Fun starter Guitar and Amp?

You can also look for a guitar with a "coil splitter." This actually cuts out the oposing half of the humbucker.

Sometimes, too, you can find an ibanez with 2 humbuckers and a single coil in the middle. http://www.stringbeanmerchandise.com/IbanezGRG170red1.jpg

I was never a fan of Dean guitars. I don't like the "V" contour neck, It always gave my really bad hand cramps. Gibsons can feel like baseball bats compared to a Strat, though, on some models. I've played some full-bodied acoustics that had slimmer necks than my Les Paul. I had a Studio, though...I'm not sure how those stack up to the Specials or Customs, or Standards, etc.

I really think Ibanez is the way to go. If you have a Mars music store, or a Guitar Center, play around with a few. Most of those places have a large selection, and will let you plug anything into anything.

Don't get carried away, though. Play one you like for a minumum of 20 minutes without plugging it in. Then, plug it in to an amp in your price range. Only after you've made your decision should you ruin yourself by plugging it into a Marshall or Crate full stack. :p I mistakenly bought guitars that sounded orgasmic because I played then through a giant rig. I got it home, and it sounded like ass in a hat. I was so enamoured with it's sound that I didn't spend enough time with just the guitar, and I didn't try it out through a small-ish amp. I sold it the next day.
 
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Well, all 3 of the Ibanez guitars I posted on the last page are similar to the one he posted, so I was being a bit sarcastic ;)
 
Alright, I am now looking to start learning electric guitar, but budget is very important. The most I can really afford is 500USD, which I know is probably almost useless based on what I've read in this thread, but I'm sick of limited money keeping me from trying this. I plan on going guitar center when I get some time so I can pick some guitars up, but I want to know what you guys think I might be able to get in this price range.
 
MIM Strat and then buy a seymour duncan hot rail and a roller nut for the tail. It'll make a $400 guitar sound much stronger. That's what I did with my koa strat and now it sounds like one of the $1800 models.
 
Or, if metal's your thing you can get a Jackson DK2 oh wait that only comes with a licensed Floyd.

Is the DKMGT in your price range? I know they're a bit more expensive, but they're gorgeous and they play brilliantly, apparently. Oh by the way, don't get it in your head that you can play without an amp. It's no fun, I've been there. Even if you get an effects processor and feed it to your hi-fi, it's still no fun. You NEED an amp. If your budget is $500 WITH amp, my suggestion would be different.
 
Some people might shit on this, but I've always found Peavey gear to be not only cheap but of good quality. The nicest guitar I ever played was one of their EVH Wolfgangs. You can probably pick up a Peavey starter pack that has everything you need for under your $500 budget. That would include the guitar, strings, tuner, amp, strap, gig bag, ect.
 
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^I haven't played on a Peavey guitar.. But their amps are good..
 
Looking into starter kits now, lots of options within the budget I'm looking at, but now sure how good any of them actually are. Another problem is that I'm not sure what I should be looking for, but I do know that I really like Kirk Hammett's sound. Thanks for the help, I am completely stupid on this subject, and I expect to be horrible, but I think I'll have fun failing.
So here are some starter kits I came across, what do you think?
Squier HSS - 350USD
Squier HSS - 300USD
Epiphone Les Paul HH(?) - 400USD
Epiphone Les Paul HH(?) - 450USD
Epiphone SG-310 HH(?) - 400USD

Thanks again for any input.

EDIT: Just found these two Peavey kits:
Peavey Raptor Stage Kit - 300USD
Peavey Nanovalve Stage Kit - 400USD
 
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I would go to musiciansfriend.com and get one of their clearance deals. I got an epiphone les paul studio for 199.
 
Alright, I am now looking to start learning electric guitar, but budget is very important. The most I can really afford is 500USD, which I know is probably almost useless based on what I've read in this thread, but I'm sick of limited money keeping me from trying this. I plan on going guitar center when I get some time so I can pick some guitars up, but I want to know what you guys think I might be able to get in this price range.
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$500 USD isn't necessarily a bad price, particularly considering everything is cheaper in the States than in Canada ($500 USD will buy you more in the US that $500 CAD will buy in Canada -- it's the way the Canadian market is, mostly because businesses haven't adjusted their prices for the surge in the Canadian dollar and feel they can just keep ripping us off). It was suggested earlier in this thread to buy a used guitar because you'll get better value for you money. To paraphrase, you can get a new $500 guitar and amp for $500, or a used $750 guitar and amp bought for $500.

quier HSS - 350USD
Squier HSS - 300USD
Epiphone Les Paul HH(?) - 400USD
Epiphone Les Paul HH(?) - 450USD
Epiphone SG-310 HH(?) - 400USD
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I'd stay away from Squier, they're cheap, unplayable crap. Epiphone Les Paul is a good way to go however.

Also, any reason you're looking at strats? I was at a (semi) local music store a little while ago, and I tried a couple of strats. Having played a couple of different Epiphones, I found the strats to be good for the hi-end sounds but useless for any low notes, powerchords, especially with even a medium amount of distortion. The Less Paul style guitars are much better all 'rounders, in my experience. If you want the strat sound, there's really nothing you can't do with a half-decent effects box these days.
 
Here's my current setup:
http://img352.imageshack.**/img352/4470/p1120315me1.jpg
Does anyone know of an amp that sounds good but doesn't cost a fortune? I'm looking at getting a proper amp, although those speakers do work pretty good ^_^
 
powerof1000 said:
Here's my current setup:
http://img352.imageshack.**/img352/4470/p1120315me1.jpg
Does anyone know of an amp that sounds good but doesn't cost a fortune? I'm looking at getting a proper amp, although those speakers do work pretty good ^_^
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Peavey Ultra from e-bay. It sounds great, will cut well through a mix, heck, it even sounds good at low volume. You can snatch one of them for about $300, it's really hard to find anything cheaper that's better. Just make sure the seller still has the footswitch, you need it to select the mid-gain channel.
 
I'd go with the Peavey Raptor personally, it's your standard Strat copy. I've found Epiphone gear to be ok at a higher end, but not entry level. My uncle has been playing in bands for decades and he's used an Epiphone SG with a Carvin stack for gigs for as long as I can remember. Their lead guitarist uses a 64 Gibson Les Paul and a Gibson ES-137 he just picked up with a Marshall stack.

Going back to Peavey for a second, I've been using their gear since I started playing in 99. I use a Milestone 4 and a Basic 112 and I really will stand by their quality.
 
epp_b said:
Also, any reason you're looking at strats? I was at a (semi) local music store a little while ago, and I tried a couple of strats. Having played a couple of different Epiphones, I found the strats to be good for the hi-end sounds but useless for any low notes, powerchords, especially with even a medium amount of distortion. The Less Paul style guitars are much better all 'rounders, in my experience. If you want the strat sound, there's really nothing you can't do with a half-decent effects box these days.
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No reason at all I'm looking at strats. Like I said, I really have no idea what I'm doing so far.
All I know is that I'm poor but want to be able to learn to play guitar with a sound that's basically similar to Kirk Hammett's.

Epiphone SG Special - 200 USD
Ibanez IJX40 - 220USD

Also, it may be of note that I will be listening through headphones the vast majority of the time, so it might not be imperative to make sure the amp has a certain level of quality. But I could be completely wrong, that does happen a lot.
 
smib said:
No reason at all I'm looking at strats. Like I said, I really have no idea what I'm doing so far.
All I know is that I'm poor but want to be able to learn to play guitar with a sound that's basically similar to Kirk Hammett's.
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That sound is unachievable with a standard Strat. In a way, it's the exact opposite of the classic Stratocaster. Make sure you get something with a humbucker in the bridge and you're gold. Also, you might want to pick up a wha-wha pedal later.

Oh and btw, I think whatever equivalent pack Peavey are offering is a better choice than the two you've listed. They're rather good with cheap solid-state amps, and an amp is 90% of your sound*. It doesn't simply amplify your sound, it creates it**.


* - sweeping generalization
** - not a sweeping generalization, but a fact.
 
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