A basic question about guitars

[Bryant]

Uhmm...that's a new one. I can probably give you a list of a dozen celebrity guitarists who use all-mahogany guitars for all sorts of situations. I do too - there's no problem whatsoever playing solos on my set-neck mahogany Flying V.

'bane

Yeah I agree with you as well. The one thing a maple neck has the advantage over the others is that it's sometimes varnished if you want to do a lot of string bending. You get less resistance from the varnished maple than from the unfinished wood of the mahogony, ebony or unvarnished maple. For a ballad that has a bluesy type solo, you can't beat something like an old Gibson with a wide maple neck for string bending, but other than that I think fretboard wood preference is personal taste than anything else.

Bryant

 

[Bryant]

Yeah some of these guys here have the right idea. I have six guitars (including a bass and an acoustic) and have owned a total of eight. I bought all of them less one used. In fact, my workhorse guitar and the electric I play the most I bought for $100 at a pawn shop because it buzzed like hell and made almost no coherent sound when I plugged it up and played it at the pawn shop. I took it home, removed the jack and resoldered the ground wire to the jack and have never made any other repairs or mods to it. It's a great versatile axe, though it's an old lower line Ibanez EX series.

Bryant

 

[xenophobe]

For around $500 you can get a new Jackson DKMGT, which is basically a string-thru fixed bridge guitar. A bit pricey for an entry level guitar, but you're not going to find any really good fixed bridge guitars for less, at least that I'm aware of, and even after you get better, the guitar is still nice enough to where you'll probably want to keep it and play regularly.

Pickups and layout, wood selection, and build quality aren't as important to a beginner as a good, solid, reliable guitar that will take a beating and some good beginner screw ups, but have an action that is nice enough to not hinder a beginning player.


There's no use buying a $1500 guitar brand new if you don't know how to play very well, or if you're not even sure you're going to stick with playing.

The neck-thru Kramers at MusicYo.com are supposedly a great buy at about $200, and would only need a pro setup. A pickup change would be good, but is something you could consider down the road.

I would avoid recommending a guitar with a floating trem, because it's a distration, and string changes are MUCH easier and are not as intimidating for someone who's not very familiar with basic guitar maintenance.

Anyways, just my opinion.

 

[Sunbane]

You get less resistance from the varnished maple than from the unfinished wood of the mahogony, ebony or unvarnished maple.

True, however I have a feeling the guy was talking about actual neck wood (not just fretboard woods) and the affect it has on tone.

'bane

 

[Ravenous Enemy]

Try finding a hardtail Kramer on www.musicyo.com excellent guitars. I know they just had a sale on that site.

 

[Sunbane]

ya could be right about the jacksons but a dealer showed me a jackson and said it was samick.

Well, I just found out from a fellow on the Jackson board that this isn't true. This is what he had to say:
"Jackson is one of the few companies to have its own production facilities [note: for import guitars]. Grover Jackson set it up in Japan, originally the Charvel plant, as it was referred to. No other guitar brands are made in it except for Jackson."

'bane

 

[Bryant]

True, however I have a feeling the guy was talking about actual neck wood (not just fretboard woods) and the affect it has on tone.

'bane

In that case, I'd go with maple. They use rock maple on guitars and it is named that for a reason. It's hard, sturdy stuff and if you experiment with string gauges and different tunings, you don't have to tinker around with the truss rod often. Like I say.... maybe I'm different than most people, but I like "plug and play." While "John Doe" is onstage fucking with his locking nuts because his fine tuners weren't in the right place, I'm jamming with my basic 22 fret standard tremola Humvee of a maple neck guitar that I can tune in ten seconds. It could also split time as a bat while I'm goofing off in a batting cage.
I can do almost every trick on my cheap Korean Ibanez that I can do on my Vandenberg. Don't take me the wrong way, a 2"X12" with a 2"X4" nailed onto it as a neck is not a guitar. A guitar that plays well and sounds good is most important. Fret maintenance and neck adjustment are part of playing the guitar, but after experiencing the headaches of fancy, high-maintenance guitars, I probably won't own another one.

Bryant