"Starter" Guitar Packages

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Author Message   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 11:55 am:    Just a rant here, I guess, but I was in the local music store yesterday and picked up a new Squire Telecaster, the kind you get in those boxed sets that come with a guitar, amp, cord, etc. Yikes! Just horrible construction. Horrible feel to the neck. The frets were untrimmed and I literally almost cut my fingers on the rough fret edges. How can Fender (via Squire) and Gibson (via Epiphone) put their names to these things? I admit to not checking out an Ibby Gio, but is the quality of those as bad as these others?   Grateful66 Username: Grateful66 Registered: 8-2007 Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 12:51 pm:    "Santa" bought my kids one of those Little Martins for this coming Christmas. It's at the office. I can't seem to put it down it so much fun. Lotta dough but it's a riot. Sorry about the Squire Chuck   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 12:57 pm:    Chuck - I can't comment on the Squires but I have to stick up for the Epis. I own two Epis: one Gothic Explorer and one Moderne clone. The Explorer is my favorite "everyday, bang around, who cares if it gets scratched" guitar. For being machine made and costing almost nothing, they're great guitars. I haven't been mauled by one yet. Was this a chain that you were in or was it Crazy Fred's Used Guitar Emporium? - Pete   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 1:21 pm:    Mills Music, a small "chain" in Washington State. They have higher prices than the Guitar Centers of the world, and a much smaller selection. And I should clarify, by "picked up" I didn't mean I bought it, I literally picked it up out of its stand and played it for a few minutes. The best thing about this store (and it is literally only 400 square feet or so of space) is that they have a bunch of Ibanez guitars, including a couple AWD83's (one red, one dark blue). My kids get their lessons there, so while the kids learn, I occupy my time by pulling guitars down off the wall to play.   Craigjc Username: Craigjc Registered: 11-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 10:11 am:    Inexpensive guitars of nice quality are out there. I just wouldn't trust anything in a box designed as Christmas presents for beginners. Those things are produced so that mom and pop can grab a box and throw some wrapping paper on it. Very little quality control goes into these Holiday packs. They're made with the assumtion that most kids won't ever learn to truly play the guitar and will eventually make a nice wall hanging. Since there is such a big market for cheap and easy shopping, all-in-one packs are immensely popular and the companies you mentioned just want a piece of that market share, as do the stores that sell them.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 2:42 pm:    I think Epiphone has been a consistently decent brand for as long as I've been playing. I have a 1969 Epi Texan 6 string acoustic that's quite the player. I use it specifically for CSN&Y tunes in Open "E" tuning. This open "E" tuning is: E E E E B E. The Epi Les Paul's used to be the way to go for an inexpensive/decent axe at around $300-$350. Now, they've gone up to whacky prices for them. But, in the past, always a decent buy and then you could drop pups in there to spruce it up a bit. Even in their original state, they were decent. They're still decent but getting pricey. You may get a decent deal on the bay though, on a used one. Excellent starter or knock-around axe. I've done gigs with them. Some of the tops on 'em are really nice and there's the 3 pup model as well in black. Nothing really special about them but certainly a decent axe at what used to be a fair price. You can still get a nice Ibanez Explorer or Destroyer (new) for around $300 today, and a Flying V and others, all reasonably priced Ibanez axes.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Friday, November 30, 2007 - 1:17 am:    That open E tuning would lead to tension problems, a mix of too weak and too strong, so I guessed there had to be some mistake in it. I found this: http://www.tle.se/etune.html Ah those cheap packages, I'll be having bad dreams about wannabe strats with ugly paddle headstocks. All that is missing in these packages is the canoe. I think it's better to buy a 2nd hand 3/4 guitar with a solid top for the young ones. Bad instruments kill the motivation. The value will be the same when your kid needs a bigger size. The 3/4 guitar can be passed on to a younger brother or sister, or it can be sold without any loss. (That's for classical guitars of course). I think it's better to buy a good second hand than a bad new one in a beautiful box. Ginger   Talajuha Username: Talajuha Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 4:12 pm:    Finnish magazine "Tekniikan maailma" (World of Technics) tested five starter guitar packages ("Christmass Guitar Packages"). The test confirmed my opinion that a decent starter package costs 400 to 500 EUR, probably the same amount of bucks in the US or a hundred more. But you can go wrong even if you pay more (Hagström/Marshal, 690 €). Test results (points 1 - 10, stars 1 - 5): Guitar: Squier Strat Affinity Amp: Fender G-DEG PR 718 Price: 430 € Points: 8.7 Stars: **** Guitar: Tokai Goldstar Sound Amp: Roland Micro Cube Price: 465 € Points: 8.6 Stars: **** Guitar: Ltd M-50 Amp: Roland Micro Cube Price: 370 € Points: 8.5 Stars: **** Guitar: Schecter Diamond Series Omen-6 Amp: Behringer V-Tone GMX110 Price: 400 € Points: 8.4 Stars: **** Guitar: Hagström F200 Amp: Marshall Rockbox RB-15DFX Price: 690 € Points: 7.5 Stars: ** Guitar: Ibanez GRX40JU-CA Amp: Ibanez G10 Price: 250 € Points: 7.0 Stars: * Guitar: Yamaha ERG 121 GPII Amp: Yamaha GA-15 Price: 280 € Points: 6.9 Stars: * http://www.tekniikanmaailma.fi/kitarapaketit/tm-ve rtailu-joulun-kitarapaketit Links to the packages on the right Juha   Fendouglas Username: Fendouglas Registered: 7-2007 Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 2:47 am:    Most people buy starter packs so that if they or their kids don't take to it they haven't 'lost' a lot (I was on to my 3rd Guitar before I realised I had to learn to play the thing!). If you compare (above) money spent to points earned than the Ibanez & Yamahas come off quite well.   Talajuha Username: Talajuha Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 5:23 am:    "tested five starter guitar packages" Hm, can't I count up to seven ... Yes, good guitar doesn't make you a good player, it gives an opportunity to become. It takes practicing and practicing and again practicing. But lousy guitar and amp will kill your interest in learning. I hate people advertising pure crap as "starter guitars". Juha

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