I just bought a guitar is it rubbish?

Hello! First time poking my head in this thread so apologies in advance if I get laughed out sheepishly but... I've started trying to learn to play the guitar over the past few months with a beaten up old acoustic guitar I had lying around for years. I've always wanted to get myself an electric guitar if I ever showed any commitment so I'm wondering if there's any recommendations anyone might have on a beginners purchase?

Or if looking for a used option are there any good second hand marketplaces worth looking at?

Yeah- they’re better and more playable than ever.
Might be worth staring a budget and, as for style, what kind of music might you like to play, any guitarists (and therefore guitar types) you like.

You spelled Les Paul wrong

I'm not sure if I should have started this task or not

photos.app.goo.gl/fV435KK9ujDcBx6p6

Still waiting for a new bridge to arrive today before I can finish it

Thanks for all the input folks - it's true as a total beginner whenever the question is asked everyone has their favourites/biases and it totally goes over the head of a newbie! Honestly I think I just want something to mess about with for now and continue to learn the basics - sounds like I should go mess about in a shop first too.

When I started, which is nearly 40 years ago, bad guitars had a really high action and it was like trying to play cheese cutting wire.

These days I can't remember seeing a bad guitar - just get one that the neck is comfortable for your hand size.

There’s a number of things that can make a guitar “bad”, a lot of them can be worked around.

Bad construction - this is pretty terminal, but quite rare in the age of CNC machines. Set neck guitars like Les Pauls night have been fitted out of alignment so the strings are off to one side, the neck angle can be incorrect and you have to adjust the bridge height to the extreme to get a decent string action. Bolt on necks like Fenders have to be routed correctly, you don’t want gaps around the heel for instance. You don’t often see guitars with badly aligned bridges any more. You can have these problems but still end up with a guitar that sounds and feels great though

Bad materials - less common now, the days of plywood guitars are pretty much over. Costs are cut on electronics and hardware mostly now, pickups on a cheap guitar might not be the most dynamic sounding

Bad setup - this is the most common you’ll encounter, cheaper guitars won’t have had hours spent fine tuning the fret height, the nut will probably be left really high and the action on the strings will be huge so that it doesn’t buzz when strummed. The truss rod probably won’t have been adjusted and you’ll have tons of relief etc, 9/10 guitars out there will end up playing perfectly well after a decent setup

Just plain dogs - this can happen to any guitar made with the best will in the world, something just doesn’t work, could be a flaw in the neck or something and the guita just doesn’t sustain, sound dull and dead or never stays in tune despite all the fettling you can throw at it. Sometimes a dog ends up really famous, like the Greeny or Page’s No1, couldn’t give them away until they clicked with their owner

A well set up guitar makes a huge difference to a beginner, same with anything you want to learn

This is all very interesting, and I'm now reading all about action height and string intonation adjustment.
Though I'm not sure how brave I am about messing with all that, as I'd probably make it worse

Loads of advice there.

I've found aesthetics can make a difference too. Not just how it looks but more how it feels.

When I play bass, my technique for my plucking hand is to rest my thumb on the pickup I'm using. My fender has it exactly in the right place and the right height for my thumb.

That red one above that I posted hasn't got that so I struggle to play it a bit. So I've bought a different pickup which may or may not help. Will see! But it definitely affects how well I can play if I've got a good pickup size and location.

You only really notice these things after time but it's all real. Always better to play it if you can before you buy it as guitars have even more nuances than basses.

The solution is clearly to stick loads of stickers all over it. It works for making laptops look cooler!

Luckily I never used my Guitar Hero 3 GnR stickers

Personally I think tone is a pretty minor consideration for a beginner. You can get most guitars to sound close to what you want with pretty much any cheap modelling amp or pedal, and beginners aren't going to hear the nuanced differences. More important is a guitar that you like the look of (so you're inspired to keep picking it up) and that feels comfortable and natural to play imo. That said, I agree an HSS Strat is a good cover-all option.

Affinity range models are still good value at that price, I think. Like you, I don't know much about the Sonic range. My own personal favourite are the Classic Vibes. They really are lovely, I've got one (a CV Starcaster) and have tried out a few others. 

Really does depend on budget. I personally would not go less than about 300 quid new unless it was something I wanted to tinker with. It depends how likely you are to get past messing about for a few weeks against it being a hobby you stick with I guess.

In the Squier bracket, the Classic Vibes are generally the best and will be punching towards the old Mexican standards in quality (although I think they have dropped off a bit since the heady days people talked them up as Fender killers).

The below would be a banging guitar if your budget would stretch to it. Both Squier and Epiphone have moved away from rosewood fingerboards and tend to use Indian Laurel - it can be a crapshoot whether that wood looks good or not, and I’ve had a Squier CV bass with a fretboard that was basically grey. But - you can’t go wrong with varnished blonde maple!

If you get the bug get a more traditional Tele for your next one.

www.andertons.co.uk/brands/squier/squier-telecaster-guitars/squier-classic-vibe-70s-telecaster-thinline-maple-fingerboard-natural

I’d start with something like a Fender micro amp with headphones and then if you are ready for amps a Boss Katana 50 would sort you out for bedroom needs.

Thanks! They're cheap too! I forget the name of the place but If you Google Mexican hearth tiles, then bingo!

Here is the full shebang -

photos.app.goo.gl/y3QqGiwAFZB2PHnn7