Best cheap "starter pak" guitar for a kid?

Like, for a really young kid... like, 8 or 9 years old, to whom you wouldn't give anything like a $1,000+ Deluxe American Strat unless A) it was your kid and you yourself were a serious musician in the process of turning the kid into a serious musician, or B) you're a rich guy.

What's the best one of the bunch? Or are they all universally crap-o-la?

"Starter Pak" as in where you spend about $200 or less for an absolute-bottom-of-the-line guitarlike object that comes with a gig bag, a dinky little practice amp, some kind of instructional CD-ROM/DVD/AudioCD, a guitar strap, a pick, and maybe a few other odds and ends.

The rule of thumb for a bass is never get anything with a list price that's below $400. From my own experience, that rule should be engraved in stone!!! And when it comes to my main instrument, I'm so anal it's more like "$1,200" for me.

I'm guessin' that it more or less holds true for a geetar. As for bass starter paks, I wouldn't be willing to reccomend a bass starter pak to an uninformed parent whose kid wants a bass. I just couldn't do it. Even if the parents waste all kinds of money on the kid and he's just gonna get bored with the thing three days after Christmas is over with.

What would be the alternative if every last starter pak was too crappy even for a young kid?

Reminds me of sword afficionados... any of the stainless steel katana/"from the movie..." type things you get for 60 bucks are labeled "swordlike objects" by the practicioners who are in the know. You gotta pay about $200-$300 to even begin to be in the right neighborhood: we're talking something you'd use to do entry-level cutting practice on cardboard boxes, or that you'd dull the edge/tip and then use as a cheap "beater" for sparring in your filthy goofy ugly period-incorrect practice armor; and there's a very long list of criteria as to what makes a sword a real sword. A really good functional one will be $600-on-up... a custom job gets into several grand... if you get an "art sword" commissioned from a Toshyo in Japan, or someone who does it exactly the same way they did it in Medieval or Rennaissance-Era Europe or the Anglo-Saxon/Viking dark ages or whatever... better sell your house....

Int'l Sword Forum If you wanna know more.

The Ibanez starter pack is pretty good. I think it's better than the Fender Squire starter pack.

Also the Dean Dimebag Starter kit is pretty nice for $249. it is a cheap basswood body but like you said who wants to spend $1,000 for some 9 year old to use it as a hammer, leave it laying in the floor, drag it by the neck behind them, and what ever esle they could do with it. :D

Package Includes:
•Dimebag Darrell Lightning Bolt Baby ML electric guitar
•Mean 10 10W amplifier
•Gig bag
•Cable
•Strap
•Picks

Dimebag Darrell Lightning Bolt Baby ML Guitar:
•3/4 body size
•Dimebag Darrell Lightning Bolt finish
•Contoured top
•Basswood body
•Maple neck
•Rosewood fingerboard
•Dean pickups
•Black hardware
•Die-cast tuners

Mean 10 Guitar Amp:
•10 watts
•Bass, treble, and mid controls
•Stereo headphone jack
•5-year warranty

dude, i dont get the point of starter packs.

why not buy a guitar and amp separate- both of a bit higher quality than those in the packs?
cuz the packs... well thats basically bottom of the line as far as everything goes. its just a fact. some people get along fine with em... but not for me or anyone i can get to change their minds.

course this way, you might have to spend say... 300 bucks for a quality 10 times better than you'd get in a pack.

check out Rondo Music. pretty high quality stuff. for the guitars, everything on the first couple pages... looow price, but alot better quality than anyyy guitar you'd get in a pack.

you'd still have extra money on some cheapo amp somewhere.


but basically, steer clear of packs. please. what a waste of money.



:::EDIT:::
all of this is of course my humble and honest opinion. dont want to hurt anyone who loves their guitar pack's feelings, but i just dont personally like 'em. that is all.

I forgot about the Dean Pack. Go Dean! Long Live Dime!!!! I think the point of the starter pack is to get something to learn on and bash up a bit, saving a few bucks in the process. Then if you decide you're serious or the person you are buying the gear for is serious. You can buy them that sweet LP later.

Originally Posted by: bigbudaLong Live Dime!!!!

umm... you know he'd dead, right?

I'm sure he's living it up getting VIP treatment in hell though.

oh yeah, and about starter packs. The guitar from the ibanez started pack is a GRX40, and I liked mine so much, I now have two of them. I didn't buy either from a pack, but the only way you can get them now is from a pack, or used, or certain shops. not online though.

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsumm... you know he'd dead, right?

I'm sure he's living it up getting VIP treatment in hell though.

Yeah, I know bro. It's like the old saying "The king is dead, Long live the king."

Well, Dimebag's not too controversial these days but I don't think you'd want to get Kerry King's BC Rich Warlock starter pak for your devoutly Catholic cousin's kid or someone like that.

*Said in best Freddy Kruger voice* "Here you go little Billy, now you can rock for Satan with Slayer!!! MwaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!" :D

I'm new to geetar (certainly not new to bass, thankyoukindly!) and my idea of a "starter guitar" is a Mex-built (just like my great-grandparents... or my great-great-something grandparents if you count California before the BearFlaggers took it over) Fender Standard "Fat Strat" w/ Floyd Rose. Just had to get something with a tremolo I guess :rolleyes: ... though in hindsight I could do without the Floyd... though if/when I got the dough for a custom built machine, it will have a Bigsby on it! It will it will it will!!!!!

So it meets the "at least $400 criteria." I also got it because I was told with the Mex-builts you can upgrade the p'ups along with some electronic odds and ends (i.e. put in copper shielding, etc.) you can turn an "ehhhhhhh..." guitar into a "duuuuuuuude..." guitar.

Re: those Rondo guitars. On the first few pages those are some way, way lowball prices, even for a cheap-o starter. Are they built out of discarded furniture by Sudanese in refugee camps who get paid with sacks of rice or something? :confused: Interesting how by the sixth page the price category seems to graduate to that of an upper-mid-range Epiphone (if you exclude the fancy hollowbodies they make that are near two grand).

I don't see why its a must to spend at least $400 on a starter pack on a kid that might not want to stick with guitar. When my brother got a starter pack back when I was in 9th grade (now in 12th), the kit only cost about $200. When I picked it up and started messing with it (cause he never did) It felt like a fine guitar. I didn't know there was a difference between this guitar and the guitar Hendrix played other than color. With the crap amp it sounded fine to me. I geuss since we know the difference we assume they would know, but they don't so imo, get something in the 200 range and the kid will be happy, and so will you since youy saved monies.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=519658

Check that out, I know Nathan and bigbuda reccomened it, I third it.

Thanks guys.

I guess it's real difficult for those of us who are anally*COUGH COUGH*been at it for a while to put ourselves in the shoes of the "target demographic" for these things. Because it's something we'd never wanna touch, we assume it's some kind of rip-off for suckers... sorta like how companies such as United Cutlery take a $60 stainless steel toy and equate it to an ancient samurai sword of olde... (Also, if it says "Toledo" on it, that by itself don't mean nothing. Toledo, Spain, is home to many such junk makers who know that many will recognize the name.)

thing is, hand me a sword, any sword, that is kinda sharp, and I won't care.. I won't know the difference between it and a really good expensive one. I would just use it to cut people into tiny pieces all the same...

I mean.. I'm not a serial killer... of course not.. what gives you that idea? :rolleyes: