My Favorite Beginner Electric Guitars
My very first guitar was a Fender Squier in Fiesta Red and I vividly remember it sitting next to the fireplace on Christmas morning. My dad had picked out a matching guitar and bass for me and my sister and it was the most excited I have ever been about a present (with my hermit crab coming in as a close second). The fact it only cost a couple of hundred bucks made literally no difference to me. Since I’d never played an electric guitar, I had nothing to compare it to and I spent hours of my jr. high years playing it (a large majority of this time was used playing “Smoke On the Water,” learning songs from a “Classic Rock for Dummies” CD, and covering the School of Rock soundtrack- I was so cool…). It was perfect for that time of my life and even if it had been the best most expensive guitar in the world, it still wouldn’t have made my terrible bends or half-muted barre chords sound good!
Picking up an electric guitar is so rewarding because you get to learn all the fun lead lines and solos, start doing new techniques, and get to experiment with different tones. I also think it’s way way easier on your fingers than acoustic. The electric guitar just really brings the drama and I am all about it! In this blog, I want to cover the very first step in becoming an electric player which is picking out your electric guitar. If you are coming from the world of acoustics, picking out your first electric guitar might seem a little daunting — the things you are looking for in your next guitar are so different! But don’t worry, you really can’t go too wrong in the beginning as long as you have a guitar that makes you feel inspired to play (unless your guitar constantly goes out of tune)! So let’s go choose your first electric baby!
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What to look for
What you are looking for might depend on the style you play and what is comfortable to you. For an example, here’s what I look for in a guitar:
Pay attention to the action
One thing that will affect how easy a guitar is to play is the action (AKA the distance from the strings to the neck). You don’t want it to be too high since then the strings can feel like they are bouncing when you press them down.
This feeling can be fixed with a setup, but those are usually around $60-$100 so it’s a bummer to have to fix right away. You want the strings to be as close to the neck as possible without actually hitting the neck. If you already know how to bend, try bending the higher strings at the 12th fret and make sure they don’t hit the neck!
Do I like the feel of the neck?
Personally, I’m not a thick neck girl (I’m not referring to my love of turtle necks here! waha!!). But really, I don’t like when an electric guitar neck is the same width as an acoustic neck. Lighter strings and a smaller neck are some of the things that make an electric easy to play, so that’s important to me! For most of my guitars, I can wrap my hand all the way around the neck if that gives you a frame of reference. Again this is all personal preference, but something to pay attention to nonetheless!
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Is it heavy?
If you are planning on getting gigs (at least at some point!) where you might be standing for a long time with your guitar, make sure it’s something that’s a good weight for you. For me, there’s a lot of guitars I love the look and sound of, but I don’t want to carry them for hours (cough Les Pauls...). Everyone’s weight preference for a guitar is different, so think about whether you’ll be standing or sitting while playing, and if the weight is something you don’t mind carrying for a bit!
Does it sound and look cool?
You have to have a guitar you think looks awesome! Also, all guitars have unique sounds so I would recommend stalking (I’m a big guitar stalker just FYI) some of the bands you like and seeing what guitars they use.
Does it stay in tune?
It’s normal for your guitar to go out of tune if you just changed the strings or it’s been in a warm/cold room for a bit, but if you find yourself constantly having to retune in the first hour of playing it, it might have cheap tuning pegs (which is a no for me!).
So there are a few things to look for when you’re shopping around — I also highly recommend watching some of Reverb.com’s demo videos — they are so clean and well done and give helpful overviews!
So with that being said,here are some of my favorite beginner guitars
(in no particular order!)
So I just got one of these and it plays and sounds amazing! I was impressed! I have one with a roasted maple neck (I haven’t had anything with roasted maple before this!) and it’s very smooth and comfortable to play. It’s a 5 position switch and includes a whammy bar as well. The model I have is an HSS which means it has a humbucker pickup on the bridge (giving you that bright Tele-like sound) and single coils on the middle and neck (giving you those pretty bluesy strat sounds). In my opinion, this guitar is perfect!
I made a Youtube video on this one!
2. Fender Squier or Strat
Like I mentioned earlier, I started my musical journey with a Squier and it was such a great guitar for me at the time! It also made it easy to later switch over to a Stratocaster which played almost identically. However, I have seen some debate online that if you are going to buy a Squier (usually $200-$300), then you might as well just upgrade to a Strat (you can get a pretty good one for $500ish). The main difference between a Squier and a Strat made by Fender is simply the quality (pickups, hardware, wood, etc) and playability — most Strats are made in the USA or Mexico whereas a lot of Squires are made in Asia, etc.
Anywaaaay I love a Squier/Strat and you can’t go wrong here!
3. PRS SE Custom 24
PRS made this line in the 90’s and it’s made in Korea. It’s very similar to the American made Paul Reed Smith with minor differences (this video breaks down the details on the main differences). Though I haven’t personally owned one of these, they have a great reputation and there are a lot of loyal PRS players who won’t play anything else! They are great quality guitars and are very popular (I see them all over Instagram!) right now!
4. Yamaha PAC112V
For some reason, you don’t see a ton of Yamaha guitars out there being played by pros (though Santana is one of their top players!), but I could see that changing! Yamaha makes high-quality products and is known for innovation and making quality instruments and audio equipment in nearly every category. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they think this guitar is of similar quality to a Strat and is simply considered a beginner guitar because of the price. I have also heard some buzz about the neck pickup sounding great!). Overall, this would be an awesome choice for anyone!
5. Rivolta
And here you were thinking I wouldn’t put a Nashville based company on my list! Rivolta Guitars is a brand collab by Dennis Fano and Eastwood guitars. Dennis Fano has the reputation for making amazing and high-end guitars (they are called Novo guitars) and the Rivolta line has guitars that are priced for the beginner and they are FLASHY! I looove how these guitars look and there are a lot of fun different options — definitely worth checking out!
6. Danelectro
My last guitar on the list is a Danelectro! These aren’t normal “beginner guitars” but I will say this: they play great, look awesome, and are usually inexpensive! They have a ton of cool colors and were made popular largely by Led Zeppelin. A fun option for a performer!
These pickups are incredible!! Love Lambertones as a company as well! Also using my favorite Ernie Ball coiled cable too (I love the vintage feel of this!).
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If you have an ok sounding guitar and you like how it plays, an option for an easy upgrade is simply changing out the pickups. I put Lambertones pickups (my personal fav!) on a cheap Squier once and they transformed that guitar. It sounded amazing! It's an easy option for a professional sound for not a lot of money! Make sure you use my code HALEYTONE for a discount on these!
If you are interested in doing this, watch my video here!
Last thing…
The last thing- remember to check Craigslist/ Facebook too for used options because you can get some STEALS on amazing guitars! My husband traded a pedal (to be fair it was a nice pedal) for this Thinline Tele — I got the pickups changed out to Lambertones and it’s my favorite guitar!
So I hope that this round-up helps you! There are so many great guitars out there it’s an exciting process to find the perfect fit for you! Even though (assuming you will love guitar :) ) you’ll probably upgrade at some point, keeping your first guitar can be neat to remember where you first started!
Let me know if you have any favorites I left off this list and thanks so much for reading!
