New to forums/New to Guitars-Seeking Advice

IMO i like this deal better over all
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Les-Paul100-HiPerformance-Pack-with-Valve-Junior-Amp?sku=514492
also MF is owned by GC and has the 45/45 no questions refund guarantee

btw, Welcome to GN!
make sure you pop into the "meet and greet" forum and introduce yourself

Hmm, I like that deal better two, however I think from reading the reviews that an effect pedal would be needed. I'm not trying to jump the gun considering I have never played but should I get an effect pedal with this on starters, also that pack doesnt come with headphones which would be nice so I can play without bugging everyone else. Any recommendations on both of these? As well as still need some suggestions on very beginer sites/videos/dvds/books =D

I'd take his advice.

The pro's here know their stuff :idea:

Hmmm... Not being a big fan of "starter packs", I personally feel you would get more "bang for your buck" by purchasing separately.

Look for a guitar in the price range you can afford; you could start here.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/solid-body-electric-guitars?N=100001+306241

On the left side of the page, you can select the amount that you want to spend. The ESP guitars have a good following & have a good cost/value ratio.

From there, you can do the same with an amp, checking the left side of the page for your budget. If it were me, I would spend more on the guitar to try and select a quality piece right from the start, that feels good/plays well. You can always upgrade an amp when funds are more plentiful. Also, a pretty decent practice/small gig amp can be had for not alot of $$$.

I recently purchased this Crate & it is awesome! $79.00 at Guitar Center!
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Crate-GTD15R-Guitar-Amplifier-with-Reverb-104203849-i1170732.gc

Compare $$$ between the 2 sites, after you select the guitar/ amp you want; Sometimes there is a price difference, even though it is the same company. Throw in a couple of these cables, lengths that you need, a couple picks & you are good to go!
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Musicians-Gear-Standard-Guitar-Cable?sku=330199

Guess you could also pick up a tuner for short money as well.

I've been down this road before myself & also with others, & that is personally how I would go about it. Just my .02.
Good Luck! :)

I am liking all the advice, thanks guys. Just wanna say im deciding to go with http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Les-Paul100-HiPerformance-Pack-with-Valve-Junior-Amp?sku=514492 . I liked the advice katmetal gave, but I was planning on getting the Epiphone Les paul eventually seeing as it seems to be a good guitar(reading reviews and from friends). It is just to hard to resist that special price, eventually when I know what im doing I will upgrade my whole package, from guitar to amp and etc... But this seems like a very good starting point and package.

i agree that separate purchasing is usually always better.
of the 2 package deals i like the epi valve jr amp that comes with the one i picked. it's easily one of the best low watt tube amps for the money bar none.
however a headphone mod is really not worth messing with imo.
either one of these guitars is going to wear thin after about a year , even with a good set up (highly recommended)
but the Valve Jr amp is going to stay with you a long time.
personally i would go for a Yamaha Pacifica with a fat strat design (best of both worlds) forget about the pedals till you are sure you are going to stay with it.
if a headphone jack is not negotiable, then there are a lot of solid state amps that will be better (usually with some effects built in) then the one in the starter packs

Basically I am just trying to get started off, I like the look of the Les Paul and even though this equipment wont last over a year, I will upgrade with no problem. I can always get that crate amp within 1month if need be as well as other things. I am more so just buying this pack for the guitar, and it looks like an excellent pack to get started with. However, if you guys have suggestions on maybe your own "pack" that would be sweet! Thanks again guys, keep in mind im trying to stay under 300 here. Also I havn't seen any suggestions on dvds/books/websites(this one rocks but maybe some others also)/videos. Thanks again guys!

I'd go with twistedlefty!!! A lot of us here own Valve juniors and wouldn't be caught dead playing through that little solid state epiphone amp in the other deal. You can get a distortion pedal that works for $20 - $30 bucks as well as a delay for cheap, but the thump that a tube amp has is priceless.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Danelectro-Fab-Slap-Echo?sku=151844

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Danelectro-D3-FAB-Metal-Effect-Pedal?sku=151849

Just a couple of examples.

Yup I plan, as of now, going with leftys pack.

even though this equipment wont last over a year

Oh, it will last a lot longer than that ... don't sell it short. :wink:

Gear talk aside,

Getting started on what to do with the guitar once you get one in your hands.....???

Start here on the beginners lessons.
Also google, "Free Guitar Lessons". There are tons on the web, but these here at GN are a great start.

My only advice would be this, love what you play and play what you love.

Be patient, don't rush it. Learning to play guitar is a process.

Sometimes its very slow and very painful, yet it is still a process. Its not an event, it just doesn't happen. You need to pay your dues, so to speak. You need to practice and ultimately master the basics. Some of them are real easy while others will seem near impossible....take the dreaded "F-Chord".

But I will promise you this. If you dedicate yourself to practicing every day, even if its only 15 minutes a day, you will amaze yourself in few months time.

Welcome to GN and welcome to a lifelong 'hobby'.....hehehehehe :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Thanks dage, what a motivating post =D and just what I needed besides all the gear talk =p

+1 on Dagwood's post, and +1 on that Epi Valve Jr amp.....don't sell it if you do upgrade in the future, its a cracking amp for the price and once you feel like upgrading, you could always build a speaker cab for the valve jr, as yashicamat on this forum just recently did. heck, I've been playing for years and even I'm gonna be running out to buy one of them amps as soon as my funds allow (got some other guitar-purchases I have to take care of first, lol).

and welcome to the forums!

Hey Pillow

(To hit on Dag's point, because its so important)

I'm a newbie around here and to guitar myself. I think the most important thing in learning guitar is to make sure you are learning what you want. I started by buying a book, all about intro to guitar and theory. I was excited to start playing. I was learning notes and some chords and playing really lame short songs. It sucked. I was confined to the first 3 strings and soon enough I put down my guitar because I thought it was boring, I didn't touch it for a couple months.

Recently I saw an Adam Sandler song (of all things), and thought I want to learn how to play that. So I picked it back up last weekend and started youtubing some songs that looked easy enough to play and its much more fun now. Play something that you actually want to hear first so you have a sense of accomplishment. You can always go back and learn how to read music and the theory behind it if you want. I think this is probably why most kids quit, I know I quit my middle school instrument because of it, but me being an adult I was able to realize and rationalize it (although it took a couple months).

Just make sure you like what you are playing. Don't stick with 1 song if you are getting frustrated, move onto learning something else and come back to it later. Also prepare for your fingers to hurt. Its perfectly normal for them to feel numb for a couple weeks, depending on how much you play.