Best metal guitar $300 or less?

[JonnyD]

You were, thanks a bunch. I might just hold off until early September though.

Your welcome Happy to Help ..... Septembers not to far away so thats cool It will give you time to save up some cash and get a REALLY good guitar!!!!
Though I still think An Iron Bird would be a cool guitar to pick up

 

[Lethe78]

for 300 bucks, it will be a slight challenge to find a good metal guitar, unless you want to buy a used one.... then the difficulty is reduced a tiny bit, but still there.

 

[nergal_S]

I would suggest you get one of those close out Ibanez RG 470 from musicians freind

 

[fadingessence]

I would second that, you said you just wanted a fast neck for playing rythym and any RG series neck is fast as hell. My friend has some ibanez with a rg neck and some other body that is cheap as hell but I use it for c-tuning death metal all the time.

 

[Metal is Religion]

I got both an LTD EX-102 and an Ibanez RG120. both do quite well for my band, i might eventually put EMG's or Duncans in it. I spent $200 on the Ibanez and $250 for the LTD. both kick ass!

 

[xenophobe]

I have a $300 Kramer Baretta that is, for the price, a very good guitar. It's sort of a cheap Jackson as the body is remarkably similar. I'm looking to upgrade to a Jackson soon, but the Kramer is doing its job well for now. Look on http://www.musicyo.com if you're interested.

Definitely. The Kramer Baretta is probably the best bang for the buck for a new guitar under $300. All you'll really need is a pro-setup, and possibly new pickups.

 

[Silverhaze]

music123.com has the Ibanez RG420 (h-s-h, locking trem) and the RG421 (non trem) for $299. Both of these would be good guitars for you. And if you might want a Flying V, they have the LTD V100 (string thru, no trem) on closeout for $199. That will leave you $100 to change out the "duncan designed" pickups if you need to.

 

[Sunbane]

Guys, I have to tell you again: don't forget the pickups. No guitar in that pricerange from ANY manufacturer has good pickups for playing metal. Your new guitar will sound like crap next to a Squier with EMG's. Add the price of a DiMarzio/Duncan/EMG humbucker to the guitar and see where you end up - well over $500 in most cases. So for that kind of money - buy it used.

'bane

 

[nergal_S]

Guys, I have to tell you again: don't forget the pickups. No guitar in that pricerange from ANY manufacturer has good pickups for playing metal. Your new guitar will sound like crap next to a Squier with EMG's. Add the price of a DiMarzio/Duncan/EMG humbucker to the guitar and see where you end up - well over $500 in most cases. So for that kind of money - buy it used.

'bane

good point.
its always better to get a 80's/90's Ibanez or Jackson with good emg's or Dimarzios that scream for a very low price.

 

[BulletRider]

I got this guitar: http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=11900 I'll add EMG pickups when I get more money. What pickups do you suggest? I've heard a lot abut EMG 81.

 

[nergal_S]

I got this guitar: http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=11900 I'll add EMG pickups when I get more money. What pickups do you suggest? I've heard a lot abut EMG 81.

that is a nice guitar!

I would put in Dimarzios with active gain bost

 

[BulletRider]

that is a nice guitar!

I would put in Dimarzios with active gain bost

Do you have a link to whereI can find those at?

 

[fadingessence]

nice find on closeout, platinums are the only b.c. rich I would ever buy other then their handmade ones...glad ya found something good!

 

[BulletRider]

Anyone know if Music123 sends their guitars already set up good?

 

[Silverhaze]

I got my LTD V350 from them and I'd say it was NEVER set up. I'm afraid music123 is more like a "middle man". They get a skid of guitars in from the factory and send one off to you when you order it. Mine came in a standard guitar box inside another sealed ESP box. They're just a warehouse with a shipping department like the other majors.

If you're lucky, BC Rich does a good job setting them up at the factory. I don't have one, so I don't know. Plus, different people like different setups, so they won't please everybody all the time anyway.

Look on the bright side.....You gotta learn how to set them up yourself eventually.....no time like the present!

 

[BulletRider]

I read that to set them up you have to move a truss rod in the neck. That part didn't seem too hard. But where should I have my humbuckers placed at (cm from strings)?

 

[fadingessence]

rule of thumb I learned was fret the E string at the last fret and leave enough space for a nickle between the string and bridge hum, and about half of that on the neck.

I know...it's not official at all...but it works for me at least. You don't "have" to adjust the truss rod unless you need to change it for low tuning or intonation problems, and you might want to take it to a shop to do that unless you know what your doing as it is something that can really mess up the neck if you overdo the adjustment.

 

[BulletRider]

This will sound really stupid, but which one is the bridge hum? the one closest to the neck? an what E string do you measure with the nickel?

 

[Silverhaze]

The bridge pickup is NOT the one by the neck, that's the neck pickup. If you even have to raise or lower the pickups, you'll have to measure at both E strings. When you raise or lower a pickup, each side moves independently. Don't mess with the truss rod until you get much more familiar with the whole setup process. Just a guess, but you probably won't have to do much to it when you get it. You may have to raise or lower the action to your liking and/or set the intonation, but other than that, it's probably going to be ok. Play it for awhile and see if anything "bothers" you, and then worry about adjustments.

Check out BC Rich's homepage and see if they have any setup specs you can go by. Gibson has it all spelled out on their site.

 

[Sunbane]

well you sure did make a really bad choice in picking your guitar.

Pfft. It will do just fine and if he likes it, it will serve him for many years. If you think it's such a crappy choice, why don't you gives us your reasons for thinking that way?

'bane