Budget type guitarist....

[Godspeed64]

I believe that there's an important note for "non-budget" guitarists as well..
No matter how many high-end guitars you may own, it is important to dismiss what one may deem as 'inferior' brands..

I tried a Stagg tele and till this day, the experience is etched in my head.. It convinced me that I needed to get a tele, when I despised the tele shape since I picked up guitar.. The tone got the better off me! :mrgreen:

Epiphone Thunderbird or not, it is still a guitar.. And like all guitar, it can be a gem, or a lemon.. I've tried Epiphones that could seriesly beat the tone and feel of a Gibson (post-2000 series), and that Stagg certainly outshone most MIM Fenders, and barely a quarter of the price..

And budget guitarists, don't be dismayed just because you don't own a Suhr or something.. As long as the guitar is good, it is good! :mrgreen:

 

[THOA]

Zac: Well, that makes it clearer. That sentence of yours is a little misleading. I apologise to you for my outburst. My excuse: I am defending a friend.

Truce?

 

[EugeneSmasher]

I believe that there's an important note for "non-budget" guitarists as well..
No matter how many high-end guitars you may own, it is important to dismiss what one may deem as 'inferior' brands..

I tried a Stagg tele and till this day, the experience is etched in my head.. It convinced me that I needed to get a tele, when I despised the tele shape since I picked up guitar.. The tone got the better off me! :mrgreen:

Epiphone Thunderbird or not, it is still a guitar.. And like all guitar, it can be a gem, or a lemon.. I've tried Epiphones that could seriesly beat the tone and feel of a Gibson (post-2000 series), and that Stagg certainly outshone most MIM Fenders, and barely a quarter of the price..

And budget guitarists, don't be dismayed just because you don't own a Suhr or something.. As long as the guitar is good, it is good! :mrgreen:

'Budget' guitarist that I am, to be honest I'd be dismayed if decades down the road I still don't own an RG2610 Prestige. :mrgreen:

 

[Godspeed64]

I get what you mean.. I was more than happy with the tone I had..
I was convinced that the Epiphone G-400 I had chosen, and upgraded was enough..
Then that shattered when I tried a Gibson SG Standard.. Don't get me wrong, not all Gibsons are good.. Tried some, which simply convinced me that my Epi was better.. Well, I bought the Standard a day after, and I simply can't find the vibe with the Epi anymore.. Only at certain times.. :???:

 

[THOA]

ESP F-2E with modded neck inlays for me :mrgreen:

Actually, I would more likely to mod my current guitar to death, heh.

 

[zax]

Zac: Well, that makes it clearer. That sentence of yours is a little misleading. I apologise to you for my outburst. My excuse: I am defending a friend.

Truce?

i dont see how this is related to your friend but truce

 

[naviros]

Actually in my opinion, budget guitarist means watching how you spend, not really spending the lowest amount of money.

Its true that you could get an above average guitar *insert examples* for a WAY below average price, however, considering how far you'd like to go, you might soon be limited by the guitar's "potential". Some guitars may sound above average because of the pick-ups at the valued price, but might not improve after switching to a better PU. These are things you might wanna consider before sealing the deal.

Neck, shape, weight of the guitar all account to your comfortability and style. These also contribute to looks (I know of people who have different guitars when they gig, and not use their workhorse axes cos they're not vv "visually appealing". Might actually result in a different sound result when gigging.)

Wood. I think many people are always arguing about this. My two cents worth? Get a guitar with the wood that best expresses the type of sound you like. Warmer sounds? get something like a mahagony bodied (only listed example.) axe. Good, nice, high mids? Get alder (yet again, only listed example, list goes on...) Personally, I'm into metal, so I chose basswood. Cheap, light, cold. Easy on my pocket, easy on my shoulders, easy to achieve effects with controls, instead of reliance on something I can't change as easily (unless you tell me you change your guitar's bod at ease...)

Pick-ups. This can be disputed. I don't see the point in buying a guitar because the stock pick-ups are something you want. Above factors affect it more... Which is more easy to replace? The whole guitar, or the pick-ups? Can always sell the pick-ups and switch to the desired one.

Ultimately, its the amp that really matters. Spending loads amount of money on this would probably be wiser. Two common routes are the effects route, or the simple route.

Effects route meaning having an amp that enables you to have many different controls over eq, etc. etc... So basically you don't have a need to buy effects pedals (not excessively at least.) For this, I would think most people go solid state. Then again tube eq are also magnificient...

Simple route is what I would recommend (cos I'm going down this route too...). Get an amp that has sweet clean. Not too high mids, clear sustaining bass, and unlimited screaming highs. Then get pedals. Many may complain that this is worst, spend so much on amp already still buy pedals ain't that even worse?! Not necessarily...

Eg. I get an Epi Valve Jr., buy Beta Aivin HM200, DS-1, Flanger etc. etc. as compared to get a multi-efx solid state amp. Which sounds better really? With effects pedal you'd probably be able to sell off those pedals that you don't really use/like and acquire another at a reduced expense. Isn't that a WHOLE LOT easier on your wallet as to buying a new amp? Your money would also be more fluid (meaning easy to convert to cash, and into another gassed item).

 

[naviros]

The fight goes on between GAS and financial ability... (lucky in a sense no girlfriend liability in a/c... yet...)

 

[EugeneSmasher]

+1 to what naviros said.

Its the reason why I go the pedals route, I can get good tone now, instead of having to wait until I have the money for a higher-end amplifier. Furthermore, when you go jamming you'll be using their stock amplifiers. With pedals, you at least have an idea how you'll sound.

Imagine having a 100-watt Diamond Nitrox head and no pedals, and then going to a jamming studio and finding that their stock amps are either lousy, or don't have the tone you like / don't have enough gain, etc. :mrgreen:

 

[Godspeed64]

I think if you can afford those killer amps, you would have a car by then...
Can bring along mah! Someone brought his Overtone for the fourtones meet up.. Check out their pics! Hahaha..

 

[edyeo123]

buy the guitar which is gd and well-known so next time when u have no $$$ or u wanna upgrade, it at least has resale value...

this is what i do when i buy guitar.

 

[naviros]

Forgot to add in another pt. Going for amp heads and cabs might also be a wise choise, though you can always change the speakers in a combo unit, it doesn't beat having two seperate pieces, which can also sell individually. Not to mention you can always change the format of placement of these equipment in a room much better.

 

[cold_static544]

I get (almost all) of my gear 2nd hand, see what pops up. cos i dont really have gas for a specific guitar or pedal.

i started buying pedals when i broke up with my girlfriend. suddenly realize, wha so much money now ah !! buy pedal la !

and i bought 2nd hand cos if i feel it doesnt suit my needs can sell it again without making much of a loss. freer to experiment.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Budget guitarists also look towards MFX processors instead of a whole board filled with pedals. Personally I use my FloorPOD more often now because I like to use its effects when I play stuff like Radiohead, but I sacrifice some heaviness and tightness when it comes to high-gain distortion.

But hey, thing about these multi-effects, this is the equation I use:

50(efx) > op

efx - total number of effects and amplifier modes
op - overall price including adapter

:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

 

[naviros]

Wah... mfx in my opinion, are versatile workhorses, minus worry of which pedal might not go with which (yes, sometimes your kids [guitar is wife, i call fx kids] don't agree with each other).

Then again you sacrifice the ability to switch around once you go mfx. I've got bad experience with it, so I steer clear. I dig simplistic pedals that do the job. Batt op~! Adaptor abit mafan...

 

[EugeneSmasher]

I use pedals now, too. But the main reason is because all I ever use are overdrive and high-gain distortion, I don't normally like to use effects (I'm wierd). And of course, my MFX just doesn't give me as good tone as my pedals do.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

buy the guitar which is gd and well-known so next time when u have no $$$ or u wanna upgrade, it at least has resale value...

this is what i do when i buy guitar.

True, this is normally my approach too. Higher resale value since human tastes change all the time.

 

[doggieshaman]

budget guitars are good imho precisely because u can just get pissed and smash it against the wall. if it breaks, well you can salvage the parts into another budget guitar. If it doesn't, well then you got a great deal ain't it?

though personally i believe the above action accounts to blasphemy to a guitarist. I believe that a guitarist's axe is his soul (ok cheesy). Though I have changed axe many times. Haha. Okay, not funny.

but then again i would only buy budget guitars second hand cause of the practicality that few people want to buy them on resale