I have 2 Dean MLs (like the one Dime played) for 300 dollars and a Gibson SG i got from a friend (But goes about 1200 dollars) and are both good guitars, Gibsons are definately great quality but are a bit pricey unless you can afford it. I reccomend Dean Guitars cause their guitars go from pricey to surprisingly cheap and no matter how much you pay you always get your moneys worth. Ibanez and Jackson Guitars are also great and sometimes price friendly.
Guitar Rape
- Thread starter amelia83
- Start date
Never pay more than $500 on a Korean/Mexican guitar. Never pay more than $200 on a Chinese/Indonesian/Malaysian/Whatever guitar. The Koreans are making better guitars these days and they're costing more too, but the best guitars in the world are either Japanese, US, or custom shop made.
Never pay a lot of money for a guitar unless you know where it's made. They could build the most amazing guitar ever built in Indonesia, but labor is so cheap it wouldnt cost very much here, so they don't. It's silly to put expensive/high quality parts in a guitar made by cheap labor since
1. It's not Jap/US made so the elitist snobs with the money to afford it are going to scoff at it.
2. The labor is cheaper so they're better off working on volume rather than quality.
My advice to you, fuck Gibson. They're WAY too expensive for what you get and despite being American made, Gibson has by far the worst quality control of any American guitar maker, and by far the highest prices of anything mainstream. Fender is a much better deal, but they sound different.
What kind of sound are you after? I play a lot of heavy blues and metal and I LOVE my Japanese Ibanezes. They're the best playing guitars you can buy for hte money and they come with world class hardware standard. You can get an RG570 for $300 which is basically the same thing as a new RG1570, which is a $700 or so guitar.
I have an RG520, it's a mahogany bodied RG and it's one of the best guitars I've ever played and it also just fits me and my style really well. I got it for $350 with a case.
Buy used, it ill save you a TON of money and unlike other goods, guitars dont really depreciate over time, they dont get updated every year, a 30 year old guitar can be just as good as a new one, it just depends on condition, and even that may mean nothing as far as the quality goes.
Some of the higher end Korean guitars are very nice, like the ESP 300 series guitars, and the 1000 series guitars are supposed to be phenomenal, but I cant bring myself to pay that much for a guitar made in Korea.
A friend of mine has a Japanese made Jackson DKMG, really nice axe. Just as high quality as my Japanese Ibanez, just doesnt fit me as well. Still a very nice guitar.
Deans are kind of meh, same with Washburn, but the fact is that most Korean guitars are all made in the same factories, most of them are made by Samick. Korean guitars have done much better in recent years so just make sure you play one first.
Schecter is another company that gets rich charging way too much for Korean made guitars, but they actually put some quality into them, and you're not paying extra for a dodgy Floyd Rose (I had my fair share of problems with crappy floyds, and now my friend's crap Floyd wannabe on his Jackson is acting strange). Never settle for a licensed Floyd unless it's on an Ibanez, and even then make sure it's one of the NICE Ibanez Floyds. You have to be VERY careful with those, a cheap Floyd will ruin a decent guitar.
So to recap, I'd look at these brands:
Ibanez
ESP
Schecter
Fender
Also, realize that you can get Japanese Fenders for pretty cheap and Japanese Squier strats for cheap as well, they cost more than the average mexican strat, but they're nicer also. Fender contracts their Japanese production to the same factory that Ibanez uses, and Japanese quality is not on consistent, it's good. The floyds these companies put on their guitars are not always great, though, which is the case with some of the cheaper Japanese Jacksons.
Anyway, check out the harmony-central.com forums, I'm DirtyBird over there as well. Lots of smart guys.
And one thing you're going to learn, find a guitar that feels good to you and sounds good enough, because when it comes to hard rock, your amplifier is most of the sound. If you find a guitar that feels good to play (usually it's going to be a higher end Korean guitar or Japanese one unless you can afford American) then stick with it, you can always swap pickups later and your amp will define most of your sound. I got myself an Ibanez I fell in love with and from there you figure out what kind of sound you want and what the best amp to get there is.
Peavey Rockmaster pre amp
Peavey Classic 120 power amp
Both tube-driven
Ibanez RG520
Sorry it's a little blurry, but this is my 5150 and the rest of my guitars.
The number 1 criteria for the quality level of a guitar is generally going to be its country of origin due to the way manufacturers tier their product lines. Always look at this. If it's made in Craponesia, with all respect to the Craponesians, their labor is cheap and the companies arent going to give them the nicest wood and hardware to make their warez.
Also, remember this if nothing else - If you cant play it first, buy it used so you can flip it for what you bought it. Used gear is a GREAT thing, ESPECIALLY for guitars which rarely have severe problems, as long as the neck is straight and not cracked, you're usually good to go. Guitar circuitry isnt nearly as fragile or expensive to fix as amps are, and wood doesn't rust.
Never pay a lot of money for a guitar unless you know where it's made. They could build the most amazing guitar ever built in Indonesia, but labor is so cheap it wouldnt cost very much here, so they don't. It's silly to put expensive/high quality parts in a guitar made by cheap labor since
1. It's not Jap/US made so the elitist snobs with the money to afford it are going to scoff at it.
2. The labor is cheaper so they're better off working on volume rather than quality.
My advice to you, fuck Gibson. They're WAY too expensive for what you get and despite being American made, Gibson has by far the worst quality control of any American guitar maker, and by far the highest prices of anything mainstream. Fender is a much better deal, but they sound different.
What kind of sound are you after? I play a lot of heavy blues and metal and I LOVE my Japanese Ibanezes. They're the best playing guitars you can buy for hte money and they come with world class hardware standard. You can get an RG570 for $300 which is basically the same thing as a new RG1570, which is a $700 or so guitar.
I have an RG520, it's a mahogany bodied RG and it's one of the best guitars I've ever played and it also just fits me and my style really well. I got it for $350 with a case.
Buy used, it ill save you a TON of money and unlike other goods, guitars dont really depreciate over time, they dont get updated every year, a 30 year old guitar can be just as good as a new one, it just depends on condition, and even that may mean nothing as far as the quality goes.
Some of the higher end Korean guitars are very nice, like the ESP 300 series guitars, and the 1000 series guitars are supposed to be phenomenal, but I cant bring myself to pay that much for a guitar made in Korea.
A friend of mine has a Japanese made Jackson DKMG, really nice axe. Just as high quality as my Japanese Ibanez, just doesnt fit me as well. Still a very nice guitar.
Deans are kind of meh, same with Washburn, but the fact is that most Korean guitars are all made in the same factories, most of them are made by Samick. Korean guitars have done much better in recent years so just make sure you play one first.
Schecter is another company that gets rich charging way too much for Korean made guitars, but they actually put some quality into them, and you're not paying extra for a dodgy Floyd Rose (I had my fair share of problems with crappy floyds, and now my friend's crap Floyd wannabe on his Jackson is acting strange). Never settle for a licensed Floyd unless it's on an Ibanez, and even then make sure it's one of the NICE Ibanez Floyds. You have to be VERY careful with those, a cheap Floyd will ruin a decent guitar.
So to recap, I'd look at these brands:
Ibanez
ESP
Schecter
Fender
Also, realize that you can get Japanese Fenders for pretty cheap and Japanese Squier strats for cheap as well, they cost more than the average mexican strat, but they're nicer also. Fender contracts their Japanese production to the same factory that Ibanez uses, and Japanese quality is not on consistent, it's good. The floyds these companies put on their guitars are not always great, though, which is the case with some of the cheaper Japanese Jacksons.
Anyway, check out the harmony-central.com forums, I'm DirtyBird over there as well. Lots of smart guys.
And one thing you're going to learn, find a guitar that feels good to you and sounds good enough, because when it comes to hard rock, your amplifier is most of the sound. If you find a guitar that feels good to play (usually it's going to be a higher end Korean guitar or Japanese one unless you can afford American) then stick with it, you can always swap pickups later and your amp will define most of your sound. I got myself an Ibanez I fell in love with and from there you figure out what kind of sound you want and what the best amp to get there is.
Peavey Rockmaster pre amp
Peavey Classic 120 power amp
Both tube-driven
Ibanez RG520
Sorry it's a little blurry, but this is my 5150 and the rest of my guitars.
The number 1 criteria for the quality level of a guitar is generally going to be its country of origin due to the way manufacturers tier their product lines. Always look at this. If it's made in Craponesia, with all respect to the Craponesians, their labor is cheap and the companies arent going to give them the nicest wood and hardware to make their warez.
Also, remember this if nothing else - If you cant play it first, buy it used so you can flip it for what you bought it. Used gear is a GREAT thing, ESPECIALLY for guitars which rarely have severe problems, as long as the neck is straight and not cracked, you're usually good to go. Guitar circuitry isnt nearly as fragile or expensive to fix as amps are, and wood doesn't rust.
I was looking at ESP's custom guitar deal. You print out a sheet from ESP's website, fill out what you want, maybe include some artwork...and you're ready to go. Basically, you put in any thing you want from a body type, inlays, fretboard inlays(you can get dots, or your own custom drawn emblem), pickups, tuning machine heads, all that shit. it's a pretty good deal, really. You fill that out, fax it to ESP with a return fax number, they look it over, give you a quote, and send it back. If you've got the coin, you pay for it outright, and in 8 months minimum, it's in your hands. 100% hand-crafted...fuck, man. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.
But otherwise, like i said, i wouldn't mind a Dean Razorback...I didn't really look at Ibanez, Fender, or any other foreign retarded brands. I want something that's been tested by time, and excellent musicians. With a Dean, I know that Trivium, Dime, and a shitload of other awesome musicians have used Deans. However, A Gibson Les Paul and a true Fender Strat have been used by every joe blow, but also used by big-heads like Zakk Wylde, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page...you name it. But i don't have 4k to shit out on a guitar. I dunno.
EDIT: Could it possibly be my intonation on my E-string? Like, maybe the saddle is a little to far forward/back? I don't wanna dive balls deep into it and start turning screws and shit...but I didn't know if that could be the problem.
But otherwise, like i said, i wouldn't mind a Dean Razorback...I didn't really look at Ibanez, Fender, or any other foreign retarded brands. I want something that's been tested by time, and excellent musicians. With a Dean, I know that Trivium, Dime, and a shitload of other awesome musicians have used Deans. However, A Gibson Les Paul and a true Fender Strat have been used by every joe blow, but also used by big-heads like Zakk Wylde, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page...you name it. But i don't have 4k to shit out on a guitar. I dunno.
EDIT: Could it possibly be my intonation on my E-string? Like, maybe the saddle is a little to far forward/back? I don't wanna dive balls deep into it and start turning screws and shit...but I didn't know if that could be the problem.
Margo Lane
New member
First of all, high end Deans are excellent guitars. But if you think Japanese qualiy is in anyway inferior to American quality you're wrong. Otherwise I agree with your disdain for imports. And cheap Deans are made in the same place as cheap Epiphones and cheap Washburns and cheap whatever other brands you mention. There's a surprisingly few amount of factories that make all these different guitars, hence the reason to be selective about it.
ESP and Ibanez are headquartered in Japan, so their flagship guitars are made in Japan, and they're AMAZING guitars. I suggest you go give one a trial run. You can get a world class Ibanez for half the price of an equivalent US-made Jackson. Which is why Im such a fan of Japanese guitars, great quality and it's cheaper than a US made guitar with more consistent quality control.
And you can find pros playing almost any brand. I could name off the number of pros playing Jackson, Ibanez, or ESP off the top of my head and I wouldnt be done in time for dinner.
I suggest you just find something that fits you and ignore what the pros play. The guitars they play are the absolute cream of the crop of that brand and probably not the same quality as what you're going to be able to get.
Just find something that fits you. Do you prefer 24.75 inch scales? 25.5 inch scales? Baritone scales? small or large radius fretboards? narrow or wide nuts? What kind of bridge? Do you care about pickups? What about upper fret access? Neck thru or bolt on or set neck? What size frets?
You can find quality guitars from almost any brand, the trick is getting the best bang for the buck while still fitting your criteria for what you want. I love Ibanez but I love super wide, flat necks and jumbo frets, and Im handy with a soldering iron so I can get rid of the crap stock pickups they have. What works for you may be entirely different. Ibanez makes some great stuff, though, so dont count them out. Same for LTD (Import ESPs), their high end guitars are Korean, but they're nice, maybe they'll fit you better than something else. The EC1000 is an excellent Les Paul substitute.
I clash with Jackson on their neck profiles and crappy hardware. I dont like the strat sound or single coil pickups, I cant afford a decent Gibson and Epiphone's quality control is even more terrible than Gibson's.
Edit: If you're fretting out on two frets. That's caused by either extreme fret wear, improper fret levelling and installation, or a warped neck. I'm betting it's one of the first two. The only way to fix it is going to be to raise your action higher which will affect intonation and playing with high action blows. Some people prefer it that way (Stevie Ray for one) but most people dont, and if you're fretting out that bad you're probably going to have to raise it a lot.
You can get a refret or a fret level (~$10 a fret vs maybe $100 for a levelling and reprofile/polish) but I'd say it's probably not worth it on that guitar.
Intonation adjusts how in tune the string is all the way up the neck. Say you tune the string to E when played open. Play the same string at the 12th fret. If it's not exactly the same note then your intonation is off, that's where you adjust intonation. It will cause chords played higher on the neck to be more and more out of tune.
ESP and Ibanez are headquartered in Japan, so their flagship guitars are made in Japan, and they're AMAZING guitars. I suggest you go give one a trial run. You can get a world class Ibanez for half the price of an equivalent US-made Jackson. Which is why Im such a fan of Japanese guitars, great quality and it's cheaper than a US made guitar with more consistent quality control.
And you can find pros playing almost any brand. I could name off the number of pros playing Jackson, Ibanez, or ESP off the top of my head and I wouldnt be done in time for dinner.
I suggest you just find something that fits you and ignore what the pros play. The guitars they play are the absolute cream of the crop of that brand and probably not the same quality as what you're going to be able to get.
Just find something that fits you. Do you prefer 24.75 inch scales? 25.5 inch scales? Baritone scales? small or large radius fretboards? narrow or wide nuts? What kind of bridge? Do you care about pickups? What about upper fret access? Neck thru or bolt on or set neck? What size frets?
You can find quality guitars from almost any brand, the trick is getting the best bang for the buck while still fitting your criteria for what you want. I love Ibanez but I love super wide, flat necks and jumbo frets, and Im handy with a soldering iron so I can get rid of the crap stock pickups they have. What works for you may be entirely different. Ibanez makes some great stuff, though, so dont count them out. Same for LTD (Import ESPs), their high end guitars are Korean, but they're nice, maybe they'll fit you better than something else. The EC1000 is an excellent Les Paul substitute.
I clash with Jackson on their neck profiles and crappy hardware. I dont like the strat sound or single coil pickups, I cant afford a decent Gibson and Epiphone's quality control is even more terrible than Gibson's.
Edit: If you're fretting out on two frets. That's caused by either extreme fret wear, improper fret levelling and installation, or a warped neck. I'm betting it's one of the first two. The only way to fix it is going to be to raise your action higher which will affect intonation and playing with high action blows. Some people prefer it that way (Stevie Ray for one) but most people dont, and if you're fretting out that bad you're probably going to have to raise it a lot.
You can get a refret or a fret level (~$10 a fret vs maybe $100 for a levelling and reprofile/polish) but I'd say it's probably not worth it on that guitar.
Intonation adjusts how in tune the string is all the way up the neck. Say you tune the string to E when played open. Play the same string at the 12th fret. If it's not exactly the same note then your intonation is off, that's where you adjust intonation. It will cause chords played higher on the neck to be more and more out of tune.
I figured it out. You were right, shitty frets. I was sitting there trying to play some solo, and I was on the 14th fret on my B string. I bent the string down a half step or so, and the pitch rang like a fuckin' harmonic. I tried the bend a few more times. Then i tried it on 16 on my B string...same thing. So I played 12 thru 18 on my E string, bending a 1/4 step on 14 and 16. The notes rang out normally. So my sister and I are going to the piece of shit shop that sold it to me, and I'm gonna tell him either fix it, or it's going upside his head. The body is solid acrylic(the axe weighs like 10 pounds, no shit) so I think it'll hold up.
it's not a bad guitar, really. The bridge humbucker is awesome, mixed in with my Digitech DX-7 Distortion Factory finely tweaked for heavy, crunchy, thick rhythm, as well as really crisp, clear individual notes/taps/sweeps. It rings harmonics naturally on any fret damn near, and pinch harmonics are awesome. I guess I'll let you guys know how it goes once I go pay this jerk a visit.
it's not a bad guitar, really. The bridge humbucker is awesome, mixed in with my Digitech DX-7 Distortion Factory finely tweaked for heavy, crunchy, thick rhythm, as well as really crisp, clear individual notes/taps/sweeps. It rings harmonics naturally on any fret damn near, and pinch harmonics are awesome. I guess I'll let you guys know how it goes once I go pay this jerk a visit.
Actually, if it only frets out on one string it may be the STRING that's causing it. Have you tried new strings? How old are the ones on there?
And also, this may be worth looking into, I dont know, but there is a company called warmoth that makes necks, so if you hate the neck you can buy a new one that fits but since you already dislike how heavy the body is that may not be worth your time. They're pricy but they're good. You'd have to make sure they fit, though.
Are those humbuckers EMGs? Or are they those active EMG knockoffs? There are some new pickups out that look like EMGs and require a battery like EMGs, and they're apparently some off-brand knockoffs that sound really awesome... So I wonder if that's what you have. Do they use a battery?
And also, this may be worth looking into, I dont know, but there is a company called warmoth that makes necks, so if you hate the neck you can buy a new one that fits but since you already dislike how heavy the body is that may not be worth your time. They're pricy but they're good. You'd have to make sure they fit, though.
Are those humbuckers EMGs? Or are they those active EMG knockoffs? There are some new pickups out that look like EMGs and require a battery like EMGs, and they're apparently some off-brand knockoffs that sound really awesome... So I wonder if that's what you have. Do they use a battery?
B
brandyd7
Guest
I've never had to change a battery, if that tells you anything. I could pull off the belt guard off of the back and see if there is a battery there. I dunno.
ChiC_pArIsIEnnE
New member
Double-post, I know. Basically, I'm closing the thread, haha. I took my ax in to this jerk, and he just looked at it, and grabbed an allen wrench and a screw driver. He tweaked the neck a bit, and then he raised the thing all the saddles sit on. so now, I have 23 frets. Score.
EDIT: Dirty: I asked him about the pickups...he said they're "house brand"...but I call bullshit. Like I said before, same guitar was on ebay, so WTF. I didn't bother to check and see if there was a battery in it, I was just happy to shred on a 100% guitar again.
EDIT: Dirty: I asked him about the pickups...he said they're "house brand"...but I call bullshit. Like I said before, same guitar was on ebay, so WTF. I didn't bother to check and see if there was a battery in it, I was just happy to shred on a 100% guitar again.
So he just raised the action... Try playing a guitar with properly finished frets and low action and see if you might like it better. There's no way you should settle for anything less than great action on a guitar that costs as much as that one did.
EMG's will say "EMG" on them, and if they were active you'd know. So dont worry about the battery thing.
EMG's will say "EMG" on them, and if they were active you'd know. So dont worry about the battery thing.
Chuck Norris is Spiderman
New member
I just noticed that this thread depicts someone who refers themselves as a "necrophiliac" to have been raped by a non-living object.
Oh the irony.
Oh the irony.
Staypuff MarshMallow Man
New member
The implication is there
