Recommend a guitar?

Well, thanks to my friend getting a guitar for christmas he's now gotten me to scratch the itch I've had since junior high of wanting to learn guitar. So I was wondering what would be a good guitar that's not too expensive but will last a long time and sound great. I'm will to spend up to $200, but I'd really like to keep it under $150.

Oh yea, acoustic.

Whatever you do, get a name brand guitar, not some crappy off brand guitar that the guy at the music store will probably try to sell you. Fender makes some decent cheap starter guitars for about $150-$200. I think Takamini now has some cheap acoustics and every takamini i have ever played sounds great. Go check out www.musiciansfriend.com I have bought several things from them in the past and they are good about getting what you buy out to you pretty quickly. Let us know what you decide on.

i really like the cutaway acoustic/electric where its a little slimmer not the full guitar shape. they are still loud enough by themselves, and you can plug it in whenever, and most of them have a tuner built into them, and i just like the feel of them. they are really easy to play and carry around. although you will have to spend more than 150-200 i would say 250-300 for a decent one like Ovation. for a $150 guitar, you are going to get crap most likely unless its somehow a good condition used one that you find.

edit: actually i would buy a $150 Takamine acoustic you are right

Mark another for a Takamine acoustic. I love my Takamine acoustic/electric. If you want a strictly electric, I would try to get a used Gibson Epihone. They are WAY better than the shitty $150 Fenders...

Thanks for the info/help guys. I'll definatly look into those. There's a small guitar shop around here that have good and honest guys working there. I'll end up picking their brains as well.

So did you find anything yet?

on that price range:
electric - go with ibanez
acoustic - go with yamaha

i might catch shit for that yamaha...
and i own an epiphone. they're verrry... shitty. better than cheap fenders, but def go with a cheap ibanez.

my friend (f'in AMAZING guitarrist) just got this ovation: http://www.zzounds.com/item--OVAT357, sounds amazing, and i think is great for the price. if you're willing to spend that extra cash, it's gonna be well worth it. i'm thinking about getting one myself.

So did you find anything yet?
Haven't had time. By the time i fight traffic after work, i just want to eat dinner, get a little work out in a veg out. More than likely going to the shop over the weekend.

I payed $70 for a Silvertone off the shelf. Best sounding and easiest playing acoustic I've ever owned. And it's endorsed by Paul Stanley of KISS...woohoo

I payed $70 for a Silvertone off the shelf. Best sounding and easiest playing acoustic I've ever owned. And it's endorsed by Paul Stanley of KISS...woohoo

just cuz its endorsed doesn't make it good, especially if its endorsed by paul stanley. he's not what i'd call a great musician. in fact, all of kiss is rather a very simple band. They just pack a looot of energy.

anyway, i'm not saying ur silvertone is bad, i've never even heard one, so i can't say anything about it. i was just pointing this out.

I know this....I think KISS are washed up old guys in makeup. Sorry if I offend. It is a good guitar, though!!!

nah, why would i be offended? i was just pointing out that it coulda been endorsed by anyone, doesn't necessarily mean the guitar is any better. i'm just saying that you could take the crappiest epiphone and have it endorsed by Slash, from Guns and Roses, or Zakk Wylde from Black Label... it's still a crappy epiphone.

to the OP, another friend of mine had a Madeira acoustic guitar, we used to get together outside by this one spot with some friends and just jam there. one guy had a yamaha, another had a fender. of the three, I liked the sound of the madeira the best. it sounded the least twangy, less sharp and accute. Still, though, it also didn't sound as great when you needed that kind of sound, like playing something form Jack Johnson, it sounded almost too dull.

If you don't have time to look for a guitar, you probably don't have time to play one.

Best of luck anyway, make time and scratch that itch!

Ah, that's a good point!!

well, you can always make time, you know, shoot the boss, sell the kids, all that good stuff.

Whatever it takes. If he wants to play, he will play.

THat is a small budget. You might be able to find a used fender stratocaster(try to find an american made strat). I dont know if you have these stores but it is called "music-go-round". THey are a used music equipment store. Plus, you can always nock down the price with them.

yeah, i forgot to raise that point, where its made is a big thing to look at. most if not all epiphones are made in korea, thats why although they are bought out by gibson usa, they are kinda crappy. i mean, for the money you pay, they're decent guitars, but seriously, they're nothing too special. its just a "i'm too poor to afford a gibson" guitar. imo guitars made in the USA are your best bet. i'm sure other guitar makers in other countries can match, but this is just a generalization.

Yep, Epiphones are a poor man's Gibson.

THat is a small budget. You might be able to find a used fender stratocaster(try to find an american made strat). I dont know if you have these stores but it is called "music-go-round". THey are a used music equipment store. Plus, you can always nock down the price with them.

Wow, I had no idea that fender made an acoustic strat!

They make an acoustic telecaster, too. The stratacoustic and the telecoustic..

get one with 4 strings... they're better ;)

I'm interested in getting my daughter a beginner electric guitar and amp with about 40 watts peak (15 rms). I saw a Fender Affinity with Johnson 36 watt amp on Ebay for around $199. Any other recommendations?

I'm interested in getting my daughter a beginner electric guitar and amp with about 40 watts peak (15 rms). I saw a Fender Affinity with Johnson 36 watt amp on Ebay for around $199. Any other recommendations?

yes, don't get it!!
if you are going to get starter packs, trust me the ibanez starter pack is the best one out there. epiphone starter pack is decent, too, but fender, silvertone, all them are not exactly the best choice.

yes, don't get it!!
if you are going to get starter packs, trust me the ibanez starter pack is the best one out there. epiphone starter pack is decent, too, but fender, silvertone, all them are not exactly the best choice.

Thanks, I'll check into it.

Went up to the shop yesterday. The guys in there were really cool and explained everything very well. Since I'm just learning how to play and not sure how serious I'm actually not too concerned about getting the absolute best. I figure I can learn on something that's decent and as i progress and gain knowledge i can buy a really good guitar later on.

But anyways, he had an Epiphone that was sent "slightly" damaged cosmetically from the factory so he had it marked down quite a bit. The only thing i could notice was a slight smuge on the front. Hardly noticeable. It sounded good, my friend who knows about guitars and got his from there played a few strings and so did the guy that owns the shop. It sounded good and my friend thought for the price it was excellent for a starter. The shop also offers free maintenance for the guitars.

About the Yamaha's. The guy explained to us that he quit selling them sometime back b/c of the way they're manufactured. Something about the way the machine changes as the day goes on. Bascially ones built in the morning sound great and by the end of the day the machine alignment with the fret board is outta wack.

cool right on man. i have a cheapo Jackson and it sounds good enough for my skill level. now depending on what you are playing, buying effects pedals or a box would be a good investment. especially for metal, you really cant have fun learning how to play metal if you sound nothing like the record. the best thing that got me learning is a $80 distortion pedal, and drop-D tuning. Godsmack, some soundgarden, papa roach, etc, are not too hard to pick up. with the distortion you can be pretty sloppy and it still sounds close.

Seiously man, I would have no qualms about getting an Epiphone. Their playability is fantastic for the price you get them at, far better than most guitars in the same price range. They have good sustain and good sound, and they're built pretty well. My friend has an 8 year old Epiphone that he really beat on for the first 5 or 6 years and it still plays and sounds great. Don't let anyone fool you with the "cheap man's Gibson" talk, they are very good, solid beginners guitars.

what model epiphone?

i've got an old epiphone les paul starters electric. pretty nice sunburst design, decent sounding pickups, crappy but highly portable little amp, only about $150, it was worth it. Epiphone's a great starter's company. even if you bought a $3,000 gibson, you'd still sound the same if you don't know shit, lol.

what model epiphone?

i've got an old epiphone les paul starters electric. pretty nice sunburst design, decent sounding pickups, crappy but highly portable little amp, only about $150, it was worth it. Epiphone's a great starter's company. even if you bought a $3,000 gibson, you'd still sound the same if you don't know shit, lol.
It's an acoustic.

I can't remember the model. It was based in the mid hundreds but dropped down to like $85 b/c of the cosmetic damage and another 15% b/c he's trying to close out some stock to make room for more.

that's a sweet deal, imo. have fun playing it jay.

Mate to learn on, nylon, or cheap steal string is the best, don't buy brand buy style.

Well, I finally got it. It's an Epiphone aj-100 (2nd) sunburst vintage. Had it marked down from $165 to $84. Out the door with a stand and picks for $103. Pretty good. My friend really enjoyed it and thought it played excellent. The damage isn't even noticeable unless you're looking for it.

I'll post pics as soon as my friend sends them to me.

Hey awesome, man, cheap shit is the way to go to learn on, my first electric is damaged to the shit house, as I now have two electric gutiar, one cost $1050, the other was $900 with $600 pickup put in it, both taken care of extremely well.

The reason being (cheap to learn on) is you get a feel of what you're after. Basically like buying a car, you might like a ford but because you've never driven before you don't know if the Holden will be better, if you ever asked me that question IRL I would of pounded your arse to the ground then went and ate a pie because Ford suck, see sig, and Holden omgwtfbbqsauce ford up the ass and loves it.

Hey awesome, man, cheap shit is the way to go to learn on, my first electric is damaged to the shit house, as I now have two electric gutiar, one cost $1050, the other was $900 with $600 pickup put in it, both taken care of extremely well.

The reason being (cheap to learn on) is you get a feel of what you're after. Basically like buying a car, you might like a ford but because you've never driven before you don't know if the Holden will be better, if you ever asked me that question IRL I would of pounded your arse to the ground then went and ate a pie because Ford suck, see sig, and Holden omgwtfbbqsauce ford up the ass and loves it.
Thanks Davo. Yea it's definately great to learn cheap. My friend played a little alice in chains on it for me and i thought for that music it sounded great!

My friend was suppose to send me pics of my guitar that i took with her camera. Guess something happened and she couldn't. I'll post em up in the next day or two.