Codex7
Good day gentlemen!
I have been skulking around here, reading up and trying to educate myself.
Just some background about me:
I started playing acoustic electric (on an Epiphone) in December 2012 - totally from not knowing anything at all about guitars. I did not even know that the inlays on a guitar neck indicated the fret numbers! LOL!
Anyway, I've been playing and practcing and having fun - still useless at actually playing anything that resembles music though ??? Have been following along on www.justinguitar.com and now know some basic chords, basic guitar theory etc.
Anyhow, I was thinking of getting an electric as well - not too expensive at first.
So I am shopping around for 2nd hand guitars and ran across a Washburn with Floyd Rose (licensed), Buzz Feinten tuning system, mini Grover tuners and SEC (Stephens extended cutaway), for about R1700. Can't really find too much info on the web. It looks in great shape, just a bit dusty and neglected. No physical damage or anything.
You guys think this is a good buy? Haven't tried playing it yet - not that I would necesarily know a great guitar from an OK one, to be honest! LOL!
SOOOO, the questions:
1. For a new, I gues tuning this thing might be challenging, but I am not afraid to learn.
2. How can you tune it to Drop-d with a Floyed Rose? I might want to do this once in a while ?
3. How much effort is it to replace strings and keep it in tune? I don't want to spend more time getting it into a playable state than actually playing.
Any other general recommendations/commenst would be greatly appreciated!!
Great forum and some great charaters here from what I have read so far! ?
psyx
Hey man! Welcome to the forum!!
My first electric also had a floyd rose installed, but I ended up not liking it very much. My opinion is to buy a guitar with a more conventional bridge like a hard tail and get some practice first. Its very unlikely you will be able to utilize the floyd rose as an inexperienced player. Also, they can be a headache to restring and tune. If however you want a floating bridge, maybe look at some of the affordable Ibanez guitars. They are excellent for beginners and you will find some good deals on them. Imo Ibanez' are much better than Washburns anyway...
Maybe see if you can find a Yamaha pacifica for a startup. Good guitars
Have fun and keep us posted!
AlanRatcliffe
The Washburns over the last 15 years have all been a bit lacking, bar maybe some of the N4s.
Floyd Rose trems are a major cause of pain and frustration for the newer player, as they are difficult to set up and maintain and many simple tasks on other guitars (changing strings, changing tunings, etc.) become a lot more effort. The gigging player must always have a backup instrument at hand in case a string breaks (which makes the guitar unplayable). They are not something that can be made properly and cheaply, so the licensed versions on inexpensive guitars tend to wear and start causing major problems quickly. Still, there are times they are worth using, and properly set up and maintained, a good Floyd is a great boon to the... er... more aggressive whammy bar user.
Floyds are almost impossible to use for a player that is going to be changing tunings regularly as they require setting up for each tuning change. If you must use a Floyd and need different tunings, you ideally need a different guitar for each tuning. ☹
sharonzaz
Personally, I've moved on from the floyd era years ago
but my recommendation for a beginner would be to concentrate on learning
music, not break a sweat on tuning a floyd.
and should you want to tune the axe differently every now and again prepare
yourself some painkillers as this will give you a headache.
fixed bridge, and when you're ready later for some tech work, sure why not....
Codex7
sharonzaz, Alan Ratcliffe and psyx - thanks so much for your advice! I think I will take your advice to heart and rather:
1. First concentrate on getting good at playing guitar on my acoustic
2. Wait until about June (when hopefully I have some more skill at playing ? ) and then look around for an electric guitar.
3. Mostly avoid Floyd Roses and gimmicks in my first electric guitar purchase ?
Thanks again!
PS: It seems to be pretty difficult getting details of local Yamaha Pacifica's. Anybody knows where one can get them at a reasonable price from a reputable seller?
PPS: I will probably be back looking for some Amp advice as well.
I have read the post about recommendations for beginners - where the Pacifica is recommended. Will first go through that around June and see if I can get all the bits and pieces ?. is that guide still current? I guess gear does not really "age" very quickly?
psyx
Codex7 wrote:
PS: It seems to be pretty difficult getting details of local Yamaha Pacifica's. Anybody knows where one can get them at a reasonable price from a reputable seller?
PPS: I will probably be back looking for some Amp advice as well.
I have read the post about recommendations for beginners - where the Pacifica is recommended. Will first go through that around June and see if I can get all the bits and pieces ?. is that guide still current? I guess gear does not really "age" very quickly?
That post is still VERY relevant ?
And with regards to the age of gear... If its good gear then the older the better
check out
http://www.lovemoremusic.co.za/
They had quite a few pacifica's last time I checked
Arno-West
Codex7 wrote:
sharonzaz, Alan Ratcliffe and psyx - thanks so much for your advice! I think I will take your advice to heart and rather:
1. First concentrate on getting good at playing guitar on my acoustic
2. Wait until about June (when hopefully I have some more skill at playing ? ) and then look around for an electric guitar.
3. Mostly avoid Floyd Roses and gimmicks in my first electric guitar purchase ?
Thanks again!
PS: It seems to be pretty difficult getting details of local Yamaha Pacifica's. Anybody knows where one can get them at a reasonable price from a reputable seller?
PPS: I will probably be back looking for some Amp advice as well.
I have read the post about recommendations for beginners - where the Pacifica is recommended. Will first go through that around June and see if I can get all the bits and pieces ?. is that guide still current? I guess gear does not really "age" very quickly?
Agree with all the above regarding Floyd-Rose. A general pain in the butt. Stay away....for now.
Re Yamaha: Don't know where you are from, but their Head office is in Kelvin (JHB next to the M1 close to Marlboro Drive).
I was there about 2 weeks ago for a video shoot and spotted a lot of Pacificas in their showroom. Some really good looking Guitars. Make a turn there, get to be buddies with the sales guys and I am sure they will give you a good price once you decide to buy something.
BTW, if you're in the market for a boat or a bike, you can get it at the same time cos they have all their products under the same roof.
Malkav
Everyone here is really giving floyds way more of a bad rep than they deserve, they're not really that hard to setup and there are a ton of benefits.
1) They're very comfortable as the saddles are nicely rounded, unlike most two point trems that have the screws that adjust the action sticking up grating into your hand.
2) Having a locking nut and fine tuners is amazing for live and recording, tuning up between songs wastes time and can look unproffesional - A well cut nut and correct setup can help this with regards to traditional tremolo systems, but they still won't top a floyd for tuning stability.
3) Everyone is making them seem really complex when they're not really, or at least they're not more complex than say a free floating regular 2 point pivot trem, if you read up about them you'll get it within one day - I started on a floyd and I've never had an issue with them cause I read the manual and google exists.
4) Floyds are a lot of fun...I mean really a lot fun...
The reason I'm defending them is because Washburn don't put the Buzz Feiten system on any of their lower range guitars, and the Stephen's extended cutaway means it's probably the Nuno Signature, which in my opinion at that price would be a far better guitar than any of the other recommendations flying here, I would evaluate that situation far more as you could be missing out on an awesome deal. As is this is only if it really is one for R1700 that's a crazy bargain, verify these things and when you get it have the trem blocked with a piece of wood, this would solve most of the problems beginners have with floyds and set you up for having a sick guitar in the future for when you're a more confident player. If it's not truly a buzz feiten equipped, stephen's cutaway Washburn then yeah what everyone else is saying would be better...
Codex7
Chad Adam Browne wrote:
Everyone here is really giving floyds way more of a bad rep than they deserve, they're not really that hard to setup and there are a ton of benefits.
1) They're very comfortable as the saddles are nicely rounded, unlike most two point trems that have the screws that adjust the action sticking up grating into your hand.
2) Having a locking nut and fine tuners is amazing for live and recording, tuning up between songs wastes time and can look unproffesional - A well cut nut and correct setup can help this with regards to traditional tremolo systems, but they still won't top a floyd for tuning stability.
3) Everyone is making them seem really complex when they're not really, or at least they're not more complex than say a free floating regular 2 point pivot trem, if you read up about them you'll get it within one day - I started on a floyd and I've never had an issue with them cause I read the manual and google exists.
4) Floyds are a lot of fun...I mean really a lot fun...
The reason I'm defending them is because Washburn don't put the Buzz Feiten system on any of their lower range guitars, and the Stephen's extended cutaway means it's probably the Nuno Signature, which in my opinion at that price would be a far better guitar than any of the other recommendations flying here, I would evaluate that situation far more as you could be missing out on an awesome deal. As is this is only if it really is one for R1700 that's a crazy bargain, verify these things and when you get it have the trem blocked with a piece of wood, this would solve most of the problems beginners have with floyds and set you up for having a sick guitar in the future for when you're a more confident player. If it's not truly a buzz feiten equipped, stephen's cutaway Washburn then yeah what everyone else is saying would be better...
Thanks Arno West - I'm in Midrand, so pretty close to me!!! ?
Codex7
Arno West wrote:
Codex7 wrote:
sharonzaz, Alan Ratcliffe and psyx - thanks so much for your advice! I think I will take your advice to heart and rather:
1. First concentrate on getting good at playing guitar on my acoustic
2. Wait until about June (when hopefully I have some more skill at playing ? ) and then look around for an electric guitar.
3. Mostly avoid Floyd Roses and gimmicks in my first electric guitar purchase ?
Thanks again!
PS: It seems to be pretty difficult getting details of local Yamaha Pacifica's. Anybody knows where one can get them at a reasonable price from a reputable seller?
PPS: I will probably be back looking for some Amp advice as well.
I have read the post about recommendations for beginners - where the Pacifica is recommended. Will first go through that around June and see if I can get all the bits and pieces ?. is that guide still current? I guess gear does not really "age" very quickly?
Agree with all the above regarding Floyd-Rose. A general pain in the butt. Stay away....for now.
Re Yamaha: Don't know where you are from, but their Head office is in Kelvin (JHB next to the M1 close to Marlboro Drive).
I was there about 2 weeks ago for a video shoot and spotted a lot of Pacificas in their showroom. Some really good looking Guitars. Make a turn there, get to be buddies with the sales guys and I am sure they will give you a good price once you decide to buy something.
BTW, if you're in the market for a boat or a bike, you can get it at the same time cos they have all their products under the same roof.
Apologies!!!!
Thanks Arno West - I'm in Midrand, so pretty close to me!!!
Malkav
Okay, that's not one of the nicer Washburns, I am highly skeptical about that having the Buzz Feiten, the owner may just be misinformed when when you look through their catalogue it's only American models that get the Buzz Feiten.
Norman86
Welcome to the forum!
Good thing you gave your location, as it would have been the first thing i would have asked.
guitars are a very personal thing.. what works for one does not always work for another.
so try a ton of guitars, single coils, humbuckers and see what works for you.
good luck! ?
Codex7
Thanks for all the great advice guys!!! Think I will pass on the Washburn.
@ Arno West - would they (Yamaha) sell to me from their showroom? Or will they just tell me to go to one of their resellers?
Norman86
World of Yamaha send you to one of their dealers, the showroom is only a showroom ?
Codex7
Norman86 wrote:
World of Yamaha send you to one of their dealers, the showroom is only a showroom ?
Aaah crap - LOL! ?
guidothepimmp
Jeepers guys, its washburn not santa fe..
If you're gonna judge the brand by the entry levelguitars then you may as well talk gio instaed of prestige.
3 key words there
Stephens extended cutaway..
How many of those have you seen on a washburn? Not many? Right, that's because their high end jobs have the SECas a feature..
At that price its a steal..
*edit: Chad beat me to it
Malkav
guidothepimmp wrote:
*edit: Chad beat me to it
Gotta represent for the shred guitars of this world yo 8)
guidothepimmp
Chad Adam Browne wrote:
guidothepimmp wrote:
*edit: Chad beat me to it
Gotta represent for the shred guitars of this world yo 8)
Respect 8)
To OP, if you need help with a setup or want to be sure about a fiddle, gimme a shoutn I'm up the road and if the guit is in the area I'll happily give it the once over..
BMU
Chad Adam Browne wrote:
guidothepimmp wrote:
*edit: Chad beat me to it
Gotta represent for the shred guitars of this world yo 8)
Yeah well as a proud owner of only shred guitars, high end ones with high end Floyds, I've gotta go with the conventional wisdom on this (much as that hurts.)
Floyds are a PAIN IN THE ...
Having a Floyd will make you dread string change day and procrastinate changing them strings for months on end. A cheap Floyd... 8 times worse.
