Q for electric guitarists: Cheap online guitars?

Labcoatguy

Labcoatguy

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I'm looking to learn the electric guitar in my spare time, and I'm tempted by those ridiculously cheap ones on eBay and uBid ($65-$85 shipped to my doorstep). I have a feeling that buying one of those would be like buying a kia, as opposed to picking up a better-named used one from craigslist or a pawn shop, but that's not entirely putting me off. To those of you in the know, what are your thoughts?
 
You need an amp too, unless you already have one. Fender Squires are a lot cheaper than Strats if you want something new. How about this one?

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If he likes hello kitty then that seems to work ok.
Maybe an epiphone or an Ibanez would work.
I've got a friend who swears by his Ibanez epiphone casino knockoff.
 
Good point, I'm looking at a few Squier Stratocasters on eBay and will probably pick up one of those. Most of the cheapest ones don't have a whammy bar/tremolo arm, so it might be a while before I can snag a fully equipped guitar.

As for amps, I have some RCA inputs in my surround sound system, so I'm thinking of plugging it into that; I'll be using headphones because I'm in an apartment, so power isn't an issue. That, and my car also has RCA inputs in its stereo system, so it'll be one step away from playing at picnics and outdoor gatherings.
 
In a way, electric guitars are like cars: the first one it the cheap one where you learn everything, is the one which will be abused, dropped, scratched, etc etc...
So start with a cheap one for practice and try out different ones as much as you can until you find out what kind of guitar you like best, then you buy a better one, much closer to what you really want.
I started with a brand new Yamaha, played it for 4 years, sold it and about 3 months ago I bought a Ibanez, because from all the brands I tried, this one felt the best.
Hope it helps! :)
 
You need an amp too, unless you already have one
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Not necessarily. If you're just goofing around with it in your spare time, you could hook it up to your computer's sound card (line-in or mic-in, depending on how amplified the guitar is) with a $0.50 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter. It won't be terribly loud, but it works.
 
epp_b said:
Not necessarily. If you're just goofing around with it in your spare time, you could hook it up to your computer's sound card (line-in or mic-in, depending on how amplified the guitar is) with a $0.50 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter. It won't be terribly loud, but it works.
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I tried that once, but you get a slight delay from hitting the string to it coming out of the speakers. It's really annoying.
 
Guitar center has a great deal going on right now.
epiphone SG, amp and gig bag for 200 dollars
the amp is shit, but it's not a bad deal.
 
I forgot to mention Sam Ash. They have some pretty crazy good sales. If there's a store close to you it's worth checking out just to see how many guitars they have. It's insane.

You could look into this one. Kinda pricey but it comes with a VW you can use as an amp. :) http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/country/gcf/newsID/2061005.004/volkswagen/2007-vw's-rock-with-first-act-guitars
 
BerserkerCatSplat said:
I tried that once, but you get a slight delay from hitting the string to it coming out of the speakers. It's really annoying.
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Latency. I have bought an audio card that has 0 latency so that when I record using Guitar Tracks Pro, it works out good.
 
I tried that once, but you get a slight delay from hitting the string to it coming out of the speakers. It's really annoying.
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What kind of crummy sound card did you have? :p

I hooked a guitar up to my el-cheapo OMB sound card, and there was no such lag.
 
Zzounds is a great place to buy guitars online:
http://www.zzounds.com/

Really good deals and the reviews are very helpful. I recently ordered a Washburn acoustic from them and saved a ton of money compared to buying from a local music shop (they always jack up the prices).

epp_b said:
What kind of crummy sound card did you have? :p

I hooked a guitar up to my el-cheapo OMB sound card, and there was no such lag.
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Yeah, any cheap Creative card would give you virtually no noticeable latency.
 
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