Suggest a good begginer 'pack'

RoboProd

I always enjoyed guitar at school but never got round to actually taking it up as a hobby, I'm now 27 and pretty much forgot everything I learned. I'm looking to buy a cheap beginner set up (guitar, amp etc) preferably packaged together. Seems to be a lot of options out there at varying prices. To be honest it might just be a whim and I'll give up again in a few weeks so I don't want to spend crazy money but recommendations would be appreciated.

guitargeek62

Welcome!

Three important questions:

What are a few of your favourite bands?
Do you have an iPad / tablet?
What's your budget?

Lestratcaster

My first guitar was a package thing, a Squier strat, Fender practice amp and the usual accessories, stand, spare strings, etc. I still have the strat and stand today (traded in amp) 20 years later. Back then it was £195 but I doubt its that low now!!

darthed1981

I'd personally buy a Squier Bullet Strat and a Blackstar Core Stereo 10.  Then get a lead and a few plectrums.

That would come in about £200 and will get you a LONG way...

simonk

Yamaha Pacifica is what I'd buy guitar wise. Drag that around a few shops and plug it into a few amps until something rings your bell.

Sparky

darthed1981 said:

I'd personally buy a Squier Bullet Strat and a Blackstar Core Stereo 10.  Then get a lead and a few plectrums.

That would come in about £200 and will get you a LONG way...

This, but look at second hand if you're not sure. ID Core 10's (or 20's) can be had for peanuts on the bay. Can't imagine a Bullet will be expensive either.

redrighthand

guitargeek62 said:

Welcome!

Three important questions:

What are a few of your favourite bands?
Do you have an iPad / tablet?
What's your budget?

These are important questions!

RoboProd

guitargeek62 said:

Welcome!

Three important questions:

What are a few of your favourite bands?
Do you have an iPad / tablet?
What's your budget?

Oasis, The Enemy, The Jam, The Who etc.
Yes I have an IPad.
Maximum I'd be willing to go is about £300 but I'd rather not spend that amount if not needed.

I have a few acoustic guitars that belonged to my grandfather but I want to learn with an electric guitar.

Lestratcaster said:

My first guitar was a package thing, a Squier strat, Fender practice amp and the usual accessories, stand, spare strings, etc. I still have the strat and stand today (traded in amp) 20 years later. Back then it was £195 but I doubt its that low now!!

Yes I've saw several ones like what you describe!
This is the main one I was looking at:
https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/squier-affinity-strat-hss-with-fender-frontman-15g-amp-candy-apple-red?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyNK9__LJ1QIVlRbTCh1AewMFEAkYCSABEgJDnPD_BwE

darthed1981 said:

I'd personally buy a Squier Bullet Strat and a Blackstar Core Stereo 10.  Then get a lead and a few plectrums.

That would come in about £200 and will get you a LONG way...

Thanks but I'd rather not buy the stuff separately as to be honest I have no idea what I'm doing!

RoboProd

Also, thanks for all the replies guys!

darthed1981

RoboProd said:

darthed1981 said:

I'd personally buy a Squier Bullet Strat and a Blackstar Core Stereo 10.  Then get a lead and a few plectrums.

That would come in about £200 and will get you a LONG way...

Thanks but I'd rather not buy the stuff separately as to be honest I have no idea what I'm doing!

I can understand that.  The main issue with the packs is usually you get a decent guitar, but the Amps are a bit terrible.  You can get a better deal for yourself buying bits.

Sparky made a SUPERB point about eBay as well.  Because a lot of people quit and a lot of others get rid of their starter gear when they either get better (other people) or want other gear but still suck (me) eBay is flooded with starter gear, at very good prices.

If you can get an ID Core 10 for £40-£50 for example that will beat the living hide out out of any starter pack amp, and will give you loads of options to keep you interested, like effects and different amp tones.  It is actually pretty damn fun just hitting simple chords with some distortion and volume, and you can be doing that after a couple of weeks.

As well as the Squier Bullets, there are also the lower end Epiphones which can both be had in packs.  You can also get the slightly higher end Squier Affinity range in packs as well.

Whatever you want to do people around here are really helpful and will have loads of tips and advice, so welcome aboard bro

mikeyrob73

@RoboProd if your local to me your more than welcome to pop round and have a blast on a Squier Bullet Strat you can have cheap, will come with a strap some plectrums and a headphone  etc to get you going

skunkwerx

I've pieced together a starter set for you. 

Choice of guitars (pick one): Some of the below come with an accessory pack from andertons, which I'll explain at the end. 

Yamaha Pacifica 012 Strat. £157

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/PACIF012BL/solid-body-electric-guitars/yamaha-pacifica-012-black

Or 

Yamaha Pacifica 120H. £219

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/PAC120HYS/solid-body-electric-guitars/yamaha-pacifica-120h-yellow-natural-satin

Or

Squire Bullet Strat (various colours). £110

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/0311001540/solid-body-electric-guitars/squier-bullet-stratocaster-rw-in-fiesta-red-whardtail

Or 

Epiphone SG special VE (couple colours) - £150

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/EGSVCHVCH1/solid-body-electric-guitars/epiphone-sg-special-ve-in-cherry

Or 

Jackson Js22 - £201

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/2910120527/solid-body-electric-guitars/jackson-guitar-js22-dinky-archtop-in-metallic-blue





Heres the amp:

Blackstar Lt Echo 10. £60 
10 watt practice amp, 2 channels (clean and overdrive), built in tape delay effect (turn on and off as you please. Google delay effect if you're unsure what it is, you'll get an idea) 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/LTECHO10/combo-amps/blackstar-lt-echo-10-combo-guitar-amp


Guitar cable, 6 metre: £6.99

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/SGC6/instrument-cables/andertons-pro-sound-63mm-jack-to-jack-cable-6m

Tuner, Korg. - £11 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/PITCHCLIP/tuners-metronomes/korg-pitchclip-clip-on-guitar-tuner

Picks: 50p each.  

Choose some from the counter! Get a light, a medium and a heavy. Play with all of them and over time you'll find your preference. (Which will change anyway by the way!)
But heres an idea. 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/JD47P3N/picks/jim-dunlop-jazz-iii-jd47p3n-nylon-picks-6-pack


Guitar stand. (As if a starter set doesnt include this absolutely fucking essential tool!) £11.99

Seriously. Its essential. Dont lean it up against a wall, you'll just end up knocking the machineheads, putting it out of tune and end up scraping the guitar, which will effect resale value if you dont want to continue. It also cant fall when sat in there. 


https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/SGA108BK/guitar-stands/stagg-guitar-stand





Ok so, if you chose a guitar that comes with the Andertons Accessory pack, then you can forget buying the tuner and guitar cable, because if the pack is the same as when I got mine, then it comes with them. But call andertons first to confirm. 

The only things the Squire starter pack comes with that I havent included are a strap, a dvd and a gig bag. 

Because I deem them utterly useless unless you will be attending lessons away from home, or taking your guitar to a mates which you'll want a gig bag for.

 A strap, not necessary at all unless you have no where to sit. But as a learner, play sitting and if you stick at it, next month buy a cheap strap. (The one included in the pack would be a basic cheap strap). 

Dvd. Dont be sold on that. 
Instead, seriously go to google, type in Justinguitar, and follow his beginners course. 
Its absolutely free of charge, and you will learn a lot more by Justin Sandercoe than a free dvd will ever teach you. He also teaches songs, from beginner to advanced with youtube videos showing you how to play them. 


Final note. If you don't stick at it, you'll sell that gear just as easy as the starter pack, without having spent as much.


So anyway, total price for say, the first Yamaha 012, blackstar amp, guitar lead, tuner and stand = £246


Thats cheaper than Yamahas 012 starter pack that comes with the same guitar but no guitar cable, or guitar stand... which surely would be more useful to you than a gig bag and a dvd, which it does contain. As mentioned, Justinguitar. Free, better. 

Or if you chose the Squire bullet strat, you'd be looking at £198 all in, for the guitar, amp, lead, tuner and stand. 

The Squire affinity pack you were looking at isnt bad value at £254, as the guitar sold separately is £190. 
If you wanted the affinity series strat particularly and for example bought it on its own with the rest of the gear I've listed it would come to around £25 more than that of the pack with the Fender frontman amp, but might offer you a bit of a better amp, a secure stand and an easier and quicker to use tuner. I imagine the kit one is a plug into type, whereas a clip on type can stay on the headstock and you neednt unplug from the amp and faff about. 


Others have mentioned the blackstar id:core amplifiers. Theyre far superior to the fender frontman imho. They also have built in tuners, so you wouldnt need one seperately really, although for a beginner, a seperate one may be easier to navigate and read if you're not used to tuning.

Theyre £94 new, and bloody hard to beat. Great built in effects, 6 preset channels to choose from, good overall eq knob to play with, and great sounding. Gumtree often sees them up for grabs. 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/IDCORE10V2BLACK/combo-amps/blackstar-id-core-10-version-2-in-black


This years model has V2 after its name. So 'Blackstar Id:core 10 V2'. 

The original model (still a great practice amp with not much difference) would obviously not have v2 after the name. 
 
If you got one of those and a guitar, all you'd need is a cable and some picks as a minimum to start playing around. 


Just for your info, all the links to Andertons should be in stock. Theyre a decent shop. I'm in no way affiliated. Just used to navigating their website and its my usual go to store.  

So is pmt, but I find Andertons returns more flexible, their delivery info and updates (get emails when its been dispatched, the name of the dpd driver who will deliver it and when etc), and also they offer loyalty points which soon add up to a few quid off the next purchase.  

Bridgehouse

^ epic post!

usedtobe

Superwiz, @skunkwerx !

57Deluxe

don't go cheap just cos a beginner - - spend a little wisely and get inspiration not indifference.

Look at ANY PRS SE model s/h on ebay... all are exceptional tone/players for the money. Can't go wrong

Amp info to follow...

dazzajl

Amazing post @skunkwerx ;

I wish I was just starting out (I know I often sound like it) so I could follow your advice 

GuitarZero

Take @skunkwerx advice.  Even if you don't understand it all check out the two guitar models from the links, decide which you like, send a copy of the post to Andertons via e-mail and have them call you to discuss it and make a purchase.  They'll sort you out.

underdog

As an alternative ask people on here what have they got for sale that would suit your budget and wishes. That way if you didn't stick with it you'd probably not lose a penny (may even make a couple) if you sold it all on.

Also if you're going new the squier bullet mustang is a great guitar.

LaCathedrale_UK

What about  a BOSS Katana mini or Blackstar Fly for the amp? 

If you're in any doubt as to the limitations of cheap gear - it's all in your mind!

BRISTOL86

Pacifica and Katana. Done. 

Sassafras

Not sure I'd go for an amp with a load of built-in effects. Aren't they more of a distraction if you're just starting out?