Good morning ladies and gents. Today is day two of a new job, the most compensatory of my short and unremarkable career. As a reward to myself for no longer lying around and eating Doritos off my chest, I have decided to purchase an electric guitar. The only problem is, I don't know jack about guitars.
My budget for both guitar and amp is $300, although I'm flexible up to $400. Where are good places to look? What brand/type do you recommend?
Also, let me know what accessories you think I should get.
AAaaand, if anyone has any "Learn how to play guitar" type books they're ready to get rid of, I'll gladly pay postage.
i assume you don't know how to play, right? if so, the most important thing you want from a cheap starter guitar is that it stays in tune, and that it is built solidly enough, or doesn't have too much wear if used, that it won't break down in annoying little ways. if you buy a crappy guitar and you can't keep it in tune (which will be more problematic for you at first, anyway), or if it creates mysterious unwanted noises while playing, or if knobs and tuning heads start breaking after not too long, then it will be pretty pointless and will likely end up with you storing the guitar in your attic and never playing it again.
with that in mind, and with your budget in mind, the best starter electric guitar is probably either a mexican fender stratocaster or mexican gibson epiphone. both of these guitars sound good for their price, and are made from a reliable name-brand design. if you do your homework, you should be able to find a good new or used one in the $250 range. do not buy any of the myriad knockoffs of these brands, even if you see one for something like $100. it won't be worth it, even if it's cheap. you should probably stay away from the squier fender brand, also. when buying your guitar, whether it's used on craigslist or new at guitar center or some other store, be sure to ask the person you're buying it from to throw in a case, perferrably a hard case. most places and people will throw in some kind of case for free, and it would suck if you ended up paying a few hundred bucks for a guitar but you didn't have a case for it and ended up fucking it up by dropping it or bumping the neck into walls while transporting it or whatever. and if you are buying it new from a music store, stay firm to your $250 price, even if the list price is over $300; those kinds of places, especially the corporate ones like guitar center, will almost always go down on the price, especially if you say that you saw it on theirs or musician's friend's website for cheap. you might even be able to get them to throw in the strap and cables for free or cheap.
as for an amp, since it sounds like you're just learning the guitar, i would just buy a small cheap practice amp that would be about the size of small box. if you look on craigslist, you should be able to find a decent used one for $50 or something around there. since you're just learning, you'd probably be best off going for a name brand practice amp such as Crate, Marshall, Fender, Roland. since it's just a practice amp, your focus when buying it should be in determining it's basic functionality by plugging it in and trying it out, or by having the person you're buying it from plug it in and try it out. listen to how it sounds and see if you like it. make sure the knobs seem sturdy and not too loose. make sure there's not some mysterious buzz or fuzz that won't go away no matter how much you adjust the knobs or cable connection to your guitar. make sure that the various features of the amp work, such as the distortion or reverb channels.
that will accomplish a lot for you. if you're willing to spend $500 for either guitar or amp, then you enter a new world of quality, but for your budget you should be able to find something decent as long as you know the right ways to look.
