Charvels offer a lot of bang for buck (as the Americans say). It’s every bit as good as my Palm Bay (which was quite expensive), but half the price. Having a decent instrument to play makes a huge difference to the overall experience. I think most beginners give up playing because they have ****ty instruments, or a decent instrument that is setup badly.
I agree with that. Playing a poorly made instrument with a crap bridge, poor action, slow fretboard, rubbish pick up etc can ruin a beginners progress. That said, there are some great inexpensive copies around and have been for years. I learned to play on a Squier Jazz bass and they make great copy of a strat and telecaster. Epiphone also make great Gibson copies and there’s also some good Jap brands too. Even musicman make a Sterling version of the Stingray now. And there’s an even cheaper budget Musicman brand called OLP. I used to have one of those and swapped the pick up out for a seamour Duncan humbucker and it was a superb bass.
Thank good you never stopped persevering mate - rock n roll would be all the poorer, had you binned it off at the realisation that you’d never be the next Hank Marvin.
I'm don't really agree that most beginners give up due to ****ty instruments. I think it's just more simply that people JUST give up. Some of it can be due to the instrument not performing as they might have imagined, but i'd disagree that would be due to the quality of the instrument. A lot of cheap guitars (say £100) today have been tried and tested as good has many more expensive ones, certainly for a beginner anyway. Dare I say a little bit of snobbery on your part. For me it's either you feel the soul of the music or you don't. It has to be more than just being able to play a song. It's about how you make it your own. Chances are unless you are professional, you can make a good song sound really bad, but changing it around a bit and owning it, can help you bring it more to life. It's what professional artists do all the time. It's also about how you manipulate your own weaknesses to perfect what you are doing, not one style suits all muscians. My view anyway.
Lol! My first ever guitar book was by Bert Weedon. I can't say that he taught me all I know, but he certainly put me on the road. No one teaches "Row Your Boat" like Bert Weedon.
Students will give up for a variety of reasons, that's certainly true. Some take up learning guitar believing it's going to be easy, and very quickly have that particular delusion removed. However, most guitarists (and I'm including seasoned players) do not know how to set up their instrument properly, and beginners have absolutely no clue. Whilst lower quality instruments can generally be set up to play well, they take a lot more work and expertise to set up correctly. Better quality instruments will play just as badly if set up badly, but generally are easier to set up, and generally can be set up perfectly. I have found, having owned around 50 guitars, and having set up dozens more, that you are far more likely to be able to set up a quality instrument perfectly, and that it is far more likely to stay set up perfectly for longer, than cheap instruments. That's not an opinion, that's an observation based on practice and actual use. That's true, and I won't even try to deny it, but that's not the point that I was making. A cheaper instrument is less likely to be set up right, straight out of the box. A good set up, by a skilled tech, is likely to cost upwards of £100, which is part of the cost-cutting. Also, the instrument is likely to be more difficult to set up. Therefore, straight out of the box, the guitar is going to require a set up by someone who knows what he's doing. A badly set up guitar is almost impossible to play. To a beginner, who is going to struggle anyway, that could be the decisive blow. Not at all. I have a very cheap guitar in my collection (cost me £112 new), and it plays perfectly - after a full set up, including intonation, nut replacement, truss rod adjustment, and full fret dress. I did that work myself, as it would have cost around £175 if I gave it to my luthier. A lot of the cheaper guitars are very nice instruments, but they are cheaper because zero time has been devoted to setting them up. An instrument that hasn't been set up properly is unplayable. That's all valid. However, a beginner setting out on the long and arduous journey to mastery of the instrument is far more likely to falter if he starts with a cheap, poorly set up guitar.
I read everything you said and as I said mate, I think it's just total snobbery on your part. There is a massive difference between someone who can play an instrument ie yourself, and someone who encourages and educates beginners. I totally disagree that a beginner will falter due to a cheap instrument. You just come across to me as a mug with money, that likes nice toys (nowt wrong in that). Whereas I'm talking about educating beginners. Anyway when you going to put a solo up so we can all admire your artistic flair?
I’m confused as you have managed to contradict yourself in this reply. On the one hand you are saying that people will give up due to a badly tuned / cheap instrument, but go on to say that any instrument, regardless of cost, will require tuning / setting up. Surely, setting up / tuning any instrument is part of the education? IMO, the reason most give up is the time required to become proficient, not the equipment used.
I don't see how you can reasonably draw that conclusion from my comments. I've allowed your point that cheap guitars can play just as nicely as more expensive guitars. The only point I have picked you up on is the fact that cheap guitars tend, in general, to require a set up, straight out of the box, and that they are, in general, harder to set up perfectly. You won't find many seasoned guitarists who will dispute that statement. I used to teach, but grew disillusioned with students who wouldn't practice the lessons, so that I had to keep going over the same old basic stuff again and again. I would hate to be forced to rely on an income from teaching. I get people ask me to give them lessons, quite regularly, but I am reluctant to take their money when I know that they don't have the time to put in the necessary practice. Anyway, none of that detracts from the fact that a poorly set up guitar presents a massive deterrent to learning the instrument. I'm not sure why you cannot accept that as a truism. As it happens, I have recently set up an acoustic for an old boy (beginner, in his 60s), and he has told me that it has inspired him to give it another go. Before I set up his guitar, it "played like cheese wire" but now "plays like butter" (his words). Well, it does have a massive influence. That you will not admit to that fact doesn't stop it from being true. I speak from experience. Wtf?! I have owned at least 50 guitars in my life, so far. I love them. I've owned some cheap ****ty ones, some excellent cheap ones, some ****ty expensive ones, and some great expensive ones. My collection currently consists of truly superb instruments, including my uber expensive USA PRS Custom 22 (made in 1995) to my recently purchased Harley Benton Les Paul Gold Top copy that cost me £112. Just because I can afford to buy expensive guitars doesn't make me a mug. You come across as someone with a massive chip on your shoulder. The best and kindest encouragement I can give to any beginner is "buy the most expensive guitar that you can reasonably afford, and budget for a professional set up." I have been dabbling with the idea of putting up some lessons on YouTube.
Now you're just writing any old bolloxs, and diversing from what I originally challenged, which was this comment of yours; I think most beginners give up playing because they have ****ty instruments, or a decent instrument that is setup badly. Basically it's clap trap, now you are virtually admitting you don't have time for beginners, which goes back to my other point of yours over expensive guitars, what I called snobbery on your part. Even Pieguts highlighted where you contradicted yourself. And as for this statement it's just laughable; I would hate to be forced to rely on an income from teaching. I've seen people earn the sort of money from teaching, that would make your new toy, look like a 'cheap' guitar. And why do I have a chip on my shoulder because I challenge what you say Mate reality you play in some poxy band with an absolutely appalling vocalist, for the blue rinse brigade, so wind yer neck in and get the solo vid up, so we can all be a proper judge of your artistic flair close up
