thinking of getting a new gee tar- what do you guys think?

[Stupid American Pig]

my bro has this one:

here

its not too bad, but I could always borrow that one

[Squonk]

Just my random 2p worth. I've never played an SG, but damn, they're one ugly plank of wood. They always look so "cheap" to me. Now a Ricky semi - there's a good looking geetar.

Edit>> See?

[Sicklecell666]

my bro has this one:

here

its not too bad, but I could always borrow that one

Then save your money & get yourself a nice vintage 50-150 watt tube amp you can mic for the good stuff

[Stupid American Pig]

yeah I dunno if my neighbors would like that too much- for now I am just using a Jstation for my amp needs.

I could always save up for the roland v-club drum kit and BFD though....

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

If you are looking for a Les Paul sound (Fat lead, slightly muddy rhythm from the neck pick-up landing on the 24th fret harmonic node) then you should take a good look at a Dean Hardtail. I almost nabbed one (Actually the EXACT one that was on the cover of the catalog) but the dealer sold it before I could come up with the cash.

The sound and build quality is higher than any other currently mass produced guitar that I'm aware of. Gibson stopped being a quality manufacturer years ago (Just look at how badly they changed the designs of Les Paul's original designs on the LP and the SG) in favor of making more money by using cheap parts. PRS has also been slipping pretty badly in recent years (They droped pretty much all of their high-end options and their wood selection, along with their sound, went to hell) despite the fact that their prices have gone up.

Dean, on the other hand, still makes a good guitar for the money. They don't make anything too particularly flashy (No AAAAA tops), but you will be thrilled with the sound for the price.

Not to say that Gibson and PRS guitars suck, but you are pretty much paying for the name. And be wary of Epiphone unless you want the arch of your arch-top to be made of ply-wood (I'm not kidding, how do you think they make those things so cheap?).

Well, that's my 2 cents anyway.

[Stupid American Pig]

I just figured epiphone was capitalizing on cheap korean labor, plus I wouldnt consider 1300 US cheap even if it is an archtop. I do see that the top is made of 5 ply maple, but maple is not cheap. I dont think that that aspect would stop me from getting it as long as it sounds good.

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

To make sure we understand each other; the most expensive non-signiture model Epiphone is $739 USD. And, while the specs may say "flame maple top" they mean that there is a paper-thin flame maple vineer, with a whole bunch of compressed sawdust (ply wood) underneath. If that top were to get scratched you would be able to see the ply wood underneath.

A real Gibson Les Paul is made of actual flame maple. On top of that, the pick-ups and electronics will be of a much lower quality on an Epiphone (Which is saying something, because Gibson loves to use some shockingly low quality parts on $2,000+ guitars)

Remember, not all that glitters is gold.

[Lunch Money]

Why eliminate the Epiphone dot-335 from the list? It's more in your price range, plus it's still a 335. If you're in the UK or willing to pay international shipping, I can direct you to a guy that hand-crafts pickups for less than the cost of a factory-made pickup.

[simesf]

Just to throw in a tuppence worth...
I think it was total guitar who did a round up of SG type guitars and rated the Yamaha SG700 (I think) as the pick of the crop because of it's tonal versatility. I guess what I'd do is decide what sound I'd want to complement any guitars I already had.

Trying to decide which new guitar to get. What sweet agony!

Simesf

[sOktay]

Ok, so this isn't one of the ones in the list but since we're on kvr, and since it's the only one I can really comment on, I figgered I'd mention it:

http://www.brianmooreguitars.com/i2000/ ... Guitar2.13

These are awesome IMHO. They sound great, play great, have two magnetic pickups as well as piezo pickups on the bridge, the latter for emulating an accoustic (though emulation being the keyword here.) And to top it off, they have built-in MIDI. I haven't played any other MIDI setups but this guitar tracks quite well (I have an earlier version of this (i2.5) and the main difference is the 5-pin MIDI instead of the 13 pin one on this). And the many Brian Moore users they list include Phil Campbell (Motörhead) and Pat Metheny... so it's versatile in terms of sound. And did I mention how nice it is to play? Definitely worth checking out if you are able to. I got mine a few years back at Manny's (NYC) for about $500 below MSRP, so you'll probably be able to stay around $1300-$1400...

Oktay

[Stupid American Pig]

To make sure we understand each other; the most expensive non-signiture model Epiphone is $739 USD. And, while the specs may say "flame maple top" they mean that there is a paper-thin flame maple vineer, with a whole bunch of compressed sawdust (ply wood) underneath. If that top were to get scratched you would be able to see the ply wood underneath.

A real Gibson Les Paul is made of actual flame maple. On top of that, the pick-ups and electronics will be of a much lower quality on an Epiphone (Which is saying something, because Gibson loves to use some shockingly low quality parts on $2,000+ guitars)

Remember, not all that glitters is gold.

I hear what you are saying- but I went over to gibsons site and it looks like their archtops also use 5ply maple laminate(plywood). I think that is just the nature of the archtop. I know an LP is a solid hunk of wood, but thats not really what I am in the market for. So far as I can tell, the Elitest Epis are Korean made with the same parts as the gibsons(which as you say may or may not be saying much) but the difference between the woods is little or nothing in the arch tops. I was planning on an elite epi, so I havent really researched the regular epi arch tops.

Either way I will not buy anything without playing it first, but I appreciate your input..

[Chickenman]

Buy a Jackson, grow your hair and come to the darkside

I could always save up for the roland v-club drum kit and BFD though....

f**k, I would borrow someones guitar and buy meself the cool toys.

[AndrewSimon]

After having the same dilema as you I ended up buying
the Epiphone dot-335 and I upgraded the pickups and the switch (real crap) with 57 Gibson.
I am very happy with the results.
But you must go out and there and find "the one" cause there are no two guitars alike.

And I did buy BDF and Trilogy with the money I saved.

[excalibur]

Wow. A guitar thread on KVR!

I have a old Rosewood Gibson SG which I love but I am thinking about buying a Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro V. Does anyone have experience of this company?

thank you

[iDavid]

I got a Warmoth Hollow Strat and LOVE IT!

I may get into the humbucker deal

Don't laugh, but I hear these guitars are fantastic. Take a look at who is using them.

The cheaper models will be made in Korea after the first of the year, but are now being mase in the U.S.

http://www.reverenddirect.com/reverend/ ... rocco.html