The first guitar is so important if progress is to be made, interest is to be retained and of equal importance, confidence is to be built. It makes sense that minimal investment seems sensible at the outset, but there is a point at which bargain prices start to erode the chances of the previously mentioned aspects succeeding. Generic shopping platforms are full of guitars for the price of a pub meal, but these are false economies. These guitars are generally speaking, toys, and not proper instruments. They will not have seen a technician’s bench and will be uncomfortable to play, impossible to keep in tune, and they suck the enthusiasm out of a beginner. They arrive with transport strings which serve only to cause pain rather than toughen the fingertips. These guitars require two thirds of their purchase price to be made playable for a beginner – a set of proper strings, neck relief made good, high frets banged in, intonation corrected so that scales are in fact scales, and not some micro-tonal experimental Middle Eastern folk music.
 
Starter packages often include a baby amplifier too. Some of them even work properly – not many though.
 
Here is a solution: a great looking full-scale Jackson JS11, a Marshall 15W amplifier, a decent stand and a decent cable. The Jackson guitar is classified as an entry-level model, but once they have had an hour on a luthier bench, they are actually perfectly adequate guitars – better to play than many 3 or 4 times their price.
 
The pick-ups are decent, the neck very slick and comfy for beginners. This one has had our attention – great for younger beginners. The Marshall amp is quiet enough not to annoy, but plenty loud enough to either be yelled at to turn it down, or more importantly, enough for the first band practice. From Angus Young, through Led Zepp and up to Van Halen, mini-versions of these sounds can be enjoyed with this amp. With the pick-up selector in the middle position, the amp gain turned down, a very pleasant clean sound can be the default for scale practice.
 
This is a proper compromise between paying the least amount of money for a terrible guitar that will feel like a punishment rather than a reward; and making incremental upgrades as talent emerges – that is expensive.
 
I am aiming this squarely at our local market here in East Anglia, as it makes no financial sense to pack and post amplifiers. Collection only therefore, and most importantly the chance to sit down and try it for a while to be sure.
 
A decent quaity cable and a proper stand also included.