A few random things ....
I've been playing guitar for around 20 years now, but only as kind of a hobby these days. (I was in a band for a while, but that was a long time ago.)
One thing you'll want to think about with an electric guitar purchase is; are you real interested in doing a lot of string bends/dives as part of your playing style, or not? I ask because basically, electric guitars come in two basic types --ones with a "fixed" bridge, or a "floating" one. The "floating" ones have the tremolo bar on them (often called a "whammy bar" as kind of a slang term) that you can push down on (or in some cases, also pull up on) while playing. Honestly? I'd recommend sticking with a fixed bridge model as a first guitar, because they're less hassle to tune/keep in tune. You can also usually save a little money that way, too, since the "double locking" floating tremolo guitars tend to cost a premium price for the various mechanisms out there (like "Floyd Rose" or "EDGE" or what-not) that make it work.
As for brands, I've long been a fan of Ibanez for electrics. They make a wide variety of guitars, but their "bread and butter" staple items are lines of guitar with "EX" in the beginning of their model numbers, and lines with "RG" in the beginning. Any of them with an "RG" are better quality guitars, all the way around, but of course they tend to cost $200+ more than their "EX" equivalents too.
All in all, electric guitars are like lots of items out there. You generally get what you pay for, up through a certain price-point, and then the really high dollar models are there where you're paying for the collector's value and/or the brand name. One school of thought for beginners is that they should start with something really cheap and basic, because if you practice on that and get good enough to make it sound good, you'll instantly sound way better when you move up to something nicer. (And if you decide you don't like it, you're not out much money.) But on the flip-side? I found that for me, I started losing interest when I had a really cheap setup. It just wasn't rewarding enough to play on a real inexpensive guitar, through a cheap little amp, where I couldn't ever reproduce the sounds I wanted to make with it. And then when I wanted to upgrade, I had practically NO resale value for the inexpensive "starter" quality gear, so it may as well have just been thrown away.
So I think if I had to recommend something to a beginner I was friends with? I'd suggest considering something like a used Ibanez RG guitar, purchased from a reputable store. Ask if the store will do a "full setup" on it for you before you take it home, too. (Usually, this process only costs $75 or so for a guitar you bring in off the street for service, and they might even do it free or heavily discounted with your purchase.) During this process, a good shop will adjust the "truss rod" inside the neck and make sure the guitar has everything adjusted for proper intonation and string height over the frets. (If that's mis-adjusted, you'll get a "buzz" when you play certain notes - and it's something hard to adjust properly as a beginner, on your own, if you need to fix it.)
Hey,
I'm considering to learn how to play the electric guitar. I know nothing about music(but I love to listen to it
). Does anyone knows a good and cheap electric guitar? I'm also looking for a good electric guitar for dummies-ish book.
