Guitar people

[raw]

I got my first acoustic guitar on Valentine's day this year. I'm so addicted to it and I play it like 3 hours every day. I want to go get an electric but I have no idea about it. So I had a few questions.

What body is gives what effect? Hard body or hollow? What kind of amp is good? I'm looking for something small but decent. Also, what's the deal with Gibson guitars? Why are they the supposed "holy grail" of guitars?

[andyman]

I got my first acoustic guitar on Valentine's day this year. I'm so addicted to it and I play it like 3 hours every day. I want to go get an electric but I have no idea about it. So I had a few questions.

What body is gives what effect? Hard body or hollow? What kind of amp is good? I'm looking for something small but decent. Also, what's the deal with Gibson guitars? Why are they the supposed "holy grail" of guitars?

sweet... acoustics are the best in my book, especially good acoustics with a good setup. My one acoustic that I have now gets and probably has more play time than all the other guitar i have put together.
For electrics it all depends on the sound you want. IM NOT AN EXPERT, but solid bodies have better sustain and the tone will vary with the type of wood it's made out of. I would recommend an Ibanez SZ520, only because it's one of two electrics that i have held on to for a long time because of it's awesomeness. The other is a strat i got for christmas a long time ago..

Gibsons were used by a lot of great players, that's part of the reason every riff kiddie wants one. Fenders are real good too (not the $100 package dealeyos). If you get a new one, have the shop 'set it up' so the neck is straight and everything.
As far as amps... $100 - $150 should get you something loud
it all depends on what you're willing to spend

[raw]

I'm willing to spend a few bucks because I figure whatever I buy I will have for a while. I take care of my shit so I don't mind spending the money on the nicer items.

As far as sound, I play alot of rock (Foo Fighters, etc...) so I'm thinking a solid body would be best for me. I was playing my buddy's les paul the other day and that thing rocked.

[andyman]

I'm willing to spend a few bucks because I figure whatever I buy I will have for a while. I take care of my shit so I don't mind spending the money on the nicer items.

As far as sound, I play alot of rock (Foo Fighters, etc...) so I'm thinking a solid body would be best for me. I was playing my buddy's les paul the other day and that thing rocked.

try out the combination at the store so you can be sure... also if you like a certain guitar but want more (or less) sound you can always change out the pickups or change the strings

this guy shows off a lot of combos: http://www.youtube.com/user/brennwatte

[plained]

modern guitars play very well and all the diff types and shapes and hollows and all that, imo theyre all nice like tools used for diff function.

get what ever make you feel awesome cuz then you'll be empassionated when you play and that imo is the best.

sometimes when starting out tho its best to buy used just in case the neck shape cramps up ur hand or what have you, that way you can go trade it without feeling bad or takeing too much of a $ hit.

going thru a bunch of types and styles will give you alot of info to base ur decisions on what you like/dislike instead of someone elses likes and stuff

i like a guitar that occilates in my neck hand quite abit, the occilation needs to be harmoanius tho, some guitars you can feel vibes fighting themselvs, it makes chourds feel mushy

also i like a thumpy sound when tapped, even the back of the neck , i'm not into the plinkyness some guitars have.

hope that helped somehow

[+JuggerNaut+]

solid body or hollow this tip still applies: take the guitar into one of the acoustic rooms and play unplugged. you can tell if a guitar is shit or not if it sounds like shit unplugged. the ones that sound good will sound good obviously with a good amp which are like home audio speakers - everyone has their preference in sound.

[andyman]

any particular axe in mind..?

[plained]

fucking gollys the dave gibby sig model is 5k

http://www.modernguitars.com/imagefiles ... /DG335.gif

its kinda like a 335 with a firebird headstock

[Deji]

I wouldn't say Gibsons are the holy grail, but they're popular rock guitars. Then again, Ibanez and Fender also make great guitars, with Ibanez generally being a bit more metal or progressive oriented.

Also, you might want to look into used guitars. I got my RG550 for 400$ and it sounds just as great as any RG1570 that you would have to fork out 1200$ for at the store. Just make sure to bring along someone who knows guitars, to make sure the neck isn't bent or twisted, etc etc.

Aside from that, welcome to the club, my first guitar brought me my longest lasting relationship of 5 years and counting (and by that, I mean music)

[Cooldown]

In regards to an amp, you can't go wrong with a Roland Microcube. You can pick one up for $125

[Geebs]

I got my ibanez s540 for four hundred quid on eBay and it plays like a dream. For classic rock a Gibson is a perfectly good choice - personally I can't stand les pauls and would go for an SG or semi acoustic model any time. Fenders are ok but dull and the cheap ones are often pretty dire.

If I was you, I'd take a guitar-savvy friend around a few shops and see what suits you playability and sound wise, leaving him to look for manufacturing flaws.

Pps a roland amp for classic rock? Madness!

[Scourge]

I had an Ibanez RG550 as well. Played fantastic. Sounded great too. But all guitars, even the same models, will sound different. You'll just have to sit and play them as has been suggested.

[raw]

Thanks for the tips. I'll start looking around for what I want.

[R00k]

Yea, it will be really hard to find the guitar that's right for you without playing a few different kinds for a while.

This is definitely good advice though:

If I was you, I'd take a guitar-savvy friend around a few shops and see what suits you playability and sound wise, leaving him to look for manufacturing flaws.

Also, if you're going to be playing a lot sitting down (which you probably will), make sure you get one that's comfortable too. That has always been my biggest complaint with Les Pauls.

[andyman]

http://www.break.com/index/world-record ... uitar.html

[mrd]

Amen to the Roland Cube, it's a great little amp. A friend of mine has one, I was pretty surprised, coming from all-tube amps to a small little solid state, it sounded pretty nice. El-cheapo too, which is great.

I wouldn't say Gibsons are the holy grails, people just make them out that way. If you're into harder rock or metal, check out some ESP guitars, or maybe LTD (which is the "value version" of ESP, still quite nice though.) Beyond that, PRS makes some sweet stuff, can be very expensive though. Les Pauls are good too. You would probably do fine with a mid-range Fender at first. Most noobs don't even know what good tone is anyway so trying to satisfy something that you can't even taste is a waste of time anyway.

I agree with andy too... when you get a nice acoustic... dayme does it ever sound good.

[bork[e]]

ltd to esp is what the strat is to the tele, or the epiphone is to the gibson etc...

One thing that hasn't been touched on though are the pickups, find a brand/style you know something of and stick with that.

bad example maybe, but buying a 30k dollar car doesn't mean it doesn't have a three dollar motor powering it.

[Eraser]

If you've just started playing, I think you shouldn't be too worried about the guitar you're buying. I wouldn't spend 1000 euros on a guitar if I had just started playing, simply because I wouldn't have known back then what the difference was between one guitar and another (similar one) and what made it worth the 1000 euros.

This may sound like very dumb advice, but I think that by the time you've really developed an ear for the tone of a guitar and you've developed a preference for certain things about a guitar, you'll know much better what type of guitar you want.

Right now, I'd concentrate mostly on the type of guitar you want. What kind of music do you want to play, and look up what kinds of guitars go best with that. The difference between an Ibanez RG or Ibanez S for instance, is probably still too subtle for a beginning guitarist to notice.

I noticed years ago how my (cheap) Fender Squier Stratocaster was bollocks compared to my guitar teacher's Gibson Les Paul, simply because I could play it and felt the difference. Before that though, to me, the Squier played like the best thing in the world. Now, years later, having played a number of other guitars besides those two, I realize that I wouldn't have liked the Les Paul for a number of things, not in the least it's weight. If I went off and bought a €2500 Les Paul as my first guitar, I'd be regretting it because it wouldn't be the guitar I really wanted.

What I really want to say is that I'd be careful spending a huge pile of money on a guitar now, when possibly, three years down the road, you'll notice that the guitar you bought isn't exactly what you wanted. If I were you, I'd buy a relatively cheap guitar to start off with and then just once in a while, walk into a guitar shop and ask if you can play one of the more expensive guitars. Play different guitars. Try them and figure out what's best for you. In a few years, you'll notice you can get pretty picky about relatively small details. IMO it's best to build up your collection of guitars and only buy the really expensive one when you're at a level of playing where you can actually appreciate what you've bought.


edit:
oh be warned. Musicians are a really picky type of people who live in a pretty black and white world. They'll often say a product is horrible when they're not using it themselves for no other reason than that it's different from what they're using. Different isn't always worse.

[Big Kahuna Burger]

If I was you, I'd take a guitar-savvy friend around a few shops and see what suits you playability and sound wise, leaving him to look for manufacturing flaws.

+1

Keep in mind that without a lot a experience with music or playing guitar you probably won't appreciate the benefits that an expensive guitar offers.

[raw]

I went to Guitar Center and tried out every guitar I could get my hands on and at the end of the day I ended up getting a PRS SE Single Cut. It felt really good for the price range I looked at and i'm pretty happy with it.

Thanks for all the advice.

[andyman]

what amp did you get?

[raw]

I ended up getting a Marshall 15watt amp which is more than what I can even play in my house.

[mrd]

Cool, PRS makes good shit, especially some of their high-end stuff.

Did you get a MDFX15? I had one of those way back when, they are cool little amps for starting on.

[plained]

sounds right on man enjoy!

[plained]

hey post a pic of ur prs so we can drool over it

i love guitar pics!