How To Choose Your First Electric Guitar

Most beginners who are just starting to learn how to play guitar are advised to learn on an acoustic before they switch to an electric. There is a lot of merit to this method, but there are those who simply want to feel that distortion right from the start.

Choosing your first electric guitar can be a very confusing experience. There are so many things you need to think about, and all of this information is new to you. Needless to say, you will have to do a lot of research.

With that said, we want to give you some hints and tips that should help you make the best possible choice you can. The stuff we will cover is considered to be basic knowledge, but it's also something not every beginner knows.

Budget Properly

The thing with electric guitars is that you won't get a lot of feedback unless you also have an amp of some sorts. When you're just starting out, that feedback is one of the most important parts of learning the basics correctly.

A lot of new players set a budget for a guitar but completely ignore the amp. Don't make that mistake. It's worth getting a cheaper guitar if that means you can squeeze an amp into the mix as well.

Depending on your budget, this might or might not be an issue. If you are working with limited funds, there are decent guitar+amp combos on the market that will be sufficient until you develop your skills. If your budget is more forgiving, you can get some pretty good amps. Check out our article about best guitar amps for more info.

Humbuckers Or Single Coils

The fact of the matter is that you probably won't pay too much attention to the sound of your guitar as someone who has just started learning how to play. With that said, there is a significant difference between what humbucker and single coil pickups sound like.

The general rule of thumb is that heavier genres of music such as hard rock and metal, sound better on humbuckers. Single coil pickups have more definition and accuracy, but they lack girth. Additionally, another topic you can check out is the debate of active vs. passive pickups ‘Electric Guitar Pickups: Active or Passive?'.

When it comes to affordable guitars, humbuckers are usually the way to go. Single coil pickups have a very specific side effect that is only more apparent with cheaper electronics. They create a hum, and even the more expensive single coil pickups have a hard time eliminating that hum. In other words, cheap single coils will come with a lot of humming noise.

Choice Of Hardware

Your first guitar is going to be the one which you will use to learn everything there is about setting up and using the guitar. Because of this, it's recommended that you pick one that has simple hardware.

For example, tremolo bridges are notorious for being complicated. If you select a guitar that has a Floyd Rose type bridge as your first instrument, you are going to have a lot of trouble once you decide to change or replace the strings. In order to make your life easier, you should try and get a guitar with a fixed bridge and simple tuners.

How Many Strings?

If you are into metal, and you want to learn how to play this specific genre of music, you have probably heard about 7-string guitars or even 8 string guitars. These are becoming more and more popular in certain genres of metal. With that said, how smart is it to get a 7 string model as your first guitar?

The answer is not very smart. That additional string means that the neck is going to be wider, which is going to make fretting that much harder for a beginner. Your fist guitar should be a standard six string model. Once you build up some experience and develop your skills, you can switch to a 7 string model. Besides, dialing in a brutal sound on a six string guitar is very much possible.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, the best guitar you can get is the one you enjoy playing the most. In other words, don't get too lost in specs and different components each model brings. Figure out which type of guitar you like the most, and find one that you feel comfortable playing.

After all, that ‘coolness factor' matters, so don't ignore your intuition. If you can follow the tips we gave you here, you will have a better experience with your first guitar. Keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion, so take ours with a grain of salt. In the end, getting your hands on the neck of an electric guitar is what it's all about.