[elijah77jc]

i'm not sure how if this is GREAT advice but it might help you out if money is really an issue.

get someone you know who knows a lot about guitars and take him to a pawn shop with you and check out what they have there. if you really don't know much about what a good gutar is DO NOT do this by yourself! most of the guitars they will have a crap (thats why they are in a pawn shop and not in a guitar store) but every once in awhile someone will pawn one without really knowing what it is and you might find something really cheap that is actually really good.

oh wait, here's a better idea

http://www.musiciansfriend.com

i can't find the direct link right now but there at Musicians friend they have what are called "scratch and dent" sales where they sell guitars that have been returned due to minor imperfections. they guarantee that the guitar is in perfect condition except for minor superficial defects. so if you can live with a scratch or two you kind find a heck of a deal

[CheshireCat]

csbassplayer said:
Yeah it seems the general consenses is that Yamaha acoustics are the way to go for learning(talked to a guy that bought one for $100 bucks) The only reason i was considereing electric is that i already have an amp that plays elect guitar pretty well so i wouldnt' need to spring for one(Ibanez soundwave 31watt) I plugged in my friend's telecaster and it sounded pretty good once i tweated the eq some. Thanks for all the input guys I really appreciate it.

Well, I would respectfully and fundamentally disagree.

In my experience, an electric is about 3 times easier to learn on that an acoustic, for a number of reasons.

First, electrics are smaller than acoustics, so it's a lot easier to get in there and play. I.E., you're not hugging a wooden box. Now, if you are just all about that romantic, earthy quality of an acoustic, then great. What I call the Kumbiya Dynamic. Nothing wrong with that, but either way, you are not going to get that rich of an acoustic experience at $100 a pop.

Second, they don't require heavy strings. Acoustics do, because they are mechanical passive and you need that increased string tension to move the top of the sound box and create air movement. Electrics are active (not to be confused with passive vs active pickups) and because the pickups are generating the sound, you don't have to have such heavy strings. As a result, you can learn with 8's instead of 11's or 12's (for instance) and work on encoding the various patterns and forms into your mind, memory, and muscles. Then, later, you can build up strength and calouses and what not.

Third, because you are using smaller strings, and because of the construction of the guitar, it's much easier to set the guitar action a lot lower, making it infinitely more playable, which once again allows you to encode the information more easily and readily. Because of it's construction, you cannot set-up an acoustic as easily and thoroughly as an electric.

Fourth, a related side-issue, if you have any probs with an acoustic or an electric, it's a lot easier to repair an electric, since everything (in the case of a Strat or Strat-clone) just screws off or un-bolts. IOW, electrics are modular and acoustics are not. That can come in real handy. On most electrics, you can do a lot of the work yourself. On acoustics, you would definitely want to take it in to a Luthier or Guitar Tech. Like I said, side-issue, but it is hard to learn to play guitar if it's in the shop for long stretchs of time.

Fifth, you already play electric bass guitar, so you already have some experience with electric guitar. It would all get down to adaptation of what you already know, vs. adjusting to a completely new and foreign experience.

Sixth, you already have an amp, so you're good to go!!

Those are the immediate advantages that I would see in an electric guitar.

Also, while on the subject, check out the Fretboard Logic SE discussion in Theory Sub-Forum. http://www.christianguitar.org/forum...ad.php?t=62363 FBL SE deals with what can be called Guitar Mechanics, which is all the mechanics of barre chords, scale forms, and lots of stuff on the guitar which for the most part doesn't show up on bass, nor in General Music Theory for that matter. Granted, there's a lot of overlap with bass, but there are some key differences that a bass player, like a piano player, wouldn't pick up on, unless he knew what to look for. I know this from experience because I started on bass first and then piano, and knew tons of Theory, and then got into guitar only after I got FBL SE. Before that, Guitar was just plan confusing. After that, it was stupid simple.

Chesh

[csbassplayer]

Well it isn't that guitar (6 string) is a foreign thing, i already know a decent amount of chords, (you sorta pick it up after a while) , so i am looking into learning barre chords and chord transitions and more obscure type chords, and i have played both acoustic and electric, so it doesn't matter really, but yes i am probably more familiar with electric, but yet again price is the main factor. also i didn't think about the used, or scratch and dents, that is a good idea. My bass was an 700 new bass i got used for 250 at a local shop so that might not be a bad idea.

[bpeltzer]

you can get a suier affinity start for $149 + tax at musicians friend, find some oter stuff you need right now to bump it over 200 and you'll get free shipping. It's cheap, a decent guitar, easy to play, and as Chesh says, it can be hot-rodded. Plus its the only fender knock-off that actually looks like a fender.

[elijah77jc]

Originally Posted by CheshireCat

Well, I would respectfully and fundamentally disagree.

In my experience, an electric is about 3 times easier to learn on that an acoustic

i totally agree that it IS easier to learn how to play on an electric than an acoustic, but BECAUSE of that reason i would say to start out with an acoustic.

my cousin taught me the basics of how to play and i would go over to his house to learn since i didn't have a guitar of my own. well he had an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar but he would NEVER let me play with the electric when he was teaching me something and i hated him for it because it WAS a lot easier to play on the electric. but because i learned on the acoustic my fretting hand is a lot stronger and it just made it so much easier later on.
i also have a friend who ONLY learned how to play on the electric, he's been playing for about 2 years and he's gotten pretty good but during the whole time he's never touched an acoustic. so when i went over and he tried to play something on my guitar he couldn't do it because it was just to hard for him.

so even if you plan on staying just on the electric i would still recommend learning on an acoustic at first because even though you'll hate it at first you'll thank yourself later.

Originally Posted by csbassplayer

also i didn't think about the used, or scratch and dents, that is a good idea.

definately check those scratch and dent sales out, i have a friend who got this guitar

for $700 when they were originally selling it for $1,189.99. oh and the only thing wrong with it was that the strap the guy used was vinal so some black rubbed off on the bottom where you connect the strap but that was it, those people are crazy to discount a guitar that much for something like that