What`s your favorite high end -guitar for recording metal?

[Spectivum]

any Ibanez Prestige, TBH, w/EMG's or any other suitable replacement for the garbage they throw in there.

VERY KEEN to test the new Premium series on a record (which look absolutely STUNNING, btw...) it's just the neck isn't QUITE as fast as a Prestige.

the prestige neck might not be for everyone though, so different from other guitars it takes time to get used to. I had a 1570 and found its neck was too flat and thin.
BTW the fastest neck I ever played was of a Hohner St Lynx, not that I would recommend it for pro use

 

[tempe]

Every ESP eclipse including our own I've recorded has been an absolute dream, set up properly they just stay in tune.

I've only ever had the opportunity to work with PRS guitars a couple of times but they are truly lovely instruments.

 

[Fragle]

i'm loving my dean razorback V......sure that thing is a one trick pony and sounds like shit for mellow stuff, but for metal it kills. it has a gnarly growl that i haven't found in any other guitar yet. the emg loaded jackson sounds so tame in comparison.....

 

[EffigyForgotten]

i'm loving my dean razorback V......sure that thing is a one trick pony and sounds like shit for mellow stuff, but for metal it kills. it has a gnarly growl that i haven't found in any other guitar yet. the emg loaded jackson sounds so tame in comparison.....

How is Dean a high end guitar? Or any non prestige ibanez?

High end guitar = non korean made IMO.

 

[Dave1978]

Framus Camarillo. A shame that this instrument is discontinued.

 

[guitarguru777]

My Oktober guitars, always sound phenomenal always flawless!

XP on the Left
Prophet on the Right

Mahogany Body
Mahogany Set Neck with Ebony Fingerboards
Custom Wound Pickups at 14.2k
CTS Pots and Switching
24 3/4 Scale

Both guitars retail for under a grand!

 

[Fragle]

How is Dean a high end guitar? Or any non prestige ibanez?

High end guitar = non korean made IMO.

i don't care where it's made, it still shits all over anything else i've recorder so far.

i own lasse's old robin medley (usa custom shop, doesn't get much more high end if you ask me) and while it's a great guitar, it doesn't hold a candle against the razorback when it comes to heavy stuff.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

depends on the style etc..my favorite guitar for leads is not my favourite for rhythms etc.
what kind of metal?
playing style also plays a big role.

I'm actually not a fan of the razorback at all (at least not the ones I've tried), they sound "good", but they don't "live" (if that makes any sense).

 

[AD Chaos]

i don't care where it's made, it still shits all over anything else i've recorder so far.

Curious to know- what exact model is this?

 

[Tercero]

Hands down, my Ibanez Prestige RGA321F. I've considered selling it a bunch of times, but I finally decided to never part with it.

 

[mickrich]

That Bernie Rico looks great but me and a floyd rose don't get on.
I see a few people saying ESP Eclipses.
Here is the daddy!
My ESP Custom Eclipse Full Thickness.
Amazing guitar.

 

[Clark Kent]

The meaning of "high end" certainly got re-written in this thread. I don't think a guitar has to be high end to be good for recording though. Three of MY most important factors in a guitar for tracking are 1) the pickups 2) intonation 3) how it stays in tune. So ofcourse a stop tail bridge will be ideal or a trem that stays in tune and has good intonation like EBMM JP trem or the PRS trem. Intonation... well you should learn to adjust this. Pickups depend on what you are after. I've given Bare Knuckle Pickups literally 4 tries and I always regret getting them. They are so low powered and sterile sounding. No offence to all the hype but they have no character in my opinion. Cheapo stock pickups tend to kick their asses. Passive is the way to go IMO and I don't think anything can top DiMarzio or PRS pickups of all that I've tried. Fender pickups for single coils.

If it only has to be one guitar then I'd take one that can do many things which will be ofcourse a PRS. My pre-factory PRS is the one I'd take on a deserted island with me if I planned to record an album there. I haven't tried Suhr guitars but they seem to be head to head with PRS. Then there are all these custom shops like Mayones and Amfisound which is located where I live actually. If you have the money I suggest you go custom and do the research to get the instrument that fits your needs the best.

 

[mickrich]

I have a PRS custom 24 too.
I strongly disagree about PRS pickups.
My PRS sounds FAR better since I swapped the HFS bridge pickup to a SD custom custom. The guitar is much more alive and dynamic now.
The Eclipse Custom still smokes the PRS though.

 

[Temps]

guitars don't have to be high end.. if you go around and play guitars before you buy em, you can find gems in almost price range, it just gets easier as price goes up. once you get to about the $600 range, you can buy one of those guitars, get it perfectly setup by a tech and swapped to better pickups and for $1k you've got a guitar anybody would be happy to play as a main axe unless a high price tag is key to their enjoyment of a guitar

I've got an ESP/LTD PB-500 that fits that description. thing was cheap but it plays pretty smooth and is a tone monster for drop D and E standard stuff. my two favorite guitars are Jacksons that were less than a grand each. my Suhr Modern Pro is a great axe for $2k, but it doesn't feel or sound $1,500 better than the PB-500. the modern custom is an absolutely outstanding guitar but you wouldn't listen to it and go "yeah that guitar is $3k better than the PB." you look at it and go "god DAMN" because it is absolutely the sexiest guitar ever made but the correlation between cost and playability & tone is not that strong

 

[amarshism]

Weird, I could've sworn I also had lasses old robin medley.

 

[StefTD]

didn't Lasse own two Robins?

 

[Matt-Steele]

guitars don't have to be high end..

I guess... This was the point I attempted to make here, but obviously fell on deaf ears as usual. I own many guitars that I could sell for over $3,000.00, but that doesn't make them sound or play any better than the new Premium line Ibanez is currently outputting. You can have a guitar that can perform just as well if not even better for a fraction of the price. But whatever. Do what ever the hell it is you want to do.

 

[Brandon E.]

The pickups are more important than the guitar, assuming you're not playing a beater.

I highly HIGHLY disagree with that statement...unless you are somebody who uses nothing but EMGs, that's simply not the case. That's like saying the microphone is more important than the singer.

My best sounding/recording guitar for metal is by far my Peavey Destiny Custom. Second to a US Charvel San Dimas, an ESP m-i custom, and probably my Jackson PC-1 is also on that level. I used to have a master series Lag Arkane that sounded pretty awesome also, but no longer.

The Destiny is short scale, heel-less set-neck, mahogany body, maple neck, THICK maple cap, ebony board, with a Kahler Spyder. H-S-S with 24 frets, superstrat. Pretty unique specs. It sounds absolutely ruling. Utterly brutal. It's such a metal beast that I can't even use it for other genres, it screams. I disagree with the people who talk crap about tremolos. I have 12 guitars right next to me with Floyd Roses/Kahlers...some of them have Tremol-Nos or are blocked. I hear no correlation between tuning stability/intonation/tone loss between hard tail guitars and guitars with tremolos, assuming you know how to set up and play a guitar properly. A good sounding guitar is a good sounding guitar, and trust me, good sounding guitars with tremolos exist. I have owned more than a few of them. And in my experience they hold tune better than say a Gibson Les Paul made in the last 10 years does.

I agree with the people saying that the country of origin doesn't mean that a guitar is definitely going to sound worse...But I am too much of a guitarist to subject myself to cheap korean/chinese/indonesian guitars...I just can't do it. It makes my soul cry .

PS. That BRJ from the last page looked RIDICULOUS! Can't believe you sold that man!

 

[Brandon E.]

i own lasse's old robin medley (usa custom shop, doesn't get much more high end if you ask me) and while it's a great guitar, it doesn't hold a candle against the razorback when it comes to heavy stuff.

Robins were actually ghostbuilt (at least the necks and bodies) in Japan by ESP

EDIT: Actually, I stand corrected. They used to be made with ESP parts for awhile but they definitely made guitars on their own also. Sorry about that!