Yes, they have a certain cool factor. Its undeniable!
If the theremin can be an electronic instrument, then maybe an electric guitar is too. Well, at least quasi-electronic. The pickup converts the waves of the strings, into an electronic signal. They also sound very cool and might be worth putting into your production setup.
Guitars actually sound great when played side by side with synthesizers.With a guitar you will never have to worry about Polyphony, Midi (unless you bought those new USB ones), and using digital interfaces.Let's find out more about them before we choose.
Pickups:There are two main types of pickup: single coil and double coil (known as humbuckers), each of which can be passive or active.
Single Coil have a brighter sound, whereas,
double coil is known for its noise cancelling abilities.
Body Style:
Electric guitars can come in solid body or hollow body designs. Solid body has NO inner holes which would allow the strings to resonate further (like acoustic). Hollow bodies do have these inner holes.
Tremolo Arms:
Also called the Whammy bar. This device moves the bridge to alter the pitch during play.
Most electric guitars are
completely passive. They require external amplification and effects! But you can jack them into an audio interface that supports phantom power and use plugin effects and guitar amp emulators! This is a great way to not clog up your studio and get any kind of guitar sound that you want for cheap. The effects you use on your guitar also can determine style of music you want to produce. Examples would be distortion, overdrive, chorus, etc.
Electric guitars come in many body styles for you to choose from. They also having varying degrees of quality. You must be considerate of price too, as you are just buying a piece of wood with strings attached to an electric pickup. A very expensive guitar might be close to that of a cheaper more affordable one. Other than actually going somewhere and just picking up and playing a guitar, you'll want to check out some guitar reviews:
Stick to what feels good, something in your price range, and what sounds good.Guitar Reviews:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar
I hope that helps you get started!! I think I will be buying my guitar soon.
Extra: Use your Guitar to trigger synth tones to differentiate your sound with this module
Roland GR20
Below are some models of guitars I would check out!
Price Ranges
Under $200
Behringer V-Tone II & Amp $109 Cheap, and nicely rated.
Epiphone Les Paul Special II Electric Guitar Classic looking.
Over $200
Fender Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar Nice!! I would get this or something similar.
There are alot of guitars out there and it will come down to personal choice! Find something you like!
