Opinions on best £300 guitar (NOW BOUGHT for £350) and £100 amp for beginner (NOW BOUGHT for £170)

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

mikeyrob73 said:

@Shrews ;
you could do worse than this 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Left-Handed-Fender-Squier-Classic-Vibe-Stratocaster-60s-Final-Reduction-/323384790550?itemId=323384790550&du=1

You'll struggle to find a better guitar for the money than that. Plus it comes slightly under budget so you'll be able to get a cable and strap etc.

Veganic

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

mikeyrob73 said:

@Shrews ;
you could do worse than this 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Left-Handed-Fender-Squier-Classic-Vibe-Stratocaster-60s-Final-Reduction-/323384790550?itemId=323384790550&du=1

You'll struggle to find a better guitar for the money than that. Plus it comes slightly under budget so you'll be able to get a cable and strap etc.

For someone who has expressed and interest in a shorter scale guitar, has hinted at not wanting a trem and has posted pictures of dual humbucker guitars this might just be a leap too far without trying it first for @Shrews ;

Could probably sell it on for the same though? (Although as it hasn't sold yet that might not be so easy?)

Modellista

Veganic said:

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

mikeyrob73 said:

@Shrews ;;
you could do worse than this 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Left-Handed-Fender-Squier-Classic-Vibe-Stratocaster-60s-Final-Reduction-/323384790550?itemId=323384790550&du=1

You'll struggle to find a better guitar for the money than that. Plus it comes slightly under budget so you'll be able to get a cable and strap etc.

For someone who has expressed and interest in a shorter scale guitar, has hinted at not wanting a trem and has posted pictures of dual humbucker guitars this might just be a leap too far without trying it first for @Shrews ;;

Could probably sell it on for the same though? (Although as it hasn't sold yet that might not be so easy?)

That is true.  There's loads of Epiphone SGs on eBay for around £150 so the choice is his.

Personally I'd have the Strat.

PinstripePhil

I'd go this route:
*Squire Bullet Strat for £115 (put EBall 10s on it with 0.11 gauge on the high E - take Wet n Dry sandpaper to the back of the neck to remove any sticky finish);
*Roland Micro Cube for £100 (use on the clean or crunch setting with loads of reverb);
*EP Booster £130 (set at noon and leave it on at all times);
*Souilder strap that makes you feel a million dollars and want to pick the guitar up over and over every day £50;
*Cables (x2) one 15ft and one patch cable £25 (get straight to angled jack 15ft lead); and
Spend the balance on having a professional luthier set the strat up (incl a dress of the frets if you can throw another £50 at it).
There you have a great set up that can be played quietly through headphones if required.
Good luck !!   
Cheers,
Phil

Veganic

Modellista said:

Personally I'd have the Strat.

But it's sunburst!

Other than that I too would have the Strat.

Edit: or this one?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eastwood-Classic-Left-Hand-Hollow-Body-Electric-Guitar-With-Hard-Case/253893623761?hash=item3b1d3d3fd1:g:~X4AAOSwX2xbqROp

Modellista

^ That's very nice.

Shrews

Tonight I spent £350 on one of these from Andertons.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/epiphone-les-paul-standard-left-handed-ebony-ch-enslebch1

It had an excellent review here:  https://www.guitarfella.com/epiphone-les-paul-standard-review/

That kind of sealed it for me. I suppose that in the end, I wanted my first guitar to be a new one. It's going be my birthday present in a weeks time, but the amp I will be buying next month and the anticipation will keep me excited like a daft 10-year old, right the way up to Christmas. 

I notice the Boss Katana 50's have gone up £30 just about everywhere, so hoping they drop again in the next month.

So unless circumstances dictate otherwise, the big plug-in will be Christmas Day.  Pics will follow!

Veganic

Nice.  Can I be your friend? 

Yours,

a sad left-hander

Paul7926

I'm well late to the party on this thread but all I was going to say was that the epiphone sg I got about 9 months ago has been a very competent first guitar.

It was the cheapest one in the range I think at about £130 but it stays in tune well.  The action is not super high either. I wish you the best of luck with your choice. Looks good to me but then I have a weakness for things SG or Led Paul shaped.

I too am a lefty in my early 50's but learning to play right handed. I figured  that I can't play anyway so there was no reason to go left handed and cut down my selection of guitars. Time will tell if that was a wise decision or not.

I can so relate to the excitement of it all. Great isn't it.

Shrews

Today I received my guitar!

It came well packaged from Andertons with no damage to the outer or inner boxes at all. I've checked it over with my inexperienced eyes and can't see any issues.  There was some tiny pieces of glue on the scratchboard and a bit of cardboard dust on the body which I've wiped off to give it a bit of sparkle. 

I'm leaving it in the box for now until I get a stand for it and will be taking it to my tutor next week to check it works ok, get it tuned to perfection and have a go at playing it through an amp.

I've held it my hands and rested it on my knee and it seems to fit great. The frets seem a similar size to my acoustic (top half) so finger positions seem to be very similar. If I was to have tried this out in the shop it would have definitely been one I'd have considered, so chuffed with that (and a sigh of relief).

Tenebrous

Congrats on the new guitar! But hey, rules are rules... You can't just talk about it - You have to show us

Shrews

It's not really any different to the picture above.  But yeah, I'll see if I can get some done tomorrow when it's a bit lighter. 

Paul7926

I can't believe you've not played it a little yet. You don't need to be all amped up. I actually do most of my practice unplugged to avoid wasting too much time playing with amp settings and pedals.

Congratulations on it arriving safe and sound and glad you are pleased with it.

Phil_aka_Pip

Guitars: Nothing wrong with Vintage, Squier, or Epiphone in your price bracket, but don't forget Tokai do some good Gibson knockoffs as well.

My advice on amplifiers might go against the grain but FWIW here it is:

I think you need something that you like the sound of with the guitar straight into it, clean - or as clean as the amplifier gets. Next requirement is it takes pedals well.

IME the Harley-Benton GA5 (Epiphone Valve Junior knockoff) fits the bill. Not everyone likes the GA5 or the VJ but either will give you a decent sound at home levels and might be good enough for band practice (I had a bass player with a 100W amplifier asking me to turn my GA5 down at a band practice!) 

HTH

Shrews

Like boyfriend and girlfriend!

https://imgur.com/xg9Pun0


Not sure how to embed that

DrJazzTap

Save your money 

Veganic

DrJazzTap said:

Save your money 

Can't really argue with that. 

@Shrews ; you will need a Telecaster next. Squier classic vibe.  I may have one for sale soon. 

Fifty9

For the amp, I’m with @Phil_aka_Pip in that you should get something that helps your ‘feel’ as you play. Something very responsive which, unless you buy a kemper or equivalent, is probably a small tube amp.

Shrews

Boss Katana 50 ordered from Music Matters for £171. Due to arrive Tuesday. 

My tutor lent me a Peavey amp and I've been playing my Epiphone through that.  Absolutely love my Epiphone, suits me almost perfectly. I am bent over slightly as it's obviously smaller than my acoustic, so need to get a decent strap to lift it a little.

Shrews

Strap ordered from Hypnotic!

Went through the controls on my Boss Katana with my tutor last night and he was mega impressed with it, even without the PC studio. I now have a good understanding of how it all works, how to store sounds etc. It sounded ace of 50w, 25w and 0.5W.  Less good when I tried it, but that probably tells a story!

Just noticed my Epiphone does has 2 issues, one of which may be a setup issue and the other I'm not exactly sure is an issue at all

Issue 1

The thin e string at Fret 1 is basically muted. No matter how hard I press down, or with what finger, or where in the fret, it sounds mute. So F and Dm are not good (thankfully don't play these too often). There is also some slight buzz on the A and thick E strings around Fret 7-10.

Issue 2

One of the Tone buttons doesn't appear to be screwed on correctly i.e three of the Vol/Tone buttons seem to be level but the 4th is slightly misaligned?  Anybody know if this is an issue, or whether it's meant to be like that?

Any advice would be appeciated