Best guitar for 400-500$?

P-E

P-E

Munchkin
Jul 31, 2008
2,810
5
38
Montreal, QC
Me and one of my friends who got back into playing guitar are gonna go buy one in Montréal this wednesday. FWIR, best value seems to be the Ibanez RG321MH. Any other suggestions?

Maximum's about 500US, not more 'cause he doesn't have more money to spend. Hardtail please :D (anyways there's no guitar with a good trem for that price, right?).

Thanks for the help. :headbang:
 
Well ideally it'd rule if you could manage to snag a 400/500-series ESP LTD, but I wouldn't wanna go any lower than that since they're agathis, not mahogany :Smug: The RG321MH looks solid, though I assume it'd be pretty much exactly $500, which wouldn't leave him any money for the ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY pickup swap :ill:

Holy shit, though, just found this - Schecter Hellraiser Deluxe that comes with EMG's stock for $500; may be painfully boring looking, but good god, that value is unbeatable!
 
I recommend Schecter too. All their axes look and play pretty solid.

Personally I would not buy any Ibanez from the Korean line. (Their “Prestige” models are cool though).
A few months ago I got an Ibanez Prestige RGA121 (old 2007/2008 model for 550 USD – brand-new condition).

Those Schecters are really cool!
 
If you can find a 'new old stock' somewhere, the Ibanez SZ's are KICKASS guitars.

The RG321MH is a solid guitar, but features and tastes aside, the old SZ's were more solidly built. They were Korean, and the RG321MH is Indonesian.

Pickup swap is kinda necessary on those, tho.


ESP LTD EC-400AT's go for pretty cheap as well these days.
 
Dean VMNTX, needs a pickup swap though. Otherwise it's sweet to play, depending on your taste obviously.
 
Yeah dudes thanks for all that! :headbang: Unfortunately some of you came across too late!

We went to shop for that yesterday and had a friggin killer deal!
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Godin-Redline-1-Electric-Guitar?sku=513755 MSRP on MF was about 500 US.

Now the nice part : we got it for 430CAN + a basic setup, cable and nicely padded gigbag. No need for a pickup swap, and it played really, really well.
And Schecters were really overpriced here compared to Musician's Friend, and remember that CAD dollar is lower than US!

Maamar Huq said:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Jackson-JS30KE-Kelly-Electric-Guitar?sku=520303#new
:kickass:
MSPR: $499.99
Click to expand...

Tried exactly the same for a lower price. Lots of fret buzz, not a really good sound, and not a really good wood neither man. I think indian alder is a bit dubious. :D
And that review for the other guitar was teh megalolz XD
 
Ibanez Prestige RGA121's can be had these days for $500 used easy. The LTD MH400NT's are awesome for the money. I had one as a backup guitar for a while and it was a really smokin' little guitar. Blew my old Schecter Hellraiser (previous backup) out of the water.
 
Yeah well actually 500 US was a little bit over his budget but when I'll be looking to buy a guitar myself I'll check for the RGA121 and MH400NT (especially if their necks are similar to original ESPs, I'll have to check that out).
 
P-E said:
Yeah well actually 500 US was a little bit over his budget but when I'll be looking to buy a guitar myself I'll check for the RGA121 and MH400NT (especially if their necks are similar to original ESPs, I'll have to check that out).
Click to expand...

I had an ESP Standard series Horizon NT-II and the neck profile on the LTD was very close.
 
Sweet Godin! (supporting your French Canadian brothers :D) However, while I try not to use it too often, there are certain licks that demand for the neck pickup, so as a solo'ist I couldn't live without one!
 
Metaltastic said:
Well ideally it'd rule if you could manage to snag a 400/500-series ESP LTD, but I wouldn't wanna go any lower than that since they're agathis, not mahogany :Smug: The RG321MH looks solid, though I assume it'd be pretty much exactly $500, which wouldn't leave him any money for the ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY pickup swap :ill:

Holy shit, though, just found this - Schecter Hellraiser Deluxe that comes with EMG's stock for $500; may be painfully boring looking, but good god, that value is unbeatable!
Click to expand...

I wish Ibanez would just ship the guitars with no pickups and knock off $50 :lol:
 
I recently picked up an Ibanez ART300 while they were offering the free hard shell case deal last month. Have to say I'm really liking it for a $400.00 guitar. Yes I will eventually change out the pickups, but I honestly don't feel the immediate need. It came stock with the new Ibanez LoZ actives (sort of strange with the 2xAA batteries), and they don't suck as bad as some stock pickups so I'll wait for now. I really wanted a Les Paul shaped body to supplement my RG, plus I wanted to try out a different neck profile, and the ART fit both needs and a free hard shell case is a free hardhell case - a nice one too. All in all very pleased with the small cash investment.
 
Metaltastic said:
Sweet Godin! (supporting your French Canadian brothers :D) However, while I try not to use it too often, there are certain licks that demand for the neck pickup, so as a solo'ist I couldn't live without one!
Click to expand...
...And cleans!

But yeah, congrats on the Godin! I played one at a music store sometime, and yeah, it was definitely good!
 
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