Think you’ve got what it takes to be a rockstar, the new Hendrix or a progressive god like Beck? Dreaming of doing stage jumps onto a crowd of adoring, beautiful Swedish girls? Don’t we all.

What you need first though, is a guitar! Yes, seemingly obvious though, isn’t it?
Well yes, but you need to get your hands on the right equipment. Buying some knock off piece of plywood that will warp in a month is not the way to go.

Three really easy steps that we all tend to skip on all make mistakes with, Patience! Control! Research!

• Patience – You really don’t have to buy the guitar on the spot, that day. Go home and sleep on it. Buyers remorse really sucks. Trust me.

• Keep your cool – Don’t let some snazzy salesman try and sell you a hunk of crap. If he or she is being pushy, tell them that. Commission does terrible things to a person.

• Research! – This is incredibly important. Read some blogs, guitar tech sites and general buyers guides. Make sure you know what it is you’re looking for and where to get it.

Here are five really great starter guitars.

1. Squier Fat Stratocaster
“Squier Strat”
This are one of several Squier models available that offer a pretty good product for a reasonably low price. The pick-ups and hardware are sometimes suspect, and the workmanship varies from instrument to instrument, but for the price, these are a very good beginner guitar choice. The look of the instrument is appealling – Squier Fat Strats are similar in appearance to the much more expensive Fender Stratocasters.

2. Epiphone G-310 SG
“Epiphone SG”
Modelled after the much more expensive Gibson SG guitars, the Epiphone SG G310 keeps it’s cost low by using cheaper hardware and lower quality humbucking pick-ups. The G-310 features an alder body, a mahogany neck, and a dot-inlayed rosewood fingerboard. The buzz on this guitar is it’s a very good value for the money.

3. Yamaha PAC012DLX Pacifica Series HSS Deluxe
Here’s another guitar many people feel is a great value. This Pacifica features an agathis body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard, with two single coil pick-ups, and one humbucker. The consensus is the guitar is reasonably well made, and the quality of the wood tends to be high. Those who go on to become serious guitarists might want to consider upgrading the electronics of the Pacifica HSS.

4. Squier Affinity Series Telecaster
Guitarists like Keith Richards, Steve Cropper, Albert Lee, and Danny Gatton favor the look and sound of the Telecaster. If you’re a fan of any of those guitarists, this beginner guitar may be for you. The Affinity Telecaster features an alder body, with a maple neck and fretboard.

5. Epiphone Les Paul Special II
The Les Paul is perhaps the most famous guitar in rock and roll. Epiphone has done a good job of visually re-creating the Les Paul in this lower-cost guitar marketed towards beginners. The Special II features a laminated alder/maple body, a magogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, and two open-coil humbucking pick-ups.
These might be slightly pricier than basic entry-level guitars, but they’ll pay off in the long run. Just keep practicing those chords!

Stay tuned for a post on what amp to buy. Remember, you could have a great guitar but with a shoebox amplifier, you’re not going to get many bras thrown your way.

American guitar manufactures have some stiff competition heading their way due to Myaxe Musical Instruments Ltd, who previously built OEM guitars, launching their very own brand, the Myaxe Guitar.

Myaxe executive office, David Liu has said that it too the company quite a few months to decide whether or not to release their own brand of guitars.

Lui went on to say, “When we were talking about it, a question popped out and it was ‘does the market really need another Les Paul-type of guitar considering that there are other brands already out there, aside from the more known Epiphone and Gibson?’ ”

Only after Lui’s Filipino partner persisted that it would be a viable option, did Lui agree to build guitars with superior solid bodies as a standout feature.

Lui said that Myaxe is going to change the opinion of many people that think that Chinese products are of lesser value or inferior quality.

Myaxe Musical Instruments currently makes the Riffmaster and also the Custom Shredder model from solid, one-piece mahogany bodies.

Myaxe also competes with the big names in the industry by letting their guitars come in set neck.

Lui said, “We do not call them copies but innovation for quality at a price every musician can afford. We are not trying to take down on the big brands but our goal is simple. Make Myaxe a major player in the guitar industry.”

You heard it, watch out Gibson and watch out Epiphone! Myaxe seem set on becoming a key player.

It has come to my attention that hardly anyone knows who invented the first electric guitar. Also, these types of questions do not have one simple answer. It’s like asking who invented the internet.

Common Misconceptions:

Many people think that Les Paul invented the first electric guitar. This is false. Les Paul came up with the first solid body electric guitar.

“Leo Fender invented the first one” – Nope, he didn’t

Many also believe that Paul H. Tutmarc invented the first electric. This is also false. This guy invented a Hawaiian electric guitar in the 1930s I believe.

So Who Invented The First Electric Guitar?

Adolph Rickenbacker is the inventer of the first modern amplifiable electric guitar. It was a semi-hollow body guitar with sound holes. The first complete setup was in 1931, but it had all began in Los Angeles, California in the 1920s. Read Rickenbacker’s history.

The first solid body electric guitar was invented by Les Paul in 1941. It wasn’t a pretty sight like the Les Paul’s you see today, but it was still the first in it’s class. It was basically a solid square wooden body with 6 steel strings on a neck. In the 1950′s The Gibson company got together with Les Paul to present the Gibson Les Paul we all know today.

It was later in the 1940s when Leo Fender invented his first electric guitar naming it the Broadcaster. It was not long until they renamed it as the Telecaster. Then later inventing it’s bigger brother the “Stratocaster” as an upgrade (don’t tell the tele lovers that!)

I purchased the 62 Strat a few months back. I had been wanting one for a few years but the price kind of kept me from getting one. So everytime I had about $800 (or less) to spare, I would want to buy a new guitar. But instead of saving some more and just buying what I’ve been drooling over (the 62ri), I would just settle for “less”. But not this time! I consider it to be a pretty smart move. I’ve owned modern standard american strats and some mexican strats.

You most likely already know why vintage model strats are so pricey these days, but I’ll say it anyway. These guitars were simply made better back in the 50s and 60s. And you can really tell the difference between a new Standard American Strat and an American Reissue model. I paid $1499.99 for mine new at Musician’s Friend.

The fretboard is rosewood and is a 7.5 radius. Now, you’ve probably heard many mixed feelings about these more rounded fretboards, but in my opinion, you really can not tell a huge difference from the 9.5 radius. There’s this rumor going around that you will “fret out” alot when soloing with a 7.5 radius neck. But this hasn’t happened to me and is not exactly true. I think it might depend on the set-up of the guitar as well. Mine came set up pretty well from Musician’s Friend. I haven’t even changeed the strings yet, and that’s weird because that’s usually one of the first things I do when I purchase a new guitar. But there really was no need! The back of the neck is tinted and just feels great. Smoothe and quick. No skunk stripe either

This guitar comes stock with some Fender vintage 57/62 single coil pickups. They are very clean and produce those bell-like tones. They also produce some very nice fat overdriven tones. These sound closer to the Stevie Ray Vaughan tone than the Texas Specials do. That’s just my opinion.

The body is fitted with a mint green pickguard which looks a bit aged. It’s an alder body coated with a nice nitro finish. This is great. Every strat I’ve had prior to this one has had a thick polyurethan finish. The poly just does not feel quite as natural and will not wear down with years of use. I personally can’t wait until my nitro finish begins to wear and the wood gets exposed. I considered getting it reliced but decided not to. I want it to wear naturally over the years of use. Perhaps I’ll slam it against some stages.

I am proud to say that I found the guitar for me. After first pulling it out of the case, it felt light and fit like a glove. It stays in tune extremely well. I probably have to tune it once a week, and that’s only a slight twist on the tuning heads to tweak it, and after I’ve been bending the hells out of the strings. I been trying to find something worng with it but I can’t. This thing is tough I advise to anyone that buys this guitar, to match it up with an equally amazing amp for a really magical sound you’ve probably been looking for. I use a Blues Jr. if you’re curious!