Picking out cheap electric guitars
If you are thinking about learning a musical instrument, you have to make some hard choices right off the bat. The first one is how much you want to spend. A lot of people think that if you are starting off you should buy a cheap electric guitar, but this isn't always the case. The problem is that if you buy a lower quality instrument, it will be harder to play and will not sound as good. Many cheap electric guitars are not very well designed. That doesn't mean that you can't find one that is. If you know what to look for, you can find a low-cost electric guitar that will still help you shred like a guitar god.
With cheap electric guitars, you have quite a few options. A lot of people assume that the only way to go is to buy an all-in-one beginning guitar kit, but this is not the case. The electric guitar is probably the most popular instrument in America. As such, people buy and sell them all the time. You can find a used musical instrument that is still in pretty good shape. It helps to take someone along who knows what they are doing. You need to understand whether the frets are lined up properly, whether the neck is warped, and a lot of other things that you might not know how to evaluate as a beginner. Pawn shops can be risky business, and used musical instrument stores are not always reputable.
Of course, you can buy cheap electric Guitars without buying them used. A lot of the main manufacturers produce beginner lines that are still pretty good. My personal favorite is Epiphone. Epiphone guitars are made by the same people who produce Gibsons, but they are a whole lot cheaper. The quality is still good - they just aren't as fancy. I know some professional players who still use beginner Epiphones, so they are well regarded.
There are a few other strategies to consider when you are buying cheap electric guitars. I have a friend who
swears by factory seconds. Factory seconds are new guitars that were somehow slightly damaged in the factory. Usually the damage is simply cosmetic - they have a ding on the body somewhere that looks a little bit ugly. If you don't mind a bit of cosmetic imperfection, this is the way to go. You still get a new electric guitar, but with substantial savings.
