Second Guitar for a Beginner

andyp

Hi folks.

I'm a new member on here but have really enjoyed reading the forum over the past few weeks. My old man has played guitar since he was 10 or 12 and although I've been around his guitars and seen him playing daily my whole life (35 years...!) I only started learning to play in January this year. I've played daily for 1-3 hours since then (with very few exceptions) and am beginning to get more confident with the stuff I've learned so far. I'm basically trying to balance learning theory with learning to play tunes I know and like. It seems to be working but I'm at the point now where my progress is much less "tangible" than it was back a few weeks ago.

My working routine means that I'm away from home Monday to Thursday where I have the use of a valve amp that my Dad built and I have a Blackstar ID Core 10 at home and basically take my Epiphone LP Standard up and down the road with me. I've been seriously drooling over buying a Les Paul Junior for a while now but at £600 and my stage of playing I'm not sure I can justify that at the moment, so I'd been considering getting something like a £100 Pacifica or RGX to keep at home meaning I could use the Epiphone most of the time with the valve amp (which sounds much better than the ID Core to me) and have the cheaper second guitar at home where it will get quite a bit less use than the Epiphone does during the week as I've got young kids. I really like the Epiphone so I've no complaints there at all, it's great.

My question is this... Do I hang on for a while with the Epiphone and get an LP Junior to supplement it later this year, or do I get myself a cheap second guitar for the moment then look to upgrade one of my then current ones in a year or two? If I had the Junior it would be my main guitar using the valve amp and the Epiphone would be the one at home using the ID Core with less use.

I'd want to have two guitars really so I can leave one at home and one up where I stay for work as it would save me carting my Epiphone about and unpacking / repacking my bits and bobs every week. My only reservation is that I'm still very much learning and I'm not sure that I can justify (what to me is) an expensive guitar at this stage of my learning and whether I'd be hamstrung learning on something with a single pickup like the Junior. I'm pretty sure that the £100 option is the better one but when I saw the Junior in Kenny's Music the other day I loved it. I've not played one yet though so I'd have to do that before just buying one.

Any input would be great.

Thanks.

Andy

dogload

I would say that if you really want the Junior, then go for it. Just because you consider youself a beginner doesn't mean you should stick to cheaper guitars. After all, the Junior used to be the starter guitar when it was first introduced!

underdog

Agree, also a used junior would be £400-£450 instead of £600 New.

If you can afford it then that should be your only consideration, you don't have to justify it against your ability. Hell I'd have an Argos acoustic if I had to use those standards

andyp

Thanks guys.

Used Juniors seem pretty rare, is that the case or am I not looking properly? Also, with all the fuss over 2015 Gibsons would an older Junior be a better buy than a new one?

underdog

andyp;644300" said:

Thanks guys.

Used Juniors seem pretty rare, is that the case or am I not looking properly? Also, with all the fuss over 2015 Gibsons would an older Junior be a better buy than a new one?

There's a couple in the classifieds on here for sale, I know as I was so tempted but both too far from me.

Hertz32

Am I right in thinking that '13 is the nodern gibson sweetspot? Pre-squiggle, one piece fingerboard and sensible chambering?
Gumtree, here, eBay, Thomann and GAK are where I'd be looking if I was looking for a guitar

andyp

That's useful too, cheers. I think a nice used Junior might be the right balance. Plus, if I didn't get on with it or wanted something else I'd get nearly all the money back on it I'd imagine.

markv

dogload said:

Just because you consider youself a beginner doesn't mean you should stick to cheaper guitars.

Agreed 100% - the notion that you're "not good enough for a better guitar" is odd really when you think about it. Only you know what you can justify financially, but I can guarantee that there is no secret talent police that will come and confiscate your guitar if you're not good enough :-)

A guitar that inspires you to play is what you want - nothing more, nothing less.

Iamnobody

A change of guitar can make things interesting as well. Inspire you to play differently etc. If you get a Jr it won't be 'that' different to your Epi.

So unless you trade the Epi my advise would be to go for something completely different like a nice Telecaster maybe or an SG.

cacophony

"but I can guarantee that there is no secret talent police that will come and confiscate your guitar if you're not good enough"

wait...  what?! , i`m going to kill that bastard that took mine...  thought his I.D. looked a bit dodgy but he seemed official enough...

:x

Jez6345789

I would look at a nice squire start or tele to give you a bigger difference tonally and playing experience the longer scale will be a bit tougher at first but a junior is a similar if simpler beast than the epiphone.

ICBM

When I was still really just a beginner I bought a Martin 12-string. I could barely play it, let alone justify such an expensive instrument (£850 second hand in the late 1980s), but I wanted it and having just got my first proper job, I could afford it.

I still have it nearly 30 years later and a lot of how I taught myself to play was because I really wanted to make it sound nice. So buy yourself the best guitar you can afford and want, and never worry about whether you can justify it.

A Les Paul Junior isn't a bad place to start either - because it's simple, you'll learn how to get different sounds from it using your hands and the controls.

But don't buy a new 2015 Gibson. Not least because with robot tuners you will not be forced to learn how to tune and keep a guitar in tune properly. I know, I sound like an old fart . But also because I genuinely think the 2015 'features' are horrible and that they will have much lower resale value should you ever want to change it for something else.

Sassafras

Guitars are like tools, the better the tool the better the work it produces, usually.

Plus I love the LP juniors so of course I'd advise getting one, and it'll keep its value.

rlw

Don't listen to ICBM - although he has lots of wise words to say - on the 2015 Gibsons - they are fine and only time will tell what will happen to used values.

I've not been playing much longer than you.  I started with a Dot, then added a Strat which I didn't really get on with, so I bought a 2015 LP Studio. Two guitars is nice as you can keep them in different places, or have one fettled, or two completely different sounds or whatever.

I'm still trying to find a guitar I like with P90s on it and am just about to press the button on another.  Its nice to pick up different one at times, just for the change, so I would say go for it.

ICBM

rlw said:

Don't listen to ICBM - although he has lots of wise words to say - on the 2015 Gibsons - they are fine and only time will tell what will happen to used values.

I'll bet you a pint or two that in five years, a 2015 Gibson will be worth significantly less than any other year model, unless the ones they bring out next year and the years after are even less popular .

Nothing to do with personal taste, I accept you like yours.

Branshen

Desirability and demand are the primary factors that dictate secondhand guitar value. While I'm sure that the 2015 gibsons are fine instruments, no one can deny that they are polarising. Lots of people dislike/hate them.

Following this logic, unless there is some reason they become popular amongst guitarists after this year, their secondhand value should, naturally, fall more than other years.

I'd say go for the junior if that's what you want. It's a great simple guitar and one that you'll probably never outgrow. If you feel that you don't "deserve" it yet, then you could stick to your epiphone and wait till 2016 and see what gibson comes out with then.

rlw

ICBM said:

rlw said:

Don't listen to ICBM - although he has lots of wise words to say - on the 2015 Gibsons - they are fine and only time will tell what will happen to used values.

I'll bet you a pint or two that in five years, a 2015 Gibson will be worth significantly less than any other year model, unless the ones they bring out next year and the years after are even less popular .

Nothing to do with personal taste, I accept you like yours.

I owe you at least a pint or two for all your help so far.................

In five years time, I think prices will level out but in two years you might well be right, at least at the lower end of the range, but who buys a guitar to worry about what it will be worth in five years time :-)

andyp

Lots of useful stuff folks, thanks for this.

I don't have a strong opinion on the 2015 Gibsons really, but I do agree that the simple fact they are disliked by so many people (rightly or wrongly) means a 2015 model will lose a noticeable amount more value than a previous years model. That doesn't really bother me but I'd prefer that it didn't have the auto tuners.

Maybe the end of this year would be a good time to snap up a deal...? If it's like motorbikes then that's the best time - just after the new models appear is when shops want to sell off the "old" ones. I think I'd prefer a used one though for less money though.

I am quite keen to try something else too, my old man has a Squire Strat (which is decent enough) and a few Yamahas and I like playing any of those but prefer my Epiphone to all of them. I have wondered about a Dot too but think I'd rather go for the Junior or get something cheaper at the £100ish mark. My logic being that a cheap one is clearly a backup and not such a consideration to buy or sell on again (I'd spend that on bike parts without thinking) or the Junior as that's what I really feel I want at this point. So maybe I just keep my eyes open for a good second hand one over the next couple of months.

Andy

NPP

there's no point in getting a guitar you will not want to pick up and play. Buying a guitar you will want to keep will always be cheaper in the long run than buying something you'll soon move on at a loss. If you can afford the junior, then buying it will be a better use of your money than buying a cheap guitar that will be unloved. 

A junior is still a very sensible guitar to own, if you had asked about an LP Historic the sensible advice would have been to get something cheaper. 

I bought a left-hand Strat for 1000 DM in the 80s when this was a lot of money but as I still have it and only bought two other guitars in the interim I guess it didn't really matter. 

usedtobe

Get the guitar you want - life is short.

Sassafras

And I reckon the lifespan of those auto tuners will be even shorter.