geetar

[noob3]

i want to buy a guitar, i already have an amp. a bass amp, 2 10" subs and a horn. it made the only guitar i've played through it sound pretty snazzy. but now i want a guitar for myself, and i dont know what kind to get ;(

helm or somone, IM me at asonicwaveofbees

[sspadowsky]

Depends on what kind of music you like to play. For rock and metal, I recommend the following:

ESP (my favorite)
Jackson (last I checked, the USA made ones are the best, but some of the upper-shelf Japanese models are pretty good too)
Another brand I really like (but can't afford) is Brian Moore guitars. They're fucking incredible. They make some good lower-line models that are about $700-800. The top of the line models are amazing, but they're $2000-3000.

Fuck it. Just get a cheap Strat or an Ibanez.

[Helm]

I used to play aforementioned cheap ibanez but now I play Gibson Les Paul and I can't see any reason to touch any other guitar. Sometimes I record rhythm guitars with my guitarist/singer's ESP Explorer and hey, it's made for that sort of thing.

But I've played all sorts of guitars and yeah, if you want teh methul, I suggest either ESP, Jackson or even a good BCrich model. For more varied stuff you could always try the newer Ibanez models, but they are malfunction-prone, as were all Ibanez models before them. And always, always, you simply cannot go wrong with Gibson Les Paul (not epiphone variants and general knock-offs, the real thing)

But basically, any guitar you get, as long as it's got some good pickups, and you run it through a few select pedals and a proper amp, it's going to sound decent. I suggest EMG pickups although I do not use them myself due to liking my Gibson sounding like a Gibson instead of sounding like Zakk Wylde.

[Helm]

Basically you have to find what sort of neck suits your fret hand. Some people like the curved neck, Ibanez style while others (mostly shredders) like the clean ruler-fine Jackson fret neck. It also depends on what size strings you'll be fitting on the guitar. There's absolutely no sense in fitting a Jackson with anything thicker than 10 size strings, because Jacksons are not made for chugging, they're made to rend. I like the Gibson neck, but my hand finds the Ibanez neck more to it's liking but I guess I'll outgrow it after a few years.

Also, if you're thinking of palm-muting efficiently, you have to look into what sort of (I don't know what's it called in english) umm... 'rider'(direct greek translation, heh. It's where the strings meet with the body of the guitar after the pickups) suits your palm-muting style. I can't palm mute on Jackson guitars for shit whereas I find it very natural on Ibanez or ESP guitars. But that's sorta nitpicking because I guess you can retrain your hand after all.

Basically what you need to do is go in a decent-sized music store where the employer you get isn't a complete jerk and tell him you're trying to find the style of guitar that suits you and sit down and play them all. Every single one you can try, you should. Eventually you'll fall in love with a model or two, and then you should cross-reference the best quality model of the same line with the maximum amount of money you can afford to spend and buy that. Treat it with care. In fact, ask the clerk to ring up some cleaning materials and a few other sets of strings (try some different sizes from niners up to 11 to see what works for you) as long as all different sorts of picks. Always put back into guitar case after you're done playing it.

I gave you more information than you needed.

[sspadowsky]

Hey, Helm: The part of the guitar you're talking about is what we call the "bridge."

[noob3]

Thanks for all the information, but I'm probably going to have to buy somthing cheap.

I'll have about $500 to spend after Christmas, and I want to buy a Sansamp Bass Driver too . Which is basically a really nice bass tube-amp simulator, and does guitar really well. My current amp is solidstate (and a bass amp ;p), and I yearn for tubes-melting down type of sound. I'm only buying a guitar because my bass got stolen, and I'm not in a band so I don't see why I'd want a bass again until I actually get in a band. You can write bass lines on a guitar, you can even play bass with an octave-pedal. But you can't play no chugga-chugga-chugga. Stupid bass.

[sspadowsky]

This is a good little unit. I have one of these, and you can get some really good sounds out of it. It runs $300, but you might find it cheaper on Ebay.

http://www.korg.com/gear/images/products/enlarge/lrg_AX1500G.jpg

http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=AX1500G&category_id=6

P.S.- Noob, you can find some nice guitars on Ebay for real cheap.

[Spectre X]

I have an acoustic guitar. It's neat. I never play it anymore. :(

[noob3]

send it to me

[Spectre X]

NEVAR! >:

[Helm]

Thanks sspad. And you could get a decent guitar with just a few more bucks online second hand. But if you want good distortion, you'll have to have some good pickups. Distortion is the most difficult effect to get absolutely right and cheap guitars sound like nirvana :/

[Spectre X]

I want an electrical guitar too. :(

Because I want to be like Angus Young. :(

Fucking dreams making me all depressed. :(

[Royal Tenenbaum]

I don't have an electric guitar right now, but I want one sooo bad to play some Big Star on it. :( I did get a harmonica for Christmas, so I can roll out a little Bobby Dylan on it.

[noob3]

$150. ugh. I'll be getting $250 in mid january, and $50 tommorow.

Should I go look for a $200 guitar or wait till I have $450?

[Perndog]

Spend the $200 if you can find a nice used one, but otherwise wait - a new $200 guitar probably won't treat you very well, while $450 will almost definitely keep you out of the "I hate this piece of shit" range. I recommend finding someone who knows all about guitars to bring along and help you shop, especially if you check out used instruments.

Let me also recommend Washburn and Dean electric guitars. I've been playing a Washburn Culprit for three years now and my only complaint has been the muddy-sounding pickups (which I replaced). And Dean makes some of the best instruments I've played in the $250-600 range.

[Bobo Adobo]

200$ b/c you might play guitar for a month and realize its really not your instrument(like 90% of the attention whore wannabe guitarist I know), and you won't feel as stupid if you bought a $450 guitar. buy used too.