I want to buy a guitar and I was thinking something under $200. I looked at some reviews and videos and I had been leaning toward the Epiphone Les Paul LP-100 even though it's $275. https://www.amazon.com/Epiphone-Pau...=1489031972&sr=8-2&keywords=epiphone+les+paul I went into a small music store to buy some picks and the guy there said don't buy it and if I wanted an Epi Les Paul I should buy the Standard which is $419, but I don't want to spend that much at this time. He said I should get a Fender Squier Telecaster. $200 on Amazon. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/Affinity-Series-Telecaster-Special-Electric-Guitar.gc Then I was talking later to a guy who has been teaching guitar for more than 30 years and he said a better deal was the Fender Squier Stratocaster. It's on sale at Guitar Center for $99. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/Bullet-Stratocaster-SSS-Electric-Guitar-with-Tremolo.gc I do like the fact that the has 3 pickups and a 5 position switch rather than 2 pickups and a 3 position for the Tele, but the Strat has a tremolo. Would the tremolo cause it to go out of tune more frequently? Assuming that the quality is the same I might be better off with the Strat and saving the $100. I am currently playing around with an Arbor Destroyer that I got about 20 years ago but it has developed severe feedback unless the cable is plugged in just so and I don't move too much. I think it's a problem with the pickup.
I got an epiphone and I like it. It's not that one but it was only around 200. Shane is taking lessons maybe he can chime in.
There are Epiphone Les Paul's for around $200 but they don't look anything like the classic Les Paul look with the 4 knobs in a diamond pattern. I was taking a free online course that's pretty good but I can't ask questions like if it was a live person. https://www.justinguitar.com I started taking lessons last week and tonight was my second lesson. You've seen those signs all over town that just say Guitar Lessons and have a phone number. I've known the guy since before he started teaching guitar. One day he quit his corporate job, got divorced and has been making a living teaching guitar in his apartment for more than 30 years.
The Squier Bullet Strat SSS that i mentioned for $99 at Guitar Center is $149 on Amazon. I think I'll go by there and get on tomorrow unless I find some reason not to.
I would not get any of the squire models, knock offs made in Indonesia I think. They are cheap because they are junk. https://batonrouge.craigslist.org/msg/6001256055.html This might be a start
The squier models are made by Fender so there's that. At this time I'm not looking for something to play for years, just something better than what I have until I get good enough to move up to a more expensive guitar. The thing I fear about used is that there are a lot of guitars out there with some warping of the neck and other defects that would take a trained eye better than mine to know what to look for. The Showmaster looks good but the guy on Clist is asking about as much as a new one costs and who the hell knows how he treated it. Maybe he thought he was a young Pete Townsend who smashed his guitar at the end of a show. Foreign made doesn't bother me so much as long as it's a well known brand. Right now I'm wearing a shirt made in China but it's a Nike. If I spend $100 and it turns out to be a piece of crap I'm only out $100 and I can probably sell it for almost as much as I paid. I bought this acoustic a few months ago and it plays pretty good once I change the strings from the thick ones it came with to some lighter ones https://www.amazon.com/Thinline-Aco...8-1&keywords=jameson+acoustic+electric+guitar It's a Jameson so if I ever get into naming my guitars I'll call it Jenna.
