What to look for?

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monkie

monkie

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I'm doing a research to buy an electric guitar for my brother as a gift and needed some of you guys help and opinions on what to look for when buying (electric) guitars. Some of the key points to consider are its prices, pickup types, material quality, brand names, etc... I'm looking to buy a decent one under $700, particularly Ibanez. At the moment I've been looking at the Ibanez S47ODQM. He's into the Steve Vai's and Joe Satriani's stuffs. Are there any that you guys would recommend at that price range? If there are better ones at that price range that are not Ibanez feel free to mention that as well if you think it's better than Ibanez. The reason I say Ibanez is because he just likes it and it's what he currently plays with. He also have others as well but it's the one that he plays most with.

If recommending a certain one, feel free to advice anything that can help to improve the guitar over all, such as replace the stock pickups, use certain types of strings, etc...

What do you look for when buying an electric guitar? Please don't hesitate to ask if you want to be more specific. This is all I can think of for now.

Thanks for any inputs.:D
 
I would recommend something in a mid-range fender honestly. I have never been a fan of Ibanez, but more importantly, Fender seems to be made better and have a better tone IMO. There are some great fender models that might fall into the style of playing he is interested in.
 
keat_taylor said:
I would recommend something in a mid-range fender honestly. I have never been a fan of Ibanez, but more importantly, Fender seems to be made better and have a better tone IMO. There are some great fender models that might fall into the style of playing he is interested in.
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Any particular one you suggest I should take a look at that's similar to the one your talking about?
 
If your brother is into the Satriani style (guitars or music) I'd suggest almost any of the Ibanez RG sreies guitars. The stock pickups on some of the lower end ones seem a little thin sounding, I replaced them on my RG 170 with DiMargio pups and gave it a much "gutsier" tone. If he likes a Floyd Rose trem, make sure it has a real one, not a F R copy. For what it's worth, I use Ernie Ball Hybird Slinkys on all (4 of them) my Ibanez guitars.
 
Yep, like almost everything else there are copies (clones if you prefer to call them that) of almost any part. Some are of good quality, some are not. Genuine parts have the name and trademark (r in a circle) while look alikes often say something like "licenced by___" or "made to ___ specifications." Some look alike parts have no name brand at all. While some can be as good as the original, most are made with softer metals, have poorer castings, and inferior plating. This isn't a problem for some parts but it makes set up (and staying in tune) a pain in the ear when it comes to tremelo tailpieces.
 
Dani Pace said:
Yep, like almost everything else there are copies (clones if you prefer to call them that) of almost any part. Some are of good quality, some are not. Genuine parts have the name and trademark (r in a circle) while look alikes often say something like "licenced by___" or "made to ___ specifications." Some look alike parts have no name brand at all. While some can be as good as the original, most are made with softer metals, have poorer castings, and inferior plating. This isn't a problem for some parts but it makes set up (and staying in tune) a pain in the ear when it comes to tremelo tailpieces.
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Interesting. Thanks for the info.:)
 
Do it this way...

Go to your favourite guitar store. Pick up an axe you think your brother might like. Strap it on. Walk up to the foxiest looking female in the store and stand in front of her, smiling goofily. If she runs away, sidles off, calls security, return guitar to rack and pick another one. If she reaches out and touches it (or you) or says the words 'big boy', this is the guitar you need to buy your brother.

He will thank you.

Who cares what it sounds like... :D
 
Armistice said:
Do it this way...

Go to your favourite guitar store. Pick up an axe you think your brother might like. Strap it on. Walk up to the foxiest looking female in the store and stand in front of her, smiling goofily. If she runs away, sidles off, calls security, return guitar to rack and pick another one. If she reaches out and touches it (or you) or says the words 'big boy', this is the guitar you need to buy your brother.

He will thank you.

Who cares what it sounds like... :D
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Lol! Good one :eek:Your kidding? What's Plan B?:D
 
Since he is not a new guitar player, he probably has some very strong preferences already. It would be hard to buy for someone who has prefernces without knowing what they are. Does he like rosewood, maple or ebony fretboard (OK I left out graphite...I should know...I have one)...humbucker or single coil pickups? There are just too many alternatives. If you just wanted to get a safe mid level guitar I would say a Mexican Fender Strat...all around good guitar which can be easily upgraded. Good luck.
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jtees4 said:
Does he like rosewood, maple or ebony fretboard (OK I left out graphite...I should know...I have one)...humbucker or single coil pickups? There are just too many alternatives. If you just wanted to get a safe mid level guitar I would say a Mexican Fender Strat...all around good guitar which can be easily upgraded. Good luck.
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What's the difference between rosewood, maple, ebony and graphite fretboard? Do they really contribute to the quality of the sound? I don't really know exactly which pickup he wants but one time I heard him talking about how good humbuckers are.

I have the a Mexican Fender Strat and I'm happy with it. What should I upgrade-pickups, fretboard, etc..?

:D
 
It's really difficult to buy a guitar for someone who is already a player. As noted before, guitars are really personal and everyone who plays has particular likes and dislikes. Body and fretboard wood (different weight, feel and sound), kind of finish (or lack of finish), neck scale, radius, frets (jumbo or not), pick ups (how many, what kind, positioning), controls (how many and knobs or switches) all make a difference to a player. Then there is simply the issue that no two apparently similar guitars will sound exactly the same.

Unless you can deal with him returing the guitar you purchased and then picking one that he really likes, I'd suggest that you place a picture of a sharp guitar in the card and take him guitar shopping.:D
 
monkie said:
I have the a Mexican Fender Strat and I'm happy with it. What should I upgrade-pickups, fretboard, etc..?

:D
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I have a Mexican built Strat a friend gave to me and love the feel of the neck and action-although the pickups are okay for lots of music-I replaced the pickups and pickguard. The pickups were pretty cheap with bar magnets attached to the bottom of the pickup coils, I figured I would keep the pickguard set up so I could easily change back to 3 single coils if I ever needed to. This model is the Fender 'Splattercaster' the body is spun on a turntable as paint is squirted on and every one is different.
The bridge pickup is a humbucker modeled after the Gretsch Filter-tron and there is a coil splitter switch to switch it from humbucker to single coil. It has a lot of variety-Blues, funk, classic rock, heavy rock, rockabilly, country-you name it..! The new pickups are Guitar Fetish pickups by the way.
Original pickups-
IMG_1420.jpg


New pickguard & pickups
Splattercastermod1.jpg
 
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