My son wants to learn guitar...

a reply to: TrueBrit

Not terribly much to add thst hasnt already been addressed but definitrly go with 8's or 9's to start him off with, take it in for a proper set up, youve got an amp covered but a cheap digital tuner and a metronome will be very useful. The sooner he starts learning about timing and counting the better off he will be for sure. Best of luck to him!

throw some ernie ball super slinky's on it and be done.

i wouldnt worry too much about the setup of it.

things do not need to be perfect to learn the basics and to learn if he is even going to like playing.

i think the main thing is just getting it in his hands and doing exercises and learning a few basic chord shapes.
that is enough to toughen the tips.

just have him walk up and down the neck. first dont worry about time but after a short while set a metronome slow and have him walk the neck in time.
a handful of chord shapes and the ever so popular power chord will be more than enough to keep him going for a bit.

You could probably get him some tutorial vids on playing. They are quite inspiring for beginners.

a reply to: TrueBrit
This has nothing to do with strings and I don't know how to play myself but I think it may be of some help to your son. My daughter is 12 and told me she wanted to learn guitar. I am as musically talented as a toad. So, I got her a PlayStation, rocksmith and a guitar........2 weeks later she can rip on that thing. Crazy good. A thing to note is that she was already well versed in reading sheet music from years of piano lessons....I think that may have been a big factor in her picking it up so quick.

I really like Elixer strings; They last a very long time and great tone.

But it would be best to have a qualified luthier go over the instrument and tweak it so it can be played in tune.

Nothing discourages a beginner like crappy tone.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it, as I haven't read through all the replies, but you might want to look into Martin's Silk and Steel. They are exceptionally soft, even if very warm and mellow (which some musicians might not like).

While lighter gauge strings are obviously preferably for beginners, I have always liked the soft feel of the silk and steel. I haven't used them in a while, though.

When I started back on acoustic it was martin bluegrass strings (GREAT sound), but slowly decreased to light-meds for versatility. But electric strings it's med-heavy.

a reply to: olaru12

Nothing discourages a beginner like a crappy neck . :/ Could have the proper setup and strings but if the neck sucks....*Speaking from experience* lol

a reply to: olaru12

The tone on the instrument is actually pretty decent, and the bridge is of a fairly odd construction. Most bridges have some manner of adjustment that you can make to certain elements of the set up. This one appears to be just a solid block, with no movement on it what so ever, and just two bolts holding it in place. The intonation on the guitar is sound though, I had a buddy look it over, just to make sure, and he agreed with me.

Luckily, I have a pretty good ear for this sort of thing, although I have no theory skill. I have not had access to a tuner for my bass guitar for a considerable time, and I took that to my buddies place not so long back as well. I had been tuning it by ear. He put his tuner on it, and it was just a slice flat on the thickest string, and I mean, fractionally. Everything else was spot on according to his device.

I got a beer, and an awestruck look out of him for that one! Now, if only I could play well!

a reply to: Liquesence

You know, I would agree with you, but when I started messing about with bass guitars, I had the crappiest POS of a bass you ever laid eyes on. Bought from a second hand store, it needed re soldering on virtually all its wiring, the pickups needed re-seating, and the neck?

Man, that thing had so much relief in it that The Red Cross should have been taking tips from it. It never once put me off. There was a whole five or six fret area of the neck where either you would get a dull or messy tone, or just straight up fret buzz no matter what! Despite that, I had fun learning how to make noise with that, and when I got my current bass, it was a nice surprise to find that there were more notes I could play!

There are no such issues with the six string I will be giving to my son however. The only thing I would say about the neck on it, is that there is a chip, right up at the headstock end of the fretboard, on the edge. It makes absolutely no difference that I can tell. When my son learns to throw some mad shapes on this instrument, I will seek out a brand new, box fresh one as a surprise for him. That is, assuming he learns to behave.

I still have not given him his guitar, or his little Blackstar Fly 3W amp that I got him. That thing is cute. Its tiny wee small, but it makes a racket, and issues wail and crunch and volume very nicely!

a reply to: TrueBrit

That's funny.

Yeah, when I got my first guitar it was a really POS Harmony acoustic. The neck, the frets, the fretboard just sucked. It was straight, but was murder on my fingers and definitely impeded wanting to progress playing. Of course, the tone was crappy too, because it was a laminate, but I recorded a song or two with it (straight up 1930s blues type stuff, for which it was GREAT lol). Then when I got my first electric is when I really started progressing, because that was the style music I wanted to play. And I came a long way fast.

Then, I got my Hummingbird and started playing again, that's when everything changed for me with acoustics. Screw how bad my fingers, that thing is so sweet, boy does it sing and made me enjoy playing again and is my go-to for comp if I'm not keys.

And my bad, I was thinking the 6-string you are giving him was acoustic, in which case the silk and steel would be preferable. I've always like first Dean Markley (blue steel), and recently started trying Ernie Ball, so yeah, light gauge on his fingers would be best. They've definitely come a long way with those little combo amps, hell even with the squier line they've got some awesome upper end guitars at decent prices.

Don't delay man, hook him up!

a reply to: Liquesence

I will be giving him the guitar, but only when he shows me he can behave himself for his mother. I am not in the business of rewarding bad behaviour, much as I want him to be free to explore the soundscape for himself. Otherwise, he will have a guitar, but he will not have any respect, and there are enough shredders walking around the place these days with that problem!

Something I've gotten into lately is buying junk guitars at fleamarkets, garage sales etc and even with a bowed neck and crappy frets they can be set up to play slide. Raise the nut and bridge, string it up with .14s, tune to open G and go....

I sell the pretty one's at our local shop strictly for slide/bottle neck. I include a wine bottle slide for free that I cut off our nightly bottle of 2 buck Chuck. I give the rest away to the Music summer camp in the Jemez.