absolute beginner

[Sifu Ben]

The other issue... equipment here in Croatia doesn't come cheap (due to taxes and a BS excuse for a financial policy), so if I opt for the electric, I'd have to choose wisely so I' ll be able to sell it afterward with minimum loss.

Croatia's part of the EU, and therefore surely bound by the Customs Union agrements. You should be able to order from someone like Thomann, get free delivery and pay no additional taxes.

God bless you :D

But no, we are not part of the EU, not yet...  :(

You were scheduled to enter last year, what happened?

[elijen]

negotiations are taking place. the EU is extra careful with accepting new members, Bulgaria and Romania made sure of that. i guess we will eventually  :)

[elijen]

Roland Cube?

that would be my choice, once I switch to electric. I think I'll go for Ibanez. Guys that distribute Ibanez here (they do PRS and ENGL also) are extra nice even when you bore them with all sorts of questions and have a great repair and service team (so I am told)

[dave_mc]

i'd definitely say if you want to play electric, start on electric. you might as well be able to play what you want, it'll keep you interested. something like a yamaha pacifica 112v (assuming you want a range of sounds) coupled with a roland microcube/cube 30x or vox valvetronix ad15vt/da5 (the former amp for more hard rock/metal sounds, the latter for more cleans, blues, classic rock etc.) would be a nice starter setup which doesn't cost *that* much money. :)

EDIT: i'd also be wary of buying second-hand or online if you're a new player, unless you trust those friends of yours to help you with setups, restringing etc. if you buy in a local shop, you can go back in for help if you mess up on restringing etc., which is much harder to do if you haven't bought from them. :)

[Jonny]

You're pretty much sorted, Dave is good at newbie gear (not to say he's a newbie though)

The Yamaha Pacifica is good, if you want to go for Ibanez, don't go for the cr@ppy Edge III tremolos. I'd go for a fixed bridge SA series or the RGR321EX, or the RGT6EXFX which has EMGs already but it's £500+ I think.

[dave_mc]

actually newbie gear is probably where i know the least... :lol: (not that i know much about the rest either :oops: )

[elijen]

Thank you all far your help. I guess I'll get me some newbie electric gear. 8)

I do not have much time now, but next week I'll browse around for my new six string.  :D

Cheers guys...

[noodleplugerine]

All the above is sound advice!

I'd go for a Yamaha Pacifica 112 or a Schecter Blackjack and a Roland Cube or a Peavey Vypyr. You'll be off to a flying start. After that get some chord books, and some basic scales books, aswell as a tuner, some leads, some picks, and a couple of spare packets of strings.

If there's ANYTHING you need help with, just post here and someone will give you solid instructions, and probably pics etc to help you out.

[Fourth Feline]

Take the free classical to learn on, see if you like playing - but they are a bitch to strum on due to the floppy strings.  After a while you'll know if you want an electric.  Yam Pacificas are great starter guitars and Roland microcubes serve as good first amps.

From what I hear, Elliot has hit the nail on the head there.  As people have already said though, go for an electric and nice little amp for your tastes, as you can soon approximate the music you love that way, which is most gratifying and motivational . As was also mentioned, There  has never been a better time to get affordable stuff that is really easy to play. 

I mostly wanted to say welcome to the forum - and of course welcome to this most worthy and enjoyable of instruments . You can take a whole lifetime and never get absolutely perfect, so enjoy the journey of learning and let the results take care of themselves. 

Enjoy !  :D

[elijen]

Thank you noodle and Fourth Feline.

I was worried that my newbie question would not get responses. But I've been lurking here for a couple of months so I know that people on this forum are helpful.

About the amp; I am leaning towards the Vox option. It would give me more sounds, and I am certain a can get a distortion pedal from some of my friends for practicing purposes till I get my own some day.

About the guitar: I've been browsing online the inventory of some stores in my vicinity.

I've got LTDs (EC-50, EC-100, Viper 50, H-51, Viper 200, Viper 400, EC-400, EC-500); they are on discount this month.

Ibenez (RGR321EX, RG321MH, SZ320, SZ520).

noodle mentioned Schecter Blackjack. I see they are awesomely loaded with tonepros and SD pickups. Not so cheap though. But honestly, I could pull it off (with a couple of installments and bye-bye nikkor lens :)) if you think it is okay for a beginner. While we are talking that kind of cash, there are also SEs by PRS around for a bit less.

As I said, I'll check them all out next week, see how they feel in my hands, check for sharp edges and sloppy workmanship, etc...

Any pointers? What to avoid? What to look for?

[PPPMAT]

If you've never played before maybe a steel strung acoustic is the way forward to start? Good for practising your hand shaping for chords and will be gratifying early on when it starts to come together.

You could go straight to an electric - fender squier package with amp or something like that. But just be aware that early on you will not sound as good on an electric as an acoustic as palm muting and other subtle techniques that no-one ever talks about make all the difference to the sound. It won't hold you back going straight to electric but it will take more patience to get good sounds

[dheim]

just an advice... avoid floating bridges AS HELL ITSELF... for a small price you usually get almost unusable pieces of iron, which are very difficult to restring and tune indeed...
go for a fixed or traditional tremolo bridge. and if you can't rely on the whammy bar to modulate notes it will help you develope bending and vibrato tecniques... beginners often use too much the bar to "mask" embarassingly flat notes!

[ToneMonkey]

Well the thing is... I could get my hands on a friend's nylon string that has been collecting dust for years. It's not a bad guitar either, an entry level Alhambra. and the beautiful part - it's free.

That sounds perfect.  Just get any old guitar to  keep you interested until you get your own.  I used a free nylon string classical for years before getting anything else.  Play around for a bit and if you think that it's for you then you'll ahve a good idea by then what sort of guitar you want.

[Sifu Ben]

If you've never played before maybe a steel strung acoustic is the way forward to start? Good for practising your hand shaping for chords and will be gratifying early on when it starts to come together.

You could go straight to an electric - fender squier package with amp or something like that. But just be aware that early on you will not sound as good on an electric as an acoustic as palm muting and other subtle techniques that no-one ever talks about make all the difference to the sound. It won't hold you back going straight to electric but it will take more patience to get good sounds

Because a steel sting acoustic doesn't highlight every single little flaw in your technique  :roll:

[Johnny Mac]

The other issue... equipment here in Croatia doesn't come cheap (due to taxes and a BS excuse for a financial policy), so if I opt for the electric, I'd have to choose wisely so I' ll be able to sell it afterward with minimum loss.

Croatia's part of the EU, and therefore surely bound by the Customs Union agrements. You should be able to order from someone like Thomann, get free delivery and pay no additional taxes.

Since when?