So at walmart today, I saw an electric guitar with an amp and carrying case going for under $200. I've been wanting an electric for a while, but don't really have much money.
I don't recall what kind of guitar it is, but I'm sure it's pretty low-end.

So, can anyone tell me if it would be worth it?
What would be the difference between a cheap guitar and a really nice one?

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All you need is love.

Well it depends. If you're just learning, and you don't plan to be jamming it out on a 10k person hall, I'd think a realativly low end guitar/amp would be better. You might want to ask a few people about the brand name, I know some aren't as good as others.

But yeah, I'd think it would be Ok for just playing in the garage and practicing in your room.

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MadQuack on Military school: Pro's: I get to shoot a gun. Con's: Everything else.
"I'm going to beat you until the laws of physics are violated!!" ! Maeve's Warcry

RIP -MaDaVentor-. You will be missed.

it was called first act, and they are horrible. anything would be better, a squier pack for the same price, or an ibanez pack.

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America, home of the free gift with purchase.

or an epiphone pack.

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gree gree.

or even the $100 Behringer V-tone pack

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wang is within all

All right, thank you.
Just out of curiosity, why is it so bad?

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All you need is love.

well, firstly, it was built sloppily. it has bad pickups. uses low grade wood for the body, neck. uses bad metal for the truss rods and the bridge. Need I go on?

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* Seb goes around singing "I'm too sexy for my body"
* Wolfy goes around singing "I'm too sexy for Seb's body"
* Cave_Demon steals Seb's underwear (underwear stolen: 39)

The only guitar I've ever had I got in one of those starter packs two and a half/three years ago. It has not done me wrong. I got a Peavey one. I love it fairly well. Of course, it is a low end guitar, but after almost constant use of it for three years, it now has a certain ruggedness and character that has kept me from throwing it out of a window.

It is showing it's age and use though (as in, I just tuned it half an hour ago and I just walked in to find the B string was a D flat....) and I have to bend the twelfth fret to get an E. That's more of an intonation problem though.

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I have a signature.

[This message has been edited by MadQuack (edited January 18, 2004).]

MadQuack, you could pay around 20-30 bucks to get your neck and bridge readjusted.

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* Seb goes around singing "I'm too sexy for my body"
* Wolfy goes around singing "I'm too sexy for Seb's body"
* Cave_Demon steals Seb's underwear (underwear stolen: 39)

You can literally take any guitar, put some TLC into it, to your preferences, and it would be a nice guitar. I've gone through 2 Ibanez', and one B.C.Rich, and I've changed a lot of hardware on each and everyone of them to suit my playing style. I ended up loving each one.

Just because one guitar might be cheap dosn't mean it's essentially "crap". Change the pick-ups, get new "strap-locks", change the tuning pegs, even a different bridge/nut set. Voila! The makings of a custom guitar! But that would cost a lot of money, now wouldn't it? Yep. Never mind.


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I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.

Everyday I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive.

[url="mailto:Bruintone@netscape.net"]mailto:Bruintone@netscape.net[/url]Bruintone@netscape.net</A>
Yahoo! Name : jedibruintone77

gotta agree with Snake-Eyes there. Any guitar can be made better! All you gotta do is ask yourself what you want from the guitar and then customize accordingly!

If you wanna jam, let it alone for a bit. if you wanna gig rewire the electrics, if you want mega sounds put some hum bucker pickups on it, if you wanna blast people get new strings and a new amp!

ZERO1979

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AQUATAINE - New to Aberystwyth 2003.
Tom - Vocals, Guitars, Songs
Liz - Vocals, Guitars, Songs
Matt - Vocals, Guitars, Songs
Jamie - Drums, Songs

Everybody says the Squier packages are crap and the guys in the shops always say they're for beginners, but I totally doubt that.

I think beginners should start off on a Les Paul style guitar e.g. Epiphone, Stagg, get used to playing guitar, and then borrow a Squier strat and see if you want to play it! Most of the complaints I hear from people about Squier Strats are simply down to them and not the guitar, because they were expecting it to work for them because they were beginners.

Regarding what guitar you should buy, just go into the shops and try them! Just ask and they'll usually let you try at least 2 guitars, and on amps they think you'll be able to afford.

Regarding price vs. quality:

You can pick up a Squier strat with an amp and case for about $200 or something right? Well I'd say don't go for that, just get the strat and maybe the case - you're bound to know someone who's got a spare practice amp hanging around. There you have a fair quality guitar for the price. (If you think the guitar's crap because the frets buzz all the time it's because you're playing too hard, and if you think it's crap because it buzzes whenever you're near to your moniter it's because it's a single pickup, try the in-between pickup selections).

I recommend the Squier Strat for rock, funk and blues. WARNING: The tremolo on the Squier Strat is crap, but you didn't really pay that much for it did you?

On the other hand I went into a shop and came across a Stagg PRS Replica for what's probably about $330. I own a Stagg Les Paul custom and I'd played a PRS Replica by Vintage that looked almost identical, so I put two and two together and decided I'd try it out.

It was the worst guitar I've ever played. The pickups weren't screwed in properly and sounded rubbish, the tremolo was actually screwed down all over so you could get more bend in the neck than in the tremolo and the pots were noisy and their covers falling off.

Price is not everything. Pick up a guitar and play it. If you like it then buy it, if you're just a little bit unsure then don't!

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tristan is the best friend of the jedi

"I am the signature virus! Copy me into your signature so that I can take over the world! Moohahahee!"

All right, I think I've narrowed it down to a Squire pack or an Ibanez IJS40 pack.
I'm leaning toward the Ibanez.

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All you need is love.

I'd say go for the Ibanez



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tristan is the best friend of the jedi

"I am the signature virus! Copy me into your signature so that I can take over the world! Moohahahee!"

i have four electric guitars, a stratocaster, a les paul, an ibanez s series, and an ibanez gio (looks like a lollipop upside down). the gio is the pretty much only beginner priced guitar that i still have, and i keep it because it has as good action as my higher priced guitars and good intonation, also 22 frets. (although i think all new fenders have 22 instead of 21 now?)

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America, home of the free gift with purchase.

Ibanez all the way. That company tends to "break all the rules" when it comes to making guitars. Just look at the Steve Vai line. Seven strings!! Then those guys from Korn took over. So if you wanna customizable guitar, it's IBANEZ!!!

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I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.

Everyday I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive.

[url="mailto:Bruintone@netscape.net"]mailto:Bruintone@netscape.net[/url]Bruintone@netscape.net</A>
Yahoo! Name : jedibruintone77

Well, I'd say go for the Squier. I worked in my local music shop for about a year ( www.soundsplus.co.uk if your interested ) and for a beginer, they are perfect. Also, the lower end ibanez guitars often came back to us because the customers just wernt happy. Oh and they can be a bugger to re-string for someone just starting out, what with the Floyd rose system. Or maybe i'm just too impatient

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I have heard rock and roll and I have heard rock, but I have never heard roll.

the guitar in the IJS40 pack doesn't have a floyd rose

and what many people aren't happy with on Ibanez guitars is usually the pickups

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wang is within all

Yeah, the pickups dont really offer much variety, so I guess it comes down to what your gonna be playing. Go Squier if you're gonna be mixing it up a bit but go Ibanez if you're looking for a rock sound.

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I have heard rock and roll and I have heard rock, but I have never heard roll.

bleh, when you play guitar as awesome as me, who needs 22 frets? I'm kidding... I play electric guitar in the style of The Edge, meaning less is more and crank that reverb/delay. I havent touched my electrics since getting my new acoustic/electric. I love Martins.



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