EastCoast Guitars: Best for Beginners?

Written by Ray McClelland

9 Minute Read

Are you excited about learning to play the guitar? I’m excited for you! This is the start of a wonderful path to go down, a whole lifestyle in fact! Guitar playing will give you lots of joy, fun, and some peaceful space from the outside world. You also get out what you put in, so those initial weeks of sore fingers and wonky sounding chords will soon transform into real music, coming directly from you! It’s a beautiful thing, so keep at it!

You’ve clicked on this blog today because presumably you’ve been looking at beginner guitars and have come across EastCoast guitars, right? You want to know whether they are a good choice for beginners?

Today, I’ll take a look at the benefits of the range with you, and offer up some opinions or perspectives. I’ve been writing about guitars for years, selling them for more years, and performing with them for even more years! I hope you can trust that my opinions are formed by hands-on experience, not just of EastCoast guitars but of every major brand in the business.

I’ll tell it to you straight, and then it’s up to you what you do with the info. Does that sound good to you? Then let’s get going!

Buying a Beginner Electric Guitar

Based on Famous Electric Guitar Designs

Exceptional Value

Impressive Build Quality

Comfortable and Playable

Each EastCoast Guitar is Inspected and ‘Set Up’ Before You Receive It

Smaller Sized Guitars are Available

TIPS: Here are a couple of tips to keep in your back pocket as you peruse the range…

EastCoast Guitars: Best for Beginners

Buying a Beginner Electric Guitar

Beginner-friendly explanations
Focus on comfort and playability

For today’s blog, I’m going to assume that you are buying your first electric guitar. I’ll explain terms and names for things as we go along, so you’ll never be confused as to what I’m referring to.

I also understand that buying a guitar is a very emotional experience. You will doubtlessly have your preferences for shape, colour and other things, so do keep your own counsel on those things. I’ll advise you on a practical level, from somebody who has played guitar for over 30 years, but ultimately you are choosing a guitar for you, not me.

But I’ll keep you on the right path. Deal?

The main things I’ll be looking at are:

Comfort
Playability
Quality/value
Features

These are the most important aspects for a beginner, as I see it.

Based on Famous Electric Guitar Designs

EastCoast electric guitars are closely modelled on some of the most famous and iconic electric guitars in the world. These guitar designs have stood the test of time, and have been enjoyed by millions of players around the world. These styles have been successful because of their comfort, beauty and effectiveness as instruments. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the different guitar designs out there, here’s a quick look (though bear in mind that EastCoast guitars are designed especially for beginners, so they are not benign compared to guitars that cost ten times as much!):

EastCoast ST1 - based on the Fender Stratocaster
EastCoast T1 - based on the Fender Telecaster
EastCoast L1 - based on the Gibson Les Paul

And so on. What this means to you is that you get a guitar that works in all the right ways and has a very recognisable look. EastCoast have stuck to the classics on purpose, and of course a part of that is to give you a little bit of the ‘look’ of these famous guitars without having to spend the money on a top-range instrument.

Exceptional Value

Beginner guitars have to be good value for money. They have to offer more than the price might indicate, because that’s how people get excited about learning: they get more than their money’s worth. With EastCoast, you do not need to spend a large sum of money to get an attractive, well-put together guitar that feels good and plays well.

Our EastCoast selection begins at only £99, which is about a fifth of the cost of a new PlayStation! I think the value for money there is pretty tremendous. A nice pair of trainers can easily cost that much, and buying a guitar is a lot more fun and exciting than that!

Impressive Build Quality

Generally speaking, guitars are better-made now than they ever have been. There isn’t really such a thing as ‘bad guitar’ these days, but still, quality does vary a lot, particularly at this beginner price point. When guitarguitar took on EastCoast as a brand, one of the main factors in us getting behind them was the fact that their build quality is solid. Compared to other guitars at the same price point, I’m impressed with EastCoast, and just how much actual, decent quality is built into each guitar.

Comfortable and Playable

We may choose guitars based on how they look, but we only play them again and again if they are comfortable and easy to play. Half of the battle as a beginner is in simply reaching for the guitar and having a shot! Honestly, if you get the guitar into your arms, you’re going to win eventually, it’s just a matter of time!

So with all of that in mind, the guitar designs used by EastCoast draw directly from famous electric guitar models, each of which is a blueprint for the industry in terms of comfort and playability. This means that EastCoast guitars are not only super comfy and pleasant to play, but will also make you - the player - instantly familiar with many other guitar designs in your future, since they will share similar dimensions.

Each EastCoast Guitar is Inspected and ‘Set Up’ Before You Receive It

Every EastCoast guitar professionally checked and adjusted prior to sale
This has no additional cost: it’s part of the service

Since comfort and playability are the most important factors in a beginner guitar, we make sure that every EastCoast guitar sold by guitarguitar leaves us ready to play. We have dedicated guitar technicians who unbox and inspect every EastCoast guitar. They perform what we call a ‘set up’ on every single guitar, too. This includes making adjustments to the neck, bridge, strings and electronic elements in order to ensure optimal performance right out of the box.

Smaller Sized Guitars are Available

Go for a ¾-sized guitar if a full-sized one is a struggle
¾ guitars have shorter necks and smaller bodies

For some beginners, a full-sized electric guitar will perhaps be too large for their frame or their fingers. This is normal, don’t worry! At guitarguitar, we have EastCoast electric guitars available in three-quarter size too. This means that the neck will measure ¾ the size of a standard guitar neck, but the whole instrument is slightly smaller too. This makes it much easier for younger or smaller beginners to get started! Also, I would add that ¾ size guitars make for great ‘travel guitars’ for all guitarists! Check out the EastCoast ST1-34 for a great example of a three-quarter sized electric guitar.

TIPS: Here are a couple of tips to keep in your back pocket as you peruse the range…

Sounds: the EastCoast L1 sounds thick and fat; the T1 is skinnier sounding and the ST1 skinnier still, but with more sound options available. ‘Thick’ and ‘skinny’ are not 'good' or 'bad'': each sound has its uses. Thicker sounds work well for rock music, but skinnier sounds are great for jangly indie music and retro styles like 60s pop.

Tremolo/whammy bars: the EastCoast ST1 is based on the Fender Stratocaster, so it has a built-in whammy bar. That’s the metal arm sticking out the bridge! This mechanical device allows you to lower the pitch of a string for some cool sounds, but it will inevitably interfere with your guitar’s tuning stability. This is true of most whammy bars, not just those on beginner guitars. If that sounds like it’ll be annoying, I’d go for the T1 or L1 models because they have fixed bridges with no tremolo system.

Neck length: most electric guitars including the EastCoast ST1 and T1 have necks with what we call a ‘scale length’ of 25.5”. That means the length of playable string is 25 and a half inches long. Some guitars though, like the EastCoast L1, have a slightly shorter scale length of 24.75”. It doesn’t sound like much, but that little difference adds up to a whole new feel when it’s applied across the entire instrument. My advice is to try one of each scale length. If you notice a difference, go with what feels best. If you don’t: don’t worry about it and just choose what you like!