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Guitar players, what kind of ax do you play?


Doc

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I've been playing guitars I've built for the past 35 years and have decided to get a professional/ly built one.  I'm having a hard time deciding what to get. 

 

Oh yeah, I'm into rock/hard rock/metal.  And I want a guitar with a Floyd Rose so that mostly eliminates the classics like a Fender or Gibson.

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play acoustic (flat top).  my favorite is a Zager which is a chinese guitar set up to play very easily.  Like it better than my Martin and Taylor that have also been set up but not as good.  Zager files the frets just enoughh to avoid buzzing.  Only electric I have is a washburn gibson knock off..  It's only ok.  Play left handed.

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Love the classic Les Paul and Strat sounds, but have Ibanez electric, and Taylor acoustic. Les Paul and Stratocasters models are great guitars if you order high end custom built guitars, but I’ve been very disappointed in the quality of the classic brands for quite some time. I actually have a Gibson purchased about a decade ago that lasted for a year before some major issues with the fret board. 

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1 hour ago, Doc said:

I've been playing guitars I've built for the past 35 years and have decided to get a professional/ly built one.  I'm having a hard time deciding what to get. 

 

Oh yeah, I'm into rock/hard rock/metal.  And I want a guitar with a Floyd Rose so that mostly eliminates the classics like a Fender or Gibson.

 

There are so many choices these days  it's unbelievable. I grew up playing Rock/Metal and then studied  a little Jazz and would up getting a degree in Classical  Music Performance, lol. I still love metal though. I haven't bought a guitar since the 90s . I've always been partial to Gibson and currently have a Les Paul bought in 92 and Explorer an xmas gift from  Mom in 85. Had an SG at one time that was stolen.  All I can say is that I like the way they feel in my hands. I've tried Fender, Jackson , Charvel and others back in  the day and they just didn't feel good to me.  I had a Kahler whammy on my Explorer for a while but it just killed the action and whammy was just never my thing anyway. I just remembered that I liked PRS guitars and they are neck through body construction and I see that you can get them with a Floyd setup.   Also have Ramirez and Yamaha  classical guitars.

 

You may know about these guys channels. Rick is awesome in so many ways and he covers a lot of topics on his channel including music gear, interviews from a wide variety of musicians, music theory, etc. He's also from Rochester. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/@RickBeato

 

This guys reviews a lot of gear and I like his music.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@RabeaMassaad/videos

 

Edited by jayg
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11 minutes ago, jayg said:

There are so many choices these days  it's unbelievable. I grew up playing Rock/Metal and then studied  a little Jazz and would up getting a degree in Classical  Music Performance, lol. I still love metal though. I haven't bought a guitar since the 90s . I've always been partial to Gibson and currently have a Les Paul bought in 92 and Explorer an xmas gift from  Mom in 85. Had an SG at one time that was stolen.  All I can say is that I like the way they feel in my hands. I've tried Fender, Jackson , Charvel and others back in  the day and they just didn't feel good to me.  I had a Kahler whammy on my Explorer for a while but it just killed the action and whammy was just never my thing anyway. I just remembered that I liked PRS guitars and they are neck through body construction and I see that you can get them with a Floyd setup.   Also have Ramirez and Yamaha  classical guitars.

 

You may know about these guys channels. Rick is awesome in so many ways and he covers a lot of topics on his channel including music gear, interviews from a wide variety of musicians, music theory, etc. He's also from Rochester. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/@RickBeato

 

This guys reviews a lot of gear and I like his music.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@RabeaMassaad/videos

 

I know.  :rolleyes:

 

And that's funny about Rick Beato.  Years ago one of my good friends told me about his "what makes this song great" videos.  Never knew he was from Fairport.

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Best acoustic you can buy but you'll have to wait 2 years like Clapton did or win his youth picking contest where the prize is his one of his guitars is by Wayne Henderson from his shop in the Virginia mountains.  Would be totally wasted on me.  Wayne's a helluva bluegrass player as well

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/claptons-guitar-watching-wayne-henderson-build-the-perfect-instrument_allen-st-john/381035/item/4683368/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_high_vol_midlist_under_%2410&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3KKppoOA_gIV7smUCR2CNwJxEAQYAiABEgKLRPD_BwE#idiq=4683368&edition=3605041

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5 hours ago, Doc said:

I've been playing guitars I've built for the past 35 years and have decided to get a professional/ly built one.  I'm having a hard time deciding what to get. 

 

Oh yeah, I'm into rock/hard rock/metal.  And I want a guitar with a Floyd Rose so that mostly eliminates the classics like a Fender or Gibson.


My son is a very good guitarist and he is a metal head. 
 

When he began delving into the floating tremolos, he got an ESP (Kirk Hammett model). 
 

He had a lot of trouble keeping it in tune. After taking it to a few different people to work on, he finally gave up and traded it in for something else. 
 

He got a mid-level Ibanez and that was the guitar he used to teach himself how to set up a floating tremolo so it would stay in tune. That guitar is still his baby. 
 

In hindsight, the ESP was likely not the problem. Not knowing how to properly set the guitar up was the problem. 
 

Since then, he’s bought a few different guitars with the floating tremolo and has set them up to where he can literally pick the guitar up by the tremolo bar and it will still stay in perfect tune. 
 

I’m only sharing to know that these guitars (like most) are not perfect out of the box. 
 

As far as brand names with the Floyd, he now has the Ibanez and a Dean (Dimebag).

 

His other “metal” guitars are all Schecters. He’s got two 6-strings, a 7-string and an 8-string. Awesome guitars. 
 

Just watching him grow, I’d recommend ESP, Ibanez or Schecter, based on actual experience. 
 

Jackson makes very nice guitars and Charvel has made a nice comeback, too. 
 

But there are a lot of moving parts to those floating tremolos. Just replacing a broken string isn’t like replacing a string on a Strat. 
 

You’ve got the locking nut and the fine tuners at the bridge. 
 

Once you get it down, you’ll be able to do it on your sleep (my son just turned 20). 
 

Lastly, you can get away with going mid-range, as far as a brand’s series of guitars. The differences between mid and high range are usually hardware and maybe pickups. 
 

The lower range guitars are likely not worth it, unless you’re planning on replacing stuff. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what you get!

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9 hours ago, Gugny said:

My son is a very good guitarist and he is a metal head. 
 

When he began delving into the floating tremolos, he got an ESP (Kirk Hammett model). 
 

He had a lot of trouble keeping it in tune. After taking it to a few different people to work on, he finally gave up and traded it in for something else. 
 

He got a mid-level Ibanez and that was the guitar he used to teach himself how to set up a floating tremolo so it would stay in tune. That guitar is still his baby. 
 

In hindsight, the ESP was likely not the problem. Not knowing how to properly set the guitar up was the problem. 
 

Since then, he’s bought a few different guitars with the floating tremolo and has set them up to where he can literally pick the guitar up by the tremolo bar and it will still stay in perfect tune. 
 

I’m only sharing to know that these guitars (like most) are not perfect out of the box. 
 

As far as brand names with the Floyd, he now has the Ibanez and a Dean (Dimebag).

 

His other “metal” guitars are all Schecters. He’s got two 6-strings, a 7-string and an 8-string. Awesome guitars. 
 

Just watching him grow, I’d recommend ESP, Ibanez or Schecter, based on actual experience. 
 

Jackson makes very nice guitars and Charvel has made a nice comeback, too. 
 

But there are a lot of moving parts to those floating tremolos. Just replacing a broken string isn’t like replacing a string on a Strat. 
 

You’ve got the locking nut and the fine tuners at the bridge. 
 

Once you get it down, you’ll be able to do it on your sleep (my son just turned 20). 
 

Lastly, you can get away with going mid-range, as far as a brand’s series of guitars. The differences between mid and high range are usually hardware and maybe pickups. 
 

The lower range guitars are likely not worth it, unless you’re planning on replacing stuff. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what you get!

 

Yeah the floating trems can be tricky.  I installed one (meaning I routed-out the body myself) on the second guitar I built and am amazed I got it right.  But I plan on having the guitar I buy professionally set up.  

 

And I was looking at a Schecter C-1 FR-S SIlver Mountain.

 

 

Edited by Doc
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I'm an acoustic guy. I have a Seagull S6 Original that I keep in open-G tuning and a Seagull S12 (12-string) that I play in standard tuning. A little over a year ago, I bought a low-end (as in <$1k) Martin Road Series. (It's a cutaway body, not the typical Martin dreadnought.) I fell in love with the Martin and started playing it exclusively. Then I realized that its lower action is what makes it much more playable, so I took the S6 to a guitar shop and asked them to lower the action. They only charged $60, and it made a huge difference. I'll probably take the S12 in for the same treatment.

 

The Martin's sound is a little less bold, being a smaller body, so I typically play it with an amp.

 

 

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So out of what the 10 that I own...

 

1.) Charvel model 6

2.) USA black strat with the custom shop Gilmour electronics (had connections at fender for a bit)

3.) Mick Thompson custom shop Mike Shannon made jackson soloist (only like 15 made)

4.) Gibson LP studio with slash pickups

5.) Takamine electric acoustic

6.) ESP e11 mii

7.) jackson ltd wildcard

8.) Evh wolfgang (MIJ) stealth

9.) Evh USA signature

10.) USA charvel San Dimas (series 2) aka telecaster body

 

The EVHs might be the most comfortable guitars I have ever played and they are so stinking versatile and playable.

 

I'm really a jackson and charvel guy and nothing still beats a soloist, but these freaking EVHs are really close. I have toured the fender factory probably 5 times and it's like a kid in a candy store there. 

 

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19 hours ago, redtail hawk said:

It isn't the wand, It's the magician

 

Seriously under-rated player. I saw him at the whiskey in 2019 on a j5 and the creatures tour. I have tons of videos I took that night. Duff McKagan's daughter opened, she was bad, her mom was smoking though, Jared James Nichols was next. The special guests were Corey Taylor, Fred coury, Chavo and Michael Anthony. Boy I miss LA sometimes...

3 hours ago, Buffalosouth said:

Slash signature epiphone is my favorite I have.ive always wanted a hollow body electric though. 

Best thing I did was rip put the 300k pots and Gibson pickups on my LP and upgrade to 500k pots and the slash pickups are freaking amazing. From a guitar I was meh on, it's great now. I may pick up another LP or 2 and throw a JB/59 set in it. 

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well I don't play guitar but my son owns several guitars and I have learned a lot from him He has both electric guitars and electric basses.

 

He has a japanese very high quality Gibson les paul knock off brand called Tokei. Vintage and excellent quality guitar

 

He also has a vintage blonde Gibson ES- 135 blonde hollowbody. He never liked touring with it because of its value

 

his standard touring basses were Gibson Ripper basses. His first was a blonde which was destroyed in Cults practice space during hurricane Sandy. I was bummed. We had purchased that bass for his Christmas present then  the following spring he played it at the Coachella music festival. Heavy sentimental value.

 

After it was destroyed he purchased a black Ripper . Which is the bass Gene Simmons played in KISS

 

 

tokie.jpg

es135.jpg

ripper.jpg

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17 hours ago, Doc said:

Great stuff so far guys.  Keep it coming!

Have you actually gone to a store and picked one up yet to see how it feels?

 

I know you gave some general genre's, but is their a specific sound or sounds you are looking for? Ex: Adrian smith and maiden, priest, acdc, gojira, clutch, black label, slipknot?

 

Made in Japan is USA level quality and other countries tend to be hit or miss.

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On 3/29/2023 at 6:50 AM, Doc said:

 

Yeah the floating trems can be tricky.  I installed one (meaning I routed-out the body myself) on the second guitar I built and am amazed I got it right.  But I plan on having the guitar I buy professionally set up.  

 

And I was looking at a Schecter C-1 FR-S SIlver Mountain.

 

 

 

The two 6-string Schecters he has are a Hellraiser Hybrid C-1 and a Hellraiser C-1.  To my ears, the Hellraiser C-1 (black cherry .. gorgeous), is the smoothest sounding guitar he has.  I can always tell when he's playing that guitar.

 

As far as Schecters, he's also got an Omen-7 and an Omen-8.  He went with the "lesser" models, since he's likely to play them a lot less.  But they are still great guitars, as far as staying in tune, etc.  

 

With their higher end models, you get neck-through bodies, EMGs (on some) and better hardware.  My son actually likes the Schecter pickups just as much as the EMGs.

 

He's also a lefty, so it's tough to find exactly what he's looking for in the form of used guitars.  Although, the 8-string he bought was, indeed, used; but you'd never know it.

 

Anyway, I think you'll be very happy if you go with the Schecter.

 

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46 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

Have you actually gone to a store and picked one up yet to see how it feels?

 

I know you gave some general genre's, but is their a specific sound or sounds you are looking for? Ex: Adrian smith and maiden, priest, acdc, gojira, clutch, black label, slipknot?

 

Made in Japan is USA level quality and other countries tend to be hit or miss.

 

Haven't had the chance yet.  Hopefully this weekend.  And no particular sound but I'll know it when I hear it.

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1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

Name a guitar brand and model and you’ll find it tuned and ready to play in my home studio. Many acoustics, but nowhere the amount I have electric.

I’ve posted pics in prior threads

throw us a bone and post a pic por favor! Now I'm curious.

 

🙂

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On 3/28/2023 at 6:19 PM, Doc said:

I've been playing guitars I've built for the past 35 years and have decided to get a professional/ly built one.  I'm having a hard time deciding what to get. 

 

Oh yeah, I'm into rock/hard rock/metal.  And I want a guitar with a Floyd Rose so that mostly eliminates the classics like a Fender or Gibson.

I think I'm up to about 20 or so right now, 8 of which are Charvels.

 

In my opinion you really can't go wrong, especially with some of the late 80s/early 90s made in Japan models. I have a few of the newer ones, post-Fender acquisition and they are great players as well.

 

If you can still find one, the new 2022 Henrik Danhage model is incredible (especially if you like the relic'd look). 

 

If I remember when I get home I'll post a pic of my custom Buffalo Bills Charvel 475...

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