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Guitars
- Subject: Guitars
- Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 9:50:00 -0500
From: vincenz2@ix.netcom.com
>>>
My son is 10 years old and has shown interest in playing the guitar since
probably the beginning of this year.
[...]
He was all pumped about an electric guitar for most of the year until
about
October when I took him along to see the Quad show here in Phoenix and
now
he has shown interest in an acoustic..
[...]
I just want to get him what ever would work best for him, plus I don't
want
to spend more than 300 or 400 dollars.
<<<
Vince:
Nice to hear that yet another guitarist may be getting his start. My own
advice is something that Pete himself has said: Get the best you can
afford, because if you buy a cheap guitar it makes it harder than it
should be to learn the mechanics. Now this doesn't mean you need to
spend $1500 on a Gibson Les Paul, but don't skimp. As for acoustic or
electric, here's some issues to think about:
- Used instruments are much cheaper than new ones, and often play better
(IMHO).
- Electric guitars need amplifiers, which are easily as important for the
sound as the guitar. A great guitar played through a cheap amp sounds
terrible. A decent amplifier will cost about the same as a guitar, so
you've got that to figure in to your price.
- Electrics are (generally) easier to learn. You can "ballpark" chords
and still have it sound something like what it should. Acoustics have a
really satisfying tone once you learn how to play, but can be frustrating
in the beginning. Once you get good on acoustic, though, electric is a
piece of cake. The converse is not true.
- You can buy a much better acoustic guitar for $400 than electric/amp
combo.
Bottom line: take your son to a good music store and let him hear
somebody good play an acoustic that you can afford and an electric/amp
combo that you can afford (so that he can hear how they *should* sound -
not how they'll sound the first few times he tries to play) and let him
decide. Then get him a few lessons where he can learn the basic chords
and sounds (it's important to have someone knowledgeable teach him the
basics and reinforce that practicing *will* get him better), then make
sure your stereo is in good shape, because he's probably going to be
sitting in front of it with his guitar a lot.
OK,
KLW