For Beginners
Thinking about learning guitar for the first time and not sure what gear you need? Here's some gear suggestions for new and intermediate players at various price points. :)
ps. This list contains only a small range of guitar styles for ease of reading, if you are a current or prospective student of mine feel free to email me details on the guitar style and your budget so i can suggest a couple of great guitars.
Electric Guitars
Budget
Any Squier Sonic Strat can be picked up for around £140+ new or commonly £100 used
Intermediate
The Squier Affinity series stratocaster is also a great budget pick being a slight step up from the Sonic, this is about the price point i suggest beginners start with being around £240~
Ultra Budget
The East Coast St1 starter pack £129 is probably the best deal for new guitarists since it includes everything you need, whilst its very cheaply made the baseline for cheap guitars has improved a lot over the years so this is still worth a thought.
Amplifiers
Virtual Amps?
Virtual Amps work by using an interface between your guitar and computer alllowing you to hear a simulated guitar amp. Some great options are anything by neural dsp ~£70 on sale or NAM Universal which is free. I use Neural DSP's plini x for practice
Fender LT25
The Fender LT25 is a great option for beginner and intermediate players as it features tons of inbuilt effects and great presets for a fair price of ~£170 new, highly recommend
Blackstar
The Blackstar ID Core 10 V4 Combo is another great option for around £140 for the same reasons as the fender although it is a lot quieter that the fender and features a smaller range of effects and presets.
Accessories
Strings
The Ernie Ball Slinky strings cost about £7 for a pack and are a staple for most guitar players (Including Me), In terms of string guage (how thick they are) id suggest 10-46 as these are the most common or 9-42 if you find 10s too thick.
Picks
If you're more of an strummer is suggest a thickness of 0.6 mm, if you're more into Metal, rock or jazz id highly recommend the Dunlop Max grip Jazz 3 picks.
Tuners
If you are trying to save money i would honestly just use a tuner app on your phone such as Pano-Tuner or if you've bought a modern practice amp such as the Fender LT25 most of these come with an inbuilt tuner.
