Beginners Guitar - Acoustic or Electric? (Guitars in general)

Member Name: absynthe

Product:	Guitars in general
Date:	17/07/01 (1810 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More choice than a beginner might assume they could have.

Disadvantages: Are there any disadvantages? ;)

It seems to be the accepted opinion that if you're a beginner to this popular and portable instrument that you should start out first on an acoustic guitar - preferably with nylon strings (classical guitar), work your way up to steel strings (folk guitar) and only then consider an electric as these are more difficult to play.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Brimming over with wrongability!

Electric guitars are NOT more difficult to play - in fact in my experience (and that of other, far more accomplished players), it is much *easier* to start with an electric and work your way up to an acoustic.

"Why is that?", I hear you ask.

Simple - the action (distance between the strings and frets) is usually flatter on an electric compared to an acoustic (the frets on an acoustic are also usually much higher than an electric too) and - to a beginner - that can make all the difference in the world. Added to which, the neck of an electric guitar is invariably slimmer and less rounded than that of it's acoustic predecessor - another boon for stiff, untrained fingers. Also, the body bulk of a hollow acoustic compared to a slender, solid bodied electric can also be a bit more difficult to start off with.

True, it is easier to start with nylon strings on soft fingertips. But, as with any guitar, you need to build up calluses on these fingertips so that they don't hurt when you press down on the strings - and after a couple of weeks of regular practice, you won't notice the difference (pain/pressure wise) between nylon and steel strings, so why let a mere fortnight influence your decision over what to play? Besides, the flatter, slimmer neck of your average electric is a boon worth considering. I personally found the steel strung electric much kinder on the fingertips than the nylon strung classical I used to own.

Naturally, if it is your dream to play acoustic guitar, you'd want to start with that - go
es without saying. But don't be fooled into thinking that that's how you *must* start. And don't be put off by the belief that you can't take your electric out into the woods and play it - an electric guitar can indeed be played outdoors (at considerably greater volume than an acoustic, if you prefer) without need of a mains hook-up - but more of that further down this review.

My first guitar was an old second hand, half sized acoustic, steel strung. Between the higher action and frets of an acoustic coupled with the steel strings, it wasn't long before I was mightily discouraged and put the guitar down for good!

Years later, I bought myself a cheap classical guitar with nylon strings - but the chunky neck coupled with my short little fingers proved to be too difficult for me to make much progress on, so again, I lost heart.

But, I'd always wanted to play guitar and came to the decision that I'd have a look at an inexpensive electric and see if that didn't feel any better - the necks of the electrics I'd seen on TV certainly looked slimmer to me and since reaching round the neck was always my main problem, I ventured forth into my local music shop, generous man in tow who promised to buy it for me as a birthday gift if I liked what I saw and thought I could learn to play it.

I succumbed to a Squier Strat Pak which - for £150 (a year and a half ago) contained not only the guitar but also a 10W mains amp, lead, gig bag, strap, plectrum and spare strings. And, considering the guitar I got was a very good one, I made out lucky. The assistant unpacked it and plugged it into the same brand/power amp I was getting and played it. Ooooh, it DID sound wonderful - especially for the price! I was sold. And the finish on the guitar was glorious - a deep honey-to-black sunburst effect which looked and felt (and still does) expensive and classy. (Although I now have a much more expensive (and differ
ent style) guitar, I still have this one, still play it regularly and wouldn't consider parting with it for the world.)

Additional information: Squier guitars (a subsidiary company of Fender with bases in Indonesia, Korea and China among others) often get a bad name for being substandard and not worth paying for - that may be true of some but that doesn't apply to them all. Inexpensive doesn't necessarily mean "cheap & nasty". Even the (often ludicrously) expensive American Fenders can be complete lemons - it's not a malady unique to cheaper makes. If you're tempted to buy a guitar in a pack like this, go to a music shop where they will take one out of the box and let you see, touch, feel and hear how it sounds - mail order guitars can be a dodgy buy since you don't quite know what you're getting till you've got it (one guitar can sound and feel quite different to another of identical brand and price - not to mention that one can be hideously and clumsily put together and another can be a delight to own and play - again, even of the same brand and price) - and beginners don't always know what to look for in a new guitar. Don't be put off by tales of shoddy Strat copies - judge for yourself - brand snobbery isn't always an accurate recommendation of a good guitar - besides, beginners don't want to shell out for an expensive one just in case they don't continue with their hobby - which is probably very wise. And since there's always an eager market for second hand guitars, you'll probably get back a fair chunk of the money you originally paid for it, if you decide to give up.

Anyway... the smooth, slim body was a delight to me, it can be hugged close and accessed infinitely easier than a big, hollow acoustic and the neck....ahh, the neck! After years of convincing myself that I couldn't play a guitar because of my small hands and short fingers, suddenly I was holding a s
ilky smooth, slim, flat actioned neck that allowed even me to start to form proper chord shapes without excessive strain.

If you're tempted to buy an electric for a beginner, I'd highly recommend a Stratocaster - or a Strat copy if it's a good one (much less expensive) simply because Strats are so slim, light and easy to play because of this lack of bulk - especially in the neck. And occasionally, the cheaper guitars can even outplay the more expensive ones! Sadly, you don't always get what you pay for. With guitars, my advice is to take them on a case by case basis and don't be tempted by sales talk or more "serious" guitarists to overstep your budget. There ARE some very good and inexpensive electric guitars out there. I know of some people who continue to play their "cheap" Squier Strat more than their more expensive "Made in the US" Fender Strat simply because it sounds and plays better. This isn't always the case - but it can happen. And there are a number of other brands which do Strat copies too - you certainly won't be limited in your choice. Try them all before making a decision. Different music shops stock different brands.

If you practice regularly, you should have your nice hard fingertips in a couple of weeks and pressing down on the strings will no longer be painful. That's when you'll *really* begin to learn.

Also, if you are put off by the lack of versatility of an electric over an acoustic re: being able to play anywhere - indoors or out, don't be. Playing through a big, beefy electric amp will always bring out the best in an electric guitar - but there *are* small (about the size of two cigarette packs), battery operated amps you can buy which don't need a mains electric supply and can be played out of doors too. The little Marshall battery amp I have is excellent for this purpose - and with a surprisingly loud playback too! And it even
sports a distortion facility...

For true portability and personal practice, go to your local music shop and ask for a battery operated headphone amp - the "Ear Plug" made by Epiphone is a good one. Narrower than your average cassette tape, but about twice the thickness, you pop a couple of little batteries into this, stick it directly into the jack plug of your guitar, attach headphones to it and you can sit in the garden on a sunny day, hearing yourself twang away without the need for an electric hook up. And this Epiphone headphone amp has a distortion setting too. You control volume through your guitar. Tiny and light, it means you can practice anywhere at all without any sort of amp or trailing leads.

All in all, (unless acoustic is your love) I'd strongly suggest learning on a slim necked electric guitar. You don't need to pay much for one. It's by far easier on the fingers and hand than an acoustic. And you have the added advantage of all the versatile sounds and tones you can make with an electric - make it sound clean and ringing, blues or jazzy, or rock 'n' roll distorted - at least this way, you have the choice - and more importantly, the benefits of not being put off by the body bulk and high frets/action on the neck of your average acoustic.

Something different for the beginner to consider.

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