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My daughter is learning to play acoustic and is thinking of buying her own electric. I know nothing about them, but for it to get used it would have to suitable for a 13 year old girl to comfortably handle and it must look right.
Does the Yamaha Pacifica 012 fit the bill (she likes the blue one) or should we be considering others? Will draw up a short list then go looking in shops. Such a shame that our local one didn’t survive the lockdowns.
My lad plays, so we already have two amps.
Pacificas are pretty decent. Dfinitely get a full size like that, as a smaller scale one will not be much use for any length of time (and are oftern pretty cheap and nasty). Avoid gimmicks for a first guitar such as 7 or more strings etc. They look cool, but probably easier to stick with what she is familar with from classical. I would also avoid a tremelo on a cheap/starter guitar as they are harder to keep in tune. (Unless she wants to do massive dive bombs etc on a trem!)
Others to consider are the Squire strats (they come in a range of prices from just over £100 upwards - more cash buys a better guitar in terms of hardware)
Harley Benton do a range of budget guitars that get generally good reviews (certainly the el cheapo £70- one my son got was pretty decent for the price), and apparently their returns process is easy if you get a dud one.
Also worth looking at the big chains such as PMT, Andertons, GAK etc for returns and damaged boxes - often some bargains there such as this (Jackson Dinky for £127 or £30 off)
Pacifica is a great guitar. If she likes strat style then see also Squier Affinity or Harley Benton. Both good value and around the same sort of budget.
I know nothing about guitars, other than I'm a very beginner-y beginner and I have an East Coast acoustic. Justin Guitar rates East Coast stuff for beginners, and he knows more about guitars than me.
They do a blue Strat-style electric (amongst other colours)
We went to PMT in Leeds a couple of weeks ago for my lads first full sized acoustic, on the advice of my guitar playing mate who is very good and knows his stuff.
He came with us and we came away with a PMT own brand (Ferndale) which was an absolute bargain for how well it plays. My lad was buying it himself so budget wasn't massive. The guys in there were very enthusiastic and really helpful.
Can't give you any advice on actual guitars but I would higy recommend PMT if you're anywhere near one.
There's a PMT near us. Will pay them a visit.
Thanks.
I have a couple of Yamaha guitars, very well made and easy to play.
Have just bought our son a Yamaha Pacifica from guitarguitar. Great service - he spent quite a bit of time trying different guitars and despite trying a "better" guitar which was nearly new for cheaper or similar price it was the Pacifica he liked most and wanted.
It can be a good idea to get them the guitar they want /like most (within reason) as they have to want to play it.
The Pacifica's are fine guitars.
However as a 13 year old girl, I imagine her hands aren't the biggest, so a shorter scale guitar may be a good fit. Not sure what options are there in Yamaha's line up, but the Squier short scales are a great choice and look "cool"
https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/squier/squier-fsr-classic-vibe-60s-jaguar-charcoal-frost-metallic
https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/squier/squier-paranormal-super-sonic-shell-pink
It can be a good idea to get them the guitar they want /like most (within reason) as they have to want to play it.
Yep. Billy Joe Armstrong has a blue guitar. My Emily wants a blue guitar.
There are 3 things to consider when choosing a guitar for a youngster: the weight (nobody likes a heavy thing), whether the neck feels comfortable (there are dozens of profiles - some feel slim, some feel like chunky baseball bats) and does it look the coolest thing in the world. If you can't walk past it without picking it up and having a play, it's the one for you. So, yes, blue it is.
Does it need to be new? The Cash Converters type shops near me are usually dripping with nearly-new guitars for not much money, it's one of those things that people buy then lose interest in after a fortnight when they discover they're not the ghost of Hendrix.
Pacifica has always been a great starter guitar, it's a law of nature.
I don't know if it's still the case, but it definitely was back in the day, that it didn't so much matter exactly what entry level guitar you bought, as long as someone had done some QC on it. That was a big part of my job- doing really basic quick setup, and rejecting things that should never have got out of the factory. I saw some really crazy things like guitars arriving in the shop with electronics that had literally never been soldered together... But more impactful was all the little things that can make a basically decent instrument bad to play. 10 minutes could make a solid difference sometimes, or be long enough to decide to send it back to the wholesaler (so that, no doubt, some box-shifter would resell it)
But other shops would just sell them exactly as arrived- in a lot of cases, still sealed in boxes.
This was much, much worse for the christmas market- the "amp and guitar in a box" stuff. And without a doubt the "kids guitars" got it worst, you'd find way more issues on a pink-it-and-shrink-it product line or anything that was supposed to look METAL. I'm still pretty certain that BC Rich put factory second Warlocks in their amp-and-guitar box, the bronze series were alright if you got them as standalones but terrible in those boxes...
And thing is, most of this stuff is really simple- that's why I was doing it instead of a proper luthier! But it's like bikes, most people don't know where to start, so you never fix issues because you don't even know they can be fixed.
Anyway! Depends so much on what she wants. There's a lot to be said for 3/4s, for anyone that's not full sized. Ibanez do a brilliant wee Mikro, Squier's mini range are a bit up and down quality wise but can be really nice wee instruments, I had a great laugh with a mini jazzmaster a while back, made me feel like a giant and so easy to play. Harley Benton look to have a really good range now too though I've not messed with any of them
I'm no expert but in noodling around and reading up on the subject, 1/ I absolutely second that a basic guitar set up well >>> a 'better' guitar set up badly; and 2/ so many HB reviews say that they are well set up and consequently play way beyond their price tags. Thomann stock them (in house brand)
A 13 year old girl does not need a smaller guitar, 5 year olds can play full size classical guitars.
Her acoustic is full size. She's full size.
I have a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Mustang, which has a smaller scale length (24 rather than 25.5 inch) and is easier to play than my other guitar, a Fender Telecaster (Mexican made).
The quality of my Mustang is comparable to my Telecaster, despite being 1/2 the price. The whole Classic Vibe line is serious VFM and includes Teles, Strats, Jazzmasters, the Mustang and some basses as well.
PMT should have them on display, give them a go. The mustang has some indie cred as well, if she cares about that!
Pacifica is a great guitar.
A Pacifica is not a great guitar, it's an exceedingly average guitar, this is what makes it ideal for beginners. They are also quite hard to damage. If your lad plays then you'll want him to check the guitar in the shop for QC. But if not, here's how to check a guitar (told to me by a very good guitarist): play every note on the neck in turn letting each ring and just listen for consistency.
...and they do them in blue!
Going to have to line a load of them up in front of her.
Harry_the_Spider
Full MemberHer acoustic is full size. She’s full size.
Does she like black telecasters or black twincut epiphones? I can't play mine just now because of my wrist, she'd be welcome to a loan
Thanks. Early days yet and she wants to buy her own. She's got access to her brothers Washburn, but they could end up hitting each other with it.
I’m a bit late to this but a lot of good advice here. My first decent guitar in the 80s was a base model Pacifica 112. It was good to start with and proved really good after a setup a year down the line.
I tried the East Coast guitars line a few months back when I was thinking about a second Telecaster set up for slide. Their basic model was great. Not certain if it comes in blue though.
I’d echo the comment about not getting a guitar with a tremolo. At the lower price points it can be the weakest part of the build.
As everyone has said a cheaper guitar set up by the shop will be better than an expensive one not set up.
Check this out:
…and they do them in blue!
Lake Placid blue with a maple neck........ screw down the bridge and unscrew the trem arm.
https://www.gak.co.uk/en/squier-affinity-series-stratocaster-maple-fingerboard-lake-placid-blue/944562?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQjwy5maBhDdARIsAMxrkw2ulZl3WQVxcfMP4VMxKEHPDLPD8kanD0x1wSIZdPtHSE-0VGsM5NwaAqVXEALw_wcB
Lake Placid blue with a maple neck…….. screw down the bridge and unscrew the trem arm.
https://www.gak.co.uk/en/squier-affinity-series-stratocaster-maple-fingerboard-lake-placid-blue/944562?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQjwy5maBhDdARIsAMxrkw2ulZl3WQVxcfMP4VMxKEHPDLPD8kanD0x1wSIZdPtHSE-0VGsM5NwaAqVXEALw_wcB
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I would suggest either getting someone who knows what they are doing to block the trem, or just buy the hardtail version - only seems to come in two colours, although the green is pretty clsoe to Billy Jo's 'blue' in my view
https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-guitars/stratocaster/affinity-series-stratocaster-h-ht/0378074557.html (and cheaper elsewhere if you look around - eg £229 at Thomann)
Not a fan of the blues that have been suggested, but Surf green, like my Mustang bass. Hubbahubba......
My Emily wants a blue guitar.
fill yer boots