Hey guys, quite proficient with the acoustic guitar now which is great, barre chords locked down, finger picking established and it takes quite a short time to learn songs, at least relative to when i started those months ago. Anyhoo, looking to move into electric guitar now and, though i love my guitar to death i havent taken any interest in the "how does it work, what to look for" areas of guitar theology. So im looking for an electric guitar, budget wise £150 ($275 i think) which should take into account a beginner amp aswell. Honestly ive no real idea what to look for, what to be aware of and what to avoid. I dont need a super amp, or a brilliant electric, as the only gigs ill be playing are smaller uni campus open mic nights. That being said i want a guitar which will last for a good year at least, so bearing that in mind i dont need a "beginner" guitar, so much as a good "first electic" for someone who is proficient with an acoustic and knows what hes doing in practical terms.

 

Any fancy pointing me in the right direction? Many thanks

A Fender Squier starter pack is more aimed for beginners, but it's less than $300, it is a pretty good guitar and amp, and it will last you at least 2 years before having problems (assuming you take care of it).

 

 

If you want something a little more advanced I'd still advise Fender if you're into a more acoustic sound as Fenders are known for their superior tone and not as much for their distortion or "dirty" tone. I myself prefer acoustics but my Fender Telecaster ($400) has great clean tone that gives me a wide variety of sounds.

^ I concur. A squier strat pak was my first guitar. I gave it to my brother when I went to college and now I'm shopping around for a standard fender tele.

sounds like you know what you're doing with guitars and playing. in your case you'd probably get good pretty fast. you can't go wrong with a standard fender tele. i've heard epiphone les pauls are decent. i'd forget the $275 limit you have. save up extra and take a look at the guitars i suggested. for 275 you could always buy a starter pack but like i said, you'd get good fast and only want more. for amps i'd go with one of those multieffect amps. i have a line 6 112 spider 2. its good and has 7 effects built in. this would give you a good idea of what effects you like and leave room open for buying seperate better pedals later

^ I concur. A squier strat pak was my first guitar. I gave it to my brother when I went to college and now I'm shopping around for a standard fender tele.

ooh Yay you're getting a Tele!:D

If I had the extra money I'd get a thinline like that man in your avy. ;)

Well, I'm a staunch Fender man myself. (Except for acoustics, there I prefer Gibson to almost all others.), so I'd join the chorus here in terms of recomending a Tele.

 

However if that's not to your taste, I'd suggest a Yamaha Pacifica. It's got a pretty nice clean tone and is probably the cheapest electric guitar that you can find that's of decent quality. (If memory serves these actually list for around the same as Squier Tele's but IMHO are much more durable than anything Squier produces.)

There are alot, alot different electric guitars.

Telecasters are the worst with setting it up, not much difference in them.

Telecaster is an guitar that must be what you want, what you hear, is what you get and thats it with Telecasters.

However there are different Tele's.

 

I prefer Jaguar or Stratocasters.

But better: Epiphone, the child brand of Gibson. I also have Les Paul from Epiphone.

 

They are very good.

BUT you have to tune them alot and when they are in-tune...

 

...you can get alot of different sound from it.

I play Coldplay with it. Sounds very well! And I also play metal/rock with it.. sounds also very good!

 

You can better go to the store and try something and make an choice.