Need IMMEDIATE assistance in buying new gear!!!

[Subt1ety]

Hey guys,

I've been playing guitar for about a year now, and i own an Ibanez Gio, and a Marshall MG10. I've been thinking of getting a better guitar, as I'm not too happy with the sound of my current one. So I'll format all my questions in the form of bullets below:

1)Is it possible to get a good guitar for a budget up to $400?
2) Is my amp a good one? Should I consider upgrading that too?
3) I'm thinking of getting a distortion pedal. Which ones should I consider? I normally play rock/blues/ a bit of metal.
4) Is second hand gear trustworthy? If yes, where should I look to find good 2nd hand gear?

Thanks for all the help!
\m/

 

[xfigox]

1) Yes, try getting a 2nd Hand Ibanez or something. $400 Should be enough for an RG350dx / ex.

2) Its just a practice amp, you should upgrade it but it will cost quite alot for a decent amp to provide a good tone.
If you intent to use pedals as your main distortion, you can look into getting amps with good cleans, your current Marshall should be fine though.

3) I'm not really into stompboxes but I'll recommend multi effects units as it is much more bang for buck. Try Line 6 stuffs, their new HD series of POD multi effects seems rather decent, I'm personally an Pod X3 Live unit and it is definitely worth every single cent I've paid for.

4) Both yes and no, do a research on what you're buying ask questions and maybe test it out first. 90% of my gear are 2nd hand and even though I don't test the guitars I'm still very satisfied with all the deals I've made.
Where to look? Here on soft, just click on the "classifieds ads" link on the top

 

[Subt1ety]

Hey, thanks for the help! I still have a couple more questions, though.

What brands of amps should I look for if I'm into the Petrucci kind of sound? Are tubes better than regular amps?

Do you recommend using the amp overdrive over pedals?

 

[LadyInTears]

this is when google is your best friend.

 

[carboxymoron]

Any questions about which sound is better is pretty subjective. As far as Petrucci goes, I think you can refer to fellow softie Dhalif's gear. I believe he gets his sound from Line 6 multieffects/amp modelling (Pod X3 Live, maybe upgraded to Pod HD series now?) http://www.youtube.com/user/dhalif

I prefer using pedals because I play through different amps all the time and don't rely on amp overdrive.

90% of my gear is second hand too. Just do your research beforehand and deal wisely, haven't had any problems from the classifieds here before.

 

[Subt1ety]

Alright. Thank you.

I've pretty much settled on a rg350ex, and a vox vt 20+. Still gonna rely on the amp overdrive until I feel i'm good enough to actually get an effects pedal haha.

What do you think about the choices?

 

[xfigox]

I'd rather have a modeling pedal though, as it gives me what I need in one package, like for instance my x3 Live, not only it gives me shit loads of amp models, but other stuff like compressor, 4 band EQ, reverb, modulation stompbox, noise gate, wah pedal, all in one signal chain.

 

[Subt1ety]

I wouldn't mind one. But it's outside my financial grasp right now haha. Therefore, I'm deciding to go with the vox. I like its custom set tones and sound. Don't know whether I'm making the right decision, but let's see how it goes.

 

[lokiregnarok]

Another thing u can do is, instead of getting the amp, u can get a multi-effect like pocket POD or Zoom G2Nu, which can be played through ur mg10 clean channel. It gives u a wider range of effects and will save u a few bucks too.

But the vox amp you have in mind also gives u a reasonable amount of effects too.

But i might still get a multi effect instead cos i can bring around the effects anywhere.. hhaha.

 

[Subt1ety]

Haha, i understand. But i've been hearing that my amp is just a very basic practice amp, and if i wanted to get a fuller, better sound, i would need to get a better amp. I've been looking around, and the vox vt20+ seems really good, but it's out of stock right now, gotta wait till march :/

 

[bf0502tr]

Haha, i understand. But i've been hearing that my amp is just a very basic practice amp, and if i wanted to get a fuller, better sound, i would need to get a better amp. I've been looking around, and the vox vt20+ seems really good, but it's out of stock right now, gotta wait till march :/

an extra 20 watts isnt really gonna help much. u'll be changing again very soon. imho it'd be better if u get the vt40 instead(just abt $60 more??). if u think its too loud, well ss amps can produce decent tones at very low volumes...yes even hybrids.

 

[Subt1ety]

But even though it's CAPABLE of being really loud, it has this power volume thing, right? Like a master volume control? So i should be able to play at manageable levels. In any case, I haven't read about any ss amps that offer features that the vt does at that price range. That's particularly why I'm leaning towards the vt. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

 

[CaboWabo]

anyway bro what's your budget for your amp ? anyway volume shouldn't be your main focus man it should be the clarity and definition of the tone you're getting
vox valvetronix amps are a good choice considering they have a number of in build efx for you to experiment on but personally i've always felt that the drive you get from the vt series is rather crappy anyway i use to own a 30vt.. but for it's price i would say it's pretty decent

 

[killabunny]

yea imo if you're going to play at low practice volumes, you can't really expect a perfect tone--solid states/hybrids give you a passable tone at best and if you go tube, you're going to have to crank it (play at higher volumes), and even with a 5-watt tube amp (e.g. blackstar) you'll still be blowing eardrums. i'd go for a POD if you have the budget, i've seen people get sweet tones out of that.

as for the guitar, if you're going with a second-hand rg, i'd recommend an rg321E or rg321MH over the rg350--to me a fixed bridge on a midrange rg is better cuz it provides more sustain. besides, the rg350's floating tremolo is a pain in the ass to maintain, and the the edge 3 isn't that great either (reliability varies). and i think the inf pickups are quite high output, so they're decent for high gain petrucci type stuff

 

[Subt1ety]

Hmm. I've been hearing alot about the POD. It's an advanced sort of amp, isn't it? With multiple effects and stuff? What the lowest one in that range? I don't think I should get any of the really high end ones as I'm still in the learning stage.

Oh, one more thing. If I was to choose between getting a new amp OR a new guitar, (either one, not both, and based on the equipment I've mentioned above in my first post) which one do you think I should go for first in order to achieve a better overall sound? Just to boost things up a bit. Should I up the amp first, or the guitar first?

Lastly, if i were to go for the POD, would you recommend the HD series, or the x3 Live type one?

 

[killabunny]

the POD's an amp modelling unit (it's like the preamp section of an amp), but you still have to run it together with a real amp. i don't know enough about the different pod models to give any good advice on that though, all i know is that a friend of mine gets killer recorded tones through it.

as for which to get first, it depends. if you're getting a good amp rig (e.g. tube amp, or buying a POD to use) i'd get the amp first, but if you're getting the VT, which is not a huge step up from the MG, i'd go for the guitar first. the guitar just feels like a much more personal thing to me, imo. also, if you're going to be going jamming, you will get a better sound from the studio amps with a better guitar (obviously haha)

 

[Subt1ety]

Damnit. Now I can't decide what to get already HAHA. Amp or guitar....I'm more home based. When i go jamming, I drum (which i have been for the last 6 years), but now that i've picked up guitaring, i feel that I lack a good sound with my current equipment. Hmmmmmm. I really don't know. Will getting a good amp improve the sound on my current guitar noticeably? Or will getting a good guitar improve the sound on my currently budget-ass amp? I don't know lehhh.

 

[killabunny]

haha aiya seriously the best thing to do is just bring down your guitar to the store and test the amp you want, if you hear a big improvement then go with the amp first lor. on the other hand, if you hear an improvement but not a huge one, go with the guitar. i'm a bit biased tho cuz i love rg's lolol

 

[Subt1ety]

I'm at a standstill. Amp? Guitar? Both? What amp? What guitar? Effects pedal? Yes? Why? No? Why not? Pod? Wtf? GGwp.

 

[Santana]

If you are after better playability and feel, go for guitar. If you are after tone, go for amp. Go for effects on a "as you need" basis.