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

Shrews

Hello all,

I've been playing acoustic for about six months now and now I can actually play some tunes I am thinking of moving into the 'electric' world and making my first purchase.  I'm 51 so it hasn't come easy but I've loved every minute and confidence and motivation are good.

I'm an ex-butcher, so fingers are set in their ways (!) and don't stretch far, so I've been advised that smaller frets might help (Les Paul, Epiphone?).  I'm also left-handed.

Music tastes vary but I'm more of a Punk/Indie/Beatles guy rather than rock i.e would prefer to play a Sex Pistols/Smiths/Beatles tune rather than Van Halen!

You guys were all learners once, so any advice given, I would be very grateful for.  

I'm looking for something in the £200-£300 range with a £100 or so for an amp (again, any recommendations I'd be grateful for).

Also not sure when, where and what is best to buy.  Christmas is coming, so not sure in the guitar world if the best time is to buy before or after.  Equally, is buying second hand a better option and how much should I trial before making up my mind?  And when trialling, should I wait to get more experience or should I do it sooner rather than later? 

- left-handed
- fingers that don't stretch well
- Punk/Indie/Beatles
- £300 tops
- New or second hand.

Many thanks all. 

Nikc

epi dot studio and a decent practice amp boss or vox, the guitar is good and the amp will hold its own and remain with you as a practice amp for years to come the little vox g3 mini is 80ish quid and cracking for home use. epi dot studio 250ish - job done  

dazzajl

This should be an interesting read. You’ll
probably get as many recommendations as there are people here to recommend one. 

Fact is, there are almost too many good guitars at that price to mention. My personal favourites from shop walls are usually Squiers. 

Best bet is to try and put aside a weekday to go to a big shop and try everything that takes your fancy. It’s all down to what feels good in the hand. 

Modellista

Epiphone SG and a 50w Boss Katana.

Modellista

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epiphone-Korina-SG/323404359257?hash=item4b4c66e659:g:HgUAAOSw68hbebV0

tone1

There’s a Blackstar HT1R combo in Classifieds for £90...... would be my choice 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/139458/fs-blackstar-ht1r-amplifier

thermionic

dazzajl said:

This should be an interesting read. You’
probably get as many recommendations as there are people here to recommend one. 

Fact is, there are almost too many good guitars at that price to mention. My personal favourites from shop walls are usually Squiers. 

Best bet is to try and put aside a weekday to go to a big shop and try everything that takes your fancy. It’s all down to what feels good in the hand. 

Good advice. I would probably stick to known brands and models that will have a decent resale value, which at that price means Squier and Epiphone. Epi Les Pauls and SGs and  Squier Strats and Teles are available in left-handed models. How many you’ll be able to find hanging up on shop walls is another thing.

skunkwerx

Blackstar Id core 10 can be had for £83 new, or the 20watt version for £104 new, which is a little bigger, can go a little louder and enables you to use a footswitch to change channels. 

The upside of those is they have built in tuners and effects, and sound good to boot. As theyre solid state you’ll still
be able to use as much gain as you like without it going too loud too. 

breakstuff

Yep as @skunkwerx says.I've got an ID core 20 and it's a great little amp for the more rocky stuff.

mark123

epiphone les paul custom (white)+  boss katana 50 

darthed1981

dazzajl said:

This should be an interesting read. You’
probably get as many recommendations as there are people here to recommend one. 

Fact is, there are almost too many good guitars at that price to mention. My personal favourites from shop walls are usually Squiers. 

Best bet is to try and put aside a weekday to go to a big shop and try everything that takes your fancy. It’s all down to what feels good in the hand. 

Wisdom!

Choose a guitar on what feels good to you, I don't like Strats, some people think they are God's own axe, I love Les Pauls, some people think they are too heavy and stupid.

Trying some guitars in a shop is a great idea, try and find a decent shop near you, where are you based?  Someone can probably recommend somewhere.

Only specific recommendation I can make is if you can stretch your amp budget to get a Boss Katana 50, probably the best and most versatile amp for < £400 and you can carry on using it as a main amp much longer than any other option in the price range.

joetele

Agreed with the amp recommendations - spend £150 on a Boss Katana 50 and you'll have a fantastic practice amp plus something you can play louder and, if needs be, do small gigs with. They're incredible value and quality. 

Guitar wise, that'd leave you with £250-300 - there's so much you can get for this money there's really no better advice than the above - try a few in shops to see what feels right. If you need a shorter scale neck, Epiphone or similar would be good. 

pintspiller

Go to a shop and try guitars. Try friends guitars. Get an opinion on what sounds and feels good to you.

Being leftie restricts this though. But on the positive side, maybe leftie-guitars are cheaper to but on used market.

baldy

Definitely agree with the Boss Katana 50 amp. They are £165 new or can be had for a bit over a £100 used.
As to guitar I would suggest a Yamaha Pacifica 112 (not the 012) which are just over £200 new, rock solid build & hardware for the money but as others have said you really need to get to a shop & try several guitars to see what feels best to you.

mikeyrob73

Something like this 
Great value for money the the Vintage v100
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F263928353146


Amp wise 
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F142932865097

Within budget job done.

JAYJO

Im 52 and a lefty and i love sausages. I found most guitar shops i visited selling new lefties were charging up to £100 more for a new lefty than righty( I paid this £100 more for an acoustic but never again) so look around and as suggested maybe buy used. I eventually bought off line GAK and saved £250 compared to what my local shop wanted just because it was a lefty and they would not budge a penny.

Veganic

What scale length is your acoustic?

I don't think you can go wrong with your first one as long as you accept it will be a learning experience. What you think you need is often not what you find you need.  

I haven't found 2nd hand lefties to be cheaper.

Humbuckers or single coils?
I would go for singles if you won't be using high gain. And go for 2 pickups unless you know you need those position 2 and 4 sounds.

Tremolo or not?
I would say not unless you really really want one.



Look at the Thomann.de range. If you aren't planning on venturing much past the 12th fret then you won't need super-slick optimised set-up. You might find you can get two within your budget.
I have never tried one but they get good reviews.

They do a short scale mustang-a-like if you really need a shorter scale. There are also some cool punky looking telecaster shapes. 


(Personally I would go for a Squier 50s Telecaster but that's out of budget for now.)


Edit: My advice is usually is different from most peoples.
Lots say try before you buy but that is not practical for a lefty on a tight budget.  And a learner will not have the experience to judge.  You can often get used to something that feels alien at first. And you will be auditioning the amp as much as the guitar. Save that for your 2nd or 3rd guitar when you know what you like.

People say 2nd hand is best. This doesn't work for a the left handed on a budget.  The savings are really minimal, the risk greater.

Fuengi

Whatever you buy you're (unless you're a unique middle aged man) going to want to move on in time, so try to get good value on the used market. 

If it were me...

Amp
I'd get a nice smallish amp - the Blackstar 10w is a great little amp for almost no money - don't be tempted to buy a 100w amp because it's cheap, they are becoming less and less resellable.

Guitars
I'd put out a plea on the classifieds here for guitars for around £150. You'll probably get to chose from a range of Strats / Teles / Les Paul by Squier / Epiphone / Vintage / Yamaha. I'd probably buy two at that price and get a feel for the different types and sounds. 

When (not if) you upgrade the guitars you'll lose very little and have a good idea of what you want. 

Sound
I've been playing about five years and I can hear things now that I would never have picked up when I started. Your appreciation of the sound a guitar can make will develop as you play daily. Start with a good basic setup and see which way your ears and hands take you.

Have fun! 

munckee

Having bought numerous electrics both new and second hand I would buy second hand. As @Fuengi says you will want to change up in time, it is the nature of GAS.

A used Boss Katana or Yamaha THR would give you a good amp which can do everything, other possible route is a small valve combo which will sound (in my opinion) better but will be a one trick pony, I'd maybe think valve amps next time.

For a used guitar I would look at Squier's, Epiphones, G&Ls and Vintage which all produce good quality cheap instruments.  Be careful though they all have numerous ranges with varying quality in components.

A used squier classic vibe strat would be a high quality flexible instrument and most people can comfortably play strats.

My 2p worth!

munckee

In fact there is a G&L Bluesboy telecaster for £350 in the classifieds on here humbucker pickup in the neck, tele bridge pickup.  I would get that!

joetele

munckee said:

In fact there is a G&L Bluesboy telecaster for £350 in the classifieds on here humbucker pickup in the neck, tele bridge pickup.  I would get that!

Yep, that's a stunning guitar and I'd get it in a heartbeat if I had more funds and more space. 

G&L are seriously good value for money, in fact.