RL Guitar Heroes - Help me out.

[Flawless]

Okay, I'm looking to buy my brother a brand new spanking electric guitar for Christmas this year and since you're all a lovable bunch of toe-rags I thought I'd come here in addition to do my own research on the internets.

I'm looking for something ~$300 MAX price range that includes an amp.

I have a feeling that I'll get the same hits that come up all over the internet but... what guitar/guitar package should I get for him as a beginner?

Squire by Fender and Yamaha Epiphone(I think Epiphone) are the two repeated suggestions I get over and over again - and I think for good reason.

But what do you guys suggest? And anything else I should consider?

Side bonus: Considering buying myself a Bass Guitar... same as above, what suggestions?

[ArmsAreLoud]

Do you expect guitar+amp to add up to $300?

[Flawless]

Pretty sure I started the rough budget, yes.

[ArmsAreLoud]

Epiphone is always a good way to go. I know people who prefer their Epiphone over the Gibson counterpart, so yeah.

Not as sure about the amp, though; I'm assuming you just want a practice amp, so you probably want a low-watt combo. Fifteen watts should be enough, if not more then enough; be sure to pick one up with headphone plugs, too.

[Flawless]

Yeah, mainly looking for a nice little combination starter kit basically.

I know you can buy starter packs with said guitars in it for my budget, but was curious if there was any hidden gems anyone knew about.

[bradylicious9]

i got a squier by fender stratocaster + amp + 3 picks + stand + strap + some dvd for 200 bucks on musiciansfriend.com great for a starter, imo.

[wolfdarkside]

epiphone has an amazing firebird replica bass for about 270. as for an amp, most likely a smaller amp would have to work.
for your brother, i dont know. i usually look into drum sets when im price checking stuff.

[trench762]

it's become my opinion over the years that you get what you pay for. Granted I have never bought a new squier or epiphone, but the ones I had drove me away from playing more than attracted me. If I personally had 300$ to spend and nothing to play on atm, I would get an ibanez probably, their mid-range guitars are just that, a great instrument at a great price, but you'll probably want to replace the pickups in the longrun. That would be a start, which may be a little over 300$ with no amp, but you can get a cheap practice amp for 50$ or less new, and maybe even around 25$ used. That way if you ever want to upgrade the amp you'll have a solid instrument to play on it. And trust me on this, while it is possible to get a guitar+amp combo for around 200 or less, if you enjoy the instrument your gonna want better tone eventually. I started thinking hey a distortion pedal will be all I need with this cheap amp, and if you want a dirty sound sometimes that is all you need, but if you want deep rich tone, your gonna have to get something pretty expensive. I've got a fender strat that I paid around 500 for, and I'm wishing now that I would have spent a little more on the american, my guitar is solid, but when I upgraded my amp (am using a Flextone III atm) I could tell that the sound wasn't up to the same standards as my buddies americaan telecaster. Also if you buy a cheap guitar it loses half it's retail value the second you walk out the store with it. If you buy a high quality guitar, it doesn't depriciate in value as easily and may even go up. I could sell an american strat for example on ebay in new condition for the same price a store sells them. I'd also recommend staying away from pawnshop guitars, unless you know alot about them. Pawnshops in this area ask retail value for stuff, unless your a regular and they know you. And there is also a chance you'll get something with a warped neck, dead frets, anything. And the last bit of advice I have is play the instrument before you buy it. If your knew to the guitar it may be difficult to tell if one has good action, good tone or whatever, but it's fairly easy to check for dead frets. Just play every note on every string and make sure none of them buzz.

[irockprettyhard]

squire is win, its my geetar

[Mega-Tallica]

I Squier is a beautiful starter guitar, but if you want to really impress him, get him a low-end Ibanez RG series guitar. They range from anywhere from $200-$1000 and they are wonderful for any style of playing.