Quality and value:

Stepping up in price gives improved craftsmanship, tone and playability. Squire, Yamaha and CORT all offer well-priced instruments that have had more attention to detail, materials and craftsmanship than their entry level counterparts. An instrument of this quality will see a player way beyond the beginner level.

Yamaha Pacifica 112  $499 call for price

Yamaha reliability in a double cutaway style guitar with two single coil and one humbucker pickup giving added flexibility of sound.  

Ibanez RG170-DX  $479 call for price

Ibanez style with two humbuckers plus a single coil pickup in the middle.

Squier Standard Telecaster  $499 call for price

Made in Asia with American design the Standard series is perfect for a guitarist wanting a good instrument to learn on that will see him or her through to performance level or the pro player not wanting to risk a precious instrument on the road.
Available with rosewood or maple neck. 

FAQ's

Single coil pickups
have bright, clear and distinctive sound but are subject to a background hum audible when not playing. Single coils are the best option for players wanting a nice clean sound.

Humbucker pickups
were invented to solve the background hum issue of the single coils. They have two opposed coils that cancel out the noise. They have a fatter, heavier sound desired by many rock and grunge players.

A tremolo arm
also known as a whammy bar or a vibrato bar, releases and/or increases the tension of the strings (all 6 at once) to lower or raise the pitch to create an expressive effect. Used largely by lead soloists, it can be considered somewhere between fun and useless to the beginner. Tremolo arms can make tuning more difficult but tightening the springs will avoid this.

There are 3 common types of controls on electric guitars

• Volume 
• Tone 
• Pickup selector -
  • If 2 pickups - a 3 position switch
  • If 3 pickups - a 5 position switch

The controls have no bearing on learning to play the guitar but give choices in how it sounds.

Why do they all look the same ?
Many electric guitars have designs based on the original Fender and Gibson guitars made in the 50's. Apart from the body shape, the differences between them is often not obvious to the undiscerning eye however neck and body contours, quality of the timber, pickups, tuning keys and lacquer will all have an impact on the quality. If after looking, listening and feeling you cannot discern a preference you may as well buy the cheaper one.