heavy! The finish and intonation on mine are perfect. It is easy to set up and really nice to play. Their new Strat range looks good too.
For practicing, the Donner Circle Looper (drum/loop pedal) is currently 30% off (use code CL30 at checkout. It’s listed under one of the Donner yellow delay pedal listings here. Great reviews. Normally $140 currently $98 shipped. Hoping mine arrives this week.
Donner currently have 20% off electric guitars.
https://donnermusic.com.au/collections/electric-guitars
$160 shipped!
Herman Li review.
https://youtu.be/hwztSlWXcfMDarrell Braun Guitar
https://youtu.be/NmwB-__IMnsPlenty of videos on Youtube about it.
Thanks mate. Was poised to pick this up tomorrow from them but I ended up getting a Yamaha kit similar to the Fender one you linked just because it was closer to home and it had the humbucker pickup.
Yamaha are awesome. I have 2 Yamaha guitars.
Any of the Fender Squier range in a kit is always decent value for a beginner.
Exhibit A
Other option is Gumtree or FBM. Always people selling gear they just couldn't get in to.