What guitar to buy for giggin with wedding band..

JonathanAnon

Just looking for suggestions, cos I dont seem to be able to find what I'm looking for... I have a Yamaha Pacifica 112v, which sounds good.. but only has 22 frets, and the pickups arent brilliant, and it's not ideal for soloing.. also have a Jackson JDR 94, which is great for soloing, LOVE the neck and fretboard as it's more like a metal guitar, BUT isnt great for country/wedding stuff..

A lot of people simply suggest just getting a good Strat... but I was just wondering if there is anything that will give me the feel of a metal guitar yet a good all round sound..

JonathanAnon

sorry price range of €600-800

quicklickpaddy

If you're dead set against a Strat, it might be a little out of your price range but you could try go for something like a second hand Paul Reed Smith and get it coil tapped. But in my opinion, if your looking for something simple and versatile you really can't do much better than a HSS Strat.

JonathanAnon

I checked out the PRS guitars in Musicmaker a few years ago, having always loved the look of them... But all of them seem to have bridges like below



which made the PRS guitars unplayable for me..

I've nothing against the Strats per se, but they are just not as nice to play as my Jackson... And I dont like the large frets..

RC88

if a strat is a no go then best bet is prob a prs, but they don't all have the wrap around bridge, this one has the trem bridge and will feel more like a metal guitar since its a double-cut so you could try looking out for one like it, only prob with prs is they cost a nice bit even second hand

http://www.thomann.de/ie/prs_se_custom_24_orange_trem.htm

another option is to try a tele, its great for the style you described above and is also suited to metal, but they also generaly have 21-22 frets as well

i think your best option is to get the pickups changed on the yamaha and see how that pans out

wild turkey

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/prs-25th-anniversary-se-custom-24-scarlet-red/32502
A bit cheaper in gak
Id still prefer a strat with a hotrail at the bridge

JonathanAnon

good stuff so far guys.. thanks..

Those PRS Custom SE 24 are seriously close to what I'm looking for.. Like I said I always remember seeing them in the guitar magazine ads and thinking that they were lovely, and looked like they would be nice to play as well..



There's a few up on adverts for ~€500 ... Anybody out there play one of these???

Regarding the Strats.... The Squier is the cheap one ... But how do you distinguish every other Strat... I've never understood how to tell one from the other..

Thomas from Presence

Personally I've always used a three pick up Les Paul as the middle position causes the bridge and middle pickup to phase out making it sound very strat like.

You can mod guitars to make them more flexible with thats and phase switches but you can also look at the Line 6 Variax.

These are great, especially when you use one of their pedal boards. You can save the guitar sound with the preset right down to where the tone control or volume is and they sound great.

I use mine on a couple of tunes and it really flies when you have to move from acoustic to strat say.

They have a glut of them in Music Maker at the moment and you'd probably get one within your budget. Beware though, you need a flat response system to use the acoustic sounds (i.e. you wouldn't plug an acoustic into a guitar amp).

The budget models suck but the playability of the 600 (maple neck) and the sounds make for a very playable and road worthy guitar.

Owen

Spent 7 years playing with a wedding band out normally 2 nights a week. I've used a lot of guitars, EVH Wolfgang, Ibanez Jem 7VWH, Variax 600, and it really doesn't matter that much what you use TBH. The 22 frets is going to be a non starter too, Wedding music doesn't call for a whole lot of solo work up the high end of the fretboard.

IMHO, the sound you get is the most important, the setup I had was :
Acoustic Sim for most songs with clean sounds (Inoffensive so Auntie Mary doesn't think the band is loud)
Acoustic Sim with Chorus for cheesy songs
Very light crunch/distortion for run of the mill songs like Neil Diamond, etc
Mid distortion with lots of sustain for solo work.
Wah-wah on the odd occassion we'd do something funky.

il gatto

What do you play at wedding to need 24 frets? A strat with a bridge humbucker and two single coils would do the job nicely. Maybe get a coil tap on the humbucker. Good thing is it'll hold it's value unlike some of the less classic brands.

Demeyes

If I was in a wedding band I'd be thinking hss strat all the way, probably a hardtail and get some piezos fitted. I'd bring a Les Paul or Tele around for backup and variety and depending on your set you might need an acoustic.
You won't need 24 frets, and they make strats with all sorts of neck profiles so you should try a good few out. If you are dead set on a metal feeling neck, check these Charvels out. Classic strat looks but a fast neck and a Floyd Rose. http://www.thomann.de/ie/charvel_pro_mod_so_cal_style_1_hh_sw.htm Though you'd want to fit that with some coil taps and tone control to be more versatile than just a rock guitar.

-=al=-

A HSS strat or some sort of similar guitar sounds the way forward for this tbh

fso

What about a Les Paul, as an alternative to the PRS?
There are some nice alternatives to Gibson such as <snip>

fso

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