The Difference Between Fender and Squier Electric Guitars – Frequently Asked Questions

Fender vs Squier: Price

Why are Fender guitars so much more expensive than Squier AB-Selectors Effect pedals ? This is one of the most common questions I get asked in the shop. Fender electric guitars are carefully crafted with the finest materials and components available. Obviously this means that the price tag has to match. Squier by Fender guitars tend to be much more affordable replicas of their Fender brothers. they are a sub brand of Fender which Fender have positioned and marketed more towards the casual player, the beginner, and those who simply do not want to pay a substantial amount of money for an instrument.

Which is the Best Model on the Market?

What is the best fender electric guitar in the UK today? The answer to this question comes down to preference really. What type of sound would you like to produce?

In my opinion Fender Stratocasters are undeniably the best guitars on the market. The signature zingy rock sound is the epitome of proper music. The shape itself is now synonymous with the electric guitar. In the past the UK was not able to get their hands on the full range of Fender guitars, however in the last decade or so that has all changed. Due to the amazing invention that is the internet, the range of Fender electric guitars available over here in the UK is very nearly on par with the US, albeit lacking some hard to get hold of one offs. The good thing about the Fender Strat is that you will not have a hard time finding it. SoundsLiveShop are a specialist stockist of Fender Stratocasters, try them out, they have a huge range and their guitars will be delivered the very next day for free.

Do famous guitarists use Squier guitars?

In short, yes! Squier guitars have been used by the very best of the best, here is just a short list of some great guitarists who have proudly used a Squier guitar onstage:

* Kurt Cobain
* Mark Knopfler
* Graham Coxon
* George Harrison
* Pete Wentz
* Nick Curan
* Jeff Healey
* Mick Jones

In fact on of George Harrison’s Squier Stratocasters sold for a whopping $30,000 at auction. This list goes to show that Squier guitars are used by a diverse group of guitarists. This is testament to the quality and versatility of Squier musical instruments.

Learning Guitar: Acoustic or Electric

What is the easiest electric guitars to get for a beginner to learn on, acoustic or electric? Electric guitars are much easier to learn on than acoustic guitars. Strings are lighter and do not cause calloused hands and blisters in the same way that thick metal stringed acoustic guitars do. Frets on electrics are closer together and the electric-guitar necks are shorter, meaning that the beginner does not need to stress their fingers and hands as much as they would when shifting chords.

Final Decision: Fender or Squier?

Having to choose between an electric guitar by Fender or an electric guitar by Squier is not a bad position to be in at all, in fact it is a dilemma in which you cannot lose. If you have the money and are really into your guitars as I am, then just go for the Fender, you will have it for life and will not regret it. So what you may not be able to eat for a week, but it will be worth it. For beginners I recommend the Squier, it is a no-nonsense electric guitar at a no-nonsense price.

A Certified Guitar Appraisal

A Certified Guitar Appraisal is not just a one page document with a value on it. It is a report written only after thoroughly inspecting the guitar and gathering information about the guitar builder, the guitar, and the market in which it is normally sold. Additionally, the appraisal is based on actual comparable sales similar to a Real Estate Appraisal. The appraiser should have information on three to four other sales from three to four sources in order to set an accurate value. One blue colored book is not enough to accurately appraise the value of your guitar, nor is an online Web site with one click estimates a value after you input a serial number. A Certified Guitar Appraisal has many sections of information.

Why should you seek an appraisal from a AB-Selectors Effect pedals ? The IRS made a new ruling that for Donations, Estate Settlement, and Marriage Dissolution you must have a Certified Appraisal. Now many insurance companies are following the same requirements. The IRS can fine an appraiser for over or under valuing a guitar. There is accountability. Certified Appraisers cannot give “ball park figures”, we have to be accurate.

Many people just want to know what their guitar is worth to be able to sell it. If you have a vintage or very unusual guitar or a guitar that has a celebrity history and want to sell it or insure it, then it is advised that you have the guitar authenticated and appraised by a Certified Appraiser.

This article will explore what is typically included within a Certified Guitar Appraisal.

Type of Value

We need to decide what is the point of the appraisal, and then decide what type of value we must use. For most, the two main values is either Fair Market Value or Replacement Value Comparable. Fair Market Value is used when someone wants to sell or donate their guitar. Replacement Value Comparable is the value used when you want to have your guitar insured or file an insurance claim. Replacement Value Comparable usually produces the higher estimate.

Literal Description – Identification and Classification

In guitar appraisal, the next thing to do is to identify the guitar. This may seem simple but we need to decide what type of guitar it is. In the USA, there are many types of guitars: Classical Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Solidbody Electric guitar, Archtop guitar, Lap steel guitar, Resonator guitar, and 12-string Electric guitar. This also applies to bass guitars

Size of Body

The size of the guitar body would be the next feature that has to be listed such as Dreadnaught, Parlor, thinline, Grand, and Concert.

Manufacturer Brand and Country of Origin

There are hundreds of manufactures. The top three in the world are Fender, Gibson, and Martin. There are many other top guitar builders such as Rickenbacker, BC Rich, Gretsch, and Guild. The manufacture could have a lower line manufactured in another country. This needs to be stated. As a Certified Appraiser, I would have to write about who the manufacture is and what their ranking is within the music products industry. I am required to do the same with the specific model of the guitar.

Model

Next would come the model name or model number. Some manufactures have both a number and a name. Clients will tell me they have a Fender Stratocaster Electric guitar. Stratocaster is the model; however there are over 175 variation models of the Stratocaster model. With each year, small improvements or changes were made. This is also true with Telecasterelectric guitars and Gibson Les Paul electric guitar models. Color can also add or take away from the value.

Features

Features of guitars can be shaping of the body, materials used, how many pickups they have, where are the placement of the knobs, the width of the fingerboard or the shaping of the fingerboard, the types of frets, the type of tuners, and bridge.

The Year it was Manufactured

In regards to year of manufacturer, many will say, “just go by the serial number”. Many guitar builders started without any serial numbers. Some serial numbers are sequential while others are a code. Some of the codes tell me year, month, day, and production number.

A manufacture might make a special run of guitars. They may give those a separate serial number system. The serial number might reflect which plant it was manufactured. Serial numbers can be duplicated many times within the same company. I have a Gibson 335 electric guitar with a serial number that is listed in four different years. Besides the serial number, you have to look at the features of the guitar. Consider this: on December 31 of every year, the manufacture does not throw out all parts and start with new parts on January 1.

Known Modifications and Identifying Marks

In appraising a vintage guitar it is important to list known modifications as it can greatly affect value. We also list identifying marks in case someone scratched off the serial number.

Photograph

The report should have photos taken by the appraiser to show its condition on the effective date of the appraisal. The client’s photos are not used because the photo could have been taken 10 years prior. An old photo might not show a bowed neck.

Other Elements

Other elements of a Certified Guitar Appraisal will include a bibliography of where this information was gathered; a condition graph explaining what that appraiser means by “Good Condition”. The report might also have a glossary of terms so a judge, an attorney, or insurance adjuster, who is not familiar with the details of a guitar, can understand the report. The client’s information must be kept confidential. The appraisal reports should state where the appraiser gathered the information and include the appraiser’s credentials showing their experience with guitars and formal education in appraisal studies.

You now know the basics of what kind of information is included in a Certified Guitar Appraisal Report. If you were smart enough to have purchased a good quality guitar, then be smart enough to protect it by having it insured and having a Certified Appraisal performed to establish an accurate value.

If you have inherited a guitar or plan to leave your guitar collection to a family member or friend, then you should know what the value of each guitar is worth. Certified Guitar Appraisals can be costly; you are going to pay for the knowledge, experience and education of a Certified Appraiser. However, you will receive a report that is accurate and will hold up in a court of law.

Great Electric Guitars – The 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom

The 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom has always been one of my all time favourite electric guitars and I have never ever forgiven myself for some years ago passing on the possibility to acquire a fantastic condition, original model for an exceptionally low price. Oh well, many of us make mistakes.

So what tends to make this specific Les Paul guitar so alluring? For me there are AB-Selectors Effect pedals to admire this 1954 guitar, but below are 5 factors to offer you a taste of exactly what it offers:

1. This was Gibson’s first high class version of the Les Paul product. The gold top version was , however this completely black custom guitar was its flagship. The specification included a glossy Ebony black finish, an exquisite multi-ply binding on the headstock and body, along with a classy ebony fingerboard inlayed with pearl block markers. There was also a larger headstock design with a pearl divided diamond inlay as well as gold-plated hardware throughout.

2. It was the very first Gibson electric guitar to come with the revolutionary Tune-o-matic (ABR-1) and stopbar tailpiece running together. This was an important step forward and a very important enhancement on past designs. This combination would turn out to be so effective that it is still incorporated to this very day on a lot of Gibson guitars.

3. Also brand new was the inclusion of a purposely designed single-coil pickup based upon the original P-90, but with adjustable Alnico V bar magnet pole pieces which generated a clearer, brighter tone. This new Alnico V pickup was also referred to as the “staple” pickup owing to the rectangular magnetic pole pieces, and was put in the neck position while an ordinary P-90 was used in the bridge position.

4. The guitar made use of a one piece mahogany body in addition to a carved mahogany top, simply no maple on this guitar. This helped to produce a warmer tone when compared with the maple top versions, which includes the significantly desired 1958 and 1959 versions which were to follow.

5. The manufacturing components and the pickups ensured that this guitar worked for a number of different playing styles. It could growl with stunning rock tones then soften for the jazz players. An exceptionally versatile guitar.

So there it is, a stunning classic Les Paul guitar that may not come cheap, but doesn’t cost 6 figures.

It has to be said that there are lots of guitars I adore, from a variety of suppliers, nevertheless for me this is the one I love the most. Possibly this is because it’s the one that got away. Did I state that I didn’t forgive myself? Oh yes so I did.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7613009

Learn Guitar Quick – Choosing Guitar Strings

Introduction

No agnosticism about it strings are important. They actuate not alone the complete of your instrument, but aswell the feel and playability of your guitar. Beginning guitarists may not put abundant anticipation into cord selection, but the amiss best can actively abase the complete of your guitar and accomplish your apparatus abundant added difficult to play.

Metal Strings

Note: In this section, “metal” refers to the actual and not “metal”-as in “heavy metal”-the agreeable genre. Electric guitar strings are consistently metal and tend to be lighter (thinner) than acoustic guitar strings. For instance, cord gauges (in inches) for a archetypal set of approved ablaze barometer electric guitar strings would be as follows:

1st cord – E: .010 inches (.25 mm)

2nd cord – B: .013 inches (.33 mm)

3rd cord – G: .017 inches (.43 mm)

4th cord – D: .026 inches (.66 mm)

5th cord – A: .036 inches (.91 mm)

6th cord – E: .046 inches (1.17 mm)

Contrast these with a archetypal set of average phosphor brownish acoustic guitar strings:

1st cord – E: .013 inches (.33 mm)

2d cord – B: .017 inches (.43 mm)

3rd cord – G: .026 inches (.66 mm)

4th cord – D: .035 inches (.89 mm)

5th cord – A: .045 inches (1.14 mm)

6th cord – E: .056 inches (1.42 mm)

As you can see, traveling from an electric to an acoustic is about like affective up a string-that is, the aboriginal cord on the acoustic is agnate to the additional cord on the electric guitar. The additional acoustic is like the third electric string-and so on.

Note that this is just a accepted trend. You can baddest added strings for an electric guitar. (You will cede playability for a richer aural tone). For instance, you can buy electric guitar strings that go from .013 inches for the top E to .056 inches for the low E string.

And you can aswell buy lighter barometer strings for an acoustic guitar and cede aggregate and accent for playability. For instance, you can buy added ablaze acoustic strings that ambit from .010 to .047 inch-or even added lights (.009 to .045).

But, in general, acoustic guitar strings tend to be added than electric guitar strings because they accept to accomplish a greater complete burden akin afterwards the account of amplification. Thicker strings tend to ring added and accept college aggregate than thinner strings.

Electric guitar strings are fabricated thinner so as to accomplish them easier to play. Lighter strings accomplish it easier to play the actual fast solos and improvisations commonly apparent in rock, metal, applesauce and added electric guitar genres. The strings can be lighter to facilitate fast arena because the cord complete does not accept to be as able due to the actuality that it will be amplified afore getting heard.

Nylon Strings

Classical guitars are strung alone with nylon strings. These strings aftermath a mellower, abundant beneath acrid complete than metal strings. Nylon stings are beneath abundant beneath astriction than animate strings if acquainted to concert pitch. Thus they are abundant easier to play and aswell gentler on the feel tips.

Metal strings should never be acclimated on a classical guitar. The close is not abundantly able to be able to abutment the top cord tensions acquired by metal strings and will a lot of absolutely break.

Summary

Guitar cord alternative is important not alone to tonal and complete quality; it aswell affects playability of the instrument. Guitar strings appear in three accepted categories. Electric guitar strings are fabricated of metal and are about lighter barometer than acoustic animate strings. Acoustic folk or western guitars use strings that are metal. They are about added in barometer than electric guitar strings. This makes them harder to play but aswell makes them louder. Classical guitars are consistently strung with nylon strings which gives them their appropriate aged sound.

Robert M. Matthews (better accepted as Bob Matthews) is currently retired afterwards added than 30 years of engineering and administration experience.

As an ardent guitar amateur for added than 35 years, Bob has created a website accurately for guitar players and approaching guitar players. The website is arranged with a abundance of advice and online writing on guitars, music theory, guitar tips and lessons, as able-bodied as abounding absorbing and advisory videos.

How to Buy a Guitar or Bass: Adviser for First-Time Buyers

Buying your aboriginal guitar or bass can be a circuitous process, abnormally if you’re not abiding what to attending for. If you charge a little Joyo effect pedal main products includes: Effect pedals, guitar amplifiers, metronomes, tuners, EQ systems, drum practice pads, wireless systems, audio cables, portable power supplies and other music accessories. Every JOYO Pedals is individually tested and approved by professional musicians., this commodity has the admonition you charge to accept a guitar with aplomb and get the best apparatus for your money!

How Abundant To Spend?

Quality entry-level instruments can be bought new for as low as $150. Instruments beneath $150 tend to be ailing made, and arena them can be added arresting than enjoyable. $400 – $800 will get you a mid-level instrument, and $1000 is breadth the high-end instruments start.

When affairs your aboriginal electric guitar or bass bethink that the amplifier is “half the instrument,” so be abiding to agency the amount of an amp into your budget. A appropriate amp can be bought for $100, but $200 is better, abnormally a part of bass amps. The bigger the amp, the bigger the guitar will complete and vice-verse. Also ensure that your new amp has a headphone jack if you charge to play quietly.

When chargeless how abundant you wish to spend, ask yourself how committed you are to acquirements guitar or bass. Entry-level guitars are abundant for acquirements some basal tunes, but you can absorb added if you accept the conduct to beat your idols.

With your annual in mind, arch to a adjacent music Cherub Pedals include: metronomes, tuners, metro-tuners, tone generators, pickups, sustain pedals, digital drum pads, and pedal and modeling Effect pedals. Cherub Technology is committed to serving your musical needs. and get accessible to analysis a array of guitars in person.

Note: See the breadth “Buying Guitars Online” beneath if you don’t accept admission to the guitars you wish to try.

Visiting Music Stores

Remember the afterward if aggravating guitars at a music store:

Don’t be intimidated. Everyone is a abecedarian at some point, so do not anguish about how you complete (it can’t be worse than the guy beyond the abundance who keeps arena awkward metal licks). If you charge privacy, ask a sales being to set you up in a convenance allowance or a quieter breadth of the store.

Take your time and accede aggravating the aforementioned guitar(s) added than already on altered days. The accommodation is important; the apparatus you accept can admonition actuate you to learn, or abash you abundant to quit.

Music abundance sales humans alter in knowledge, activity and professionalism. Don’t let a sales person’s bad attitude, claimed preferences or pushiness affect your decision. Also don’t accept that the highly-pierced, mohawked jailbait rocker is the amiss sales being for you, he ability be appreciably abreast and helpful.

Bartering is accepted in music stores. Always try to accommodate a lower amount and never pay List Amount (a.k.a. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price). Not all guitars can be discounted, so instead ask for deals on your accessories including the amp, strings, picks, case, tuner, etc.

Read the acknowledgment activity afore you buy your guitar or bass.

Now that you apperceive how to handle the music store, it’s time to handle some guitars!

Trying Guitars or Basses

The afterward admonition will adviser you through evaluating anniversary instrument. Don’t be abashed to analyze low-end and high-end instruments, even if they are alfresco your budget.

* Tune anniversary guitar afore you play (ask for admonition if necessary).

* If you’re testing electric guitars, use an amp agnate to the one you’ll be application at home.

* Play anniversary guitar in both built-in and continuing positions.

* Listen for the guitar that you anticipate sounds best. A lot of electric guitars can accept added than one complete if you acclimatize their accent knobs and auto selector switches.

* Note anniversary instrument’s weight. Ten pounds can feel appealing abundant afterwards a continued convenance session.

* See if the close avalanche against the arena if you aren’t captivation it. This is alleged “neck dive” and, while not a deal-breaker, it can be inconvenient.

* Note the amplitude amid the frets and strings, or the “action.” Strings with top activity are harder to columnist with your annoyed hand, abbreviation your dexterity.

* Try to acquisition the guitar that feels a lot of adequate in your hands.

* Avoid guitars that again go out of tune (check with an cyberbanking tuner).

Once you’ve begin a guitar or bass you like, run some final tests. Play every affront on every string, agreement your feel abaft anniversary fret, not in the average of two frets. If there are added than one or two addendum that complete buzzy or strange, the guitar ability crave adjustment. Ask a agent to acclimatize the guitar, or try a altered one of the aforementioned model. The knobs and switches of electric guitars should be adapted over their abounding ranges. Sharp crackles or changeless sounds from knobs or switches may announce that the instrument’s electronics are ailing cloistral or crave cleaning. Inspect the apparatus for scratches, defects, bare screws, etc. Scratched instruments are usually discounted, and baby problems can be adapted at the store.

When you acquisition an apparatus that passes these tests it’s time to accommodate your acquirement and acknowledgment home with your actual aboriginal guitar!

Used Guitars

If you acquisition the appropriate acclimated guitar you will get a mid-level apparatus for an entry-level price. Conversely, assertive acclimated guitars are about worthless. If affairs acclimated guitars from music stores, assurance shops or individuals, chase the aforementioned accomplish above, authoritative abiding to analysis acknowledgment policies. A lot of alone sellers will not acquiesce returns, so appraise their acclimated instruments with added scrutiny. Ask the alone what is amiss with the instrument, or if it has any quirks that are distracting. Ask why they are affairs the guitar. Their acknowledgment may acknowledge added about its condition. Missing screws, boundless scratches or a abominable actualization announce poor treatment, accretion the anticipation that a guitar has added concealed issues.

Buying Guitars Online

If you can’t try the guitars you like in person, there are still a few means to appraise them. Seek for guitar reviews online or in magazines, paying added absorption to accepted trends. Several mentions of the aforementioned affair in a assertive guitar can be trusted, while a individual analysis may be beneath accurate. Also advance the abounding music-related forums on the internet (search online for ‘guitar forum’ or ‘bass forum’). You can seek appointment athenaeum for admonition on the guitar(s) you want, and you can column your own questions if you actualize an account. Be absolute in your seek for admonition and you will end up with a abundant instrument!

Problems Afterwards Purchase

So your new guitar has developed a problem, what should you do? First, alarm the store. A music abundance should be actual accommodating to admonition with any problems on an apparatus you bought beneath than a ages beforehand (though you may accept to advance a little in some cases). A lot of food will either alter the apparatus or fix the botheration for free. If the abundance will not help, acquaintance the manufacturer’s assurance administration directly. If you can’t get the architect to fix the problem, yield the apparatus to a bounded luthier or guitar adjustment artisan (not the one at the abundance breadth you bought the guitar). Explain your bearings and ask for their advice.

Armed with this new information, you are accessible to get out there and become a bedrock star!

Easy Guitar Songs: Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love

Not all classic rock is easy or approachable for beginners on guitar. Finding easy guitar songs without a ton of chord theory, scale patterns or difficult fingerings is not as common as many new player would like, and when they do find easy electric guitar licks to wrap their fingers around, sometimes the songs themselves aren’t really what they want to learn, even if they are looking for free guitar lessons. Still, bands like Black Sabbath, Scorpions and even Led Zeppelin have a few numbers in their mighty catalogs that give an aspiring rocker ample room to learn guitar riffs and expand their guitar learning while still getting to play songs.

Case in point, Led Zeppelin’s monumental electric guitar licks in the classic: ‘Whole Lotta Love’. As easy guitar songs go, it doesn’t get much better than this. Ideally played on an amped-up electric, the main riff still sounds great even unplugged on acoustic guitar. Once you have the basic fingerings and rhythm chops down in a session or two, it becomes fairly easy to play along with the original at tempo. Based on a simple single-note pattern in D resolving to a root fifth power chord in E, the song is a study in powerful simplicity when broken down to its most basic components.

Setting aside the layers of organized sound in the middle interlude, the song’s only other changes are the staggered E chords to lead into the guitar solo and the rather dramatic outro, underscoring vocalist, Robert Plant’s vintage wail. Again, the main key to this and most music is that once you have the licks and chord progressions, it’s time to focus on rhythm and timing. The groove of the song is absolutely essential, so once you have the basic nuts and bolts of chords and strumming patterns, it’s vital to focus on timing and get into that deep Zeppelin groove.

While some Zep songs are more complex and can be a literal handful for beginner guitar players, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ is a great free guitar lesson that encapsulates power chords, signature electric guitar licks and all kinds of attitude. You don’t have to be a wealth of scales and modes or arpeggios to benefit from this and other easy guitar songs. You just have to get the basics and then be willing to add timing and groove to your guitar learning session. You’ll never regret it.