Last chance to get a good guitar

[msundh]

I just realized that I soon going for retirement ( in 7 years) so now is the last chance to get a real good (i.e. expensive) guitar.
Though I'm really like my guitar (a Schecter Telecaster, assemblied by me) I some how know there's better out there and it's too heavy for me.
I really like my telecaster and the tremolo.
For a budget of $3000 should I go for one really good or combine two?
I'm a sucker for tremolo, but miss the sustain.
Of course I'm going to test myself, but any suggestion are appreciated.

[karbomusic]

I'm a sucker for tremolo as well but more of a light vibrato perspective. Moving on, have you looked at Suhr?

https://www.youtube.com/user/suhrguitars

[martifingers]

An impossible question really - diminishing returns and all that and personal taste and playing style probably outweigh specs and technical details of construction etc.
But here's what may seem an odd suggestion to think about as you have the Tele-sound covered already:
http://magazine.dv247.com/2011/08/08...sg3000-review/

Another reviewer said it was the best electric he had ever played...

[msundh]

I know it's an impossible question, but I have not checked the market at all and there's so much guitars.
also the guitars to avoid is also a good input.

[DVDdoug]

I'm not a guitar player but my gut tells me that if you 'want' to spend $3000 on a guitar, you shouldn't be asking for advice... You should have a desire for the particular guitar first.

If you are thinking about a classic (used) guitar, it doesn't have to be a "permanent decision" because you can always sell it for about the same price you paid for it.

[DerMetzgermeister]

Maybe 3k can buy you a custom made guitar by a qualified luthier. I don't know current prices but that's the first thing I would try if I had a nice amount of money for a new guitar.

[Pinknoise]

R

Originally Posted by DerMetzgermeister

Maybe 3k can buy you a custom made guitar by a qualified luthier. I don't know current prices but that's the first thing I would try if I had a nice amount of money for a new guitar.

Exactly what I was about to say! I got mine used for 1/3 of the price I would have paid for a Gibson Explorer and it is made with great attention and love with all the best possible pieces you can put on a guitar. Best bang for the bucks the only difference is you are going to pay for the name and there is no way it is going to be as well made than something handmade with great attention to details. I suggest anybody serious to go that way find a known luthier in your area these guys are guitar geeks and will proudly present you the nicest artistic and soulfull guitar they can do for often an underpriced item.

I paid 1200 for mine and my friend 1000 a steal. Exemple of my luthier
http://www.marcchicoine.com/

This is the next luthier who will work on my next guitar :
https://m.facebook.com/BondInstruments

[chip mcdonald]

If you were a guitar student of mine I would say if you don't know EXACTLY what you want in a solid body you shouldn't be spending over $1,000, UNLESS it's something of a standard: a Martin D-28 or a Taylor 500 series.

[grinder]

Okay I am 65
Okay I have at least 10 guitars
Okay so you may think I am nuts or well off or just lucky.
Okay you may think they hang on a wall gathering dust?

I use them all, home made and factory made.

No guitar suits every tune.....

I have Gibsons, Fenders, Edmond, G&L, Martin, Takamine. Tokai and as I alluded too two home made guitars.
The build of the Japanese guitars as well as the playability is beyond reproach.

Which of these are best,,,,,,, all.

Thing is before you purchase a class guitar and I take it you are at this time looking at electric guitars. Are you looking for a guitar with P90, Humbuckers or Single coil pickups? I think you should start there.
Then do you want active or passive pickups?
Then what woods do you desire the guitar to have . Many disagree about whether the wood determines the tone in my case I truly believe I know it does!
Then set neck or bolted neck.
Crikey!
Comment
I mostly used humbuckers in the early days and loved my 335 also my Telecaster custom Two humbuckers(this had a deluxe neck for some reason) anyway I did not appreciate the Fender strat then. This said I now own a Stratocaster Custom with noiseless pickups, I partner that with a great gain etc FX and what a jewel.
I do use this clean as well and it is a beauty.

My thing if you are in a place you can go and play heaps of guitars at shops do so... you need to select.... do not rush in.
Something to think about.

Grinder

[Outboarder]

Hi

Search for second hand vintage guitars, some owners die and their families want to get rid of their stuffs.

Got this puppy two years ago for 300$ from a guy who thought it wasn't an original Gibson because of the weird bridge, also he couldn't found the serial number , I knew it was legit because one of my friends has a Les pual Recording with the same fretboard and bridge,I looked at the serial and turned out it was from 1976 limited edition with rare serial number 00xxxxxx, more than that I like the sound and feel no matter if it's vintage or rare.

http://imgur.com/VKmkUQo

[ivansc]

Outboarder you are a jammy bugger!

I would be jealous apart from I am a bass player primarily. Owned a lovely Tokai SG a few years back but had to sell it because my iron grip and crude right hand bashing put the thing out of tun & made the neck bend like crazy. Since tried other SGs including vintage Gibson ones - same problem. Shame as they are lovely and light & sound good. Enjoy your steal!

OP: I am thinning my herd severely as I approach my mid seventies. Down to two strat-alikes, two tele-alikes, an ES335, a small body Martin acoustic and a PRS with 2 90s.
Oh and a Danelectro first reissue %( Baritone and a couple of bass guitars.
And an electric upright bass.
And a couple of eight string thingies.
One of them was luthier built and was probably the worst decision I ever made. Sounds great, looks like crap and I could never sell it.

Hopefully this gives you some insight into the pitfalls of NOT buying name guitars - my collection really only has three guitars and one bass in it that are even worth what I originally paid for them.
On is a fender one is an G&L one is a Martin and one is a Gibson.

Please do think seriously about what you are buying before you saddle your surviving family with a "load of crap" to unload after you are gone. Oh and keep a list of your gear with rough resale values in the house, too. You never know....

[foxAsteria]

just a friendly reminder: great music can still be made on the shittiest of guitars.

[pipelineaudio]

I just got a KILLER new Agile interceptor pro for 550 brand new...FInished scalloping it this afternoon and modding it tonight, got to play for a bit. Its my third interceptor pro, I LOVE these things

[somebodyelseuk]

If you have to ask, leave the money in the bank.
Every one of the 'far too many' guitars I own were bought because I desperately wanted one. Then I scraped the money together to buy it.

A 3 grand guitar is not going to be significantly better than a 1 grand guitar.
A brand new 3 grand guitar won't be worth 30 grand in 50 years - those days are over.
One off custom made guitars are a very bad "investment" - unless you're famous, it has no resale market value.
Not all old guitars are actually as good as their asking price.

If your dream guitar costs 3 grand or less, go buy it. If you just want a better guitar than what you have now, go into a few guitar shops and try everything - there are £300 guitars that will blow you away and £5000 ones that won't. Price tag is no indication of 'goodness'. You might find you come away realising that what you already own is better than what's out there.

[grinder]

Originally Posted by foxAsteria

just a friendly reminder: great music can still be made on the shittiest of guitars.

So So right I was recording a young lady once and she pulls out this low range Fender acoustic......
Wow the tone for the Blues from way back the edgy but harmonic strength it made me sag at the knees...

Grinder

[Outboarder]

Originally Posted by foxAsteria

just a friendly reminder: great music can still be made on the shittiest of guitars.

Absolutely right

Quote from Tommy Emmanuel :
One day you pick up the guitar and you feel like a great master, and the next day you feel like a fool. It’s because we’re different every day, but the guitar is always the same…beautiful.

Originally Posted by ivansc

Outboarder you are a jammy bugger!

lootier > luthier

[sweetness_and_light]

A guitar, when electric, is wood and metal. You are flesh with an independent and unique personality.

There is no answer to your question.

Hold it, feel it, play it.

Decide!

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by foxAsteria

just a friendly reminder: great music can still be made on the shittiest of guitars.

Originally Posted by Outboarder

Absolutely right

True but let's look a the entire picture of owning a guitar... the shittiest guitar may fall apart after a few gigs, be harder to maintain, among other issues. I know this because I have maybe 15 guitars and the cheap ones do exactly that, the more expensive ones don't.

What we don't want to do is reduce every decision down to whether we can pull a decent track out of it as there is far more that goes into a good quality guitar than that. This doesn't mean one has to spend 3k by any means, but if I did (and I have) far more than what I think it sounds like went into that decision. Sometimes that is simply additional time for craftsmanship and looks and finer points of the build out and/or playability, adjustability, durability etc., etc., etc.

Keep in mind I have a Mexi Tele from 1997 that cost me 150.00 USD that is the bomb although I have to be more careful with it due to the hardware being a bit cheaper (more potted metal mixed in etc.). I sometimes use it live but it wouldn't be able to handle "the road" as easily as my 1983 American strat for example.

[richie43]

I have a few "fine" guitars (79 Strat that's still almost mint, a mid-90's American G&L Legacy), but my favorite and perhaps "nicer" guitars are a few Tribute G&L's....Go play a bunch of instruments and don't look at prices initially. If you can, take someone with you that can hand you guitars with all tags removed so you can play them without ever looking at the headstock (for hints whether or not it's an American Fender or Squire, Epi or Gibson, etc.

[Unikorn]

Check out Kiesel Guitars at kieselguitars.com . For $3000 you could get an all out, highly figured top and so many other awesome options. You could also go the other way and get 2 nicely equipped guitars of the same or different models. You could even go very conservative (base specs) and get 3.

I have played nothing but Kiesel/Carvin since 1990. They are American Made, incredible quality instruments. Kiesel also offers a 10 day trial period on their guitars, including custom builds (which, lets face it, most are). If you don't like it they will refund your money, even on a custom build. Nothing to lose.

Build times are around 8 to 10 weeks right now. A little longer if you go crazy with options.

One option that may be of interest to you is the chambered body. This reduces weight significantly.

Many, including Jeff Kiesel, recommend buying an in stock guitar of the model you are interested in, play it for 10 days and decide what you might like different (I, for instance prefer a thinner neck profile) and then send it back and order Exactly what you want.

Check out their website and facebook etc. Spend some time doing this research and you will not be disappointed.

[WKG]

If I had 3k to spend and already had a tele I was happy with I'd probably look for a used LP or something similar and use the rest for a killer Strat build. Whatever's left over I'd toss in the pick up/parts tweaking fund.

That way I'd have your basic food groups covered tone wise.

[msundh]

Thanks for all replies.
I know it sounds silly setting up a budget of $3000 for guitar and not really know what to buy, but this is maybe the last chance of getting a guitar in this price range.
I have one (1) electric guitar that I bought 1982.
I do deserve a new REALLY good guitar
I love my guitar, but the sustain sucks and it's too damn heavy and my back isn't that great, so light weight is crucial.
I do like to have a semi acoustic, so I might aim for two guitars.

[grinder]

Whatever guitar you get I wish you the best
I would like to say though sustain is usually a set neck and I have the opinion
cellulose lacquer produces a more vibrant sound than polyurethane / epoxy finish any day.
As said money does not always buy you a great guitar and some guitars need time to bloom I have my Edmonds P90 LP lookalike it just went bam a month ago the personality showed it'self all of a sudden.

Play on
Grinder

[davetbass]

Unlike software, guitars of the exact same model can be pretty different (it's that darn organic wood haha), For that reason I would not order a custom unless you want to order 10 and keep the 2 best.

Also good does not always equal expensive unlike in the case of strictly mechanical things like cars, amplifiers etc.

My personal favs are the 90s mij shred machines from Ibanez and Jackson

I guess I basically just confessed to being a souless hack haha

but my advice would be go to a local music store and try used guitars until you get one you like. I actually believe used guitars are better becsuse they have been played more (some science for that) and any defect would have time to come out. The one expense you might have to make would be a refret job.

[Pinknoise]

Originally Posted by davetbass

Unlike software, guitars of the exact same model can be pretty different (it's that darn organic wood haha), For that reason I would not order a custom unless you want to order 10 and keep the 2 best.

Also good does not always equal expensive unlike in the case of strictly mechanical things like cars, amplifiers etc.

My personal favs are the 90s mij shred machines from Ibanez and Jackson

I guess I basically just confessed to being a souless hack haha

but my advice would be go to a local music store and try used guitars until you get one you like. I actually believe used guitars are better becsuse they have been played mor2e (some science for that) and any defect would have time to come out. The one expense you might have to make would be a refret job.

For that reason I suggest a loothier near you. Brand new guitars sometimes need some extra tweak better buy nearby.

[parametric]

There ARE some seriously beautiful guitars out there if you want to go "hand made" . . but they tend to be for the "Heavy Wallet" Brigade . .

My guitar abilities are small to say the least - so there is NO WAY that

I could justify owning an instrument like this one . .

http://www.divine-jones.com/syrena.html

But I could look at it for HOURS

The craftsmanship on show here is truly breathtaking . .

The price is at the bottom of that link . . .

(Best - sit down)

parametric

[Outboarder]

One the best guitars I ever played ,It's in my wish list:
Musicman Axis
https://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/axis

Peavey EVH has the same model(Wolfgang) but I never played with it.
http://www.evhgear.com/gear/guitars/
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peavey-Wolfg...-/263098591351

[pipelineaudio]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

I know this because I have maybe 15 guitars and the cheap ones do exactly that, the more expensive ones don't.

It all depends. I have a 180 dollar seven string that can handle a hell of a lot more abuse and can actually stay in tune compared to a 10,000$ Fender custom shop piece of shit. I have a 2300 dollar carvin who's truss rod failed. Then again, I have a 1200 dollars (in 1990's money) USA ESP that has been around the country a zillion times and still kicks ass.

It all depends

[pipelineaudio]

Just finished scalloping my newest super cheapie


free photo hosting websites


site for uploading photos

[grinder]

How do you find the scallop thing Pipeline do you have intonation problems?
When your doing vibrato or slurring do you sound like you have been drinking heavily?
Humour aside I am serious I have never played one
Great work though I have to say not a job for a 10 minute wonder.

Pipeline there must be something amiss with your fender I have exactly the same model (did not cost $10,000 though)
mine stays in tune pretty much just touch it up now and then when tracking for pitch safety sake.


Grinder

[pipelineaudio]

scallops kind of force you to be really mindfull about pressing too hard or bending, kind of forces you to play on your fingertips more than you might otherwise, but its been most of my life, certainly about a year after I started playin where I went to scallops, so I dont really know anything else anymore

[Softshell]

Lots of good things to chew on here. My main advice is don't but without giving it a healthy try. Does it play and sound good. Does it feel right. Neck, intonation - that stuff can probably be corrected, but then maybe not. If you're going to spend a significant chunk of change you better be sure.

I've had the hots for a 335 for years. Prices are ridiculous. I remember them being $400 new, now they're $4000. C'mon! Lately I've been going to some statewide guitar shows and did pick up a 2013 for $2250. Mint condition. Talked him down from $2600. Looked at several others for lots more and they all sucked.

Trying out pedals at the local Sam Ash I've been playing some EPI 335 clones that are starting to grow on me. Really nice, probably as good as my new (used) 335 but they sell for like $460. Do I really wanna gig in some sleazy biker bar with a $2000 guitar? I guess that's another consideration. And honestly, if it would fall apart, who cares? Just go get another one. Blows me away, their quality control seems to be better than Gibson's.

Point is, price doesn't matter all that much. It's your money, get something that makes you happy. And then Ivan makes a good point too. You get to that age where you realize you're not going to be around for ever and all of a sudden somebody has to clean up whatever mess you've left behind. It will be a lot easier to unload an item that everybody's heard of than some custom built, and I hate to say this, No Name what'sis. But again. it's your money.

[parametric]

Our guitar Specialist Mod over at one of my other forums remarked on this.

Personally I've never seen this before, but then I'm more a Synth User . . .

He shows a Strat with SERIOUS scalloping . . .

Here:http://yamahaforums.co.uk/forum/view...p=56942#p56942

parametric

[msundh]

Well the budget is $3000, not the goal
If I find the guitar of my dreams for $200, then that's fine.
I live close to Copenhagen,any suggestions of shops, guitar makers in Copenhagen?

[Aeolian]

All my favourite guitars were acquired from pawn shops, for cents to the dollar.

I just hate new guitars.

Whoever said that the 90s mij ibanez are souless, not in my books.

I have a 91 laser blue rg550, with the original Edge trem and maple neck/fretboard.
This baby KILLS anything ibanez have released since they changed/sold out back in 96.
Even the Prestiges feel like a toy.

I have an 80s USA Chandler superstrat that is scalloped from the 12-22 fret. Frets 1-11 are unscalloped.
This is the best of both worlds IMHO.

[grinder]

For me having made a few guitars solid body guitars are in the main expensive for what they are and given the type of automation there is out there doubly so.
Hollow bodies esp hand made totally worth it. I have a 335 one with the big steel tail piece.....
There is the word out there these have not the tone of the no tailpiece models well I beg to differ!

Grinder

[pipelineaudio]

Originally Posted by Aeolian

I have an 80s USA Chandler superstrat that is scalloped from the 12-22 fret. Frets 1-11 are unscalloped.
This is the best of both worlds IMHO.

Its a good way to go. Even after a lifetime of playing on scallops, someone on a flat fingerboard, even a total novice, will likely be able to switch faster between 5 and six note chords with proper intonation than I can. I can hold my own on 3 note chords just fine, but the 6 notes can be a real challenge with the scallops, especially when I'm on 8's. Even 11's with scallops can be hard to hold still

[Reason]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

Its a good way to go. Even after a lifetime of playing on scallops, someone on a flat fingerboard, even a total novice, will likely be able to switch faster between 5 and six note chords with proper intonation than I can. I can hold my own on 3 note chords just fine, but the 6 notes can be a real challenge with the scallops, especially when I'm on 8's. Even 11's with scallops can be hard to hold still

Why not simply put your hand in an industrial egg slicer? That way you don't get blood all over your nicely bound fretboard.

Edit:
back on topic, I'd recommend looking at 90s guitars of your preferred style/configuration. IMO, that was the sweet spot between when companies had quality manufacturing figured out, but it hadn't yet been reduced to churn-'em-out cheapies. I've got a 92-93 RG570 and a 91 LP Studio that are probably my favorites. Since they're used you can usually get them at a good price, too.

[pipelineaudio]

A lot of people overlook, that just like with microphones, now in the internet age, its no longer a secret where things we have been buying are and have been, being made.

Its no longer a secret how much these things cost

We need to be fair that part of that cost is the original r and d, but jeez louise, the markup is insane.

I love to watch the videos of that World Musical Instruments factory, who makes guitars for most brands anyone has ever heard of. Those Koreans are FANATICS. Generations of families taking such insane pride from their work that it looks like the guitars have to be pried from their hands at the end.

Cracks me up when you see a grandma intonating the bridge on an eight string death metal monster. I doubt she has any idea at all what sort of music si going to be played on the thing, but damn if she doesnt make sure you can see every pretty figure on that quilted maple top.

[pipelineaudio]

If I had the money, forget scallops, this thing has ZERO fretboard! http://gittlerinstruments.com/gittler-guitar