Connor91 Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I'm not sure what guitar to buy. I mainly play classic rock, my budget is $2000 and was thinking mabey a les paul studio or a fender american standard tele. Any suggestions will be apreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Go to a guitar shop and try out a bunch of different guitars. $2,000 will also get you a nice tube amp to go along with either of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 What R9 said. Not only will it be fun to try out a bunch of guitars, but you'll get an actual feeling of which ones suit your style. If you're a self conscious player, bring a set of decent headphones and ask to play on a solid state amp. It won't give you the same tone as a tuber but it will allow you to give it a longer/better test drive. Best of luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 With a $2,000 budget, you can do what ever you like. The price of a Standard SG is lower than that. Price of both the guitars you mention are lower than that new. I recently bought a ES-339 Gibson used. It has the 30/60 neck and 57 HBs. I own both of the guitars that you mention and both are fine guitars but the 339 will do what both of those guitars will do plus more. You can pick these up new for just about your budget or you can find a used one in the $1,400 range. In my opinion this is one of the best values in guitars that Gibson offers. Do yourself a favor and try one out before you spend your money. I believe you will be impressed. A Semi-hollow body the size of a Les Paul and it plays sweet. It will twang and it will growl and everything in between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 As some of the other responders have said - you've got a good budget. Try out some LPs, Strats and some other models too. See what you like. It's good to get advice, but don't let people sway you from what you like. After all, you will be the one playing it. It's always best to get your hands, eyes and ears on an instrument, playing it a bit before you buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Fender Tele DeLuxe is another option...capable of some blues drive Or step slightly downmarket and get a H/B guitar like a Les Paul Studio and a S/C guitar like a Strat or Tele.... :blink: V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 $2000 for guitar- 61 RI SG, Firebird $2000 for guitar and amp- SG Standard and a Blues Jr. However, teles, strats, lps, and others are great guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonkers Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Go to a guitar shop and try out a bunch of different guitars. $2,000 will also get you a nice tube amp to go along with either of those. Well said. Get a nice amp. It's as important as your guitar. You could get a used MIA Strat or Tele for roughly 1k, and have 1k to put towards a tube amp along with a couple of pedals. If you're willing to go used, you could stretch that 2k pretty far. Good luck and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I'd go for either an SG or a Rickenbacker for a Classic Rock sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 We just love spending other peoples money. Everyone has thrown out a lot of good advice and probably should emphasize that you need a good amp to make any guitar sound good. Keep that in mind, or maybe you didn't tell us that you had another chunk set back in the budget for the amp. Good time to be shopping for guitars because you will be able to get some deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 The only thing I can really add here is that I spent 18 months shopping for my LP.... making sure I got the right one. Make sure it's LOUD acoustically and it'll be a great guitar. I hit Guitar Center in Nashville on a Saturday afternoon when all the little shredmeisters were there demonstrating their chops. I could hear my LP over them all just playing it acoustically Mostly, though, just enjoy the hunt!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Hey Connor91; These 6 stringers are giving you some very good points and advice. Good luck with you quest. Keep it fun in your search, a lot easier that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 How did you arrive at the LP Studio or Tele? There's a big difference in the tones of those two guitars Not encouraging you to be a fanboy, but think about your favorite tunes - what did THEY use? Take that into consideration. I mean Stevie Ray or Eddie didn't use Les Pauls, and Slash/GnR isn't gonna sound right from a Tele. I like the tube amp advice everybody threw in too. My advice is similar, and since you're starting reasonably at $2k you have room to maneuver. Buy American, buy quality (well, Mexican Fenders are decent for the money) and think tubes for sure. If you're thinking Les Paul and have the amp covered, look at the Traditionals and play as many as you can. Lotsa choices in the $2k range. The American Fender line is always a good bet, Strat or Tele, and will leave plenty of money in your pocket. And reserve the right, whichever guitar you buy, to come back later and buy the other one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Neo hit it right on. Two grand opens up a lot of possibilities. If you want a versatile guitar that would leave room for an amp, then I'd go with a Strat. It's the best bang for your buck and it gets some great tones. I like a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III 40W amp. With this guitar and amp you'll even have some $'s left over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0mgUGoP7_0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIANTRobOT42O Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Didja ever build a Warmoth? I've been this close to ordering a body or neck from them half a dozen times. Every time I total up the cost of building a really cool Strat or Tele with their stuff, I get sticker shock. I still may do a Tele using one of their bodies and a Fender neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Nobody asked him if he already owns an amp or another guitar He may be sporting a 68 Plexi Super Lead stack and already have a Jackson RR or something He he I think most of what everyone has said here is good advice but of it all the part about getting something that feels right to you makes all the difference in the world. So to add my 2 Cents: 1. as stated before consider the sound your going for and look at what the bands or players you want to kinda sound like use. If you like a little bit of everything consider getting a guitar that is more diverse like a charvel or a Fat strat or something with a humbucker/single coil/ single coil config (with the humbucker tapped so you can get a close to strat sound too) then you got a little bit of everything. 2. Try guitars with different scale lengths. The Les Paul and SG's are going to be 24 and 3/4" scale length so if you compare the feel of playing them to a tele or strat scale length which is 25 and 1/2" both strung with let's say .009 gauge strings tuned to standard pitch the LP or SG is going to be easier to do bends and the strings will feel looser because with the shorter scale length you don't have to put as much tension on the string to bring it up to pitch. Obviously with this said the strat or tele scale length will have more tension on the strings and you might have to fight it a bit more to get a bend right but this can be a good thing if you are more aggressive with your pick attack and you have strong hands. It's also a little better to have a longer scale length if your tuning down any so that the strings don't get too floppy. ( unless your Toni Iommi ). Some of the Paul Reed smiths are 25" scale length so you could split the difference there. 3. both of the above can be compensated either way depending on what gauge strings you use. for example .010 gauge strings on a LP will feel close to the same as a strat with .009's 4. If your going to be learning a bunch of different tunes don't get something with a floating trem bridge they are a ***** if you have to change tuning to match what your trying to learn or drop D quick unles it is equipped with a D-Tuna 5. Like everyone said play everything and try not to judge too much on what you think just looks cool. I hated the looks of SG's for years It's still not my favorite body style so I never really ever bothered to play one. Well one day I was sitting in Guitar Center while my buddy was checking something out and there was a 62 reissue SG sitting on a stand right next to me already plugged in. So I picked it up turned on the amp strummed a few things and guess what... I hated it! Then I heard something playing on the radio in the store and I realized it was tuned down a bit so I tuned it up to pitch and the thing just came to life. One of the best playing and sounding guitars that I now own ( I went back and bought it that evening) Same story with a Gretsch I never thought I would ever want one but my girlfriend bought me one for christmas because she thought it looked cool. What was I going to say (if i ever wanted another christmas gift again not to mention other unmentionables) so I plugged it in my Marshall half Stack and was blown away by how versatile it was. I could get everything from clean blues to AC/DC and Metallica out of that thing. I was very surprised. Of course you don't want to get something you just can't stand to look at either. 6. If your looking at brand new guitars and you kinda like one model play every one of that model they have different colors and maple or rosewood fretboards colors and everything. Every guitar will be a little different. 7. This should be number one and is just my opinion but I believe 90 % of what makes a great guitar is a guitar with an excellent neck that is properly fretted. I've played $50 guitars that played better than 5,000.00 guitars because it was the one out of 100 that actually had a nice straight neck and the frets were completely seated and crowned properly. A bad fret job can ruin a great guitar or make a mediocre guitar a screamer. The problem with most of the big name stores is that they either don't do anything to the guitars when they get them in or if they do they screw it up. Heres a few things to look for. - Start by finding something with the action at or a little lower than you like. Play it un-plugged and play every note up and down the neck also make sure you do bends all over the place to make sure nothing is fretting out or buzzing. If it passes that test look at the bottoms of every fret on the neck thoroughly. Make sure there is absolutely no gap anywhere along the fret and that it is mashed completely down to the wood. Really check the edges of the frets and if you think you see some gap push down on the fret if it move the least bit. Put the guitar down and find another. Next take a real good look at the tops of all the frets they should all be nice and round and approximately all the same height. If you see that some of the frets are flat on top while others aren't the somebody did a half A$$ job of leveling out either non seated frets or a twist in the neck. Again put it down and find another guitar. Repeat this process until you find the neck with the quality your paying for! Not trying to push you in any direction but I have found that charvel US and and even Japanese models usually always have consistently straight and well fretted necks and are very stable. 8. Your still reading this? Well if so next I would say to make sure to give the used guitars a test drive even if they might look a little beat. Guitars usually sound and play better the longer and more they are played.This is from the guitar vibrating which settles the glue and neck joints and the finish has had more time to cure and dry. New paint and clear coats take years to fully dry and cure so you essentially have a wet blanket on a piece of wood that wants to resonate. The woods in the neck and body have had more time to dry and stabilize to different seasons and climates. And a well played guitar will generally wear the frets in a good way, (not overplayed to the point where there is dents or no fret left! Plus older used guitars can just have a cool vibe when you pick them up. 9. This is the last of my rambling. If your just not feeling a connection or vibe with a guitar then move on until you do. Every guitar player generally finds that one guitar that they compare all the rest to. Don't get something your afraid to ding or put your own marks on. Don't spend 2K on a guitar if your going to be scared to give it some love and character marks. Those are the things that make it YOUR guitar!! Good luck and let us all know what you end up with! Regards, Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Plus one for the new guy! Good stuff Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Andy's #9 is an interesting point... everybody wants mojo, nobody wants to scratch their Lester. Great post, Andy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 ............. ........................... ........................................ ........... ..............maybe...................... .............a.................. .......Gibby......................... ....................perhaps..........hmm....... .........................A Les Paul !............... ............. ......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Thanks Guy's I really appreciate that. I may be new here but have more than a few years under my belt. Including about 10 years as a master tech (among other roles) between Fernandes, Dean, and landola guitar companies as well as few years as music store Guitar tech. I have worked on thousands of guitars over the years and even a guy like me picks up a few things in time. I was mentored and trained by Taku Sakashita He changed his name to Sakashta When he moved to california. He was unfortunately murdered earlier this year in February outside of his shop. You should see the guitars he built. if you're interested check this Taku He was a great guy, great player, a great builder and an excellent teacher. I will miss him... As you can probably tell I like to share knowledge and get knowledge. I wish I knew half as much about what to look for when buying a guitar as I do now back when I was starting out. The problem is honestly once you work for a few companies and understand how, where and what the actual manufacturing costs of a guitar it can kind of take the magic and excitement out of buying anything new. The plus side is that I can pretty much pick out the best value for the money guitars pretty quickly. I believe the better you understand necks and how to read them for humps and twists as well as getting good at how to properly level and crown your own frets it really opens your world to some fantastic guitars in a reasonable price range if you know what to look for and what to pass on. I added a pretty good overview of how to properly level and crown your frets to the thread " has anyone ever crowned their own frets" thread. Sorry for the thread Hijack! Regards, Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonkers Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 How did you arrive at the LP Studio or Tele? There's a big difference in the tones of those two guitars Not encouraging you to be a fanboy, but think about your favorite tunes - what did THEY use? Take that into consideration. I mean Stevie Ray or Eddie didn't use Les Pauls, and Slash/GnR isn't gonna sound right from a Tele. I agree, but I was really surprised to find out a few years back that ALL of the electric guitar on Led Zeppelin I was recorded with Jimmy's Dragon Tele (and the solo in Stairway) I would have sworn it came from an LP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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