• From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Topic: starters guitars versus better guitars

I always wanted to know a few things.

- If you buy an epiphone standard les paul as it is, and you replace the humbuckers and put even PAF's in it, available even for reasonable prices (?!) on the internet, WILL THE EPIPHONE SOUND LIKE A GIBSON? You can answer will a mercedes be a BMW with a BMW motor in it.

- Same thing with fender, is there a significant difference between a Mexican & an USA fender, besides there are at this moment maybe 50 different kinds of strats. Impossible to trie them all out. But purchasing a squier and change the coils with us made fender coils, there will be a difference. I know one thing, you can buy a cheap squier, even replace the headstock with the fender logo, look eBay, you can fool a lot of people especially when they play with overdrive, distortion.

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website

  • Registered: 2007-01-29
  • Posts: 533

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

<font color="purple"></font>There are so many variables...Fender and Gibson have both produced way too many versions of their signature guitars...then started producing imported look alikes in the form of Squire and Epiphone. Some of the imports are very, very good...some aren't worth taking home. One of my favorites is a Mexican made Fender Strat that I've rewired and changed out the pickups...it's my project/hot rod guitar...it has a great neck, popular body, and quality hardware. Some of the Squires have bodies made from lower grade laminated woods (plywood)... some of the Squires are solid... I think the best thing is to carefully examine the instrument and see what it can do for you...in my case I wanted a lower priced, but quality instrument for various modification projects...I didn't want to take one of my high end Gibson or American Strats and start changing stuff around...

Middleaged Redneck sorta guy who refuses to grow up...passion for music, especially Southern Rock but like bout everything cept Gangsta/Hip Hop. Collect guitars, mandolins, and love to ride Harleys.
  • From: Pico Rivera, Calif. U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2006-10-26
  • Posts: 785

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

Reply to guitardocphil:it all boils down to econimics or lack there of.

How many people can afford the cost of a new Gibson LP

or Fender american made Strat. ($1899.00 LP on sale, around $1299.00 for the strat). An epi hot rodded will not sound like a real LP standard  but it will sound better than the cheap stock pickups it came with. You have to also remember that the wood has alot to do with the tonal qualities.


Reply to jaygordon75: Your right as far to the types and qualities of strats on the market. As far to hot rodding a Mexican strat, your cup of tea. (not a bad thing) You could buy an alder (better tonal qualities than an poplar wood )(usually madein china)and a good set of pickups & controls for what you bought the mexistrat for and do the same thing. Plus your playing something you put sweat into.


My rant:

If you want a quality made guitar, build it yourself. There are plenty of people that make bodies & necks for reasonable prices. If you know how to do the work yourself you save even more. The cost of a strat type guitar based upon a swamp ash body, maple neck with rosewood finger board, Groover type tuners, rio grande pickups or fender texas specials, a wiring kit, vintage style tremolo and a pearloid pick guard is about $515.00 (does not include finishing products, freight or taxes).  You have a semi-custom guitar that is made to your specs and your liking. You know what you got and did not have to settle fore an of the wall production guitar. (not all of them are bad).


Bootleger.

Bootleger guitars.

  • Registered: 2007-01-29
  • Posts: 533

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

<font color="blue"></font>I agree with you Bootleger...Over the years I've been able to purchase and sorta of collect some really nice guitars...My weapon of choice is an American made Fender Telecaster for most of my music. The Mexican made strat was bought at a guitar show pretty cheap because the owner didn't like the sound of it...I decided to use it for my project guitar. I've also e-bayed several imports and had fun working on them and modifying. Some day I'm going to build a Strat type out of aftermarket parts...body, neck, etc... there are some really nice Chinese imports showing up on ebay these days...some are really nice quality...especially after a little set up and fret work...

Middleaged Redneck sorta guy who refuses to grow up...passion for music, especially Southern Rock but like bout everything cept Gangsta/Hip Hop. Collect guitars, mandolins, and love to ride Harleys.
  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

I also do agree, if you analyse the fender telecaster, youare overwelmed by the simplicity of the telecaster.

It is also amazing that companies like tokai, had almost the same copies from every popular and expensive guitars and now, those guitars become popular

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website

  • From: Pico Rivera, Calif. U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2006-10-26
  • Posts: 785

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

Let me know when you do. If i can help you source parts (The majority of my free time is sourcing parts on the web) I will.


Bootleger.

Bootleger guitars.

  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

Well this the kind of story I like. I play & collect, especially, being disabled due to a car crash in 2000.

I am a medical doctor, working night and day, got a lot of insurance money, now 2007 included. So I had the opportunity to spend a lot of money buying guitars like Gibson Supreme. That's my problem, when I feel me down, I act, or react buying guitars. It is an expensive hobby.

And even with all those guitars, I am very busy thanks to my guitars, but it is now almost imossible to see the trees in a forrest, even more specific than Gibson, FENDERS, there must be at least 20 different models, a jeff beck strat, clapton, eric johnson... but I really don't know if a person who is musician too, will hear the difference. My interests, due to NOT able to work, are now focused on the cheaper models, not to buy them but more curiosity like difference epiphone hummingbird vs. gibson hummingbird. So are there people who have guitars like a mexican fender, or squier versus the US stratocaster, or epiphone standard vs Gibson, also difference in sound comparing the epi hummingbird vs Gibson's model??

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website

  • From: Pico Rivera, Calif. U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2006-10-26
  • Posts: 785

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

The artist series are based upon components and set up on the particular artist. IE: the Eric Clapton strat will have the same basic body and hardware construction as the Eric Johnson & Jeff Beck model. The difference will be in the electronics, different pickup winding, different wiring theme, active pickups, different neck conture and in the case of the Jeff Beck strat add on a humbucker. It's still a strat. The body and neck wood may also vary which will add to the tonal qualities of the guitars sound.


As far as the different makes, American, Mexican, or Chinese (squires) it is the quality of components. An american strat will use pickups wound in the Fender factory in Corona, Calif. The Mexican wound in Mexico or imported from China or Korea, as the chinese wound in bulk in china or Korea.


Thats not to say that the import gutars as a whole are crap as you are finding out. There are alot of good ones as far as construction and choice of woods used. But not all are made with quality components unfortunately it is a money driven world.


Once you plug in (Electric) you will notice the difference in the three countries of origin and the components. The majority of people won't because they don't work on shaping their tone they just plug and play. I have an old Chinese squire (alder body) that a freind gave me it was his son's and he thrashed it.  I salvaged it, refinished, new pick ups, rewired and set up. The tone and playablity is great.


Bootleger

Bootleger guitars.

  • From: Nottingham, UK
  • Registered: 2006-08-08
  • Posts: 690

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

If you're a beginner particularly a youngster any electric guitar you buy today will be great. Back in the 70s there were alot of poor copies and even worse generics. The bar has been raised the past decade and whilst there are still some bad-value-for-money guitars there are few truly abysmal sounding ones.


Never fix your heart on a guitar based on the web. Go to a shop lift it up and see how it feels. Next always ask to plug in on an amp's clean channel and just gently strike out the strings. Don't try and impress the shop owner he's seen it all and I find under the rest of the shop's gaze my fingers turn to rubber. After all it's you checking out the guitar not vice versa. Try another one that felt right to hold, plug in on the same amp at the same level and listen to an open chord again. Repeat until a guitar says 'buy me now'. If you don't get a WOW from the guitar tell the owner it's too trebley/bassy/fuzzy/needling for you and thank him. Try another shop.


Repeat above until all shop staff whisper 'oh no not them again' as you enter. Then one day you find 'your guitar'...

'The sound of the city seems to disappear'
  • Registered: 2007-02-13
  • Posts: 9

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

Starter guitar ascoustic is a good one to start with because it teaches how to use your ears a "little bit more", and if you can play a ascoutic allright then move over to electric guitar is my opinion. I learned most of the basics on ascoutic, but use a electric not pryotechnics things once in a while.

  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Re: starters guitars versus better guitars

I can ONLY agree. I am absolutely, no CLAPTON, PETER GREEN, and MANY others. I am 50% an unlucky man, because my job was medical doctor, whiped out in 1" by hitting" a tree frontal and the other 50%, I got a lot of guitars, maybe too much. Yesterday evening I had my best friend, he played on the gibson montana gold, normally he takes a martin: hd-28 or d-45, but the sound if this "gigantic" guitar was amazing, and I have it since 5 years. It is difficult to explain, but the logic is that you can only appreciate a guitar with the soundhole pointed at you.

Like I told I am a blessed man with the collection, all famous brands and an unbelievable sound, I had the opportunity,to buy 6 kinds of guitar I was given by a music store, in which I had invested about 7000$, and, like always, needing my money, I asked that guy to pay me with guitars and -25%, with that money you can buy nice stuff, the story continues when a drugaddict needed money, he sold his '76 hd-28 martin to get money (700$), also a fender us strat original '64 together with a black 'beauty" gibson custom. I know a lot of guitars, when possible, I would like to go back to Memphis, where the production is specialised in "lucille's)

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website