I want to buy a new guitar

Post by **Brian** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 12:38 pm

but I know next to nothing about gear.

Right now, I'm playing an old Kramer that I picked up at a garage sale years ago for like $40. Nothing special but it plays nicely and the Floyd Rose is probably worth that much by itself. Anyway, I've gotten bored of it and sick of dealing with a Floyd Rose. Looking into maybe one of the Epiphone SGs or even an Explorer. But truthfully, I have no clue what I'm doing in looking for a new axe.

Recommendations?

badcarburetor · Post by **badcarburetor** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 12:57 pm

New gear is generally a rip off. Go with a decent guitar that's used. I find old shit was better made and whatever you pay for it you can generally flip it for down the line. Buy new and it's like a car, it's going to go down in value for a very long time before becoming a collector's item and increasing in value.

Give some more info on what you want out of guitar. Do you want to shred or crunch chords, what sound or style are you going for, etc...

I play old Gibsons Melody Makers most of the time because I'm not into shredding and just want a good warm crunch from a guitar that isn't super heavy. Explorers are cool, but they are big, bulky and, on some, the guitar body has a tendency to angle away from the player's body. I have an old '86, but rarely play it because it's not user friendly for my style. Fucker sounds amazing though.

My around the house beater is a Jackson JSX Concept 93. Super fast, comfortable neck, simple clean look and just all around very comfortable. I hate tremolos, so I usually remove the bar and block off the the tremolo so that it's like playing a fixed bridge. I find the guitar stays in tune better, looks cleaner and just fits my style much better that way. You can pick up a JSX 93 Concept for under $200 on eBay and have it set up for under $50. No one has ever played mine and not loved it; I'm not kidding, no one. It's a shame that it didn't become a regular line. This guitar I can't recommend enough.

In general, I always recommend Jackson Dinky bodies for most applications. They are well made and very easy to play. They just look too metal for me to play live since I don't play in a metal band.

Not too long ago I picked up a Kramer Barretta re-issue. It plays great and is super simple with just a rhythem pick up and one volume pot. It does have a trem but I blocked it off like on the Jackson.

I have a few guitars that are stock, but most of the time I at least swap out the pick ups for something warmer and nastier. Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates are a personal favorite.

Those ESPs are really popular and cheap now. They are too much of a bastard between a Gibson and a Jackson for me, but I can see how they would appeal to a lot of other players.

If you can track down an old Charvel Model 4 that's a really nice USA made guitar that plays and looks great.

So, what are you looking for?

badcarburetor · Post by **badcarburetor** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 12:58 pm

Oh, one other thing. Have you ever had a real set up done by a real luthier on the guitar you currently have? It could make all the difference in the world.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 1:01 pm

Rafay plays one of those Epi Explorers and loves the shit out of it.

How much are you lookin' to spend?

Post by **Brian** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 1:58 pm

Wow, that was a great and informative post. Very helpful. I've been looking at the Jackson Dinkys, too. Just forgot to mention them.

My Kramer Focus is like your Baretta re-issue. Just the rhythm pick-up and one volume knob. Looking for something a bit more versatile than that, but I have no intention of getting rid of it anytime soon. It's due for a setup for sure.

Ideally, it'd be able to handle black, death, and traditional heavy/doom metal. There's not much I love more than sitting down and jamming out to Slayer, but those are the main styles I like playing. Just don't want it to look super cheesy either, ya know?

Probably looking at a $400-500 range but definitely negotiable. I'm an intermediate at best player so don't need to spend the big bucks yet.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 2:58 pm

Heres a melody maker in atlanta
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/msg/2311863962.html

badcarburetor · Post by **badcarburetor** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 3:50 pm

I find it very hard to believe that guy paid $500 for that MM and $175 for that SKB case. When Gibson put out that series of MMs about 5-6 years back they were dirt cheap, Japanese or Chinese made entry level guitars that got to have the Gibson name on the headstock instead of Epiphone. That guitar should have been about $200 bucks and the case was probably $65.He probably claims that amp ran him $400.

For MMs the sweet spot is the reissue series they put out in 1986. Those guitars are American made and very solid. They came with one rear pick-up and sound awesome when traded out with something hotter. The old late fifties-early sixties ones are fanfuckingtastic and come in a variety of pick-up variations, but they jumped up from being picked up easily at $350 to running $1350 when re-selling on eBay destroyed the used guitar store market around 2000.

For what you are going for Brian, I'd recommend either a Dinky or another Jackson (I really don't think Jacksons look cheesy at all, they just don't fit what I do), a real SG or an ESP SG or LP copy. Take your time and look around on CraigsList and eBay. It's fine to buy guitars sight unseen if you've played similar models already. Anytime I buy a guitar - and I've been through dozens - the first thing I do is drop about $50 on a full set up and a possible fret dressing. I know that I like my action a lot lower than the average person so I know that I'll need that set up before I'm happy playing whatever I'm buying.

Go hit as many stores as you can and play as many guitars as possible. Remember that you can swap out pick-ups for about $100-120 to fix sound, action and buzz can be corrected with a good set-up and possible fret dressing for $50-100, tremolos can be blocked off if they bug you like they bug me for next to nothing and by buying used - especially if you don't go to that bastard Guitar Center - you can always flip your guitar down the line and not lose money. Generally speaking, the older the guitar the better the workmanship and the better it holds its value.

Strange · Post by **Strange** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 4:25 pm

I agree with pretty much every word Kay said.

You're much better off getting a good used instrument instead of a new one (especially if you're going the Gibson route). Also if you go Gibson/Epi, make sure you check it out thoroughly before buying. The make some excellent instruments but their quality control can be very spotty. Check the neck joint for cracks, make sure the fret ends are relatively level, play it unplugged to check the tone and sustain, etc. You should do this with any guitar, but I mention Gibbo specifically because they've had a lot of issues lately.

I'm also a big fan of ESP/LTD stuff. You can pick up a decent LTD for $300-$600. They have the different levels of guitar quality pretty well quantified by the series designations. Anything that is a 200-series or below is more of an entry level guitar. 300-1000 series are usually great quality for the cash (set necks, active pickups, etc.), but try to find older ones (2006 or earlier) as these were made in Korea and tend to be better than the ones made now in Indonesia. And if you've got the coin for a real ESP then hey, more power to ya.

badcarburetor · Post by **badcarburetor** » Tue May 17th, 2011, 5:16 pm

You make some great points about Gibson's shoddy builds. There are a lot of different cut-off dates that different people swear. For me, the '86s that I have are the "youngest" Gibsons that I like, but shit has gotten so pricey that if I had to buy more guitars I might have to bend on that a bit. Generally somewhere around '95 is considered the last great years of Gibson. But in the context of this converstaion this is really this is all guitar nerdiness and is probably of little use to Brian.

I will say that I've never played an Epiphone that didn't seem like overpriced junk, with the exception of some very old ones. I just don't like the feel of any of the ones I've played and they seem to be poorly assmebled, but that's just me. Play what feels good to you.

SadisticRitual · Post by **SadisticRitual** » Wed May 18th, 2011, 6:21 am

High end Jackson/ Charvel (That's not one of those hair metal models) Then your set

donkeytron · Post by **donkeytron** » Wed May 18th, 2011, 8:19 am

Obviously guitar players are reading this thread, so I thought I'd post this here and help this guy out, cuz he helped me out. This guy is out in Buford and does some badass guitar work, he's got a shop in the downtown part of buford. Setups, Repair work, and he builds customs as well...got some nice stuff. I was skeptical at first but finally was like fuck it, and was more than satisfied...he's a straight shootin dude. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/msg/2387748146.html

I gave him my B.C. Rich Warlock and my Schechter Damien Elite FR, he restrung both, tuned down the schecter 2 steps, adjusted my fucked up floyd rose, polished em up, set the action perfectly, and had em back to me in 2 and a half hours for 70 bucks! They both play better than they ever have. I don't normally post shit like this, but I don't know anyone really to send to him, but I can't recommend him enough...so I figured I'd at least put it out there for the folks on here.

CAlexanderParra · Post by **CAlexanderParra** » Wed May 18th, 2011, 9:09 am

I did a quick craigslist search for some non-floyd guitars. Here are a few awesome deals.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/msg/2386587752.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/msg/2380483331.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/msg/2379347003.html

MaleficSounds · Post by **MaleficSounds** » Wed May 18th, 2011, 2:01 pm

donkeytron wrote: I gave him my B.C. Rich Warlock and my Schechter Damien Elite FR, he restrung both, tuned down the schecter 2 steps, adjusted my fucked up floyd rose, polished em up, set the action perfectly, and had em back to me in 2 and a half hours for 70 bucks! They both play better than they ever have. I don't normally post shit like this, but I don't know anyone really to send to him, but I can't recommend him enough...so I figured I'd at least put it out there for the folks on here.

Give it to me the next time and I can guarantee I can set up your floyd rose guitars for a chord strummer or a speed metal player. I love doing that stuff!!!! I do this for all my close friends, I'm acually doing my friends guitar in Disfigurement for their first show today. Alot of my friends ask me to setup their guitars because I'm a guitar player who knows what they need as far as setup. I do my close friends for free, and others i do for 20 bucks a guitar and you buy the strings you want. Takes me an hour at the MOST to do them. I'm in Kennesaw/Marietta area for those of you around me!!!!!

MaleficSounds · Post by **MaleficSounds** » Wed May 18th, 2011, 2:03 pm

OH, and check out this sick guitar if you wanna spend cheap for a sick guitar!!!!

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/msg/2384782011.html

badcarburetor · Post by **badcarburetor** » Mon May 23rd, 2011, 3:34 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... SS:US:1123

THE Jackson, bit pricier than usual, but looks to be in top shape.

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