KVR Audio

xolax · Post by **xolax** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:12 am

I see - Musician's Friend is a great online retailer.
What is your price range then, koolkeys? I could help out some more if you tell me that.

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:27 am

I really don't know. It depends on what kind of money I can free up. Gotta find stuff to sell besides just my Danelectro.

At this point, my price range is probably closer to $400 or less. I am aware that the best guitars don't come at this range, so I'm not expecting the world. And again, I don't even know what to do yet with the other guitar.

I hope that helps. Sorry if it sounds like I'm just looking for the cheap route. It's just all I can swing right now.

As for Musician's Friend, they don't seem to have any of the Cort guitars, only basses. I had looked there and at other sites, but no luck.

Brent

xolax · Post by **xolax** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:33 am

That's good - 400$ (American I'm assuming - correct?) is enough to get a good guitar, which you can turn into a great guitar later on. The main thing to look for is good wood, and maybe some good hardware. You can always swap out the pups later on. I'll post some suggestions in a bit.
EDIT: I really am not sure, because a lot of guitars nowadays are trying to be geared towards heavier music, so I think you shoud just play it safe, and get a Fender strat, which is very nice on its own, but if you later change some hardware, it can become amazing. You wouldn't be the shreddy-Ibanez type of guy right?

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:45 am

Haha, I belong to no brand! That's what I'm trying to learn still. So I'm not against any brand, I just want a well built guitar that will give me good sound. But in looking, I learned that I know nothing about the current brands and product lines, as well as some other things. Hence this thread.

If for some reason I do want to sell a guitar, where is the best place to do so? I'm not even sure yet, because I want to keep trying to do what's best for me, but I have no idea.

Brent

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:52 am

koolkeys wrote:Haha, I belong to no brand! That's what I'm trying to learn still. So I'm not against any brand, I just want a well built guitar that will give me good sound. But in looking, I learned that I know nothing about the current brands and product lines, as well as some other things. Hence this thread.

If for some reason I do want to sell a guitar, where is the best place to do so? I'm not even sure yet, because I want to keep trying to do what's best for me, but I have no idea.

Brent

private sales are best whether it be through ebay, wantads or whatever...if you take it to a music store to sell or trade try to figure what it would probably sell for used...for a trade you can expect 40-60% of that, in a straight sale 30-50% (I bought and sold a lot of used gear when I was in retail)...condition depending of course

xolax · Post by **xolax** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:59 am

Also - I see that you (koolkeys) are in Nashville. I strongly advise you to check out www.craigslist.com (for Nashville). There are always AMAZING deals on there and you can always pick up a killer axe for a very small price (and not just an axe

).

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:09 am

I think Brent should come up here and I'll take him to a couple places I know (or just watch a game or two and have some lobstas and steamas)...I absolutely, positively guarantee a 5% discount on all gear...but you can thank NH for that

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:13 am

Haha, I'd love to come up there! My wife and I want to go back to NYC sometime, so maybe we can swing by. Not sure when that would happen, but you can bet there would be some football talk. Actually, my wife and I were on our honeymoon in NYC during the ALCS of three years ago, or whenever Boston pulled off the big comeback. As expected, people in the city were a bit upset by the fall. I thought it was funny.

Anyways, I'll check out Craigslist when I decide what I'm going to do. I also need a good place to sell if I take that route. So we'll see.

Brent

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:20 am

koolkeys wrote:Haha, I'd love to come up there! My wife and I want to go back to NYC sometime, so maybe we can swing by. Not sure when that would happen, but you can bet there would be some football talk. Actually, my wife and I were on our honeymoon in NYC during the ALCS of three years ago, or whenever Boston pulled off the big comeback. As expected, people in the city were a bit upset by the fall. I thought it was funny.

Anyways, I'll check out Craigslist when I decide what I'm going to do. I also need a good place to sell if I take that route. So we'll see.

Brent

I guess to some I'm close to NYC, but not really....I live in Mass just minutes from the NH border. Actually I honestly believe I live minutes away from the best shopping districts there are...one in Nashua NH and the other in Salem NH...because of the zero sales tax it's prime location for retailers...hundreds and hundreds of stores, several malls...besides Guitar center and the large chain Daddy's Junky Music there are probably 15 decent music stores within 15 minutes of me...I haven't been out on a safari in years though...

vinayk · Post by **vinayk** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:32 am

Koolkeys...

There are soo many good guitars mate... most guitars with the right tweaking will get you your sound.. when you are talking electrics.

I agree completely with the person that said that the amp is really important... I have revalver also... but compared to my marshall tube... well lets just say it doesnt cut it.. (its good at what it does however)...

I bought my guitar when I was in my metal phase... so I went out and got a jackson... with a floyd rose double locking tremelo... (if you dont know what that is... the bridge floats on two pegs... and the strings are clamped in on both sides of the guitar.. its a bitch to tune... but ones its there... it doesnt go out.. no matter how muhc you use the whammy bar..)... however it really started to annoy me.. so I had it blocked off... so my first piece of advice.. is to stay away from any guitar with a floyd rose... its really not worth it when you may want to change tunings etc... its good if one was Joe Satriani however...

A fender strat (mexican one)... is a good guitar... and if you were to go that route.. i'd get one with a humbucker in the bridge position... to give you some extra versatility... and also to keep it quiter when you have some overdrive/distortion going...

From what i've seen recently... I really like the PRS special edition guitars... they may be a bit over the $400 price range however.. Also epiphone make nice guitars... sure some are made in asian factories etc... but they are usually quite high quality instruments... my Jackson was japanese made (as opposed to the US models that cost 3 times as much...) and it plays great... no need to go crazy with price until one gets rich =P

I'm not a huge fan of squiers etc... the ones that i've played haven't been that much better than the other no-name entry level guitars that you'll find at a music store... some i've been told ar of much higher quality...

It really depends on what you are looking for... for a good all rounder.. i'd say... epiphone/PRS special or a mexican strat w/humbucker....

as for the quality of the pickups etc.. sure it matters a bit.. but nowhere near as much as one would think... i've seen a lot of ppl pull of some crazy things and get great tones.. with much worse equipment than me... you can always swap them later... but its sorta like putting the final minute touches on things... most of those gutiars.. shoudl come with decent stock pickups...

Vinay

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:51 am

I just went through this same process. I was looking at a somewhat higher price range, but you may still be able to get some good info from my thread on the subject:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 80&start=0

This is what I ended up getting:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=516034

In your case, I would suggest a Fender Standard Stratocaster, or possibly the HSS version with a humbucker. You should try both and see which sound you prefer.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=516037
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=516039

Whatever you get, be sure to get it properly set up. That made a world of difference with the one I got.

Happy hunting!

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:08 am

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've got a lot of learning to do.

Just for the sake of learning, I have a couple of questions. I know how important signal levels are in recording, but I've never really known what is proper for electric guitar.

What kind of levels should I have when I just have my guitar plugged in without any amp sims activated? I've basically tried to get a hot signal on my interface(Onyx Satellite), but I don't know if I'm doing it right.

So what is the best procedure to get a clean sound? That way, I know if any of the deficiencies lie with my current methods, of which there really are none. I have friends that play guitar for me in the past and for some other upcoming projects. But for me personally, guitar tones and technologies are still fairly new.

Any info is appreciated, and I'll be checking out the links. Thanks!

Brent

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:16 am

Guitars put out an "instrument" level signal, which falls in between "mic" level and "line" level. I haven't used the Onyx Satellite, but I'm sure it can handle instrument level signals just fine. Basically its the same as recording anything- you want as hot a level as possible without clipping. Try playing the guitar as loud as you possibly expect to, and make sure that level is out of the red zone.

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:51 am

That's pretty much what I do. I did discover something though. Having phantom power on creates a very VERY slight extra whistling sound to add to any noise.

I'm also learning about the controls a bit better. I don't know exactly which pickup settings do what, but there are six of them, plus a treble switch(I think that's what it is), and a dual knob control that controls volume and something else that appears to be treble level as well. I'm not sure though.

Here is a picture of my current guitar. Not very large because I took it with my phone as I found out my wife used my camera batteries for her other camera and they are dead now.

Another observation though on the noise. I know it's related to the pickups most likely, but if I move around the room, the noise gets quieter in parts. I can actually get the noise to almost completely disappear in some spots. Could it be my laptop monitor still? I didn't think laptop monitors mattered. I just have regular lightbulbs above me in a ceiling fan that is off, my Edirol keyboard, and my Onyx Satellite. There is a window in the room, but it doesn't seem to effect the noise in itself.

What other factors may be effecting the noise here?

I'm asking about this because part of what I'm not liking about the guitar is that the noise is just too much if I use any high gain presets. But maybe I'm just not configuring things right? I do love this guitar and still want to see if I can work it out.

So anyone who wants to hold my hand through this, feel free!

Brent

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:20 am

I used to play a Yamaha SG2000S which was the most beautiful guitar I ever owned...but I had to sell it over a decade ago due to lack of funds.

But I have heard very good things about the AES620 series from Yamaha. You should check them out, the price looks right:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=518191

I play an Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette custom model which is a really brilliant guitar, and some Ernie Balls can be found at very good prices at Craigslist. They are strat-type guitars but are usually lightweight and have excellent tone.

Need some help with learning which guitars would suit me