The Thing About "Beginner's" Products That Bothers Me

We all have been there at least once. We wanted to start with something from somewhere, but we don't want to go all in at once. We want to dive into it step by step, just in case we make a costly mistake. While this is tried and true for starting a business or relationship or even gambling, it does not make sense for a beginner to "Jumpstart" his guitaring life with a beginner's guitar or bundle pack.

Lets get to the first reason, why....

These instruments aren't high quality. Sharp, protruding fret ends threatening to slice your palm open like a baked potato, uneven frets resulting in fret buzz or dead notes on some part of the fretboard, cheap, damp and ugly wood used on shitty "beginner's" guitars resulting in very bad resonance and sustain, blotchy paint jobs or glue marks all over the place...and it goes on and on and on. So why do people still go for "beginner's" guitars while starting out, knowing that you're going to give up about 2 months later due to guitar-related-injuries or playability or maintenance woes?

As a beginner, you want to get your playing basics down, you want to learn to play the guitar right, not learn to do technical adjustments or repairs (although picking up on guitar tech abilities benefits you in the best ways, that's something you should only do later on...). A beginner needs a decent to great guitar to start off, trust me. You want to be free of maintenance worries, you want to be able to play the guitar freely without injuring yourself. With a higher quality instrument while starting out, you all have a reliable asset in your hands, you have the tone checked in your list. There is no way to go wrong with a better guitar. The sustain is at the very least, decent to great, the hardwares are better and the woods used utilises more drying process to "crystallise the resonance of the wood" (quoting Paul Reed Smith).

Sure, you get more freebies from buying packs, or you can save a few more bank notes when you buy cheap. See, most people will feel the urge to upgrade a year later, when you realise you're improving fast and might outgrow that old beater guitar. You saved a few hundred in your beginning, only to spend more in the following year, upgrading your gear. We've all done that, and some of us might still be doing that. There's really no point I feel, to save a couple hundreds here, and spend even more later on, only to realise you should have spent that money on that better guitar in the first place. And now, you've ended up with two guitars, and one of it hanging in the corner of your, until the next garage sale, which you'd probably end up selling it for like 30 bucks.

The most common reason people go cheap on their first guitars, is that they're unsure whether they're serious about taking up guitar. Take a moment, sit down by yourself and reflect on your life please...no seriously...you're here for a reason, that means you're interested in buying a guitar, learning how to play guitar and possibly, be good at guitar. If it's not about financials, I need you to toss that uncertainty out of your mind, into the trash can. Now, go and get that guitar, and play the living hell out of it. Before you know, you'd be wailing on a guitar like a rockstar or bluesman or folk fingerstylist. Just go ahead and do it, because the more you hesitate, the more you're likely to regret your decision to pick up the guitar. SO get a nicer guitar, let it inspire you to play more. Don't let a cheap crappy guitar demotivate you.

We all should look past that "cheap guitars are for beginners, expensive guitars are for experts" mentality. Who says a kid should not be allowed a PRS if his parents can afford it for him? Who says a professional gigging musician should not be allowed near a cheap beater guitar like Stagg? This mentality fails to recognise that Danelectros and Fender Mustangs and Les Paul Juniors all were once beginner's cheap beater guitars. They are't cheap anymore in the here and now though, and they certainly are not plagued with quality problems. The line should be drawn between good quality guitars and bad quality guitars, not between cheap and expensive guitars.

There are also lots of decent guitars at not-so-earth-shattering prices. Companies like Epiphone, Yamaha, Cort, Squier, Sterling By Music Man etc. they all make great quality instruments for not a lot of money. They have quality and the price is right, so what are the excuses for makers that make cheap crappy guitars that are no good at all?


These are my personal recommendations when choosing great quality guitars for beginners:

Acoustic:

Epiphone AJ-220S (or SCE for the electro-acoustic version)

Solid top acoustic-electric for a little under RM1000
Can you imagine the price on the non-electro one?















This is about 30% cheaper than the electro-acoustic one.
Need I say more?











Cort Earth Series (any model from the series)

Again, another solid top selection that is well under RM1000
This one, the Earth 60 or 70 comes with more binding/rosette trims and look a very slight bit posher to some...















This one here is a special Earth Grand. Single rosette trim, no binding, all naked wood. And that top is covered in natural bearclaw figuring. This particular one is a 2nd hand, selling in Spectrum Music Penang. The price, you ask? All I can say is, too scary to post here...









Electric:

Squier Affinity Strats/Teles

There are some pretty colours, and there are some default colours too, so it works for everyone, regardless of your taste in colours! And you're getting great quality and sound from the guitar.



Sterling SUB Series Silo3/AX3 model

Are you noticing a pattern here? Yeah I love Strats...
The Silo3 is under RM1000. But it offers high-end features like asymmetrical neck profile and perfectly-serviceable 2-pivot bridge.

The AX3 is based on the Axis, which was Eddie Van Halen's signature guitar, before he had a fallout with EBMM and "Jump"ed-ship to Peavey, which he also had a fallout with later on...

Everything about this axe screams rock and roll. And it boasts a pretty decent price tag of around RM 1300. Features the same neck shape and bridge as the Silo3, and comes with a stunning printed quilt top.






BONUS FEATURED:

Squier Vintage Modified 51

It's neither a Strat, nor a Tele. It's got tons of quirk, no tone knob (yes, that's a 3-rotary switch there), has coil split, and guess what?

It's cheaper than the Affinity Strats/Teles.
'Nuff said.












I hope you guys enjoy this long entry. It was a rather spontaneous thing, because all the recommendation section developed from my rant about consumer mentality in the guitar industry, haha... Be sure to stay tuned for more guitar-related topics, buying guides, technical guides, reviews, shootouts, opinions and all you want to know about guitars.