My personal opinion when it comes to badass-looking guitars: a Gibson 335 (or 335-style semihollow - how did I forget the semihollows? Never forget the semihollows!), a bound telecaster, or drool - Mojo Pin’s Reverends. Lord have mercy, but those are hot guitars. And my goodness. He recommended the Double Agent, which is also my favorite of the Rev lineup (and he might also be a Jeff Buckley fan - Are you me, Mojo Pin).
Ah. Nope. He also like Parkers, which I think are butt ugly. 
Well, there’s a nice 2 year window after when your calluses have developed/fingers have stretched but before arthritis starts to set in…
Seriously, are you just talking about your fingertips aren’t toughened up or are you experiencing other kinds of finger pain? Your teacher is the best source of advice that way because he/she is in the same room with you, and can tell when you’re doing something ill-advised. I need to play at least an hour a day to keep the calluses going, and when I can’t manage that, I take the nail file to my LH fingertips.
I’ve done some tendinitis/focal distonia things to my hands, and I had trigger finger on my RH ring finger for a couple of months, but I’ve been able to rest, rethink and play around them. In ways, they’ve made me a better player because I’m now more ergonomic. You can usually tell those kinds of things because they don’t tend to get better or stay the same, they tend to get worse quickly.
I’m also just assuming you’re not talking about a sudden marathon session - those just happen and you work through them. I had a week in Feb. where I played 18 hours in a pit band over 4 days, and that didn’t count what it took to learn and rewrite stuff in the off-hours. The fingers were tired but they held up, and with some stretching and heat they came through it all well.
So yeah, you’re doing more with your fingers than the average person, but they’re capable of it. Just treat them well and respect them.
I’m a devoted Strat player, so take what follows with a few grains of salt. When Leo Fender decided to upgrade the Telecaster, a process which resulted in the Strat, he consulted players. What he achieved remains, in my opinion, the most ergonomic guitar made. To address WordMan’s specific points:
• The whammy bar – As Burton said, changing strings one at a time nullifies the changing tension issue that you get when you remove all strings before replacing them. I don’t use a whammy bar much, so I keep my springs very tight, eliminating the flutter issue. A player who is unlikely to want a whammy bar can buy a hard-tail or tighten the springs.
• Controls – I think the Strat has them in the best possible places. Wherever they are, the player needs to learn to deal with them, and I’d rather learn to strum around the pickup selector than have to reach out of my normal hand position to get to it. And I like having the volume knob where my pinky can reach it while I’m picking a note.
• Basic nature? It’s a versatile guitar, tone-wise, ideal for someone who wants to make a lot of different sounds. Some players, like Stevie Ray, have gone to great lengths to get the tone they wanted out of it, but I have found that the ones I have owned have delivered most of what I wanted with minimal effort.
All of that having been said, I am not the Strat apostle. It’s the best shape and setup for me. Pick the one that feels best to you.
All makes sense. I can’t change strings 1 at a time; I am such a sweaty dog that when I change strings I really have to wipe down the whole guitar - I also can check other aspects of the set up. But swapping out a full set on a Strat is no biggie to me since I am used to it…
Otherwise - I see know issues with what you or **Burton **say - although I don’t know how interested I am in having my face ripped off. 
The basic point is that each of the major electric guitar designs have their idiosyncracies, pro’s and con’s. Getting a sense for what works for you is a great first step…
Y’know, I’ve been playing guitar for a long time, and I’ve owned and played plenty of tremolo guitars, including guits with Floyd Rose trems, Kahler Spider trems, and plain ol’ start trems (OK, 2-point floating tremolos.) I’ve never really understood the whole “changing strings is a pain in the butt” thing. I never changed them out one at a time, and I never really had any trouble changing them or getting the guitar back in tune. I dunno, man. Maybe there’s a knack to it…but it just doesn’t seem that tough to me.
The first time out is crap shoot anyway. Who still plays their first guitar? I was a late convert to Fenders also. I played short scale humbuckers guitars for a long time but eventually came to appreciate Fenders.
I use both types today but if I had to have one guitar it would be a Strat.
Reverends are great and Joe Naylor is a good guy that will stand by his products.
I’m hot for an Eastwood Airline Tuxedo right now but I don’t think that’s a place to start playing electric guitar.
I love, love, love the look of the guitars and the Eastwoods I have played seem pretty well put-together for the price (typically less than $1,000). But I haven’t had a chance to play a Tux - everytime I get to a place that stocks them, they’re sold out…
Eastwoods are Far East-made reissues of quirky, less-expensive guitars from the 50’s and 60’s - in this case, the Tuxedo is a re-issue of the Kay Barney Kessel model from the 50’s.
Besides the Tux, I am also GASsing for a Gibson ES-339 - the new, smaller-bodied version of the semi-hollow ES-335. I prefer a smaller body size. But I haven’t been able to play one of those either!! Grr.
For the OP - GAS=Gear (or Guitar) Acquisition Syndrome, the inability of gear freaks to stop buying new stuff. It’s extremely contagious.
I have an 82 Ibanez AS-80 that’s a smaller bodied semi hollow body. The 339 looks a little smaller than it though.
I have one of those as well, Burton, and I believe WordMan used to have one as well. Small world.
Edit: Damn Ibanez model numbers. Mine is an AS-50.
Yeah - the AS-50 (mine was a '81) was 15% smaller vs. a full 335; I think the 339’s are just a bit smaller.
I loved that AS-50 - really well made; but the neck was way too slim for my tastes. The 339’s come with two different necks, one of which is a “chunky '59” type of neck. If the shoulders aren’t too big, that could be right up my alley - and if they are too big, I can have a luthier buddy sand 'em down. But I really need to check one to see if the guitar is even close to my expectations…
Yeah - a 339, a Tuxedo, and my next project Parts-o-Tele, with a bound body (likely pine) a short Gibson-scale neck (to compliment my existing Tele with a regular Fender-scale neck) and a few other cool idiosyncracies…I got GAS bad, man…
No, I think it’s just developing the callouses. No arthritis, no problems with finger flexibility; but after practicing, it’s “yeoowch!” where my left hand fingers have been pressing the strings. Continued practice will help toughen them, I’m sure. Thanks for the input, Le Ministre.
Yeah, they’ll toughen up. You may also be gripping the neck way too hard. This is a common problem. You don’t really have to strangle it and press the strings all the way down to the wood of the fretboard. In fact, doing so throws off the intonation of whatever note or chord you’re playing. All you have to do is make sure that the note sounds cleanly. This really requires a lot less pressure than you would think, and some folks make a practice of learning “light fingering”, a technique that allows you to put precisely the right amount of pressure on the string, and no more. Shredders in particular, like this approach. Some of those guys practice 8 hours a day, and never develop calluses at all.
One other thing, if you’re FORCED to put lots of pressure on the string in order to fret it properly, it could mean that your action is too high, or that your neck has warped out of shape. Could be time to go have it set up again.
Good points (and pointers), Ogre. Without meaning to, I guess I’ve been using a “death grip,” so I’ll try to be a little lighter. Thanks!
Does anyone have thoughts on the higher end ‘First Act’ guitars? I know they make junk guitars for Wal-Mart and such, but I understand their higher end guitars are reasonably well regarded.
The reason I ask is because Costco has the First Act Lola SFA Edition for an outrageously low price. They also have the ‘Delia’ (hollow body electric) and Sheena (kind of a telecaster look) for similar prices. I’ve seen them on the web retailing for anywhere from $250 to $400. And with Costo, you get an awesome return policy if you need it.
I play an acoustic guitar, but I’ve been thinking of picking up an electric just for fun and to play around with, probably playing it through a Guitarport or a Pod into my home theater system. For $160, even if the electronics and pickups are crap I could use it as a project guitar base if the build quality is decent. But mostly it’s just something to play around with and see if I’ll stick with playing electric. If I really enjoy it, I’ll go buy something better.
I have heard very nice things about high-end First Act guitars. I’ve never personally played one, but their MIA models are supposed to be very high-quality instruments. I know one of the guitarists from Mastodon plays one, as does the guitarist/lead singer of High On Fire, and Paul Westerberg.
You can see it featured in this video. Warning: heavy metal - but it’s more in the tradition of Motorhead than anything else.
The “Delia” has gotten some good reviews on Harmony Central. I say go for it. Costco will take it back if you hate it, so there’s really not much to lose. Spend the extra few bucks to have it set up and intonated, though.
Same here - there was a thread a while back on The Gear Page where a guitar tech reviewed a First Act that I think he won in a contest. I think he ended up re-fretting it but overall felt it was a very solid player.
I have an AS 50 also. I love that one to death.
Thanks, guys. I’ll probably pick one of them up.
I’ve scan read this thread -so apols if Ive missed it, but the Gretsch Electromatic guitars are a great place to start. Very affordable taste of a great dynasty. Around £450.
The pick-ups aren’t that great but replace them with some GFS Nashville’s or the TVJones classics and bingo-bango!
I love these threads!
MiM
