I'd first of all ask him what type of guitar he likes (the look of). And what guitarists he likes. By the way, you say he's playing a low end 'Fender' now. Is that a real Fender, or a Fender alike... Is it a Fender Squire for instance? Body shape is going to a very big factor in what he wants to play. £700 will get a good guitar by the way.
Cheers
What kind of amp is he playing through, by the way?
Hi
Yep fakes are a concern - I will give Music Warehouse a call, thanks mate
He likes the look of the Gibson Les Paul and the Flying V
Guitarists - Slash, Joe Perry, Jimi Hendrix, B B king and Eddie Van Halen
His current guitar is a Fender Starcaster Strat which I purchased as a package with a Fender sp.10 amp
Ron
A V might come within budget but if he hasn't upgraded the amp already, then a better guitar will be largely wasted. If he still has the little Fender then it may be better to split the budget into say £500 for a guitar & £200 for a new amp, just as a ball park.
If it's the single cut shape of the Les Paul he likes then the two previous suggestions of Epiphone & PRS SE are sound. Both of which should be readily available used on Ebay/Gumtree & because they're lower priced to begin with, unlikely to be a target for the counterfeiters.
Combine one of those with maybe a Line 6 Amplifi 75 amp & I'd wager he'd be a very happy bunny indeed. Talking of Line 6, one of their JTV59 guitars should also be in budget used & would give him both the Les Paul shape & the sound of many other guitars as well by way of electronic wizardry!
Hi
It is the single cut shape that he likes. I just realised that I meant we hoped to get a used LP classic rather than standard for around £700 (I did say I know nothing about guitars)
We will check out the Epiphone & PRS SE over the weekend
I had planned a separate budget of £250 for a amp, so the Line 6 Amplifi amp really fits the bill
Thanks mate, you have been so helpful
Ron
Is he planning in playing with a band? If so he'll need an amp with a bit of oomph, not sure an Amplifi would cut it with a drummer/bassist etc....maybe the bigger version would work? I have a JTV59 and it's lovely plus it's more than one guitar data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
good luck with your search and hope he gets what he wants?
Can't go wrong with a JTV59, fantastic guitar in it's own right, without all the fancy stuff.
Hi
Nope not playing in a band yet. I'm just so stunned at how good he is so soon. His music teacher is so bummed that he is not studying music for his GCSE's. He made his GSCE decisions before he got into playing the guitar
For the moment something on the smaller side will be OK for now
Many thanks
Ron
I Missed that
He is googling it now
Ron
It could be a bit premature for a new amp if he doesn't yet know where he wants to take this. Depends on whether he is finding the current amp restrictive already; if not, then I'd wait until he has a better idea of his needs further down the road.