Help Choosing Electric Guitar

livinsane

Hey there,

Im buying a new electric. I want a thick, throaty, bluesy guitar, ideally keeping within a €600 budget. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help.

Blackhorse Slim

If you're looking for a semi-acoustic guitar, something like an Epiphone Sheraton or a good Ibanez Artcore would be around that price-range, and both are decent guitars. Although I've heard Bacchus are popular around here

Alternatively something like an SG, Les Paul or Flying V...? You really need to be a bit more specific about your preferences

livinsane

I've only owned a Fender Strat, so from that experience, all I know is I want double humbuckers! I don't want a jangly or jazzy sounding guitar. I want something that sounds moody and muddy (in a good way). I checked out most guitars on the Gibson site and nothing really stood out. I know my best bet is to trawl through the guitars in the shops but I want a few ideas before that.

molloyjh

I'd play a good bit of blues and had been playing on a Highway 1 Strat (which is a pretty sweet guitar anyway) but it was a bit wimpy for some of the heavier stuff I wanted to play. So I went and got a Jaguar reissue for those. Now I play a lot of my blues on that too. Its great for getting a meaty, deep sound. It does have double hummers, but trust me it sounds great. I love to play Have You Ever Loved A Woman from Claptons One More Car One More Rider live album on it.

Thing is I got it in the US when I was over last year. If you can get someone to ship to from there it'll cost you about €420 plus the shipping. I don't know of any sites that will ship Fender from the US to Europe due to the fact that they use different distribution companies in the 2 regions.

Blackhorse Slim

Best bet is probably second-hand, but you need to know what you're looking for.
All the guitars I mentioned above are double-humbuckers, I kinda got that from your post :-)

Go to music shops and play, something that looks like nothing on a website or even hanging in a shop can really come alive in your hands.

Gibson can be great but are expensive. There are plenty of quality Japanese and Korean guitars but some (esp Korean) can be pretty bad too. If you like Fender but just want a different sound you can get a fender-type guitar with humbuckers (or rails), MusicMan and G&L spring to mind. Both can be reasonable second-hand because they don't have the Fender name.

Be aware that a strat is generally light, comfortable and easy to play, some other guitars may be difficult to get used to in comparison.

Happy hunting!

Ravelleman

For €600 you could almost get yourself a Gretsch...

darrenw5094

Check out Edwards ESP on ebay and other japan sites. Around €600 to €750 all in tax and shipping.....might be worth the extra few bob.

They also come with P90 pickups, which might suit the blues thang.....

fguihen

remember its not just about the guitar but the amp. within reason, you can get any sound from an electric guitar, depending on the amp ( within reason, please dont ban me for that statment!). my friend has a mexican tele going through a fender tube amp and believe me he has such a blues tone. he can also get jimi's and SRV's tone pretty much perfect also. if its deep round bb king-esque blues though you cant do any better than a les paul. heavy mahagony body and dirty humbuckers sound bluesy in any setup, especially on the neck pickup. play a few epiphones. you should get a good epiphone for that price, but play a few as the quality varies from one to the next. just my 2c