Guitar and amp purchase

[Piobaire]

Sweetwater's price is a couple hundred more than Zzounds for the Studio LP. I wonder if they price match? I want to buy from Sweetwater just because they posted these beautiful pics:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPSTWRCH/

 

[milosz]

They both show the guitar at $1319/1320 for me- http://www.zzounds.com/item--GIBLPSTU http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPSTWRCH/ Were you looking at the Les Paul Raw Power for less? http://www.zzounds.com/item--GIBLPSRP Sweetwater has that in a different color for the same price: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPSRPPTCH

 

[Piobaire]

Last week Zzounds had the wine red for $1199, with case. As I figure the amp purchase is probably late April and the guitar July-Sept., I'm not going to pay too much attention to prices at the moment, but was just wondering of Sweetwater will price match.

 

[milosz]

Ah. I've never seen them have an advertised policy of it, but when one of the big online retailers (MF/Sweetwater/ZZounds/etc.) lowers an item's price or runs a sale, the rest tend to follow suit.

 

[gomestar]

Originally Posted by milosz

My local GC pretty much only stocks solidbody Gibson as far as 'nice guitars' - no expensive Gretsches or Fenders to be found, but a wall of $2500+ Les Pauls and a smaller rack of affordable SGs.
Grr. An unsolicited thumbs up to a 1955 White Falcon. Haters can take note of the heroin arms and fake teeth (also heroin).
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[milosz]

My ad for Gretsch (a Malcolm Young, I think?)
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TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags. I'd love to have a Gretsch with real Filtertrons, but I don't think any of the under-$2k models do. (crappy in-store video, of course, but the only one where I was sure you could see her Gretsch)

 

[milosz]

And of course
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[Piobaire]

Well, just contacted a guy who I think will be my first teacher. I just realized there's no reason to start lessons until May, as I have to conferences in March, then go on a three week vacation in April. He said to give him a call when I get ready to start.

Itching to buy my new guitar and amp though.

Think I'll noodle some youtube how-tos this weekend. Found one for Machinehead and for Glycerine.

 

[warlok1965]

Pio, Just saw this thread. I've been playing for 25 years, currently play in a couple of bands, gig about once a month, play everything from jazz to modern metal, and am as obsessive about gear as I am about clothes. So, make what you will of my advice.

• Fender and Vox amps are great if you are looking for a vintage rock sound (think Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Beatles, Queen). They are not suitable for a modern rock/alt/metal sound.

• Marshalls are good for 60s, 70s and 80s rock. Hendrix through hair metal. The best Marshalls are large, heavy, high wattage amps that sound best REALLY REALLY loud. Also they are not really voiced for modern metal/rock sounds. The smaller Marshalls are crap IME.

• Don't get a solid state amp; all tube is the way to go. Don't get a big amp, a head/cab, or a vintage reissue. Don't get a Twin Reverb and put a pedal in front of it. Too heavy and not the sound you're looking for.

If I were with you I would drive you down to your local GC and plug you into an Egnater Rebel 30 combo http://www.guitarcenter.com/Egnater-...00-i1447425.gc . It has two channels: (1) a beautful Fender-like clean (2) a gain channel that goes from lightly crunchy all the way to brutal. Between these two you can get pretty much any sound you would need. It is small and light enough to move around without ruining your back, but packs a hell of a punch and sounds really good at lower volumes. Built in reverb is a nice touch that you don't find on a lot of the booteeky-type amps. As for the guitar, you can't go too wrong with a Les Paul or a Fat Strat as has been suggested. The truth is these guitars are generally overpriced for what you get quality-wise, but they are an excellent starting point and are resellable. If you intend to buy new, I would get the guitar from a non-GC mom and pop shop that does a proper setup on all new guitars before selling them.

 

[heavy D]

A lot of odd information in this thread.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Okay, let's break this down to guitar and to amp.

Guitar: no one seems to really be dissing it. Pros and cons of that guitar, given you know I have large'ish hands, want to play rock/alt/metal.

Amp: clearly beyond hope. Guidance wanted, like to get by without dropping more than a grand.

Also, need to talk pedals, tuners, etc.


The pros for an LP Studio:
It says Gibson on it
It is cheaper than an LP Standard
It will have a medium C profile, (a pretty middle of the road shape)

Cons:
It's way overpriced compared to something you can get from a different maker, you're paying a stiff premium for the name
The pickups in it are ok, but not great
Gibson's quality control hasn't been great the last couple years


Amp- you want something low power unless you're playing out. I would prefer it if you went with a tube amp, but honestly for what you wanna do the modeling amps are not that bad. Check out the Roland Cube series as well.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

That's been asked and answered already.

And no, I won't just go to a store and buy the ******* thing. The process of choosing and anticipation is part of the enjoyment. The act of buying is actually the least enjoyable part of the process, IMO.


It's an instrument, they ALL play and sound differently. Ordering online is a crap shoot (especially with Gibson).

Originally Posted by milosz

Amp: Marshall Class 5 (5 watt tube amp) or Orange Tiny Terror (7 watts) - I think these'll check in ~$400 , sound good with gain turned up a bit for the grunge/rock thing.

Guitar: whatever feels good to you, the original Les Paul you posted is ugly, IMO but that's a taste issue. If you want quality but wish to save a few bucks, you can get a Made in Japan Tokai or Edwards Les Paul for $1000-1500 - available via Ebay or Rakuten, but you'll have to put in some leg work figuring out model numbers and what you want.


Two great points- those are the exact amps I was going to bring up. Another is the Vox Nighttrain. I don't know why these guys are recommending AC-30s and ****, an AC-30's too loud for me, and I'm playing 1000+ seat venues. Go on Youtube and watch clips of these amps, then go try them in a store.


As for the guitars, I'd highly recommend either a Tokai or Edwards as above. While the passives aren't great (pots, caps, switches) the pickups and hardware are decent. Much more bang for the buck than a Gibson. If you're one of those guys that needs Gibson on the headstock then that's cool, I understand. Nothing wrong with it. But if you just want a killer playing/sounding guitar at a good price, go Japanese. Just be careful with Tokai as some of them are made in Korea now.

Originally Posted by gomestar

a 10 watt tube amp isn't significantly quieter than a 100 watt tube amp.

Ummmmmm..... NO. 50 watts to 100? OK. 10 to 100? Big difference.



Oh yeah, last but not least- save yerself some money and BUY USED!!!That way when you get better and your tastes in gear change (or you quit and go back to bagpipes or whatever) you're not taking a huge hit off retail. I actually owned an LP Studio years ago, I bought it for around $500, sold it for $650. A quick look at eBay completed auctions shows LP Studios going for between $700-1000. My point is you're going to take a $500 hit the second you walk out the door with the thing. If you're one of those guys that can only buy something new then cool, just something to be aware of.

 

[gomestar]

The relationship between perceived volume and power output is not immediately obvious. A 5-watt amplifier is perceived to be half as loud as a 50-watt amplifier (a tenfold increase in power), and a half-watt amplifier is a quarter as loud as a 50-watt amp. Doubling the power of an amplifier results in a "just noticeable" increase in volume, so a 100-watt amplifier is held to be only just noticeably louder than a 50-watt amplifier.

As I said, the different a person playing in their basement will notice is not really pure volume (just how many people crank up tube amps that ridiculously loud anyways) but rather the distortion that happens sooner in a lower wattage amp. Having owned a multitude of multi-watt amps (from 1 all the way to 150), the difference between 10 and 100 is not 10X's. Maybe half at full stetch, but I have NEVER had the need to actually reach full strech from any of these amps. And to be honest, I don't know a lot of guitarists who actually do, we always put mics up to the amps for any venue of any decent size. Furthermore, my point wasn't about which ones can be louder, but rather quieter, and here the biggest different wattage will make is the break point from clean to crunch (which can be further altered by simply using your guitar's volume knob).

 

[warlok1965]

Wattage doesn't matter much until you crank the volume. Pio will be playing at bedroom levels anyway so soaking the power tubes is unlikely to happen anyway.

Big +1 to buying used, the only reason I didn't advocate more for it is that Pio seems to be a less-informed consumer and could get taken buying from some dude on craigslist (especially Gibsons, there are lots and lots of fakes out there).

BTW Pio, if you just want to spend mad money on killer gear, pick up a Tom Anderson Bulldog guitar and a CAA PT100 amp. Then send me your address and vacation schedule.

 

[heavy D]

Originally Posted by gomestar

As I said, the different a person playing in their basement will notice is not really pure volume (just how many people crank up tube amps that ridiculously loud anyways) but rather the distortion that happens sooner in a lower wattage amp. Having owned a multitude of multi-watt amps (from 1 all the way to 150), the difference between 10 and 100 is not 10X's. Maybe half at full stetch, but I have NEVER had the need to actually reach full strech from any of these amps. And to be honest, I don't know a lot of guitarists who actually do, we always put mics up to the amps for any venue of any decent size. Furthermore, my point wasn't about which ones can be louder, but rather quieter, and here the biggest different wattage will make is the break point from clean to crunch (which can be further altered by simply using your guitar's volume knob).


Didn't say it was 10 times as loud, reread what you've quoted. I don't gig with anything over 40 watts (not that watts is the be all, end all), and couldn't imagine playing at home with much more than a Champ. Sure, you can turn a 100 watt Superlead down to >1 and play it at home, but I can't imagine it would sound (or feel) very good. To say going from 100 watts to 10 watts isn't significantly quieter....

 

[Piobaire]

lol @warlok. No, do not want to spend mad money. That Vox modeling amp is going for $379 for the 50 watt. Right in my sweet spot for getting into this. The LP is going to raise the wife's eyebrows, but I'll get away with it. I like the feel of new unless I'm getting a killer deal used and getting way more value than what I'm paying. Someone noted I might get taken, which if a fair point. While not an idiot, I'm not a guitar maven, so that chance is there. Plus, I tend to own things forever, whether I use them or not (I tend to collect things) so I'm not against taking the hit for new and I know its entire history and have a warranty.

Not super stuck on the LP, but kinda on it. I can be convinced away, but it'll take some talking

 

[gomestar]

Originally Posted by heavy D

Didn't say it was 10 times as loud, reread what you've quoted. I don't gig with anything over 40 watts (not that watts is the be all, end all), and couldn't imagine playing at home with much more than a Champ. Sure, you can turn a 100 watt Superlead down to >1 and play it at home, but I can't imagine it would sound (or feel) very good. To say going from 100 watts to 10 watts isn't significantly quieter....

it's all into details, but ten times the power but only 2X's the actual volume is what I was really referring to and my point wasn't about absolute volume but rather relative volume. I don't think Pio will notice a volume difference and thus getting a 10 watt because it would be "much quieter" wouldn't be ideal since I highly doubt he'd be going anywhere near full volume on the 10 watt anyways.

also, Pio, disregard for solid state.