what type of sound is used to describe Ibanez guitars? one of my favorite guitarists when i was younger apparently played them almost exclusively (although in a few very different styles
)
Who? Steve Vai with his transparent/swirly paint guitars with monkey-grip, or Joe Satriani with his chrome guitars?
Ibanez's are definately a "rock" guitar, and usually have pretty clean, but sometimes "thin" sound, even with humbuckers. But, because there are literally hundreds of different guitars that they make...each style is going to sound different.
Gibson Les Paul
Fender Stratocaster
Fender Telecaster
Gibson ES 335
As far as describing their sounds...
Fender Stratocaster has a very clean twang, well defined highs, and I would describe their low end as being "crispy" rather than "crunchy." *laughs* Sounds strange...umm...crispy is a flakey buttery cracker, where crunchy is a greasy fried chicken breading.
Fender telecaster usually will have a "lipstick" pick-up which takes all of the differences a single coil has from a humbucker, and takes them up a notch. Much twangier, little bit noisier. The bridge pickup, though, can either be a humbucker or a single coil. Their necks are slimmer than a strat, but their headstock doesn't look as cool. *laughs*
Gibson es 355...think B.B. King's Lucile. Buttery tone, clear as a bell, but if you're looking for something to "process" through effects, this may not fare well. The open chambers tend to create more hassle than they are worth. The neck will feel most like an accoustic, though, so it'd be a more familiar feel. Typically played with thicker strings, too.
You don't need an OLD device, just something that is vintage style. But those pedals tend to cost a lot...
So...a cheaper guitar like an Ibanez + maybe a cheaper digital effects box with a lot of different effects + an amp...
Exactly. I just meant you'll want to stay away from pedals that say things like "Thrash Metal" or things like that. Check out
http://www.guitargearreview.com fore reviews. Musiciansfriend.com and guitarcenter.com usually have some pretty good prices...of course, I'm in the US...I don't know what your 10-20 is...
I would say, that if you're trying to basically have a "guitar synth" by having an instrument that makes a lot of different sounds, Ibanez lend themselves really well to that, and I would say that typically Humbicking pickups have a more transparent sound than single-coils (it would be like with photoshop, starting with a RAW digital camera file, rather than one that's already been compressed to jpg, and cropped.{even though, yes, I realize that "technically" the single coil is a more pure sound...but it just doesnt' sound like it.
})
They are also less noisey with their "hiss."
Another plus, Ibanez has been around for a LONG time, so finding a used one is easy. Would you rather spend $300 on a $300 guitar, or spend $300 on a $500 guitar? Not only that, but Ibanez are really easy to play, for the most part. Very thin necks (coming from an accoustic, it's crazy-thin) for the most part, good frets, and pretty good hardware. I would, however, stay away from a guitar with a tremlo/whammy bar. As tempting as they are, for someone firsts electric guitar, you'll never be able to use it well *laughs* and it just makes it harder to tune, and change strings.
You can probably get by with just a multi effects processor, but for me, it's worth the extra couple bucks to buy a seperate drive pedal, and since you mentioned the "Hendrix" sound, you'll want a quality Wah, most likely the Cry Baby. For the most part, every multi-effects processor will have a descent reverb, chorus, delay, etc...but as far as a distortion pedal, each guitar and player is different, so buying it seperate is a good way to not have to comprimise. Definately check out the used section of your local music store. If you have a big chain like Guitar Center, they usually have lots of used pedals in a glass case by their Guitar/Bass strings counter.
No you don't NEED a pick all the time, but you'd be missing out a lot of great sounds if you don't use it at all.
A pick will give you a "brighter" sound than using your fingers. Kevin Eubanks on the tonight show plays with his fingers, and for me, it always sounds like there's a pillow in front of his speaker. You'll also be able to get more volume with a pick. When a pick passes a string, it lets go suddenly, beginning with a percussive sound. When you finger pick, your finger is that much wider than the pick, so the string, rather tham immediately springing back, will slide along your finger, speeding up. It's the difference between being shot out of a cannon at 100mph, and driving up to 100mph. Also, picks make it much easier to do harmonic "sqeals" when you're soloing.