Guitar players: I'm in the market for a new axe....

[phillybri]

I play mostly rock, would prefer an electric @ something less than $750. Good clean sound, etc...

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[SheepyMcSheepster]

1. For low cost quality guitars

i have found ESP's to be nice. i have an ESP ltd. which they don't make anymore. I have played ESP basses as well, good stuff for not a whole lot of money. i paid 400 for my guitar brand new.

[cleofus1]

61. here's one in the price range

699.00
ESP H1000 Electric Guitar
H1000 Electric Guitar featuring TonePros System II locking bridge and Seymour Duncan Electronics. Case optional!


LTD Deluxe Series

Binding: White with abalone on body, neck & headstock
Body: Mahogany
Bridge/Tremolo TonePros System II locking bridge
Controls: Volume, Tone, 3-way slotted pickup selector switch
Fingerboard:Rosewood
Frets:24 jumbo
Inlays Abalone offset blocks with model name at the 12th fret
Machine Heads Gold
Neck Joint Set
Neck Material 3-piece Maple
Pickups Seymour Duncan JB/59 Set
Scale 25.5 in.
Top Wood Flamed Maple

[Warren Stuart]

2. Ovation - The best of both worlds

An acoustic guitar with great electronics.

I just bought one on sale for 1/2 price, $299 at the Guitar Center. The sale ended at the end of March though.

[cleofus1]

60. I don't know why.

I never liked Ovations. Guitars should be made of wood. Space age plastic (or whatever it is) just creeps me out.
but here's a cool one...for you john denver fanboys for a mere 699.00
and worth every penny...


Ovation 1861
No other guitar is so steeped in Ovation history. Over the course of three decades the balladeer has been continuously fine tuned, component by component. The result? An Instrument of unmatched value. Solid spruce top. Mahogany neck. Hand rubbed finish. Not to mention a preamp that's the envy of every guitarmaker in its class. Find out why the Balladeer is the biggest selling USA-made Ovation. Includes molded guitar case, a $119 value.

[Ricdude]

3. Get a used...

...stratocaster, or telecaster, depending on what tone you want, preferably made in the USA. If you can afford it, go for a PRS; they're very versatile. Check local pawn shops or stores that carry used instruments for good deals. Good Luck.

[Billy Burnett]

4. Carvin

Super fine guitars - American made - neck thru - many pickup options - active on/off -awesome finishes

I have several Carvin guitars and basses purchased over the last few decades, as well as Strats, tele's, Les P's etc.

I prefer my Carvins (except in certain Strat or Tele or LP sound required performances).

http://www.carvin.com/

This is my latest Carvin (I got this one with dot inlays, not the Abalone block inlays).



It is the finest guitar I have ever owned. It's a pricey model, but they have plenty of models within your budget (special woods and finishes jack up the price, otherwise they are just about the same instrument, except for the bolt-on neck models). You can order any configuration of components/finishes/woods you want. They are a great company too. I returned a DC-200 that was ten years old that had been damaged - and Carvin fixed it for free (minus shipping)!!!

[leftofthedial]

5. ditto the strat or tele

Even a new Mexican strat or tele. Play a shitload of them and find one you like. I've had vintage and American Standard telecasters and my favorite of the bunch is the Mexican tele I paid $250 for.

[regularguy]

6. If you like a hollow body,

the Epiphone emperor sounds pretty sweet for a fraction of the cost of a hollow body Gibson.

[XNASA]

7. You really need to provide us with more info.

Do you prefer the longer Fender scale? If so, I'd buy a Tele-style guitar, but one with a humbucker in the bridge position. Schecter makes a guitar called the PT that is really great.

Or, do you prefer the shorter Gibson scale? Can't go wrong with an SG style guitar. You can get a budget Gibson SG, or a really find Epiphone for that kind of money. Myself, I'm a big Epi fan.

Or, would you like a hollow body guitar. If so, an Epiphone Sheraton is great. Just like Lennon's. The only drawback is they tend to really feedback and squeal if your playing live.

The only guitars I've ever truly disliked are Strats. They just don't feel right to me. I can never get the 5 position switch to make that much of a sensible difference. Plus, everybody's got one. It's like owning a Camry.

[phillybri]

8. I prefer the longer scale...

My problem w/ Gibson is the width of the fingerboard. I'm 6'1", but I magically have very small fingers and feet (save your dick jokes!), so I go for a more compact fingerboard.

I'm really not big on hollow body guitars, the seem a little to unwieldy for me...

I'm liking the idea of the Tele the more people mention it.

I particularly like the idea of dropping a humbucker into a Tele...

[GOPisEvil]

9. See if you can find a US-made Fender Bullet H2.

They were made in the US in the early '80s. Two humbuckers, each with a coil tap. I owned one for a while. The range of tone this thing had was unbelieveable. The neck is from a Tele, so that should fit your hand better. They pop up on eBay, and I'm sure if you do a search of the used guitar shops you can find one for under $500, easily.

[Billy Burnett]

10. Then, the Carvin is for you

Carvins have narrower & thinner neck profiles than the fenders, long or short scale as per your order (Carvin makes either scale, +a 26" scale too) with xlarge frets. Go to their website and you can see all of their possible specs.

[XNASA]

I've got a Standard Tele, with a Duncan mini-bucker.....

in the bridge. It's kind of a cheapo Tele.....but it never, and I mean never goes out of tune during rehearsal or a show. It's just rock solid. And I love having a single coil neck PU for rhythm work. It suits my style very well.

The only thing I don't like is......only one volume control. I'm thinking of getting a pull/push type of volume control so that I can set the volume for rhythm playing, and when you pull out, or push in the volume control, it goes into bypass (full volume for leads).

The Bullet that GOPisEvil mentions is a pretty cool git-box. I've been looking for one.

But look into Schecter. I just bought my son one. It's super boss.

[dogonarug]

56. Tele pretty versatile

I could be biased though, still have my first guitar...a 69 Tele with single coils. Have yet to find anything as expressive and dynamic. Mostly I play blues so for other stuff YMMV

[cleofus1]

16. epiphone rules!

love that guitar!

[cleofus1]

19. music 123

this one is 779.00

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Less Than $750?!?!?!?!?

You can get a LOT of guitar for that kind of money!

Look into any of the Fender Standard Series. At discount, you can get high finish, American Made Strats or Teles for under $700.

There are also several models of Ibanez (not the RG series or lower), but higher line stuff, even semi-hollow bodies, for $550 to $650.

Also, American made Jacksons can be found for around $600.

It kind of depends on a few things, like the shape of the neck, the number of pickups, whether you play mostly clean and jangly, or gritty, or full crunch. How much noise are you willing to accept? If the answer is very little, then the Fenders with the "noiseless" pickups are your ticket, but those are pricey, so you give up some other things, like the neck wood and finish.

Fender makes a terrific team shop Telecaster that actually has a carved top, 2 humbuckers and a VERY fine finish, that lists at about $800. Should be able to get it for $600.

Lastly, check out Carvin's website. They have some very good specials on that website on a regular basis. I've played their guitars and used their amps, and they make very high quality stuff.
The Professor

[midnight armadillo]

12. Buy USED

You'll get a much nicer instrument for the money, especially if it was well cared for. And unlike a used car, it's pretty easy to tell if the guitar was abused.

Check out the G&L guitars. I played a G&L L-2000 bass for many years and it was a wonderful instrument.

If I ever play an electric (and my main ambition these days is to get back to my classical guitar), it'd be one of these, a Klein guitar:

[cleofus1]

13. go to this website

www.music123.com check it out dude you can get a kick ass guitar for that money...

[cleofus1]

15. check this out

a mere 709 dollars for this Rickenbacker!

[tjwash]

14. telecaster, definately...

...you can get one used reasonably priced

[muchacho]

34. tele

I have a Japanese made thin line (partially hollow).

Old school and everything you need...

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. Anyone remember the electric guitars that JC Penney used to sell

through their catalog?

Never had one, but I bet they sounded bad.

[XNASA]

20. No. But I remember the Silvertone line of guitars that Sears had.

And the Airline (made by Kay) line of guitars that Wards used to sell. Jack White plays one still.

[cleofus1]

21. silvertone?

they are making some really nice looking guitars these days...i haven't played one so I don't know how they sound...but hey look really nice!

[XNASA]

22. Actually the Sears Silvertones were made by Harmony.

The new Silvertones are just a marketing ploy to capitalize on the name but are a different company, I believe.

[cleofus1]

23. heres a cool silvertone

Silvertone Apocalypse Pro: Cracked Mirror
This Silvertone solid body professional model features a radical body shape, set mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, Grover tuning gears and Duncan designed dual humbucking pickups. It also features the unique Cracked Mirror hand made finish. Includes hardshell case.

[XNASA]

25. That's one of them new ones. Here's a pic of an original.

A 60's Sears Silvertone, made by Harmony.

[chaska]

26. That Silvertone was made by Harmony, but...

the more desirable ones, the ones that everybody typically associates with the name Silvertone (the ones that were copied and are currently made in China) were made by Danelectro.

[XNASA]

27. Here's a pic of a Silvertone Danelectro.....

And you're right, I forgot about the Danelectro tie-in...

[Blue-Jay]

29. I saw a used Silvertone a few months ago.

It was the type that had an amp built in to the case. Pretty cool, for a conversation piece.

[Whitacre D_WI]

58. The amp-in-case Silvertones were made by Dano.

I have a teriffic harmony-built Silvertone from '65 -- it is a Rocket, except finished in black (Harmony Rockets were otherwise either red or sunburst), fitted with HOT Gibson humbuckers (instead of the even hotter -- but full of feedback on the hollowbody -- DeArmond single coils), and equipped with a Bigsby (instead of Harmony's standard CHEAPEST TREM EVER).

[Dees]

18. You might try finding a used Tom Anderson.

Great guitars. You just might get lucky.

[Duckiesplaything]

24. I have a very nice Double Bit....

Very sharp....Hickory handle......

Ooohh...not that kinda axe...:D

[Blue-Jay]

28. I'd recommend looking at Schecter guitars

I have three of them, and they kick ass. Only one caveat: Get one of the better ones, as the cheapo models, while not bad, will only make you want a better one. Get one with actual Duncan pickups, instead of the "Duncan Designed" ones. Also look for a set/through neck.

You can see their offerings here: http://www.schecterguitars.com/ds_home_fl.htm

If there's a Guitar Center near you, they usually stock a bunch of Schecters. You can also get them from Musician's Friend.
Look here: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040407095137068073139169426037/g=guitar/s=electric/search/d=tp?q=schecter

Additionally, someone else mentioned ESP/LTD guitars. I highly recommend these as well. (pssst. They're made in the same factory as Schecters). If you're playing "Nu Metal", you might want to go with one that has the active EMG pickups, for that Metallica-ish sound.

[XNASA]

36. Schecter PT is really, really sweet.

I love the volume and tone controls on even the cheaper Schecters. They're as smooth and buttery as any controls on any guitar I've ever played. Nice big jumbo frets. Great hardware. Nice finish. Cool bindings. Love their stuff.

A PT is a Tele-style guitar with two humbuckers. It was originally called the 'Pete Townshend Signature Model' but is now called just the PT.

[johnnie]

30. Another vote for Tele

I have played teles for years and love em. I have a fender 57' reissue that plays great. Rose wood fingerboard for more of the grainy feel. I also have an ESP Tele from the early 80's. It has been thru a lot of shows, but they haven't made them since then. They were issued with Fender specs and I got an early one. Serial number is like 000087.
Teles are solid guitars, great necks and great sounds. I put a Hotrail pickup in the ESP so I can get the humbucker "sound". My other is stock single coils.
But...I will confess that I just got an Epiphone Sheriton II and I am playing that all the time now. I think it was just my change in musical taste. But I will never get rid of the Teles.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. Good, clean sound, cheap, long scale...get a Dan Electro

right in the price range..decent sounding...no crappy strats unless you need a tremelo.

[absyntheNsugar]

32. Fender Strat - always a good choice

I'm a strat man however. Never played a bad strat, and love the light feel and wider frets.

Gibson's necks are too skinny for me and my fat fingers....

[Commendatori]

33. I'm biased and don't know what it costs,

but I sure like this one...

[muchacho]

35. Lifeson and tele

Like you need another reason to get a tele.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Alex Lifeson...

[GOPisEvil]

37. I thought he played Paul Reed Smith's.

Maybe he used to. :shrug:

I've seen him play Les Paul's live as well as the PRS.

[muchacho]

38. Yep....and more

The last studio CD, vapor trails (which is excellent BTW), Lifeson played:

PRS Singlecut CE22 and CE24 guitars (5 total, 2 with piezo pickups)
Gibson SG doubleneck
Gibson Les Paul Standards (2)
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Gibson ES-355
Gibson J-150 acoustic with Fishman transducer
Fender Telecaster (customized)

[cleofus1]

39. I can't help myself

Epiphone Emperor Regent
If your looking for a true jazzer guitar but don't have piles of money to blow, then the Emperor Regent is what you need. Huge body, huge sound, and great personality is what makes the Regent a great choice. The Regent's Spruce top and floating mini-humbucker make this guitar an out and out jazzer with sweet tone.

[cleofus1]

40. here's a semi

Epiphone ES 295
Based on the famous Gibson ES-295 introduced in 1952 and played by the legendary Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's guitarist, this is the ultimate rockabilly box.

[XNASA]

45. Please stop.

I find myself wanting all of them.

:eyes:

[cleofus1]

41. telecaster

Fender Nashville Power Tele
The addition of the Fender/Fishman Power Bridge to the already versatile Nashville Tele produces spanking Tele tones, shimmering acoustic sounds, or any combination of the two. Easy to navigate, this full-featured active setup is available at your fingertips. Stereo or mono operation. Includes Free Fender Deluxe Gigbag.

you have to hear this to appreciate it..think of the beginning of the moody blues "story in her eyes"

[cleofus1]

42. here's a rocker for a budget minded dude

DiPinto Mach IV Electric Guitar
This guitar was designed to rock, and rock it does. The bridge pickup is actually two DiPinto single coils wired together in series to produce one power-house pickup. Each coil has it's own magnet which is mounted to the bottom of each bobbin. The result is Hot. Hear the Mach IV on tour with bands like ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, THE EYE LINERS and THE WHITE STRIPES! --24 3/4" scale length. Includes Gig Bag.

[cleofus1]

43. heres a versatile ax

From the box, what is most impressive about this guitar is its balance. This guitar works so well. From any angle it looks right. On close inspection its difficult to find fault with the build and finish. The body is excellent. The body has a deep green, heavily lacquered finish. Black scratch plates with nearly 30 screws holding them in (very industrial that). A very flat maple neck with fat, well installed, frets. Topped off with that decidedly odd scorpion pinch. Played acoustically it gives a bright sound. The neck is very easy to play and the guitar as a unit is very slightly neck heavy when balanced on the knee. Plugged-in. Well I might as well ditch my other guitars. I'm serious! Lovely warm jazzy tones at the single coil neck. Push the switch back and you get to work with cutting country twang. Flick again and you get "In your face" rock. Quite extraordinary from a single guitar.

[cleofus1]

44. this is a shredder

Jackson DKMG Electric Guitar
The DKMG has all the features of the DKMGT except in a locking tremolo configuration. Now you can take that 20db of boost from the EMG Turbocharger and dive-bomb out of control. Transparent finishes have an exotic looking flame maple top.
This guitar is built for shred! If you like playing solos, this guitar kicks. This guitar is good for rhythm too. For this kind of price, this is definitely a must get guitar. The pickups are so hot, this guitar can scream like no ones business. This guitar is all around, it's good for lead and rhythm. Plus, it has the JT580LP double locking tremolo, which I compared with the Original Floyd Rose... you know what? You can't really tell the difference, pretty much the same. But for this price, dude, just get it.... now. You won't be disappointed. This guitar is for ROCK, SHRED, HEAVY METAL, DEATH METAL, it can even play blues,(I'm not kidding)just want to be specific.

about 600.00 dollars

[cleofus1]

46. 699.00

Schecter C1 Classic
The C1 Classic is a neck-thru-body guitar with incredible looks and even better components. Its top is an incredible quilted Maple on a Mahogany body. Its Vine of Life inlay crawls the entire length of the neck. Its humbuckers are some of the most popular Seymour Duncan models in the world a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. This guitar is a masterpiece
The neck at first feels a bit griddy, but after a short period of normal playing, you won't be able to tell the difference between this one and one of the Ibanez Wizard necks (of course you can, but as far as playing ability and fret access go, it will be the equivalent). It looks great (people who know their Schecter history will find this obvious). You can tell it's not handmade by looking at it, but it's hard to hear it. The pickups are great, especially the '59 through a nice crunchy Marshall overdrive. All in all, this is one of the best buys on music123

[Blue-Jay]

47. I have that one in the transparent blue finish.

played it last night.

[cleofus1]

48. one last one (I swear)

on sale for a mere 629.00 for a limited time!


Gibson Faded Flying V
It's back to the V-Factor future with the new Worn Cherry finish. It gives this classic but futuristic model the look of a well-worn, well-loved vintage instrument.


Well, I love Flying V's, and no, I'm not a metal head!! Everyone raves on about how this guitar is only a metal axe, not true! The guitar cleans up nicely, in fact I could get a nice clean tone in any of the three pick up positions. For solos, just kick into the bridge pickup and you can go from Wishbone Ash classic rock tone right through to the modern metal row that you hear. All depends on how much gain you've got in your amp. I just play through my 30W Marshall as clean as I can get it, and stick a Boss Blues Driver pedal in front of it. It works well. If you use the neck pickup you are in more of BB King country. These pickups ARE capable of doing insane distortion, but also are fine for most anything. They will nicely drive a tube amp, the sound through my mate's 60's AC-30 is awesome. Real blues city! The frets I found were slightly rough on the edges but nothing uncomfortable. The balance of the guitar strapped on is something else! Given that a top line V over here in the UK goes for anything up to 1400 quid then this guitar represents a whole lot of bang for your buck!! This is a versatile guitar that can do just about anything you could want while looking like a guitar that should be worth a lot more!! The pickups are reasonably modern sounding. But Gibson have been fitting their guitars with these for 20 years or so now, so to some that could represent "vintage tone". However with a decent amp and a bit of tweaking on the gain knob, you should be able to cover a lot of ground reasonably well. If you are a V fan and want one bad, but don't have the cash to get the top model (Which IMO is slightly neater put together and has a nicer neck) then this is a great starting point.

This is my last post on this thread...I just lost control there for awhile...

[Rabrrrrrr]

49. ah, shades of the Scorpions, Quiet Riot, and Iron Maiden!

the flying V!

[cleofus1]

50. hey philly!

did you see anything you like?

[phillybri]

51. I keep coming back to the Telecaster....

Great look, classic sound. I'm scouring eBay.

Thanks for working overtime for me!!!

:yourock:

[cleofus1]

52. you can't go wrong with the tele...

I prefer a hollowbody...but all the guitars on this thread kick ass one way or another...it's just a matter of taste and comfort!

[ProfessorGAC]

53. If That's What You Want, You Won't Be Sorry

That's the guitar i use for clean tones. Even though my main guitar has coil tapping and can do single coil sounds (and they're pretty good, too), if i want that clean, glassy sound, there's no substitute for the Tele.

I've got a Strat and Jazzmaster (1962) too, but the Tele is THE clean sound guitar for me. Pretty easy to play too.
The Professor

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

54. Actually the American series is almost in your price range brand new

I recommend the maple neck over the rosewood neck myself...the sound comes out a bit more snappy on the harderwood:

http://www.music123.com/Fender-American-Series-Telecaster-i10349.music

[cleofus1]

55. Great guitar but close to well over 800 bucks

If your talking under 750.00

I posted the picture earlier and the cost is 669.00 well under 750!


The Fender Nashville Power Telecaster

Why this is the guitar for you!
Getting great tones is a snap with this down-home workhorse guitar. The Nashville Power Tele features the same Fender/Fishman Power bridge as the American Deluxe only with passive electronics. Just setup your regularly rippin' guitar sounds with the stacked volume and tone controls, and "roll-in" your acoustic sounds with the piezo bridge's independent volume control. Stereo or mono operation.

Body
Body Alder
Pickguard Brown shell
Bridge/Tremolo Fender/Fishman® piezo Power Tele bridge
Electronics
Pickups 2 Tex Mex Tele pickups (neck and bridge); 1 Tex Mex Strat pickup (middle)
Controls Concentric volume and tone (for magnetic pickups); volume for piezo bridge
Miscellaneous
Unique Features Tex-Mex Strat pickup in middle position; 5-way "Strat-O-Tone" switching; Fender/Fishman Piezo Power Tele bridge
Strings Fender Super 250R’s (.010 to .046)
Accessories Deluxe Fender gig bag; stereo "Y" cable
Neck
Neck Material One-piece maple
Fingerboard Rosewood
Scale 25.5" (648 mm)
Frets 21 medium-jumbo
Nut Width 1.6875" (43 mm)
Machine Heads Vintage style

[cleofus1]

57. I can't stop myself!

I love shopping for guitars! It's almost better than sex...almost.
My dream guitar on a budget would be the Epi Regent...only becouse I have enough confidence in my ability to get variety of sounds out of it. If we are talking about my real "dream" guitar it would have to be a high end Gibson Hollowbody.
Just out of curiosity...what songs are on your playlist? If you're a lead guitar in a metal band you might consider the Jackson, or the Schecter C1. Don't get me wrong...the Tele is a great choice, but you may get more bang for your buck if you go with the Schecter...I would choose the Jackson...but both are very impressive to look at...and for metal they are the way to go.

[cleofus1]

59. I'm like an addict.

I can dream can't I...for a mere 8000.00 or so. Actually 6000.00 on sale right now for all you rich dudes/chicks.


Gibson Wes Montgomery
There are very few artist/guitar relationships as strong as that of Wes Montgomery and the L-5CES. Although he originally played stock L-5 models with P-90 or Alnico pickups, Montgomery eventually custom ordered an L-5 with a rounded cutaway (1960's the L-5 had been restyled with a sharp, Florentine cutaway) and a single humbucking pickup at the end of the fingerboard. In the mid-1960's, Gibson briefly offered this version of the L-5CES as a production model, and today's Historic Collection offers it once again.

[cleofus1]

62. vanity kick

n/t