Conference napalm::guitar

    You'll get flooded with help in here, but the real question is what
    kind of music do you want to play and what is your budget?  
    
    As far as buying an amp, if you plan to play electric guitar, sooner or
    later you will have to have an amplifier!  You need to decide if a small
    practice amp or a headphone amp can do the job or do you want to buy an
    amp that's large enough to play in a band situation now.  
    
    If you're just beginning, though, you should put most of your money into
    a guitar.  Amps can be had awfully cheap, I've bought a few for under
    $25, which is a sensible investment for a beginner! 
    
    General price guidelines: if you want an electric guitar that is of
    decent quality you need to spend at least $200.  Most guitars selling
    less than that will be of such poor quality that playing them will be
    difficult.  Guitars of sufficient quality to be acceptable to a
    professional player start at about $400, and if you're serious you
    should plan on spending the extra money and buying a better guitar
    right away; you should always buy the best guitar you can afford.
    
    I'll let others recommend specific guitars, I'm a bassist  8^)
    
    							Brian 

    
    For the under $350 budget:
    
    Get a Japanese or Mexican Fender Stratocaster...affordable price,
    classic look and they play great!
    
    
    For the over $500 budget; the American Standard Stratocaster is nice.
    
    
    For the $1000 budget, get a Gibson Les Paul!!
    
    8^)
    
    Used stuff is available everywhere in between....a fellow noter I met a
    few weeks ago bought a NICE Yamaha solid body electric for $100!!!
    
    Steve (good luck, the influx of replies will probably confuse you!) 
    

    As a fellow beginner, I agree with Brian: buy a decent guitar.  You can
    practice with no amp or a headphone amp, and play with almost any cheap
    amp.  As far as which guitar to buy, if you're buying new and like the
    feel of a Gibson, Epiphone makes a nice SG copy; they sell for ~$300 in
    the greater Boston area.  But if you can, buy used; you'll get more
    guitar for the money that way.  Check out the Want Advertiser/Penny
    Saver, and watch this notesfile.
    
    Dave

    If you're at all concerned about the resale value of the guitar, stick
    with major well known brands, whether new or used. You should visit
    some music stores & try some & get a feel for what you might like. If
    you don't yet play well enough to trust your own judgement, bring along
    a friend who plays & whom you can trust. Even with a solid body guitar,
    you can get by without an amp, but an amp will definitely increase your
    pleasure. There are lots of good alternatives for both guitars & amps,
    so have fun.
    Paul
    

Heck, these guys are going easy on you...

First, you'll need a Les Paul Custom, that'll cost you around grand...
Don't forget the multi-effect rack-a-mig, add another $500...
Oh can't leave out the Marshall 200 watt head with the four 12 slant 
stack,,,,  (OBSCENE amounts of money....)


All kidding aside....

The previous notes are the way to go...  right now, anything good will
do, See what happens is this..  You can play on anything decent, once
the bug catches you, you start collecting them...  and it never
stops from there..

As far as amps go, for a beginner's best bet, I'd go with a headphone
amp..  I find many beginners so self-aware of what they're playing
they intimidate themselves..  The headphone amp will allow you the
level of privacy while you need it,, then a trip to radio shack
for the appropriate cable, and you can use your stereo for monitors.

The other option would be an acoustic of course, but the entire style
would be significantly different.  Best bet for now would be to
stick with the electric with the lighter touch.

Too bad your buddy wants the 335 back,,  I know many noters, myself
included, would sell our kids to get a Gibson 335...

	> I know many noters, myself included, would sell our kids to 
    	> get a Gibson 335...
    
    Hey, if your son gets much better on the drums I'll give you back your
    Jap-o-strat just to *rent* him...
    
    Edd

Deal!

(I always like the neck on that Tokai, and it's consistantly
given me much less crap than Shawn ever has...)

But all fatherly pride aside, his playing has far surpassed
all my expectations....  Too bad he's playing drums though....

    > Too bad he's playing drums though....
    
    ...could be worse! Imagine if he wanted to be a musician!
    
    Edd