Electric guitar buying advice

[Moose.]

After a year and a half enjoying my acoustic, I feel it's now time to move on to an electric; although I have no intentions of stopping playing the acoustic!

I have a pretty varied taste in music and enjoy playing loads of different genres including artists like the Eagles, REM, Oasis, Richard Marx, Kenny Rogers, Eric Clapton and John Denver to name a few. However, I'd love to start getting into some other stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Guns'n'Roses, BonJovi, Bryan Adams, Dire Straits, John Mayer and maybe even some Pink Floyd. I am not, however, a fan of heavy/thrash metal stuff.

I'm still very much a beginner though and am only still just getting the hang of bar chords(!). I really enjoy playing, so it's not a passing hobby and with that in mind I've not got any set budget but don't want to go nuts on a special custom one of.

I'll be popping into my local guitar store in Jakarta tomorrow, hopefully with an electric guitar playing buddy, and having a good play with some of their stock to see what suits.

Any advice from the PH massive before I go?

[davepoth]

Yamaha Pacifica of some sort IMO.

[Animal]

davepoth said:

Yamaha Pacifica of some sort IMO.

This or a Squier Strat (with a bridge humbucker).

[Moose.]

The idea of a Strat certainly appeals and should suit what I want to start playing. I'm drawn to a Les Paul though, mainly as Noel Gallagher plays them a lot and a mate of mine has one which sounds just lovely

I'll have a play later today and report back

[davepoth]

The Epiphone LPs are not too bad if you get the one with the set (rather than bolted) neck. Probably quite pricey where you are though.

[Moose.]

My Epiphone EJ-200CE was nearly half the price compared to UK, as it's made here in Indonesia. In fact most acoustics I looked at were cheaper than in the UK. Not looked at the electrics yet, so will have to see.

[Moose.]

Well, spent a couple of hours trying out a few different guitars and I'm still a little undecided.

Fender/Spire Strat - neck felt too narrow and strings too easy to bend accidentally. Sounded pretty nice with a pretty classic electric guitar sound.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard - felt much nicer to play and more familiar coming from my J-200 acoustic. Thicker neck and strings were a pleasure to play on. Sounded much richer although needed more volume to stop it sounding muddy.

Epiphone Sheraton - very similar to play as the LP but the bigger body felt even nicer. The sound of this one was even nicer than the LP too with all the same richness but with added brightness and without sounding muddy. My favourite so far.

All were hooked up to a Roland Cube 20W amp which hand loads of features although I kept it mainly nautral.

More browsing tomorrow

[Dr Z]

Strats and Les Pauls feel totally different purely in terms of neck shape/back contour and LP are the closest to general acoustic guitars in terms of neck feel, so it is not surprising you like the feel of the LP coming from the acoustic. Yesterday, I had a chance to play a very high-end LP custom and coming back home, my strat's neck felt like a toy compared to it! Kind-of cramped feeling, but after half an hour of playing, my hands felt used to the strat neck again.

If you go for the set-neck Epiphone LP, they are very good quality instruments but pickups can be a bit naff, all depends what kind of stuff you want to play with them. One positive with LPs is that they have independent volume and tone controls for both the pickups so you can cover a lot styles by messing with the volume/tone of both the pickups. IMO some of the high end Epi's are actually better built than poverty spec Gibsons. Insteresting video on the differences by the 'Monkey Lord':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzM9dvV-VJU

There is a point in the video where he simply cant believe what he's experiencing interms of sustain, so reverts to incredulity and finding ways to explain away what is plain to see/hear. All interesting nonetheless...

[Moose.]

After another day of playing everything I could get my hands on, I opted for an Epiphone Les Paul Standard hooked up to a 20W Fender Mustang I amp. Having tried a few amp/guitar combos, this one just seemed to work and sounds bloody lovely, really rich and warm. Will get some photos up next week when I get back off vacation

[sawman]

Pics?


would be interested to see how you are getting on.

My 12yr old has been playing guitar for a year or so now. She is interested in moving on from her acoustic, so this thread has been useful. Having done a bit of investigating local music store websites I quite like the look of the yamaha pacifica, but any feedback welcome.

Also any tips on small amps?

[Turn7]

Pacifica is well regarded as about the best of the £200ish range.

Also look at Squier Strats in the vintage modified range.

[sawman]

Thanks chap,

I'll probably take her down to one of the guitar shops over the next week or so,

[Chicken Chaser]

Ampwise, i'm looking at the Fender Mustang II or the Vox VT40+

[Turn7]

Chicken Chaser said:

Ampwise, i'm looking at the Fender Mustang II or the Vox VT40+

I looked at both and ended up with the Vox. The Fender seemed to fussy to set up in comparison with the Voxs knobs.

Soundwise, I couldnt really split them, but again, the Vox just edged it for me.

And mine pretty much stays on the AC30 sound....

[Moose.]

sawman said:

Pics?

My apologies! Only got the one at the moment:



The more I play it, the more I love it. And that Mustang amp is so good for the money. It links to my Mac via USB and I can download all sorts of effects and amp models to it. For a $130 I'm very happy with it

[sawman]

So just back from browsing, we had a look at some squiers and epiphones, but my daughter liked the feel of a Shecter SRG C1: http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Schecter_SGR_C1_El...

in the shop we coupled it up to a roland microcube, sounded fine to my ears.

any thoughts?

[Justin Cyder]

sawman said:

any thoughts?

I would always say the set up that sounds & feels best in your hands is the one you should go for, so if the Schecter does it for you, then that's the one.

[davepoth]

sawman said:

So just back from browsing, we had a look at some squiers and epiphones, but my daughter liked the feel of a Shecter SRG C1: http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Schecter_SGR_C1_El...

in the shop we coupled it up to a roland microcube, sounded fine to my ears.

any thoughts?

Main thought - your daughter may well be about to "go goth".



Other than that, Schecter are a fairly well regarded brand, and the microcube is good for bedroom use. Make sure you get the guitar set up well before purchase though, as that makes a huge difference to playability.

[sawman]

davepoth said:

Main thought - your daughter may well be about to "go goth".



Other than that, Schecter are a fairly well regarded brand, and the microcube is good for bedroom use. Make sure you get the guitar set up well before purchase though, as that makes a huge difference to playability.

I did wonder about the goth thing, the guitar does have that vibe going on, she defo rejected the pink squier...

[Gaspode]

Dunno much about the Schecter, but a Roland Micro Cube is a good choice for a starter/practice amp. I've got an RX and use it at lot for evening noodling.