Archive for October, 2009
Finding Good Cheap Guitars
It is always a tricky thing when you put together the words “good and cheap.” This is the case when it comes to finding good cheap guitars. We must remember to look at the word “cheap” two different ways. One, the guitar is inexpensive or two, its just plain garbage. We will be speaking to both meanings in this article. You can own a sweet instrument without spending a lot of money. There are several things you can do in order to be satisfied with the purchasing of cheap guitars. Lets take a look at a few points that will help you make a wise decision.
General Considerations
One of the most important things to keep in mind is, how does the guitar feel when you hold it, as well as the quality of sound it produces. With a few exceptions the guitar will be made from quality wood such as walnut, hickory or rosewood. Avoid guitars made out of composite materials. They just do not resonate sound like wood does. (There are a few exceptions to this rule.)
The shape is important as well. How it fits your body while your sitting down or the feel of balance if you are standing up. Pick a shape that makes it feel like it is a extension of your body. Visit a local music store and have an employee or a friend play several guitars and listen for a sound that is the most pleasing to your ears.
Note:( When you decide to purchase, do so on-line. You WILL pay less there.)
Replace Tuner Heads and Pickups
You will be amazed at how much better a guitar can sound by replacing cheap pickups with ones that have strong name recognition. There are several to choose from. Find pickups that fit your style. Also the tuner heads on cheap guitars often do not stay in tune very well. Again there are several quality heads that will be fine replacements. Simply doing these two things will narrow your search in finding good cheap guitars and boost your guitars performance quite a bit. They are easy to do using simple tools.
Be Willing to Spend $100 or More
In your pursuit of finding good cheap guitars the most important thing to keep in mind is maintaining that passion to practice. Especially for beginners it is essential that you own a guitar that you just can not wait to play when you get home. If you own something that is really cheap, you will not be enthusiastic about playing it. From my experience plan on spending at least $100 or you will end up with a dust collector.
Check Out Reviews and Ratings
Finally, spend some time on the Internet researching and learning.You will need to educate yourself on the vast array of options available to you. There is a huge amount of selection out there. Many guitar manufacturers are battling for your dollars. That being the case, competition is fierce, and companies are producing fine guitars at a fair price. The most difficult thing in finding good cheap guitars is deciding between all the options you have.
The good news is, there are websites out there that have done the research for you.
It can be frustrating weeding through all the forums and blogs out there while trying to find cheap guitars. If you want to see several 5 star guitars for under $500 all in one place, check out my website “Cheap Guitars”.
I have been in the music business since the early 70′s. My goal is to bring all the reviewed guitars and related gear to one place. Saving you the time of running all over the Internet.
Tom Borgstrom
Musician- Researcher
Quality Cheap Guitars
Which Quality Cheap Guitars Did Musicians Buy The Most This Past Year???
If you are looking for soild Cheap Guitars that are well built yet inexpensive, you landed in the right place. The Mega stores are “reeling & dealing.” I’m working on putting together a few “Gems” for ya to look at. Here are some of the “Top Dogs” I found so far. Solid Reviews and Ratings.
These are the guitars people are buying.
“Hand Picked” Specials
While you are here check out the rest of my site. I am working on building up an inventory of Quality Cheap Guitars. I have pages for Cheap Electric Guitars as well as Cheap Acoustic Guitars. And I dare not leave out the beloved bass players, Cheap Bass Guitars. Check em out, I think you will be pleased with the selection. My goal is to keep things really simple and easy as you look to Buy Cheap Guitars
I work with 4 mega On-line stores. So what I’ve done is show you the banners below that take you straight to the merchants outlet centers, where you can FIND ANYTHING you need at the best possible prices
AMAZON CHEAP GUITARS ACCESSORIES
Need accessories? Here ya go
Got Some More Quality Cheap Guitars
“Personally Researched Choices”
Scroll Down And See The Great Deals !
It sounds like a play on words, but the fact is you can get quality cheap guitars if you do your research.That is what I have done for you in the process of starting a website called…“Cheap Guitars Store” By checking numerous reviews on the web I have compiled a list of fine quality guitars in a lower price range for you to choose from. They are all here on one page, saving you the time of running all over the place.
What we are looking for in a lower priced guitar are the use of good materials as well as solid craftsmanship. You want to make sure that the guitar you are playing is one that you just can’t wait to pick up when you walk in the door. Whether electric or acoustic it needs to meet a certain standard achieving decent sound and reliability.
Look no further, down below are some of the finest quality cheap guitars that I have put together. The list price does not exceed $500.00. Browse around, you may find just what you are looking for.
Are You Getting Serious? “Bite The Bullet” Promotions Always Changing.
Note: (Many of these deals” sold out” during Christmas and are on back order, due in mid to late Jan.)
Martin Nylon String Backpacker Acoustic Guitar Standard…$169.99 (SOLD OUT till mid Jan.)
Fender CDN90 Classical Guitar Natural…$179.99 (SOLD OUT – due in 1/6/10)
Schecter Guitar Research 006 Deluxe Electric Guitar…$199.00
Fender Classic Design Series CD-110ce Dreadnought Cutaway Acoustic Electric Guitar Black…$269.99
Martin LXM Java Mahogany Little Acoustic w/bag Natural…$279.99
Takamine G340SC Solid Top Cutaway Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Standard…$299.00 (SOLD OUT – due in 1/11/10)
Epiphone Dot Studio Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar Worn Vintage Sunburst…$299.00
Dean Dave Mustaine V VMNTX Signature Electric Guitar Metallic Silver…$299.99
Fender California Series Sonoran SCE Custom Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar Lake Placid Blue…$329.99
Danelectro Dead on 67 Baritone Electric Guitar Limey…$349.00
Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar Black…$349.00
Martin LX1E Little Martin Acoustic-Electric Guitar Standard…$359.00(SOLD OUT – due in 1/25/10)
Fender CD220SCE Dreadnought Dao Acoustic-Electric Guitar Natural…$399.99
Epiphone LP-100 Electric Guitar and All Access Amp Pack Standard…$399.00
Ibanez Artcore AS73 Electric Guitar Transparent Cherry…$399.99
Taylor Big Baby Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Natural…$449.99 (SOLD OUT – due in 1/26/10)
Gibson Les Paul Melody Maker Electric Guitar Ebony…$489.00
Epiphone ES-175 Electric Guitar Vintage Sunburst…$499.00
Fender FSR Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar Natural Ash Rosewood Fretboard…$499.99
Fender Standard Stratocaster HSS Electric Guitar Brown Sunburst Maple Fingerboard…$499.99
Fender Standard Telecaster Electric Guitar Ash Natural Ash Maple Fretboard…$499.99
Martin DX1 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Standard…$499.99
PRS SE Custom 24 Electric Guitar Gray Black…$499.99
Jackson KVX10 King V Electric Guitar Black…$499.99
Takamine G Series EG363SC Acoustic-Electric Guitar Standard…$499.99 (SOLD OUT – due in 1/18/10)
See my main website…“Cheap Guitars Store” for a large selection of discounted guitars and merchandise
Acoustic Guitar Store
20 Essential Acoustic Guitar Tips for the Beginner
Author: Ralph Serpe
Acoustic guitar lessons online are not difficult to come by. There are many sites offering free tips and lessons for the beginner, but it can be rather difficult sifting through pages of content to find direct answers to some of the most basic questions beginners have. I researched many of the frequently asked questions that beginners have and created this list of quick acoustic guitar lessons and tips to make life a bit easier for you. I do hope this helps.
1 – Learn how to play the acoustic guitar with both your fingers and your pick. Practice using both. This will make you a more versatile player.
2 – Learn how to use a capo. A capo is a clamp that you can apply to different frets of your guitar to change the pitch. You will definitely need to become familiar with this wonderful tool. If you do not already own one, head out to your local music store and buy one today.
3 – Make sure you choose the right guitar for your size. Guitars come in different sizes from classic to jumbo. It is very important that you find a guitar size that you are comfortable playing.
4 – Learn how to change your strings and change them often. If you do not know how to change your guitar strings yet, stop what you are doing and search for articles and videos online right now. This is very important.
5 – Wash your hands before you play and clean your strings after you play. Dirt and oils from your fingers and hands can wear down your strings.
6 – Build up those calluses. Many beginners complain of pain in their fingertips when first starting out. This is normal and will go away after you have been playing for a little while and start to form calluses. The more often you practice the faster you will build up calluses.
7 – Learn how to tune your guitar. Make sure your guitar is in tune before you start every practice session. Tuning your guitar is really quite easy. You can either purchase one of those small battery powered guitar tuners, or you can tune your guitar online. Just do a search at your favorite search engine using the key phrase “online guitar tuner” and you will find many helpful sites on this topic.
8 – Use YouTube to find free acoustic guitar lessons. Everyone is now familiar with the site YouTube. They have a huge variety of free lessons. Two providers of free lessons that I recommend you check out are: “Next Level Guitar” (goes by the user name “rockongoodpeople”) and “Justinguitar.com” (goes by the username “JustinSandercoeSongs”). They offer some of the best free online acoustic guitar lessons. Highly recommended.
9 – Find a good guitar teacher. While it is possible to learn at your own pace at home using free lessons online, books and home study courses, nothing will replace a guitar teacher. A guitar teacher will help keep you from forming bad guitar playing habits and praise you when you are making progress.
10 – Stretch and warm up your hands and fingers before each playing session. This is important. Proper warm up and stretching exercises are essential in helping you avoid injury and improving your guitar playing. For more information on stretching and warm up exercises, do a search on Google using the key phrase: “guitar warm up”. You will find plenty of tutorials on this subject.
11 – Learn music theory. I know music theory can be boring and difficult, but it is essential learning if you want to become a good guitar player.
12 – Learn about the parts of your guitar. Spend as much time as possible familiarizing yourself with all the various parts of your guitar and how it is constructed.
13 – Learn how to practice. This may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many guitarists are not practicing correctly. There is definitely a right and a wrong way to practice. Make sure you understand how to make the best out of your practice sessions.
14 – Keep your finger nails on your fretting hand trimmed. Your fingernails on your fretting hand must be kept short. If not, they will most certainly make playing more difficult as they will prevent your fingers from pushing down the strings properly.
15 – Don’t over do it. If you are experiencing any pain or discomfort during your playing or practice session, then stop and take a break.
16 – Try and learn something new. If you continually do the same thing, day after day, then your guitar playing will become stagnant and you will not progress.
17 – Join discussion forums online. Search for guitar discussion forums online and begin discussions with experienced and professional guitarists.
18 – Listen to a variety of different music. Not just your favorite styles either. You would be surprised at how much this can influence your guitar playing.
19 – Learn alternate ways to tune your guitar. Not every song is played in standard tuning.
20 – Go to live performances. This will give you a chance to get up close and personal with the musicians enabling you to see first hand how a professional plays.?
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/20-essential-acoustic-guitar-tips-for-the-beginner-923907.html
About the Author
More free acoustic guitar lessons are just a click away. Visit learn-acoustic-guitar.com today for more great tips including a huge selection of free instructional videos and other great resources for beginners!
Posted in Articles | 
Tags: acoustic guitar, Acoustic Guitar Lessons, guitar, Guitar Lessons, Guitar Tips, learn acoustic guitar, learn guitar
Guitar Lesson Videos
Guitar Lesson Videos: Criteria you MUST look for before purchasing
Author: Antone Williams
Learning how to play the guitar is definitely becoming a craze these days not only with the kids but also with many adults of the adults looking to finally dust off that ol’ guitar and learn something. But many people avoid learning how to play the guitar thinking that it’s a quite difficult task.
Well this might be true but to a very small extent. There are various ways you can learn how to play the guitar. You can take private lessons or get an instructional book of some sort or the best way I recommend is to get the guitar lesson videos.
Taking a private instructor would be nice but you have to set a particular time and then again you might be one among 6 or 7 people being taught at the same time and of course you have to spend 25-35 dollars on average per lesson, which may amount to hundreds of dollars a month for private lessons.
The best way to learn how to play the guitar is the guitar lesson videos. These guitar lessons have become very popular as they are quite accessible and you can learn to play the guitar at your own home at your very own pace. There are different types of guitar lesson videos. There are the ones for beginners which start from the basics like how to choose a guitar, how to hold it, the basic cords and scales and what each string does or even how to start playing songs.
For Intermediate players there are videos on how to progress with more complicated techniques and arrangements. For advanced players, the sky is the limit on where you can take your playing so make sure you choose the right video for yourself. Quality video guitar lessons generally provide detailed step by step instructions to smoothly guide you through exercise.
When choosing a guitar lesson video make sure you are able to view clearly the way the instrument is being played. With the different camera angles. Make sure there are easy to follow instructions and a clear picture of the finger placements.
Many guitar lesson videos are available online. You can surf the internet and find the perfect online guitar lesson for you. When you’re searching for an online site you can use the help of a friend who knows to play the guitar to check out the site before you start using it.
These videos are a very effective way of learning how to play the guitar in the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is first watch the video for 20 min then try and play along with the video once you get it then you practice. Before the next lesson makes sure you are comfortable with the first lesson, if not, watch the video of the first lesson again. Make sure you follow the instructions given carefully and don’t skip steps.
The right guitar lesson is extremely effective in making you a confident skilled guitarist. You can definitely have some great fun and try out new stuff of your own once you get the hang of it. Just make sure you practice and get it right. Its nice having someone watch your fingers while you play but is definitely better that you do it alone.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/guitar-lesson-videos-criteria-you-must-look-for-before-purchasing-839091.html
About the Author
Live To Jam is an excellent resource of fully-guaranteed instructional materials created by multi-platinum recording artists and acclaimed studio session musicians. Visit http://www.livetojam.com to learn how to play Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Banjo or Mandolin.
Posted in Articles |
Tags: Guitar Lessons, guitar lessons online, How to Play Guitar, learn how to play guitar
Electric Guitar Prices
Guitar for Beginners – Electric of Acoustic?
Author: Dave Porter
When choosing a guitar for beginners you’re faced with the alternatives of buying an electric of an acoustic guitar. Which one is best to learn on? Which will you get more use from during your time as a guitar player? Which will cost more? These are all questions you should be asking yourself before you spend a dime on a guitar, and I’m going to help you evaluate each of those question in this article.
After reading this you’ll know which type of guitar, electric or acoustic, will be better suited to your expectations as a guitar player, budget and style of play.
Know Your Type of Music
Are you a hard rock or metal fan? Or do you prefer the quieter sounds of a singer songwriter style? This isn’t going to matter right away as you learn how to hold, tune and strum your guitar, but it is going to make a difference once your start playing chords.
For those of you who enjoy harder rock you’re going to want that gritty sound you get of a distorted over driven electric guitar. It’s the sound you enjoy, and likely the style of music you’re wanting to learn to play from your guitar lessons. It makes sense then that you’re beginner guitar be an electric with a small practice amp that has overdrive aka. Distortion capabilities.
If you’re more into the mellow sounds of todays acoustic rock & pop tunes then an acoustic guitar is definitely the way to go.
Some people make their decision only on price or what a friend tells them. How ever you can end up disappointed pretty quickly if after you begin to learn you realize you can’t play the sound you want to.
What’s your Budget?
It’s unfortunately impossible to avoid the price discussion here. In a perfect world we could all afford what ever guitar, or even two of them, that we want. Of course nothing is perfect and you must make a choice. 99% of the time hands down an acoustic guitar is less expensive for beginners. You don’t need an amp with it and you can often get a soft case thrown in.
When buying an electric you can often get the case but you should also purchase a small practice amp and patch chord to get the most out of your new instrument. Apples to apples an acoustic and electric guitar is a similar price point. The amp is what puts the electric guitar in the higher price bracket.
If you’re penny pinching to start learning guitar then an acoustic is the way to go. If you know you’re going to want to play harder music when you advance your lessons go on the cheaper side of an acoustic knowing that it’s just to start your lessons and you’ll be moving to an electric later on.
What’s Easier to Learn on?
Most teachers will tell you that an electric is easier for beginners. Why is that? Primarily because when you first start you don’t have an calluses built up on your finger tips. As you learn to play guitar you’re going to harden the ends of your finger tips from pressing down the strings. Until this happens your fingers are going to be quite sensitive and you won’t be able to play for long.
The strings on an electric guitar are lower to the neck and a lighter gage. This means easier on the fingers. Of course the because of these lighter gage strings an electric guitar not played through an amp is very flat sounding and quiet.
In contrast the strings on an acoustic guitar are a heavier gage (thicker) and are raised higher from the neck (higher action). This gives a fuller sound that’s also louder.
For a new beginner an electric will be easier to get started but after about the 3 month mark of practicing religiously you’ll be good with either or. If you start with an acoustic just consider yourself in the beginner guitar school of hard knocks. You’ll feel a bit more pain now, but your fingers will be tougher in the long run.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-for-beginners-electric-of-acoustic-1397177.html
About the Author
To get started with some award winning beginner guitar lessons visit our learn to play guitar DVD review, and for more beginner guitar tips visit our blog.