Electric or Acoustic? Help Me!

Electric !

I say acoustic ... but I am partial to it... :)

I fully agree with having both, I mean you only have to listen to Metallica to realise the importance of Acoustic guitar in heavy metal. However when I started I wanted an electric and I got an electric and I think I would have lost interest quickly if I had started on Acoustic. Yes your fingers would strengthen quickly but a budget acoustic usually means high action and it's painful enough when you're starting out! These days I only play acoustic, I'm older and tastes change, mind you if I had the money I'd have a nice old fender strat and fender blues deluxe amp too!

Thanks guys for all the input. practicing on both the types sounds good to me. so i am buying a elec now :D after some initial research i have locked on to Ibanez RG 350DX. most of my frnds suggested the same. i would like to know your opinion before i make any purchase. I am not biased towards ibanez but most of the ppl said that its good guitar for beginners and for the type of music (metal) i wanna play.

it would be great if you can suggest other guitar in the same price range ($500). i am planning to purchase guitar on this coming weekend. :D and a suggestion about amp would be helpful too... Thanks. :)

if you didnt realise there are many different types of guitar necks.
they vary in length, width and also the thickness and shape of the neck as well as the curve of the fret board.

usually ibanezzes have quite flat wide fretboards. and quite thin necks.

most people find the more curved the fretboard the more comfortable, but many people also say you can be more acurate with a flat neck. playing chords which involve the thumb over the top might be a bit harder due to the width.

but as you are goin for metal u wont really need em as u will be playin mostly power chords.

if you have quite wide fingers tyhe width will be good. if you have short fingers then u might find the width a bit of a problem.

but all this said, nothin certain. you might feell the oposite about the shape of neck after some experience, cos i dont have your hands and arms i can only draw generalisations.

as you are new to guitar you wont have a preferance of guitar neck shape. i would suggest playin lots of different guitars to check wat u like the feel of. but if u are a complete beginer they will probably all seem hard to play.

only other thing to consider is, does ur rg come with a whammy bar. if u are gonna use the whammy its worth it. if u will hardly ever use it it is better not to have one as it will be more convinient for changin strings, a bit cheaper, and will give ur guitar slightly better sustain. (how long the notes last)

I believe if you want to play rock and metal then you should buy an electric or you are going to get fed up with playing pretty quickly. It's great to have an acoustic as well and yes it does help with finger strength but you are new to guitar and you want to be rocking out. Just remember distortion can cover up flaws so just back it off occasionally to keep your technique in check :)

if you didnt realise there are many different types of guitar necks.
they vary in length, width and also the thickness and shape of the neck as well as the curve of the fret board.

usually ibanezzes have quite flat wide fretboards. and quite thin necks.

Yes! i prefer flat and thin necks. i did check out few guitars. what i didnt quite understand is terminology used like fast neck, wizard necks etc etc. i would be thankful if you could explain that.

only other thing to consider is, does ur rg come with a whammy bar. if u are gonna use the whammy its worth it. if u will hardly ever use it it is better not to have one as it will be more convinient for changin strings, a bit cheaper, and will give ur guitar slightly better sustain. (how long the notes last)

Whammy bar is needed. :D i love that thing. though i understand basics of this thing but all the technical jargon goes way above my head.. like edge, edge II, edge III, pro etc...

Thanks freaksauce, i would keep that thing in mind. :)

now having discussed practicing and playing... the D day has come i would like to know about makes and models. please suggest. i have a budget of $500.

Thanks.

I used to have an Ibanez RG550DX and I still think it was the most comfortable neck I have played for me personally but it was a bit flatter than say a strat. I think for the type of music you want to play the Ibanez will be perfect but you might also want to look into the Yamaha Pacifica's they're a great guitar for the money.

wizard neck, is just the name ibanez call a certain brand of necks they own.

'fast' necks are normally charachterised by the fact they are flat and thin, because aparantly its easier to play fast stuff better.

oh also the laquer on the back of the neck is very thin so it is not 'sticky' so ur hands will slide over the neck more smoothlt. its pretty easy to see if this is the case. look at the neck and if it looks wooden and is not shiny and varnished. it should feel smooth,

as to the types of whammy edge again is a brand. the higher the number the newer the version, and i assume better

um u could check the guitar out on the ibanez sight here http://www.ibanez.co.jp/world/country/frame_uk.html

im sure they explain it

another idea for metal guitars is esp, jackson, bc rich, scheter

im sure theres another i cant rmember.

anyways hope this helps


edit: also something u might want to look for in a guitar is a thru-neck construction. this will give better sustain and also allow better acces to the high frets.

after having played guitar for 5 years i have played both. When i learned i played an acoustic to get comfortable with the instrument, then later switched so i could craft my own unique style. No matter what though, anything done on an electric guitar can be done on an acoustic. if you can master playing an acoustic then an electric will follow in suit.

-Noods

I didn't know about all the differences on fretboards. I know alot of my difficulty is still from the learning phase, but some of it could be from the fretboard size, etcl.

I currently have a Strat for electric and Seagull for acoustic.

I find chords "easier" on the Seagull but harder to strum due to the thickness of the body. I find chords hard to do on the Strat.

I have very long, thin fingers (longer than even most guys), and long arms.

Yeah. I agree with your teacher Zekebot. It's good to start with acosutic rather than acoustic because you have to learn the techniques properly or it will sound really bad. It's a little bit hard to play an acoustic but your hands and fingers will get stronger playing an acoustic. Once you got some acoustic under your belt....playing the electric will be a dream. :cool:

Keep going on the acoustic till you master it man. The frets are larger and the strings are more spaced apart, which is good practice for stretching and especially gets you into using all four of your fingers. You should play acoustic for about a year before putting it down - you can buy and try out and electric, but don't really play the electric until you know everything from the acoustic.

Well im an acoustic guy to the bone...... but........ im learning the barr chords on electric now and to be honest they are wayyy easier (for me) on the electric vs. the acoustic. I got the muscle memory and strength built up now to the point I can almost play them solid on the acoustic. So im kinda backward than some advice found on this post.