Lockdown had made me consider learning an instrument. And my mind fell on guitar, and since I already own an audio interface for a microphone, I could plug in an e-guitar and spare my neighbours from my beginner's fails.
Long story short, I've found a new Epiphone Les Paul SL Ebony for 109€ at a local music store. Does anyone know anything about them, are they recommendable for absolute beginners?
Hey cybersmurf! Took me this long to actually get around to replying.
I looked this up, and basically it seems that that is pretty much exactly the price you can expect to pay for one of those. Not a ripoff, not a great price, just about right. That is a great price for anything by Epiphone, principally speaking, but it must be their mega-budget model because Epiphone can be surprisingly pricey for a 'budget' version of Gibson. My research suggests they're surprisingly good quality for the price.
It will be fine as a beginner guitar and probably not for much else - one thing I would warn of is that Gibson/Epi guitars are often verrrry heavy and cheaper does not necessarily mean lighter in my experience, so be watchful of that if you're somebody lacking in upper body strength or spinal strength. That said it seems this one is a consciously lightweight design by them.
As a guitar, it's basically a bite on the typical style of a Danelectro type guitar, so it looks like it won't be built for handling a heavy metal sound, but would be fine cruising through punk, rock 'n' roll, jazz (although not necessarily lead), country, as long as you aren't looking to do them too seriously. If it sounds like this guitar won't suit your needs, by all means reply here or drop me a PM for advice and we can chat in more detail about what you might want from a guitar.
I, on the other hand, have added someone new to my relationship - Luna, the name I have given to a Japanese Fender Midnight Stratocaster. One of these.
I was on the hunt for a Dream Guitar for when shops started re-opening, to spend some money my grandmother's estate left to me. I had considered a few options, but saw this Midnight Strat in a window and fell in love with it instantly.
David Gilmour played one. And influences don't get bigger than that for me.
I've never been a huge fan of Strats, because they're such jack-of-all guitars - but they are just that, though. And the pickups are made by Seymour Duncan, and the wood is amazing, it's light, it's beautiful and such good quality. So easy to play. Sounds absolutely incredible, and the floating bridge is surprisingly kind to the tuning.
