Never played a Guitar but I want to learn

DodgeTheViper

Moderator
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
Messages
29,976
Reaction score
18,931
Points
7,947
Location
Inbetween Upgrades !
Ive never played a guitar in my life . . . apart from Guitar Hero on Xbox that is but I really fancy starting to learn.

Where the flammin hell do I start looking for what to purchase ? I've seen these starter packages with a guitar and amp for like £200 ish, is that where I should start ?

Could someone point me somewhere please.

Cheers
 
I'm not too sure what a realistic budget for this would be. What would £300-£400 get me ?
 
I'm not too sure what a realistic budget for this would be. What would £300-£400 get me ?

A lot. If you buy new you could have a nice electric rig. Second hand obviously a lot more bang for your buck. The best thing is to get out and try various guitars to see what you feel comfortable with. Do you have any idea where you'd start looking? Strat, Telecaster, Les Paul, Prs? Acoustic only to start? Would you plan to have lessons? A lot of guys on here rave about Rocksmith

Purely as an example as there are so many options, this would be a great starter rig.

Fender Mustang III V.2 Guitar Amplifier Combo

Buy the Squier Affinity Strat RW Sunburst

Leaves you 25 quid for a lead, picks etc. It's a real minefield choosing and that's all part of the fun.

If you go second hand the usual suspects are handy, ebay, gumtree etc. Kit sometimes comes up on here too. What guitar shops do you have near you? Hands on try before you buy is worth it's weight in gold.
 
That's a sensible budget. My first question would be do you want to play as a beginner? an electric or an acoustic guitar?

edit: cross post, covered my Axl.
 
My first thought would be to play electric guitar, just seems like more fun. And I havnt looked at anything yet, mainly because I don't know what the hell i'm looking at :rolleyes:
I know my head will get wrecked when I start looking.

A shop could be a very good idea. I'm sure there is one reasonably close to me.
 
It's a personal thing but if I could turn back the clock I would have got a semi acoustic when I started. You can either plug it in or play it as a quiet acoustic so as not to annoy anyone. Unfortunately you missed the Amazon deal on some of these a few weeks ago. It's worth keeping an eye out on Amazon lately.

As for playing, this guy gets the ball rolling.

Justin Guitar | Hundreds of free guitar lessons
Search for JustinGuitar on YouTube

Lost of free tuition clips, and books to buy. I can recommend the Beginners Course book.
 
walk away now.

......while your wallet still has cash left in it ;)

first picked up an acoustic 2 years ago just so I could play a few simple songs along with my daughter who could play a bit.....

3 acoustics...2 electrics....(another one on its way) and 3 amps later :)

well as I'm sure everyone will tell you...once the bug has bitten.

great hobby though and with the enjoyment it can bring just by picking a guitar up for 5 minutes .:thumbsup:........

I still find it very relaxing just to sit there a play a bit of simple stuff.

...where to start when it comes to buying is a toughie as it's a bit of a double edged sword...how can you tell a guitars right for you when you cant play ?........well you can certainly get an idea on how it feels in your hands...and a half decent dealer will give you guidance and point you in the right direction.

for me it was an acoustic ...then off to here
BC-000 • Justin's Beginners Guitar Course | free guitar lesson from justinguitar.com

...and here
Free Beginner Guitar Course

then once I could play a bit and manage power and barre chords it was off searching for an electric.....

as mention have a look through the above linked threads

........one thing is certain though

it will hurt your fingers ...it will be hard.... and at times it will seem impossible....but persevere and you'll be surprised how quick you can progress.

:thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
if you buy....you'll have to let us all know how you got on

....and most importantly post some pics

:smashin:
 
Hi. I'm in same position and have ordered the Yamaha pacifica 012 in red. Arrives Thursday coming.

Great info on here... Thx

Looking forward to trying, trying being the word, to getting started.

Thx for the links people, I love this forum.

Ice
 
I've just had a look at the Yamaha and it looks nice. That's about all I can say as I don't have a clue otherwise :D
 
Good to hear you want to learn...I can't give much advice myself, apart from see if a local college has a class like the one I go to. There are so many online videos that you should be able to find some to help you learn more once you start getting the basics sussed out. Shame you aren't nearer I've got a spare Squier Telecaster that you could have borrowed to see how you get on.
 
There is an awful lot of choice out there, a guitar for every occasion in fact. It could narrow things down considerably if there was a particular type of music that you leant towards. If you're into death metal, then a Fender Strat is probably not gonna cut it, likewise, an 8-string shred machine is going to make sounding like Hank Marvin dead tricky. Any particular leanings, or do you want to cover a lot of ground with your guitar? :)
 
I've just had a look at the Yamaha and it looks nice. That's about all I can say as I don't have a clue otherwise :D


Yeah me too...... It's a nice colour, says the wife!

But after over a year looking at video and googling this subject the Yamaha gets a good lot of positive feedback for compete starters like us.

Tada!

Ice
 
Ive never played a guitar in my life . . . apart from Guitar Hero on Xbox that is but I really fancy starting to learn.

Where the flammin hell do I start looking for what to purchase ? I've seen these starter packages with a guitar and amp for like £200 ish, is that where I should start ?

Could someone point me somewhere please.

Cheers

As a beginner your first port of call should be going to as many shops as possible and trying all the guitars you can to see what 'fits' you and is comfortable to hold, sat down and with a strap, I'd never recommend any new player to buy sight unseen or off the internet as you could just be wasting money. Take someone with you if you can who has some experience as salesmen are known not to be up front to get a sale.

After that then come back with your list....when my daughter wanted, for months, a Sunburst Les Paul we went and tried some and although she tried, she did not like the way it felt or sounded, so we were browsing the shop and she tried an ES339 and the first thing she said was 'This is the one' and that's what you or any beginner really needs to be doing.
 
Last edited:
I figure it doesn't matter too much for your first guitar as long as it plays okay. After 6 months you will have a better idea of what you want and you can buy a better guitar.

A Yamaha, cheap Epihone, Squire or Ibanez will do the job really and be easy to sell on. The main thing is you want to pick the guitar up, so looking cool to you is no bad thing.

Around the 300 quid point will get you some nice guitars and then another 100 for a used modelling amp. Equally though 200 would get a Les Paul special and 50 quid a mustang 1.
 
Of course it matters, it's hard enough to learn as it is and the last thing you need is a guitar that doesn't fit and hard/uncomfortable to play and how would a new player know if it plays OK without any experience, the major downfall when people are buying their first instrument and one of the main reasons people give up is they buy a guitar that might look cool but is completely wrong for them.

There are 'cheap' Yamaha's, Squire's and Ibanez's as well not just 'cheap' Epiphones....
 
Not sure if you've got a 'Guitar Guitar' near you, but this pack looks a good deal (see lower down the page for the amp/lead frequently bought together):

Buy the Epiphone Slash AFD Les Paul Special-II Outfit

I'm not even a Slash fan myself, but the guitar looks good IMHO. Under £200 as you don't need the separate strap since the guitar comes with one.
 
Of course it matters, it's hard enough to learn as it is and the last thing you need is a guitar that doesn't fit and hard/uncomfortable to play and how would a new player know if it plays OK without any experience, the major downfall when people are buying their first instrument and one of the main reasons people give up is they buy a guitar that might look cool but is completely wrong for them.

There are 'cheap' Yamaha's, Squire's and Ibanez's as well not just 'cheap' Epiphones....

Plenty of 3-500 quid guitars that are sub par, probably as many as 1-200 quid as they are often made in the same factory just with better quality components

Really the big deals we make after a few years playing don't affect new players. My daughter is still fine playing the 35 quid spongebob second I bought her even though she has a 400 quid fender now.

As long as the guitar doesn't have a warped neck, bad fret buzz or a super high action it's good enough for starting out and helps you appreciate what you want on a next step guitar. Even a newbie can spot these and if not it should be come apparent quickly and be covered by the shop gaurentee.

If you start playing Les Pauls chances are they will always feel comfortable. Most decent shops will let you try a few to see what feels comfortable and even a Flying V can be played with a strap. After 6 months if these forums are anything to go by most players will feel they deserve a better guitar and know better what they want.
 
Just in.....

And step 1 arrived!

IMG_20151230_184910_906.jpg
ICE
 
Well worth picking up a copy of Rocksmith if you have a console or PC. Really good fun and a great way to learn.

Most of us use the Justin Guitar site as it's free and he has hundreds of videos for all range of abilities. There is an absolute ton of free guitar related material on the internet and Youtube just ask if you need some direction as it can be quite overwhelming. Really is a great time to be learning guitar.

Take it easy the first few days as you will get blisters on your fingers, but they soon harden in a couple of weeks. If it becomes a problem you can always put lighter strings on your guitar. I'd suggest buying a spare pack of strings now as it is very common to break a string the first couple of weeks while you get used to tuning. Watch out on the thinnest strings as they break very easily, but you can buy replacement single strings from most good music shops or on Amazon/ebay.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom