Newbie needs advice on first electric guitar

[geetarmanic]

Hi all...thanks for taking my question.

I'm an absolute newbie so to speak (aged 30+ ) with a developing interest in blues guitar and perhaps some basic lead guitar (licks) stuff as well... purely as a hobby.

Actually, I recently picked up a used and somewhat busted 'Rockers' PRS style guitar at a junk sale with knobs missing and i can't even seem to get it into tune using a Qwik Tune QT11 Guitar Tuner. The low E, and AD strings tune OK, but the higher EBG strings don't even seem to register on the tuner or register as one of the other strings. Anyway, one of the volume knobs is missing, so is the tremolo and one pick up is qute loose... its seen better days. I've not had much joy with it but its definitely sparked an interest.

I'm looking for something new at entry level - say in the £150-£170 (UK pounds) range.

I like the PRS-style look... but have been considering these two:

Vintage VRS100 - http://www.guitars.co.uk/acatalog/Vinta ... Blue_.html

Yamaha Pacifica 112 - http://www.electrohill.co.uk/acatalog/info_3535.html

Also, on my current guitar the action seems very high (strings quite far above the fretboard)... can this be varied to bring them closer to the fretboard? I presume there's an advantage in doing this?

Thanks for your time. Any advice appreciated.

[Klondog]

DMBTabs.com, welcome to it!

Playing guitar is wonderful hobby, and it sounds like you have a real interest, which is awesome. As far as a new guitar goes, you're definitely looking in the right price range. Personally, for the money $350 (170 pounds) I would buy a decent Mexican-made Fender Stratocaster. They're great guitars, and they're easy to upgrade in the future. I had good luck with mine (Never should have sold it... stupid, haha). The Yamaha Pacifica 112 is definitely a good bet too!

The action on your current guitar definitely can be adjusted by a guitar tech, but it's probably not worth the money to get a full set up where the action is fixed to your preference, intonation is checked, etc. By lowering the action, the strings become easier to hold down, and thus it is easier and more comfortable to play. Basically, it sounds like your current guitar is maybe a lost cause, and a new guitar is in order. The big time electric guitar guys will definitely be able to point you even more so in the right direction. Regardless, good luck and keep playing!

[RunsWithBuffalo]

DMBTabs.com, welcome to it!

Playing guitar is wonderful hobby, and it sounds like you have a real interest, which is awesome. As far as a new guitar goes, you're definitely looking in the right price range. Personally, for the money $350 (170 pounds) I would buy a decent Mexican-made Fender Stratocaster. They're great guitars, and they're easy to upgrade in the future. I had good luck with mine (Never should have sold it... stupid, haha). The Yamaha Pacifica 112 is definitely a good bet too!

The action on your current guitar definitely can be adjusted by a guitar tech, but it's probably not worth the money to get a full set up where the action is fixed to your preference, intonation is checked, etc. By lowering the action, the strings become easier to hold down, and thus it is easier and more comfortable to play. Basically, it sounds like your current guitar is maybe a lost cause, and a new guitar is in order. The big time electric guitar guys will definitely be able to point you even more so in the right direction. Regardless, good luck and keep playing!

I would agree wholeheartedly, the strat is a very versatile guitar that does blues very well and pickups can be upgraded for about 100 US. You may also want to look into the epiphone dot and the ibanez artcore series. They are hollow body guitars as opposed to solid bodies like the strat and have better sustain and mellower tone which is ideal for blues.

[moe.phish11]

hey man, i would reccomend the Fender Squier 51'. This is a discontinued model but you can still pick these up on ebay for between 115-150 bucks and is a great guitar for the price range. There are hundreds of great reviews about it on http://www.harmonycentral.com in the user reviews. Only negative is that sometimes the factory setup is hit or miss, but thats quite common in all guitar models.

It is a pretty wild looking fender with a kinda fender p-bass pickguard, telecaster head, and a strat body. has a single pickup and a double hum. This video speaks for itself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIb0nUuQ03c

These guitars are actually a popular mod guitar, there is an entire website dedicated to it called the 51 Modders Forum, extensive ideas of where to go if you wanted to upgrade the guitar.

IMO if anyone has 120 bucks laying around that they want to burn on equipment/etc i would suggest picking one of these bad rides up.

[DrumsFoDaSoul]

I just bought a Fender Stratocaster -(Mexican) and it's awesome. Its all white and feels so nice to play.

I wish I knew how to play it though.