if you were to have one guitar in your studio..

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permanent hearing damage
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if you were to have one guitar in your studio..

Post by permanent hearing damage » Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:55 am

so i'm primarily a drummer, so i obviously have plenty of drum kits, snares, cymbals, etc. i have a decent jazz bass and a several bass and guitar amps and cabs at my disposal. however, i do not have a guitar on hand at all. not that it happens terribly often, but it seems like i should probably have something decent on hand just in case a band needs it.

i record mostly heavy/distorted stuff - punk, hardcore, metal of some type. a gibson of some sort seems like a good plan, but as i'm not a guitarist, $800 or so for a used SG standard seems like overkill. specials seem to be hit or miss, no? what about melody makers? les paul jrs? or 70s MIJ lawsuit stuff? i obviously don't care if it's super pointy or has an obnoxious paint job or anything, but i figure humbuckers are gonna be critical.

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roscoenyc
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Post by roscoenyc » Mon Aug 15, 2016 1:06 pm

You probably won't like my answer.
To me, the cheapest really good Humbucker guitar you could have around would be a Gibson Les Paul Studio Faded.
I'm sure you could find one used for $600 or so.
I would take it to a good pro tech and get it set up well and also make sure
that you have sets of strings on hand.

I can't imagine having a studio with at least a couple really good, well set up guitars around. Ones with no problems at all, no noisy pots, no bum switches, no bad tuners. You get it.

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Post by kslight » Mon Aug 15, 2016 1:08 pm

Rondomusic.com is a good source of Gibson-a-like guitars with an Epiphone or less price tag. After a good setup, they are certainly comparable in quality to at least the lower end Gibsons if not better. Though I honestly prefer Rondo's more oddball offerings at the moment, like their multi scales...

Humbuckers definitely, actives are pretty popular in heavy music, worth considering also.


With all that said, the used market is saturated with guitars and amps and such, so you probably wouldn't have trouble finding an okay deal on a real Gibson either.

Non-Gibson brands can often be found real cheap too, if you aren't set on a traditional look or trying to impress anyone with a big name. Many Schecters are pretty good guitars, Ibanez, etc...

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Post by vvv » Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:12 am

I consider the best utility, and yet indispensable, guitar to be a Tele-style.

But they ain't too popular with the heavy crowd, Page notwithstanding.

But they might be a suitable alternate voice ...

Not as common a body-style in Chinese makes, they - mebbe for that reason - often seem better made than LP and Strat clones.

I like the SX brand, recently.

Strat-style, look for Fernandes; SG and LP-styles, Epiphone.

Note that I'm talking sub-US$500, mebbe even sub-US$200 stuff.
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roscoenyc
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Post by roscoenyc » Tue Aug 16, 2016 7:36 am

Good idea to have what they don't have!

vvv wrote:I consider the best utility, and yet indispensable, guitar to be a Tele-style.

But they ain't too popular with the heavy crowd, Page notwithstanding.

But they might be a suitable alternate voice ...

Not as common a body-style in Chinese makes, they - mebbe for that reason - often seem better made than LP and Strat clones.

I like the SX brand, recently.

Strat-style, look for Fernandes; SG and LP-styles, Epiphone.

Note that I'm talking sub-US$500, mebbe even sub-US$200 stuff.

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:03 pm

My stratocaster with Eric Clapton electronics and Gold Lace Sensors.

I can get a ton of different tones from this axe.
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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Post by drumsound » Sun Aug 21, 2016 10:28 pm

roscoenyc wrote:Good idea to have what they don't have!

vvv wrote:I consider the best utility, and yet indispensable, guitar to be a Tele-style.

But they ain't too popular with the heavy crowd, Page notwithstanding.

But they might be a suitable alternate voice ...

Not as common a body-style in Chinese makes, they - mebbe for that reason - often seem better made than LP and Strat clones.

I like the SX brand, recently.

Strat-style, look for Fernandes; SG and LP-styles, Epiphone.

Note that I'm talking sub-US$500, mebbe even sub-US$200 stuff.
I was thinking this way, too. That way, when the idea for something with a different tone comes up, you can supply the guitar.

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Brett Siler
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Post by Brett Siler » Sun Oct 16, 2016 2:02 am

I'm more of a humbucker guy so I would go with a Les Paul style guitar. Like someone mentioned Rondo music has some great Les Paul knock offs. I have an Agile that I bought from them that plays and sounds great.
If you had a Les Paul type guitar and a Strat style guitar you can cover pretty much any music style with that. They are classics for a reason.

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Post by drumsound » Sat Mar 04, 2017 1:56 pm

I recently picked up a new Ibanez Artist. Its Korean (I think) but has 2 cood sounding humbuckers with coil tapes and sounds and play really nicely.

The solo on the song Wallflower was done with it. http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/saraquah

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weatherbox
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Post by weatherbox » Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:02 pm

The SG is maybe the most universally good guitar around, but on the cheap, I'd get a Squier Tele Custom dual humbucker model and rip out ALL (switches, pots, everything) electronics and replace them with good stuff. Sell the other stuff for $40. Pull the neck if it feels meh, eBay if for 125, and spend 225 on a pretty decent MIM or lucky day MIJ neck and slap it on there. I put together a tour guitar this way and it wound up good enough to get chosen for many recordings.

I think the same would hold true for most inexpensive guitars; new electronics will elevate them immensely. I just like the Fender family stuff because you've got a wealth of used and aftermarket parts out there.

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weatherbox
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Post by weatherbox » Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:05 pm

The SG is maybe the most universally good guitar around, but on the cheap, I'd get a Squier Tele Custom dual humbucker model and rip out ALL (switches, pots, everything) electronics and replace them with good stuff. Sell the other stuff for $40. Pull the neck if it feels meh, eBay if for 125, and spend 225 on a pretty decent MIM or lucky day MIJ neck and slap it on there. I put together a tour guitar this way and it wound up good enough to get chosen for many recordings.

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