The Equipment

I'd like to start by introducing you to the setup I have at home with which to learn. I recieved my guitar TODAY, and cannot wait to get home and put it to the test.

Finding the right guitar

For me, there were several important criteria for a guitar.
Price
Style
Genre Association (i.e. what style of music the guitar is very generally suited to)
Quality

Obviously, I needed a guitar that I could afford. For me that meant spending ideally less than £300.00 (currently about US$432).
The style was also important to me. I have a strong appreciation for aesthetics (having delved into art, graphics and design in the past) and knew that simply having a beautiful guitar would be a source of motivation for me!
I also wanted to ensure that I was buying the right tool for the job. Intending to play (speaking in broad terms) 'metal' predominantly I was looking for a guitar suited to this genre. I was aware that a good guitarist can play any style on any guitar with almost any equipment, but I figured I might as well make life easier for myself!
Lastly I wanted a guitar that was going to last, and that was 'good' rather than 'playable'. This is why I didn't buy some of the cheaper guitars available (though there are cheaper that are perfectly OK, I wanted something I could 'grow into').


To find such a guitar I spent a lot of time looking around. I read forums where people in my position would ask 'what is a good beginner's guitar for playing metal' and spend a lot of time reading the responses they got. I also looked at some of my favorite bands to see what kind of guitars they played to see if I liked or could afford them (yes I do, and no I can't, as it turned out!). Arguably I should have spent longer than I did on this, but I found three that I liked (all made by ESP LTD) and then posted my own thread on a forum asking for other people's advice and suggestions based on the criteria I gave and the guitars I had shortlisted.



The result was me settling on the LTD F-100FM. It's general retail price was around £280 which was towards the upper end of my budget, but not unreasonable. Despite this I decided to check Ebay for a second-hand guitar that could save me some of my hard-earned cash. I was pleasantly suprised to discover a brand-new one for only £199.99! Needless to say I snapped it up! I have yet to honour the timless and cheesy tradition of naming it, so I'm open to suggestions. ;)


I'll upload a picture of mine as opposed to a random internet image once I have a good picture of it. But they are identical as far as I can tell.










Finding the right amplifier

I went through much the same process trying to find an amp, although for obvious reasons I put less emphasis on the look of the thing and spent more time looking for videos of how it would sound. Eventually I narrowed it down to either a Roland Cube 15, a Microcube (also made by Roland), or a Line6 Spider III, with the spider being the preffered choice.


I actually picked up the Line6 Spider III from my local music shop, as I managed to get £50 taken off the price and 6 months interest free finance.

Without the finance I would have had to settle for one of the cheaper and far less powerful cubes, which would have been a shame because although they are good quality and loud enough for practice, they do not have nearly the same selection of tones and effects - and can't attain the same ear-shattering volume. =P

So there you have it! Spend the time, effort and money and you can find the equipment that not only looks and sounds right, but that inspires you to persevere.

Wish me luck!