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First Guitar

fropiler said:
Hi all,

My eight year old son has expressed an interest in learning to play the electric guitar.

I'm looking for suggestions as to what would be a good setup (gearwise) for him considering his age. Looking to keep the cost under 300.00 total.

Thanks in advance,
Ed
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@ first blush, a budget of $300 for a beginner instrument, even in this age of sky-high prices in just about all consumer sectors, seems more than adequate.

I'll second @halkaloogie that while starting out on an acoustic is the "classic pathway" to accessing guitar, your kid's interest might wane if his heart (and head) be set on an electric *experience* and thus procuring a forcing upon him an acoustic might only result in this: (1) an unused instrument and (2) a budding interest -- your son's re: playing an instrument -- that dies on the vine.

Remember that w/ an electric comes also the amplification necessary to "hear" the real deal, so those $300 are now spread across two ingredients, i.e., guitar and amplifier.

nb: While there are small + portable "headphone" style guitar playback amps, e.g., the old Rockman that Tom Sholz (of band Boston fame) developed in the mid 1990s, these devices, while undisruptive to the household, can focus and thus inflict sound capable of damaging the hearing of the user.

PS: Just checked and the Rockman, now produced by Dunlop, is still being manufactured as the Rockman Ace.

PPS: Maybe one can still get a (new) Pignose amp? If not, I'm sure used Pignose amps are plentiful in The States.

** And of course many amps today come w/ a headphone jack, so your kid can play "privately" or "out" as circumstances dictate.
 
fropiler said:
Hi all,

My eight year old son has expressed an interest in learning to play the electric guitar.

I'm looking for suggestions as to what would be a good setup (gearwise) for him considering his age. Looking to keep the cost under 300.00 total.

Thanks in advance,
Ed
Click to expand...

One more important element: What type of music does your kid enjoy? If he's motivated to play according to a musical style that's not (so) conducive to acoustic as it is electric, then imposing an acoustic on him will, again, likely kill the urge to pick up and play the thing.

Full disclosure: I started out with an electric and a "regular" amp -- weren't any headphone jacks on late 50s Fender amps lol -- and this worked out just fine. The acoustics came next (soon after) as my interest in Prewar Blues (quickly) blossomed after only a year or two studying Chicago Electric Blues under the guidance of my first geetar teacher.

PS: Get him an instrument that is PLAYABLE ... again, instruments that are too large / unwieldy / poorly set up (bad action, sound, etc.) are -- literally -- a TUR OFF and will rarely to never get turned on > than a few occasionsbefore the budding player -- of any age -- throws in the towel.

PPS: And yes, I am well aware of the fact that such musicans as Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James atrted out with crude homemade "broomstick" geetars ... tellin' y'all now that guys like Chester Burnett and Elmore James are effin' one in 10 million, dig. The meddle of suchcats was unusual in their generation and sure as hell doesn't typify folks in the 21st C... not in my opinion anyway.
 
55Redneck said:
Keep in mind the OP's son should be about 26 years old by now. I wonder if he ever learned how to play. ;)
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LOL * 1000 ! I'd completely missed the OP date. Hell, it does seem like it's been a long time since I'd last seens anything posted by fropiler.

Yeah, I wonder if that little shaver ever got and learned him some geetar?
 
ledbailey said:
When approached by parents to show kids how to play my first question is who s idea is it . You can always tell if the child has a cell phone he is beating on while mom or dad is asking for help. In my case if I can tell the child is truly interested I invite the parent and child to my class and let him or her try one of my student guitars. I use fender or china made guitars and lower the action to help make the first experience fun and less painful. Its important to catch their interest at the very first and not make it harder than it is. Sorry but I have my students sitting facing me to look at how the chords are formed and not standing as most students look at their finger positions while learning and it is harder to see where to position them while standing . I guess my point is many many of us have bought guitars for our kids only to collect dust in the closet because they lost interest . Most music shops will provide a cheap student guitar for the first few lessons to see if the child is truly interested then sell your child a suitable guitar based on the style they want to learn. My advice is the lessons if taught properly /easy are a better investment first . Having said all this and you still want to get a guitar for the kids I agree a pawn shop in your area is a great place to start BUT!!! take a friend who can already play with you to help chose a guitar that you like and would want to play in case the kids like their cell phone more . Ledbailey
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So you pulled up this zombie thread! This was a good 'un.
 
NB: I run into zombie thread action @ General Audio Discussions often and @ Music Forums less often. This one might be a first for me @ Musical Instruments.
 
55Redneck said:
Keep in mind the OP's son should be about 26 years old by now. I wonder if he ever learned how to play. ;)
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That's ok. He shouldn't really rush into a purchase decision for a first instrument :).

I still recommend the Strat Mini -- it's THAT good. Fair warning: He'll probably need to upgrade to a full size when he's 30 though :).

It would be interesting to hear if his son ever took it up. My son, had the same desire when he was 8, is now teaching guitar in a music school (as a "side gig" while he studies engineering in college).
 
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This is real
halkaloogie said:
When I started showing my kid how to play, I showed him a handful of notes and we would practice those, and come up with simple songs, where he would play rhythm and I would play lead over him. The fun of playing songs and showing him tips and tricks along the way really helped him to grow an interest in getting better. He's in his 20's now, and now he shows me new things and tricks. We still jam regularly and just the other day he was showing me some really interesting picking techniques that I'd never really tried before.
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This is really good advice. I also would recommend learn how to sight read music. Myself not being able to play by ear I learned how and it opened up a world of music that I could learn to play. Everything from classical to rock and everything in between
 
ledbailey said:
When approached by parents to show kids how to play my first question is who s idea is it . You can always tell if the child has a cell phone he is beating on while mom or dad is asking for help. In my case if I can tell the child is truly interested I invite the parent and child to my class and let him or her try one of my student guitars. I use fender or china made guitars and lower the action to help make the first experience fun and less painful. Its important to catch their interest at the very first and not make it harder than it is. Sorry but I have my students sitting facing me to look at how the chords are formed and not standing as most students look at their finger positions while learning and it is harder to see where to position them while standing . I guess my point is many many of us have bought guitars for our kids only to collect dust in the closet because they lost interest . Most music shops will provide a cheap student guitar for the first few lessons to see if the child is truly interested then sell your child a suitable guitar based on the style they want to learn. My advice is the lessons if taught properly /easy are a better investment first . Having said all this and you still want to get a guitar for the kids I agree a pawn shop in your area is a great place to start BUT!!! take a friend who can already play with you to help chose a guitar that you like and would want to play in case the kids like their cell phone more . Ledbailey
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“You can buy the lessons, the instrument and the music but you can’t buy the practicing”

The guitar being a very difficult instrument to play well requires practice, practice and more practice. Most young people don’t realize this and the frustration they sometimes feel when first learning to play one puts an early end to it and in the closet it goes. I see guitars at yard sales all the time because the child lost interest. It wasn’t as easy as they thought.

This is coming to you from a 30+ year guitar player and I have to still constantly practice.
 
audiocrzy said:
“You can buy the lessons, the instrument and the music but you can’t buy the practicing”

The guitar being a very difficult instrument to play well requires practice, practice and more practice. Most young people don’t realize this and the frustration they sometimes feel when first learning to play one puts an early end to it and in the closet it goes. I see guitars at yard sales all the time because the child lost interest. It wasn’t as easy as they thought.

This is coming to you from a 30+ year guitar player and I have to still constantly practice.
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As a former (ok... still "quasi") collector and dealer of (mainly) American geetars from the 1930s through 1970s for a long (long) time, I'll attest to the plethora of "good to excellent quality) instruments -- practically untouched -- that one could find @ yard sales and such as well @ adverts in local papers and (especially) those Tradin' Times vending papers .... the collectors' market place YEARS before **** like Ebay, ecommerce, or (lol) "e"ven the browser-able interthing was extant. Lotta what we used to call "under the bed" and or "frech from the closet" instruments advertised by -- often -- parents of the kids who'd once owned but soon abandoned these instruments... and of course they were usually electric guitars. Ran into a lotta Jap-made gear this way as well... kinda wish I'd grabbed up more of those than I did back @ the mid and late 1980s. Wish I'd snatched up more Dano's, Kay and Harmony instruments, too. Fortunately I did see far enough ahead to grab just about every National and Supro w/in my grasp.
 
Mystic said:
As a former (ok... still "quasi") collector and dealer of (mainly) American geetars from the 1930s through 1970s for a long (long) time, I'll attest to the plethora of "good to excellent quality) instruments -- practically untouched -- that one could find @ yard sales and such as well @ adverts in local papers and (especially) those Tradin' Times vending papers .... the collectors' market place YEARS before **** like Ebay, ecommerce, or (lol) "e"ven the browser-able interthing was extant. Lotta what we used to call "under the bed" and or "frech from the closet" instruments advertised by -- often -- parents of the kids who'd once owned but soon abandoned these instruments... and of course they were usually electric guitars. Ran into a lotta Jap-made gear this way as well... kinda wish I'd grabbed up more of those than I did back @ the mid and late 1980s. Wish I'd snatched up more Dano's, Kay and Harmony instruments, too. Fortunately I did see far enough ahead to grab just about every National and Supro w/in my grasp.
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My big gear regret is mostly amps. There are a ton I wish I had grabbed in the 80's and 90's for dirt cheap that are worth a small fortune today. I was much more of a guitar nut, and have bought and sold thousands of them too. There are a few guitars that I passed up on, that were in hindsight a huge mistake, but there's only so much one person can get.
 
halkaloogie said:
My big gear regret is mostly amps. There are a ton I wish I had grabbed in the 80's and 90's for dirt cheap that are worth a small fortune today. I was much more of a guitar nut, and have bought and sold thousands of them too. There are a few guitars that I passed up on, that were in hindsight a huge mistake, but there's only so much one person can get.
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Yep, I also let a lotta really good amps get away via passing on them altogether or too quickly trading 'em away in swaps, etc. for -- what else -- more guitars. Also passed on a few guitars - decisions I now regret -- but worse are the few I purposely traded away that I oughtta have kept. Oh well, and so it goes, eh?
 
Thought I'd jump in with a great deal for online guitar lessons for new and not so new players. You can get a free 90 day All Access pass to TrueFire:

https://truefire.com/maton/request?...il&utm_term=0_c1e86294b3-f5d765698b-222801101

I've played for about 30 years, never really took any formal lessons, but I found out about this on a guitar forum a couple of months ago and give it a whirl and even an old dog like me learned some new tricks!
 
Mystic said:
Yep, I also let a lotta really good amps get away via passing on them altogether or too quickly trading 'em away in swaps, etc. for -- what else -- more guitars. Also passed on a few guitars - decisions I now regret -- but worse are the few I purposely traded away that I oughtta have kept. Oh well, and so it goes, eh?
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I remember when you could get a '59 Les Paul for only $200,000 :):):)
 
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