Guitar Gear Reviews Played on the bench before it gets a score

Guides: get the basics right first

This is what twenty years of teaching has taught me about buying gear: how to choose a first electric that will still be in your hands in five years, what to look at in an amp, how to order the pedals on a board, and how to set up a guitar so it plays the way it should. No brands, no sales pitch.

01 How to Choose Your First Electric Guitar A guitar teacher explains what matters when picking a first electric guitar: body shape, neck feel, pickups, budget bands and what can wait until later. 02 Single-Coils, Humbuckers and P90s: What Really Changes What actually changes between single-coil, humbucker and P90 pickups: sound, hum, genres, mixing them, and how to test them in a store or a demo.

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