Electric Guitar Suggestions

DM60

DM60

Well-known member
I just repaired my wife's AC in the car and probably saved $500-700. Because I am a fiscally responsible person, I had to justify a new guitar with a savings ;) The repair took a awhile because of quick disconnect that wasn't so quick or easy. Damn thing took me four hours to finally to get it to release. A 5 cent plastic tool finally did the trick.

That being said, I've been wanting to round out my guitars for some time. I have two decent acoustics, a bass and a hollow body electric. But wanting a bit more LP type sound. Good rhythm guitar sound. I was looking at these: GuitarCenter

But wanted to get some further opinions before I start doing my checks. There are a lot of guitars, I can't test them all, but wanted to get it down to a few to try out. I am hesitant to buy online, since they trying them out is a problem. I was also considering this: Chapman ML-2 Black Cherry

I think someone on the board had suggested one of these.

I don't care about name or resale value. I tend to buy something and keep it forever (see car example) Any suggestions would greatly appreciated.
 
I think The Chapman guitars represent really good value for money; they seem well made, out of decent materials and have decent hardware/electronics on them for the money. I was thinking at one for myself a little while ago but I decided to go the extra mile and design a custom guitar.

I was looking at the ML3 modern 'cos I really like the telecaster shape. I think the Chapman guitars usually have a really flat fretboard though - while I wouldn't call Rob Chapman is "shred" guitarist. He does play very fast metal lead. So if a completely flat radius isn't your think you might want to look elsewhere.

If you aren't bothered about the Les Paul shape, I would recommend a telecaster FMT HH. Its basically a fixed bridge tele with a pair of duncans in it.
 
JDOD said:
I think The Chapman guitars represent really good value for money; they seem well made, out of decent materials and have decent hardware/electronics on them for the money. I was thinking at one for myself a little while ago but I decided to go the extra mile and design a custom guitar.

I was looking at the ML3 modern 'cos I really like the telecaster shape. I think the Chapman guitars usually have a really flat fretboard though - while I wouldn't call Rob Chapman is "shred" guitarist. He does play very fast metal lead. So if a completely flat radius isn't your think you might want to look elsewhere.

If you aren't bothered about the Les Paul shape, I would recommend a telecaster FMT HH. Its basically a fixed bridge tele with a pair of duncans in it.
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Good comment. I am not a shreder for sure.

I had an old strat (79' and was stolen) and I never really liked the sound. I replaced it with a Guild electric (86' ish), I loved its sound, it wouldn't stay in tune worth a crap, but had a great sound. I donated it to an up and coming artist, that decided to go all acoustic and then in a rock star temper tantrum and broke it. But that sound on the Guild I really liked. I can't remember the model though.
 
What sort of neck/fretboard shape do you like? What kind of music will it be primarily for? Do you just want an LP type of sound, or do you also gravitate toward that body shape?
 
If you end up going with the Epi, make sure you have a chance to play it before you plop down the cash for it. I've never had any great experiences with them but it's mainly due to sub-par components - mainly the tuners. The few that I have played on would not stay in tune at all, some worse than others.

With that being said, if the fretwork is good then everything else can be upgraded over time. Change out the tuners and the pickups and it should be golden.
 
notCardio said:
What sort of neck/fretboard shape do you like? What kind of music will it be primarily for? Do you just want an LP type of sound, or do you also gravitate toward that body shape?
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I gravitate to the body shape as I associate that with the sound. That is why I am asking. I probably have this wrong notion in my head and want to make sure I am looking for the sound and not the look. If you know what I mean.

The type of music I play is all over the board, that is why I am looking for more a general guitar than a focused guitar. Only area I don't do for sure is metal and hip hop rap. Other than that, I try just about everything I can think of musically.
 
pikingrin said:
If you end up going with the Epi, make sure you have a chance to play it before you plop down the cash for it. I've never had any great experiences with them but it's mainly due to sub-par components - mainly the tuners. The few that I have played on would not stay in tune at all, some worse than others.

With that being said, if the fretwork is good then everything else can be upgraded over time. Change out the tuners and the pickups and it should be golden.
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Yea, that is a problem, tuners shouldn't need upgrading and pick ups other than those who customer sound shouldn't need upgrading (IMO). Kind of would like one OOTB. Good pickups are more than half the cost of the guitar. Hoping I can get a good sound out of the factory guitar.
 
I think that the Epi Pro is a slight cut above the standard Epis, fwiw. I don't know how you feel about used, but being a (ahem) fiscally responsible guy, you know you'll get more value, i.e. a better guitar, if you can find a good used one. And in that case, my personal suggestion at that price point would be a used LP Studio.
 
DM60 said:
I gravitate to the body shape as I associate that with the sound. That is why I am asking. I probably have this wrong notion in my head and want to make sure I am looking for the sound and not the look. If you know what I mean.

The type of music I play is all over the board, that is why I am looking for more a general guitar than a focused guitar. Only area I don't do for sure is metal and hip hop rap. Other than that, I try just about everything I can think of musically.
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I don't think you should need to worry about shit tuners or pickups, which is why I think the Chapman seems good value. Check the radius of the fretboard though - and if you can't play on a Chapman, play on a guitar with a similar radius and see how you get on.
 
I know there are some here who detest the PRS name but they make great guitars. Even their SE series, well within your price range, are high quality. Something like this single cut might be something to look at as well.

The main difference between the US made and the SE series (made at the same factory as the Chapmans, if I'm not mistaken) is that the pickups aren't made in the US and the fretboard edges aren't rolled like the US made PRS models.
 
I had passed by these a few times. This might be something worth zooming in on. I checked and GC doesn't seem to carry these in the store. I think I may give Sweetwater a call. Hopefully they will set it up before shipping. That was kind of a nice feature on Riff City with the Chapman.
 
DM60 said:
I had passed by these a few times. This might be something worth zooming in on. I checked and GC doesn't seem to carry these in the store. I think I may give Sweetwater a call. Hopefully they will set it up before shipping. That was kind of a nice feature on Riff City with the Chapman.
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Sweetwater does a pretty good setup. One thing about the PRS guitars, even the SE series, is that they are - per Paul himself - made to be ready to rock and roll right out of the box. Might not even need to do much to it.
 
My only problem with the PRS SE's is that there are only a few certain models that don't have the damn birds. I hate those birds.
 
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