Guitar and Amp......I need one.

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maddrummer

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I tried searching but that didn't work to well. I'm looking to get a guitar and small amp for recording. My standards are pretty low but I want to get the best for my money. I was looking at all the low end Fender, Ibenez, and Epiphone and what have you and I have no clue what the differences are. It would be good to have effects on the amp but it's not a must. To give a figure I can probably spend up to $500, so i guess I am kind of limited.

I just didn't want to go into a music store and get the run around about guitars instead of straight up answers.
THanks
 
maddrummer said:
I tried searching but that didn't work to well. I'm looking to get a guitar and small amp for recording. My standards are pretty low but I want to get the best for my money. I was looking at all the low end Fender, Ibenez, and Epiphone and what have you and I have no clue what the differences are. It would be good to have effects on the amp but it's not a must. To give a figure I can probably spend up to $500, so i guess I am kind of limited.

I just didn't want to go into a music store and get the run around about guitars instead of straight up answers.
THanks
Click to expand...

If all you want to do is record, I think you should look into something like the POD or J-Station.

Guitars, you'll just have to try them out and see what feels and sounds good.
 
Nothing wrong with the cute squire pack to get started. If you found an amp with onboard effects for less than $500 I can only assume you live near Tijuanna.
 
i would take the 500 and buy a good used guitar.you should be able to get a strat or tele for that.you can pick up a zoom multi effects processor for around 60 bucks and use it to go direct.
then start saving for a good tube amp.

sheppard
 
For spending that little amount of money get a Fender amp so no matter what you can at least get a good clean sound. (Trust me, you WILL want to get a good clean tone at some point, even if you are into grind-core)

For a guitar...

Epi LesPaul for Rock/Jazz/Blues ... Bascally great at Distortion with a very FULL clean tone

Strats for Surf/gritty blues/Funk/and everything under the sun ... EXCEPT Metal or Hard rock.

Ibanez is kind of like NuMetal.

If you are recording direct, just use a PodPro instead of an amp, if you are gonna Mic it, then get the Fender and use a distortion pedal that suits your music. And if you are not playing with a band, don't worry if you only get a 10 watt amp.
 
Now forget everything I said and just type in the "SOUND" that you are trying to get and everyone will give you a million cheap things to go check out so you have a good starting point when you hit up the music shop. Just don't talk to much to the sales person until you have played a couple of different guitars and amps first...then talk the price down and get FREE cables and straps and picks and strings. If you are "Interested" but not "Set" in what you are looking at, you will get everything, and not just in some Starter Pack either.

I HATE SALESMEN
 
first, get a Johnson J-Station...use the rest of the $$$$ and look at:

Yamaha Pacificas
Fender Mexican Fat Strats
Schecter Diamond series
 
Hey thanks for the replies. Yea mostly what I'll be doing is rock/pop stuff I guess. I'm not quite sure whether I should go with a POD or J-station route or an amp for recording. I've done stuff direct from a pedal and all and have had much better success when micing an amp but I am guessing that the POD and them are better for that? What about the little 15 watt Marshall and those in that area? Soon I'm gonna go to the store and just try all of this out but I want to know what to look for. Thanks
 
LocusLarsen said:

Strats for Surf/gritty blues/Funk/and everything under the sun ... EXCEPT Metal or Hard rock.
Click to expand...

Uh.. ok, someone want to tell Dave Murray of Iron Maiden he's been using the wrong guitar for the last 25 years? Might want to tell Yngwie Malmsteen and Jeff Beck too.. Man, and to think Hendrix's tone could've been so much better! :rolleyes:

Cy
 
maddrummer said:
Yea mostly what I'll be doing is rock/pop stuff I guess. I'm not quite sure whether I should go with a POD or J-station route or an amp for recording. I've done stuff direct from a pedal and all and have had much better success when micing an amp but I am guessing that the POD and them are better for that? What about the little 15 watt Marshall and those in that area?
Click to expand...

You definitely WILL have better success when micing an amp, NOT when using a modeler direct. There is no substitue for the different variations in tone you can achive when moving a mic around in front of a speaker.

Quality tube amps are great, but out of your range pricewise.

I.e., as far as the Marshall, the Valvestate stuff isn't that great. I personally wouldn't go below the DSL for a combo amp. However, that amp is limited in tone and over $500 for the cheapest one.

Zoom is crap.


In auditioning amps, make sure you find a shop with a Tech 21 Trademark 10. IMHO, great tones and the ability to mic, go direct, or do both. It also has a great variety of sounds.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Reviews/Trademark10/
(You can find sound samples later in the review and also at www.sansamp.com).

http://www.americanmusical.com/item.asp?UID=2002102814123168&menu=&keyword=&item=TEC+TM10
(Not that I'm condoning American Musical Supply).

You can get one for around $250 and still have enough to get one of Gidge's good suggestions for a guitar.
 
"Man, and to think Hendrix's tone could've been so much better!"

Hendrix was 100% blues. With attitude. That is not hard rock OR metal.

Iron Maiden sound is too thin as far as I am concerned. Besides, so what if one person can make a strat work. I am almost certain that it was a modded one since Fender has a limited edition Tele of theirs for sale.

Gumby Menstral-e-whatever , Never listened to him, sorry if I lost any respect, again, ya, one or two people can make it work. I think most of everything on these threads are GENERALIZATIONS, especially this one.
 
A couple of things: A strat ain't just a strat...
Dick Dale (surf meister) plays on very thick strings (0.18-0.60) to get his signature sound... in surf music you don't make a lot of bends, so he can get away with such thick strings...

Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) as well as the dudes from Obituary and Forbidden all play Strats with humbucker-pick ups in the bridge position... Funk, blues & surf guys usually DON'T do that.

Malmsteen has a great sound. Period.

Now, on to the guitar+amp recommendations:
A cheap, yet cool amp with effects and a direct recording possibility is the new Roland Cube 30. It has a 10" speaker, a clean channel and a overdrive channel, where you can change the type of overdrive... it has some basic effects (chorus, flanger, delay, reverb) and a recording output...
Or the Tech 21 Trademark 10. Also a small practice amp that's perfect suited for recording...

About guitars, for a GOOD starters guitar, I recommend Yamaha pacifica's or Ibanez RG series. Both lack the character that Strats and Les Pauls have, but that makes 'em more versatile. Especially the Yamaha Pacifica's are great value for money guitars...well built, good sound, good finishing, very allround.

I wouldn't put my money on a $200 Squier-pack.. Apart from 1 in a 1000, most Squiers REALLY suck, when you held a decent guitar in your hands... Plus, USA Fender and Gibsons are way overpriced... Ibanez and Yamaha are not.
 
Hey thank you guys so much for this. What about the Mexican made strats. Someone was telling me that they used to have a bad name but now they are good. I just want to hear more opinions. And does anyone else have suggestions on different amps? Thanks
 
Some stuff i have and recommend

Old Fernandes Teles/Strats
Vox Pathfinder
Art Tube MP

These are all cheap but quality tools for recording. If you wish to go direct, then a DG-Stomp is good. With lesser money, Behringer's V-amp.

Used gears always sound better to me.
 
"Hey thank you guys so much for this. What about the Mexican made strats. Someone was telling me that they used to have a bad name but now they are good. I just want to hear more opinions. And does anyone else have suggestions on different amps? Thanks"

i personally like the mex strats. i tried out several mexican and american strats when i bought a guitar a couple of years ago. the american ones are a little nicer because: the edges of the fretboard are rounded (thats going to come with playing time), the body wood on the americans is ash which is supposed to be superior to the mexicans poplar (that is debatable...i think poplar has a better tone), the american maple fretboards have a little nicer finish (which will wear off in time), the americans have fancier saddles (i like the vintage better), and last but certainly not least the americans have better pickups and pots (no matter whether i bought an american or a mexican i was going to put custom shop pickups in it...so that was a non-issue)

so im my opinion the americans are a little nicer....$600 worth of nicer...NO WAY.

I would suggest that you look for a used guitar. you can get a mex strat for 200 to 250 bucks used. As far as an amp i just bought a used fender hot rod deville for 300 bucks...its a fine amp. I also have a peavey transtube stdio pro. its less that 300 bucks brand new and its the best sounding solid state amp i have ever had...the hot rod deville sounds a little better but certainly dosent "blow it away" tone wise (volume is another story).
oh...i ended up getting a mex strat and putting texas special pickups in...with the meatier that stock sound of the texas specials and the darker tone of the poplar wood body it has the best tone of any strat i've ever had (including my '66)

when someone tells you something like "mexican strats suck" don't believe them.....go out and play some mexicans, americans, ibanez, and yamahas. it only sucks if its not right for you.
 
Cool, I definately think I'm gonna go used, thanks. Is the maple or rosewood thing just a preference, or is there usually a more favorable one?
 
the fret bord is a personal preferace. rosewood has a softer "dig in for the bend" feel to it. maple is a denser wood and has a different feel... the harder surface tends to be a faster playing neck. I bought a mex strat with a maple fretboard because i already had a vintage strat with a rosewood fretboard....i like both.

you will have to play both and see which you prefer.
 
Asuming the guitar isn't 100 years old, Maple has a lot LESS sustain in the tone. Plus maple is a bit brighter sounding.
 
more...

...from my experience with my '52 RI Tele, and from what I've heard from others with rockhard maple necks, is that there is a feeling that it makes you work harder on your technique buy showing off the slop.
 
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