Best Beginner Electric Guitar – Ultimate Guide 2017

The electric guitar is, for many blossoming musicians, the instrument of choice. It is versatile, featured in nearly every musical style; it is expressive, capable of emoting a vast array of feelings; and it is relatively inexpensive. With that popularity, however, has come a deep field of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers, each vying for the beginner guitarist’s wallet and attention. Buying a beginner guitar can be, frankly, an overwhelming experience.

But it doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t have to be uncertain, confusing, or difficult. As a potential buyer of an entry-level guitar, you ought to get what you want and what you need without too much pain; it ought to be easy. Straightforward.

This best beginner electric guitar guide is an attempt to make the process of buying a starter electric guitar straightforward, unencumbered by sales pitches and confusing gimmicks. Working toward that goal, here are the six best electric guitars for beginners:

• Squier Affinity Telecaster
• 4.9 Customer rating
• Back and sides: Alder
• Fingerboard and bridge: Rosewood
• Top: Alder
• Price: $$

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• Epiphone Les Paul Standard
• 4.7 Customer rating
• Back and sides: Mahogany
• Fingerboard and bridge: Rosewood
• Top: Maple
• Price: $$$

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• Epiphone G-310 SG
• 4.7 Customer rating
• Back and sides: Mahogany
• Fingerboard and bridge: Rosewood
• Top: Mahogany
• Price: $$$

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• Yamaha Pacifica Series PAC112V
• 5 Customer rating
• Back and sides: Solid Alder
• Fingerboard and bridge: Rosewood
• Top: Solid Alder
• Price: $$$

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• Squier by Fender Classic Vibe Stratocaster 50s
• 5 Customer rating
• Back and sides: Alder
• Fingerboard and bridge: Maple
• Top: Alder
• Price: $$$

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• Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul
• 4.6 Customer rating
• Fingerboard and bridge: Rosewood
• Back and sides: Mahogany
• Top: Mahogany
• Price: $$

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Top 6 Electric Guitars for Beginners

Squier Affinity Telecaster

The very affordable Squier Affinity Telecaster is modeled on the Fender Telecaster, and since Squier is a subsidiary company of Fender, it has many of the quality features that more expensive guitar offers. Its body is made of Alder, a light, bright-sounding wood, and its neck is maple – also bright-sounding. The neck is 9.5 inches in radius and has 21 frets. In those respects its construction is much like its Fender cousin. The guitar comes stock with two single-coil pickups, and it features one volume knob, one tone knob, and a 3-position pickup selector. Again, these are all modeled on the Fender Telecaster.

Due in part to its construction and in part to its iconic pickups, the Telecaster has a distinctive sound. It is crystal clear: the notes, even when distorted, seem to “pop.” This guitar is great for cutting through a mix, and its sound, though famous in country music, is appropriate for rock, blues, and some jazz.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard is slightly more expensive than the Squier Telecaster, but it is remarkably affordable nonetheless, especially for the quality sound that it produces. Like Squier, Epiphone is a subsidiary company, this time of Gibson. Gibson makes the guitar that this one is modeled on – the Gibson Les Paul – which is widely used in rock, but is very expensive.

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard features a deep, heavy mahogany body with a maple top and a rosewood fretboard. It comes standard with two famously heavy-sounding humbuckers, and, like all Gibsons and Epiphones, it has a short scale of 24.75 inches, which means that the fretboard is shorter than most other guitars and the frets are closer together.

This guitar has impressive resonance, mostly due to its big mahogany body. Its sound is quite warm, and it has great sustain. When played clean, it produces a very pleasant round tone. When distorted, it sounds thick, and can range from very warm to squealing. Great for rock, this guitar can pull of jazz and blues as well.

Epiphone G-310 SG

The Epiphone G-310 SG is modeled on the Gibson SG, an iconic rock guitar. Much lighter and thinner than the Les Paul, the SG features an alder body. Its fretboard is rosewood, and it comes standard with two gritty humbuckers. Like the Les Paul, the SG has a short 24.75-inch scale.

SG’s are known primarily for two things: their playability and their hot, gritty sound. Their frets are lower than most other guitars, so it is possible to set their action (the distance between the frets and the strings) very low. This means they can be very easy to play. Because of their hot pickups, SG’s are also known for a hot, loud, heavy sound.

Due to the tones they most easily produce, SG’s are often used in rock bands, and are usually distorted. They are great guitars for people who want their instruments to scream. They also, however, suite a certain brand of heavier blues playing very well.

Yamaha Pacifica Series PAC112V

The Yamaha Pacifica PAC112V is a Stratocaster-style guitar, which means it is modeled on the Fender Stratocaster, a classic, much more expensive guitar. Yamaha is not a subsidiary of Fender, but they make quality instruments nonetheless and the Pacifica is a great starter electric guitar.

The Pacifica has an alder body and a maple neck, like the Squier Telecaster. Stratocaster-style guitars often have three pickups, and in that respect this one is no different. The Pacifica has two single-coil pickups and one humbucker (in the bridge). Though the traditional Stratocasters all had three single-coil pickups, many modern Strat-style guitars include a humbucker. The Pacifica’s fretboard is rosewood and it includes a five-position switch with a coil tap (which, when engaged, makes the humbucker act like a single-coil). The Pacifica also has a tremolo.

“Versatility” is the word with this guitar – it is suited for blues, rock, metal, jazz, and almost anything else. It has a classic “Strat” sound, which means it is clear and punchy, and at times almost glassy sounding. It takes distortion very well, and, especially because of the humbucker/coil-tap combination, can produce a vast array of sounds. This kind of guitar is known for its great tone, and also for its playability.

Squier Class Vibe Stratocaster 50s

The Squier Class Vibe Stratocaster 50s is an extremely affordable cousin to the Fender Stratocaster. Since Squier is a subsidiary of Fender, the parts are nearly identical. It is similar in many ways to the Pacifica, and costs about as much.

The Squier Stratocaster has an alder body and maple neck, like the Pacifica, but its fretboard is maple as well (rather than rosewood). It is also different in that it has the traditional three single-coil pickups and no humbuckers. It features a tremolo, a volume knob, two tone knobs, and a five-position pickup selector.

Like the Pacifica, the Stratocaster is extremely versatile and great for blues, rock and jazz. Since there is no humbucker, however, it will be a little harder to get a heavy, high-output sound from the Squier Strat. Its maple fretboard also sets it apart from the Yamaha, and will make it sound, in general, a little more punchy. The biggest difference between this and the Yamaha is that this guitar is made by Fender, a fact that some people will think is important.

Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul

The LP Special is a smaller, lighter, more affordable version of the Les Paul Standard. It is in many ways a stripped-down, bare bones Les Paul. It features a mahogany body and two humbuckers, and comes with a rosewood fretboard and a 24.75-inch scale. In those respects, it is much like the Standard. Unlike the Standard, which has two volume knobs and two tone knobs, the LP Special has only one volume knob and one tone knob along with its three-way pickup selector.

In general, the LP Special will sound and feel similar to the Standard, but it is considerably thinner and lighter, which will affect both the way it feels and the way it sounds. It is less girthy-feeling that the Standard, which feels more like an original Gibson Les Paul, and its sound will be slightly “smaller”. It is, however, a great bargain, and for its price it has an impressive amount of the same features as the Gibson Les Paul, whose price tag is more than ten times the LP Special’s.

Best Beginner Electric Guitars Comparison Chart

Buying Guide for Choosing the Best Beginner Electric Guitar

When you are on the market for an electric guitar for a beginner you are not just a beginner player – you are a beginner shopper. With that come all sorts of little anxieties: Will I choose the right guitar? Will the guitar I choose reflect the kind of person I am? The kind of musician I want to be? Will it look good on me? What sorts of things should I be thinking about? Will I get a good deal? …

Some of those questions are things that only you can answer, but this buying guide should help you navigate the field a little.

To begin with, you need to consider the style of music you want to play. This will determine a lot. We will discuss this in further detail later, but for now it is enough to say that you should have some idea of the kind of musician you want to be. Do you want to be more like Yngwie Malmsteen? More like Albert Lee? More like Angus Young? Figuring out how you want to sound is the first step toward figuring out what guitar you need to buy.

A good thing to think about when you are shopping is the kinds of guitars your heroes play. There is a reason Eric Clapton plays a Stratocaster – he would sound completely different and probably play completely differently if he had a Les Paul in his hands.

It is also important to consider your budget. This will constrain your choices and focus you on the guitars you can afford. When you’re looking at guitars, one of the questions you should be asking is “How much does it cost?”

Finally, you should be thinking in terms of flavors. Electric guitars come in a few different flavors, and each flavor tastes very different from the others. In the simplest terms, there are Les Pauls and there are Stratocasters, but to be a little bit more nuanced, there are Les Pauls, SG’s, Stratocasters, and Telecasters.

Les-Paul-style guitars have humbuckers, which means they are generally heavier sounding, and they are big, thick guitars, which means they will sound like big hunks of wood. SG style guitars are generally extremely easy to play and though they are thinner than Les Pauls, their humbuckers make them sound big and loud. Stratocasters generally have single-coil pickups and are known for their versatility and chime-like tones. Telecasters are clarity machines, whose single-coil pickups cut through the music like no other guitars. Knowing what flavor the guitar you’re looking at is what will help you decide which one is right for you.

The Guitar That Will Fit Your Playing Style 

We have already said that knowing the style you want to play is important to figuring out which starter guitar to buy. Here are some general stylistic categories and some guitars that match them.

Rock

Rock guitars are often the ones that can put out a lot of volume. Volume means gain, which means distortion. Many rock guitarists, especially in heavier rock, prefer humbuckers to single-coil pickups for this reason. Of course, some rock guitarists have done great things with single-coil guitars (think Hendrix), and there is a sound that Stratocaster-style guitars have in rock that is irreplaceable. In general, however, these days most heavier guitarists choose guitars that are more like Les Pauls or SGs; and that includes the guitars that most “shredders” play.

Blues

Blues guitar is a very diverse field. Some players are very clean, like B. B. King, and some have thick, gain-driven sounds, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, or even Angus Young. In general, if you’re going for a traditional electric blues sound, you probably want a Stratocaster-style guitar. That isn’t always the case, though: Many blues-influenced guitarists find that Telecasters do what they want. There are also some players that love the sound of Les Pauls playing the blues. And of course, Angus Young plays an SG.

Country

For country, there is really only one style of guitar to be looking at – the Telecaster. Its sound is incredibly iconic, and whether it is clean or dirty, its clarity defines the sound of electric country guitar.

Jazz

Many straight-ahead jazz players do not play solid-body electric guitars. They often play hollow-body or semi-hollow guitars. More modern jazz players, however, especially in the fusion tradition, love their solid-bodies. Stratocasters are always a great choice for the wide array of sounds they can make, and Telecasters are right at home in a lot of jazz-influenced music. Of course, there is no rule that says humbuckers aren’t allowed in jazz, and some fusion players love the sound of thin-bodied, humbucker-driven guitars that I would place in the SG category.

What to Look for in the Best Starter Electric Guitar

Once you have decided how you want to play, and once you have determined in general what kind of guitar you are shopping for, you need to know, specifically, what to look for in a good guitar. Here are some of the most important things to pay attention to.

• Tone. Tone may be the most important thing about any guitar. After all, guitars are for making music, and how they sound will determine how that music sounds more than anything else. It is good to develop a palate for tone: Is this dark sounding? Bright? Heavy? Thick? Smooth? Gritty? Edgy? Round? Clear? Glassy? Etc.
• Action. How you play the guitar is just as important as how it sounds. And few things will affect the way you play the guitar more than its action. Action is the distance between the strings and the frets, usually measured in fractions of an inch or millimeters at the 12^th fret. The lower the action, the easier it is to play. The higher the action, the harder it is. Some players believe that higher action sounds better, as it gives the string more room to vibrate; but in general, good guitars are capable of having their action set rather low (very low action is about 1mm at the 12^th fret, very high is as much as 1/8 of an inch or more).
• Electronics. The quality of the electronics in a guitar will affect its sound, and it will also affect how often it needs to be serviced. It is a good idea to know the reputation a given company has for its electronics.
• Construction. When you are looking at a guitar, you will want to know about its construction. What is it made of? How does that affect the sound of the guitar? The most common materials for the body are mahogany and alder. Mahogany sounds thick and round, whereas alder has a tendency to sound clear and crisp. You might also want to consider the materials used for the neck and fretboard.
• Pickups. We will say more about pickups in a moment, but for now we should say that there is a big difference between the sounds that different pickups make. It is a good idea to know about the pickups in whatever guitar you are looking at, and to know what you want out of the pickups in the guitar you end up with.

Learn the Basic Components of an Electric Guitar

Before shopping for a guitar, it is good to know about their basic components. Here are some of the things that make up a solid body electric guitar.

• Body and Top. The body of the guitar is the part of the guitar that does not include the neck, fretboard, and headstock. It is where the bridge and pickups are mounted and where the electronics are housed. Different guitars have different shaped bodies, but in general what matters the most is what the bodies are made of. Some guitars have a top that covers the body, and what that is made of matters as well.
• Neck. The neck of the guitar extends from the body to the headstock. It is what the fretboard is mounted to. In addition to the composition of the neck (what it is made of), it is important to consider its type. Many necks, like the ones that Fender uses, are bolt-on necks, meaning they are bolted on the body. There are also set-in necks, like the ones that Gibson uses. Some guitars have neck-through bodies, meaning the neck extends all the way through the body of the guitar and the rest of the body is attached to the sides of the neck below a certain point.
• Fretboard. The fretboard is attached to the neck and houses the frets. The frets are what the strings make contact with to change the pitch of the sound. The material of the fretboard is made of affects the way the guitar feels and sounds. In addition, the length of the fretoboard matters. Some guitars have shorter or longer scales than others, meaning their fretboards are shorter or longer and there is less or more room between the frets. Some guitars also have more frets than others (usually 2 more than the standard 22), which increases the length of the fretboard.
• Pickups. A guitar’s pickups are mounted into its body. They have magnets in them that allow them to “pick up” the strings vibrations. Originally, all pickups were single-coil pickups, meaning that they had one coil of wire wrapping and one set of magnets. Because singe-coil pickups tend to produce feedback and hum, humbucking pickups were designed, in which two coils are used to cancel out the hum. Single-coil pickups are generally cleaner and punchier sounding, and usually have a lower output than humbuckers. Humbuckers are warmer and rounder, but also dirtier than single-coil pickups, and they tend to have a higher output. Country, blues, and some rock guitarists use single-coil pickups, whereas heavy rock and metal guitarists often use humbuckers due to their high output. Some jazz guitars also feature humbuckers for their warmth.

There are other things that go in to making a solid-body electric guitar, and all of them are important. The body, the neck, the fretboard, and the pickups however, are the things that affect the sound of a guitar more than anything else. The best electric guitar for beginners is in part the one that has the right parts that give it the right sound.

Bottom Line

There is a hugely diverse field of electric guitars, and each guitar, with its array of parts and features, is different. Nothing can tell you what guitar is the one for you, but this guide hopefully can save you some anxiety.

The bottom line is that, above all else, you need to consider what you want out of a beginner guitar. The best beginner electric guitar is the best one for you – for the sound you are going for and for your price-range. Nobody can choose your first guitar for you, but if you think about what you want your guitar to do for you, what kind of guitar you need it to be, then maybe you won’t be the one doing the choosing. Maybe it will be the other way around.

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