mahogany should provide you with a darker overall tone. a little on the bassier / heavier side of things. i just really like the red and black action.

glad to see you posting again too. :thumb:

The funny part of it is the colors were the only thing that bugged me about the guitar, only because I already had a red and black one (the Brian May) hanging on my wall and my idiotic brain was thinking about how it would look side by side. Once I realized that was some stupid reasoning when deciding on a guitar... I bought it. As far as the mahogany making it sound a bit darker, that makes sense... it's a very subtle difference from my past strats... also due to the fact they all had maple necks which I find sounds brighter and lends to the full sound of the strings more so then Rosewood does (which seems to dampen the sound - in a good way).

also, thanks... it's good to be posting again!

haha yeah i suppose similar finishes on different body shapes might look funny unless you want to maintain a set colour scheme for ALL your gear hehe.

you're also right that the fretboard material makes a subtle difference in tone. lighter boards produce brighter sound. it's never a make or break issue with most guitarists, although most tend to have a subconscious preference for one over the other. i know myself all the guitars i own have dark fretboards, they just look more 'right' in my eyes.

I noticed ya'll aren't to big on posting threads that waste space and this is pertaining to the first question. Only it's for me. I play metal and blues and usually combine the two and I am currently playing an epiphone SG400 (Due to the fact I'm dirt ass poor and that's what I happened to come across) But I've been thinking and I need to scrounge up my money and get a new one more suitable for my style and I don't want to blow it on something, for lack of a better word, ****ty. I've been heavily influenced by Dimebag Darrell and Burn the Priest (Now Lamb of God) and I'm looking to find out what yall think about it before I went out and spent all my money on something useless. And if it's not too much trouble you could recommend a specific amp or really anything that comes across your mind.

what are you currently running as an amp?

the sg-400 isn't that bad, it's a notch above entry level but still pretty low in the mid-range stuff. unless you plan on taking the jump into pro level $1000+ guitars i don't think you'll notice as much of an increase in overall sound quality as you would with a new amp.

i know dimebag was big on randall amps. mesa boogies and marshalls are also popular for metal and blues.

a 'good' amp and 'bad' guitar will sound better than a 'bad' amp and a 'good' guitar.

Don't laugh cause I sure as hell did. my current amp is this little **** warmup amp I am definitely getting it replaced. But yeah I plan on saving up as much as I can and getting the best guitar I can get cause I don't mean to brag but I don't suck at guitar and I'm ready to go out and let it be heard. And I'm glad you said the good amp bad guitar deal I'll remember that although I hope to get good quality on both.

Mr. Dave, what's your opinion on the Vox AC-15. Have you ever played one?

I agree with mr dave. I think SGs are grossly underrated guitars and very well suited to what you say your purposes are.














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Yeah but I mean I just got through playing it and it's not what I'm lookin' for...could you maybe suggest some other guitars cause I know I'm not sticking with the SG 400 it's just not me. I didn't know it was "under rated" and all that but I know it's not exactly what I'm lookin' for. I am definitely not trying to duplicate what Dimebag did. Maybe I didn't give enough to go on I can't explain the style too well cause I'm still trying to find that right tone I guess. Maybe that's just one of them things that can only be found through trial and error. I know I want a heavier body it feels a little more right that way to me. Ya'll could be right too it very well may be my amp that makes me believe my guitar is not as good as it is. I'll start by getting a new amp and see the difference first.

probably the most important response in the whole thread (imo)

for me, the idea of paying $1000+ for a strat is ludicrous. my ear can't tell the difference, especially if you buy a mexican one and put a set of pick ups in it. get all the coolness, for way less $$

same thing between gibson and epiphone. i had a guy put me down once for playin an epi les paul. i went next door and got my buddies gibson les paul, turned out the lights, and he couldn't tell the difference. that was the end of him talkin smack about my epi les paul. the biggest difference was my epi was less than 1/2 the price.

another guy used to knock my suziki intruder because he rode a heritage. that ended when he road my suzuki and realized he coulda bought 2 of mine for what he paid for his, and still had 6 grand left over. don't be fooled by the hype. try everything.

nope, i've only really used marshalls, peaveys, and traynors. everything i've ever read or heard about the vox amps has been gold though. if the quality of their wah pedal is indicative of the company's overall quality then i have no doubt on the AC-15 being great.


going back to Trey's situation... the reason i recommended keeping the SG is because it's generally good for both blues and metal but it's also known as one of the lightest guitars on the market which makes it very neck heavy (and annoying).

where you're itching to hit a stage and let people hear you, i really think a new amp will be far more beneficial in the short term than a new guitar. you could get a solid combo amp that would work really well for practicing with friends (forever) and small gigs (for starting out). you DO NOT need a stack to play a bar show, especially if they've got a good sound guy and system.

having said that if you're annoyed with the constant neck dives (i would be too). you'll likely want something heavier in the body, likely a solid mahogany body, either a les paul style guitar or one of the crazy pointy metal guitars like dimebag's signature models.

personally i've been using one of these for a few years now. The ESP Guitar Company :: LTD Deluxe Guitars - EC-1000 Series
it sounds fantastic, the EMGs come through nice and clear over drums and bass, it's well balanced, and extra comfortable on the body. it's almost like a combo of a les paul a strat and a shredder guitar. you get the classic LP shape without looking like a total ripoff, the body contours of a strat, and 24 frets.

but it's also about $1000 plus tax and shipping depending on where you get it from.

like i said last time though, that esp/ltd sounds like crap running through my peavey rage when compared to my epiphone running through my little marshall valvestate 40. it's not a huge amp by any means but it's more than loud enough to jam in a band setting and it's worked fine for any gig i've played.

Well that is really alot of help thanks I'll definitely think all this over

it's all good. my whole reason for joining this site was to dish out advice like this hehe

if you have any more questions or concerns, just keep them coming :thumb:

Well instead of starting another thread I'll just ask in this one... If I were to buy a cheap electric-acoustic and plug it into my plain old electric amplifier will I get a "Neutral Milk Hotel" or "Flying Saucer Attack" sound? This is only me asuming what kind of lo-fi sound I will get.

^Yeah!!!

This advice should be carved out in stone for new guitar players.

The $$$ and personal taste will follow over the years, but ditch that ****ty practice amp, and your crappy axe will sound a WHOLE lot better!

So will your next guitar, and your next, and...

it's really hard to say. depends on what kind of pickup is installed in the acoustic and what sort of amp you run it through. you could also go for the ultra cheap method and get a bottlecap pickup. it's quite literally a bottle cap soldered to the end of a lead cable, stick it onto the body of your acoustic with a thin piece of gum or something. looks ridiculous, sounds better, costs about $5 more than a regular lead cable hehe.

Hi guys
I'm learning to play an electric guitar
I'm a beginner
I want to buy one
I have the option of buying a Kramer Focus 211s with floyd Rose
or
a Yamaha Pacifica 112 XJ
I dont have much money and these two guitars fit my budget
I want a guitar which i can use for a long time with no worries
I'm more intrested in the Kramer because I have very small hands(really small-for example my index finger is hardly 2.7inches long)
and the Kramer has a thinner neck
but I really dont know which is the better guitar?
Please help me out
:)

p.s. I'm sorry I dont know how to create a new post :)

quite frankly i would avoid both guitars.

getting a low end electric guitar with a whammy bar is going to cause you WAY more headaches than it's worth. keeping it in tune will be a never ending challenge.

also don't get a guitar with a Floyd Rose if you have to ask these type of questions because they're a pain in the butt for people like me who can answer these types of questions ;) so for someone in your position, they'll just make you cry hehehe

if a guitar with a fixed bridge is not an option then i strongly recommend you consider blocking the bridge as soon as you get the guitar. it's as simple as wedging a rolled up piece of cardboard in the cavity between the back of the bridge and the body (the cavity is where the bridge is able to move when you press on the tremolo bar).

Yes stay away from Fender. Only people like Clapton,Hendrix,SRV, Kenny Wayne Sheppard and T-Bone Walker played Strats.

Your completly correct. I just went down amp shoppin at my local guitar shop and spent a while talking and trying the Vox Ac15. My biggest concern was if it got loud enough (in comparison to a Blues JR for instance) and the guy working there said hes been gigging with one for years now and it has far more overall volume and clean headroom than almost all other 12" combos of that size.

It was a looker as well, with all that vintage cloth and such I wanted to buy it real bad.


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And avoid that Yamaha Pacifica 112 XJ like Dave said. I borrowed my friends for a while cus I thought it looked like a cool little shredder guitar to try out for a while and well....its a toy. Doesnt sound half bad tbh but feels like a joke.

IMO get a faded SG. Its size is comparable to an acoustic, and it is light! Also it is cheaper than it was when I got one.. It is worth every penny. around 700 dollars now I believe.