I will be able to buy a new guitar soon... what electric guitar is best for beginners?

Hey there! First, the price should be according to what you will not regret in the event you give up playing within a short period of time. I would stay under the 500$ mark if you don`t have a lot of experience or cash. Of course if you have the cash and you do have the experience, the sky is the limit, but then you wouldn`t be asking would you? So, What style of music do you play? What type of sound do you want? Go to a guitar shop and sit down with different models, play a few familiar things on each one without plugging them in first. How do they feel? Get a good feel of the neck with your hand and feel how your body conforms to the guitars, are you comfortable? Stay away from guitars that won`t allow you to adjust the touch to your liking, some have very high action and suck when it comes to lowering them. I prefer a very low touch myself but you will know what you like when trying them out. Some are very heavy also and you can run into back pain quite often in the beginning so try to go as light as possible but not too light. As far as color and the like it`s entirely up to you but one thing I know, too flashy is just plain too flashy, you don`t want to grow tired of looking at it as after a while you might not pick it up just because of its look. Fender makes the "squire" series guitar and, for the price, I find them good sounding, very physically comfortable and nice to look at. They come in a variety of colors and are easily adjusted to your liking once you get the feel of want you like, providing you get it adjusted by someone who knows how to do it. They are very versatile in the type of sound or type of music you want to play also, look around at what guitars your favorite musicians play and I`m sure there will be a Fender Stratocaster or two among them. The squires are a less expensive and yes, a lesser quality, copy of this guitar. Myself, I play a telecaster copy body with a custom Stevenson neck, american standard tele pick ups and very low action with medium gauge strings. After the initial try out then, and only then, plug the favorite ones in and see how they sound and what sound options does the pick up set up offer. Do you like the sound of single coils or humbuckers or both? Ask the salesman to explain the differences in the pick ups. there are so many guitars for under 500$ from so many companies, in the end it will come down to one thing...what you feel at home with pricewise as well as playability. Good luck and I hope this helps. I have left out a lot of stuff but for now I guess it will get you out there. M.

My .02 worth is to buy used. Why spend the coin for a new low end guitar when you can get a used higher end for the same price. Think of cars. Once you drive off the lot the value drops. Go to somewhere like ebay once you figure out what kind of guitar you want. You would be surprized what you might find if you time it right. I would look for a guitar that was made in japan. Fenders japan guitars from a few years ago where better quality than the new Mexico ones. The same hold true for the Jackson/Charvels. Do your homework. I pick up a Gibson WRC for under $300 last year. It has a ebony finger, 1-hum 2-single and a floyd and yes it`s USA made. They are 250 made due to they were sued by Jackson. So, I have a rare Gibson that has increased in value, plus plays killer. You could buy a new Squire, but just try to sell it in a few months with the Thousands on sale at ebay. I would say check out the Charvels. They are guitar that sold for $850 to $1400 in the late 80`s to early 90`s. They are solid and are going up in value. Check it out.