Buying an Electric Guitar?

Best advice I can give you:

Go to your Guitar Center and play every guitar that falls into your price range. Buy the one that feels the best to YOU.

You wouldn't ask someone on the internet what kind of shoes you would find most comfortable, would you? Of course not. Then why ask someone on the internet what kind of guitar would be best for you when they know nothing about your playstyle or preferences?

Bottom line: The guitar you buy has to be YOUR choice. No one on the internet can give you a good answer, because we are not you and you will be the one playing the guitar. I could give you a list of guitars *I* might buy, but that doesn't mean any of them will be the one YOU should buy.

Oh, and for the record, "awesome looking" means absolutely nothing. How does it sound? How does it feel when you play it? Those are the important questions. What it looks like is completely irrelevant.

Sorry, but you're going to have to pick out your guitar yourself. I'd rather tell you you're on your own than tell you what guitar to buy, and have you end up hating it because it isn't the right one for you.

Hi there. I am a guitar player too. Been for about a year now. I don't think electric.guitar is a good idea. It makes sound at a very soft touch, and for us its very difficult since we are used to acoustic electric. I would say you wait for some time. Atleast till you master acoustic electric. My friend who has been guitar player for three years needs half an hour to adjust. Its very tough. It will be waste of money.

seek for a schecter...they are very properly outfitted guitars. superb fee for the money. you heavily isn't dissapointed. I very own quite a few besides as some high priced Over $1000 guitars (Gibson Les Paul,Fender American Strat). i like the Schecter, greater appropriate. you will get them in the US in the $3 hundred and up variety. you will possibly desire to be waiting to locate them in the united kingdom. circulate to their internet site and look up uk sellers.

As you have said that you're not a pro yet, I recommend removing Dean and ESP from the list. Amateur guitar players don't buy those guitars. Dean guitars are mostly used by metal players, as far as I can see, while I don't know anything about ESP, still I can't see amateur guitar players that handles that kind of guitar. So, the two main choice is Fender or Ibanez. The answer to your question is self-preference, so in my state, I prefer Fender Stratocaster. Stratocasters are very versatile, meaning it is genre-friendly, you can use it in any genre may it be Rock, Pop, Blues, Jazz, Hard Rock, Grunge and even Metal. You will also love the feel of this guitar, and based on my personal experience, it has this smooth feel in it and I'm very comfortable to play it. Another thing you will also love about a Fender Strat is it's 5-way pickup selector (Bridge, Bridge & Middle, Middle, Middle & Neck, Neck), meaning it will allow you to find different kinds of tones in it, or even find you own distinctive style and tune out of it. Another thing is the tremolo system of Stratocasters, and the lovely design of Fender guitars. You can also buy a Fender Jaguar, Telecaster, Jazzmaster, or Mustang. But those guitars seem to be for advanced players or up, although you can buy it if you want (I really want to buy a Fender Jaguar, my guitar as of now is a Squier Stratocaster Standard), but you may want to make sure that you really deserve a guitar. So, in your price range of $300 - $500, you can afford a Made In Mexico Fender Stratocaster, which is a good choice for a Fender guitar, and you'll love the quality of it. The diagram of quality will goes like this (I may be wrong, but I may be right):

Stratocaster Copy

Squier Stratocaster Affinity

Squier Stratocaster Standard Series

Squier Stratocaster Vintage Modified / Squier Stratocaster Classic Vibe

Fender Stratocaster Made In Mexico / American Deluxe (etc, etc)

and other versions of Fender Stratocaster.

My guitar is a Squier by Fender Stratocaster Standard series, I bought it in the price of $317 - $320, but it doesn't come with an amplifier because a Squier Stratocaster that comes with an amp is for beginner's package, $300+ also. I don't recommend buying that package. As of now, I'm satisfied with my guitar, it sounds great, and bright (stratocasters are usually bright). All in all, I spent $490 with my gear set up (Squier by Fender Stratocaster Standard series, Stagg 40 GA R amp, Fender guitar strap, 10' Fender California cable, Fender picks, soft case padded guitar bag and other extras). So, your $500 may end like mine, but it's not bad. If you just want to buy a guitar, buy a Made In Mexico Fender Stratocaster, it's $500 in price usually. But, make sure that you have a good amp for the Fender/Squier guitars so that you'll achieve a great Fender sound out of it. If you just want to stick with your amp right now, that's okay but make sure to replace it with a better amp soon. Save money and buy a "tube amp" for you guitar. I'm now saving money for the Fender Super Champ X2 15-watt tube amp, $350 - $500 is the price. That amp is very versatile too, having the 16 different voicings in it, and some nice effects like delay, reverb, etc, and that's a tube amp, you can achieve the great Fender sound in it, and my Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion Pedal (which I bought for $97) will really sound great on that amp. Lastly, remember not to buy an Affinity series of a Stratocaster, that's a piece of crap for me (and for others, that guitar is for a total beginner), and make sure that if you'll buy an Squier by Fender Stratocaster Standard series, the gold decal on the headstock should be there (the Squier logo should be in gold color, below is the small logo of "by Fender", and at the near end of the headstock is the Standard logo), if it's not in gold decal, that's an Squier bullsh*t copy or an Affnity ones. Also, avoid China made guitars (unless you want to buy the Classic Vibe ones, it is made from real and authentic Fender parts, I think it's just released in China, that guitar is a very good one, I was about to buy it but another customer had already). As time goes by, you'll improve your gear setup. Goodluck, mate.