Looking for a starter guitar for my boy

adorshki said:

Sometimes kids just don't understand how complicated the whole coordination thing is.
Very few things come "naturally" to anybody, tell him it's just like a sport, it takes a lot of practice to learn how to bat well, or dribble, or even stay on a bike without falling over..
Also Stuball's advice about starting off with really simple 2 or 3 chord tunes is very good.

Were you trying to teach in your native tongue?

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dreadnut said:

When I as 15 my Mom bought me a cheap acoustic for like $15. I couldn't put it down, practiced 4 hours a day, to the detriment of my homework. Then I went and bought an Epiphone hollow body electric and played it through my stereo. Almost thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Can't believe I sold that Epiphone!

Anyway, just thinking your boy might appreciate an easy-playing electric a bit more for starters. You can get an Epi LP for $79 and a cheap amp, that might help motivate him to play guitar...

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txbumper57 said:

He Ray, If he now has your electric there is a pretty cool tool out there for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, or PS4. It is called "Rocksmith 2014". I am not sure if they have a newer version out or not but the game actually teaches him how to play real guitar by plugging his guitar into the Xbox 360 via a chord provided. It will let him pick an Amp sound that he likes from a ton of options, Teach him about tuning his guitar and alternate tunings with a built in tuner on the game, teach him individual lessons and techniques in both lead and rhythm styles, and then teach him to play actual songs by real artists of almost any period and Genre on the game itself. It is like a virtual wealth of Guitar Encyclopedia information and lessons all rolled into a video game. I love it personally and wish they would have had it around when I was 11, then I would have never put the guitar down until I was older. All you need is a guitar with a pickup to plug into the game and play and it sounds like you got him squared away in that department. If you search for "Rocksmith 2014" all the info should pop up. Have a good one man!

TX

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mike1100 said:

I bought my kid a used black fender squier mini strat and a used fender mustang amp for $200. I then ripped out the stock tuners and replaced them with AmStd fender tuners (setup job with .10s).

I've given it a few rounds and it is a fun guitar. Perhaps later, I could upgrade the pickups / pots, but for now he's happy. We've also thought about painting it as a splatocaster.....we'll see.

If your kid was say 14, I'd say look for a used Yamaha Pacifica guitar. They are amazing for the price.

I love acoustics, but they can be tough on kid's fingers versus electrics. Guitar video game tie-ins can also be a blast. Cheap and electric can be a lot of fun.....

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walrus said:

Careful not to get too many toe prints on the finish!

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walrus said:

Cool electric, Ray! I would have loved that as a kid!

Careful not to get too many toe prints on the finish!

walrus

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