Opinions on this guitar/amp bundle?

[mr moose]

1 hour ago, Mutoh said:

Well that's fine but I still disagree. You don't have to be that experienced to hold something in your hand and feel that it's not comfortable to you because that's all preference along with neck profiles, pickups, shapes, pretty much anything. It's not like all accomplished guitarist use thin necked guitars or anything like that either so I don't really get your point on that. You also don't have to be a pro to feel sharp fret ends or anything similar that would hamper you a bit. At this point there are so many cheap guitars that are actually decent, you don't have to have a cruddy feeling guitar starting out anymore. If I had the opportunity to have half the budget guitars that they offer know when I was starting out I would be in paradise. 

 

My point is preference changes as you develop and explore new techniques. What feels uncomfortable now might be perfect in 6 months and vice versa. I agree to see it is better than to not see it, but the chances of buying something with obvious build problems (sharp fret edges etc) is pretty rare from a named brand.  Usually the cheaper guitars just suck because of intonation/setup issues (low quality/ratio tuners) and nasty electronics.

[HarmInTrying]

You could probably buy the exact same combo pack used on Kijiji, it just won't come with a warranty. These Squire strats are a dime a dozen, but they're usually a decent guitar to learn on. Don't expect it to sound like your favourite metal leads, or some beefy djent drop C chug-chug, and the intonation won't be perfect (open E will not be exactly in tune with 12th fret E, buuut it should be). 

 

About the amp - It's pretty much a pile. Gain is tinny, cleans are thin, single EQ for clean and gain channels and no option for a foot switch. This amp will only keep up with the most gentle of jazz percussionists; any kind of rock music will require something with a bit more go-juice. 

 

If you aren't planning to jam with friends any time soon, you can skip the whole amp business and DI to your PC. This gives you you the flexibility to largely use what you already own (speakers or headphones, EQ, some DAW to run post-processing for a gain that doesn't sound like farts...; REAPER is pretty nice and no one's gonna make you pay for it if you're just messing around at home) and allow you to play around with tone, as well as record yourself. 

 

There's a couple ways to do this. I'm currently running a UR44 to my PC which gives 4 balanced XLR/ 1/4" ins with 24V phantom and decent preamps, plus 4 more 1/4"
 ins. Note: this is a recording interface, so it would be largely overkill for one person to practice with. 

 

A DI box is a simple way to boost a signal and run it directly into you PC line-in via 3.5mm audio jack. NEVER put a speak-out from an amp to your PC, good lord. Speaker outs are for speakers and loadboxes ONLY. Ask 12 year old me how he cooked his favourite pair of headphones...

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DI400P

 

This is the sort of device I'm talking about; you have 1/4" in for your guitar, then 1/4" out to your interface/line-in, but I'm pretty sure this specific one will sound at least as bad as the Frontman 10, but just for an idea of what kind of cost you'd be looking at for a base line. 

 

If you already have a decent pair of headphones or speakers I would advocate for this route. It'll likely* save you a couple bucks, and also give you the very objective audience that is a microphone. 

[Mutoh]

15 hours ago, mr moose said:

My point is preference changes as you develop and explore new techniques. What feels uncomfortable now might be perfect in 6 months and vice versa. I agree to see it is better than to not see it, but the chances of buying something with obvious build problems (sharp fret edges etc) is pretty rare from a named brand.  Usually the cheaper guitars just suck because of intonation/setup issues (low quality/ratio tuners) and nasty electronics.

 

Sure, but more experienced guitarists can change their mind too. My preferences go from thinner necks with a compound radius to thicker necks with a more rounded, vintage radius almost monthly. 

 

 

I dont think we really disagree that much to be honest with you but Ill always advocate "try before you buy" no matter the skill level as its more sensible than not.

[bowrilla]

4 hours ago, Mutoh said:

 

Sure, but more experienced guitarists can change their mind too. My preferences go from thinner necks with a compound radius to thicker necks with a more rounded, vintage radius almost monthly. 

 

 

I dont think we really disagree that much to be honest with you but Ill always advocate "try before you buy" no matter the skill level as its more sensible than not.

The thing is: if you don't know all the options and what they're good for, if you haven't played much around and never got used to anything then you just don't know if it feels good or not because you don't know how it should feel. Sure, it's always better to try it in person, to see if you can spot defects or bad production marks, you can stumble upon fret hight issues (if you know what to look for) … for an absolute beginner it's all not very important though. There's so much to learn until you even begin to understand the differences. And since guitar players are quite the opposite of bass players … just get another one if you want something different. Looking at a nice Gretsch and a Danelectro Baritone atm myself …

[Mutoh]

2 hours ago, bowrilla said:

The thing is: if you don't know all the options and what they're good for, if you haven't played much around and never got used to anything then you just don't know if it feels good or not because you don't know how it should feel. Sure, it's always better to try it in person, to see if you can spot defects or bad production marks, you can stumble upon fret hight issues (if you know what to look for) … for an absolute beginner it's all not very important though. There's so much to learn until you even begin to understand the differences. And since guitar players are quite the opposite of bass players … just get another one if you want something different. Looking at a nice Gretsch and a Danelectro Baritone atm myself …

I still disagree so well just agree to disagree!

[jaysangwan32]

Definitely depends what kind of music you're playing. For $209 it's not bad, especially if you're just learning. You don't need anything to fancy when beginning and, honestly, you probably wouldn't even be able to feel a difference. 

 

That being said, if as you pick up you decide to invest more into it, I'd definitely look into a new amp and eventually a new guitar. The amp, as many before me stated, isn't going to be powerful enough for any kind of a performance. Furthermore, the clean sounds will be thin and the gain sounds extremely mushy. The guitar should last you for a a couple years, but I'd look into getting a guitar more specific to the genre of music you like eventually, and expanding your budget to do so.

 

You could also look into buying a used guitar and amp in the future, but I'd be wary based on conditions. I, personally, only buy used but it's up to your discretion.

 

Overall, this is a great and beginner friendly set up to get into the guitar and learn, and it is definitely worth it for the price. That being said, I would consider upgrading the amp, then the guitar, down the line.

 

Hope this helped!

 

[bowrilla]

4 minutes ago, jaysangwan32 said:

[…] but I'd look into getting a guitar more specific to the genre of music you like eventually, and expanding your budget to do so.

Well, I agree with most of what you've said but it should be added that it's less about the guitar and more about the pickups. You can pretty much play anything with every guitar if you've put in a different set of pickups (or different wiring). Of course, different woods sound differently but this is generally about nuances. The biggest effect of all the hardware stuff next to pickups, pickup wiring and pickup placement is probably the question of set-in neck, bolt-on neck or neck-thru construction. Again – a beginner will most likely not hear the difference.

But hey, you can play metal on a (semi) hollow body Gretsch – if you know how to handle feedback. Give your Les Paul coil-splitting wiring and push pull pots and you get lovely cleans with less oomph. Put some hot humbuckers in a Tele and … I guess you get what I mean.

At the end, the best guitar for each individual player is the one he or she has and which gets them playing. Looks do have their part in this. If you love the look of it and you adore it then of course you'll pick it up more often and just get playing. Even if it's a shitty worn down guitar – if you love it then you'll play it. You might be cussing that cheap Floyd Rose on your cheap Strat rip off but if it gets you playing then it's fine.

 

There's one good thing about used guitars, which is unbeatable though: if you happen to find out that it's just not your instrument then you can sell it for almost no loss. If you've bought it new then the initial loss is all on you.

[schwarzerrogen]

If we want to get real technical, the biggest difference in guitars is the guitarist themselves, but I digress.

 

Someone earlier mentioned it's not common to get a guitar from a reputable brand with issues... my experiences with both Fender and Gibson (not Squier/Epiphone) disagree. Most Fenders I've tried out have sloppy fretwork (not crowned, sharp and lifted edges) and Gibson has a pile of issues that goes on.