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When learning electric guitar you will sooner or later want to buy your own.  Here are a few tips to make sure you get the right guitar for you.

Play it unplugged

The first thing you should do with a guitar is listen to how it sounds and feel how it plays without being amplified.  It’s pretty easy to do this – just turn the volume knob all the way down.  By listening unplugged you will get an ear for the natural tone of the guitar and can concentrate on just how enjoyable it is to play.

Play it loud

If you like how it feels when it’s unplugged, plug it into an amplifier and crank it up.  Turning it up really loud helps to to check for any noisy electronics, such as crackling sounds or hum.  It will also help you check for squealing pickups, otherwise known as “microphonic feedback” – hold it close to the amplifier while it’s loud, and mute the strings – the guitar should be completely quiet.  Turn the volume and the tone knobs to check for any pot noise.

Check ALL the frets

You want to check the entire guitar for any dead spots on the frets.  Play every string at every fret, to be sure they all sound correctly, and at the right pitch.  It is also worth bending the strings to see that they sound cleanly at each position.

Check the Intonation

Guitar Intonation refers to the need for each string to be a slightly different length to stay in tune all the way up the neck.  To check the intonation, first make sure that the open strings are in tune.  Then fret it at the twelfth fret, and play a natural harmonic at the same position.  If there is any difference in the pitch (even a slight difference) then the intonation is out.  Guitar intonation can be fixed, but it can be time consuming and or expensive to do. It also reflects badly on the general care that the seller has taken with the guitar.

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