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Hello all
I want to start playing the electric guitar, having played a little bit of ukulele and a tiny bit of acoustic guitar. I have around £250 to spend in order to buy a guitar and amp. The music I enjoy is blues and rock. I listen to Pink Floyd, Clapton, Beatles, Mark Knopfler, Buddy Guy, Chris Rea etc.
I have been looking at the following options:
Squier Bullet HSS and Fender Mustang I V.2 about £220 in total
Yamaha Pacifica 012 and Fender Mustang I V.2 - £240
Squier Affinity HSS Series Strat Starter Pack which comes with Squier Affinity HSS and Fender Frontman 15g - £240
This guitar starter pack from a local Bristol shop called Lindo - https://lindoguitars.com/product/lindo-zst-electric-guitar-pack/
I keep going round in circles! Any help or advice would be would be much appreciated. Oh, and by the way, I also have very small hands - not sure if this matters!
Cheers Ian.
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Comments
98% of electric guitars are either 25.5 inch scale or 24.75 inch scale. 'Stratocaster' and 'telecaster' shaped guitars are 25.5 and 'les paul' shapes tend to be 24.75. 24.75 is a tiny bit less of a stretch. Google images for those guitar shapes if you are not familiar.
All of the guitars you list are 25.5
By the way, I have a feeling that a mustang I will be far more satisfying/useful than a fender frontman.
You could go to a shop to try a les paul shaped guitar and then order something like this from thomann
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_450plus_ld_vintage_series.htm
I could say a lot more, but won't as I tend to ramble on!
Good luck!
https://www.instagram.com/insta.guitarstuff/
Currently for sale:
24.75 scale Kotzen style telecaster
Grover Jackson superstrat
12 string acoustic
OTO Bim delay pedal
The Mustang is probably as good an amp as any in that price range, although the Blackstar Core 10, Roland Cube 10, and Orange Crush 12 might also be worth taking a squiz at.
I have considered the 112v along with the Squire Affinity. Not sure I can manage the 112v but could may be stretch to the Affinity. Would the Affinity be better than the 012?
I don't think I've ever played an Affinity Strat, but I used to own an Affinity Tele which was a surprisingly good guitar for the money. @midlifecrisis seems impressed with his too...
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/86511/telecaster-convert/p1
Go up to a bigger Mustang if you can at all afford it - the I isn't terrible, but the bigger models are much better. If you can't afford it I would still get the Mustang rather than the Frontman, no question. The Frontman isn't absolutely awful, but it's very primitive by modern standards and doesn't have a lot in the sound to keep you satisfied.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
A used Pacifica 112 can be had for as little as £50-60 on Gumtree leaving a sizeable chunk of your budget for a good amp.
Shop carefully and you can find a used Yamaha THR10 amp and a used 112 for £250. I did this and I can't see how you could do much better for the money!
As Bristol says if you pair a THR & a 112 that is a great match. The Mustang is probably the best modelling amp for little money out there & should tons of them around.
I am culling a lot of gear at the moment so check out the Peavey AT200 guitar (black) and the Fender G Dec30 amp on youtube and see what you think. They are great for starting to play. AT200 neck is very similar to the strat neck. 42mm at nut and 0.875" at 1st fret. I have small hands too. Hardtail (no tremolo bar)so no faffing around with trems/tuning. Does have the auto tune system if you wanna go there but I've always used it as a standalone guitar. The fender has built in tuner/modelling etc. You can also play backing tracks through it via aux in or the built SD card reader. This has it's own volume control so you can mix backing/guitar to suit. Nice pc of kit. Small footprint too so don't take over the room. I could put a kit together guitar/amp/gigbag/cable/plectrums/strap etc. Everything you need to start playing for within your budget.
Pretty sure you can run it through laptop with fender FUSE software too. Shame you are not local. really good to try gear first so you know it feels right in your hand.
If you think it might interest you drop me a pm, if not your thing no worries good luck with your search
High praise indeed!
It seems like a lot of your influences use Strat's so you're probably looking along the right lines. But just in case you were thinking of a shorter scale length guitar, there is this in the Classifieds:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/89771/fs-washburn-wi64-idol-series-120#latest
I remember being impressed by them when they came out.
Good luck either way.
Bazxkr - thanks for the offer. I will look into it and give it some thought. But right now I need sleep!