First electric guitar

Hi all:

First of all, sorry by my poor English. I'm 35y old. On November, I'll buy my first electric guitar. So, I don't want to buy amateur guitar. I'm checking different brands. Fender, Gibson, Epiphone and Ibañez. In Internet, I read a lot of review about some models of this brands. But, It's very hard for me choose. I hope to play music of: B-52s, Nirvana, REM, Guns 'n Roses and classic Rock 'n Roll as Dion DiMuci, Chubby Checker, Gene Chandler, etc. My budge is about $600-$800, including: e-guitar, 15W amp and cable.

Can anyone help me? I'll appreciate that.

All information is welcome.

Thank you very much and best regards

Rafael J. Lara L.

RL

There are tons of Guitars and probably as many amps. Go and visit your local music instrument store and try out every thing in your price point. I would say spend most of your money on the guitar. Take a friend that is knowledgeable in guitars if possible.

The B-52s played a Mosrite. This is a very expensive guitar as they are not made anymore.
Nirvana played a Fender Telecaster
Guns 'n Roses played a Gibson Les Paul

So you have a wide range of instruments to choose from. The thing is that you can get the sounds that I think you are looking for from either guitar. I would pick the one that sounds and looks right to you.

I personally have a 15w Vox amp that I purchased somewhat recently and have been very pleased with it. It will not power its way through a live venue gig, but for an in house practice session, it is superb, and it has a line out, so you can use it as a head to a stack.

As far as guitars (and even amps for that matter), KBIC hit the nail on the head. You're really going to have to sit down and try them out for yourself. Feel the guitar (strings make a big difference for this), but feel how high the strings are off the neck (called action), take a strum down the strings and listen to how long the strum is sustained.

Realistically, an amp will cost you about $200-250 if you want a quality amp. Cables aren't too expensive, I'd probably guess, at most, it'll be about $30. I find Monster is a excessively priced and the difference is minimal, unless you're a professional guitar player, which if you're asking for advice on your first guitar, I sincerely doubt. This will leave you with a little over $300 left over to spend on a guitar. My preference leans towards Gibson/Epiphones and Fenders. If you go with Fender, I've always liked their telecasters; if with Gibson, you can't really go wrong with a Les Paul. It'll take a little detective work, but you should be able to find both these models around the $300 price tag.

P.S. Look around, prices vary from place to place. *wink wink*