MartinO

On 04/02/2023 at 15:13, Strumbarmy said:

With a budget of £200-300 for an electric (strat or similar style) would it be best to buy new (Thomman Harley Benton or similar) or go for a brand named used model?  I have spoken to some folks who say that the newer stuff is of much higher quality than it used to be??

Personally I'd go for a used guitar, but from a shop so you can try them out. You will probably get a pretty decent Yamaha or Ibenez for that money, they'll last you longer than a new "cheap" brand. The cheap ones are good for a couple of years, but tend to fade rapidly and loose total value. A used branded guitar will probably resell for £50 less than you'll pay in 2-3 years when you're looking to upgrade.

On 30/12/2022 at 13:36, Baloo76 said:

Just a post to introduce myself, joining on behalf of both myself and my 15 year old son.

We both started playing last christmas, so 1 year now.

I'm not doing great, I'm a 46 year old with lots of good intentions, but not finding enough time, but I'm picking it up slowly. He is doing amazing, but picking up his guitar is the first thing he does after finishing school and he plays at least a couple of hours per day (oh to be young and have so much free time!!)

I'm using a Rocket Deluxe Stratocaster and a Crafter GAE-8, both borowed from a friend to get me started.

I bought my son a Harley Benton HB35 Semi Acoustic left handed as a starter guitar last Christmas, with a promise that we'd upgrade if he took it up and it wasn't just a fad. By his birthday in September it was clear he was going to be a guitarist for life, and he desperately wanted a Les Paul, so I bought him an Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50's.

On Christmas day the dog knocked over the Les Paul, and broke two of the tuners, hence the reason for joining the forum, and another thread coming up on that soon, if you wouldn't ind giving me some help and advice replacing them?

Thanks All, happy new year, and all the best for 2023!

Slightly off topic, but Newport Music in Newport Pagnell (not far from you) have a good Left-Hander collection at the moment. Should also be able to quote you on a repair. Also Eli Abbott on FB is a good luthier local to you. I'm in Newport btw, use the local music dhop, Rock Hard (Wolverton) and PMT (N'ton) regularly.

Did you ever find one?

I have one that I love, but simply don't use. Wasn't thinking of selling, but need to downsize from my current collection ofv12x, I only ever play 4x of them. Did gig with this for a while, but started to worry too much about possibly damaging it so stopped.