Monoprice Indio Cali Classic Electric Guitar w/ Gig Bag Expired

Probably a dumb question but coming from someone who has no experience with electric guitars and would probably not even entertain this except for the Slickdeals effect making me think I can be Slash someday, but other than an AMP is there anything else I would need to buy to toy around with this thing?

Tl;dr:
An electric guitar ($66) also needs a combo amp ($40 - $80), a cable to plug the guitar into the amp ($2 - $10), and a tuner ($5 - $10).

An electric guitar has no real sound without an amplifier, so you are correct in saying you need an amplifier. An acoustic guitar has a hollow body where the sound can resonate, and that hollow body and thin wood amplifies the sound, which is why you don't need an amplifier for a small room with an acoustic guitar. On the other hand, you can't hear an electric guitar from even a few yards away without an amp. An electric guitar is made of a thick chunk of solid wood, so without a thin wood or the hollow body, the sound of an electric guitar without an amplifier is a quiet "twang".

When you shop for an amp, you're probably shopping for an amplifier/speaker/cabinet combo. Professionals buy amplifier circuits that are separated from the speakers and their wooden cabinets. For beginners, you're shopping for the "combo" where they're just one unit. Unless you're rich or you believe you'll be rocking on stage, you don't need to buy the speaker separately from the amplifier.

The average price for a 10 watt combo solid-state amplifier is about $80 MSRP. Amps come in "solid-state" or "tube". Tube amps are usually more for moderate/advanced players, and they cost a lot more. Tube amps use vacuum tubes instead of cheaper circuits. Tube amps are also louder, so a 10 watt tube amp is more equivalent to a 50 watt solid-state amp. Let's talk solid-state, since they are cheaper and more attainable. 5 watt solid-state amps are ones you can clip on your belt or put on your desk for a personal playtime, and they are usually powered by a battery. 10 watt amps are enough to fill a bedroom. 50 watt amps are for small venues, or to rattle the windows in your living room. 100 watt or more solid-state amps can be used for gigs where there are actual drum sets. Drums can drown out a 50 watt solid state combo amp, so aim for 100 watts or more if you're playing with a live drummer.

But an amplifier will just give you an amplified "clean" sound. To get some slightly dirty, grungy, or screeching sounds, you need distortion. You can make the amplifier distort the sound if it has a "gain" option, and a lot of combo amps already come with this setting built in. If you've ever monitored sound levels, you know that if a microphone is too "hot" and clips into the red, the sound becomes distorted. This is the same idea on an electric guitar, and thankfully, electric guitars sound great when the sound is distorted. So, the more you crank the "gain" knob on a guitar, the more it becomes screechy. A little bit of gain for the blues, a little more for rock, and max it out for metal.

All other effects that you hear from your favorite artists can be added live, or in post-production. Chorus, phase, overdrive, wah-wah, reverb, etc. can all be added in real-time with guitar pedals, or you can add it later with software on your computer. If you want to do it live, then you chain your tools by going from your guitar to a pedal with the effect that you want, then from the pedal to your amp. When you want to use the effect, you step on the button on the pedal to get the effect.

So as a beginner, you need to buy an electric guitar, a combo amp, and a tuner so you can stay in tune every session. That means that in addition to the $66 you pay for the guitar listed on this post, you need to budget another $40 to get a 5 watt or 10 watt amp so you can hear what you're playing. Hopefully the $40 amp you get on sale has a "gain" or "distortion" function so you can save yourself the hassle of buying add-on pedals. If you don't see a cheap combo amp for $40, just pay attention. Coupons or sales from Adorama, Monoprice, Sweetwater, Guitar Center, or even Amazon drops 10 watt amps to $40 every month. And don't buy cheap amps used: Beginners and teenagers buy the 10 watt amps, and since they don't know any better, they crank up the volume to max and break the speaker. Most amps aren't meant to be used past volume 9/10, but a teenager will always crank it up. You end up with crackling speakers, and as a beginner, you won't know that the sound coming out of that used speaker is bad.

No left-handed option. Bummer. Any suggestions of a "starter" left-handed guitar for an adult who is interested in learning how to play? TIA

No left-handed option. Bummer. Any suggestions of a "starter" left-handed guitar for an adult who is interested in learning how to play? TIA

You might not like this suggestion, but play a right-handed guitar instead. Your left hand is the one that needs the dexterity, so in some cases it's easier. Also saves a ton of money down the road and makes it so you can just pick up a guitar and play anywhere.

Ever notice there are no left-handed violins?

Probably a dumb question but coming from someone who has no experience with electric guitars and would probably not even entertain this except for the Slickdeals effect making me think I can be Slash someday, but other than an AMP is there anything else I would need to buy to toy around with this thing?

It's a good thing Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi etc didn't take this advice.

you can string the guitar in the order of your preference like hendrix and hold it how you like, but he did play a right handed guitar. and paul mccartney was no virtuoso. If he wasn't a part of the first modern tv media hype band, I daresay you wouldn't even know his name. none of his stuff is played on classic rock stations...as it's just pop

You might not like this suggestion, but play a right-handed guitar instead. Your left hand is the one that needs the dexterity, so in some cases it's easier. Also saves a ton of money down the road and makes it so you can just pick up a guitar and play anywhere.

Ever notice there are no left-handed violins?

There actually are left-handed violins, but they aren't very popular. Orchestras tend to frown on them as they require adaptations to traditional seating layouts.

Yes, because how dare music not look good.

The point is telling someone naturally left handed to go against what comes most natural and comfortable and that you must learn to play right handed is usually terrible advice.

what comes most "natural" is whichever way you decide to learn. then changing that learned skill becomes difficult

Ummm... the orchestra seating adaptation isn't just about looks. It's about acoustics, it's about two people not slamming their violin necks into each other, it's about ... stuff way more important than looks.

It's a good thing Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi etc didn't take this advice.