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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 347
Location: Reno, NV | Im entertaining the idea of getting a solid body electric to compliment my 1771LX.
What would you choose?
Here are the rules. Must be under $1000 and must be new stock, meaning currently availble from a guitar house like GC or MF. Please don't tell me how you'd browse that "E" site for a good used 70's Hamer.. etc..
What configuration do you prefer.. HH HSS SSS etc.. and why?
My guitar knowledge is very limited, thats why im asking. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7223
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Under $1000 there are many many choices. Mostly imports, but I have been looking at the "Highway 1" series of strats lately which are USA Made. There are definitely some nice imports in the 600-1000 range. I have seen a few of the Hamer imports, BC Rich, and Schecter. If I'm not buying a guitar for it's craftsmanship, than it must have something else I am interested in, and it has surprised me on occasion what that might be. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | If you want a "Fender" type product, listen to the Dawg......definately check out the G&L line.
If you want a Gibson style, I would check out the PRS SE series guitars. They constantly get high praise.
Shame you want new....I have an excellent G&L ASAT that I have on my "To Sale One Of These Days" list. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 123
Location: Massachusetts | Hi Yak.
What type of music do you like? That could steer you into the direction of the electric to buy.
I will be very broad and say humbuckers are used by Led Zeppelin, Ac/Dc, Guns N Roses, BB King(ckean tones).
P90 would be Green Day American Idiot, Neil Young(I think), Missippi Queen song, George Thorogood, Social Distortion.
Single coil is Telecaster guitar like the Clash, Stairway to Heaven solo, country music. Stratocaster tone is SRV, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Robert Cray, earlier Green Day.
PRS tone is current live versions of songs by Kansas and Santana.
Now I love Fender guitars. A stratocaster is very very expressive for my playing style.
If you like stratocasters I would look into the Jimmy Vaughan which has a V neck. If you like Ovation v necks you will like the JV. It has USA parts and made in Mexico so a nice balance. Best bang for the buck strat.
Also out there now is a 50's Classic Player stratocaster. It is about $750. It has American Vintage pickups(sound as good as my more expensive 57ri), a 2 point modern bridge with vintage saddles, modern neck radius and frets I believe. It plays and sounds great.
For a telecaster the harder to find Muddy Waters is a steal. USA parts and pickups, made in Mexico..an amazing bang for the buck telecaster that sounds great.
The one thing about Fenders is that while most have a 1 11/16" nut width, they have a bunch of different neck shapes and also fret sizes and 3 different neck radius.
I believe the JV and that 50's I mentioned had fat frets, 9.5 inch(modern) radius. Some like the Eric Johnson have 12" radius like a Gibson. Flatter for leads, less comfortable for barre chords.
So to me the JV or the 50's strat is most like an Ovation in terms of radius, fret size and neck shape.
For p90's I actually dig the Les Paul faded double cut guitar. But the Made in Korea gold top Hamer gets amazing reviews everywhere you go.
For humbuckers I am sure there are billions of choices. But the made in Korea PRS series again gets huge huge good reviews.
Well, that's some info from me anyway. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 123
Location: Massachusetts | Wierd, thought you could edit posts.
Anyway for strats my first choice for you in the price range is the 50's classic player strat for classic strat tone with modern features.
Even has locking tuners. Sweet. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | You can edit posts. Click on this guy ..................here  |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | Hamer |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | You want to compliment the sound of your current instrument, ok, then you want this configuration:
Start with the wood for the body: either alder or mahogany.
Wood for the neck, maple and pau ferro fretboard.
Neck depth one .810 to 1 inch.
neck width 1 11/16
Scale length 24.75
Bolt on neck for easy repair.
stainless frets medium jumbo
planet waves auto trim locking tuners
Bill lawrence tele bridge pickup
Gotoh tele bridge
Seymour duncan HB of your choice in the neck position.
Four way switch; bridge, b and n in parrallel, n, b and n in series.
Torres midrange boost for the tone knob, 500K pot
Volume plain 500k pot
Signal splitter for the neck hb.
You could make this for less than $850. If you don't want to make it try to get a guitar as close to this as possible.
Parker makes something close to this for under $700. Or go with a G&L import tele.
Why is this a good configuration you may ask? Because you are getting a classic fender twang sound that will fit with your ovation, plus, it will do more.
If you can go over $1000, then Hamer |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Al,
does Hamer sell a new guitar for under $1000?
I was under the assumption they were more expensive than his price range. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Good thread!
I have been enjoying the Frankenvations I have put together. Unfortunately I don't see anything comparitive to the old Ovation necks.
I'd have to stick with the value of previously owned. |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | check out carvin guitars - Carvin Website
They can make you something very nice for not a lot of money. |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 21
Location: Kilmarnock,Scotland | f'get Fender and their "this weeks model"
get a G&L legacy or MusicMan silhouette special - Strat killers :D
Komp |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Fender American Stratocaster...with the configuration of three single-coil pickups. Despite the price (near $1000), it is good value...the pickups are super, the neck feels fast, and the hardware is great, plus at that price, it comes with a hard case. It's a very flexible guitar, you can get everything from clean to the filthiest raunch out of it, just pick your amp and effects properly.
Roger |
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Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | I second the Carvin suggestion. You get more for your bucks than with anything that goes through a retailer. Having said that, if I could only have one sb for under a grand it would be a Fender Strat. There's a reason so many guitar gods play 'em. I would probably go with a fat strat. That way you get the humbucker and the single coil sound. Another plus is that there is not an easier guitar to modify, in my experience. |
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Joined:
December 2005
Posts: 149
Location: New York, NY | I agree on the Carvin as well. That being said... I think there are some others to consider as well.
Strat or tele Highway 1's are really nice for the money. If you're looking for the 'bucker or p90 sound though, every time i go to GC I can't help but to pick up one of the faded Gibsons. They're not top Gibson quality but the faded neck feels great! In particular, the double cut les paul with the 2 p90's sounds fantastic. Check it out! I'm thinking about picking one up soon :)
Cheers,
JT |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | I've been thinking about "going electric" myself (although I doubt I really will...I just like the acoustic sound too much).
Anyway, I've spent a ton of time auditioning electrics in this price range over the last couple of months. For what its worth, I keep coming back to the PRS SE Singlecut. I love the way it plays, love the way it feels, love the sound. Perfect all around. Plug it into a nice Mesa F50, and you are ready for anything. And with a street price of $550, how can you go wrong? |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I third the Carvin suggestion. I have owned about 5 of them over the years and always look forward to the next one.
Currently I have an LB75P Bass I just bought off of fleabay and after some setup, the thing plays like butter and growls like a Bear.
I have also owned an AE185, a couple of DC127's and currently a DC400 with the Piezo under the bridge.
You will not find a better action and tonal range is pretty good. Only negative I have had is in one or two cases, a minor finish flaw or a solder that was not good. In every case they would take them back and fix them.
Try the 10 day trial on the instrument of your choice. If you don't like it, ship it back.
I liked both the DC127 and the current 400, although I would like to try a Holdsworth or a Carved Top (those look awesome, but are expensive by my standards).
They get rave reviews and win many shootouts mostly due to "bang for the buck". They are competing against foreign guitars in the same price range, yet they are US made and set up by hand. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | For my $500 to $700, my preference would be to pick up a USA strat from somebody who bought or received the instrument with all good intentions to learn how to use it, but then never does. The instrument is mint, has spent its life in the case, and can be obtained for about half its cost new. My last two strats fall into this category. |
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Any SB electric under $1000 ... what would you buy?
