Guitars...

Post Reply New Topic

I recently taught myself to play guitar, and have played around on my acoustic for a while. I'm just interested in getting an electric now, [the one I really want is the American Vintage Hot Rod '57 Fender Stratocaster in Candy Apple Red, but it's around $2,000...too much! ] and am wondering if a) there is anyone online who is willing to ship and sell their electric with an amp, possibly, and if anyone plays and is willing to talk about their experience and the fun in playing a guitar! [My other favorite is a LAG Roxane RS100 in Cherry Shadow, but those are only sold in the UK and so expensive!]

J

Guitar is awesome. I have been playing for about 7 years. Self taught, I took a few lessons but realized they weren't for me. I just bought 2 Ibanez SPrestige guitars from 99'. I bought those so I could get really good at sweep picking!

I do have a Godin Freeway Classic with a Line6 amp processor ( its like an amp but its not, you plug headphones into it) that I am going to sell. It is a mid-range guitar made by a small canadian company, made with parts from Canada and assembled in the US haha it even says that on the headstock.

I'm not a guitar expert but it should be fairly easy to buy a guitar and amp online. There's Guitar Center which is like an online superstore which has a ton of guitar gear. They also have actual stores you can go to (in the US at least) - and I recommend that more than buying online. Its better to actually be able to play the guitar before you buy, to see how it feels and sounds, because they are all so different. Same thing with the amp.

I recently bought this pretty decent Ibanez RG5EX1 at Guitar Center for around $400.

It sounds and plays great.

If you must buy online there's also Sweetwater (for new stuff) and ebay (for used). I'm sure there are other options out there too.

I love playing electric guitar - I have a lot to learn yet though. I'm hoping to devote more time to it in the near future - I have all these music ideas in my head that need to get out. I have much more experience with bouzouki (an acoustic folk instrument) but it has a lot of similarities with guitar.

gotta agree go to a store and try out some stuff before you buy anything even if your gonna buy online anyway to get a feel for what you want


i play bass but i still cant stop thinking about a bass i found with the standard tuning of F# B E A ...... i need it

Now that you've settled on a guitar that you want, you should also try to find an amp that you think compliments the tonality of the Fender Stratocaster. Although this really isn't the best solution, a Line 6 POD will give you further ideas of what you'd like to have as for amplification. The POD is a processor that is dedicated to modeling the tonal characteristics of quite a few guitar amplifiers, guitar speakers and cabinets. --I have to add that the POD does not have the same touch sensitivity as the guitar amps that it models, but it will give you an idea of what you'd eventually like to have as a guitar amplifier, as well as allow you a means to practice playing guitar with a set of headphones, and therefore not irritate neighbors. --There is practically nothing that will piss your neighbors off more than cranking up a 100 watt Marshall amp at 3AM because you have some interesting ideas that you'd like to hear.

As far as getting a Fender Stratocaster is concerned, You may be better off learning how to set up and intonate what you currently have , and then when you've mastered that, get a book on building a guitar, and then get yourself a Guitar Neck and Body, as well as the tailpiece and electronics from a company like Allparts, or Warmouth and making your own guitar.

Accept no substitutes. No matter what they tell you. If possible an old fender or at least one that overdrives the power stage not the preamp stage. Modeling amps with 100,000 different setups are big elaborate toys- until you play on an overdriven tube amp you won't know what a real amp sounds like.
There are exceptions to this of course depending on style. Solid state amps sound fine with death metal since typically with that style of music the guitar tone is totally fuzzed out anyhow.

Uhh no dude, solid state amps are terrible with death metal. You want to get the clearest signal possible so the distortion doesn't sound like a fart. All the death metal bands I listen to use tube amps and active electronics to get the clearest signal possible.... If I could afford and had a place for a decent tube amp I would get one so I could play some real metal, its just not the same without that kind of gear.

Substitutes are fine, especially for beginners. And Fender is overrated. 40% of the price is the label. Same goes with Gibson.

My suggestion is go to a shop and try out a lot of different guitars. It doesn't have to be expensive to be good. My first electric guitar was one of the Ibanez JS series, cost about £500 at the time. Recently I bought a second hand standard stratocaster style guitar for £50 and I find it to be so much better than the Ibanez. Ordering a guitar off the 'net without trying it first is not a good idea in my opinion.

All the metal bands in my area seem to favor these giant solid state marshall stacks, but it's possible they only do this because solid state is cheaper, I definitely agree with you on getting a clear signal. And you're right, it doesn't have to be fender as long as it sounds good.

Yeah solid state amps are cheaper and you don't have to worry about replacing the tubes and whatnot.

I generally agree with this, but at the same time they sound a LOT worse than tube amps. When I recommended the POD, I meant the headphone processor as a means of learning/practice, not their amp line. When replacing the tubes in a tube amp, you are essentially returning the amp to 'like new' condition. Tansistor amps will die over time, and if you blow the power amp, good luck replacing the transistors! Tube amps that recieve heavy usage will last for decades with maintanance. Transistor amps that recieve heavy usage usually die after a few years.

Tube amps are indeed usually more expensive, but tube amps also either retain their value or increase in value over the years. Tube amps also out twice their rated power when the power amp clips out. The sound of a highly overdriven tube power amp is usually what guitar players appreciate in an amp, so in essence they are playing the amp at twice the rated output power. The hear of the sound of a tube amp happens to be the even order harmonics and overdrive clipping that the tubes produce. Transistor amps produce odd order harmonics and distortion when overdriven to the point of clipping, this sounds very harsh and grating.

They only way that transistor amps can produce distortion with even order harmonics is via digital modelling like the pod, but you are still limited by the sonic signature/headroom characteristics of the Op-Amps utilised. You will never get the interactive compression and pick response out of one in the way that you do with the actual amps that are modelled via the processor. You are further limited by the ADDA conversion as well as the sample rate, sample resolution, and latency effect characteristic of digital devices. --but still, it delivers a reasonable sonic facsimile of many amps and speaker/cabinet options at a fraction of the price of what the real amps/speakers/cabinets cost.

Transistor amps do not retain their value and most often are obsolete garbage after a couple of years.

Here's the list of amps that I currently own, they are all tube amps.

Seymour Duncan Convertable 100 (x2) both are all tube, one has audiophile coupling caps in the preamp

Ampeg V-4, 100 watts, Just the head chassis that I bought cheap on eBay and plan to restore, it's all there except for the chassis cover and reverm tank.

Nolan 100 watt head. Early 70's British amp that was made by a small shop headed by a former Selmer employee. These never had US distribution, and are quite rare in the UK/Europe. --It looks a lot like a Hiwatt.

Bogen CHB 35 PA head. 35 watts, needs the inputs modified from Amphenol mic input to 1/4" tipring to work with a guitar.

Diezel VH-4 100 watt guitar amp. Modern High Gain amp made in a Bavarian village. Four channels ranging from low gain to very high gain. This is essentially a German one-upmanship take on the Soldano SLO 100. Has a built in MIDI controller.

I played for years, started in 5th grade on a Peavy Predator. For me I used to love learning the songs just from listening, trying to push my ability to create songs and really make and recreate what I loved in the good stuff. My first amp was a crap B.C. Rich that I payed maybe $30 for, also got a DOD Thrash distortion with it (the pink one) and soon there after a Crybaby foot switch. Later I upgraded amps about 3 times - got a nice little Peavy amp with a good built-in chorus/flange, moved up to another 250W which I can't remember what the name was, and I eventually got a Randall white & black snakeskin halfstack.

I still also remember my birthday back in 7th grade, I talked my parents into getting me a Digitech RP5 - I was obsessed with getting better effects, had been a little stuck between that and the Korg G4 but the RP5 won out just on how much power and processing it had. I still remember sneaking into my parents room, taking it out of the box sometimes, playing it on a real low volume for a minute, and sneaking it back - it didn't steal from my enjoyment of the gift in the slightest either, I loved it.

As for the music I was into back then - Metallica, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, Suicidal Tendencies, Pantera, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice In Chains; I was kinda trying to learn a little bit of all of it. Eventually I did make enough friends in highschool through that interest to where we'd at least jam out here and there or try to start bands, funny thing was people loved the idea but never seemed to have the motivation for follow-through (being on risperidal and all kinds of antidepressants at the time as well sucked me dry in that department).

Sometimes I'm still really curious to know what my stuff would sound like if I did get back into rock - I know it would be real cheap and easy to get a nice double-humbucker Ibanez, a small amp, and an effects processor, but I still don't see myself really going for it; at least not just yet.

I also suggest LINE6.COM guitar port........ line 6 works with your computer but can be connected to anything or just used with your computer speakers...my bro john denner at www.johndennerrocks.com suggested it....this dude is a one handed guitarist if you can even imagine that....told me to get line6 guitarport and an olp mm1 eddie van halen imitation....knows what hes talking about...... almost famous but not......by choice.....
i ended up buying some mcswain guitars....check at myspace.com/guitarnotes
later!

grab the line6 on ebay for about $50 .....has unbelievable amount of tones and settings......dominates an amp.......ask john at www.johndennerrocks.com......tell him MD sent you.....LATER!

I just bought an Ibanez RG1570 prestige model with a Peavey ValveKing 112 all-tube amp. It's beyond amazing. I also have an Austin AU776 Thunder SG copy (which is about an 85% copy of a real Gibson SG) an old Austin strat copy, a BC Rich Warlock Platinum Bass, a Fender rumble 15 bass amp, a Taylor 110 which I got for free (long story) and an Ibanez classical nylon string guitar.

In the future I want to be a guitar collector and customizer. Axes on my list include a J Mascis Jazzmaster, a Fender Firebird (some kid from high school had one and it was awesome), a Parker Nitefly, a Yamaha Pacifica, an Ernie Ball John Petrucci, and a few others. My friend has a Dean Hardtail which is also really nice. We might be starting a band soon if we can find a drummer.