Electric Guitar Information

Electric guitars are excellent beginnerguitars.
Compared with acoustic and classic guitars they are more easy to play because the strings are
closer to the fretboard.
The sound is perfect for rock, metal and everything in that direction.

An electric guitar's sound is largely dependent on a electrical signal, generated by the vibration
of metal strings near sensitive pickups (magnets wrapped with coils of very fine wire).
This signal is sent through a cable to a amplifier.

So with an electric guitar you'll need an amplifier.
There are a lot of nice starterssets available.
These sets usually contain a guitar, cable and amplifier.
The same as with guitars, amplifiers come in all sorts and sizes.
There are basic amplifiers available and there are amplifiers available with built-in effects.
A beginner only needs a 15 watt amplifier to practice, but if you're planning on playing gigs
in the near future, you might consider a more powerful (wich also means more expensive) one.
Most amplifiers have a headphone jack so you can play without disturbing anyone.
Nowadays there are even portable (effect)devices available for your electric so you can take it with
you with your earphones without needing an amplifier (like the Line 6 Pocket Pod).
With this same device it's possible to use a lot of effects with a basic amplifier.
You can find more information about the Pocket Pod here)

 

A lot of electric guitars have a "tremolo arm" (or whammy bar).
This allows you to 'bend' notes or chords down in pitch or perform a vibrato embellishment.

There are all kinds of effects available for electric guitars (like distortion, fuzz, delay,
wah-wah, sustain, increase the gain).
This sounds really cool when done right and you can't do stuff like this with an acoustic...

Some good quality brands for electric guitars are: Gibson, Fender, Ibanez & Yamaha.
These brands also have amplifiers.

 

Electric guitars are great beginner's guitars, especially for rock/metal lovers.

 

Learn more about cleaning your guitar here.

 

 

Another great guitar is the semi-acoustic guitar, read more about this type of guitar here.