Metal Guitar advice

Thornography

Hey hey,

Birthday comming up soon (the big two one) and im looking at upgrading my guitar, Been using a fender strat mex for about 5 years now but im looking for a bit of advice on a purely metal guitar,

limit is about 1500 maybe more depending on quality.
Ill only realy be using it for shredding and C tunning (gona keep the strat for standart e tunning) im using a boss metal zone pedal and a marshall dfx 100 amp


does anyone have advice on what would be good, been looking at some of the ibanez s prestige series ( S5470F and S5470 models)

Cheers.

spoonbadger

eVo|tempest wrote: »

Hey hey,

Birthday comming up soon (the big two one) and im looking at upgrading my guitar, Been using a fender strat mex for about 5 years now but im looking for a bit of advice on a purely metal guitar,

limit is about 1500 maybe more depending on quality.
Ill only realy be using it for shredding and C tunning (gona keep the strat for standart e tunning) im using a boss metal zone pedal and a marshall dfx 100 amp


does anyone have advice on what would be good, been looking at some of the ibanez s prestige series ( S5470F and S5470 models)

Cheers.

I'd second the ibanez prestiges, especially the s series. Excellent guitars!!.

But what i'd recomend is that you upgrade that amp!!. 1500 is a lot of cash, you could get a good guitar and a good amp for that much. And those marshall MGs aint the greatest amps going .

Thornography

It`ll be another while until I replace the amp unfortunately

So its good for shreding with sweet tones? any advice on pedals I should look into to improve tone and stuff?

feylya

For €1500, I reckon this dude could help...

http://www.ranguitars.com/

CianRyan

ESP LTD EC1000 vintage BK
http://www.thomann.de/ie/esp_ltd_ec1000_vbk.htm

And spend the rest of the money on an amp to do it justice.
Obviouly you won't get anything amazing for €500, but you could get sometime years ahead of what you're playing now.

Peavey ValveKing 212
http://www.thomann.de/ie/peavey_valve_king_212.htm

It will be way more metal than what you're playing now.



The ESP LTD, in my opinion ismuch better for playing metal in C, it has active humbuckers aswell so thats a plus. Totally sherdable too.

rgjmce

check these vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6liq9e0_eg4

that is the first part of it

he gives good advice on wat is good and wat is a bad metal guitar, definetly worth checking out

subzero12

hmm cause no one mentioned it id have say schecter
best vaule form money out there in guitars at the minute and sure at that budget you could buy two off them and have moneny left over!

subzero12

feylya wrote: »

For €1500, I reckon this dude could help...

http://www.ranguitars.com/

ran are good but i heard there waiting list is up to a year and a half now ! which is a long thing if you where to go custom/semi custom id say chech outhttp://www.carvinguitars.com savage guitars for the money and the wait on a custom shop is a month to 2 months!

Ravelleman

Carvin don't ship outside the USA and Canada. To get one here you have to go through a dealer. Last time I checked the prices weren't comparible.

boycey

Probably pointing out the obvious but consider your choice of pickups, trem set-up and scale length before you decide on anything.
Do you want to go for active p'ups like the classsic metal Emg sets or passive (and probably more versatile ones) like the Seymour Duncan JB's?

Are you experienced with Floyd Rose/ locking nuts type guitars- I'm not and would'nt have a clue about setting them up to suit my tastes! They're not rocket science but could be an annoyance till you learn how to deal with them properly.

Scale length would be important if you're planning on dropped tunings- a Gibson type scale length is going to feel a bit 'flappy' if you're going down and dirty!
In any case there's some good suggestions so far, enjoy your birthday and your new guitar!!

subzero12

Ravelleman wrote: »

Carvin don't ship outside the USA and Canada. To get one here you have to go through a dealer. Last time I checked the prices weren't comparible.

last quote i got ! was $1350 that was for a neck through 7 string! a DC727
its east enough getting shipping sorted to theres companys over the that you get the parcel shipped to them then they ship it out to you ! but then again i dont have that problem ive friends over in the states !

http://www.rockstarguitar.co.uk/terms.asp there pretty reasonable prices

rcaz

Would metal tones not come much much better from an amp than from a pedal? I've heard a few people with Boss Metal Zones trying to get metal tones from their rubbish amp, they always sounded, to my ears, like they were only getting halfway to the sort of sound they wanted, the sort of sounds that would just ooze out of the right amp for the job. +1 on trying to find something better than the Marshal MG. It'll improve things no end.

CianRyan

El Pr0n wrote: »

Would metal tones not come much much better from an amp than from a pedal? I've heard a few people with Boss Metal Zones trying to get metal tones from their rubbish amp, they always sounded, to my ears, like they were only getting halfway to the sort of sound they wanted, the sort of sounds that would just ooze out of the right amp for the job. +1 on trying to find something better than the Marshal MG. It'll improve things no end.

Backed 100%

Deffo shift the MG and the Metal Zone.

Still think my post is the best idea. :rolleyes:

Ravelleman

There's no way I'd pay a grand for an Ltd. There are a lot of options for guitars of a higher quality at around that price, especially if you're willing to buy second hand.

There are a lot of considerations though. But Boycey's post has covered a lot of them! For me, scale length would be very important if you were planning on using low tunings.

I think you need to address the amp situation as well though. I think you should try to divide your money roughly equally between a new guitar and a new amp.

You could definitely do a lot worse than a (comparatively) less flashy Ibanez Prestige with a pickup swap and then spending the rest of your money on a quality amp.

progsound

Blackmachine are ace but i think there is a long waiting list

Doctor J

As has been mentioned, decide on the features you want (trem or no trem, neck size, number of frets etc) and then try out as many different brands as you can. I'd also echo what's been said, consider allocating some of that money towards upgrading your amp/pedal setup too. Even the best guitar in the world can be compromised by a weak amp. You won't need to spend €1500 to get a truly great guitar. Try the likes of ESP/LTD and Schecter too. I wouldn't go overboard looking for very high output pickups, I've found a medium output pickup and a crunchy, rather than very distorted tone to work best with dropped tunings.

We play in B, sometimes dropped A so I've been through the same search process you're going through right now. In my opinion, for dropped tuning you need a guitar with a bit of bite, with a crisp and bright tone to it, otherwise your low stuff can sound like sludge. Avoid Gibson scale instruments, it does make a huge difference. I use a 25.5" scale guitar with a set of D'Addario baritone strings on it (13-68). Lighter low B strings just sounded crap, to get some real definition at dropped tunings the heavier the better, in my experience. I also tried a Metal Zone though a number of amps and found the Line 6 Uber Metal was much, much better at removing a lot of the boominess which can plague the Metal Zone.

subzero12

progsound wrote: »

Blackmachine are ace but i think there is a long waiting list

black machine are savage too but your right theres like a 2 year waiting list or something close to that i was gonna get a b7 last year but the wait was to long!

Demeyes

I'd say Jackson and Schecter. I've had these as well as a few ltds, gibson and Ibanez, and for what i was after they were the pick of the bunch. They were the nicest playing.
If you give a better idea of what you want in the guitar it will be easier to narrow down specific models. Body shape? Trem? Pickups? These vary wildly from brand to brand.

brendansmith

subzero12 wrote: »

hmm cause no one mentioned it id have say schecter
best vaule form money out there in guitars at the minute and sure at that budget you could buy two off them and have moneny left over!

Deffo,

The 7 string hellraiser sounds like exactly what you need.



You can get it with a floyd rose too

CianRyan

I can't belive i forgot schecter.
Wow!

Doctor J

The Schecters have quite a chubby neck, they're not exactly from the shredder's guitar template.

subzero12

Doctor J wrote: »

The Schecters have quite a chubby neck, they're not exactly from the shredder's guitar template.

i beg to differ !
prime example jeff loomis . true its a not paper thin ibanez neck but i personally prefer the schecters profile. and i only play there 7 strings too so thats wider that normal neck.

Doctor J

Read what I said. I've owned a Schecter, I know what the neck is like, I'm also well aware of Loomis. All I'm saying is it's not a thin neck, not in the traditional shredder template of skinny necked guitars, I'm not saying you can't play fast on it, just that it's not designed in the same way as traditional fast and skinny necked guitars.

subzero12

Doctor J wrote: »

Read what I said. I've owned a Schecter, I know what the neck is like, I'm also well aware of Loomis. All I'm saying is it's not a thin neck, not in the traditional shredder template of skinny necked guitars, I'm not saying you can't play fast on it, just that it's not designed in the same way as traditional fast and skinny necked guitars.

nah i totally agree about its not a thin neck! i used to have an rg 1527 and i and a xiphos 7 and i got to despise ibanez guitars and there nicks but saying that out of the 2 the xiphos was a great guitar just not for me though!

OK-Cancel-Apply

The neck of my Schecter Omen 6 Extreme feels thinner than a Wizard II in my hand. Doc from what I can tell, you've owned LOTS of guitars. Are you sure you're not confusing it with a different make?

As a side note - of all the necks I've played, I still prefer the thick strat C neck.

darrenw5094

How could you pay €999 for a Korean made guitar, ESP LTD in this case.
Check out Jap Jacksons on www.gak.co.uk, startting at £449
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/dk-2/10964

Check out this UK Power Seller on ebay for USA made ESP.
http://shop.ebay.ie/merchant/richtonemusic?_nkw=esp+-ltd&_sacat=0&_fromfsb=&_trksid=m270.l1313&_odkw=esp&_osacat=0

They are in your price range.

CianRyan

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ESP-Viper-Electric-Guitar-Camo-Finish-Made-in-Japan_W0QQitemZ370144700889QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item370144700889&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

If i was in the market, i'd be considering this.
Not really a shredder, but i have in the past, shredded on one of these babies!!

Demeyes

Doctor J wrote: »

Read what I said. I've owned a Schecter, I know what the neck is like, I'm also well aware of Loomis. All I'm saying is it's not a thin neck, not in the traditional shredder template of skinny necked guitars, I'm not saying you can't play fast on it, just that it's not designed in the same way as traditional fast and skinny necked guitars.

I guess your right that it's not the traditional thin as possible neck profile for shredding but I find it much more comfortable than my Ibanez for leads. I've never seen why so many people seem to have issues with the Schecter neck, I really liked it from the minute I picked it up.

CianRyan

I prefare a thick neck for fast playing, i think my hands are just to big for thin necks?
Either way, schecter or ESP imo.

darrenw5094

CianRyan wrote: »

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ESP-Viper-Electric-Guitar-Camo-Finish-Made-in-Japan_W0QQitemZ370144700889QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item370144700889&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

If i was in the market, i'd be considering this.
Not really a shredder, but i have in the past, shredded on one of these babies!!

She is a Jap though.....USA models are the same price with this seller.
Assuming the USA model would also hold it's value better than the Jap model.
Although, i'm sure the Jap Viper is top quality too.

Doctor J

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Doc from what I can tell, you've owned LOTS of guitars. Are you sure you're not confusing it with a different make?

Very sure. I may be an old prick but I'd like to think alzheimers is still a few years further down the line :pac:

Look, I'm not saying anything bad about Schecters, check my first post in this thread, I recommended the OP check them out. All I'm saying is that when you talk of a stereotypical shredders guitar, you're generally talking about a floyd rose, a bridge humbucker and a skinny neck (not necessarily as skinny as a wizard neck, but in line with Jackson, ESP, etc). The reason I mentioned the Schecter neck is because it deviates ever so slightly from this norm.

That's all.

darrenw5094

It's ok to deviate.......Schecters rock too.

OK-Cancel-Apply

Hmm yeah there is something a little odd about the Schecter neck... maybe it's bulkier than a wizard at the back, but narrower in terms of the width.

CianRyan

darrenw5094 wrote: »

She is a Jap though.....USA models are the same price with this seller.
Assuming the USA model would also hold it's value better than the Jap model.
Although, i'm sure the Jap Viper is top quality too.

In my experience the Japs have been just as nice and sometimes better than american models i've played.
I honestly have't a clue about how they hold their value, when i'm buying a guitar i'm thinking of how it plays, not how it sells.








On the schecter necks, they were never designed to be shredders, really what they work for is playing big chunk riffs in the likes of drop C and lower tunings.
unless you're going for the 7 string, in which case you'd have no need to tune down. Still, same playing style.