Official buying advice thread

[viewer_from_nihil]

personally, i don't like jacksons. ever since fender bought them they haven't been the same. if you're going to get a jackson, don't get one that's cheaper than $2000. sounds weird but the usa jacksons are the only good ones but, heres an unbiased guide...

if you want an exremely thin neck, get an ibanez
if you want a thin neck, get a jackson
if you want a neck that fits your hand, get an esp
if you want a thick neck, get a gibson

always keep the guitar scale in mind. if you're using a 25.5 scale and you buy a 24.75 you'll have to change your technique slightly.

body woods...

mahogahny has a thick warm sound. when combined with emg's, it gets more bite, more tone, and is great for death metal

alder has a sharper sound with more bite. when combined with emg's, the sound is thickened and is almost as good of a combo as mahoghany and emgs

neck woods also factor into the tone along with the fret board wood

tremolo...

if you want a lot of work yet a lot of versitilaty, go for a floyd rose. just a warning, if not handled perfectly, you'll want to punch yourself in the throat. also, due to the large amount of wood that has to be cut out of the body to install a floyd rose, tone is sacrificed

if you don't care about whammy bars and want a stronger tone, go for a string thru

standard whammy bars are ok but you can't dive bomb and they like to go out of tune because they are not equipped with a locking nut like the floyd rose is.

neck joint

bolt on's are useful in a way because if you don't like the neck, you can get a new on and they're easy to fix.

neck thru's have very good sound ideal for shredders (very low heel) but if you fuck it up, you're buying a new guitar

set neck's consist of a seperate body and neck with the neck being glued on. it's sturdy than it sound but is pricey to fix if you mess it up. it makes a warm thick tone

set thru's are set neck with a neck thru feel

personally, i say you check out the esp ltd series. they're cheap, play like they cost hundreds more, and are damn sturdy (i've dropped mine a few times) i also prefer emg's due to the excess power they have. because they're powered by a battery, the battery does go dead occasionally (once or twice a year if handled properly) just never leaved it plugged in to your amp, it kills the battery life

i hope my guide provided some help to you. rock on

[Death Delirium]

Originally Posted by Go Forth and Die

So essentially a giant dildo with strings?

^

Have someone customize your own dildo guitar.

[WeAreInFlames]

Originally Posted by iminsan3

my favorite bands are cob, bullet, and killswitch

We understand. There's people here that will help you.
Seriously. It's like if you concentrated all the bad taste in the world...never mind.
The sad thing is that I've seen all 3 of those live...KSE sucked, Bullet sucked, and I don't know how bodom were because I was too busy trying not to get killed in a crowd surge.

Anyhow. I'm finished judging. A lot of shitty metalcore bands, Bullet and KSE included, like to play Les Pauls. Other than that, an RG or a Jackson will do.

[ParsonsMatt]

Originally Posted by HaggardBastard

Gibsons have far and away the best tone of any guitar, and are built such that playing them is exceedingly easy. However, Jacksons have a very naturally biting, metallic sound, so if you're looking to play metal and can't afford a Gibson, go with a Jackson. A word of advice: stay away from Fenders! They're not meant for metal players: they have a jangly, thin, tinny tone, and the fretboards are awkward. I still fail to understand the popularity of that brand.

Gibson doesn't have a monopoly on tone. I'd rather play an ash Telecaster modded for a humbucker in the bridge than a Les Paul any day. Fender guitars have more punch, attack, tightness, and brightness than Gibson. That said, a Gibson will be warmer and have a thicker, chunkier sound. Its all personal preference.

If you have $1000, you can't afford a good Jackson. The import Jacksons use very shitty alder and most of them have a dead, lifeless sound. The USA models are very nice though, as well as the MIJ Jackson Stars.

You could get a used 90's ESP for around $600, and spend the rest on pickups/parts/amp/etc..

Or an Edwards guitar.

Or the new BC Rich NJ Deluxe line. I typically dislike everything BC Rich puts out, but their new guitars are really impressive for the price. You can get an OFR guitar with EMG 81/85, mahogany body, set neck, and ebony fretboard for $700 or so.

[genocide roach]

i had an NJ (before they came out with deluxe) and it was still garbage. terrible balance. but it was a bass. so that might have somthing to do with it.

oh, and im merging this with the proper thread in... 3... 2... 1...
~gR~

[Eligos]

Hey, I'm currently looking to change a few parts on my Peavey Grind 5 string.

I can't seem to find companies that sell pickups with exposed poles (as seen on Musicman and Ibanez SRX basses). Active and passive are both fine in my book.

Also, my bridge is made up of Hipshot individual-string bridges, but the saddles are basically floating, which leads to intonation problems as they fall out when I change my strings. I was wondering what bridge styles would work best as far as stability is concerned.

[genocide roach]

i know you know about these already. but for everyone else who might be interested:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...b4a_5a_alnico/
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...mb4a_5a_3coil/
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...b4d_5d_cerami/
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...ssive_phase_i/

SD also makes jazz and pbass style pickups with exposed poles/coils
~gR~

[The Ozzman]

What would happen if you put a 5 string bass pickup into a 4 string bass guitar? Would your tone change?

[genocide roach]

i'm not sure. but it would seem to me that the poles wouldnt line up and cause tone problems
~gR~

[Aapep]

I don't think it will cause tone problems, as long as you line it up right. Most likely it won't pick up the vibration right and might sound quieter or thinner if you put it in the wrong spot. But I'm not sure.

How do you guys feel about synth pickups? Waste of time or not?