Beginner's electric guitar - recommendations pls

[Stupid American Pig]

All I can say is dont buy from a catalog- You need to PLAY thje guitar- I have noticed huge differences in the action of guitars from example to example, so I would only go where you would be able to play it (or have a friend that knows his stuff play it) for a reasonable amount of time. a really nice actioned guitar will almost play itself.

[Derek up North]

I was interested in what you said about the Steinbergers. Are they 'true' Steinies or the Gibson-made ones with the rosewood necks? A true Steinberger used to cost $2,000+, so if you've found a source for cheap ones, I'd be interested.

Greg

They're the rosewood neck ones (didn't know they were made by Gibson though). I got mine from www.musicyo.com a few years ago. They still have them for about USD 330 (which nowadays is about 10 English pounds ).

A few pop up on eBay from time to time, so that might be worth a look too.

Regards,

Derek.

[Lunch Money]

Thanks for the response, Derek! If it's not graphite neck (didn't think it would be for that price, but it was worth asking), I'll just wait until I'm done my current project and make my own.

Making a whole neck from scratch is turning out to be a bit of a chore, so next time I'll use a neck-through from Carvin, hack off the headstock, and install a FR Speedloader. That's at least a year or more away, though.

Back on topic-- I forgot to mention Dean guitars. Their import models are good value for money, though most are dual-humbucker.

Also worth checking out are the OLP Licensed MusicMan knock-offs. Quite good value for money!

Greg

[Wicker Man]

I'm just beginning to learn the guitar.

I am fully aware that there differing qualities of instruments but to start of with I have just purchased a lookalikey Gibson from a trader on eBay...it was 70 Solid British Pounds.

When I'm asked to go on TV, do a session or my record company gives me a fat advance for a 5 album deal then I might have to get a better one.

[Mephit Blue]

I was interested in what you said about the Steinbergers. Are they 'true' Steinies or the Gibson-made ones with the rosewood necks? A true Steinberger used to cost $2,000+, so if you've found a source for cheap ones, I'd be interested.

Greg

They're the rosewood neck ones (didn't know they were made by Gibson though). I got mine from www.musicyo.com a few years ago. They still have them for about USD 330 (which nowadays is about 10 English pounds ).

Derek.

These are the Steinberger Spirit line of guitars. I believe they are actually made by Cort for Gibson. Gibson owns the Steinberger name and manufactures the high end Steinbergers.

MusicYo is the only place I've seen both the Spirit and regular Steinbergers for sale. I've got one of the Spirit models and it's a really nice guitar, especially since I put in some decent pickups.

[Derek up North]

For anyone UK based, Academy of Sound are the sole distributor. They've got shops scattered around England but I don't think they have any in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland (they merged with Sound Control in November so that might have changed now) so you could go and try a few. They sell them on their website too - www.academyofsound.com if you want to look at a few first.

Regards,

Derek.