Opinions

I have the amp in that package and I think it is great for a practice amp. Lots of different sounds can be found with that amp.

you have asked some very good questions.

where to start???

generally speaking a 600 $ guitar will play better than a 100$ guitar. that is because of the amount of workmanship went into the more expensive guitar. better woods, electronics, etc. also add to the price.

some inexpensive guitars sound as good as spendy guitars. I have an old beater electric that sounds great. looks terrible and is half broken.

my main guitar is the best I can afford.

single coil pickups are different than humbuckers. each have their qualities.

Strats and Les Pauls are two distinctive guitars. very different for each other. most guitars are made with them in mind. how they feel by weight and playability are different.

guitar pack deals like the one you are looking at are geared for beginners. one doesnt spend alot to find out thy dont like guitar playing. no loss.

if you a serious about learning and playing buying a little more expensive model will make a difference for you. they will sound better, feel better...meaning the fret work and neck will feel nice in your hand.

there are so many guitars made now. it is overwhelming.
when I began guitar in 1965 here were only a few to choose. sure wish I had that 65 strat. it was 250$ then. I couldnt afford it.

anyway. there are alot of experienced players here and they will add comments.

as for playing metal...a single coil might not do it.

gotta go. good luck in your search.

The V-Tone Pack was my first electric guitar as well. I really lucked out and got a good one. I know when you read the reviews on this guitar they aren't that good. I will admit that when I got my Squier Strat I noticed an improvement it quality from the Behringer but not huge. However the amp in that package is well worth the $99 investment. It sounds great and is quite loud enough for practice. If you can try out the guitar first do it. There is a variance in quality with these guitars. I bought mine before knowing this. I lucked out. Since I upgraded I plan on doing upgrades to the Behringer guitar.

Another guitar that I can HIGHLY recommend is the Agile's from Rondo. I have the Agile AL-2000 Gold Hum. It is by far my most played guitars out of the 8 guitars I own! The only drawback to Rondo is that you can't try before you buy. I took the word of another member on this forum and I am so glad I did! I plan on getting another Agile soon! Also I believe there are some members here who own the SX guitars also at Rondo. I have heard mixed reviews about these as well but I know they like them.

The philosophy I developed over the 1 year I have been playing is that you don't need an expensive guitar to sound great. Money does not equate talent as far as I am concerned. However if the guitar is completely horrible then you might get discouraged and quit thinking that you'll never learn how to play. I truely believe that if Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn were alive today that they could make this V-Tone guitar sound BETTER than most people that have a Fender American Strat.

I would suggest to buy amp and guitar separate, I have a Epiphone SG Special $150, good guitar for the money and would prolly suit your metal needs.

Amp wise the only advice I can give that I know is good is buy an Epiphone Valve Jr. $150 best little tube amp on the market for the price IMHO. Throw a distortion petal inbetween and you'd prolly be set up for blues, country, classic rock, rock and some metal, prolly wouldn't be so good for death metal tho.

Scott

A key difference between higher and lower end priced guitars today is the amount of (or lack of) fret work at the end of the assembly line. Made in Korea, Mexico, or Japan guitars put out by Fender and Gibson (epiphone) use same design and wood, and cheaper electronics. American made versions get attention, usually hand crafted, to the neck at the end of production while the lower priced generally do not. At this point in my life I am fortunate to be able to afford and own 3 beautiful hand crafted instruments (I'm a stockbroker age 47 and finally splurged on the high dollar axes a few years ago). However, back when I first started playing even if I had the high dollar I couldn't justify paying $3,000 for a guitar. A very good friend (a guitar god) explained that if I bought a lower priced Fender strat (made in Korea I believe), I could spend about $100 to have a luthier seat, float, and crown the frets. I'm here to tell you, as far as playability, the fret work I had done made that cheapo guitar feel every bit as good as my high end guitars I play today. A good luthier can seat (make em snug), float (make em level), then crown (slightly round the edges) the frets. This is a relatively inexpensive job, and you will notice a huge difference in playability!!!! So much so that it will be easier to play and sound better IMHO (less likely to buzz, better intonation). My cheapo bright red strat with the rosewood neck was oggled and drooled over by many good guitarists that played more expensive axes but liked the feel of mine better.

PK

Thanx for the replies.
I would like to point out to reply that said i should try out the guitar before i buy, but, how can i try out if i can't play? and second, there is only one guitar shop in this town and i don't think they offer try outs. I will have to try at home and then if it's wrong i may return it and get a refund, but then again i don't know about it therefore i won't be able to tell wheter it's good or wheter i bought a crappy quality.

Any reputable guitar store will let you try out the guitar first. Prefereably one of the salemen will play a few for you so you can listen. Things to look for include the height of the strings off the fretboard and whether the neck is straight (with a slight bow in it). But it takes a while to develop an eye for such things. The first guitar is always going to be a bit of a gamble. If your local guitar store isn't helpful and you're in the US, you might try some of the online stores. Musiciansfriend has a good return policy. Outside of the US things get a little trickier.

People, we're forgetting Shinnoki can't play the guitar yet. And from what I remember when I went to buy my first guitar it was terribly emberassing to just kinda sit there without being able to say anything sane about the guitars. Try to bring a friend along who plays, if that's impossible atleast let the salesman play a bit. In the end it is going to be a guess so don't think too much about it.

As for the Behringer: tough call. The set itself is super cheap, the amp is very decent to play with but the guitar is somewhat risky. I've seen one good one so far, two *hopeless* ones and a whole bunch of mediocre guitars. Note well that these are so cheap most stores don't bother to properly set them up, so what you say may very well be way less then what youy get.

And welcome to GN Shinnoki!

Well i bought it yesterday and i think i can already return it back to store, cuz Tone buttons on the guitar don't work.

Shinnoki - thats unlucky.

When you take it back, ask someone in the shop if they would please demo what ever you are taking home for you. Ask them to play different things, just name a band/somg you like and ask them to play something along those lines. Ask them to give you a feel for what the guitar is capable of. Basically, give them a chance to show off.

If you are in a good store talking to a good sales person they should be happy to do this. I've been playing acoustic for 18 months and last week I bought an electric and later an amp. On both occasions I asked someone to demo for me (in the case of the guitar I asked another customer who just happened to be stood nearby). People who know more than you will generally be happy to help out, everyone started once upon a time so they should remember how intimidating/embarrasing it can be for a 'learner'.

Good luck with it all. Sticking at it and getting through these tough/awkward bits is part of the reason its so satisfying when you play something you like the sound of.

I don't think i will ask for a replacement, i'll ask for a refund.
I don't want to do business with them, bcuz i haven't got car and the V-Tone package is a bit heavy, and i had to carry it all over till the bus stop and then transport it home (their store is on the exact opposite of this city and i live on the other opposite). I don't feel like doing that routine two or more times.
I am pissed and i don't want to see V-Tone ever again. The guitar sounds like a trapped cat in a can, ampf doesn't change anything on the whole playing, except the sound volume, already non-working Tone buttons and the whole package costs 200$ in exchange from our money to dollars.
So there we go...

I don't think i will ask for a replacement, i'll ask for a refund.
I don't want to do business with them, bcuz i haven't got car and the V-Tone package is a bit heavy, and i had to carry it all over till the bus stop and then transport it home (their store is on the exact opposite of this city and i live on the other opposite). I don't feel like doing that routine two or more times.
I am pissed and i don't want to see V-Tone ever again. The guitar sounds like a trapped cat in a can, ampf doesn't change anything on the whole playing, except the sound volume, already non-working Tone buttons and the whole package costs 200$ in exchange from our money to dollars.
So there we go...

It's OK to be frustrated (BELIVE me I KNOW!) but you need to step back and take a breath. When you take it back I would ask them to look at it..all it may need is a setup. If it needs more then look into getting a Squier...even the Affinity series is not so bad (I have 2!). Just don't give up because of one bad experience...

Also, why did the V-Tone cost you $200? They go for $99 at most?

Well, I don't think you can blame the store too much. If you try to get the cheapest of the cheapest and you don't demo it in the store then you run the risk this happens.
ampf doesn't change anything on the whole playing, except the sound volume

Are you really sure you know what you are doing? This is not an insult but you are totally new to guitar and it's quite likely you aren't totally able to grasp what everything does. What do you expect the buttons and knobs to do?
The guitar sounds like a trapped cat in a can

In my experience a guitar generally sounds as good as it's user. If you never held a guitar before and didn't demo it, how can you tell the potential of the guitar?

I know this probably sounds rather agressive, please don't take it that way. But do take into consideration the possibility that you yourself are making some mistakes. I'm not saying you do, it's just possible.

Well, I don't think you can blame the store too much. If you try to get the cheapest of the cheapest and you don't demo it in the store then you run the risk this happens.
ampf doesn't change anything on the whole playing, except the sound volume

Are you really sure you know what you are doing? This is not an insult but you are totally new to guitar and it's quite likely you aren't totally able to grasp what everything does. What do you expect the buttons and knobs to do?
The guitar sounds like a trapped cat in a can

In my experience a guitar generally sounds as good as it's user. If you never held a guitar before and didn't demo it, how can you tell the potential of the guitar?
I was wondering the same, what exactly do you expect the tone knobs to do? They do not make a massive difference if you don't know what to listen for, I can hardly notice any change when I mess with mine. Were you using the correct knobpickup combination? If not they would make no difference to the sound.