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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ What To Get For My Next Guitar?
Posted by: RobM Jul 21 2007, 07:46 AM
Hello, I'm fairly new at playing the guitar and right now i'm playing a Yamaha Pacifica and I want to upgrade to a really good guitar. My interests range from Aerosmith, to Metalica to AC/DC to Styx to the Eagles. I'm coming into some money fairly soon and will probably spend about $1000.00 US on a guitar and I would also like to upgrade my Amp as right now I'm playing with a little Park Amp.
Any and all advice on what I should buy and why will be greatly appreciated. I've been looking at an Ibanez A121 as a probable next guitar but I'm not sure if that would last me for a few years as I get better and better? I've been practicing about 3 hours per day, taking private lessons that include music theory, reading and writing music. Enough of my rambling. I look forward to all the great advice from everyone here.
Posted by: Schpudd Jul 21 2007, 08:53 AM
Honestly? Get an Ibanez RG they're pretty much perfect all round guitars and cover all kinds of budgets.
You can always get custom pickups to cater the guitar to your needs anyway.
Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Jul 21 2007, 02:30 PM
With $1000 you are into a decent league of guitar buying - you can afford models from any of the classic makes, so you need to look at the possibilities on offer.
Gibson - you can get a Les Paul Studio for $1000 - beautiful tone awesome sustain. The Studo is in fact a Les Paul without embellishments and half the price, but by all accounts the one thing that isnlt sacrificed is the tone, so this is a great way to get a LP with a smaller price tag. Play like Zakk Wylde, Jimmy Page or Slash 
Fender - You can get a US strat, the strat is a classic guitar, play like Eric Johnson, or Eric Clapton
Fender - Telecaster - I hate the way they look but a lot of people play them (can't think of anyone of the top of my head) - a worthy weapon for certain styles.
Ibanez - You are well into RG prestige territory (make sure you get a prestige from ibanez, no less), for instance the RG2550E - get one of these if you want to play hard and fast, but also, they do have incredible tonal variety as Schpudd said, they are no one trick pony. The RGs have about the best locking tremelo out there if that interests you - none of the models above have a decent tremelo at all (the LP doesn't even have one). The RGA you mention is a prestige so would be a good choice, but with only 2 humbuckers lacks the tonal versatility of somethin like the 2550E - it also has no whammy which may be a limitation for you, depends on your exact style.
In addition, for that money you can get high end Schecter or Jackson guitars if shred interests you.
For that budget you have a chance to pick up an absolutely awesome guitar, so think about it a lot and make the right choice based on your interests and inspirations - the guitar world is your oyster!
Posted by: RobM Jul 21 2007, 07:21 PM
Gibson - you can get a Les Paul Studio for $1000 - beautiful tone awesome sustain. The Studo is in fact a Les Paul without embellishments and half the price, but by all accounts the one thing that isnlt sacrificed is the tone, so this is a great way to get a LP with a smaller price tag. Play like Zakk Wylde, Jimmy Page or Slash
Fender - You can get a US strat, the strat is a classic guitar, play like Eric Johnson, or Eric Clapton
Fender - Telecaster - I hate the way they look but a lot of people play them (can't think of anyone of the top of my head) - a worthy weapon for certain styles.
Ibanez - You are well into RG prestige territory (make sure you get a prestige from ibanez, no less), for instance the RG2550E - get one of these if you want to play hard and fast, but also, they do have incredible tonal variety as Schpudd said, they are no one trick pony. The RGs have about the best locking tremelo out there if that interests you - none of the models above have a decent tremelo at all (the LP doesn't even have one). The RGA you mention is a prestige so would be a good choice, but with only 2 humbuckers lacks the tonal versatility of somethin like the 2550E - it also has no whammy which may be a limitation for you, depends on your exact style.
In addition, for that money you can get high end Schecter or Jackson guitars if shred interests you.
For that budget you have a chance to pick up an absolutely awesome guitar, so think about it a lot and make the right choice based on your interests and inspirations - the guitar world is your oyster!
Thanks that gives me a lot to think about. As for my style i really don't have one right now as I'm still in the learning phase but I love the way Page always played but i also like Joe Perry from Aerosmith, Alex Liefson from Rush and Kirk Hammett from Metalica, although I'm not really into the speed metal stuff. I like a lot of music, when I listen to it the lead has always been what I get into.
What about Amplifiers? like i said i have a small Park (made by marshall if you guys didn't already know that). I would like to upgrade to something bigger. Mine has controls for Gain I & II, Treble, Contour, Bass, master Volume and Reverb. It also has Plugs for Headphones. Line Out and CD.
As per the original question I appreciate all replies.
Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Jul 21 2007, 08:00 PM
Paging MickeM, MickeM - Amplifier question on line 1 ...
Posted by: Mer-V Jul 21 2007, 11:06 PM
The advise I would give to you is (if your budget lets you) to buy an amp that plays purely a clean sound, and distort it using effects/stompboxes. This I hear from many guitarplayers around me, and I'm planning on setting up my gear just like that. You can even go as far as buying a PA system and run your effects trough that.
As for the amps, I don't know your budget for the amp, but in catagories from cheap to expansive I'd go for a Roland Cube(15,30) if your budget is around 200/400 dollars. These small amps provide you more then enough amp models to choose from (an amp model which the CUBE replicates) and some neat effects to add to them. I don't own it myself, but a friend of mine does, and I'm really suprised about their sound.
If your budget is a litttle higher though, say 400/600 then I think the Peavey ValveKing 112/212 (respectivelly 50 and 100 watt) offer a good preformance for a low price (given the fact that they are both full-tube). Both of them deliver quite a punch when playing with distortion and have a nice clean channel (as is to be expected from tube-amps). Both amp models offer the full package, with which I mean that they have clean and overdrive channel(s), so buying effect pedals is optional.
However if your budget if 600 dollars or more, the more professional amps come in range. For example take the Vox ACC ampline. These amps are famous for the heritage, since many top artists played on CC (custom classic) amps (U2's The Edge, Queens Brian May). The cheapest model is the ACC15, which is a 15 watt full-tube amp. Now don't be fooled by this baby's wattage, its pack quite the a punch when you crank the volume up to max... The nice thing about the amps is that they deliver a just awesome clean sound. Nothing I've heard sounds so good clean (not even a fender, not even a Marshall). With this clean sound you can tinker as much as you like with pedals/stompboxes. For the ACC15 you'll have to think about prices around 600USD**, and 1000USD** for the ACC30 (the famous model). Effectpedals range from 50USD** to 400 and more for multi effect.
I hope all this info was not to overwhelming for you, if you have more questions, you can always pm me.
Cheers, MerV
**All prices are based on their price here in Europe and in Euro's
Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Jul 21 2007, 11:45 PM
That's interesting, I have been wondering about that. I will be getting an amp eventually, and a killer clean sound is a must, but I was unsure whether to rely on the amp for all my overdrive needs or to go with stomp boxes - since I've never owned a decent amp, apart from one I built myself from a kit.
Posted by: ZakkWylde Jul 22 2007, 12:10 AM
For the kind of bands you're into I would go for a gibson sg, les paul or fender strat. The Amp-question is answered with british Tube combo with about 40 watts (Vox,Orange,Fender or Marshall)
Posted by: Mer-V Jul 22 2007, 12:15 AM
Well, I was wondering about that at first as well, but the way I see it its actually quite logic. When it comes to sound amplification I see the clean sound of your amp as the foundation of your musical tone. A truly clean sound is very hard to achieve, and many amps lack on that front. A distortion effect on the other hand is quite easy to obtain, just go to the shop and buy a random stompbox and you have the basic distorted sound featured on almost all combo's. For a good clean sound however, I know no effect pedal/stompboxes. I know that you can always buyt a POD for that matter, but that thing still only simulates that tube-sound.
That's the main reason for me to go shopping for a purely clean amp (I believe the ACC series only feature TopGain which is distortion'ish).
Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Jul 22 2007, 12:18 AM
That's the main reason for me to go shopping for a purely clean amp (I believe the ACC series only feature TopGain which is distortion'ish).
Yeah, makes a lot of sense - I ressurected an older thread http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=5408&hl=to see what some others thought since I have no experience in this area at all
Posted by: shredmandan Jul 22 2007, 12:52 AM
All depends on the type of amp you buy wether or not to rely on it's overdrive.
My opinion any seperate stomp box will out do a built in effect but,you will pay alot more for each single effect pedal but if you got the money its the way to go.Id like to here more about the amp you made from a kit/
Shredmandan
Unless you need something to play in a band with.I would recomend a roland cube amp as well .It has a few built in effects that really sound awesome or try a fender g-dec.I dont think the g-dec puts out as good sounds but it has almost every effect,built in drum machine and bass lines with 15 sec recording options for you to jam over.
Dont blow all your money on some Marshall amp ect unless your going to be playing live alot.Get a good playing guitar and a good sounding amp rather than one great and one fair.
Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Jul 22 2007, 01:00 AM
Thanks for the advice guys, sorry for hijacking the thread 
Heh, I built it from a kit marketed by an electronics company in the UK called Maplin. It was solid state, had 2 channels, a clean one and a sort of nasty one, and a built in flanger. I built the innards (I was about 15) and my dad did a nice job of building me a case. It was ok for a highschool band, and I used it for monitoring in other gigs, but it never sounded very good ...
Posted by: shredmandan Jul 22 2007, 01:25 AM
Heh, I built it from a kit marketed by an electronics company in the UK called Maplin. It was solid state, had 2 channels, a clean one and a sort of nasty one, and a built in flanger. I built the innards (I was about 15) and my dad did a nice job of building me a case. It was ok for a highschool band, and I used it for monitoring in other gigs, but it never sounded very good ...
Just had to ask because i have heard of many bulid your own guitar kits but never amp kits.Do you think it was worth the money and how much spent?
Was it difficult to put together
Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Jul 22 2007, 02:11 AM
Was it difficult to put togetherIt was cheap, and it was basically soldering all the components onto a circuit board, wiring up the pots etc. It was easy for me as I had been building electronic gadgets for years. I had no woodworking skills which is why my dad built the cabinet
I Still have it somewhere ..It was so long ago I don't remember how much it cost, probably $200 or so, it was worth it to me at the time, I don't think there was an alternative at that price back then.
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