Guitar Advice Please

[Raistlin]

Hi Guys,

I've just seen the following guitar advertised:

Takamine EGS430SC, inc hard case, £250

Has anybody owned/played this guitar? How's the price (it's a used one by the way)?

I'd like another guitar (I had one years ago), so that I can start to learn to play again.

If anybody's got any other suggestions they would be greatfully received.

Thanks

[nibbles]

very difficult thing to advise Takamine is a good solid make but guitars are very personal objective things u need to have a guitar in your hands if it doesn't feel comfortable u may never feel like it's any good guitars being made of wood one may sound totally diffirent from another of the exact same model try your local music shop you may find that the model you have chosen is too big or it's neck size is too big for your hands.

[punky]

Never heard of Takamine, so I don't know what its like, but as nibbles says, how it feels is most important, so just give it a try in the shop.

I have a Yamaha Pacifica, which you could get (new) with hard case for that price now, which is a good all-round entry level guitar. It also has humbucker pickups (like a Les Paul has ) and a solid body, which is rare for that price.

[Raistlin]

Hi nibbles,

Thanks very much for that, I appreciate what you're trying to say.

The thing I'm worried about is that, as you say, I really need to handle the guitar - I just don't have the playing experience to know what's going to be right. I wouldn't even be sure I was holding the thing correctly

Anyway, I think I need to go and hold a few and at least get a feel for the differences.

Thanks again.
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Originally Posted by punky

Never heard of Takamine, so I don't know what its like, but as nibbles says, how it feels is most important, so just give it a try in the shop.

I have a Yamaha Pacifica, which you could get (new) with hard case for that price now, which is a good all-round entry level guitar. It also has humbucker pickups (like a Les Paul has ) and a solid body, which is rare for that price.

If that's a solid body I take it that it's an Electric then?

I was thinking more along the lines of an Electric-Acoustic, but I'll consider anything.

Don't suppose you've got a link to the model that you've got have you? Oh, and if you fancy giving me lessons.....

[punky]

Originally Posted by Raistlin

If that's a solid body I take it that it's an Electric then?

I was thinking more along the lines of an Electric-Acoustic, but I'll consider anything.

Don't suppose you've got a link to the model that you've got have you? Oh, and if you fancy giving me lessons.....

Yup, its electric. If you want electro-accoustic you'd probably pay a fair bit more. Electro-accoust is fairly application specific, so if you are just learning again, its probably not really needed. You can play an electric guitar non-electrically. It still produces a loudish sound (i can play along with songs with headphones on 1 ear), the only difference between that and an electro-accoustic is the tone really.

I would give you lessons, but the phrase "blind leading the blind" comes to mind

Link to my guitar: http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/...23600,00.html#

BTW, solifd body guitars only come into affect when amped. They produce a much more powerful sound, if you intend to play rock music live. A bit down the track maybe, but you don't want to get used to a guitar, have to buy another and get used to it again.

[Raistlin]

Originally Posted by punky

I would give you lessons, but the phrase "blind leading the blind" comes to mind

I would suggest that it would be more like the blind leading the deaf and blind

Originally Posted by punky

BTW, solifd body guitars only come into affect when amped. They produce a much more powerful sound, if you intend to play rock music live.

I don't think that's going to happen

[marky]

HERE you go buddy

[punky]

Originally Posted by Raistlin

I would suggest that it would be more like the blind leading the deaf and blind

LMAO. Seriously though, in case this matters to anyone, I am actually tone deaf, but I do OK. Being tone deaf means its near enough impossible to work out how to play a song without being told (most people can just listen and replicate), and makes tuning the guitar harder, but its no problem. You can download tablatures for any song you want, for free, or buy songbooks, and you can buy an electric tuner cheap.

I don't think that's going to happen

Well, you may not be ready to start a band right now, but its important that you buy a guitar that fits your music. Guitars are for the most part universal but certain types are suited to different tastes in music. You prefer rock don't you?

Solid body = rock
Normal body = generic
7 string guitars = heavy metal

Ibanez do very nice rock guitars, but I couldn't afford the one I wanted.

[Roy MM]

My Fender will go with me to my grave, but i agree you get "the feel" for your instrument this is always unigue.

Advice on electro acoustics:

Many good makes out there, Fender, Tanglewood, Ovation, Gibson.

But as everyone says you really must go and play the guitar, it could be a £2000 but it may not feel right for you. You really need to be comfortable at playing it.

I have a steel stringed acoustic guitar, made by a company called freshman, Brand new it cost me £100. The tension on the strings is immense, its like playing a gibson les paul electric. But I love it, its a nice strummy guitar, I dont play lead so I dont need to bend the strings much, I stick with nice simple open and barre chords.

£250 includiong a hard case is not a bad price and I would consider it. The hard cases can be as much as the guitars themselves sometimes.

First things first try playing the guitar if you can. Make sure your comfortable with it, you may find it too bulky. Then make your mind up.

I have several guitars:

BC Rich Warlock NJ series (as used by Sepultura)
Wesley Electric (bought on Ebay for £130 brand new and one of the nicest guitars I have ever played)
I have strat copy that I use for messing around with aetups and string guages, I also practice wiring pickup in it, its not even decent squire copy, its really cheap and only has a 3 way toggle switch, but when I dropped 2 seymour duncs in there.....WOW. (mind you the duncs cost more than the guitar did lol)

[Raistlin]

Originally Posted by markymoan

HERE you go buddy

Very Good, thanks for that
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Originally Posted by punky

Well, you may not be ready to start a band right now, but its important that you buy a guitar that fits your music. Guitars are for the most part universal but certain types are suited to different tastes in music. You prefer rock don't you?

Sort of, but I like to be able to sing and play - this means I tend to concentrate on the rhythm than in the lead.

I also like to just sit and play for myself sometimes, in fact I prefer that to actually preforming - I guess I want something that doesn't necessarily need to be amped up to get a reasonable sound.

Thanks for the advice, very good
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Originally Posted by timewarrior2001

<Snip>

Some good advice in there, thanks

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by Roy MM

My Fender will go with me to my grave, but i agree you get "the feel" for your instrument this is always unigue.

/me plays a Fender Strat - a genuine American Fender too, not a Mexican one. It's about 10 years old now, but still plays absolutely perfectly. It is easily the best guitar I have ever played in my life. Oh, and it's black

Prior to that, I had an old Yamaha SG200... it was a beast of a guitar, but it's what I learned to play on. It was pretty difficult to get used to, and I wouldn't really recommend one to others (even though I loved mine). I played around a bit with a Pacifica (the 112 model, in a nice lake blue colour) which was so much easier to play than my old SG200. I would recommend the Pacifica if you don't fancy stretching to a true Fender.

Oh, and as for the noise factor when you just want to play... I find that I prefer to play an unplugged electric rather than an accoustic. The electric makes enough noise that you can hear it when it's unplugged. The accoustic will make a lot more noise than an unplugged electric, even if you're playing it softly. When you just want to play a bit at 3 in the morning, you don't want to be making a lot of noise
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oo-er, that last line sounds a bit rude

[Roy MM]

Originally Posted by Gareth

/me plays a Fender Strat - a genuine American Fender too, not a Mexican one. It's about 10 years old now, but still plays absolutely perfectly. It is easily the best guitar I have ever played in my life. Oh, and it's black

Prior to that, I had an old Yamaha SG200... it was a beast of a guitar, but it's what I learned to play on. It was pretty difficult to get used to, and I wouldn't really recommend one to others (even though I loved mine). I played around a bit with a Pacifica (the 112 model, in a nice lake blue colour) which was so much easier to play than my old SG200. I would recommend the Pacifica if you don't fancy stretching to a true Fender.

Oh, and as for the noise factor when you just want to play... I find that I prefer to play an unplugged electric rather than an accoustic. The electric makes enough noise that you can hear it when it's unplugged. The accoustic will make a lot more noise than an unplugged electric, even if you're playing it softly. When you just want to play a bit at 3 in the morning, you don't want to be making a lot of noise
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oo-er, that last line sounds a bit rude

mine is well dated & dented, blood red from early 70s, cost me more than my car at the time.