Music is the Gift that Keeps On Giving
Dec 27 '99 (Updated Dec 29 '99)
An opinion like this has been posted, but I'd like to add the following:
If your teen really likes music,(especially metal,punk,and the other stuff that makes you hold your ears and hide,) you owe it to your child to give him a chance with a guitar.
Really high-quality beginner rock to punk and metal guitar: Ibanez GAX-70, abt. $180, with a Crate or Marshall Valvestate 15-watt amp($70 to $120). I actually know some gigging musicians who use this guitar while performing.
If they're into Bob Dylan, Beatles, or other reasonably mellow stuff, a steel-string acoustic (Washburn makes a nice one) is a good bet.
Hendrix and Clapton? Try a Squier Standard Strat or a Yamaha Pacifica 112(highly reccomended), with a Crate or marshall amp.
WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GET A CARLO ROBELLI(Sam Ash's "generic" guitar) UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. Generally, you can't get a "bad" guitar sticking to Squier, Fender, Yamaha, and Ibanez, (although there are a few bad deals...), while the bargain-basement home-brands could be (and usually are,) pieces of trash, with intonation and tone problems all over. Pay a few $$$ extra and the guitar may last years and Years..
(not to say you should buy a $2000 Paul Reed Smith as a first guitar, since you never know how seriously any one person will take the guitar. Stay in the high-quality low-end, over $150, under $300.)
Oh, a bass (ie Squier or Fender P- or J-Bass) would also be a good idea for an aspiring musician, too...
Drums too, but they lack the easy volume control on a guitar amp for when they're up playing at 1 AM (and they will be,), and they're more expensive.
This is THE gift that keeps on giving.
Really..... Get them a playable guitar and a decent guitar teacher, and they'll enjoy it much more than a coupla video games, assuming they put some effort into it...
The teacher part's important, and so's practicing. Learning to play guitar is really an excercise in responsibility. It takes tenacity and time to get down that B minor chord right for the first time.
Take it from a guitar-playing teenager, it's a great creative outlet, and since I got into the music theory, I think more when I'm playing than I do all day in school, despite being an honors student.
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Epinions.com ID:
DroppedD
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Member: Yoni Samlan
Reviews written: 38
Trusted by: 16 members
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