by Warren Yates
When you are ready to choose an electric guitar, you do not want to forget to buy the accompanying amp. The guitar and amp need to match if you want the best musical sound from your instrument. For the individual who buying their first electric musical instruments it is wise to comparison shop. As tempting as it may be to walk into a music store and see all the shiny guitars on the walls do not walk in and pick one that looks good to you. Be a smart consumer. Ask the sales personnel to try several different models. If you do not understand the importance of matching the amp to the guitar then ask for a demonstration of what it will sound like if you do not choose this route. Remember, you are spending your money and do not throw it away because a sales person wants you to buy the higher priced items. Buy what you like and what will bring you an immense amount of playing pleasure.
The top of the line combination guitar and amp include a Gibson into a Marshall and a Fender into a Fender. These set-ups are excellent if you are looking for quality of sound. It is essential to remember that you want to match up your electric guitar and amp for great sounds and tone. The top three electric guitars that you want to consider:
Fenders – would there be rock and roll today without the distinctive Fender guitar? Leo Fender invented the first solid-body electric guitar that was to be mass-produced. This guitar was called the Fender Broadcaster. Fender along with the most desired amplifiers in the world inspired popular music in general and rock 'n roll in particular. The Fender Broadcaster was first produced for the mass-market in 1948 and they have not slowed down for the past sixty years.
Gibson – In 1935, an employee, Walter Fuller, finalized the design for the first Gibson electric guitar. This same year Gibson ushered in the characteristic hexagonal pick-up on a lap steel model. Sixty years after the ES-150 was put on the market it is still known as the Charlie Christian model (he was the Jazz musician who established the Gibson Electric guitar as the best he had ever played). Many jazz musicians as the best they have ever seen consider the pick-up on this model.
The well-educated young woman of 1950 will blend art and sciences in a way we do not dream of; the science will steady the art and the art will give charm to the science. This young woman will marry—yes, indeed, but she will take her pick of men, who will by that time have begun to realize what sort of men it behooves them to be.
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
ESP's – are known among guitarists in the heavy metal scene as the weapon of choice. These guitars initially started out as a dependable source for high quality guitar components and replacement parts for American manufactured instruments. That would soon change as they now have a large line of electric guitars and basses with distinctive and aggressive styling.
What type of music do you want to play with your instrument? This is an important question because many guitars are made for a specific type of music. There are, of course, electric guitars that are very adaptable, but that does not mean you do not want to be cautious about your purchase.
The pick-ups on the guitar are important also because different pick-ups provide different types of sounds. There are two distinct types of pick-ups: single-coils and humbuckers.
Single coils are bright sounding and have lots of character. They are good for all around playing, particularly blues and rock and roll. Single coils will capture interference (that is a humming sound caused by other sources).
Humbuckers sound full, smooth, and thick. They give an overdrive sound with little to no interference.
The tendency of the casual mind is to pick out or stumble upon a sample which supports or defies its prejudices, and then to make it the representative of a whole class.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
While you are looking for that perfect electric guitar, ask to hear the different sounds that are made from both the single-coil pick-up and the hummbucker pick-up. Again, you want to be as knowledgeable about your purchase as possible. Do not settle for something you do not like. If you add a Seymour Duncan pick-up to your top of the line guitar, you cannot go wrong. Seymour Duncan is considered the finest maker of pick-ups available. A close second is Dimarzio.
If you have chosen your guitar, amps, and the pick-ups of your choice and get home and realize you really that you do not like the sound of the pick-ups take your guitar to a technician and have them install different ones.
To conclude, research, read, and look at as many models as you could find. Shop wisely and if you are on a budget do not buy the first thing you find.