recommand electric guitar and gear

[trianglebiscuit]

ok this would be my first electric. intially i was eying the epis lp or sg cos my budget was lower.

LOL who knows recently my mother strike 4d now my budget around 1500+/- . But now i dunno wat to get. please help!

matt

 

[BF109E]

$1500 will probably get you an Epi LP Custom ($800 nett) or one of those signature models (about $900 - $1,000) plus a hard case (about $100) if it's not included in the deal.

The balance of the money should be used for these items:
1. Strap locks
2. A good strap
3. Some effects, budget about $300, depending on what type of effects you want.
4. Spare strings
5. Good guitar stand
6. Good tuner

Of course, you may want to forgo some of the above and upgrade your pickups with the balance of the cash.

If you're looking at another guitar besides the Epi LP, then the money might get you a good PRS.

 

[trianglebiscuit]

which prs?

 

[gargamelesp]

the santana se. I think u forgot he needs an amp too. advice would be to spend about 700 on a guitar, 600 on an amp and the rest for misc.

 

[ashmorefan]

I have an Epi LP custom. I think it's a really sweet guitar. But I do wonder sometimes if a PRS Santana SE would have been a better choice.

Anyways, I say get a guitar around $800-900 and then spend anoter 400-500 on a good second hand amp off the Luther classifieds. Use the remaining for strap locks, straps and if u still have some left, get a stompbox.

 

[Dawn]

There's a guy selling a PRS Santana SE as mentioned by a few, and also another guy selling his Les Paul copy on luthermusic's classified ads.


My suggestion would be to purchase a guitar that suits your style of music/ playing.

Are you more into Jazz? Rock? Metal? Different guitars would be more comfortable and suitable to play certain styles.

I'm currently playing an Epiphone Les Paul and have upgraded the pick-ups to Alnico II. I must say that the pick-ups really made the sound open up alot greater! I would say it's worth the money, cause changing my amp wouldn't have given me as much a difference in tone, compared to changing out my stock Epiphone pick-ups.

In rank of priority (in my humble opinion):

1. Amplifier (pedal effects if you need those effects)
2. Pick-ups
3. Guitar

I placed guitar at the bottom as I feel that a very comfortable to play guitar, with good workmanship and built, with the addition of good pick-ups, sometimes offer better value for money VS those "branded" guitars with muddy sounding pick-ups.

Amplifiers after all, represent what you would hear in the end... so no matter how good a guitar + pick-ups, through a cheap practice amp, won't allow the sound of your guitar to shine.

Effects would be just to enhance your basic tone or add in weird effects etc, not really a priority unless you're targeting a specific sound. Good to fool around with though.

Get some strap-locks if you're intending to play your Les Paul standing up. (Mine nearly fell, i was lucky...) The strap-buttons on a Les Paul stretches the button-hole on the strap and one careless move, *kerplunk*

Summing it up:
Since this would be ur first electric guitar, I strongly advice you seeking help from your friends who have more experience with electric guitars (to help you inspect the guitar physically, playability, faults and other quirks when purchasing guitar and other gears)

Also, keep in mind that your taste might change in the future so it's cool to save some of those money.

P.S: Could you help me ask your mom for 4-digits? haha, Kidding :lol:


Cheers

 

[trianglebiscuit]

can i still get a tremoti se?

 

[Dawn]

Check out Davis Guitar for 1st hand PRS guitars. I think i saw one Tremonti SE hanging there a few days ago.

It's quite different from a traditional Les Paul... the body is thinner, there's a rib-cage cut-away (not sure what you call em :lol: ) and other minor differences.

I was just checking up on the specs for the Tremonti SE... and:

http://www.prsguitars.com/showcase/current/tremontise_bl.html



:evil: "THANKS GIBSON..." :evil:


But PRS still can market and sell their Single-cuts outside of the United States right? Does this mean I could start selling PRS Singlecut models through Ebay and make some profits from US buyers? :wink:

 

[panzer]

Of course you can. It'll probably costs about $950 at Davis, and probably with no hard case or gig bag.

Yes, I forgot about a good amp. If your home (or neighbour) allows it, get something from 25W onwards. The sound is much fuller and richer.
Marshall, Laney, Ibanez or Vox are all OK brands.

Or, alternatively, with 1.5K, you can also get a second hand Gibson LP Studio from Luther Classifieds. Actually you can find some really good deals from the Luther Classifieds. But you need to be guitar savvy to make the right choice. Or pick up a Burny LP from Luther which will set you back between $650 and $900+ depending on which model you choose.

You may also set aside about $50 for a good set-up on your axe if the need arises.

 

[trianglebiscuit]

what about the sound difference between a lp and prs? what type of music is it suitable for? anyway dun intend to get a second hand. 25w? erm ok. screw the neighbours.

 

[Lifehouse]

$1500 without going 2nd hand isnt going to get you alot of stuffs. Just the Marshall DSL401 will cost $900. I strongly suggest going 2nd hand route, and I dont see any stigma going used.

First hand:
Epiphone LP Studio/Standard/Custom: $600-$800
Burny LP: $600-$900
Tremonti SE (if you can find): $850-$900
Santana SE: $900

and either
Tech 21 Trademark 10 Watt Modelling Amp: $500++
Spider II: $500+++
Marshall AVT: $500++
Roland Cube 30: $400+


Second hand:
Epiphone LP Studio/Standard/Custom:$400-$500
Tremonti SE: $500-$600
Santana SE: $500-$700
Ibanez RG (5XX series upwards to prestige series):$450-$1300

Amp:
At least 30% off retail value

 

[Lifehouse]

what about the sound difference between a lp and prs? what type of music is it suitable for? anyway dun intend to get a second hand. 25w? erm ok. screw the neighbours.

If possible, get 50W. You will have more headroom. Try and aim for at least 1x12' speaker format.

 

[chimaera]

am a fan of second hand all my gears are second,..hahaha,..
humm i got my gibson les paul studio for 700 bucks,.. a steal,..changed the pickups to SD alnico pro II another 200,.. 900 bucks for a seriously lethal guitar,..the amps u can try laney vc30, etc,.. 600 bucks,..
1500 can get u a lot o stuff if u know where to look,.. n yeah depends on ur preferences,..
my opinion 50 watts is overkill or bedroom playing,.. 30 watts is good in which u could still crank w out ur neighbours yelling,.. 30 watt tube would be enuff for gigs as well,..

 

[BF109E]

what about the sound difference between a lp and prs? what type of music is it suitable for? anyway dun intend to get a second hand. 25w? erm ok. screw the neighbours.

As they both use humbuckers, they'll be perfect for rock, blues-rock, alternative and even jazz fusion if you know how to fiddle around with the tones.

LPs are used by almost very rock guitarist while Santana uses the PRS. Not sure about other artistes who use PRS.

Sound-wise, through a good amp, you get a much warmer and fatter tone, whilst single coilpickups will give you a brighter, less muddy feel. LPs and PRS are good for heavy distortion and high gain stuff.

So hence the type of music you play will in some ways determine the type of guitar you want, although that is not a hard and fast rule.

Better still, get a LP or PRS and a Strat to start off your collection. I think $1500 can get you both, including a good 25W-30W amp if you know where to look for good deals.

 

[Lifehouse]

Who's Using PRS:
http://www.prsguitars.com/artists/list.html

Who's Using LP:
Too many to list.. :mrgreen:

You might also want to take a look at the PRS Soapbar SE. Though it uses P90 pups, it is one of the best value around. A real in between sound of SC and HB.

I used to use a PRS Tremonti SE, it is pretty light, around the weight of a LP studio. Sustain wise, it is above average. However, the neck pickup is pretty weak. I would suggest changing the pups to EMGs or Tremonti Treble with #7 bass or Tremonti Bass (provided you are a Creed or Alter Bridge fan and enjoy such setup).

Peace.

 

[metallibeast]

Wow you muz have made a mistake or you muz be pretty big, the average weight of a LP is around 10lbs roughly 3 kg w/certain LP Custom's hitting up to 15lbs.............

Although you might be talking bout the 2004 models, where Gibson try to keep the weight down, around 7 - 10 lbs.

But its still pretty darn heavier for me anyway.......

-Beast

 

[trianglebiscuit]

omg. 15lbs die.. i cant even do a proper pull up , my hand sure damn pain. summore lp is neck heavy? then hard to play leh

 

[metallibeast]

Its pretty rare to find a LP up to 15lbs but anyway LP are not neck heavy, SG are neck heavy

-Beast

 

[repulse87]

Well, i'm gonna take this in a different prospective. Don't flame me, i know people might have different viewpoints of this BUT nevertheless... here i go.

You didn't specify which stage of learning or how proficient you are at guitar, or specifically, electric guitar. you wrote that you're getting your first electric, and you DO have a lot to spare for it. Many of us here started with Samicks, TGMs... yada yada... and then.. we slowly learn how to appreciate the instruments that we saved or toiled hard for, if you'd jump right to a PRS Private Stock for your first electric, it might be the most expensive guitar around, but not knowing how to manipulate it will only make you look like a loser (to put it bluntly). I've seen kids with parents as lawyers, doctors (not stereotyping but yah..) and they have all the high-end stuff, PRSes, Fender USA, Gibson, home recording studio, rack units, and high end amps like Mesaboogie, and this guy doesn't know how to play a thing. On the other hand, I've seen people with mindblowing guitar skills, with a Samick Strat as their workhorse. Its worst when you have better gear, but you don't know how to push it to its fullest potential.

Also, you do not know which kind of electric guitars you like. I started out with Strats, back then i hated single coils coz it sounded thin and flabby, then i moved on to Gibson for humbuckers, i realise they were too muddy. The guitar i now have is quite versatile i guess.. so i'm not complaining. BUT the point is.... your tastes are everchanging, even now, i yearn to have a Strat like i used to coz it has that Strat twang and single-coil driven blues which... somehow, i didn't seem to appreciate when i first own it. back to everchanging tastes... find your own taste, what you like! which can boil down to... pickups, effects, amps, guitars OR right down to neck carves, scale length etc...

I'd say for now... get a second hand instrument (i won't say which), which is playable, good sounding and make sure you like how it feels and sound. I can't guarantee you'll like it forever, but yah... if you hate it, just swop the pickups or something. Thats why... your guitar (strat/les paul etc) is the most impt thing. pickups are changeable, scale length and neck carve isn't (okok.. fine you CAN change ur necks in strats.. yada yada). Anyway... i hope you get my drift in this lengthy and boring post.

Good luck

 

[trianglebiscuit]

well.. actually i have been learning classical/acoustic about i think a year and a half ago for quite awhile.stopped due to some reason cant remember. recently starting to pickup guitar again. well i always wanted to learn the electric but no funding lol. so recently my mother strike 4d, knowing how i always wanted to learn electric, promised to get me a good one.

however lol. i know close to nuts about electric. but i do have a teacher who also can teach me and can help me with recommandation, wat to buy etc etc.

anyway maybe u'll rite. start with something cheaper, playable and as i progress and feel thats the way to go then invest in something better. or maybe not lol

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