Choosing an electric guitar is never easy for a budding guitarist. It's easy to get lost between the criteria defining the sound personality of the instrument, especially when you expect something very specific. We have understood your needs in this matter, passionate and experienced guitarist, and have written this comparative guide to gather the best electric guitars.
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Our selection
"The LTD EC-1000 series guitars are designed to provide the sound quality, the feel and the luxurious appearance that professional musicians need. All at the…"
"Looking for a lightweight electric guitar to rock? The Ibanez GRG131DX will please you. With its balanced poplar body and dual humbuckers, this guitar sounds…"
"If you are left-handed, look no further, your guitar is available right now from Thomann. The mahogany neck structure promises a velvety touch in the…"
"With a semi-hollow body, this guitar produces a deep sound that is somewhat similar to that of an acoustic guitar. A must-have for Rock-Blues fans."
"The Yamaha PAC112V electric guitar is an excellent guitar for beginners, but can also be used by emerging players. Reliable and unbeatable in price, it…"
The LTD EC-1000 series guitars are designed to provide the sound quality, the feel and the luxurious appearance that professional musicians need. All at the most affordable price possible.
638 £ on ThomannThe ESP LTD EC-1000 VB EMG "shines" with understated elegance in its matte finish. Complete with luxurious features such as Seymour Duncan JB pickups on the bridge and 59 on the neck, Tune-O-Matic bridge, locking tuners and Earvana saddle. It has a rather classic look with a slim U-shaped profile that makes the mahogany neck very easy to play.
This electric guitar is perfect if you like to play a very aggressive and deep sound. And that's thanks to its Seymour Duncan humbucker pickups. From clean tones to high gain bass tones, this guitar covers a very impressive tonal range. But what's certain is that the pickups provide a solid foundation for hard rock.
Looking for a lightweight electric guitar to rock? The Ibanez GRG131DX will please you. With its balanced poplar body and dual humbuckers, this guitar sounds great and plays easily.
126 £ on ThomannWith the Ibanez GRG131DX, you'll enjoy maximum tuning stability thanks to its rigid bridge. The purple heart maple neck is fast-acting and offers effortless playability. A design dominated by black and cool shark tooth inlays gives the whole thing a very aggressive look.
A duo of Infinity R pickups give you a massive tonal range. Equipped with a duo of Infinity R humbuckers, the Ibanez GRG131DX produces an impressive tonal range. The humbucker in the neck position offers a warmer, richer sound, while the humbucker in the bridge is a brilliant solo pickup: vibrant, yet rumbling with an enhanced midrange output when pushed. If you're looking for good tonal tenacity, the Ibanez GRG131DX will give you what you need.
If you are left-handed, look no further, your guitar is available right now from Thomann. The mahogany neck structure promises a velvety touch in the sound that will allow you to perform groovy solos.
3 022 £ on ThomannThe sound as well as the aesthetic finish can only seduce high level guitarists. It should be noted at first glance that this guitar is quite heavy. Nevertheless, this does not affect its handling. Its Humbuckers pickups with double coils offer a particularly remarkable sustain. The resonance is felt along its body.
The 628 mm scale is a joy for blues and rock fans with its round sound and meaty bass. The Gibson Les Paul Custom EB GH features a Tune-O-Matic bridge for precise intonation. It's impossible to hear notes that sound off. Guitarists will be happy to know that a case is included with the purchase.
With a semi-hollow body, this guitar produces a deep sound that is somewhat similar to that of an acoustic guitar. A must-have for Rock-Blues fans.
167 £ on ThomannThis guitar is suitable for both left and right handed players. Needless to say, its vintage color coupled with its glossy finish appeals to collectors of famous models. Two Roswell LAF Alnico-5 pickups are located on the neck and bridge to diffuse the vibration of the strings. In addition to the two tone control knobs, it has two push-pull volume control knobs. With this type of potentiometer, you can easily split the pickups, but also make a bypass with it or have a Kill-Switch effect. So you can adapt the sound to the needs of the genre. Single coil pickups for blues or jazz and double coil pickups for power and gain.
Like the Gibson presented above, this one has a Tune-O-Matic tailpiece of excellent quality. Despite the difficulty of making this type of guitar, that is to say semi-hollow, this model benefits from the best choices of wood species for all its elements, namely maple, laurel and mahogany. After polishing the frets properly at a luthier's, it will be a pure pleasure to strum this guitar.
The Yamaha PAC112V electric guitar is an excellent guitar for beginners, but can also be used by emerging players. Reliable and unbeatable in price, it has a design inspired by the Stratocaster.
221 £ on ThomannYamaha's Pacifica series has always been known for offering electric guitars with exceptional tone and playability. The Yamaha PAC112V features a lightweight alder body with a smooth maple top and rosewood neck. A trio of versatile pickups allows you to dial in a variety of tones, from clear highs to punchy mids to very low notes.
It comes with a custom ceramic Yamaha Alnico V humbucker in the bridge position, perfect for hard, heavy rock. Two Alnico V single-coil pickups in the middle and neck positions also provide all kinds of clean, rocking single-coil sounds. And with a push-pull tone control, you can split the humbucker for crisp, clean single-coil tones. The versatile trio of pickups lets you explore all sorts of stylistic approaches in just about any genre.
This Fender Player Strat MN TPL is a great opportunity not only for its most affordable price but also for the performance of its design. Perfectly up to date, it accommodates a body with a 3-ply pickguard.
436 £ on ThomannThis model from Fender promises a good quality sound, among others, thanks to the material of its fingerboard. The fingerboard is made of a 9.5 inch radius to favor the speed of strumming, but also the fluidity of the game. The power of its triple single-coil pickup is greatly felt, especially at the bridge. And all this without sacrificing any of the high and low ranges.
One of the tone controls is specifically assigned to the bridge, while the first affects the neck and middle pickups. This guitar is equipped with a 5-way switch, which allows for a good distribution of the pickups. It also has a 2-point vibrato, which is very practical for a successful bend.
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| THE BEST | CHEAP | HIGH END | VERY GOOD | POLYVALENT | PERFORMING | |
In accordance with our commitment, this buying guide does not contain any sponsored products. |
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| OUR SELECTION |
ESP LTD EC-1000VB
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Ibanez Gio GRG131DX
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Gibson Les Paul Custom EB GH
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Harley Benton HB-35Plus Vintage Burst
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Yamaha Pacifica PAC112V
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Fender Player Series Strat MN TPL
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The LTD EC-1000 series guitars are designed to provide the sound quality, the feel and the luxurious appearance that professional musicians need. All at the most affordable price possible.
|
Looking for a lightweight electric guitar to rock? The Ibanez GRG131DX will please you. With its balanced poplar body and dual humbuckers, this guitar sounds great and plays easily.
|
If you are left-handed, look no further, your guitar is available right now from Thomann. The mahogany neck structure promises a velvety touch in the sound that will allow you to perform groovy solos.
|
With a semi-hollow body, this guitar produces a deep sound that is somewhat similar to that of an acoustic guitar. A must-have for Rock-Blues fans.
|
The Yamaha PAC112V electric guitar is an excellent guitar for beginners, but can also be used by emerging players. Reliable and unbeatable in price, it has a design inspired by the Stratocaster.
|
This Fender Player Strat MN TPL is a great opportunity not only for its most affordable price but also for the performance of its design. Perfectly up to date, it accommodates a body with a 3-ply pickguard.
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Tone control
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1
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1
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2
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2
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1
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2
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Weight
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5.22 kg
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9 kg
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-
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4.4 kg
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5 kg
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4 kg
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Materials
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Ebony fingerboard, mahogany body and neck
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Poplar body, maple neck, pine fingerboard
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Mahogany body and neck, maple top, ebony fingerboard
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Maple body and glued neck, mahogany sustain block, flamed maple top, laurel fingerboard
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Maple top and neck, alder body, rosewood fingerboard
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Maple neck and fingerboard, alder body
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Microphones
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Seymour Duncan JB pickup on bridge, Seymour Duncan 59 pickup on neck
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Infinity R humbuckers on neck and bridge
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Dual coil 490R pickup on neck and dual coil 498T pickup on bridge
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2 Roswell LAF Alnico-5
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2 single-coil pickups, 1 double-coil pickup
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3 New Player AlNiCo 5 single-coil pickups
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Frets
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24
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24
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22
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22 double-coil pickups
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22
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22
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If you are looking for an electric guitar for a child under 12 years old, you should consider buying a small size guitar. That way, it's easy enough for little hands to pick it up and play. On a heavier scale, you can get a guitar with a style that suits you. There are also models with a good size and an intermediate weight. So it's not too heavy and it's a great choice for most beginners.
Most electric guitars come with 3 single-coil pickups. Single coils are great for clean sounds, but they are not great if you want to play with any kind of distortion. If you plan to use distortion, you need to get an electric guitar with a humbucker pickup. It has 2 pickups side by side which reduces noise and buzz in the guitar.
If you look at all the electric guitars on the market, they all have a different style and look. If you really like the look of one of them, feel free to buy an electric guitar with the style you like.
It is through the design and configuration that the vibrations of the instrument are transmitted to the amplification, electromagnetically converting the vibrations of the strings into an electrical signal. An electromagnetic pickup therefore consists of a magnet around which a copper wire is wound. The power of the magnet is variable and influences the sound. It can be made of various metal alloys. Also, the thickness of the copper wire and the number of turns around the magnet play a role in the character of the microphone.
As with the body of the instrument, the woods that make up the neck and fingerboard will give very different results. For the neck itself, the most common woods are maple and mahogany. As for the fingerboard, maple, rosewood, ebony, and occasionally Pau Ferro are usually found.
Unlike the classical guitar, the electric guitar has 6 strings that are much closer to the neck. This instrument is not difficult to learn, but as with anything, it will come with time and you must always persevere if you want to succeed. You should never get discouraged because you can't learn a whole piece in one go.
When you start with the electric guitar, you have to learn the basic chords first. These are the power chords, which are played with one or two fingers of the left hand, on two adjacent strings. You can, in fact, start with melodies or chords. But it is strongly advised to learn the melodies before moving on to chords, riffs, and rhythms.
One thing to know is that the notion of rhythmic and the notion of accompaniment are not the same thing despite the fact that they have the same role, which is to accompany a melody. Rhythms are often more streamlined and complement the bass guitar-drum section, while accompaniments are more extensive.
The thumb of the right hand is often used to strum the strings. With the electric guitar, the pick or this plastic plectrum can be used for this purpose and is even indispensable.
To learn the electric guitar, it is important to practice every day, even for just a few minutes. It should not even be more than half an hour a day. In addition, a break of one or two days a week is necessary to avoid muscle problems.
With a smaller body, lighter strings and a thinner neck, the electric guitar is easier to play. Because you're going to plug it into an amplifier, it creates the sound you're looking for. Its strings are also thinner and smaller; and with the amplifier, you don't need big strings to get a great sound.
But that brings us to its real drawback. Since you have to plug it in to hear it, this reason makes the electric guitar much less portable. Also, finding the right pitch is no easy task for beginners. Especially if they don't know much about amplifiers or guitars yet.
The body of an acoustic guitar is much larger than that of an electric model. It has a thicker neck to support the tension of the thicker strings that make it up. Many people are attracted to the sound of an acoustic guitar. It is an excellent instrument for songwriting, singing and playing.
Its main advantage is that it doesn't require the use of a wire or an amplifier, so you can take it anywhere. The main disadvantage is that the strings are a bit painful for the fingers of beginners. Another drawback is that you may feel some discomfort if you try to wrap your arms around its body if you are a short person.
Choose an acoustic guitar if you like to play outdoors. It is also an excellent travel companion. However, for a perfect and well amplified sound, it is recommended to choose the electric guitar.
Volume control
The electric guitar allows musicians to turn up the volume and enjoy the unique sounds of the electric guitar throughout their practice sessions. It also makes it easier for guitarists to create impromptu performances.
Easier to learn
The strings on an electric guitar are thinner and easier to push and pluck than acoustic guitar strings. The guitar neck is also thinner, allowing musicians to easily wrap their hands around the neck and achieve better finger positioning. The overall configuration of electric guitars also seems to be more user-friendly than acoustic guitars. So, learning to play the electric guitar can do wonders for your concentration skills. However, remember to play in an elevated position for more comfort and to avoid back problems.
Sound quality
Electric guitars tend to have a clearer, crisper sound quality than acoustic guitars. With the use of technology, electric guitars can sound loud and clear with good amps. Even the slightest pluck of the strings emanates from the amplifier to create a beautiful sound.
Style
Electric guitars have more variety in their designs. Acoustic guitars usually come in one style and color. Entire racks of acoustic guitars in music stores are probably covered in similar styles and the same beige wood color. Other colors and a few other styles are available, but electric guitars each seem to have their own personality.
Wider range of musical choices
You have many more choices for learning music on an electric guitar. You can set up an electric guitar for clean sounds and play anything you want on an acoustic guitar, including classical music.
The goal is to learn, not to learn very fast.
Never try to learn to play fast. Really, don't. Learn to accurately position your fingers and hit the right notes every time, especially when it comes to scales and tricky bar chords. Focus on fingering accuracy. Learn to play correctly and speed will follow on its own.
Be disciplined in your practice.
Nothing
beats rigor in learning. Be rigorous, don't neglect your practice or your lessons. Develop good habits: set aside some time each day for your practice.
Avoid the "death grip" of the Left Hand.
When
you start playing, you'll discover right away that pressing the strings against the fret is not easy. It takes a lot of work: each movement can strain several muscles in your arm and wrist, to the point of soreness. Not to mention your fingers. To make it easier, you may be tempted to place your thumb on top of the key for leverage. This will help you press more on the strings with the tip of your finger, rather than with the pad itself (which is between the top of the nail and the fingerprint). This is what the Anglo-Saxons call the "death grip". This is not the right way to hold the neck of your guitar. The correct technique is to have your thumb on the back of the guitar neck. This forces your hand to use the fingertips, which is much better and more accurate when it comes to playing only the notes you want without accidentally cutting adjacent strings.
Length of the ladder.
Scale length is the length of a guitar string from the nut to the bridge. A longer scale length feels tighter to play and gives a brighter tone. A shorter scale length offers a warmer sound. Pay attention to this when tuning your guitar.
Use a metronome.
Your
sense of rhythm and timing will be stimulated early on if you try to use a metronome early in your career. However, don't overemphasize this and make sure you set the beat per minute (BPM) to something very slow.
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