I'm a fairly solid intermediate guitar player. I can play all open chords major and minor, bar chords are no problem, I suck at melody but I've been improving after a 10 year layoff. I've only played acoustic. At the same time I'm crazy about relearning piano. I'm pretty much a beginner; I took lessons for two years as a child but haven't played in 20 years. I have some spare cash I want to spend. I'd like to buy an electric guitar (which I've never played) and an amp, but I would be in heaven with a keyboard. I have about $300 dollars I can spend and I'm really hard on the Yamaha psr 363 but I'd also love to get a decent electric guitar. I've been able to practice for days due to the virus, but starting in January I have to go back to the office, which will severely limit my time. What would you suggest, guitar or keyboard?
The point of an electric is the pedals n shit. That's another few hundred. Go for the keyboard.
What kind of budget guitar are you looking at and what kind of music do you play?
I have went through a lot of mid-tier budget guitars over the years and I can tell you from experience and this opinion is starting to finally cross over with working musicians; we have reached a point where the manufacturing of guitars in the mid range are better than they have ever been. This goes for Mexican made Fenders, Chinese built Squier and Epiphones, and especially for Korean built guitars. Basically non-USA made ones.
We're also at a point now where you don't have to spend a lot to get a decent guitar with AlNiCo magnet pickups. It used to be that only Gibson and Fender offered them in their USA built expensive models. Squier runs the Classic Vibe line and people have been singing praises through the roof for years now over how great the CV 50s Telecaster and some of their Stratocasters sound. Epiphone also has begun loading most of their Les Pauls with AlNiCo magnet pickups now. This is a big deal, cause their guitars usually run around $400 to $700 to get something with a great set of pickups.
Last year I bought an Epiphone ES-339 for around $500 (not counting the extra spent on a hardshell case). That is hands down the best guitar I have probably ever owned. I am still shocked to say that it blew my "real" USA made Gibson Les Paul Studio out the water, which cost over double the price I paid for the 339. The Epiphone AlNiCo CLassic PRO pickups are light years better than the Gibson 490R/498T set that came in my Les Paul. It's hard to believe that I spent over $1,200 on that Gibson guitar and yet the Epiphone that was cheaper not only sounded much better, but had far better fretwork. Despite the high price on my Gibson, the frets needed some work right out the box and that guitar was never worth what I paid for it.
I also have to give a shout out to Fender's Mexican made Stratocasters. I had one from 2013 and that was my main gigging guitar up to last year. That thing took some beatings, as well as accidental drops and so on. It still played and sounded well with all the original stock electronics and no upgrades to the insides. The only complaint I had with that guitar was the stock ceramic magnet pickups were not to my taste and I eventually swapped them for a set of Fender Vintage 59 AlNiCos that sounded better. Unfortunately Fender has ran up the price on their Mexican built models now but I only paid $400 for mine back in the day.
I was thinking about an Ibanez SA 160 strictly because of the price. I've never played an electric so I have no idea what is good or bad. Just sick of playing an acoustic. Is it better to spend on a good guitar and save for an amp or just buy a package?
The starter packs that have a guitar and an amp combo are good for beginners, but they won't last. You'll wear it out within a year or two and be looking at a new guitar. The amps in those kits usually are centered around 3 controls (master volume, gain and a treble knob) so they won't get you an amazing tone.
It comes down to what kind of music you want to play. Judging by your pick of the Ibanez SA 160, I assume you are into heavy metal and hard rock?
Amps can be a huge rabbit hole to spend money on. The most reliable units today are digital solid state (modelling amps). Fender's Mustang series and the Boss Katana are two good examples of that. The best part about digital amps is that they are a lot cheaper than all the tube stuff that is over priced.
Maybe worth saving up more for a digital piano instead of a keyboard, but it depends what kind of music you want to play
