First electric guitar

Hello,
I play acoustic guitars and I'd like to try to play an electric one.
I took a look around in shops and I found out a fender affinity, an epiphone and an ibanez which are cheap enough.
What's the best first guitar in your opinion for a budget limited to 250-350$ ?
Should I prefer single coil pickups or humbuckers?
What guitar would you buy if you buy it today?

Thanks,
Kino

If it was me, I would go with the Ibanez but thats because I'm into heavy fast stuff. It all comes down to the type of music you like and the playing style you are trying to achieve. Personally I don't like Gibons (or Epiphones) or Fenders because I am so used to playing wafer thin necks with ultra low action. I also prefer the tone from humbuckers becuase they suit heavy styles. Nothing against Fenders or Epiphones, some nice models out there - just not my cup o' tea.

Hi,
thanks fot you advice.
I'm into heavy metal stuff too, so probably I will follow your suggestion and look for a good Ibanez.

Thanks.
Kino

The Standard Squire Strats are OK, but don't buy an affinty.... they're pretty much made out of paper (and the one I played only has 21 frets).

Ibanez are always good.... well, almost... :cool:

If I had my choice of low-to-mid range brands I would certainly consider Ibanez as my first choice, with BC Rich and Jackson guitars coming in second place.. but that's just me and I am not a pro by any means.

Originally Posted by: SuperhumanIf it was me, I would go with the Ibanez but thats because I'm into heavy fast stuff. It all comes down to the type of music you like and the playing style you are trying to achieve. Personally I don't like Gibons (or Epiphones) or Fenders because I am so used to playing wafer thin necks with ultra low action. I also prefer the tone from humbuckers becuase they suit heavy styles. Nothing against Fenders or Epiphones, some nice models out there - just not my cup o' tea.

I don't care for Gibons (gibbons) either - nasty simians. I prefer chimps and spider monkeys. :D

Just kidding...I couldn't resist. :D

Hello,
following your suggestions I am looking for Ibanez guitars.
Now, as a first guitar, which model would you prefer among these?

IBANEZ GSA60
IBANEZ GSZ120
IBANEZ EXR170
IBANEZ GAX75
IBANEZ GRG270B
IBANEZ SA120

I have another question for you:
where can I find information about the different kind of pickups?
I see there are AH3, INF, PSND pickups...what's the difference?

thanks.
Kino

Out of my own personal experience. Been playing GSA 60 for bout five years now. Best darn investment I ever made. Sounds nice, plays like a butter. Onl resentment I had so far: The metall parts get rusty pretty soon. This doesn"t affect the sound in no way. But it is ugly to see. And don"t use the tremolo. Gets out of tune imediatly. Apart from that... I poured beer over it. Kicked it.
Punched it. Fel down few times. And still she goes...And goes nicely.
Nice guitar. Recently I bought an RG... Still play smaller gigs on GSA. I just like it. This is my experience, don"t make any decisions on this. Go and try all models, you will see which one suits you best. But, for the money, GSA rules.

ide go for the epiphone , the humbuckers give such a nice tone

Originally Posted by: hunter60I don't care for Gibons (gibbons) either - nasty simians. I prefer chimps and spider monkeys. :D

Just kidding...I couldn't resist. :D

Oooooooooooh, you caught me out :p That what happens when you try typing after a bottle and a half of wine!

me personally im an LP kind of guy. but my first electric guitar was an ibanez gax20 and i still have it. you can play any style on any guitar once you learn how to tune your amp and effects. the biggest difference between the styles of guitar are scale length (distance between the nut and saddles) gibsons epi Lp and sg are 24 3/4 fender ibanez are 25 1/2 the means string tenson.next is neck profiles ibanez has a sweet wizard 2 neck that is just butter where fenders play more with a classic c or u shape thats a lot more chuncky but still plays nice, gibson epi are in between those 2 necks. nut width i think is also a big deal. but you need to find the one thats right for you. with humbuckers vs. single coils that a matter of sound. unless your getting custom pickups installed when you first get your axe youre probably going to replace the pickups anyway. remember though that a hot single coil can sound better than a humbucker if you can i get an axe with both.

thats my two cents the rest is just picking up and playing as many guitars as you can find. take note of things like tone, the wood its made of, neck profile, nut width, pickups, the overall feel of the axe(how comfortable is it to play, and the amp you were playing it through.

I was at the guitar shop yesterday and I was able to try out some Ibanez guitars while I was there. I am loving the feel of the Ibanez RG Prestige series... I'd certain like a JEM or one of the other high end Ibanez's but I just can't afford that kind of thing.. I tried a couple of the lower-end Ibanez's but none really had all the features in one guitar except for the RG prestige series. The lower-end RG series were ok but were lacking the superb craftsmanship of the prestige models..

Floating Tremolo System (locking nut, fine tuning bridge, the tremolo itself), Super thin and flat neck (ie. the back of the neck not the fretboard), Jumbo sized frets helps keep the low action as tight as possible (ie. it feels low.. which is the whole point of having a low action.. there's no point having your strings close to the fretboard if it doesn't help you), Pickup layout and type... these are just a few reason why an Ibanez is in a different class of its own.