shmoo - i'll let you borrow one of my practice amps if you want. also, i have a crappy danelectro electic that i would probably just as soon not have as even try to sell - but - it would be good starter electric.

anyhoo.

KPH

electric, rather.

KPH

He's absolutely right.

But they are a better guitar for cheaper, you can buy one used which absorbs some of the depreciation, and once you have one, i bet you'll be loathe to sell it unless you really wanted the name brand and aesthetic of a classic Fender or Gibson, or something like that.

But Yail is right about the resale.

forget about squires. go for the mexican tele or strat. you will outgrow the squire fast and will want another guitar as soon as you can afford one. the mexican fenders have essentially the same parts as the americans but they are assembled in mexico. the difference in price is like 150 bucks, its a no brainer to me. unless you are really worried that you might quite playing.

Wait, are you offering to give me a guitar?

i think the answer is obvious

[img][394:500]http://www.electricguitar.50megs.com/5NECKS.gif[/img]

Yeah, that joke's never been made before.

who said I was joking.

well, i might want it back at some point, but for however long, sure!

KPH

[img][267:500]http://www.paulsboutique.ca/imgs/items/guitarsbasses/20031001-1963fenderjaguar.jpg[/img]

mmmmmm.....

Nice!

if you're a beginner with no musical expierence whatsoever, i think the most minimal investment you can make the better. While squiers are pretty much all crap, and only a few epiphones are ok (like their hollow body varieties) i would stay in this region. While the mexican fenders/gibsons are very good and a little cheaper than the americans, i'm not sure that will make very much of a difference to you if you can't play the thing to begin with. If you like playing (it's pretty much infectious) then you'll want a better guitar anyways, and then you can graduate up to the american fender and gibsons, still having payed the lowest amount total.

I started out with an epiphone knock off of a les paul, and it served me very well. i learned a lot from it, and it did help me get better. it didn't have all the things tone-wise that i wanted (even as a beginner) but it helped me figure out what i want in an instrument, which is something everyone needs to learn, and i could still play songs, figure out solos, and even write a little, like with any other guitar. these brands is the safest option for you, i think.

Dude, borrow that DanElectro. From what I hear, they're really not all that bad... what you will lose in terms of pride of ownership you will recover in insurance from buyer's remorse. Then you can take lessons from Kevin and everybody wins!

people like them because of their tone, but their build quality isn't great. don't they slip out of tune easily? that's the complaint i have most common heard.

My starter guitar was a Steinberger GT Pro -- I think I paid US$330 for it, and they go on sale all the time. There are other Steinberger models which are even cheaper. It's a really good choice for an all-rounder type guitar.

You can buy a GP-2R blemished for US$250, check it out.

Dude sells a crapload of CDs on home shopping channels