Official buying advice thread

personally, i don't like jacksons. ever since fender bought them they haven't been the same. if you're going to get a jackson, don't get one that's cheaper than $2000. sounds weird but the usa jacksons are the only good ones but, heres an unbiased guide...

if you want an exremely thin neck, get an ibanez
if you want a thin neck, get a jackson
if you want a neck that fits your hand, get an esp
if you want a thick neck, get a gibson

always keep the guitar scale in mind. if you're using a 25.5 scale and you buy a 24.75 you'll have to change your technique slightly.

body woods...

mahogahny has a thick warm sound. when combined with emg's, it gets more bite, more tone, and is great for death metal

alder has a sharper sound with more bite. when combined with emg's, the sound is thickened and is almost as good of a combo as mahoghany and emgs

neck woods also factor into the tone along with the fret board wood

tremolo...

if you want a lot of work yet a lot of versitilaty, go for a floyd rose. just a warning, if not handled perfectly, you'll want to punch yourself in the throat. also, due to the large amount of wood that has to be cut out of the body to install a floyd rose, tone is sacrificed

if you don't care about whammy bars and want a stronger tone, go for a string thru

standard whammy bars are ok but you can't dive bomb and they like to go out of tune because they are not equipped with a locking nut like the floyd rose is.

neck joint

bolt on's are useful in a way because if you don't like the neck, you can get a new on and they're easy to fix.

neck thru's have very good sound ideal for shredders (very low heel) but if you fuck it up, you're buying a new guitar

set neck's consist of a seperate body and neck with the neck being glued on. it's sturdy than it sound but is pricey to fix if you mess it up. it makes a warm thick tone

set thru's are set neck with a neck thru feel

personally, i say you check out the esp ltd series. they're cheap, play like they cost hundreds more, and are damn sturdy (i've dropped mine a few times) i also prefer emg's due to the excess power they have. because they're powered by a battery, the battery does go dead occasionally (once or twice a year if handled properly) just never leaved it plugged in to your amp, it kills the battery life

i hope my guide provided some help to you. rock on :headbang:
 
iminsan3 said:
my favorite bands are cob, bullet, and killswitch
Click to expand...
We understand. There's people here that will help you.
Seriously. It's like if you concentrated all the bad taste in the world...never mind.
The sad thing is that I've seen all 3 of those live...KSE sucked, Bullet sucked, and I don't know how bodom were because I was too busy trying not to get killed in a crowd surge.

Anyhow. I'm finished judging. A lot of shitty metalcore bands, Bullet and KSE included, like to play Les Pauls. Other than that, an RG or a Jackson will do.
 
HaggardBastard said:
Gibsons have far and away the best tone of any guitar, and are built such that playing them is exceedingly easy. However, Jacksons have a very naturally biting, metallic sound, so if you're looking to play metal and can't afford a Gibson, go with a Jackson. A word of advice: stay away from Fenders! They're not meant for metal players: they have a jangly, thin, tinny tone, and the fretboards are awkward. I still fail to understand the popularity of that brand.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Gibson doesn't have a monopoly on tone. I'd rather play an ash Telecaster modded for a humbucker in the bridge than a Les Paul any day. Fender guitars have more punch, attack, tightness, and brightness than Gibson. That said, a Gibson will be warmer and have a thicker, chunkier sound. Its all personal preference.

If you have $1000, you can't afford a good Jackson. The import Jacksons use very shitty alder and most of them have a dead, lifeless sound. The USA models are very nice though, as well as the MIJ Jackson Stars.

You could get a used 90's ESP for around $600, and spend the rest on pickups/parts/amp/etc..

Or an Edwards guitar.

Or the new BC Rich NJ Deluxe line. I typically dislike everything BC Rich puts out, but their new guitars are really impressive for the price. You can get an OFR guitar with EMG 81/85, mahogany body, set neck, and ebony fretboard for $700 or so.
 
i had an NJ (before they came out with deluxe) and it was still garbage. terrible balance. but it was a bass. so that might have somthing to do with it.

oh, and im merging this with the proper thread in... 3... 2... 1...
~gR~
 
Hey, I'm currently looking to change a few parts on my Peavey Grind 5 string.

I can't seem to find companies that sell pickups with exposed poles (as seen on Musicman and Ibanez SRX basses). Active and passive are both fine in my book.

Also, my bridge is made up of Hipshot individual-string bridges, but the saddles are basically floating, which leads to intonation problems as they fall out when I change my strings. I was wondering what bridge styles would work best as far as stability is concerned.
 
I don't think it will cause tone problems, as long as you line it up right. Most likely it won't pick up the vibration right and might sound quieter or thinner if you put it in the wrong spot. But I'm not sure.

How do you guys feel about synth pickups? Waste of time or not?
 
you mean the roland synth pickup? ive been very curious about them. i want to get one and play with it some time. that may be my next purchase actually. there are some guitars that have it built in, which could be cool.

http://www.driveguitar.com/

their synthetic body design has me curios too. but man, if i could play some orchestra parts in my band, that would be awesome, eh kevin?
~gR~
 
I checked it out on youtube. It looks awesome. There are certain moods that guitar can't really reach.
 
genocide roach said:
you mean the roland synth pickup? ive been very curious about them. i want to get one and play with it some time. that may be my next purchase actually. there are some guitars that have it built in, which could be cool.

http://www.driveguitar.com/

their synthetic body design has me curios too. but man, if i could play some orchestra parts in my band, that would be awesome, eh kevin?
~gR~
Click to expand...

Gotta admit, that would be pretty awesome.
 
...and I'd like some advice.

I am looking to get my stimulus check sometime near the beginning of July. It is expected to be 600 dollars. If not, I'll just make up the difference somehow.

Here's what I'm looking to get:
-Something between 400 and 600 dollars and is NEW
-Something I can find at Sam Ash
-Something decent quality

I was thinking maybe a lower end Fender Jazz or a mid-line ESP

If I can find a 5-string for that price, I might just get that, but I'd prefer it not be an off-brand. This is mainly 4-string territory though
 
go for esp man. the nice ltd's usually don't go over 600 and hell, you could get a 6 string if you really wanted to. you'd just have to throw in an extra 50-100 or so
 
bah! BUYING ADVICE THREAD. and yes, we can help you.

for that price range i would always reccomend ibanez. after some browsing, there is a washburn that looks interesting as well.

http://www.samash.com/catalog/showi...=Department&GroupCode=&categorysubsearch=true
this bass is VERY easy to play with a super thin wenge/bubinga neck. wenge is my favorite neck/fretboard wood. feels and sounds awesome. ive had students buy this before and they love it. my number 1 reccomendation

http://www.samash.com/catalog/showi...=Department&GroupCode=&categorysubsearch=true
this bass has a bubinga body, which is also used by warwick. its got a super growly tone with clarity, yet darker than other dense woods like maple. i'm also a big fan of the monorail bridge system. my bassist doesnt like the floating saddles on it the bridge. but its a great concept because it always each string to vibrate seperately. adds alot of clarity to the tone.

yeah, now i'm moving this thread to the proper place. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
~gR~
 
I already have an Ibanez and want something different. Although, I was actually looking at that bass earlier and was interested. If it comes down to it, I'll get another Ibanez.

Also, I get a runtime error with that first link. Try posting it again
 
i have to admit, even though i dont like esp, the new ones with the ebony top look good. i'd recommend playing one though, since the necks can be larger than what is comfortable (to me). they do say its "ultra thin" though.

anyways, its got a mahogany body with a maple/mahogany neck, which is kinda standard and would sound standard. the other 2 basses, especially the washburn, would have more personality tone wise. and thats something that is personally important to me.

lastly, i have no experience with the ABQ EQ. i dont know how it will color the tone. but atleast its not fucking EMG
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showi...ontains=*ebony*&Search_Type=SEARCH&GroupCode=
~gR~
 
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