Choosing your first electric guitar is one of the most important steps before embarking on a fun and inspiring learning journey. There are many brands, models, sizes, tones, and styles to choose from. So, where do we start? In this article, we will guide you to choose an electric guitar for beginners.
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Choose the electric guitar according to your taste
Be clear! Many people want to choose a guitar because it looks cool. If you often watch guitar heroes’ live performances on YouTube and are impressed with a certain electric guitar shape, buy one with a similar look. Simply buy it if you like it.
There’s nothing worse than having to play the guitar you don’t like. Your level of interest in the instrument has a direct effect on your practice progress. If you are not satisfied with your guitar, your interest in playing the music will decrease, gradually leading to boredom and giving up on the practice. This is definitely not what you expect!
Instead, choose a guitar that excites you the moment you touch it! It is the catalyst and the motivation to help you get through the most difficult times in your learning journey. There is no right or wrong. Take a look at the guitars that have been selected by professionals, which can give you inspiration as well as will “lead” you in the right direction.
Define the sound you want
This could be the first or the second depending on your preference for sound or looks. If sounding like an idol guitarist is important to you, then you should choose a guitar that can get you as close to that sound as possible.
Many aspects of an electric guitar determine the sound quality of the guitar. The key point to start with is the pickup type. At the opening price range, the pickup is where the biggest difference is made.
The following is a brief overview of each pickup type:
Single coils
The first type of pickup with guitar amplification, the single coil is often the low-output option, for those who love mid-gain, cleaner genres like pop, blues, soul, funk, rock, and country. Sound quality “bright” is the word used to describe single-coil.
Countless legends have harnessed single-coil pickups to create today’s iconic sound, from Jimi Hendrix’s prototype Stratocaster to Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray.
P90
The P90 is basically a single coil with a louder rattle. With more windings, the P90s have significantly more power than single coils alone, making them better suited for stronger guitar tones.
If you like the features of single-coil but have a bite-like humbucker – there’s no shortage of options for you. You can see the P90 appearing not only on country, funk, blues, and jazz records but also on hard rock and metal albums. Flexibility is the universal key!
Humbuckers
The Humbucker is named for its ability to “resist electrical noise”. Instead of a coil, the humbucker has two out-of-phase coils to eliminate noise, a single-coil property – making this pickup “quiet” in operation.
Acoustically, the humbucker has a thicker tone than the single-coil. Possesses a more “full” sound and is popular in many genres from jazz to heavy metal. Humbuckers can also be used for high-output purposes, and they have become essential in high-gain genres such as death metal, djent, and metalcore.
Again, see what your heroes play and see which guitar suits your pocket. If you only focus on a guitar that has the same technical details as the original, you can get very close to the sound quality of your idol.
Price
Consider financial matters. There are a lot of details that can influence how much you decide to spend on your “start-up” guitar.
Advice from family or friends is often that newbies should only buy the cheapest guitar. It’s understandable because maybe you won’t be interested one day in the future, you won’t waste the money you’ve invested in the guitar.
But listen to us. “You get what you pay for”, cheap guitars don’t sound good and sensitivity won’t be good. Then, that will destroy your love of electric guitar and music. The sound produced is not satisfactory. All of this is a reason for you to let go of practice. And it’s not your fault.
Great electric guitar = Great performance
It’s important to ask yourself what the goals you want to achieve with the guitar are, and how determined you are until you can master it. If you are really serious about your choice, a well-deserved investment in the guitar will pay off handsomely because the price comes with the quality.
If you intend to play for a long time, a good guitar will make practicing more enjoyable. Easier to work with, better sounding, and you’ll be inspired to push harder. There’s another plus to the expensive one – you don’t have to worry or spend extra money to upgrade, just focus on skills.
Your electric guitar journey has just begun! This will be a memorable journey. Find out what your interests are, and in no time you’ll be a pro! Simple buying guides will give you the information you need without being too detailed to confuse you. Sometimes, the best thing is to follow your heart and not let yourself get overwhelmed by the multitude of options.
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