Researching the Perfect Guitar For You

[Drak_nyen]

Hi,

As I am still relatively knew to guitaring and having only ever bought a guitar off Ebay I have never really spent the time to look for the perfect guitar for me and I was looking for some suggestions from veteran players/buyers like yourselves as to what I should be looking for.

I have looked in a local shop near where I work during my lunch break and had a quick go on a Epi Les Paul Standard & SG & also on an Epi Dot Series.

All these felt quite nice as I have big thick fingers and so need a good wide fretboard.

I only know a couple of minor pentatonic scales and about 4 chords and 0 songs.

What would be YOUR suggestions of what I should be looking for when in a shop looking at a guitar?

Is what I can currently play good enough to be able to allow me to find a good guitar for me or is there anything else I should look to practise prior to going in so I can find the RIGHT guitar for me.

There is a larger guitar shop near me and I am looking to go spend a couple of hours in there looking at guitars one weekend soon and would like to have as much information to hand as to what to look for in a new guitar.

I do not have the biggest budget but if I can find 2-3 guitars which are perfect for me then I can get the cheapest of them and then save for the more expensive.

My other option is to look at getting a good guitar body with great pickups and then import a custom made Warmoth neck as they have started doing superwide fretboards.

Any help is as always appreciated.
Cheers
Pete

[SLoB]

its very much a personal thing imo, having owned and made a few guitars, my main current guitar is a LP standard from 1980 something, its still in superb condition and is a workhorse of a guitar, I wouldnt part with it, I'm now looking for a cheaper guitar with a whammy bar but still want to keep the same scale length

the basics would be, not necessarily in order but almost

scale - length main choice of 3, 25.5, 25, 24.75 inch scales - being used to a LP i'll be looking to get another 24.75
good neck feel - (action, overall feel of running up and down the neck)
pups - humbuckers/single coil - good solid bite needed esp on bridge pup
whammy bar or fixed bridge - (depending on what you want to play)
shape - comfortable, maybe not so normal/standard looking either
overall aesthetics - i.e. that WOW look
functionality - with above
price - now thats another question there are so many guitars and so many prices

here's a tip tho, its what i do if i want to buy something that has numerous choices and prices, i settle on a basic low price but below 300 quid (for this particular guitar) and with my scale length, whammy bar & pup (humbuckers) pref i get pictures of all the guitars you would like, put it up as your wallpaper, within a week you'll at least have looked at the wallpaper a few times and you will be drawn to at least 1 or 2 time and time again
I'm currently doing this and my m8 Bully is too, this time we seem to be going for budget but a nice overall value for money thing

here's a pic of my current choices for reference, just a quick copy and paste job but it gets the idea up and viewable, I think Bully and I are both favouring the Vintage VRS100 green maple flame atm for budget, functionality, overall looks

[Rythameen]

I say go into the bigger shop and play all you can, because the guitar will find you. Eventually you will pick one up and just know that it's the one. When I first stepped up to good guitars, (many moons ago) I went through about 10 Les Pauls before I found one that just felt right in my hands, it looked like the others, and other players disagreed with my choice, but I knew it was the right one. Good luck.

[El_jalepeno]

Great responses all around. Your number one priority is feel. How does the guitar feel in the neck and when you hold it, either standing or sitting. Second is sound. You won't get the exact tone you are looking for until you really develop your ear, so just as long as the pickups aren't really thin or heavy, but something in between to help you get started without whincing.

I would be careful on cost. Too often I see people shell out gobs of cash on a guitar when they don't really know what they want, only to turn around and sell it for a fraction of the price down the road.

[VB]

Sssshhhhhh EJ.your killing our bargains man...... lol....
But in all honesty. Ej's right. its all about feel. the rest can be fixed later.
VB

[Drak_nyen]

Cheers for the responses, any more are welcome

I agree with the feel comment as I have picked up guitars that I truly hated from the moment of touching it.

What are peoples views on some of the more budget range of guitars such as Vintage or Wesley or Woody Custom etc....
I picked up a Vintage Metal Axxe Wraith in a show and liked the neck and body but I thought the finishing on the product looked cheap. There was a load of white residue around the pickups that looked like some form of wood glue.

What would peope suggest I look for when viewing the more budget items if I am say looking for a cheap guitar to test out different pickups etc or for use when jamming or taking to peoples houses to jam??

[SLoB]

i would recommend a hardcase for any guitar, soft cases just dont cut it imo

and also straplocks, small petty thing i know but when your standing up playin live etc.. strap locks are superb

also depends on what hardware your plugging into, obviously the better the guitar the less margin for crap sound (given good amp/efx board etc...)
but yea better pups are good, they can be replaced tho so action, FEEL and overall looks is the key imo

the great thing about going into a shop tho is that you can actually choose one that looks ok and no embelishments and plug it in to have a quick play, that alone is a great way to buy a guitar, just list your requirements down so you dont stray too far off your plan of choosing an axe, its all too easy to say sod it and buy that more expensive guitar when something cheaper will suffice

post some pics up when you get yer guitar and the factors involved etc..

[VHF]

I agree....neck feel and fret feel are most important.....most other things can be easily fixed. (I am actually testing this theory right now completely re-building a neck/frets....but the risk is high of turning it into firewood)

Of course get one you like the finish/look on.....just for the hell of it.

Another thing to keep in mind is resell value. A lot of times people get guitars and just change their minds after a month or 2. Both EJ and Sucka had the Zakk EPI's and decided not to keep them.....but that is an example of a guitar that really holds it's resell value. Any Les Paul will......many off brands will not.

Only after you have a guitar for some time and decide you will keep it forever is when you torch it and pound beer caps into the body!

[Drak_nyen]

Bit of an update for everyone, just been into that local guitar shop near me and had a good look around.

There was a very helpful sales guy there who kindly spent time with me going over several guitars.

I have got a list of 5 possibles that I would gladly own but now need to save for.

1: PRS Santan SE - £399
2: Epiphone SG G400 - £269
3: Epiphone Les Paul Standard - £349
4: Ibanez SZ320 - £299
5: Jackson DK2 - £349

I am currently being drawn most towards wither the PRS or the Les Paul.

Can I ask if anyone has played any off this list and can they give me their opinions on them?

I will go find some pics of them and add them to this post this week, like the post by SLoB.

Cheers
Pete

[El_jalepeno]

My son has the Epi SG 400 and I have an Epi LP standard. There is a HUGE difference between the two, and I would strongly recommend if you go with Epi to go with the LP and not the SG. The SG is paper thin and doesn't always stay in tune, however my LP is rock solid and I have gigged with it many times.