I want to get started playing electric guitar, but I don't know where to start. I tried acoustic but it just didn't kick enough ass for me. What is a decent, relatively cheap guitar? I won't be getting anything at this very moment until I can get a job so I can get money. Can you guys show me some good heavy metal guitars and amps/tweeters/whatever I need? I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks

How much are you willing to save up and spend?

I bought a Jackson JX10 (metallic blue) for AUD$560 (rrp $699). I tried various other guitars, but I prefered the clarity and crunch of this guitar (it has three Duncan designed mini humbuckers). The others in the same price range sounded a bit more muddy.

I've seen this guitar for about $270, from memory, on American sites. Sometimes cheaper.

You'll want a guitar with humbucks. You should google 'guide to buying guitar' or something, and you'll learn the basics there.

I also got a Behringer Vintager GM110 30 watt amp, and it's a piece of shit. It cost me $220 and the RRP is around $300. Don't get that.

I heard the Roland Cube 30 is a good little amp? I remember some people posting here about it.

Get a guitar by some decent brand. Ibanez, old Charvel, Jackson or whatever's available locally ...not some unknown POS brand you can buy a car parts warehouse. Same with the amps. Spare some time and effort, and get an amp with a decent brand. The unknown's are unknown for a reason.

Get something that you think looks cool. It's hard to keep motivated when your instrument looks like it was made for Hootie and the Blowfish. With a fine looking instrument it's easier to get in the right mood and practise all day and night.

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i second lakebodom.

cool looking stuff, pick up yourself a bronze or platinum series bc rich. maybe getting one second hand would be slightly better cos cheaper.
or if your cheaper than that, jackson or ibanez make good lead guitars.

cheap amps, a 30 watt would do good. marshall, randall and peavey are the leading brands.

aaaaaand for the pedals, as a last resort, grab yourself a digitech metal master and()/or a boss metal zone. but pedalwise, choose carefully, and if your gonna play all black/death thats all youll need to start off, but youll probably need an effects board depending on how big your horizons are.

as i stated before, choose carefully or youll be like my mates neighbour who ended up having to sell his gear to pay his chiropractor.

Do Not get yourself a bc rich especially if their in the bronze or platinium series, very crappy!!!!. Instead get ureself a good beginners guitar like a Aria Mac 50 or somet. Then just get a cheap 20 watt peavey practive amp, and maybe a distortion pedal. Then just go from there

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As uncool as it sounds, you should also start by taking a few lessons...I've been playing a few years now and I kind of regret not starting lessons earlier.

Yeh i think your better of staying away from bc rich if your a beginner, go with jackson, ibanez or something.

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Does it really make a difference if I get a 6 or 7 string? What are humbucks for? At the Ibanez website, they list a ton of guitars, which should I choose? I think I remember seeing people post saying the K7 was good? What about tuning? Can somebody also explain what the differences in tuning are?

It's best to start off with a 6 string. A 7 string has one extra, lower string and it may make things a tad more complicated when you start. HumbuckERs are pickups which were created to eliminate the buzzing found in single coils (hence the name, it "bucks" the hum). The humbucker also looks like a two single coils stuck right next to each other and are generally more accepted in metal and have a "beefier" tone. As far as choosing an Ibanez goes, I would look at guitars with in your price range and ask around on what Ibanez's are best for a beginner. It also helps to ask around at guitar stores and talk to people who know their shit...you can try Guitar Center but I find people at smaller independent stores are friendlier and don't mind stiking up a conversation. You probably don't have to worry about tuning at the momemt. Standard tuning (EADGBe) is the most common tuning but tuning down gives the strings more slack and gives you a lower tone as used in lots of metal. There are also drop-D tunings and alternate tunings that make voicing power chords simpler...(again you probably don't need to worry about this just starting out.) Hope this helps...

One more question as of the moment (sorry if I'm being annoying ), what's a power chord?

A power chord is a chord stripped of all its parts except the bare essentials:
E maj (02210) -> E5 (02xxxx)...I hope you know what the numbers mean, it's kinda hard to explain this to someone just starting...but don't get discouraged, you'll get it. Power chords are used ALOT in metal.
PS: the power chord is listed as E5 because the 2nd note (the '2') is a 5th and don't worry, it's not annoying.

Power chords will look like this. (if you can read tabs..)

e--------------------------
B--------------------------
G--------------------------
D--2----4----5-------------
A--2----4----5-------------
E--0----2----3-------------

Power chords constist of: the root (E sting), the 5th (A string), and the octave (D string).

I would suggest going to a music store and try out some guitars and amps. See what you like.

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If I'm not mistaken cant powerchords also use string 5a nd six. Also, regular chords are rarely used in metal. It all depends on what you play though.

I can't read tabs yet, so that means nothing. Thanks anyway though .

Hmmm, Why would you come to MetalTabs .com if you didnt know how to read tabs?

Anyway. I'll try to show you how to read tabs.

The 6 lines represent the 6 strings of the guitar. The 6th string (Low E) is the thickest. The Numbers represent which frets are to be played. If there are notes on top of each other like shown below, then you should play them together. Otherwise, play them as single notes.

1 e|-------------------------------------
2 B|------------------------------------
3 G|--------------------3-----------------
4 D|--2--4--------------3----------------
5 A|--2--4--------------1----------------
6 E|--0--2--1-2-3-2-1-------------------

Hope that makes scence.

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The first thing you need to do is decide on how much you want to spend.

Then look around at the online retail sites to get a good idea of brands and models you're interested in. Just use google to find places online that sell guitars. For example, musicians friend.

You should go to your local music shop and see what they have there. Note down some of the ones they show you and if you like them or not, and then go back online and search for reviews at sites like guitar review and music gear review etc.

Also, if you have any friends who play guitar, ask them to go along with you and help you select a guitar.

Would http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/519658/ (Ibanez IJS40 Jumpstart Pack) be a good thing to buy? It's nice priced, has everything I would need, and got a lot of good reviews. I don't want to get ripped off like I did on my POS acoustic guitar.

I would personally stay away from all the 'starter kits' or jumpstart kits, like that Ibanez one, and the Fender Squier, and the BC Rich Metal Master starter pack or whatever it's called. From what I've read, they're pretty shitty. If you've got the patience to save up, avoid them and go with something else. But if you do buy it, you won't be 'ripped off' because it does seem like good value for little money. The guitar that comes in that kit is the 3rd cheapest Ibanez guitar on the site, the Ibanez GRX40.

When you read reviews, try to ignore all the reviews that give all "10/10" or "0/10". Try to find reviews that give mixed scores, because they're more honest. I found this review on samedaymusic.com:



This review really turned me off the kit, because you'll be playing mostly power chords. You shouldn't make a decision based on the reviews, but you can use them as a guide. You should only make a definate decision when you go to a store and hear the guitars for yourself. And there's no guarantee that the guitars you find on the net will be available at your local music shops.

That Ibanez kit is $246. If you want a decent beginners guitar and amp, you'll probably be looking at paying at least $350 - $400 in total.

But if you're getting a decent sound out of your guitar and amp, you're more likely to continue playing and not give up. One of my friends bought an Ashton starter kit (the worst guitar and kit on the planet) and he's given up because it's so shitty.

Here's some equipment you may consider:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/519644/
$227

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/519643/
$242

The prices may differ in your local music store. These guitars seem reasonable beginner guitars to me.

Can anyone else give an opinion on these guitars?

These amps look interesting, although I can't give an opinion on them:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...se_pid/480022X/
$85

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/480023/
$225

The amp is a huge part of your sound, it's just as important as your guitar, if not more so.

After a few weeks of playing, if you have any spare cash, you might also want to invest in buying a cheap multi FX processor, such as the Digitech RP50 or a Zoom pedal.

i think coming to metaltabs is a great step, ive improved my guitar since ive been here, i believe.

everyone will disagree with me im sure, but i say get a guitar. any guitar. its a guitar. a cheapo one will do, i still have my first, its an essex. now, your saying "an eswhat?" - well thats my point. its just a guitar and until you get serious itll do.

i agree with this guy, get cheap guitar, even if its a bcrich bronze series warlock, it looks cool, plays alright, and sound decent enough to get you into playing, i would get the warlock starter kit if i were you, i had one, the amp is small, but you dont need to much amp in the beginning, and definitely get a dist. pedal, i would reccomend the digitech metalmaster, or the boss mt-2 metalzone, prolly the metalzone more, cus you can turn down the distortion a bit.

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I think taht esp ltd mh 50 is a guitar with everything you need to play for several years. It´s such cheap (293 euros, I don´t know about $:s).
Theres 24 jumbo frets , two humbuckers and a floyd rose bridge. It´s more
better than traditional vibration bridge and those humbuckers will give a heavy sound.

the humbuckers suck, the floyd is licensed and sucks, bolt-on, puke, point.

but for beginners yes, its quite a nice guitar.

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Who gives a shit if its bolt on. It doesnt make that HUGE of a difference.

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I heard the BC Rich guitars are very heavy. I'm assuming the thread starter is in his early teens? That makes the BC Rich even less suitable.

If you're gonna chose a starter kit, I guess that Ibanez one would be good. Probably better than the Squier and the BC Rich.

Just go to a music shop and get a friend, or the sales person, to play some different guitars and amps and chose the ones that sound best and are within your price range.

Agree completely with Cannibal Corpse. To a beginner it really doesn't matter if he can't pull of diminished arpeggios from the 19th fret up because of the bolt-on neck joint. Somebody new to playing guitar wouldn't simply know the difference between neckthrough and a bolt-on, all he'd do was pay too much for a NT guitar. A beginner needs a good guitar, something that's fun to play and not a complete piece of junk. Advanced features are for the advanced player, who knows what he's paying for.

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Yes, I'm 14, I'll probably ask for a guitar for Christmas, I just want to be ready before then so I know what I want.

Do you have any friends or relatives who play the guitar?

Because if you do, you can get them to go along to the store and help you chose. Then you won't be ripped off.

^^^agreed

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I actualy just meant Who gives a shit if its a bolt on in general. Just because its a bolt on doesnt mean its a bad guitar.

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I came here after Ozzfest 2004 in Camden, seeing if anybody else had been there and seen Rob Halford sing in Ozzy's place (I searched on google and found this site).

Also, I have decided that I want the Ibanez IJS40 Starter Pack, as it got a large amount of good reviews, all it needs is a bigger amp and one guy said he had a problem where things sounded scratchy like a cell phone, but all he needed was a new cable, and one guy had a problem with his 3rd string, but nobody else seemed to have any of those problems, so I suspect them to be a fault with their product, and a few people said the tuner was a POS.

Also, there was a nice, long review that I read

Really, the only bad thing you could do when buying your first guitar is buying an expensive guitar and not play it. So this guitar is a good choice really. Any guitar would be good.

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I started playing guitar when I was 14 too.....and I fucking love it more today than I ever have. I would def. recommend getting an Ibanez guitar. They have good starter guitars as long as you don't get something less than $200. If you have to wait to get an amp because the guitar you want is more than say 3 or 4 hundred...you should. There is nothing worse I think than first starting to play guitar, falling in love with it, and than realizing you are stuck with a shitty guitar. Be smart about it.

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