Should Beginning Musicians Buy Brand Name or “Budget” Gear?

Every time I walk into my local Guitar Center, I feel like a kid in a candy store. I can stay there for hours just looking and playing a few riffs on different guitars and amps. Well guess what? That is also the only time I get to play on a Fender Telecaster or a Gretsch hollow body, or play through a Fender Bassman amp or an all-tube Marshall stack. That being said, it’s by choice that I decided not to get expensive gear right off the bat. Yes, there has been many times where I want to get myself in debt and purchase that brand new Fender, Gibson, or Gretsch but I come to my senses right away and decide not to. There are several reasons for this and here is why it is my opinion that beginners shouldn’t worry about racing out on day one to go buy the most expensive guitar, bass, drums, or whatever instrument it may be.

Learn To Play Your Instrument First

I’ve only been playing guitar for a couple of years and I consider myself a beginner and probably will do so for years to come. There is just so much to learn when it comes to guitar. I can’t speak from first hand experience on other instruments, but I’m pretty sure there is plenty to learn before you can get past the “beginner” stage as well. In my particular case, the way I look at is, “Why do I want top of the line, expensive gear when I am still learning?” Is having a Gibson ES 295 right now going to magically make any beginning guitarist sound like Scotty Moore right from day one? Is having a 1968 Gibson SG going to turn you into Angus Young right from the get go? HECK NO! Practicing and studying as much as possible will make you one day sound close to those great musicians. If those guys gave me their guitars to play and they played on a guitar from your local Target or Walmart, they would sound a whole lot better than me that’s for sure, even with those cheap $50 guitars. Like the old tired cliche goes, “You gotta learn to crawl before you can walk”. When it comes to playing an instrument, that could never be more truer.

Can You Tell The Difference In Sound?

Between a Fender Strat or Tele and Fender’s “budget” line of Squier Strats or Teles in a blind sound test? If you are a beginner, I am willing to bet the answer is NO. I have never tried it but I doubt I would be able to tell the difference. Sure, there are many musicians that can tell the difference, but the majority have been in the music game for years and years.

Many of the big names like Fender and Gibson have a budget line (Squier and Epiphone, respectively) and are made and play surprisingly well straight out of the box. I have had a Squier Telecaster for years and there have been many times where I have gone months without touching it and the darn thing stays in almost perfect tune. I would say there has to be some quality in the build of a guitar in order for that to happen. Or can it be that my room stays in the perfect temperature and humidity range so that there is absolutely no shrinking or expansion of the wood that enables the guitar to stay in tune? Living in Southern California, I highly doubt that is the case. There ARE diamonds in the rough in the budget lines.

Is Music Your Planned Career?

It’s not and won’t be for me, so that is another reason why I decided not to purchase any expensive gear. If you are a beginner with no experience in playing at all but one day after a long session of Guitar Hero you decide you will become a rock star, I suggest you go out an get a good Squier, Epiphone or Ibanez and play a while. You will know soon enough if being a rock star is your destiny. If it is, then go out and purchase your expensive axe because obviously you are in it for the long haul and your guitar won’t be collecting dust in some corner of your home and won’t be a waste of money.

Final Thought

I have been to many gigs where I have seen some talented musicians rocking out with their Crate solid state amp, or Epiphone SG, or Sound Percussion drum set and the music being produced with said gear sounds perfectly fine and the crowd is having a great time and could care less about what brands are being used. I myself have played bar gigs with my Squier Jagmaster or Epiphone Les Paul and not once have they ever failed me during a gig. Most of the time what a live audience wants to hear is music and have a good time. The “gear snob” in the back of the room will be the minority.

With all that being said it might appear that I hate or would never want a top of the line instrument. Well that is not the case. You do get what you pay for and the top of the line gear is usually built with much better quality and better parts and can last you a lifetime. With the budget gear, you can find something that is built good enough to last you until you move out of the “beginner” stage and until you decide that music is for you. If you don’t really care about the reasons and opinions I listed here and have the money to spend, then by all means go for it. I just feel that a beginner needs to build his skill and brain before going out and making an unnecessary expensive purchase. “Budget” gear has worked for me for all the reasons I listed.