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Hi, I'm a bit late coming onto this thread but I'd like to suggest a couple of things to think about.
Firstly, it might be worth watching this video on how to buy an electric guitar. There are many others around - just search in YouTube and you'll find lots of advice.
For me, the most significant thing that Chappers says in this video is to take along a guitar-playing friend if you don't play. Now, I know that your son already plays the acoustic guitar, but that brings me onto my second point which is this:
Acoustic and electric guitars are different instruments!
OK yes, they are both guitars. They both generally have six strings and a bunch of frets etc yada yada. But they are used for different styles of music, they sound different and most importantly they feel very different to play. The risk that I see is that your son might go and try some electric guitars and expect / want them to feel similar to the acoustic guitars that he's used to playing. The problem with this is that if an electric guitar feels like an acoustic, then it's going to be a really bad electric guitar with a totally wrong setup! This is why taking someone else along who knows about electric guitars was the most significant point from the video in my opinion, and bearing in mind your situation.
I'd definitely second the advice about targetting guitars that are end-of-line and reduced in price - you can get some great bargains like that. I bought a Charvel guitar a few months ago at 50% off the original price, and it's a really, really good guitar - damn near as good as my best guitar which cost me six times as much. Now, that's a matter of taste - other people might not like it so much, and coming from an acoustic guitar an instrument like that is going to feel quite alien, but it's great (and it was made in China, so don't worry about that if the brand is well known).
Do you know which guitar shop you're likely to go to? I would suggest that if you do, post it on this thread a few days before you go, and I or maybe one of the other guys would certainly be happy to have a look at their website to see if we can spot a good deal at that time. The big stores tend to be quite aggressive about pricing and to follow each other in reducing prices whenever something is offered as end-of-line; a small, local store might not be quite so competitive. Also, most of them will give you a discount of maybe 5-10% on the advertised price if you push them, or at least throw in a pack of strings or two. In my view, it's worth travelling to get to one of the big shops because of the pricing issue, and because they will have more guitars in stock. If you care to tell us where you're located, we might be able to point you towards a good shop.
Your purchase of Rocksmith was definitely a great move. I've been playing it solidly for over 2 years and have learnt a huge amount from it.
Lastly, this could well be the most awesome present that you ever get him. I hope that he loves it and will be grateful to you for the rest of his life! |
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