Beginner need help choosing electric guitar

I have small hands with short stubby fingers. I want to purchase an electric guitar and start learning as a hobby. I'm older than dirt, retired and bored. My favorite guitarist was Jimmie Hendrix. I played nylon string acuostic guitar 45+ years ago. I could strum a few chords and I sucked. It seemed like my fingers were always hitting two strings when I tried to cover one string with a finger. That's my past. I'm sure there is technique to fix that problem

So, now I want to forget what I knew in the past and start learning with lessons.

I'd like to buy an electric guitar that will work for my hand size. I'd like to keep the price moderate like in the $200 range. So any suggestion regarding how to pick an electric guitar for learning would be appreciate. Info like recommended neck length, fret spacing, and whatever I should know about. Fyi, I live in Thailand so I'm going to have to depend on buying a guitar from a local shop and I really don't know what they carry. I don't have the option of buying on Amazon. They often don't ship to Thailand and if they did I'd end up paying twice the price due to Thailand's import duties. So I need enough information to select a guitar locally at a Thai music shop based on the guitar's dimensions although I may be able to find specific makes and models. At this point I just don't know.

Any honest info and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.[br]Thanks!

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@connda, welcome to you and good luck. This is from another member of the "older than dirt, retired and bored" club. But no longer bored since I took up the guitar in retirement.

Since your favorite guitarist is Hendrix I appreciate your wanting to get an electric. And I don't want to be discouraging but finding an electric "in the $200 range" is going to be very challenging. Keep in mind with an electric guitar you still need an amp. I don't know if your $200 quote is what you planned on spending juston the guitar realizing you still need an amp or if that is your entire budget.

To start I would check with your local store and see if they have any starter packages. I got back to guitar in retirement after decades of not playing. Santa brought me a Yamaha Pacifica kit, with amp. It is a really nice playing guitar and I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to recommend it to a beginner. I was not too much over your budget. I am guessing approaching $300. (Santa never told me!) Actually, this is my kit at Guitar Center.. My guitar is a burst rather than black but otherwise identical.

Sweetwater has thisFender Squire package for very close to your budget ($219). I fully realize that you can't order from them without incurring the import duties but maybe your local store has something similar.

Guitar plus amp and I'm budgeted probably up to 300 USD.

Still, the primary concern I have is finding the best guitar selection to "fit" my hands.[br][br]As some point I'll need to just take a day and visit shops. It will help to know what I'm looking for in advance as there will be language barrier as I'm not fluet in Thai. So have a list of possible guitars to look for prior to shopping around would help.

Your hands are about the same size as mine. I am playing a Yamaha Pacifica 112V. Some of the chords are a bit stretchy, but I just play what I can and don't get hung up if I can't reach the stretchy shapes. I am also an old dude.

Angus Young has commented on why he plays an SG. He is a pretty small guy. You may want to look into the Epiphone version of the SG.

Your hands are the same size as mine and I already play guitar for 50 years, lead and rhythm so don't worry about that. Where in Thailand do you live, I live just south of Hua Hin. There is a Yamaha store nearby that sells some cheaper brands to and with good advice and if you look on Amazon you might be amazed how little you pay for transport and import fees are included in that prize, I buy stuff on Amazon USA for not even the half of the price what it costs here.

Herman

Good to know hsnoeckx. I live near Chiang Mai so should have a fair selection of shops. Then if I find something I'll check Amazon to at least compare prices. Thanks for the tip.

Yamaha Pacifica is a nice starter electric for a reasonable price. Strat like so you have the Hendrix covered.

Hi connda.... easiest thing to do would be to visit your local music store and wrap your hands around the neck, with the aid of the musician at the store.. hope that assists..