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Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: imapiratearg on 02 Aug 2006, 18:59
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in the next couple years. but i wanna know ahead of time what kind of guitar i should get, and how much i need to save for it. i've only been playing for like, a little more than three months, a lot of people i know say i'm really good...mostly due to tablature though. but i wanna start a band with some other people in my skill range, but i wanna get a better guitar than the squire i have now.
i want the band to sound somewhat similar to this group: www.purevolume.com/themorningof
i'd really appreciate some advice. thanks a lot. :D
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your gonna atleast save over 150$ most likly more for something that isnt a cheap knock off
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Go to a store. Play the same riff on ALL their guitars, and buy the one that sounds best.
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Don't set your standards too high, Because you own a Squier, your options for upgrading are really open. I'm saving up for a new guitar,and the cost of one that will function as a definite upgrade is about $1800. Which is a bugger. But if you're playing a Squier, you could probably spend about $500-700 on a new guitar and have a noticable improvement on all fronts.
Oh, and by the way: you should buy a new guitar when you feel that the one you have is holding you back, or keeping you from doing something you want to. Or if you feel that you have "outgrown" your guitar and really need a better one.
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I know it isn't as sexy as getting a new guitar, but you can change (and upgrade) your sound a lot more through the purchase of a new amp than a new guitar. I am just making an assumption here, but you probably have a small solid state combo. This presents a couple of problems: 1) most of them sound like crap (aside from some of the roland cube amps) 2) if you want to play live, it will not provide sufficient volume (you can mic it, send through PA etc. but do you really want to mic a 1x8 ss combo?). There is nothing wrong with these, I am pretty sure everyone learns on one, but if you want to upgrade your gear this is where you should start.
Some modestly priced tube combos include the Fender Blues jr. and Peavey Classic 30 (have to get on ebay for this one). Each of these will run you around $400. You will get more options with the more you want to spend, but this is a good place to start.
The band you linked to is using a Mesa Boogie head (very popular with bands with this sound... but they will run you $1000+) and a Marshall head (it looks like a newer one, and you can get these for a reasonable amount of cash ($700ish used), but they sound like crap for the most part).
I would suggest getting one of the amps I mentioned above, a nice high gain distortion pedal (Ibanez Tube Screamer is a classic, also very popular with these type of bands), and possibly buying a guitar with humbuckers.
That is only if you are going for the sound of the band you posted though. Personally I prefer single coil guitars (most telecasters and stratocasters) with various fuzz pedals instead of distortion pedals.
One last thing. Squiers aren't that bad. Their pickups are kind of crappy, but the overall build quality is good. If there is a guitar shop in your town (privately owned place, not Guitar Center) you may want to talk to them about switching out the pickups in your guitar. It isn't as cool as getting a new axe, but it will allow you to change your sound for a fraction of the price (a nice set of pickups will run between $80 and $200).
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so could i put like, humbuckers in the squire? i bought the guitar in a starter kit that came with a bunch of stuff. but the amp i have is a Fender Frontman 15G amp (if that means anything to anybody), it's not a bad guitar i'll agree, another part i don't like about it is the fretboard is really skinny compared to my acoustic, which i love.
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so could i put like, humbuckers in the squire? i bought the guitar in a starter kit that came with a bunch of stuff. but the amp i have is a Fender Frontman 15G amp (if that means anything to anybody), it's not a bad guitar i'll agree, another part i don't like about it is the fretboard is really skinny compared to my acoustic, which i love.
oh yeah, you will probably need a new pick guard to accomodate the humbuckers and possibly some new pots for the tone and volume, but that will be cheap. You will want to seek out a professional for this job though, unless you have experience with a soldering iron.
If you don't like the neck, you should check out some different guitars. For the most part though, electric necks are skinnier than accoustic necks (I'm not really sure why). Ibanez makes some nice humbucker equipped guitars in the ~$300 range.
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I agree about Ibanez. They make affordable guitars which are very playable. They're not for everyone, I suppose, and they're not the best guitars you could get, but they definitely get the job done.
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Hell, even a standard Fender Strat is an option, they're only like $350US. And I don't care how much people knock the Mexican-made Strat, it can actually be a quality guitar if you know what you're doing with it. Just add 2 more springs to the 1-way locking tremolo (she only comes with three, which is a goddamn travesty), and you have absolute stability. Of course, the whammy bar will wear out faster if you do, and since the tremolo isn't a Floyd Rose double-locking unit, you'll have tuning problems if you do a Hendrix-style divebombing run.
Another option is the Arbor AP230. It's basically a poor man's ($350US) Les Paul, but it sounds just as good and is in fact easier to play (the body isn't as thick, so you get a slightly brighter tone and you can actually reach all the frets with relative ease). It comes in white w/gold hardware, black w/gold hardware, or cherry sunburst w/nickel hardware.
Unfortunately, bucky_2300 is very much correct in saying that a true upgrade is going to set you back a pretty hefty sum. But I'll be damned if it isn't worth every penny. And since you started on a Squier, you will most definitely notice all sorts of wonderful things.
Edit: And oh my god when you get your new guitar, if you don't know how to intonate your bridge, TAKE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL. If you must, practice on your older guitar, and ask questions before you do anything at all. But for the love of god don't make the mistake so many people make by complaining that the guitar wasn't worth the money they paid for it. It really was, they just didn't know how to intonate their bridge, and ignorance most definitely is not bliss when you're putting over a grand on the line.
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honestly i have to say stick with your squire for a while, theyre not bad guitars. however i dont believe upgrading a squire would be the good call.
i say anything from ibanez is a good deal and also a few of the low price range gibsons are excellent.