Choosing a best beginner electric guitar can be a daunting task, especially if you know nothing about electric guitars.
Obviously different guitars will suit your music preference while others will suit your budget.
And sometimes you can get both.
There's also children we have to consider, but for the sake of making this page shorter, there's another webpage you may
want to consider visiting as well: Kids electric guitars
What I'm going to do here is give you as much information on electric guitars as I can, as well as the strong points and
weak points of each type of guitar.
To be perfectly honest, I can't say I've played every guitar I mention, but when I have either played or owned one, I'll
let you know.
One thing I know for sure is that beginner electric guitars have improved radically in quality since I first started to
learn guitar back in the seventies.
Two types of electric guitar to consider
The Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster are the two main guitars that have dominated electric guitar
music since they first came out in the mid 50's.
Each has a distinctly different sound, and for the most part are better suited to different styles of music.
When buying an electric guitar for a beginner it's important to pay attention to this, especially seeing as getting the
right sound out of your guitar is a big thing for a guitarist.
Just to set your mind at ease, I'm not saying you should buy a Gibson Les Paul or Fender Stratocaster. These aren't beginner
guitars and they're priced to show it.
Fortunately there are cheap electric guitars that serve as great alternatives for the beginner guitarist or even the musician
on a budget.
I'm always on a budget so I would know. I buy cheap quality guitars mostly.
There is also a third type of electric guitar for beginners suited more to those interested in playing
Metal guitar, but for the most part, these would fall under the rock category. Let's start
with Gibson Les Paul copies and similar sounding beginner electric guitars
Firstly, what does a Gibson Les Paul sound like?
Perhaps the best way to describe the sound is to point to some bands and guitarists that have a typically Les Paul type
sound, like Boston, Led Zeppelin, Gary Moore on his Still got the blues album and on every version of Parisian Walkways he
ever played.
Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea. It's a heavier rock sound like Guns n Roses or Kiss.
Giving my age away here, I know.
The 3 things that make a Les Paul guitar sound like it does are:
The pickups (These are what convert the vibration of the string into an electrical signal that gets fed to an amplifier)
The wood, including the type of wood and the density (Les Pauls are notoriously heavy) and
The way it's constructed, meaning that it has a set in (glued in) neck. Some people may argue that this is a minor factor.
Of these three factors, the pickups have the most effect on the sound.
There are 3 basic types of guitar pickup used
on electric guitars:
Single coil pickups
Humbucker pickups and
Active pickups
The standard Gibson Les Paul uses humbucker pickups, which are basically two single coil pickups wired in series and out
of phase with each other, all in one neat little housing.
This has the effect of eliminating any outside interference from radio signals, flourescent lights, TV screens and old
computer monitors.
Sounds like a good idea right? Well mostly it is, but this also has the effect of reducing the treble response of the pickup
whilst at the same time creating a larger magnetic field for the guitar string to pass through.
This is essentially a more powerful sound.
If all this information is getting too much like a home study course on how to buy an electric guitar, you can just scroll
down past everything to my recommended beginner electric guitars section, but I do think it's important to
understand a little on how electric guitars work so that whether you buy a guitar I recommend or decide to look at other alternatives,
you'll at least be well informed.
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul in this picture is a fake made in China - Buyer beware
Beginner Les Paul guitars by Epiphone, Agile, SX and Douglas
Gibson own a sub brand of guitars for the lower end of the market, meaning beginners and budget concious
musicians, like me. This is their Epiphone range.
I have owned and gigged with an Epiphone Les Paul, but that was about 10 years ago, and it was a slightly
higher end Epiphone from their standard.
Going from my own memory and the Epiphone Les Paul Standards that I have played on, as well as the
feedback from other guitarists that I know, they're very well built guitars and sound good as well.
The cheapest Epiphone Les Paul is the Les Paul Special 2
Epiphone Les Paul Special II (2) Video demo
Four things I like
about this guitar:
I'm glad that the humbucker pickups are wax
potted. Wax potting is a process whereby the coils
surrounding the magnets of the pickup are soaked in wax to prevent the
coil wire from vibrating.
This prevents microphonic feedback when the amplifier is turned up
loud.
This happens even more when the amplifier is overdriven or a distortion
effect is used.
So no microphonic feedback is a good thing, especially when you want to
play rock music.
It's cheap and still has that Les Paul
sound, although there are many degrees of good when it comes to a Les
Paul sound, this one does a decent job of it.
The neck and body on this guitar are made of mahogany, which is
the standard tone wood for Les Pauls.
The neck on this guitar is a slimtaper neck, which means it's
thinner than a standard Les Paul neck. This is a plus point because a
slimmer neck is actually easier to play on for most people, and for a
young kid this may just be the perfect guitar to start on.
Two things I don't like about
this guitar:
This may not concern everyone, but when I
buy a guitar, I like to think in terms of the future and what a guitar
will do for me then.
As well made as the guitar might be, and despite some of the glowing
reviews you might read elsewhere, I don't see this guitar as having any
potential beyond a beginner guitar.
For a little more money you can get a Les
Paul style guitar that you'll be proud of for its sound, good looks,
playability and quality of construction well into the future, And for
less you can get something that's a lot more guitar value for the money.
In
the bedroom it may be fine to learn on, but when you get on stage
eventually you want to feel proud of your instrument too.
Mostly because the value of everything
combined, added to the truly
excellent
guitar instruction from Gibson's Learn and Master guitar
[included] means you won't need another thing for at least the next two
years to learn and play electric guitar [Apart from a new set of
strings occasionally].
I just need to make something
clear: This is a special
version of the Epiphone Special II player pack as it's the only
one that comes bundled with Gibson's Learn and Master guitar.
The others you see on the net don't, even though they have some
instructional DVD.
This is what I call landing on your
feet!
I own a copy of Learn and Master
guitar and I recommend it highly.
Here are some other Beginner Les Paul
guitar options
worth considering
For a little more money:
The SX Callisto Custom is about 20
bucks more than the
Epiphone Les Paul Special II and a whole lot more guitar for the small
difference in price.
It's available from Rondo Music in their electric guitars
section usually at about page 6, seeing as they start with their
cheapest guitars on page 1 and work their way up from there.
3 things I like about this
guitar:
It's built the same way as a Gibson Les Paul, meaning that it's
neck is glued in. This is referred to as a set neck. The main advantage
of a set neck is the improved sustain and overall tone enhancement
which comes from a better neck to body connection.
It's made from mahogany wood. Even though there are different
grades and types of mahogany, they are all similar sounding. Gibson Les
Pauls are made from mahogany.
It's just plain beautiful. While I don't own one of these
guitars, I have seen them in person and was sorely tempted to buy one
myself. I may still do that, in which case I'll post a video here.
2 things I don't like about
this guitar:
The nut on this guitar may be made of plastic, although this
isn't a big concern seeing as a well cut plastic nut actually works
fine. One just doesn't know beforehand if the strings might get
slightly caught up in the nut, making it a bit more difficult to tune.
From what I've read of other peoples reviews of this guitar, there
doesn't seem to be an issue with this.
I also don't know if the pickups have been wax potted, however, a
humbucker pickup is far less likely to squeel with microphonic feedback
than a single coil, and if it does, it's only when the guitar amp is
really cranked way up.
Back in the late 50's the first humbuckers that went into Les Paul
guitars weren't wax potted.
Still, I prefer to know that they've been wax potted.
We still haven't come to the best
beginner guitar in a Les Paul
style, but for those on a serious budget,
here's a fairly decent beginner electric guitar that's considerably
cheaper than the Epiphone Les Paul Special II.
The Douglas Shadow Les Paul copy
Although not made from mahogany, but rather an alder wood body and bolt on maple neck, this is still
a very good combination of tone woods for an electric guitar
This guitar and its full specifications are available here and even with its thicker body and
being an arch top it is still about 40 dollars cheaper than the Epiphone Les Paul Special 2
I'm going to leave the likes and dislikes aside for this one. For the price of this guitar there's
only a whole lot to like about it. You may want to upgrade the pickups later when you start playing really loudly in a full
band, but even
that may not be the case.
My top choices for a best beginner electric guitar in a Les Paul style
The SX Deimos and Agile AL 2000 are two top quality electric guitars that are both very affordable,
while at the same time having features that make them a great choice for both the short term as a beginner guitar and the
long term as guitars
you'll keep playing on, even when the word "beginner" doesn't apply to you.
Let's start with Top Choice No2, the SX Deimos
The SX Deimos features a mahogany body and "set in" maple neck. This is an excellent combination of
woods to use, seeing as the resonance of maple is about an octave higher than mahogany (Twice the frequency).
In practical terms, this will give you a good treble response from the maple combined with a good
low end "thump" and upper midrange "bite" from the mahogany. If the words "Thump" and "Bite" are confusing, think of it as
a full bodied sound
with enough treble to match.
Of course, the sound of an electric guitar is only as good as the pickups will allow. The pickups
on the SX Deimos are made by EMG. While EMG make some of the most highly regarded pickups in the world, the EMG's on this
guitar are their
economy range, called EMG "Select".
They are however wax potted, so technically speaking there shouldn't be any unwanted microphonic feedback
at higher volumes. They're not fantastic pickups but they do give a good sound on this guitar.
It's also good to keep in mind that a guitar can only sound as good as the amplifier it's plugged
into.
The tuners on this guitar are Grover die cast tuners. Grover tuners are known to be reliable so you can expect
this guitar to stay in tune well.
No 1: My personal top choice for a best beginner Les Paul style electric guitar
The Agile AL 2000
Before I even get started on the specs of this guitar, I'd like you to watch this youtube video. This
fellow is demonstrating his Agile AL 2000 that has a black flame finish. The Agile I own is an AL 3100 which is a more expensive
guitar
than the 2000, so this video will give you a better idea of the look and sound of the AL 2000.
The Agile AL 2000 features a mahogany body and set in maple neck, pretty much like the SX Deimos. It has Grover tuners
which are renowned for their ability to keep your guitar in tune.
The pickups are wax potted humbuckers which use ceramic magnets. Ceramic pickups have a much brighter sound than the traditional
Les Paul humbuckers. This is part of what gives this guitar its chimey tone as well as good solid rock guitar bite, great
for screaming
lead solos.
These guitars are about half the price of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard, have more colors and better finishes to choose
from, have three different neck profile options - Regular, wide or Slim, plus they both sound and feel better. I used to own
an Epiphone
Les Paul Classic (Limited edition) and 5 years later, for less money than I payed then, my Agile is way better.
Two places to buy an Agile AL 2000
Agile guitars can only be bought online, either from Amazon.com where there are at least user reviews
but a limited range.
Or directly from Rondo Music
, where you can see the full range of Agiles, as well as what other extremely well priced guitars are available.
Here is a video review on the Agile AL 2000 you may find helpful.
A quick heart to heart on beginner electric guitars
You may be concerned that a beginner electric guitar will be of inferior quality, and that if you
buy something too cheap it may just be junk. Firstly, I want to set your mind at ease about the quality of beginner electric
guitars available
these days, and secondly, I would like to show you just how easy it is to take something that's built for beginners and
turn it into a professional gig worthy guitar.
Before I go on though, you should know that the Agile AL 2000 mentioned above is already a gig worthy
guitar.
The reason I'm writing this is to show you that you don't need to go outside your budget for a decent
beginners electric guitar if you keep in mind that with a little more money spent further down the line, and I mean very little,
you can
swap out a few parts for better ones.
The quality of workmanship on a lot of today's beginner electric guitars is staggeringly good, not
just for a beginner guitar but as a guitar in general, as the next guitar I want to show you has conclusively proved to me.
Fender Stratocaster copy beginner electric guitars
The sound of a Fender Stratocaster has a lot more treble content, and while this is good for a clean
sound, with overdrive it can become just a little too bright in some pickup positions.
The kind of music that works best with a Stratocaster sound is usually country music, or any music
that needs mostly a clean to slightly overdriven sound.
There are some guitarists who get a decent rock guitar sound out of a Stratocaster, but these are
usually people who know how to tailor their sound to exactly what they want.
As a general consideration though, the single coil pickups used on a Strat, especially in the bridge position, tend to
be too bright to get a decent rock sound.
Typical Fender Stratocaster sounds:
The first band that comes to mind is Dire Straits, especially on their song "Sultans of swing", the legendary Stevie Ray
Vaughan, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix.
While some of these musicians get some great rock sounds, the average beginner guitarist will get
a lot closer to the rock sound he wants with a lot less effort using humbucker pickups instead.
That being said, there is one type of Stratocaster that fits the bill all round.
Here is what a typical Stratocaster guitar looks like:
This is my own personal guitar which I've used on occasion in the studio whenever I needed a genuine
sounding Stratocaster guitar.
The Squier Bullet Strat, Fender's Cheapest beginner electric guitar.
The first thing that really impressed me about the Squier bullet strat, apart from the fact that it's built as well as
any Fender Stratocaster, is the sound of the guitar even when it's unplugged.
Unfortunately I can't demonstrate the unplugged sound, but a good sign of a guitars tonal quality is what it sounds like
without an amplifier.
The second thing that impressed me was the fret work on this guitar. Most guitars that come straight out of the factory
will have a few slightly uneven frets, requiring you to have a fret level done if you want the strings to get as close to
the fretboard as
possible.
Maybe I got lucky, but judging from the other reviews I've read on this guitar, the neck and fretwork on these guitars
is excellent.
Anyway, here's my list of likes and dislikes on this guitar.
What I like about this guitar:
The body weight and size is about the same as a regular Fender Stratocaster. This gives the feeling of playing a real
Strat as opposed to some skimmed down makeshift wannabe.
The feel of the neck is comfortable in the hand. Neither too thin or too fat. When the neck relief and string height
is set up correctly, this has quite a fast neck [meaning you can play fast on it without your hand becoming tired quickly].
The sound, which I've mentioned before is typically a Stratocaster sound, and quite a good one at that. There
is a small problem with this, but I'll mention that in the dislikes.
The guitar stays in tune fairly well. There are conditions to this though, which I'll discuss later as well.
The electronics, meaning the volume and tone controls, pickup selector switch and output jack all seem to
be of decent quality.
What I don't like about this guitar:
While I've said that I like the sound of these pickups, there is a problem with them when it comes to playing loudly
through some kind of distortion device or overdriven amplifier channel.
What happens is that they begin to feed back, producing a screeching or harsh whistling sound.
This is due to the fact that they are not wax potted.
This is fine through a small practice amp but you'll want to swap them out later.
With the pickup selector switch in positions 2 or 4, the configuration is hum cancelling and also tends to reduce unwanted
feedback.
If you look at the picture above of the Squier bullet strat, you'll see on the head I've pointed out some gadjets
called "String trees".
These are necessary to hold the strings down so they sit properly in the nut.
The problem with these is that they tend to grab the string slightly and cause it to go out of tune when the tremelo
is used.
Very light tremelo use is fine and the guitar holds its tuning quite well then.
When I say light, I mean just enough to cause a slight fluttering sound.
This is no different to a regular Fender Stratocaster, but it's a design flaw as far as I'm concerned and even so,
there are much better string trees available that don't catch the strings
Here is a video of the Squier Bullet Strat
I searched all over youtube for a decent video of the Squier bullet strat,
but eventually I decided to just make one myself.
Buy a Squier Bullet Strat online
The Squier Bullet Strats come in a few different colors, and of course you don't have to buy one online seeing as they're
very widely available.
It's always good to get some other opinions though, so here are some places you can either buy or at least read what others
have to say about the guitar before you decide on a purchase.
There are also the Bullet Strat guitars that I mention in the video with a humbucker in the bridge position.
These might be a better option for a beginner who wants to play rock music, or even if you just prefer something a little
darker sounding in the first position.
There are other bullet strat options, like the all black one with two humbucking pickups, but I don't want this page to start
looking like a festival of links to Amazon.
Their navigation is pretty good on the site.
Alternatives to the Squier Bullet Strat as a Stratocaster style beginner electric guitar
A very well known brand of Stratocaster copy are the SX range of guitars.
While I don't personally own one, nor have I even played one, I do know a certain guitar technician and professional guitarist
who used one for quite a while as his main gigging guitar.
One thing about the SX Stratocasters is that their bodies are made of Alder wood, which is the same wood that some of the
best sounding Strats are made of.
Feature wise, they're the same as a regular Stratocaster, however, a big plus point is that some of them are even cheaper
than the Squier bullet strat.
The cheapest SX Stratocaster copy available
As far as likes and dislikes go for this guitar, there's only one thing other than the Bullet Strat, apart from the body
wood that I like, and that's the diecast tuners. Other than that, it comes with a bag as an extra bonus.
As you might have guessed by now, this guitar is also available at Rondo Music And while you're there you might want to check out their beginner electric guitar packages and Left handed guitars
Make your electric guitar play like the best
The major difference between a standard guitar and a top of the range guitar is in the minor details and the final preparation
Guitars that leave the production line of major guitar companies like Ibanez, Washburn, Yamaha, Epiphone etc, have only been
given the most basic final setup.
Companies like these all use fairly decent wood and hardware, and their paint finishes are generally excellent, but the one
area which is sadly neglected, is the final stage of the fretwork.
Many times, the best electric guitar for a beginner can end up as a great guitar for any level of playing ability, let me
tell you what I do first to every guitar I buy. I take it to a guitar luthier
The reason I take my guitar there first, is so that he can level and crown the frets
What do I mean by "Level and crown the frets"?
Firstly, in case you don't know, "Frets" are those metal bars on the neck of the guitar that you place your fingers behind
in order to press a chord.
Secondly, the reason you would want to level and crown the frets is because, by doing this, all of the frets will be an equal
height above the fretboard, enabeling the strings to be set as low as possible to the fretboard, which makes it so much easier
to play.
