The Instrument Recommendation thread

[Neapolitan]

Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

I'm back here after a brief respite 'cuz I need a bit of advice.

I'm in the market for a new guitar to compliment my amp (a Vox AC-30CC2) and I'm pretty much lost in the direction I want to go. I want to have a full sound with a warm, well-balanced tone so I've been looking almost exclusively at hollowbody and semi-hollowbody electrics. The issue is that almost all of them worth looking at are priced well beyond my reach (ex. Gibson ES-335, Gretsch Falcon, Rickenbacker 360). Which leaves me in a bit of a dilemma...

I can either: a) settle for a lower quality Gretsch, Epiphone Sheridan, Ibanez or 2) feck it all and end up getting something quirky (read: easily induced feedback) on the solid body side like a Jaguar/Jazzmaster, Danelectro or the like. Neither decision really appeals to me at this point, so I was hoping for some direction from the wise members here on possible compromises I could make. I'm not averse to looking at unusual makes or models; I've even been strongly considering a Vox hollowbody. Budget of $1500.

The general guitar sound I'm looking for lies somewhere between the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Spacemen 3, if that makes any sense.

What about a solid body Vox (Series 33, 55 or 77) w/ switchable Humbucker/P-90s? I've only seen them in mags and youtude but I think they look sharp and I would get them over a Gibson if I was in the market for buying a guitar.

The Classic Player Jazzmaster Special seems like a decent guitar, what I like about this is that it has a tune-o-matic bridge, if you get a regular Jazzmaster with the oringal bridge it rattles apart. One way of getting around that is using nail polish on the hex screws to set them in place but that seem like a lot of time spent tweeking just to set up your guitar. Another choice if you think you might like a Jazzmaster is Thurston Moore's it has the soap bar pick-ups (by Seymore Duncan) and it also has a tune-o-matic bridge but the guitar doesn't have a tone knob, you can get around that and warm up the sound of your guitar lowering the volume.

You might also want check out some some stomp boxes too like Death by Audio (Fuzz War) or Home Brew Electronics (HBE Germania).