Hi Guys, Guitar beginner here, can anyone recommend a decent guitar for beginner that compliments well with rockstar 2014 remastered. also what's the best guitar pick to start learning with?

 

On a side note I have been looking at getting a Epiphone Les Paul Studio E1 to start learning with, but I thought id see what the more experienced guitarist can suggest.

link here >>> https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/201130364598025--epiphone-les-paul-studio-e1-heritage-cherry-sunburst

Thanks in advanced 🙂

GuitarHero2023

Due to the recent world events of the past 3 years, the guitar market has been up and down with availability. There are a bunch of youtubers that have reviewed different guitars, there are articles in every corner of the internet suggesting the best guitar.

The decision best lays with what is available to you, in the price range you want to spend. What is available to me here across the pond may not be available to you, and vise versa. In fact what is available in my corner of the States differs from other parts of the States. The market has gotten better in recent months. I am sure others will chime in with what they will say is the best choice for you,

What I say is go to a guitar store and actually FEEL a couple and see what they feel like to you. Problem with being inexperienced in looking at guitars is not noticing or knowing what to look for i.e. sharp fret ends, quality of work, bad necks, fast necks, bad "tremolos", guitars that stay in tune, horrific action. There is nothing wrong with the guitar that you posted as a beginner guitar. per say.

Second and very very important is have whatever axe you choose, have it professionally set up. Being a novice makes it difficult to set one up yourself, and setting it up correctly. Keep in mind that almost all guitars especially budget guitars come off of an assembly line. While they should have a quality control, bad ones slip by. Frequently. Having it professionally set up. When I started in my teens, I first used my dad's acoustic, it was horrible. My parents thought they were doing me a favor by gifting me a used Supro for Christmas one year. It is the worst guitar ever made. Not Supros, but the one I was gifted. The action was a mile off the fret board. It is literally unplayable.

Guitars are a personal choice and how it feels to you is more important than how it feels to someone else, so keep that in mind. Asking the best of anything is a loaded question. Same with guitar picks. Grab a couple here and there until you find one you like. There are gagillion different pick and pick styles. Any pick will actually do for the most part, stay away from the gimmick ones for now. Depending genre, 1.0 mm is on the heavy side, but anything from .60 mm to 1.0 mm is fine. Dunlops are easy to find, I like the Dunlop stubbies personally, I use them both on bass and guitar. They are chonky monsters. It is a personal decision and you will probably gravitate to a particular brand or style on your own after a while. Or you will be like "meh, a pick is a pick".

Absolutely agree on visiting a few stores and try out different models in your price range.  Nowadays there are a LOT of choices, and the good news is that even cheap instruments are good enough in quality (I started playing in the early 90s and I can testify the quality has seriously improved. Just avoid the absolute cheapest, usually pop-up brands that try and disappear in a few years, and you are quite safe.

 

Since you live in Europe, browse thomann.de website which I think is the largest online music retailer in the old continent, even if you don't buy your instruments online you'll generally find very useful reviews. 

 

Then besides your target price range, your main concern will be the general guitar type. Fender Stratocaster type is possibly good for all genres of music but especially good if you like playing with clean sounds, traditional effect pedals, or not too extreme distorsions, both rhythm and soloing. Gibsons type like Epiphone for more bluesy sounds but also hard rock. Charvel/Jackson types for heavy metal. Semiacoustics for clean jazz. Fender Telecaster types for electric country/folk and funk rhythms. 

 

But reality is that every guitar type can be used on a very large range of music so don't be afraid  😀 Amplifiers and effect pedals will also change your sound shape a lot so the native guitar sound may not end up being the most important. Instead, make sure the guitar FEELS comfortable in your hands, as shape, weight, neck measurements etc can vary a lot, and different people have different hands. Pay special attention to the number of frets (my very first Squier had 21 only, as a kid I was disappointed to discover i didn't have enough frets for certain solos) and to the type of bridge in case you want to learn using the whammy bar seriously. 

 

If you have a favourite guitarist or two you wish to learn their songs, of course the best idea is to choose a similar guitar 🙂

And if you're serious about learning guitar, don't worry too much about your first because it definitely won't be your last 😄

^^ Everything this guy, this wise soul said that I obviously forgot in my already long winded post  ^^

I was going to mention Thomann myself. It is a blessing, they are a blessing to you depending how you look at it, they will not ship to me / my region.

 

Hi Guy's, Sorry for the late reply, currently moving house, so been very busy.

 

Thanks for everyone's Advice, I'll defo take everything that said in to consideration.

 

Thanks Again to all above

Kind

Regards

guitarhero2023

 

To me stratocaster style guitars seem easier to play, after that probably SGs.  Squire strats and most Epiphones are pretty good nowadays.