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Guitar buying help

#41
Floyd Rose --- Well the real test (of one' setup abilities or your tech ) is to just use an ordinary Start trem that floats meaning you can also dive up (3 semitones on the G) not just dive gown and for it to stay in tune through the whole set.



Back to the OP -- get him a telecaster style. He will thank you later for it. Tell him Jimmy Page used a Tele for many studio recordings. I wish somebody told that to me when I started playing electric guitar.
 
#42
RitterSport said:
Talk about off-topic!

I don't really know anything about guitars. Whenever I learn something accidentally, I crank my bass up really high to knock it out of my brain.

However, my son is really getting into guitar playing and he's looking for recommendations for a good quality, used Les Paul-style guitar with a whammy bar. Barring that, any good quality, used guitar with a whammy bar. He has another guitar that he loves (G&L LSAT, passed down from my uncle), but he doesn't want to add a whammy to that for sentimental reasons.

So, what brands are known to be not too expensive, punching above their weight, quality and price wise? And, what's a reasonable price to pay for a used guitar? I'm thinking $300-$500? Is that too little? Too much?
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+1 for Epiphone Les Paul
 
#43
Stevis said:
If he isn’t married to an LP style, I think that there are some good Squiers under $500. I don’t have any Squier guitars but I have two basses (Matt Freeman P and a Classic Vibe Jazz - very gigable instruments). The J Mascis Jaguar is a popular model Squier, with a whammy.
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I have one of the J. Mascis Jazzmasters, and they have good tone and the build quality is surprisingly good, but the tremolo system is not great. The whammy bar falls out constantly, and if you don't lube the bridge and nut it goes out of tune very easily. Maybe his kid is a tinkerer and would want to learn maintenance and even some mods, but if not I'd steer away from it.
 
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#44
One thing to be aware of with tremolo equipped guitars is that they will NOT stay in tune if the guitar is poorly set up and/or the nut is made from cheap, soft plastic and/or the nut slots are poorly cut. You can expect some or all of these things from guitars in that price range. I will strongly recommend using a part of your budget on a professional setup and a new bone nut.
 
#46
Matt Liebenau said:
Guitarfetish.com has the Xavier555 with a Floyd Rose. XV-555 Double Locking Tremolo Carved Top LP
If you search eBay Kramer had a version of the Assault (I think was the model name) that had a Floyd also. I haven’t held, played or worked on either one but most reviews seem to indicate they’re decent for the price.

Some context may be in order. The above suggestion for an Epiphone LP with a Bigsby is a good one and I, personally, like a LP with a Bigsby but if your son is looking to dive bomb and do Eddie VanHalen antics he won’t be happy with that and will probably want a double locking style vibrato.

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Whoa, I kind of want one of those now. They got some good colors too.
 
#47
My one piece of advice here is that when your son goes guitar shopping, and he's trying out Les Pauls or Les Paul style guitars, make sure he plays them standing up using a strap. Those things are notorious for neck dive, but if he only plays it sitting down, he's not going to realize it until later, when he has to play standing up using a strap.
 
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#49
Maybe not 100% relevant, but I bought a used Ibanez SA160FM a year ago for $300. (Surprise! It came with unexpected locking tuners.) Mostly I just wanted to make rock n' roll sounds with my Boss Katana. But I also bought it to learn how to set up a floating trem system. It's a nice little guitar. With the HSS pickup arrangement it's pretty flexible, too. And the neck is totally shred worthy.
 
#50
Riff Ranger said:
Matsumoku: the guitars of choice for bassists everywhere! :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

I traded my first good bass for this guitar 20 years ago, and I can’t say I regret it. Westone Prestige 150, shown here alongside a few of my Matsumoku basses.

View attachment 4735687

EDITED TO ADD: my first guitar was an uber pointy Westone Dynasty with a Kahler-ish tremolo, with locks and a nut at the headstock. I can’t recall how well the tremolo performed because I barely used it, but string changes were easy.
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That's pretty! Here's mine, since we're sharing -
westone-thunder.JPG
 
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#51
higain617 said:
You just change strings one at a time.
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Very good advice. In my experience 95% of all guitar players are completely clueless about setting up a Floyd Rose when all the strings have been removed. It's not really that difficult once you get the hang of it but it's a far more delicate and time consuming process than setting up a Strat-style tremolo. Once a Floyd Rose system is properly set up and locked it should stay 100% stable even with crazy use of the whammy bar. The same goes for similar locking trem systems like the various versions of Ibanez Edge systems.
 
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#52
matty1039 said:
Maybe someone with more experience than I can chime in but from what I've heard the locking/Floyd Rose style trem can make changing strings more difficult. A Bigsby or Fender style may be more user friendly for a newer player.
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I wouldn't exactly call a Bigsby user friendly... Changing the strings can be extremely fiddly. Break a string on a Bigsby during a gig? Forget about using that guitar for the rest of the night unless you've got extremely nimble fingers or a guitar tech. Also, you can pretty much forget about any crazy stuff like dive bombing with a Bigsby. Don't get me wrong, I love Bigsbys! I like how they feel/respond and they look amazing. But they're not exactly the most versatile trem system out there. Best for subtle vibratos.

With a Floyd (or Ibanez Edge) you can at least change strings relatively fast as long as 1) you only change one string at the time and 2) have the two sizes of necessary hex wrenches plus a wire cutter available. In real life situation you will of course sooner or later find yourself in a situation where you break a string and at least one of the hex wrenches has gone missing... Also, you can pretty much forget about quick re-tuning to alternative tunings with a double locking trem system.

Strat-style trems are easy to set up, easy to change strings, more versatile than a Bigsby and when set up correctly they should be quite stable, even with some abuse. They're still not nearly as stable as a Floyd or Edge double locking trem though and a good quality, correctly cut nut is very important with non-locking trems (and that's something you will rarely find on guitars in the OP's price range).

(BTW, I say "Strat" rather than "Fender" because Fender have some other trem systems too, like on Jazzmasters and Mustangs and opinions on these are divided at best...).

In short: It's all about finding the right tool for the job. Personally I would recommend a beginner to get a guitar WITHOUT a trem system at all, unless that person specifically wants to play a style of music that requires one.
 
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#53
Depending on what you like about the LP, then the Musicman/Sterling Axis might fit the bill too: Dual humbuckers, and a bit of a LP vibe to the shape, and a trem. AX3 is a traditional term, while AX4 is a locking trem. The AX30 and AX40 are slightly higher end mid-range versions but are rarer. (and obviously USA Axis, but probably way outside your budget). Only the AX3 is still in production from the Sterling versions.

The EVH Wolfgang Special is an evolution of the Axis, which also has the same vibe. The special might be a bit out of your price range. The Standard is cheaper but has a more contoured body shape, which feels less LP (but is a lot of guitar for the money, lands in your price range, and is dual HB with locking trem).

Out of the box the trem on all these is set as dive only. This seems like the best of all options to me. If you don't use the trem you can just ignore it. Changing strings is quick and easy, as its not floating. If a string breaks it stays in tune. You can dive bomb for days and it stays in tune. In terms of emergency string changes its actually BETTER than a regular bridge/trem: strings tend to break at the bridge, which on a regular bridge means a new string. With a locking trem you can unlock the nut, unwind half an inch of string and re-lock the broken string - sure it's a bit dodgey, but you can fix a broken string to get through the set in seconds (also check out thehexrider mini-hexwrench).
 
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#57
RitterSport said:
Thanks! I spent years trying to get him interested, got him a guitar and a little amp when he was around 12. Nothing for years, then three or four years ago, picked it up again and he blew past me on guitar and bass within a couple of years.
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Looking forward to the day when my middle kid (now 9.5yo) blows by me. His little left-handed instruments are ready when he is :bassist:
 
#58
RitterSport said:
Wow! I was away all weekend, and just go through reading all of these posts. Lots to work through here.

I will report back with whatever he decides to do. I've sent him this thread (let's see if he reads it...).
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It occurs to me that I never quite spelled this out:

Les Paul style? Many options at any price range.

Some sort of tremolo/vibrato/whammy? Many options at any price range, though you generally won’t see a Floyd or a Bigsby on a budget instrument.

Some sort of tremolo/vibrato/whammy on a Les Paul style instrument? Rare at any price, though we’ve managed to crowdsource some options. Every once in a while, internet crowdsourcing really is good for something ;)
 

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