r/musicians • u/MomentAggravating301 • 7h ago
Which guitar is better for a beginner?
So I’ve been doing a lot of research and I’ve seen that the Ibanez guitar is best for a beginner. But after getting off the phone with a salesman, he pointed me to this Sire. Should I stick with my gut and get the Ibanez?
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u/LoneCatThreat 6h ago
Ibanez, since I own one as an advanced-beginner.
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u/sZia 6h ago
These are really similar guitars. Do you think you'll want to use a whammy bar?
When playing/learning the Sire might be slightly easier due to the inlays having 2 dots on the 12th fret. Everything that is a concern can be upgraded or switched out. The hard tail or the floating bridge, pick ups, tuners. This isn't bad for the $. Ultimately I'd go with which one looks better to you. If reselling is on your mind; go with the Ibanez.
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u/MomentAggravating301 6h ago
As someone who has never played I’d go with the one that’s the best all around really. I want to play rock/metal but also pop/christian music. It’s just for a hobby. I keep hearing that that Ibanez’s are “better” or maybe more popular idk. But also my budget is under $300. I’d also probably keep it for awhile.
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u/sZia 5h ago
I don't know about better. For that price range, you're getting the cheapest parts possible to make a guitar playable and sellable. Ibanez is definitely a brand people recognize. I've never heard of the Sire. I highly doubt at this level of guitar you would be able to tell a difference in playability or sound. The Ibanez might stay in tune a little better because of the hard tail. Either of these guitars will be fine for those genres. Neither is better than the other. It's really a matter of if you want to use a whammy bar (won't stay in tune as well) or not. You can replace a hard tail with a floating bridge for -$50, though. So, it's not a huge deal either way. Between these two guitars, I would pick the one which looks better to me. To me, they both look fine. So, I'd go with the cheaper of the two. If they are within $50 of each other I would go with the Ibanez because I don't play with a whammy and it'll stay in tune better.
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u/witmann_pl 6h ago
I have a similar ibanez (GRGR131EX) as a complete beginner and I'm very happy with it. I'd have bought the grg121 but I found a good deal on a second hand 131. They are almost the same.
The solid bridge (without the tremollo function) is said to be better for beginners because the guitar is easier to tune and maintain and you won't be using the tremollo as a beginner anyway.
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u/Salty_Reserve9640 5h ago
these are both tough to restring, I'd go with a simpler guitar, a squier or something
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u/UnnamedLand84 5h ago
If your gut is pulling you towards a particular instrument, that's how you know it's the one
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u/BirdBruce 4h ago
I don’t know anything about that Sire, but I’ve owned a number of Ibanez guitars over the years and they’ve all been fantastic. Ibanez consistently punches far above its price point to the point that the only reason to spend more money for a similarly-specced Fender or Gibson (which are going to be Squire and Epiphone, let’s be real) is just for the headstock.
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u/Hopeless-potato 2h ago
I have a Sire L7 and it is built like a $1000 guitar. They are very slept on as a brand.
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u/Justn817 6h ago
The sire. look at the fret bords the dots are what your going to use to learn. You would be hopeless without them. :b
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u/MomentAggravating301 6h ago
Y’all suck ass at helping
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u/elephantengineer 6h ago
I think what people are trying to say is these guitars are similarly decent quality and fine as a first guitar, so pick the one you think looks cool.
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u/ausserirdischer_ 6h ago
There seriously aren’t any features that will make a huge difference here. Volume/tone knobs, similar pickup style. People’s advice about getting the one that will make you more excited to play and practice is actually sound advice. Electric guitars sound more the same than different, these don’t have whammy bars or pickups that will be a difference maker, like if you had some double humbuckers vs a single coil jazzmaster style with a bunch of tone switches or something it might matter more. I’m sure either of these will perform and play fine.
Amps, pedals and what your do fingers makes 99% of the difference1
u/MomentAggravating301 6h ago
You just gave some advice. Like the double humbucker vs single coil. Ik that’s not what I need lol but that’s advice😂 Ig I could’ve went more into detail about what advice I’m looking for. I want the guitar for more hard rock/metal but can also transition to pop or Christian type music like NF or Forrest Frank.
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u/ausserirdischer_ 6h ago
These pickups can give a thick tone for metal, but will sound good for anything if played clean without distortion. Single coil sound a little brighter or jangly if you were playing jazz or some Mac Demarco kind of indie or something, I think either of these will be good for you though. And you can get basically any sound from a pedal, so don’t worry too much about the specs. Have fun!
Do you have a teacher? Helps to structure your learning somehow. I learned by myself forever but progress picks up a lot of you can practice in a deliberate way, even with some online subscription program like pickupmusic.com and learn sequentially so you don’t plateau forever, only adding a that because it’s something I wish I’d done sooner
People give dismissive replies because there are lots of people who think buying the right gear will help them be good at playing but then don’t put in the practice time
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u/MomentAggravating301 1h ago
I don’t have a teacher, I was going to use YouTube for most. But ik my neighbor and my cousin play the electric guitar. I’ll look into an online program as well. I believe the online store I’m buying it from gives me a subscription for awhile but I’d have to look into it a little bit.
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u/Toadliquor138 6h ago
I'd go with the Ibanez simply because it's a hardtail and doesn't have a satin finish.