Advice needed: New electric guitar

slipx · 2011-02-21T01:19:56+00:00

Hi Everyone Been reading through the forums for a while now, but still a bit lost in trying to decide what electric guitar to buy. I've been messing around...

Advice needed: New electric guitar

ezietsman

Here's my 0.02 ZAR. Listen to Strat and Singemonkey. Get a KILLER axe first. Very decent AND versatile amps can be had for little money these days (Think Vox VT series and Roland Cube). So get the axe first then look for one of these, they can be had for as little as R1000 and mostly less than R2k. The guitar itself will depend what type of sound you like. What is the kind of music you want to play? Bands? Artists? If you want to (like many people) play many different styles I would suggest something like a Mexican Fender Stratocaster with a humbucker in the bridge (HSS) or a mid-level Ibanez superstrat type guitar with humbuckers and single coils. However, if you want to rock out to Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top get one of those Japanese Tokai Love Rock guitars as Singemonkey suggested (or a Gibson V if you can manage playing that thing). Definitely the best guitars for R10k.

slipx

Thanks for all the input so far. I'm not really focusing on the amp at the moment, although I hear what you're saying about how it can affect the final sound. Was thinking a decent pair of headphones and amplitude on the ipad to start? I can always get something later when my playing is better. As far as music styles go, I like most stuff, from Pink Floyd to Radiohead to Placebo. Not sure what I'm after but prefer good tones, and a "fat" sound to something that screams and is "thin". Prob more suited to Blues, some Jazz, alternative rock.

I really like the look of the PRS SE245. Has anyone played one of these, and who sells them locally? I had the black Gibson LP Studio with gold hardware in mind. So not really after the vintage look. Also read the the VOX series 55 guitars are pretty good http://www.voxamps.com/guitars/series55/?

Jack-Flash-Jr

slipx wrote: Thanks for all the input so far. I'm not really focusing on the amp at the moment, although I hear what you're saying about how it can affect the final sound. Was thinking a decent pair of headphones and amplitude on the ipad to start? I can always get something later when my playing is better. As far as music styles go, I like most stuff, from Pink Floyd to Radiohead to Placebo. Not sure what I'm after but prefer good tones, and a "fat" sound to something that screams and is "thin". Prob more suited to Blues, some Jazz, alternative rock.

I really like the look of the PRS SE245. Has anyone played one of these, and who sells them locally? I had the black Gibson LP Studio with gold hardware in mind. So not really after the vintage look. Also read the the VOX series 55 guitars are pretty good http://www.voxamps.com/guitars/series55/?

No no no on the vox... even if it's good there's not much resale value. Got experience with the PRS SE range, extremely high quality for the price. The most NB thing is play a bunch of guitars and get a feel for the different ones. My rule of thumb is it's got to "speak" to you... in other words, if you don't fall in love, it's probably not the right one for you.

Norman86

slipx wrote: I like most stuff, from Pink Floyd to Radiohead to Placebo. Not sure what I'm after but prefer good tones, and a "fat" sound to something that screams and is "thin". Prob more suited to Blues, some Jazz, alternative rock.

You DO know that David Gilmour of Pink Floyd plays on one of those "thin screaming" Fenders? ?

killafo

Norman86 wrote:
slipx wrote: I like most stuff, from Pink Floyd to Radiohead to Placebo. Not sure what I'm after but prefer good tones, and a "fat" sound to something that screams and is "thin". Prob more suited to Blues, some Jazz, alternative rock.
You DO know that David Gilmour of Pink Floyd plays on one of those "thin screaming" Fenders? ?

LIES!!! There's his awesome twin brother backstage squealing on a Gibson..... ?

Norman86

killafo wrote:
LIES!!! There's his awesome twin brother backstage squealing on a Gibson..... ?

Okay, he does play 1 Gibson that i know of... but thats an acoustic, with an LR Baggs M1 Soundhole Pickup! But his main love is his screamin queen ?

IceCreamMan

Go an try em all ...take yr time ....an enjoy the experience ...

10k buys a whole pile of axe new and an even bigger pile second hand .....

enjoy the experience ....then go buy a fender strat ?

AlanRatcliffe

Good advice so far. I'm also of the opinion that a good guitar trumps a good amp at first, because in the beginning it's more about the playability than tone and your first real guitar shapes your preferences from then on. As others have pointed out there are decent options for inexpensive amps that will also point you in the direction you want to go when you do start looking for a more upmarket amp.

It sounds like you're looking in the right places already and there have been a few good suggestions to add to your choices. All that remains is to try a few of them out and make your choice based on what speaks to you the most.

Norman86 wrote: Okay, he does play 1 Gibson that i know of...

He has a Les Paul - but it's a P90 Gold Top. Some of his most classic solos were played on it. Another Brick in the Wall Pt2, Comfortably Numb... But yes, he gets some beautiful fat, rounded tones from his Strat too.

Tonedef

I'm an electric guitar n00b but I have some excellent advice based on my experiences. The first thing I gassed for was an fx unit. This was purely because i didnt want to be hassled with pedal setups and shit while Im learning. My family environment dictates quiet playing, so getting a fancy amp is a waste. So listen closely - lotsa guys scoff at multifx but that was the best buy i could have made! Its got all the amp modelling you can shake a stick at, and all the overdrive, wah, reverb, flange, phase, pitch, chorus, delay, harmony etc etc you need to make your guitar do INTERESTING things that sound very nice. It keeps your motivation high because the novelty factor is constant. And you get all of that thru headphones so you can play as loud as you want. Forget about the amp if youre learning, get a great axe and decent multifx. You can always get the amp later.

Warren

Suggestion from me:

For your R10k you could easily snag a brand new Gibson SG from Marshall Music. They have some gorgeous Heritage Cherry examples at the moment, a few of which I tried out. Wonderful tone and something a bit different, and really beautiful looking things (subjective ofc).

IMO also don't avoid the Highway One Strats: I'm very fond of mine, and you should be able to pick one up new if you haggle a lot. Definitely second hand, if you find one going.

Take someone experienced with you if you can.

69Thinline

If it were me!

1X Squier classic vibe (HUGE bang for buck)
1X Vox AC4TV

That shud sort u out for a good few years.

Don't make the mistake of buying a R10 000 guitar and then realise u actually like single coils/humbuckers etc..

singemonkey

Does no one know about D. Gilmours '50s Gibson Goldtop with P90s? ???

Come people. I'm not even a big DG fan. It's one of his main guitars.

Norman86

i dont think many people do...
But after reading Alan's post, i want and searched some more info on DG...

David Gilmour's Gear

He has some really interesting gear btw...
He also has the strat with serial number #0001 ?

Squonk

singemonkey wrote: Does no one know about D. Gilmours '50s Gibson Goldtop with P90s? ???

Come people. I'm not even a big DG fan. It's one of his main guitars.

and Goldtop's tone is not far removed from his Strat's tone. It's in his fingers ?

He also has an incredible sounding Gretsch, that imho beats his strat tone!

Remember that Night, a DVD worth getting

Norman86

Squonk wrote:
singemonkey wrote: Does no one know about D. Gilmours '50s Gibson Goldtop with P90s? ???

Come people. I'm not even a big DG fan. It's one of his main guitars.

and Goldtop's tone is not far removed from his Strat's tone. It's in his fingers ?

Not only in his fingers...
I love strats for the very reason that they are so versatile tone wise...
i dialed in a lp type tone on my strat while playing tonight... Sounded very cool! ?

slipx

Just to let you know that I finally settled on a 2011 PRS SE Tremonti. Arrived via DHL yesterday. None of the local dealers had the 2011 model in stock so I ordered it online. I had to use a forwarder in the US as most guitar dealers wont ship to SA. I can highly recommend www.myus.com. They have good shipping rates and it still worked out cheaper than buying the 2010 model here. For those of you wondering I had to pay VAT on the "declared" value and there was a R80 handling fee. Some pics below

Squonk

Looks good in Black, love the fretboard ?
Good Stuff

Jack-Flash-Jr

Congratulations! As an ex-PRS owner I have to give a thumbs up to the series... excellent quality, playability for a good price. Wraparound bridge rocks...

singemonkey

Fantastic. Let's hear your impressions.

josh

Love it ;
Enjoy. That is a really nice guitar!!!