Looking for a nice electric guitar

The only guitars I play now are the Epi Les Paul standard and an Epi SG - I got them both used but I think they are newer models probably less than 10 years old. I have a decent ibanez RG42d or something but it doesn't stay in tune very well although it is a decent guitar, I haven't picked it up in 2 months.

The SG I have came with stock EMG pickups so it's a lot hotter than the Les Paul. The way I play it probably doesn't matter much what I am playing on
 
Seeker of Rock said:
I think the original AD9 units still go for a decent price. They used the Panasonic 3205 chip for delay, same as in my Maxon AD80 reissue (which besides the name is not really similar to the original AD80). The AD80 used MN3005 iirc.
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the old analog delay chips are hard to find nowdays and nobody makes any equivalent. the PT2399 is the digital chip equivalent and it's so much cheaper to make and much more consistent...but not quite the same. Anyway, if you have an oldschool AD9 I wouldn't mod it.

Plus, a lot of analog delays have a way different buffer system than the TS pedals...i'm not sure how good they are but I'm sure they're different and probably better.
 
heatmiser said:
I have an early '80's pink Ibanez analog delay pedal that I really like, but I haven't noticed a problem with bypass? You mean that the sound is degraded when the effect is in the chain but turned off?

Thanks for the link to Xaviere. I only have one electric, and it's pretty nice, but I doubt I'll ever be able to afford a really nice one again. These look like a really low-cost option to try a guitar style (strat, hollowbody, etc.) I've always wanted without the huge financial commitment. Not sure I'd be able to change pickups myself though...is that pretty easy to do?
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Can you solder? Can you watch youtube? Do you have a buddy who can solder? It's pretty darn easy. With the single coils you may have an ok pickup in the stock guitars, but once they pickups get bigger (P90s and HBs), ceramic pickups (stock) usually sound really brittle. So if you get a tele/strat you might be ok. If you get an LP/335 style, you'll probably want to change to some better pickups.
 
Greg_L said:
I have a TS9. How do I "true bypass" that thing?
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Can you solder? Can you watch youtube? Do you have a buddy who can solder? It's not too hard, just a couple parts (3pdt stomp switch, 470k-2.2M resistor, bleed cap, some wire). I can do it, and so can a lot of other internet dudes (keeley, analogman...plus they do other mods that are totally worth the price...to me).

But, you may not need it. A buffered effect is always "on", that is to say when the effect is disengaged the buffer is on and affecting the tone...sometimes in a good way (Klon), sometimes in a bad way (TS). Plug the guitar straight in and listen...plug the guitar into the pedal with the pedal off and listen. You may hear some dullness and loss of highs. If you hear it and it's enough to bother you then true-bypass could help. If it's not a big deal (like for live stuff and you don't care that much), keep it stock. Basically, for recording you either won't use it or it'll be engaged so true-bypass doesn't matter...for live it'll make a difference but it might not matter to you.

The point of the buffer is to keep the pedal from popping when first engaged, and to keep the signal high enough even with longer cable runs. But you can true bypass and add a drop-down resistor+cap to get rid of the pop (or someone else can do this for you too). Long cable runs can degrade your sound too, so true bypass isn't always all it's cracked up to be. I use a lot of effects live so truebypass is great for keeping the signal clean, but too long a cable run without a buffer to push the signal up is bad too...so you I have to balance my true bypass with my buffered effects to keep optimum tone...but I'm not a crazy tone hound, good sounds can come from pretty much any combo.
 
aaronmcoleman said:
Can you solder?
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Technically, yes, but not very well.

aaronmcoleman said:
Can you watch youtube?
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Yes, but I try not to.

aaronmcoleman said:
Do you have a buddy who can solder?
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I don't have any buddies.

aaronmcoleman said:
It's pretty darn easy. With the single coils you may have an ok pickup in the stock guitars, but once they pickups get bigger (P90s and HBs), ceramic pickups (stock) usually sound really brittle. So if you get a tele/strat you might be ok. If you get an LP/335 style, you'll probably want to change to some better pickups.
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Thanks though for that. At their prices, it certainly seems worth it to try, and if the stock PUs do sound noticeably thin or brittle to me, then I could investigate replacement later on.
 
Carvin offers high quality workmanship and wide-open choices for customizing features and
finishes, at a fair price.
 
My current cheap choice

Go to guitarfetish.com. Those xaviers are pretty nice and can be tweeked if needed. Get a blem to save a few bucks. My blems are hard to find!
 
I almost forgot. I picked up a Hondo Les Paul copy with a bolt on neck that sounds and plays great. Rivals any Gibson I could afford and really outshines an Epi. $50 bucks! You probably need a little experience to keep from getting burned. Pawn shops think everything is vintage gold. I watch classifieds on the web for the guys that need some cash and happen to have something worth selling to get bargains.
 
ronhar said:
I almost forgot. I picked up a Hondo Les Paul copy with a bolt on neck that sounds and plays great. Rivals any Gibson I could afford and really outshines an Epi. $50 bucks! You probably need a little experience to keep from getting burned. Pawn shops think everything is vintage gold. I watch classifieds on the web for the guys that need some cash and happen to have something worth selling to get bargains.
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Don't know what 'Gibson you could afford', but theres no way a $50 Hondo is going to sound like anything except shit!
 
ronhar said:
Go to guitarfetish.com. Those xaviers are pretty nice and can be tweeked if needed. Get a blem to save a few bucks. My blems are hard to find!
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Lt. Bob said:
^^^^^^^^^ This Dammit!! ^^^^^^^^^^^
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Yup and Yup...

Tele.jpg

Took this to a tech to have it set up and teh frets dressed and it plays beautifully.


...and FWIW, the OP was a one timer poster/ Borderline spammer and I don't think he will be back. I'm pretty sure he started this thread just for post counts and not really to shop for a guitar. Still, the conversation is going swimmingly.... :)
 
There are a few good guitar makers who keep their quality control up and have been assembling in China and Korea. Xavier are great electrics, and Recording King are great acoustics. It's crazy that you can get 335 copy for under $300, throw in a nicer set of pups for another $150, and have something that comes really really really close to a gibby for under $500. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.
 
mjbphotos said:
I never heard of Xavieres before - seem pretty cheap ($$), are they really any good?
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I think they're better than that actually.
I bought one of their thinline teles w/buckers because it was a blem and I got it for 180 bucks.
I planned to use it for beach gigs as a throw away.

I never found the blem and it ended up being my primary gigging guitar for about 8 months till I got the urge to use one of my other gits.
They sound very good and play very well.
You're liable to have to tighten screws and jacks but that's about it.
 
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Lt. Bob said:
I think they're better than that actually.
I bought one of their thinline teles w/buckers because it was a blem and I got it for 180 bucks.
I planned to use it for beach gigs as a throw away.

I never found the blem and it ended up being my primary gigging guitar for about 8 months till I got the urge to use one of my other gits.
They sound very good and play very well.
You're liable to have to tighten screws and jacks but that's about it.
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I did a bit of googling and it seems the quality is really hit-or-miss, as it is for most Chinese stuff. I only see 2 of them on Ebay right now, a chambered LP and a siolid LP style, both for cheap money.
I can do normal setup stuff myself, but if the frets had to be reset, or a nut recut I'd have to bring it to someone to be done. Do they even have adjustable truss rods on the necks?
 
mjbphotos said:
I did a bit of googling and it seems the quality is really hit-or-miss, as it is for most Chinese stuff. I only see 2 of them on Ebay right now, a chambered LP and a siolid LP style, both for cheap money.
I can do normal setup stuff myself, but if the frets had to be reset, or a nut recut I'd have to bring it to someone to be done. Do they even have adjustable truss rods on the necks?
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You saw the pic of mine, a solid tele. Yes, it has a truss rod. Nut is made of graphite (is that a good thing?? idk). All the frets were too long and sticking out the ends of the slots. They had to be filed down a smidge. I hate the Xavierre decal on the head and took it off easily. The neck has a satin finish which I didn't like, so I used steel wool to smooth it out more.

Mine also is blemished ($180 plus tweed case), but like LT Bob, I never found the blemish. Maybe some pencil marks below the finish.
 
mjbphotos said:
Do they even have adjustable truss rods on the necks?
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of course they have a truss rod.
As for googling the quality ..... you can get the same results about it being hit or miss if you google Gibson or Fender.
I see reviews all the time that are critical of some product and the person writing them often clearly doesn't have a clue.
I pay little attention to them ........ ask people you know that have one like me or chili ....... what some 13 year old who's pissed because he wanted something that costs 3000 dollars says about them is worthless.
 
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