Recommend me a guitar

[Chuck E. Jesus]

i honestly believe you are over thinking it...sounds like you dig the strat set up, so narrow it down to that...don't bring your friend anymore, try the guitars yourself and pick one that you like, the one that feels good...you are a smart boy, you are the only one who's going to use it, and you are the only one who has to be happy..plus it seems like you know well enough to make an educated decision at this point...i mean, are you looking to play a guit or admire it? it's a tool, and the only way you are going to be able to work with it is to get it in your hands and get used to it...any decent guitar in the price range and models you are looking at will be pretty good, just get one that is good for you...you can always trade it in for something later, whatever...BUY A f**king GUITAR ALREADY!!!

[Lunch Money]

Heh, Gotta agree. There's only so far your friend's opinion will take you. He's there to make sure it's not a piece of shit and to make sure it's set up properly with not inordinate fret buzzing (though, it's hard not to have ANY buzz in lower-end guitars... they're not levelled and crowned the same way, if at all). He's not there to dictate your tastes.

Sounds like you prefer the strat sound. It IS, after all, a thing of beauty... there's a reason so many players love that sound.

P90s have higher output than strat-style single coils. They don't have that same "chime", but they have character in different ways taht the strat pickups will never have. It's like comparing apples and oranges. If you think you like apples, buy apples!

Greg

[frequency_algorithm]

I have a fender strat, gibson SG, and gibson les paul. The strat sounds smooth and bluesy, long, good clean sustain, and has a soft distortion no matter what I do to it. (I use orange amp heads and EH pedals BTW). The SG has a crunchier sound, and I can get super twang on it if I strum hard with clean. It also, like the les paul, it has a cool toggle switch which you can use to get bleeping noises and other feedback tricks. The distortion on the SG can get metalish, but it has this smaller, crunchier texture and is a cool effect when using metal type distortion.

The les paul has the most rounded, full tone, and also heavy, heavy distortion. It sustains longer than the strat, but is richer in tone, and therefore not as smooth and elegant as the strat sound. The les paul sounds excellent when plucking and the strings have lots of bass with not much twang. The distortion can go full bass heavy and has a lot more bottom end. It is also the heaviest of the three guitars and I dont really like the shape.

The SG is my favorite because I like abstact guitar noises.

[deastman]

You're all right that I'm overthinking it, and I just need to get a damn guitar. My big hesitation is that, as you saw from my initial post, I made a bad decision 20 years ago and I've been living with it ever since. Its entirely possible that this will be the only guitar I buy for the next 20 years, and I want to be sure I'm making a smart decision.

That said, I've spent the evening searching high and low for a local Koa Strat, to no avail, and then looked at all the online retailers. So I guess my mind must be pretty well made up. One question about the online stores- Sweetwater talks up their '55-point inspection' prior to shipping the guitar. Is this really something special, or do Musician's Friend, Sam Ash, etc. all do the same thing?

Edit: Only buying one guitar in 20 years... its too bad I don't have that problem with synths. Hmm... its probably time to buy some more Doepfer modules too...

[P.T.]

Does it feel good when you play it?
I play better on a Tele than anything else. It just fits.
When I switch to a Strat, I stumble around with the hard to play things. Switch back to the Tele and it works.

Do you like the sound?
Sometimes a guy just needs more than one.

Maybe instead of spending $800 on one guitar (I think you said that was your top end) Maybe 2 $400 ones might be what you want.

I'd get a Strat and a Tele, but that's just me. Tele for PLAYING, Strat for those extra sounds and the screaming bridge PU when I need it.

[deastman]

Well, I know what a Strat-style guitar is capable of, and it does suit my needs pretty well. Come to think of it, my friend suggested I get a Strat even before I started all of this hunting. I should have just listened.

Also, not being the greatest player in the world, I just want one guitar to play constantly and become hopelessly attached to. I think if I jump between instruments too much, I won't master any of them. I've already got the Arbor, the Martin acoustic, and a cheap 5 string bass. Enough already! Just give me one good electric.

I think its time to kick my own ass on behalf of all of you, and make a purchase. I'll report back when the deed is done.

[Chuck E. Jesus]

i got in trouble for saying this before, but i say f**k sweetwater...if you buy a guit online, you are getting an individual instrument, may be good, may not...no inspection (besides obvious defects) is going to insure you have a badass axe, but here's the rub: you are way far from even knowing the subtle differences in guits to even give a shit, you just need a quality axe that plays nice....i could be wrong, maybe sweetwater has a good setup where they really check the guits out well, but i'm sure they are in the buisness of selling guits, not preventing the sales of guits...in other words, they maybe do a little extra, but i'm sure nice axes pass through other hands as well...

[deastman]

i got in trouble for saying this before, but i say f**k sweetwater...if you buy a guit online, you are getting an individual instrument, may be good, may not...no inspection (besides obvious defects) is going to insure you have a badass axe, but here's the rub: you are way far from even knowing the subtle differences in guits to even give a shit, you just need a quality axe that plays nice....i could be wrong, maybe sweetwater has a good setup where they really check the guits out well, but i'm sure they are in the buisness of selling guits, not preventing the sales of guits...in other words, they maybe do a little extra, but i'm sure nice axes pass through other hands as well...

Okay, thanks!

[hibidy]

I've been meaning to ask this for ages now, and seeing this other post http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=186592 prompted me to ask here (rather than hijacking that thread ).

Okay, so I pretty much suck at guitar. 20 years ago, I walked into a local music store and asked "What is your cheapest electric guitar?" They pointed to some crappy strat style models made by Arbor, and I said "I'll take one!". For all these years, my Arbor has served me well, mostly because I never really practiced enough to become competent.

Well, for the past year or so I've been practicing a lot more, and while I doubt I'll ever really become competent, I've vastly improved. I have a friend who is a fantastic guitar player, and he's really pushed me to develop my playing. He pointed out the many flaws in my POS Arbor, and made me realize how much easier it is to play when you have a decent guitar. I suppose I could get my Arbor set up properly, but since I only paid $100 for it, what's the point?

So here's the thing. I'm not particularly attached to any one tone. As a synth kind of guy, I like to explore as many different guitar tones as possible, often using 10 or more different guitar sounds in a single song. I use Guitar Rig 2, as well as running my guitar through synths and other effects, so I range all the way from totally dry uneffected tone to totally mangled. My friend is a hardcore Les Paul player and doesn't really know too much about other guitars, but he thinks that a stratocaster style guitar will give me the most versatility in terms of timbral palette.

My first thought was to get a Mexican Stratocaster, but I really have no clue what else I should be looking at. I see a lot of people suggesting replacing the factory pickups with others, but I haven't a clue about what different pickups sound like, or even how to obtain that information.

I do realize this is a bit like asking "I'm new to synths. Which one should I get?" I also know that I need to go down to Guitar Center and try them out for myself and see what I like. Basically, I'm just looking for a starting point, so I don't have to try every single guitar in the store. So, any suggestions?

I'm a bit late to the party......but I'd like to add something.....in case it helps

a. The stratocaster (or simualr) is THE most versitile guitar made. There are so many modifications and such it's hard to go wrong with it.

b That being said, it's quite "OK" to get something "eh" and then be able to advance on it. Pickups, trem (though I keep mine locked) tuners, "type" of electronics, (really everything) are pretty much all replacable. Getting a "mexican" (or whatever) strat is not a bad idea at all! You can change out pretty much any/all parts AS NEEDED!

I've been doing research on my next tele.......what is important about my comments is that in the "strat" arena you are VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED in what you can modify/tweek/etc. (strat/tele are probably the two easiest to fix/tweek of all instruments!!!!!!!)

So if you want to get a strat.......go ahead! Here are things that I personally think are important.

- I believe the bridge should be "vintage" in style. The reason is that new-fangled bridges are harder to change parts on.......and I believe sound less "strat"!
-Make sure it's 25 and 1/2 scale. Ok, should be a no-brainer......but DOUBLE CHECK! It's just too weird and hard to get good stringe/gauge for anything else!
-I personally believe that maple fretboards/necks are much easier to deal with in the low-end market than rosewood (er, or......simulation of!) This will help when setting up/string changing/etc......It's just a "my experience" thing but I really believe that allot of "cheap" rosewood fretboards REALLY WANK!!!!!!!!!!!

This may seem lame to some, but it's just my experience and the hope it can guide anyone from making finacially "regretable" decisions.............

[hibidy]

i got in trouble for saying this before, but i say f**k sweetwater...if you buy a guit online, you are getting an individual instrument, may be good, may not...no inspection (besides obvious defects) is going to insure you have a badass axe, but here's the rub: you are way far from even knowing the subtle differences in guits to even give a shit, you just need a quality axe that plays nice....i could be wrong, maybe sweetwater has a good setup where they really check the guits out well, but i'm sure they are in the buisness of selling guits, not preventing the sales of guits...in other words, they maybe do a little extra, but i'm sure nice axes pass through other hands as well...

No, there is some truth to this!

I personally feel that an instrument should "sing" to you. It may be a 279 squire bass (yep, and I can't TELL you how many EXPENSIVE HUGE "BU-KOO" names I've owned) or it might unfortunatly be the masterbuilt fender for 4500 bucks (glad I haven't found that yet )

Now, as long as the return is solid (sweetwater has treated me very well, I'm guessing there is at least a decent chance of easy return)? you can order.........but........there is something to be said for picking up an intrument and it being the NEO.......I mean....."the one"..........

Even if you are (and I CERTAINLY NOT assuming this) the shittiest guitarist EVER.......I personally believe that you and ONLY YOU will "know" when it's the "right one".........

[Lunch Money]

What's BU-KOO?

[hibidy]

What's BU-KOO?

I'm not sure exactly what some people are familiar with timeline/etc.............

but zon, modulus, curbow, and "factor bass" come to mind up-front

[Lunch Money]

Oh, I knew what you meant. I just meant, where specifically does the hyphenated imaginary word, "BU-KOO" come from?

All I could think of was "beaucoup" (bow - koo) which is the French word for "much/many/a lot"

[hibidy]

well, that 'WOULD" make sense........right!

[Lunch Money]

Dammit, I guess I'll never know.