Guitar advice?!

Guitar advice?

I bought a fairly decent acoustic guitar about a month ago with absolutely no experience on guitar (though I do have ample background in music). I've been teaching myself and doing pretty well - I really enjoy it - but I'm leary about where i should go from here. I'm very interested in purchasing an electric guitar, but I'm unsure whether I should and which kind I should buy. I was amazed when I picked up an electric guitar for the first time at how EASY it was to play compared to my acoustic. If I do decide to buy one, I have a friend who would sell his Ibanez Gio GAX70 for a reasonable price, but I'm really interested in a Stratocaster. Advice on buying electric guitars would be greatly appreciated. Also, I've learned all of the open chords and I'm working on barre chords now - Where should I go from there?

1 week ago
Thanks for your advice, everyone, but can somebody give me some detailed explanations (preferrably a pro)

I wouldn't buy an Ibanez. To be honest, there are very few Ibanez guitars I would have if you gave them to me for free. Most Ibanez guitars are junk designed for people who play down-tuned teenage angst metal. The Strat is an excellent choice. Personally I would advise you to start out with a Fender Standard Strat. They are made in Mexico, but they're very good guitars for the money, and they sound and play like Stratocasters.

Some people object to the fact that they were made in Mexico, but the truth is that the Mexican Fender plant puts out some excellent guitars. I have played many of them. Historically, Mexican people have always worked for Fender and Fender's manufacturing plants were always on the Mexican border anyway, so the fact that they manufacture some of their guitars in Mexico means absolutely nothing.
I certainly would avoid any Chinese-made guitars.

When you do get the Fender Standard Strat, make sure that you have it set up and intonated properly, because that's very important. The setup and intonation will enable your guitar to play easily and play in tune. This is something that they can do for you at any competent music store.

You'll also need brand new strings, of course, because you don't want to play it with the strings that came on it - who knows how old they are! Old strings go out of tune and are usually dirty, which makes them sound bad.

Finally I would strongly suggest buying from a local music store rather than Ebay or online. If you buy from a music store, they have an obligation to customer service - that means that if anything goes wrong they will help you figure out what it is, and you can get personalized service and not get stuck having to do repairs or modifications yourself.

Good luck and good playing.