Guitar Thread - Page 42
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SixStrings
Germany2046 Posts
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Sewi
Germany1697 Posts
Thin perspex, covered with red artificial leather. Band logo ( Demise Empire ) printed and laminated, surrounded by white fabric. Pictures: + Show Spoiler + | ||
Mikau
Netherlands1445 Posts
My birthday is coming up (a week and a half from now), and I kind of want to treat myself to a new ('proper') guitar. I currently have the cheapest guitar/amp I could find online. I read a bit online about buying a guitar (go into stores, play a couple of guitars, pick the one you like the sound of most), but I kind of wanted to buy something off of ebay or the dutch version of craigslist. Buying a new expensive guitar seems like a bit of a 'waste' of money if I've only been playing for a month, plus I haven't really developed an ear for different guitar sounds so I might end up regretting it later if I buy a new expensive guitar. I figure if I'm still playing on my birthday next year I'll shell out the real money for a more top of the line new guitar but right now second hand seems like good value for money at the moment. However, there's so many different brands (and even more different models within those brands) that I have no idea what to look for. I'm not sure about budget, I was thinking between 500 and 750 euros for a good guitar and practice amp. What would you guys recommend? | ||
[F_]aths
Germany3947 Posts
How can this even even happen? | ||
ptmc
Finland306 Posts
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Teoita
Italy12246 Posts
On January 28 2014 21:16 Mikau wrote: Hi there, the person just starting guitar from a few pages back again. My birthday is coming up (a week and a half from now), and I kind of want to treat myself to a new ('proper') guitar. I currently have the cheapest guitar/amp I could find online. I read a bit online about buying a guitar (go into stores, play a couple of guitars, pick the one you like the sound of most), but I kind of wanted to buy something off of ebay or the dutch version of craigslist. Buying a new expensive guitar seems like a bit of a 'waste' of money if I've only been playing for a month, plus I haven't really developed an ear for different guitar sounds so I might end up regretting it later if I buy a new expensive guitar. I figure if I'm still playing on my birthday next year I'll shell out the real money for a more top of the line new guitar but right now second hand seems like good value for money at the moment. However, there's so many different brands (and even more different models within those brands) that I have no idea what to look for. I'm not sure about budget, I was thinking between 500 and 750 euros for a good guitar and practice amp. What would you guys recommend? What kind of music do you play? Which guitarists do you like? Also, got some cheap Fender American pickups used so im getting all the electronics on my Strat copy sorted (the pots were scratchy as hell after 10 years of never being cleaned up). Looking forward to receving it this next week. | ||
Ben...
Canada3485 Posts
On January 29 2014 00:02 ptmc wrote: Bingo, that and humidity levels in the area they are stored. It can have a huge effect on guitar necks.different temperatures maybe? In winter here when it gets to be around -30 or -40 and the air gets really dry the necks on pretty much all of my guitars go out of whack and have to be adjusted (the ambient temperature in the basement room they are all in drops when it gets really cold. I got a rather beefy space heater this year to compensate so it hasn't been quite as bad). Most of the necks on my guitars start to concave (or bow as it is often called) soon after it starts to get really cold. It throws everything off. It's a real pain. Some years I had to do complete setups on every instrument I own. This year I only had to set up my Soloist and my fretless. The Soloist has always been quite sensitive to any temperature fluctuations. The fretless only because went from being in a temperature/humidity controlled Japanese guitar shop to freezing cold and dry Canadian winter while being shipped. Since its last setup when I put a set of tapewound strings on it, it has been pretty much perfect. Also, tapewounds are dope. | ||
LeperKahn
Romania1828 Posts
On January 23 2014 04:13 renoB wrote: Maple on maple makes for a very bright sounding guitar, so you may want to go with something like swamp ash for a little bit deeper tone. You will like the emg 81. I had one in my guitar that was stolen years ago. For tuners, find some locking ones because they're damn awesome. You should post on SSO even though you don't have a sevenstring. They have a section for people who are building and if you ever needed help they could instruct you. Edit: As for the tone wood discussion: Tone wood test (far from scientific but its noticeable) + Show Spoiler + Or it could just be in the hands of the player.... + Show Spoiler + I personally think its a lot of combinations of things. And if anything, you can feel a different feel from different woods vibrating. Which is why I disliked my schecter because it felt dull when it vibrated whereas my carvin feels very vibrant. It's also a lot brighter and it sounds like a piano when played acoustically. Why would they use a distorted overdriven signal to determine if tone is affected by the player? wtf | ||
Mikau
Netherlands1445 Posts
On January 29 2014 01:33 Teoita wrote: What kind of music do you play? Which guitarists do you like? Also, got some cheap Fender American pickups used so im getting all the electronics on my Strat copy sorted (the pots were scratchy as hell after 10 years of never being cleaned up). Looking forward to receving it this next week. At the moment I pretty much just play loose notes and power chords . Seriously though, the short and incredibly vague answer would be 'rock'. To be more specific, I like (in no particular order) David Gilmour Brian May Matt Bellamy Eric Clapton Robert Smith Mark Knopfler And then there's a couple of bands with a lot of songs I wish I could play. Stuff like Rush, Boston, Nirvana, Foo Fighters. | ||
renoB
United States170 Posts
On January 29 2014 07:56 LeperKahn wrote: Why would they use a distorted overdriven signal to determine if tone is affected by the player? wtf I suspect that the target audience for the youtube channel is metalheads, so the likelihood of them caring about the difference without distortion isn't much. On January 29 2014 07:57 Mikau wrote: At the moment I pretty much just play loose notes and power chords . Seriously though, the short and incredibly vague answer would be 'rock'. To be more specific, I like (in no particular order) David Gilmour Brian May Matt Bellamy Eric Clapton Robert Smith Mark Knopfler And then there's a couple of bands with a lot of songs I wish I could play. Stuff like Rush, Boston, Nirvana, Foo Fighters. Even though you're not buying from a store. Go into a store and play some guitars and then go buy one used. They should have a variety of guitars to try. It would suck to order a guitar online and then get it and have your hand cramping because the neck is too thick (the story of my charvel and I). | ||
WombaT
Northern Ireland20736 Posts
Also fellow BW theme folks, I thank you for you unending patience. Just been a ridiculously busy period, job interviews, breakup with my babymomma etc. | ||
Teoita
Italy12246 Posts
@Mikau: with that budget i'd look to buy either an epiphone, squire, or mexican fender, along with a fender solid state amp. Should be a good setup for your tastes. | ||
Mikau
Netherlands1445 Posts
On January 29 2014 17:07 Teoita wrote: Well no shit there's no difference with distortion xD It's hard enough to tell pickups apart sometimes... @Mikau: with that budget i'd look to buy either an epiphone, squire, or mexican fender, along with a fender solid state amp. Should be a good setup for your tastes. What's the difference between american, mexican and japanese fenders? The americans seem to be the more expensive options but are there any major differences in quality? | ||
Kaos_StarCraft
Australia92 Posts
On January 29 2014 20:04 Mikau wrote: What's the difference between american, mexican and japanese fenders? The americans seem to be the more expensive options but are there any major differences in quality? The MIAs have a 22nd fret and the bridges are made from steel. The MIMs have 21 frets and the bridges are made from die-cast. The disparity in price-point is the difference in usa v mexican labor cost. I've played and owned both versions and they are the same quality, though I'm sure there will be people who say otherwise. edit: never touched a MIJ strat but i've heard great things | ||
Teoita
Italy12246 Posts
In general, Mexican fenders are an absolute bargain for the price and just amazing guitars in general. American-made guitars have a reputation of just being better built, which is why they tend to cost a whole lot more (same goes for gibson vs epiphone which is basically the same as fender mexican vs fender american), and have more "advanced" features like better mechanics/electronics etc etc | ||
Ben...
Canada3485 Posts
Quality-wise, the American and Japanese are about on par, maybe a small edge to the American stuff, and both are noticeably better than MIM in most, but not all, cases. When I did a complete teardown, I found the American Strat I own is basically flawless. The frets are perfectly dressed and levelled, the finish is perfect, and it stays perfectly in tune as the bridge seems to be quite a bit more stable than the old style bridges found on MIMs. The necks on the newer (post-2007) American instruments are significantly better than MIM (pre-2008 they are about the same. They changed them for 2008). On instruments with maple fretboards, the back of the neck is satin while the fretboard is gloss, which I do think is the ideal way for a maple fretboard neck to be. For the cost you do need to keep in mind they come with a beefy hard case, which I imagine factors into cost a bit (the case for my Strat is really nice). Structurally, there are very few if any issues in any of the American instruments I've played. The neck pocket in my Strat is perfect and is nice and snug without being too tight. In constrast, the pocket in my MIM Precision Bass requires a fair bit of shimming to get the action (string height) to a playable level. That said, there is nothing wrong with MIM. 99% of people will be perfectly satisfied with them if they find a good one. For the price doubly so. I certainly like mine. There are MIM instruments that are on par with MIA quality-wise, I have no doubt about that. You just have to find them. The issue is that the quality of the instruments can be hit or miss so trying before buying is a must. I've owned 5 MIM instruments over the years and have sold all of them but 2. It is all about finding the good ones. The one Strat I sold was a FSR (special run) Strat that sounded great but had huge issues with the frets that no amount of tinkering would fix outside of a refret (I didn't notice it when I played it at the shop. Now I take more time to check for flaws). Likewise, I also had a 5 string Jazz Bass that had 3 different high frets that had to be brought down. That bass also had issues with tuning stability. I sold it to get my current main fretted base, which is a MIM Classic Series 50's Precision Bass (All the Classic Series stuff is astoundingly good. I am getting a Classic 60's Jazz sometime in the future). My Precision was a b-stock, so I knew it would have a couple issues to fix, but so far it has been the best MIM instrument I've owned. Other than the neck pocket and a high fret, it has been great. This is what I mean when I say you have to find the good MIM stuff. I thought the P-bass was butt ugly when I saw it at the store but was completely blown away by it when I played it. It continues to be one of my all-time favourite fretted basses. My first guitar was a '96 MIM Strat, and it also is quite good. It has endured many botched repairs over the years and continues to play great. It has the most stable neck of any instrument I own. It never shifts with temperature changes. With an upgraded set up pickups it sounds great too. Japanese Fenders are definitely the happy medium, or they would be if they were easy to get. They're roughly the same cost as MIM while being roughly the quality of MIA (in Japan anyway. Importing drives the cost up quite a bit. I'd only recommend it for instruments you cannot get a MIM version of). I've had my MIJ fretless '62 Jazz Bass for over a month now and the thing continues to blow me away every time I play it. I've taken it apart multiple times (truss rod is on the heel of the neck so I kinda have to take it apart to adjust the neck) and the neck pocket is just as good as those found in MIA. Snug but not so tight that it feels like you will chip paint removing it. The common comment people make about MIJ is that they are MIA quality but with worse electronics, though I haven't noticed as I quite like the vintage-style pickups in my Jazz. The finish is great, as is the neck. I love Jazz Bass necks in general (they're wider than Precision Bass necks and slightly thinner) but this one is especially good. It has no flaws from what I have found (though with no frets there's less to go wrong). The bridges on the Japanese basses are much nicer than those found on MIM basses, much heavier. Sadly, Fender has pretty much stopped using MIJ for the international market and have reserved them for Japan only now outside of a couple artist models. The Geddy Lee Jazz Bass and many other artist models used to be MIJ, as were many special run instruments but most have switched to being MIM. Now they basically only use MIM outside of a couple things like the Marcus Miller Jazz Bass. The domestic market Japanese Fenders are by far the coolest from what I've seen. They have a lot more variety to the selection of instruments available. But since they are domestic market you can't get them outside of Japan unless you go through a place that does importing (I did. It went perfectly smooth. Was stressful though because I don't trust the post office with fragile stuff). | ||
Mikau
Netherlands1445 Posts
On January 30 2014 00:16 Ben... wrote: I own one (or more) of each MIA, MIM, and MIJ and here's what I've noticed. I've been a Fender guy for a long time so I guess I can chip in. I guess it helps that I'm also kinda nitpicky and like to tinker with guitars. Quality-wise, the American and Japanese are about on par, maybe a small edge to the American stuff, and both are noticeably better than MIM in most, but not all, cases. When I did a complete teardown, I found the American Strat I own is basically flawless. The frets are perfectly dressed and levelled, the finish is perfect, and it stays perfectly in tune as the bridge seems to be quite a bit more stable than the old style bridges found on MIMs. The necks on the newer (post-2007) American instruments are significantly better than MIM (pre-2008 they are about the same. They changed them for 2008). On instruments with maple fretboards, the back of the neck is satin while the fretboard is gloss, which I do think is the ideal way for a maple fretboard neck to be. For the cost you do need to keep in mind they come with a beefy hard case, which I imagine factors into cost a bit (the case for my Strat is really nice). Structurally, there are very few if any issues in any of the American instruments I've played. The neck pocket in my Strat is perfect and is nice and snug without being too tight. In constrast, the pocket in my MIM Precision Bass requires a fair bit of shimming to get the action (string height) to a playable level. That said, there is nothing wrong with MIM. 99% of people will be perfectly satisfied with them if they find a good one. For the price doubly so. I certainly like mine. There are MIM instruments that are on par with MIA quality-wise, I have no doubt about that. You just have to find them. The issue is that the quality of the instruments can be hit or miss so trying before buying is a must. I've owned 5 MIM instruments over the years and have sold all of them but 2. It is all about finding the good ones. The one Strat I sold was a FSR (special run) Strat that sounded great but had huge issues with the frets that no amount of tinkering would fix outside of a refret (I didn't notice it when I played it at the shop. Now I take more time to check for flaws). Likewise, I also had a 5 string Jazz Bass that had 3 different high frets that had to be brought down. That bass also had issues with tuning stability. I sold it to get my current main fretted base, which is a MIM Classic Series 50's Precision Bass (All the Classic Series stuff is astoundingly good. I am getting a Classic 60's Jazz sometime in the future). My Precision was a b-stock, so I knew it would have a couple issues to fix, but so far it has been the best MIM instrument I've owned. Other than the neck pocket and a high fret, it has been great. This is what I mean when I say you have to find the good MIM stuff. I thought the P-bass was butt ugly when I saw it at the store but was completely blown away by it when I played it. It continues to be one of my all-time favourite fretted basses. My first guitar was a '96 MIM Strat, and it also is quite good. It has endured many botched repairs over the years and continues to play great. It has the most stable neck of any instrument I own. It never shifts with temperature changes. With an upgraded set up pickups it sounds great too. Japanese Fenders are definitely the happy medium, or they would be if they were easy to get. They're roughly the same cost as MIM while being roughly the quality of MIA (in Japan anyway. Importing drives the cost up quite a bit. I'd only recommend it for instruments you cannot get a MIM version of). I've had my MIJ fretless '62 Jazz Bass for over a month now and the thing continues to blow me away every time I play it. I've taken it apart multiple times (truss rod is on the heel of the neck so I kinda have to take it apart to adjust the neck) and the neck pocket is just as good as those found in MIA. Snug but not so tight that it feels like you will chip paint removing it. The common comment people make about MIJ is that they are MIA quality but with worse electronics, though I haven't noticed as I quite like the vintage-style pickups in my Jazz. The finish is great, as is the neck. I love Jazz Bass necks in general (they're wider than Precision Bass necks and slightly thinner) but this one is especially good. It has no flaws from what I have found (though with no frets there's less to go wrong). The bridges on the Japanese basses are much nicer than those found on MIM basses, much heavier. Sadly, Fender has pretty much stopped using MIJ for the international market and have reserved them for Japan only now outside of a couple artist models. The Geddy Lee Jazz Bass and many other artist models used to be MIJ, as were many special run instruments but most have switched to being MIM. Now they basically only use MIM outside of a couple things like the Marcus Miller Jazz Bass. The domestic market Japanese Fenders are by far the coolest from what I've seen. They have a lot more variety to the selection of instruments available. But since they are domestic market you can't get them outside of Japan unless you go through a place that does importing (I did. It went perfectly smooth. Was stressful though because I don't trust the post office with fragile stuff). Wow, thanks for the very thorough explanation. There's a few second hand strats (mainly MIM but some MIJ) being sold nearby, but most of them are around the same price as a new one in a shop a little further away. I'm seriously considering driving over there to look at their Standard Stratocasters (MIM) and maybe buy one. I'm a little worried about one thing though. First of all, I can't really play it. I can do what some other website recommended me (check the neck is straight and without dents, play all frets on all strings to check for rattle or buzz), but as far as judging sound goes I'm a total newbie. Not only that, compared to what I have at the moment (literally the cheapest guitar I could find online) every guitar will sound great. So I'd basically just be buying it with the idea that it's a Fender so it'll probably be good. On the plus side, the store offers a free tune up now and a second one 6 months after buying it so how wrong can I really go? | ||
Teoita
Italy12246 Posts
Also, make sure to get your guitar fully setup by a luthier. It makes a world of difference. Sometimes stores will do that for you. | ||
Mikau
Netherlands1445 Posts
I could ofcourse wait before buying a new guitar and stick with my cheap ass guitar for now. I was planning on saving the buying a new guitar for a 'milestone' (playing a certain amount of time or being able to play a certain song or something),but with my birthday coming up it almost seems too perfect. That and I honestly don't know what else to spend my bday money on, there isn't really anything I want atm. | ||
Teoita
Italy12246 Posts
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