Gear for a beginner

studmissile

Hey bluefinllama welcome, great idea starting guitar but rather spend the greater portion on the guitar (pref 2nd hand) and start learning, pick up a small practice amp in the meantime.

Chocklit_Thunda

+1 on what Stud has to say... And check the 2nd hand market before you buy new. Cubs can be had for under R3000 if you find a good enough deal. I saw a CR250 online for under 3000 on gumtree a while back... 7000 is about 3 and a half times my starting budget so you could find some amazing kit for that price, especially 2nd hand through Gumtree, Olx etc etc

For under 4K you could find a MIM fender or a higher end epiphone or cort, which will have the smaller scale length and the rest of that can get you a Cub and all the extra's Wirt mentioned ?

sharonzaz

depending on your music style, you could do so much better, especially on the guitar side if you look at 2nd hand.
way better options, both quality and value for money.

amp wise, huge options. look around. go from shop to shop. bargain, ask for discounts. look at second hand gear at shops, lots of time there are really good deals.

gear like that you dont buy over a forum page. you get out there
and spend lots of time checking out stuff.
ask questions, harass the sales guys.

2nd hand epi LP, mostly from 5-7 years and below - good.
likely to spend around 2-4k.
2nd hand strat, likely the squire from latest years.
youll spend even less or similar.

amp wise, you can do with a nice roland cube. good value
and nice features.
if you have an iDevice you can just get iRig and for now
use phones or a HIFI, save some more bucks till you can get something more.

in any case, you should budget for accessories as was recommended here earlier.
bag\case, strap, tuner, pedals??, cables, picks etc.

take a friend with you who might have some knowledge.
they might save you a lot of money and heartache.
TAKE YOUR TIME - dont rush.

ive had some luck picking up gear for close to nothing, and the idea is not to chase it but be patient.

sharonzaz

Psean

sharonzaz wrote: so many options:
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/berea-musgrave/custom-epiphone-sg/1001072499390910023997009

Nice looking guitar but I have to laugh at this:

Original paint work was black took it to a brilliant Lutheran to have the natural wood instead.

And this on the partscaster :

The reverse headstock will turn heads like you wont believe

sharonzaz

theres more:

good combo:
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/johannesburg-south/epiphone-les-paul-guitar-%2B-roland-cube-30-amp/1001065510730910192068409

others:
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/strand/hamer-electric-guitar-stand-tuner-metronome/1001065538220910002075109
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/glenwood/esp-ltd-wa+600-will-adler-signature-series-electric-guitar/1001068505860910005658109
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/city-centre/vox-valvetronix-guitar-amplifier/1001070736530910014432609
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/george/fender-mustang-i-v2/1001072146590910015415909
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/centurion/marshall-mg15r-guitar-amplifier/1001072204130910189378309
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/city-centre/gibson-eppiphone-les-paul/1001072214130910165721109
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/westville/fender-squire-strat-70s-head/1001072204430910193042209

in some of these cases you can save more than half your money and get WAY MORE than decent gear, not for a beginner but even for players of a few years or more.
some good deals out there.

good luck

DaFiz

wirt wrote: Hmm... and what about cables, new strings, plectrums, string-winders, a tuner, guitar strap (if you want one)? ?

Like buying a motorcycle and then realising you need helmet, jacket, pants, gloves and boots afterwards. :-[

An acoustic guitar is the way to go for practicing chords and strumming techniques and generally getting the feel for the rhythm. ?

bluefinllama

Eish, now I feel like a sad panda ?

I appreciate all the help, but now it seems like I'll have to wait a while to get something decent. Most of those linked will be hard to entertain as viable since I'm from Pretoria (Should've probably mentioned that earlier) which means the one's from Dbn PE etc is out of the question.

studmissile

Why the Cort, do you like that shape?

sharonzaz

bluefinllama wrote: Eish, now I feel like a sad panda ?

I appreciate all the help, but now it seems like I'll have to wait a while to get something decent. Most of those linked will be hard to entertain as viable since I'm from Pretoria (Should've probably mentioned that earlier) which means the one's from Dbn PE etc is out of the question.

the links were just examples.
what i meant was to clarify how easy it is to get good deals if youre willing to wait and look around
and not just go for the first deal you get at the first shop you visit.

bluefinllama

~~Well, I like the whole sweatshop idea~~ ??? I do like a Les Paul style yeah and all 3 finishes do look pretty good, but what I've seen/heard thus far it seems like very good value for money. I won't lie, the following video also played a role:

=

I do understand what you meant with the links, thing is I do usually shop around (reason things out, do my research etc) but earlier this afternoon I felt like a little kid who wanted to open his Christmas present (you kinda burst my bubble by being so sensible).

bluefinllama

But I do have to admit I almost phoned for these 2:
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/glenwood/esp-ltd-wa+600-will-adler-signature-series-electric-guitar/1001068505860910005658109
http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/johannesburg-south/epiphone-les-paul-guitar-%2B-roland-cube-30-amp/1001065510730910192068409

Also forgot to tell wirt that he is correct, he most likely did see me on dota ~ unless someone stole this nick as well.

Chocklit_Thunda

http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/johannesburg-south/epiphone-les-paul-guitar-%2B-roland-cube-30-amp/1001065510730910192068409

This is a really nice deal ? Plus, it's not a blatant burst! ? But honestly dude, I'd listen to the above guys! 2nd hand will yield some awesome guitars. If you're hell bent on a valve amp, I wouldn't rush into anything and spend some time looking and playing a few

Check out this thread for amp advice: http://www.guitarforum.co.za/amps-speakers-and-valves/advice-needed-for-a-new-gigging-amp/

Bob-Dubery

2nd hand is the way to go. You can get more guitar bang for your buck that way. Also say you spend R4k on a new guitar, play for 6 months and decide it's not for you or you want to upgrade. You'll get maybe 2.5k for that guitar because now it's second hand. If you buy a 2nd hand guitar for 2.5k when you sell it it's second hand but it was also second hand when you bought it, so you'll take a much smaller knock or maybe break even.

There's more than the axe and the amplifier - as already pointed out in this thread. There's strings (a recurring cost), cables, picks, a case, leads. Where you do have an advantage sometimes buying new is you can haggle with the shop and they'll chuck in some leads or something. Though at your end of the financial spectrum they will not have a lot of wiggle room on the deal.

Another cost you need to factor in is a setup. This is a vague term, but basically it means making various adjustments to the guitar so that it plays physically easier and stays in tune better. I think there are a lot of guys who start playing, get a badly set up guitar that is difficult to play or has rubbish intonation (intonation is a measure of how accurately the guitar is in tune at each point on the neck) or goes out of tune all the time and they decide it's too hard for them and let it go when if they'd just had the guitar set up properly in the first place they'd have had an easier and more enjoyable time of it.

So, if your budget is 7k, then bargain on about 6k for the amp and axe (and buy second hand!) and leave a bit for the set up, a tuner and so on.

Take some lessons. Even if only for the first few months. A good teacher will steer you away from pitfalls and bad habits you don't even know exist and will give you a good foundation to build on.

bluefinllama

K guys, I've decided to be more patient and look around a bit. Would playing through my home theatre system or pc work at first *instead of spending the cash on an amp)? That way I could get a better guitar now and a better amp later. If so, how does one do it, normal line in sufficient or not?

studmissile

bluefinllama wrote: K guys, I've decided to be more patient and look around a bit. Would playing through my home theatre system or pc work at first *instead of spending the cash on an amp)? That way I could get a better guitar now and a better amp later. If so, how does one do it, normal line in sufficient or not?

Thats what I would do, even your local cash converters should have a cheap (R500) 10 watt practice amp for starters. If you like that Les Paul shape go for a Epiphone also look into a Tokai. First focus on getting a good guitar.

wirt

I think it'd work.

What I'd recommend is to get the guitar, and then buy a copy of Rocksmith 2014 which comes with a 1⁄4" jack-to-USB and play through your PC. That gives you some digital modeling, a means of amplification (albeit a bit cheap sounding) and a tool to get you started on learning how to play.

sharonzaz

id be very careful plugging a high gain guitar into a system
that not meant to receive that kind input.
you will need some kind of preamp, multi effect pedal
or anything thats able to accept this kind of gain without blowing.

using your pc, perhaps with phones or decent speaker would be a fantastic idea, but you would need a recording interface of some kind as you will find the latency really upsetting.
also you do not want to plug your guitar into the built in card
without the proper preamp stage and risk damaging the card.

a decent card would cost you R1500 atleast. give or take.
paired with some nice modeling software would yield way better options than just an amp, but with no way to transport it, unless its a laptop.

i think even an entry level processor like a zoom pedal would do.
pocket pod or anything similar.

IceCreamMan

hi and welcome to the forum...

yr original choice imho is a damn good one...go get em....

sure you can get good deals second hand, sure you may get a better guitar warra warra fishpaste but the choice you have made is a very sound one, a valve amp with reverb and the cubs are excellent...the guitar made in a factory that makes millions of guitars a year ....go get em.....at 7k u made great choices.... and the VB variant of the CR250 is drop dead sexy too

OR

you can sit around an wait for the deals to come along , then mission to see the stuff, have dicussions , no warrantee and as a newbie this may be crucial later on....

Clive

bluefinllama wrote: Okay, so I have decided I want to start playing the guitar and I've read the advice so I do believe I'll be going with a laney cub12r amp which I've gotten a quote for at R3800, but the guitar is a bit of a problem still. I've been looking around and I think I've decided on the Cort CR250 (quoted at R3000), which makes it R6800 including delivery and setup.

I do have relatively small hands and I'm quite short as well. My budget is about R7000.
I would like to know what you guys think of this setup (especially the guitar) and if I should take the plunge?

Hi Im Clive I have been playing guitar all my life my dad bought me a Fender Strat in 1963 and Im still
playing it or should I say its still my main Guitar I also have a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Gold top which I bought in the 70's
Cort looks like a good choice you could also concider the Fender Squire they are great guitars as well
the way to check is to put the guitar on let go completely and jump around a bit if the neck drops try something else the last thing you need is a neck heavy guitar where you are not only trying to play but also having to hold the guitar up with your left hand hope this helps