help with guitar accessories

[bmurphy]

my teenage son (14) is teaching himself to play the guitar and is doing really well. Does anyone know if the Alesis Guitar mate would be something that would be helpful to him. He does a lot of playing along with the computer on various sites thanks for any suggestions!

[analoguepilot]

i think youre referring to the playmate guitarist? if so- its a cd player with guitar effects. basically, you son can jam to his favourite pearl jam or metallica cd and play over it adding distortion and amp sounds to his guitar but i dont think this would suit him much. you mentioned he likes to jam over the computer? if so there are a variety of products that can hook him up with effects, computer programs and online jamming... check out the korg pandora px4- its a guitar effects box with a metronome and built in drum tracks and guitar tuner that he can clip to his guitar strap- its that small... line 6 offers the line 6 guitarport which is a effects box/ computer interface he can plug into and connect online and download guitar tracks and play along with others, etc heres the link http://www.line6.com/guitarport/ also line 6 has the toneport which is another computer interface that includes a version of ableton live recording and looping software which will let him get into the world of computer recording- http://www.line6.com/toneport/... the perfect christmas gift might just be the m-audio black box go to http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...kBox-main.html -its a complete system with a usb interface and all he could need to get started- its about 200 bucks but is well worth it... just a few ideas

[bmurphy]

Thank you for your help, it was more than I could hope for... kind of late for ordering anything on line in time for Christmas, but now I know what I'm looking for when I hit the music stores!

[analoguepilot]

no problem... if youre out of time for online you might want to google music stores in your area (i wont mention names out of respect to sweetwater) and more than likely there might be one with what youre looking for... merry christmas!