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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ Changing Guitar (help?)
Posted by: Koopid May 26 2008, 06:45 AM
Hi, I saw a lot of topics about virtually the same problem but since I didnt wanna hijack someone elses topic I created this one 
I am a new member, couple of days only, so I might aswell say hello too.
My problem:
I own a gibson lespaul special early 2000's with EMG81 plus the original gibson pickup. I play mostly metal but I like to dabble in some blues too. I also own a PodXT Live and a Peavy Valveking 212 combo amp. Since I got the pod I never use the amp anymore.
If I sell the amp and the gibson I could afford to buy myself 2 other guitars. I was thinking a Schecter Diamon C-1 Exotic star and a cheap mexican fender stratocaster.
The question is, am I stupid changing a Gibson LesPaul for a Schecter and a Mexican Fender? Should I just keep the Gibson?
The Special version of the lespaul is a cheap Gibson, somehow it feels like if I should have a gibson it should be one of the more expensive versions. This one just feels cheap. I should get more guitar out of the money buying a guitar where I have to pay less for the brand?
Posted by: mattacuk May 26 2008, 08:32 AM
If i were to sell it , I would put the money towards one guitar I was REALLY happy with, rather than 2 OK guitars.
Posted by: Koopid May 26 2008, 09:08 AM
Yeah, I can see that, the problem is that the guitars I REALLY want cost twice as much a piece as these 2 OK guitars together.
I am hoping to get around $1600 for the amp and the guitar (not totally impossible here in sweden i hope).
$1600 would get me a gibson studio or gibson faded, while these are OK the gibson I have is about the same quality. spending $1600 on a schecter or ibanez would probably get me a better instrument. The schecters I found are not as expensive as 1600, the C-1 Exotic star is about $1000 which would leave me with $600 to buy a backup like for example a mexican fender stratocaster or likewise.
I *could* buy a $1600 ibanez but I haven't found one I like at that pricerange..
If anyone could point me in the direction of 1 really nice guitar for $1600 it would be much appreciated ofcourse but from what I read (newbie as I am) the schecter is a REALLY good guitar for under $2000. It's hard... hehe
Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 26 2008, 09:08 AM
first able welcome to GMC . if you have a Gibson LP not epiphone i think is better to keep that and if its a cheaper
epiphone from Gibson so i suggest if you have a money to go for a more quality Guitar .
Posted by: Koopid May 26 2008, 09:32 AM
epiphone from Gibson so i suggest if you have a money to go for a more quality Guitar .
Thanks
It's a real gibson, but its a les paul special.
Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 26 2008, 12:22 PM
Well you have a pretty good guitar..But then again if you don't like it, its uncomfortable for you , don't like the tone etc and WANT to change it - do it! But then again I don't really see a point in splitting the money and buying two guitars where you could definitely buy one better with the money you get..Two guitars can just be a distraction and you will always end up playing one of them all the time..My suggestion is : stay with gibson if its cool , if you don't like it sell it (and amp) and than browse guitars in the price range you make with a sell and buy one really good guitar..
Posted by: audiopaal May 26 2008, 12:35 PM
Can you post some pics of your guitar, I'd like to see it
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 26 2008, 12:44 PM
You must ask yourself do you need a backup guitar? Does you current Gibson do the job for you or you need something better. If you want something better it is very obvious that you will not get it by buying two cheaper guitars.
Adiitionally - you will some value of the LP Special and Peavy amp if you sell it. So choose wisely what you're gonna buy. I would definitely buy ONE better guitar for the money, Gibson faded seems like the way to go. If you really need a backup, and you are happy with your current Gibson then sell the amp and buy a cheap Fender. I must warn you that a mexican Fender is not a proper backup for your Gibson - Epiphone LP is. If you wanna experiment a little and change guitars then do your liking.
Posted by: Koopid May 26 2008, 01:44 PM
Yeah, I know, but somehow it feels like I would get a better guitar putting a little less money in a japanese or korean built guitar. The brand Gibson costs a bunch too...
Not 100% sure, I do gig a bit now and then and its nice to have a backup for gigs..
The reason I would chose a Fender as backup would be that I could play around with 2 completelly different guitars, and well, a guitar that isnt 100% right as backup would be better than a broken guitar or one with 5 strings
I am not 100% satisfied with the sound of the Gibson but it plays nice. I'll start by selling the amp and take it from there. Thanks for all the input, right now it seems like you all think I should keep the Gibson so OK, I guess I will keep it for a while:)
Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 26 2008, 06:42 PM
That's cleaver thing to do! Keep the gibson and see about your options after you sell the amp..I wish you luck in selling it for a good price..
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 26 2008, 08:02 PM
i also think that keeping a Gibson (at least for while) would be a smart thing to do. Also I think that buying Gibson faded would be great choice too. You won't have amp, but the guitar is what is the most important thing of all gear imho.
Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 26 2008, 09:04 PM
It's a real gibson, but its a les paul special.
i see you have a good gear other wise you can change the pickups to a best quality
from Demarzio /EMG/Duncan. have a nice day mate
Posted by: FrankW May 27 2008, 01:53 AM
I don't know what the exchange rate is there, but if I were you, I'd check out the ESP Horizon FR 2. Over here in the states, it costs around 1800 dollars. It is gorgeous, with a Floyd, EMGs, and a beautiful figured top. It also has an ebony fretboard. Go check out the ESP website...it's the red one I'm talking about. Alot of guitar for the money!
Posted by: Koopid May 27 2008, 04:45 AM
from Demarzio /EMG/Duncan. have a nice day mate
I already have an EMG81 at bridge position
In sweden its a bit more expensive. And I hate Floyd Rose (read: I am not good enough to use it)
But thanks for the tip
Posted by: [email protected] May 27 2008, 06:19 AM
Yeah, you should check out the Esp guitar webiste, some pretty nice guitars there. for 1600 you can get a hella nice guitar.
Posted by: Trond Vold May 27 2008, 07:55 AM
I will have to go with most of the others on this one.. The Les Paul is a marvellous guitar, not sure i would have traded it in for a Schecter or a Fender.
I would probably have exchanged it for an ESP or a Jackson if i had the chance though.
The ESP Eclipse II is an utterly fantastic guitar. Looks and feel perfect.
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 27 2008, 11:34 AM
Here's an idea - you can maybe downsize one of the guitar you are willing to buy to a let's say mid priced Jackson with EMG's. That way you will have someting similar to your current guitar. And for the primary axe buy yourself a nice Gibson faded.
Posted by: Koopid May 28 2008, 08:08 PM
I would probably have exchanged it for an ESP or a Jackson if i had the chance though.
The ESP Eclipse II is an utterly fantastic guitar. Looks and feel perfect.
I have had my eyes on this one for a while actually
http://www.jrrshop.com/images/images_big/especlipse2_a.jpg
Is the faded series of Gibson any good? I heard a lot of different opinions on this...
I will, soon
Posted by: chmilew May 28 2008, 08:30 PM
I'm a Gibson player so I must suggest you to keep the Gibson.
Ok the Special is a bit cheaper than the rest, that's a fact.
In my opinion, If I had 1600$, as you expected to get, I'll take an American Strat instead of two guitars (which sounds wayyy better than the mexican one).
Prefer the quality, not the quantity but it's just a personal opinion 
Posted by: Koopid Jun 30 2008, 07:51 AM
Ok, so I've seen ads on Les Paul Studios, and Les Paul Faded series for very reasonable prices for a while now and decided to atleast go try them to see if its something I wanna trade in my gear for. So I went this weekend.
First I tried was a http://www.musikborsen.se/frameset.aspx?id=519343&artno=156263&fm=1 with the Burstbucker Pro's. 
While it sounded OK and played nice I the finish was a source of irritation. I know the reason it is so cheap is because of the finish but if I am to put my Les Paul Special and my Valveking 212 amp plus 530 EUR I want to be impressed The sound was a little too .. I dunno the terminology.. "open"? wide? bit too vintage for the music I play anyway. And the feel to play it only a little better than the LP Special at least on that short try.
Second up was a http://www.musikborsen.se/frameset.aspx?id=519520&artno=126914&fm=1.
This one I would pretty much get without adding any cash to my trade-in. This one sounded better, it had the 490/498 pickups and these felt "tighter?" soundwise but this would be the same setup as I had originally on my Special but I think maybe the thicker body made the sound a bit better too. The feel to play it was the same as with the Special so no upgrade there. I guess it felt like a small upgrade that was not worth loosing an amp over.
Third up was a http://www.musikborsen.se/frameset.aspx?id=433814&artno=184420&fm=1 with Duncan pickups. 
This one I liked a lot. It sounded tighter and hotter than the Gibsons. I am also not really satisfied with The EMG81 pickup on my LP Special. It sounds very nice while playing with a lot of distortion and for that really heavy metal, but it doesnt sound so good for other styles. So these Seymor Duncan pickups felt really nice. I really hated the look of this one though. They had a good deal on it, same price as the LesPaul Studio but I just cant live with the camo paint on it
So... i found the http://www.musikborsen.se/frameset.aspx?id=466440&artno=127344&fm=1.
Same setup as the Will Adler signature guitar but looks a lot better I would have preferred one in white but the one with Duncan pickups only comes in this color, which would be my second choice so this one feels like it might become my new guitar. For this one I would have to add about 320 EUR to my trade-in
I should probably also mention that my LP special is not 100% at the moment. The frets are in need of a fix and it needs a general service soon.
Has anyone else tried this guitar or own one? If I dont hear anything too bad about it I think I will make the purchase, but if anyone has really bad feedback on it its nice to hear before I buy
Posted by: MickeM Jun 30 2008, 08:50 AM
The faded LP had burstbuckers, with the 490/498 combo it should sound the same as that white one, if not better since they claim that less paint brings out the sound of the wood.
I don't think the idea of getting two guitars is a very good one, in a half year fron now you'd be thinking "why did I get the mexican strat instead of a US strat", same as with the LP special you have today.
ESP's (and LTD for that metter) are very expensive in Sweden. Check out US ebay, I know that ESP has a restriction against US companies shipping abroad and large companies like musiciansfriend will not do it. But the ebay stores will, if you ask them nicely. And you'll pay like $900-1000 for a new guitar, then add quite a bit for shipping but you're still saving quite a bit of money.
Posted by: fkalich Jun 30 2008, 08:59 AM
I dispute that as an old wive's tale.
However agree on getting one good one over two no so good. This appeals to you because of the newness of the items. But newness wears off, and then you are not satisfied again. Human nature.
Don't know why you feel that way about your les paul. If it has a maple top, I am sure it is a regular old les paul. I have a custom shop standard and a studio. I like my Studio.
I also have a Mahogany les paul that I got at a great price ($100 less new than they go for on ebay used). Now it does not sound like a normal les paul, no maple. But I still like it. In fact, it is in my arms now as I type. Has burstbuckers, which I am growing increasingly fond of. Although the 490/498 is fine also.
Posted by: Koopid Jun 30 2008, 09:56 AM
I have dropped the idea of 2 guitars already thanks to the input of you guys .
The Les Paul Special i have right now.. I dont know why, but I am not happy with it. I was happy the first month but after that there has always been something that needed fixing, intonation, pickups, right now it is the frets that are uneven which I guess happens to all guitars over time. It has over the last month or so (I had it for maybe 1.5 years) become more and more a source of irritation. The other guitarist in my band has an epiphone with EMG pickups and his guitar sounds a lot better than mine which makes me feel that maybe there *is* something wrong with mine...
So, I have pretty much decided, after all, to part with the Les Paul Special. The first idea was to buy a Gibson LP Studio or a Faded, I can afford either one, but the Faded is really the top of my budget Having played both I liked the sound of the Studio better and the feel of the Faded better, but I didnt like the finish of the Faded much. While I was there i tried an ESP too and that one felt a lot better than both of the Gibsons at the same pricerange. Both the Gibsons felt cheaper than the ESP. I guess one way to go would be to save for another 6 months and buy a real LesPaul Standard to get the real finish on it...
Posted by: kjutte Jul 6 2008, 01:53 AM
I am a new member, couple of days only, so I might aswell say hello too.
My problem:
I own a gibson lespaul special early 2000's with EMG81 plus the original gibson pickup. I play mostly metal but I like to dabble in some blues too. I also own a PodXT Live and a Peavy Valveking 212 combo amp. Since I got the pod I never use the amp anymore.
If I sell the amp and the gibson I could afford to buy myself 2 other guitars. I was thinking a Schecter Diamon C-1 Exotic star and a cheap mexican fender stratocaster.
The question is, am I stupid changing a Gibson LesPaul for a Schecter and a Mexican Fender? Should I just keep the Gibson?
The Special version of the lespaul is a cheap Gibson, somehow it feels like if I should have a gibson it should be one of the more expensive versions. This one just feels cheap. I should get more guitar out of the money buying a guitar where I have to pay less for the brand?
Sell your pod and buy a good soundcard instead man. You'll get that 'valve' sound we're all talking about.
About the guitar. Personally I don't find a les paul very versatile, but that's all about what you're looking for. You didn't really mention why you wanted to sell it...? Cheap doesn't mean crap btw.
Edit:
After reading your last post there it seems like you're psychologically sick of your guitar.
Your amp settings and effect pedals are 90% of the sound that comes out of it. Well, except for your hands, ofc, but that's not gear.
Honestly, I think you've got a nice guitar. Unless you really want a tremolo bridge, I'd stick with it.
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