Beginner Electric Gear Pack

Hey !

After following the fundamentals 1 and 2, learning multiples songs on the accoustic in the last year and a half,I want now to learn to play blues / jazz / rnb / soul (not interested in other music style really).

It s a confusing world out there gear wise, I need your help to know what to buy

- electric guitar: all those shapes are confusing, what kind you recommend for the style of music I target ? It seems that the GRETSCH type is what I should aim for. Thinking to buy this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In9DODjakc8 Love the sound and it s cheap

- get an amp that does well in the clear tones to practise in my small apartment (any advice on model? budget up to 180 USD - 260 AUD (i live in australia)

- A looper pedal to have fun and play solo over some simple chords (any recommendations for the simplest/cheapest looper pedal out there ? )

Is there any other gear you recommend to use to help me in my journey at that stage ?

Any recommendation is much appreciated !

Hi and welcome,

That guitar looks like a beauty. You can play any style on any guitar, 6 strings and practice are really the most important things. If that guitar is the one that tickles your fancy it would be a great guitar for you. Seems like it's well made and affordable. Personally, I don't think there is a "perfect" guitar, which is likely why so many of us have so many guitars. Any excuse at all is always a good reason to guitar shop 😁

I am sure if you continue your studies you may also find yourself with a few "necessary" guitars. It's all part of the fun. Enjoy yourself shopping.

I use a Roland Micro Cube in my office but there are many similar low wattage amps available. These, usually,can take batteries which gives great portability, have various tones from clean to distortion, can allow aux

plugins. The practice amp that seems to be getting all the headlines these days is the "Spark". I don't have one so can't comment on it, but the reviews are quite convincing.

Looper pedals are great. Very helpful for practice. Things you may want to consider: can you over dub. This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? It may not sound useful right now, but overdubbing allows great creativity. I don't find the length of recording that important, my layers are usually just a few bars. Some pedals will have built in rhythms which is very nice. But may not be attainable right now depending on your budget. I also like having a Looper that takes an external power supply.

I am a big fan of used gear. I would not shy away from it providing you can test it out. Several of my pedals are Boss, a great name, and purchased used. The used market is normally about 1/2 regular retail.

Good luck and have fun shopping!

The good. Artist are decent to deal with. And you can return for refund if you don't like it. Not to many etailers/retailers in AU will do that for you.

That guitar, Artist Cherry58 is currently out of stock and the (imported) price has gone up substantially for the next shipment. No surprise. Happening with local stock other brands as well. Blame COVID.

The quality of Artist's house brand guitars like the one you selected is [u]very good[/u].

Thomann do similar to the Cherry58 for around the same price inc shipping (approx), but with Roswell LAF pickups and a Pau Ferro fingerboard. HB35Plus or this if you prefer the chunkier traditional neck profile.

Locally, Ibanez (Artcore) and Epiphone in the ES-335/9 style clones abound, but you'll be looking at the AUD$900-$1k mark for either of those. Lower segment Artcores from about $550. In that segment, I don't think much of Epiphone's pickups or or overall BQ for the money, so I prefer the Artcores. But their AF, AG, AK (full hollow), vs AM & AM (semi-hollow) is a minefield but you'll have to wade the yourself. Here's the Ibanez variant of that Artist Cherry58, the Ibanez Artcore AF93FM, with an Ibanez price tag.

I like this one. Different bridge & it's not a doublecut, but I could rough it. Here's Ibanez's website spin on it. Hard to go wrong with any of the Artcores for the style of music you want to play really.

Looper. Simple or more sophisticated, there's not a huge difference in price if you buy smart. I've got both. A KOKKO SOS mini (TC Ditto clone) and NUX Loop Core (BOSS RC3 clone) If I had to have only one, I'd buy the NUX again.

Amps. Minefield of brand blindness where personal bias abounds. Pick one. This website may be of assistance. Shane plays a lot of blues, his love. He speaks highly of this Artist amp. Solid value too, but higher than your target pp, and clearly overkill for your apartment.

My friend bought a gretsch streamliner g2622t guitar about 6 months ago and I was very impressed with the guitar, both build quality and the tones achievable with it, I was playing through a 50w Boss Katana amp when I tried it out and it really did sound great so that could be a something you may want to look into further.

As far as looper pedals go the Boss RC1 is the most simple looper to use on the market but it's also limited in its functions, having owned one myself before upgrading to the Boss RC3 I would definitely recommend the RC1 as a first looper pedal, really solid build quality and they hold their value really well too so if you do decide to upgrade at some point you'll still get a good price for it if you decide to sell it on eBay.

Originally Posted by: William MG

Hi and welcome,

That guitar looks like a beauty. You can play any style on any guitar, 6 strings and practice are really the most important things. If that guitar is the one that tickles your fancy it would be a great guitar for you. Seems like it's well made and affordable. Personally, I don't think there is a "perfect" guitar, which is likely why so many of us have so many guitars. Any excuse at all is always a good reason to guitar shop 😁

I am sure if you continue your studies you may also find yourself with a few "necessary" guitars. It's all part of the fun. Enjoy yourself shopping.

I use a Roland Micro Cube in my office but there are many similar low wattage amps available. These, usually,can take batteries which gives great portability, have various tones from clean to distortion, can allow aux

plugins. The practice amp that seems to be getting all the headlines these days is the "Spark". I don't have one so can't comment on it, but the reviews are quite convincing.

Looper pedals are great. Very helpful for practice. Things you may want to consider: can you over dub. This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? It may not sound useful right now, but overdubbing allows great creativity. I don't find the length of recording that important, my layers are usually just a few bars. Some pedals will have built in rhythms which is very nice. But may not be attainable right now depending on your budget. I also like having a Looper that takes an external power supply.

I am a big fan of used gear. I would not shy away from it providing you can test it out. Several of my pedals are Boss, a great name, and purchased used. The used market is normally about 1/2 regular retail.

Good luck and have fun shopping!

Great tips thanks ! 2nd hand all the way I agree :) The Roland Micro cube is what i was aiming for, which one you have ? i saw the GX has a clean channel and reverb/delay, the others like the 15X dont have this option by the look of it but mayve i m wrong, I saw some 2nd hand one https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-view-details.html?adId=1250884164

''This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? '' Isnt lopping achieving the same thing ? You play and record some chords, then you play some solo on top ?

Originally Posted by: fuzzb0x

My friend bought a gretsch streamliner g2622t guitar about 6 months ago and I was very impressed with the guitar, both build quality and the tones achievable with it, I was playing through a 50w Boss Katana amp when I tried it out and it really did sound great so that could be a something you may want to look into further.

As far as looper pedals go the Boss RC1 is the most simple looper to use on the market but it's also limited in its functions, having owned one myself before upgrading to the Boss RC3 I would definitely recommend the RC1 as a first looper pedal, really solid build quality and they hold their value really well too so if you do decide to upgrade at some point you'll still get a good price for it if you decide to sell it on eBay.

Thanks mate. I saw a Boss RC1 for pretty cheap near where I live, hope it s still available. The Gretsch and Katana looks awsome but out of budget for now :)

As a side note I noticed after looking many reviews of electric guitar online yesterday that the sound HIGHLY depends on the amp, I saw some reviews of guitar worth thousands of dollars vs other a lott cheaper and it s hard to notice a lot of difference when it s played with a great amp.

Originally Posted by: mathieurevel

Originally Posted by: William MG

Hi and welcome,

That guitar looks like a beauty. You can play any style on any guitar, 6 strings and practice are really the most important things. If that guitar is the one that tickles your fancy it would be a great guitar for you. Seems like it's well made and affordable. Personally, I don't think there is a "perfect" guitar, which is likely why so many of us have so many guitars. Any excuse at all is always a good reason to guitar shop 😁

I am sure if you continue your studies you may also find yourself with a few "necessary" guitars. It's all part of the fun. Enjoy yourself shopping.

I use a Roland Micro Cube in my office but there are many similar low wattage amps available. These, usually,can take batteries which gives great portability, have various tones from clean to distortion, can allow aux

plugins. The practice amp that seems to be getting all the headlines these days is the "Spark". I don't have one so can't comment on it, but the reviews are quite convincing.

Looper pedals are great. Very helpful for practice. Things you may want to consider: can you over dub. This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? It may not sound useful right now, but overdubbing allows great creativity. I don't find the length of recording that important, my layers are usually just a few bars. Some pedals will have built in rhythms which is very nice. But may not be attainable right now depending on your budget. I also like having a Looper that takes an external power supply.

I am a big fan of used gear. I would not shy away from it providing you can test it out. Several of my pedals are Boss, a great name, and purchased used. The used market is normally about 1/2 regular retail.

Good luck and have fun shopping!

Great tips thanks ! 2nd hand all the way I agree :) The Roland Micro cube is what i was aiming for, which one you have ? i saw the GX has a clean channel and reverb/delay, the others like the 15X dont have this option by the look of it but mayve i m wrong, I saw some 2nd hand one https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-view-details.html?adId=1250884164

''This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? '' Isnt lopping achieving the same thing ? You play and record some chords, then you play some solo on top ?

This is mine

https://www.long-mcquade.com/53974/Guitars/Guitar_Amps/Roland/CUBE_Series_3W_Guitar_Amplifier_-_Black.htm

I paid $80 for it used in mint condition.

Looping is repeating something recorded. Over dubbing is recording something else on top of a previous recording.

I saw your post on low cost vs expensive guitars. Sounds like you watched some Anderton videos. Those are great. I don't know what it's like to play a guitar that costs several thousand of dollars. My guitars range from $80 to $1100. The $80 guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Jr - purchased at a pawn shop, and the $1100 guitar is a Godin Session purchased new. I play the Epi more than any because it's at the office and that's where I practice. Both guitars play and sound great to me.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by: William MG

Originally Posted by: mathieurevel

Originally Posted by: William MG

Hi and welcome,

That guitar looks like a beauty. You can play any style on any guitar, 6 strings and practice are really the most important things. If that guitar is the one that tickles your fancy it would be a great guitar for you. Seems like it's well made and affordable. Personally, I don't think there is a "perfect" guitar, which is likely why so many of us have so many guitars. Any excuse at all is always a good reason to guitar shop 😁

I am sure if you continue your studies you may also find yourself with a few "necessary" guitars. It's all part of the fun. Enjoy yourself shopping.

I use a Roland Micro Cube in my office but there are many similar low wattage amps available. These, usually,can take batteries which gives great portability, have various tones from clean to distortion, can allow aux

plugins. The practice amp that seems to be getting all the headlines these days is the "Spark". I don't have one so can't comment on it, but the reviews are quite convincing.

Looper pedals are great. Very helpful for practice. Things you may want to consider: can you over dub. This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? It may not sound useful right now, but overdubbing allows great creativity. I don't find the length of recording that important, my layers are usually just a few bars. Some pedals will have built in rhythms which is very nice. But may not be attainable right now depending on your budget. I also like having a Looper that takes an external power supply.

I am a big fan of used gear. I would not shy away from it providing you can test it out. Several of my pedals are Boss, a great name, and purchased used. The used market is normally about 1/2 regular retail.

Good luck and have fun shopping!

Great tips thanks ! 2nd hand all the way I agree :) The Roland Micro cube is what i was aiming for, which one you have ? i saw the GX has a clean channel and reverb/delay, the others like the 15X dont have this option by the look of it but mayve i m wrong, I saw some 2nd hand one https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-view-details.html?adId=1250884164

''This means lay down one layer of guitar, say a chord progression, then layer on top of it a solo and then can you continue to layer? '' Isnt lopping achieving the same thing ? You play and record some chords, then you play some solo on top ?

This is mine

https://www.long-mcquade.com/53974/Guitars/Guitar_Amps/Roland/CUBE_Series_3W_Guitar_Amplifier_-_Black.htm

I paid $80 for it used in mint condition.

Looping is repeating something recorded. Over dubbing is recording something else on top of a previous recording.

I saw your post on low cost vs expensive guitars. Sounds like you watched some Anderton videos. Those are great. I don't know what it's like to play a guitar that costs several thousand of dollars. My guitars range from $80 to $1100. The $80 guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Jr - purchased at a pawn shop, and the $1100 guitar is a Godin Session purchased new. I play the Epi more than any because it's at the office and that's where I practice. Both guitars play and sound great to me.

Good luck.

Got it ! that s the amp i am aiming for !