OT? Guitar Advice..

[David001]

Post deleted by David001

[Craig Betteridge]

speaking from experience..(I currently have about 8 guitars!!)..don't buy a cheap guitar, thinking you will spend money on it when you can, to make it into a good guitar. A cheap guitar will always be a cheap guitar!! - no matter how expensive the pickups/tuners/bridge/nut etc..you add to it later.

[nan_wpg_mb]

Anybody ever try one of these? Or even heard of em?

http://www.route101guitars.com/

I stumbled across this manufacturer while surfing the web.
Guitar nuts.com gave them a very good review but after all it is the internet. Ya never know what is real and what is not.
But for the price I am tempted to just try them out for the hell of it.

Personally I have an old Ibanez roadstar series guitar. I liked it I bought it. All my friends either had strats, tele's, or some kind of metal guitar (BC rich etc). They thought I was nuts. I didnt care.

I just bought a Pod xt and can now get sounds that were only a dream a decade ago with my guitar. I think that the "sound" of the guitar is less and less important these days. Once the sound is converted to digital it can be manipulated into just about anything.
I would be more concerned how it felt to me.
Kinda like a car, they all do the same thing, have pretty much the same features. Some are just easier/funner to drive.

[yessiree]

Great thread. In addition to the amp / fx box or plugins, for me the pickups are as important as the guitar. I have played a number of guitars, and I think if you like the way a cheap new or used guitar neck feels as far as how you play, then buy it. Then go to a local music shop that has a good/great guitar tech (or ask any local band that's been together for more than 5 years, they'll know a person) and then have some good pickups put in it. Listen to a few good guitars played thru a decent amp, do you like single coil in the neck position (closest to the neck) and do you go for a humbucker in the bridge position (closest to the bottom of the body) for a harder sound? I prefer single coil pickups myself, most humbuckers are too shrill sounding to me. The noise cancellation takes away some of the good stuff. Talk to people you trust, and play many guitars before you make any decisions. Good luck and if you make a mistake, sell it to a friend!

[iplaymusicsoftly]

Something else to consider: What you start out playing may not be what you end up liking, your taste may change over time. when I started out, I liked nothing but single-coil Strat style guitars...now,15 years later, I've fallen in love with Gibsons, though I'm still saving up for a new G&L ASAT (right after I buy my Digi001!)
Thank DoG for Trade-ins [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] !!!!!!!!!!

[SCharles]

Hey guys --
I just had to jump in here...Whenever you find a guitar that you really like the sound of -- don't forget a visit to a decent guitar tech. I have had guitars that I really didn't like - single coil and humbuckers that really came alive after a new set of strings and a good set up. You can tell if the store you're in just sells boxes or if they are trying to sell guitars. If you think it needs it --- spend the $ -- be sure to talk directly with the tech -- tell him or her what you're going to use it for (ie. rhythm/lead/both)and let them do their magic. I have a Robin that I did not like when I purchased it-- after Johnny Logan set it up it became my very favorite guitar.

My best advice -- buy the guitar that begs you to play it. Any guitar can become your greatest asset or your worst enemy. As far as recommendations -- for the bux -- OLP...Older Japanese/ Korean Fenders ... Dean

[iplaymusicsoftly]

Yes , Yes, Yes! A setup by a competent technician is the key, especially one who will work with you to get that high/low perfect for you action. Guitar techs are woth their weight in gold, and should be treated like demigods.

I did mention I'm a tech, right? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[KamaSutra77]

-lets just say i know guitars as well as about anyone. Ive bought them built them, I play them too. I currently have about 14 (some are in parts and pieces), and basses, and drums and etc etc. But guitars are my main thing. So I have some thoughts on the subject.

Couple of overbearing thoughts on guitars:

Not a single one can you predict based on materials anything but it's "general" tonal charecter and quality of play. Price here is a good indication of quality, I keep up with all the catalogs and web sights and really, these days, you get what you pay for.

With that said, today you can get a damn fine guitar that for an intermediate player will be perfectly adequet for bandplaying and low key recording/home demo's etc.
For around what your willing to spend.

I'd say that in the over 700 dollar range your paying for cosmetics and the physical appearence of the wood/finish. With actual tonal qaulities relative across the board peaking at the 500 dollar mark in todays market.

I'd venture to say its all about pickup's, wood and fretwork.


So what do i recommend?

I'll do a rundown for you of some good guitars to check out.

Gibson Smartwood Les Paul, around $1000 bucks, but what a classy, clean smooth sounding Gibson style guitar. The new "faded" series is interesting too, but I havnt checked thos out in person. This would be the "Led Zepplin" sounding choice.

Fender American Series Strat. Try 3 color sunburst model with a humbucker and a rosewood neck. Versitile, and sturdy. Think Mark Knopfler, Hendrix, Clapton.
On that note, the Clapton series is nice, if a bit overpriced. The sound of the vintage noiseless pickups is good, but needs some compression and tube power amp to relly make them shine. through a pod there a little duller than my favorite Lace sensors (which make excellent, standard series strat upgrades BTW).

If you want tele sound liek we all think of squaking tele sound, the 52 resissue is quite appealing.
( A musicyo version with upgraded pickups makes for a budget minded deal to beat though)

In the 400 dollar range, the standard series from Fender are a decent value. the necks are about the same, though tyou'd need to , or want to eventually have a quality set up done which might make a more finly tuned american series worth your while.

MusicYo has some nice Kramers. Ive bought a few, and I'll say there not quite the same as the mid eighties style, there close and a decent value for the price.
They sell electar amps as well, and I can atest to the quality of the tube 10, an all tube amp that kicks butt.

The samicks, corts and a few others are beginers models mostly, and feature generally poor quality parts that break easily. The worst part about seemingly budget guitars is usually the neck. The frets work usally sucks, and the truss rods are unstable becuase the interiors of the neck channels are properly sealed during finishing, making these guitars a pain to adjust in temperate climates with changing seasons. Just avoid em.

Sorry to recommend a little out of your price range, but i think one of those options will suite you better in the long run.

I wouldnt get into kit guitars, as rewarding as they are, since it takes many hours to properly finish and set up a well playing guitar. Something you simply wont be able to do the first time. ( i'm on my 5 or sixth "project" guitar).

My latest is a SRV model clone. Except with vintage noiseless pickups, and a ebony fret board with a wilkensin trem. Very nice sweet tone, like a piano. Just like a dream, and at about half the cost of the "real model". Couldnt really even build them for others since the mark-up would cut into the savings quit a bit.

Try stewmac.com for guitar parts. There great and have quality parts. I've all of my kits from their parts.

And my final recomendation:
Ibanez RG470, at about $350 bucks it hard ot beat this rock and roll staple.

[GuitarEasley]

Keep in mind that it may or may not bother you that the solid bodies are much thinner & heavier than the acoustic guitars. These differences could bother you... it depends on your style and techniques and how much importance you assign to resting your right arm and how you attack the strings. As an acoustic steel-string player you might also want to look into some of the rare hybrid-like guitars.

I am used to certain right hand fingerstyle techniques which are normally used on classical and flamenco nylon string guitars. I play classical nylon string guitar and really am having fun looking into the hybrid nylon string guitars. They even make some solid body nylon string guitars!

However I did get hold of an old Kramer Ferrington. It is sort of a semi-hollowbody acoustic/electric guitar witha built in preamp. I never really play steel or electric stringed guitars (for all I know my Kramer Ferrington could be sort of junky) but I, personally, have much more control of sound on that lightweight hybrid Kramer Ferrington guitar or a big semi-hollowbody electric than when I play on any regular solidbody electric.

You might want to try out the feel of some hybrid guitars or some semi-hollowbody electrics. It is just another option to consider. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Have fun,

GuitarEasley

[Rabidium]

>>Hey this is another thread where the person posts once and then everybody rages on without a single reply from the poster. Seems to happen a lot. The guy is dead from old age and we're still going on...<<

naw, I just find that it's best to limit my time online, so I haven't posted back. Plus I find I get more responses if I don't reply right away. People stop posting once they think I have my problem solved.

Anyway, I'm not really getting it. I went today to two guitar shops and a music-oriented big pawn shop, I played like five million guitars, including most of the one's you've talked about here, and I didn't really like any of them. I may not be understanding the way that guitar sounds get made, and the relationship between amp, effect, and guitar. So I think I'm going to try to pull a set of the sounds I'm trying to get from CD's, and ask how they are made. Every guitar I played sounded basically the same to me. Of course there was a difference between the different guitars, but it wasn't the difference I was looking for.

As far as the feel goes, I really dug a lot of the guitars, and found some easier to play than an acoustic, although all the ones I liked were really expensive. 8o)

Anyway, I'm going to try to put that together, for the record, I don't want to buy a guitar over the internet because I won't know the feel, and the ones at that pawn shop seemed in lousy shape, and I'd probably spend so much on getting them set up properly that it would nullify the cost savings.

Anywhere else I could try out guitars? I guess I need to play more guitars, or see good players play guitars so that I know what I want.
In anycase, thanks for all the feedback, and feel free to keep supplying ideas, I appreciate and will check out all suggestions.

-Olaf
One last thing, I saw a 'scalloped' guitar at the pawn shop, what's that for? They wouldn't let me play it because it had already been sold. it was a squier though, so I don't know why they'd bother with all that work... but anyway, do any of you play like that?