BUYING YOUR GUITAR

I offer students both current and interested a no-cost service of shopping with you for your acoustic, electric, or bass guitar, amplifier, effect units, and other guitar accessories so don’t buy crap on ebay. I don't drive but if you can provide transport or we train it I'll shop with you as I always need bits & bobs.
Here are the top shops around the north Herts / Cambs area that I use and reccomend:

STEVENAGE

Coda Music, 51a High Street, Stevenage - 01438 350815

CAMBRIDGE

Drum & Guitar Centre, 4 Norfolk Street, Cambridge - 01223 364410

Arena Music, 222 Mill Road, Cambridge - 01223 247617 / 247605

HITCHIN

Machinehead Music, 10 Bucklersbury, Hitchin - 01462 433305

LETCHWORTH

The Music Place, 8 Eastcheap, Letchworth - 01462 636888

KIDS GUITARS

Don't start your kids on one of those nasty nylon string acoustic guitars, they drive me mad. Uncomfortable to hold and difficult to play, they won't spark any enthusiasm because they just don't sound like you expect a guitar to.

You can buy mini electric guitars designed for under 13's which are much easier to play. These can be plugged into any amplifier and given effects like distortion, echo and phaser which inspire play (trust me). Don't worry, the £46 Marshall amp shown has a headphone socket. This one does not include the effects, see the DFX series below.

An example of a good priced mini electric guitar with mini amplifier pack is this Crafter Cruiser for £89. Make sure you buy a tuner too, they are vital and this Korg only costs £12.

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BEGINNER'S AMPLIFIERS

I have been through a few amps in my 16 years of guitar play, here is the range of beginner's amps I can personally recommend as I owned the 30watt while my stack was out of action;

The Marshall MGDFX series.

• MG15DFX ~£89, 15watt, 8" speaker, 2 channels, button-switch channels.
• MG30DFX ~£119, 30watt, 10" speaker, 2 channels, EQ for each channel, foot-switch channels. (Switch pedal not included)
• The 2 channels; Clean & Overdrive (distortion)
• Digital Effects;
• Reverb  (big hall sound)
• Delay  (echo...echo...echo)
• Chorus  (watery wobble)
• Flange  (phasey sweep)
• Both have headphone socket & line out (send to tape/computer etc)

The 15watt: If you are not planning on switching overdrive on/off very often and don't need much more volume than a home hi-fi, then the 15watt will cover your needs. Typical £89

The 30watt: If you are a Metal Head- go for the 30watt for better distortion control and a fatter sound. Once you add the pedal switch it is around £45 more. Typical £119, £135 with pedal.

The Effects: It is good to have effects on your guitar as it makes every note you hit sound more charismatic, which draws attention away from the paper and in to the resulting music, encouraging you to make your own instead!

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