Guitar For Dummies

The Dummies series of books & DVDs is world renowned for their excellent content and understanding of each given subject, and Guitar For Dummies is no exception to the rule.The great thing about it is that right from the start you are treated as if you have never even seen a guitar before, let alone tried to play one. Due to this you never feel as if anything is being glossed over or forgoten.

The tuition starts by learning the parts of the guitar, tells you how to hold your guitar pick and soon leads on to showing you how to learn you first chord family. The great thing about the book is that it provides you with plenty of exercises and songs after each section for you to work on and are encouraged only to move on when you think you are ready to do so. The only negative thing i would say about this book is the songs you are given to learn, they are old fashioned and boring and to be honest i haven’t heard of some of them. This is probably to do with copyright, but the songs provided do not give you that much insentive to stay with them and you may be tempted to move before you are ready.

The flow of tuition of the book is very natural and even breaks into individual styles of guitar playing so it will last you past the beginner stages and beyond. The book comes with a dvd/cd which has every song or piece of  TAB which is in the book so you can now that you are playing it right or wrong, which is very important for a beginner and builds confidence when it sound the same as the track.

Overall this book is an excellent strating point for the beginner and covers enough area  to last through well beyond the beginner stage. It is clear, unassuming and has every essential technique and lesson you should learn. It is a book that i can really recommed from experiance as i used it when i started to play.

This book is a real deal for the price

PRICE £10 – £16

 Encore E99  Product Review

The Encore blaster E99 guitar is a complete package that includes everything needed to start playing guitar.

Included is

• The guitar
• 10W amp
• Guitar strap
• Electronic guitar tuner                                                                                
• Spare strings
• Guitar bag
• Guitar lead
• Tuition DVD

The E99 is a Les Paul style electric guitar. The guitar has a solid body construction of basswood, a bolt on hard maple neck with a rosewood finger board that comprises  of 22 frets. 

The hardware consists of  2 Guitartech humbucker pickups, a 3 way selector switch and 2 volume & tone control knobs.

For the price of the package, sound wise the guitar is punching above its wait. Both pickups perform their tasks well. Clean tones and overdrive sounds are better than expected, and considering the bolt on neck the sustain is impressive.

This guitar is great for a beginner and will even stay with you as you improve. So you will definatley get value for your money.

The series also consists of the E6 which based on the Stratocaster style and the E2 based on the Telecaster style. These too are value for money and offer a good selection of choice. All 3 are available in various colours.

PRICE -- £100 -- £130