Electric guitar and amp for 11 year old?

[Guiiitar]

DS can play the acoustic guitar fairly well, and he gets lessons. Loves it. And is OBSESSED with his friend’s electric guitar.

It’s his birthday (11) in a few week so I’m going to get him an electric guitar and amp.

No idea where to start!!

What’s a good one for about £250? (And will also check second hand!)

Bump!

Sorry can't help - I'm looking for something similar for 9-yo DS though- so hoping you get some replies! I think we are after a 3/4 size /mini electric guitar and someone recommended Squiers brand on an old thread but I don't know anything about guitars so any advice would be great.

Squier are generally well made budget guitars (under the wing of Fender). Telecaster are a good, solid, no frills model.

Amps? There are plenty of cheap amps out there and they are often nasty. Go for a bigger speaker rather than a higher wattage. 10" 5 watt is likely to be a better bet than an 8" 20 watt job. It is likely to sound fuller (not necessarily louder).

You might be well advised to seek out an amp with a headphone socket for your own sanity.

Thanks Paisleydad! I went for a Squier Stratocaster 3/4 size in the end as got a secondhand bargain on fb marketplace. Glad it's a good brand.

I hope your lad gets hours of pleasure out of it.

I hope you retain your sanity.

Have a look on different electric guitar brands on You Tube, especially the reviews and find out what electric guitar enthusiasts look for in a potential new instrument. I am sure, this way, you would find an electric guitar that you DS will be very happy with.

Late to the thread but in case you are still looking, Squier (Fender's budget brand) or East Coast are a good start. The main thing is to avoid any guitar with a vibrato bridge (a sprung bridge with a lever that allows you to rapidly change the pitch of the strings) - on cheap guitars and with beginner players they don't stay in tune.

For an amp I would avoid a cheap digital modelling amp with a bunch of distracting effects which will just sound tinny and instead go for a 5W valve amp with a decent sized speaker. This will sound better and be loud enough to play in a band as long as the drummer is not too heavy handed. The Harley Benton Tube5 is well regarded as a beginner amp and the Tube15 is even better. Both come with a 1W mode for bedroom practice.