Question regarding whammy bar, etc.

I am in the market for a beginner electric guitar and have been doing research for about a month now. I have finally narrowed it down to 2 choices -
1. Ibanez GRG170DX
2. Epiphone Les Paul 100
But I have a question regarding the Ibanez. It says it comes with a whammy bar but I really dont want it now since I am still more of a beginner and it will just detune the guitar. I may use it later. So my question is, can I use the guitar without touching the whammy bar? In other words, how does it exactly work ?As "exactly" as I can get it: The whammy (often referred to as a "tremolo," but technically a vibrato) changes the length of the strings, thereby changing their pitch. The arm swivels out of the way when you're not using it.
A trem is nice to have sometimes, but certainly not a necessity. You could remove the arm ("handle"), or block the trem from inside. There are commercial devices that can be used to block a trem so it'll stay fixed, but they may involve some drilling and other "tool time."
Can I play bent notes without the risk of having my guitar detuned?You should be okay with that. If you're looking at some tablature and see little arrows showing a 90° upturn, that's a bend, but it's done with a finger rather than a mechanical device.
I know these questions may look really dumb to you, but as a beginner, I don't know where to look for help."The only 'dumb' question, Grasshopper, is the one that goes unasked." :wink: Ask away; that's pretty much how the rest of us got to where we are.
I have been playing acoustic all this time so I really don't know in deep detail how electrics work. I just simply don't want to end up with a guitar that is too complicated to take care of, though I am sure these features will come in handy when I get better.Now that is a good outlook on the subject. 8)
Also, I would really love your opinions. Should I get the GRG or Epi LP ? Which would you recommend to a beginner switching from acoustic?I'd want one of each, but maybe that's just me. :wink:
I just got a look at an image of the Ibanez. It's close in appearance to my RG120, but the RG120 has two humbuckers ("HH" arrangement) rather than the two humbuckers with a singlecoil between them ("HSH"). Even if the GRG and the Epi had the exact same pickups, they would still sound "different" from each other because of differences in materials, shape, etc. Your best bet would be to try out one of each, and see (hear) which one you prefer. Maybe you can add the other one to your collection sometime in the future. (Don't ask the doctor about G.A.S., Gear Acquisition Syndrome. He'll think you're talking about something else entirely. :lol: )
Good job with the research, BTW. That's the best way to get something you'll be happy with.
Oh, and one last question. Are guitar power cords the same all around the world? I will be buying this guitar from the US but I dont live there, so I will be using a 240V amplifier. Will that pose any problem?Nope. The cord (cable) from the guitar to the amp should be of good quality, but any voltage over it is generated by the pickups, and is very, very low. Those will be pretty much the same worldwide.

A whammy bar or trem can and usually does de tune your guitar because the bridge sticks or a string tree catches there are mods you can do to lessen the problem .Check out one of Dan Erliwines books . You don't have to use it I've actually blocked mine with a piece of mahogany ala Eric Clapton style. Floyd Rose trems do work much better but they can be confusing at first because they are fussy. The Ibanez bridge Is floating the Epiphone is fixed. As for the amperage problem I'm at a loss. Hope that helps.

If you are thinking in the direction of the LP, you may want to consider the Agile (at Rondo music). The AL2000 in spalted maple looks really nice, has a good spec and seems to get good reviews (Agiles as a whole, that is).
http://www.rondomusic.net/electricguitar-ss3.html

Wow, thanks for the quick replies guys. I need to place the order in a couple of days so I have to kinda rush with the decision. Anyways I still need to get a couple of things straight (yep more questions.. :D )

"The arm swivels out of the way when you're not using it." - Does that mean I can just turn the tremolo bar the other way round when I don't want to use it and it won't interfere during playing?

"The Ibanez bridge Is floating" - Are there are any disadvantages of floating bridges?

Oh yeah and and as an option, I could spent a few extra bucks and go for the RG321MH which does not have a tremolo, but has all the nice things of an RG like Wizard II necks, etc.

Any thoughts?

"The arm swivels out of the way when you're not using it." - Does that mean I can just turn the tremolo bar the other way round when I don't want to use it and it won't interfere during playing?I couldn't find a large enough image that showed a GRG with the arm anywhere but pointing up toward the neck, but if you imagine one rotated about 180° from there, you'll have an idea of it.
"The Ibanez bridge Is floating" - Are there are any disadvantages of floating bridges?There can be. This applies to one brand, generally said to be somewhat "fussy," but it'll give you some idea of advantages and disadvantages that may apply to all of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Rose It also mentions "tremstopper" in there, but the redirect goes right back to the URL above. The wood block mentioned earlier will work, and done right, it may provide more "coupling" for the whole "string/body vibration thing."
Oh yeah and and as an option, I could spent a few extra bucks and go for the RG321MH which does not have a tremolo, but has all the nice things of an RG like Wizard II necks, etc. That could be a good one, too. No whammy to misbehave, and maybe some additional sustain from the mahogany body.
Decisions, decisions. :?
And don't ditch the LP idea just yet, especially before you look over thse Agiles. I agree with Greybeard, those get some pretty good reviews, considering the prices.

+1 on recommending the Agiles.

I don't want ny kind of trem bridge. They are a pain to tune, change string gauges, change tunings... If a string happens to break, the others go way out of tune.

Make mine a hardtail!

Yeah I was thinking about the Agiles as well. But are they a good trusted brand? Chances are that I probably won't even get to play any of these guitars before buying them. But I was going through the features and they look like a great deal, especially if you take the price into account.

Oh and speaking of which, whats the main difference between Les Pauls and Ibanez guitars? I am probably into nice warm tones which work well with distortion. My interests include metal, rock and some blues.

I've got two Agiles in the house, both of which are well made, sound great and play well. And I can tell you that Kurt at Rondo Music will go out of his way more than any other guitar company I know to make things right if the customer has a problem.

Oh yeah, you asked a question about "guitar power cords." The guitar doesn't use a power cord. It uses a signal cable that's terminated on each end with a standard 1/4" mono plug (First introduced in 1883 for telephone switchboards and used the world over.) The power cord is an issue for the amp only.

This has been covered by the other answers you've got, and it's completely biased against whammys, but bear that in mind and it might be useful :)

I hate 'em. When you change strings it will take about an hour to tune it up - maybe a little quicker once you get the hang of it, maybe a lot longer until you do. You basically have to tune each string to pitch one at a time, but when you get to the last one, the extra tension has detuned the first one, so you start again and get a little closer. You keep getting a little closer each time, but you still have to do it a bucketload. Every time you change strings too, not just the first time.

If you change string gauge, you'll more than likely have to adjust the plate that the springs attach to, to keep the balance in a reasonable position. That means an estimated adjustment, then the whole string setting up thing to see if it's close enough, then probably the whole adjustment tuning thing again.

If you want to use dropped D tuning, you have to drop the E to a D as normal, but that increases the tension on the other strings so you have to adjust them as well.

When you bend, you increase tension and move the bridge, so you have to bend a little bit more than you would on a non-whammy guitar. That's not too much of a big deal though, as every guitar needs a different amount of effort to bend perfectly anyway but if you want to do unison bends, you need to also bend the second string to account for the same effect. That technique is one you'll have to unlearn on a non-whammy guitar, and it rules out bending one note against an open string as you can't bend the open string to compensate without pulling one the neck (which is not advisable, and may cause fret buzz even if you do decide to rick your neck).

There. It's a lot of cons (probably an absolute worst case scenario), and like I said there are pros that I haven't covered because they're not important to me personally, but me, I just couldn't live with that many (possible) cons. I chocked mine up with a stack of coins glued together. I tried wood and it wouldn't stay a tight fit because the bridge made dents in time.

I hope that even as a rant against, that's of some use :lol: I don't want to put you off completely, but I wouldn't want to under-emphasise the amount of cons you get with it only for you to buy one, hate it, and wish someone had pointed out to you all those things.

Oh and speaking of which, whats the main difference between Les Pauls and Ibanez guitars? I am probably into nice warm tones which work well with distortion. My interests include metal, rock and some blues.Well, an LP could work for blues and blues/rock. Clapton played one for quite awhle, before he became known more as a "Strat Man." Jimmy Page used an LP, too. (Probably several over the years, and at least a couple of them modified as here: http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/product/WDUHH3T2204 or http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/product/WDUHH3T2203 .

There's a lot to be said for a "slab" like that Ibanez, too. Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) uses something different, but I'm sure he'd say something like, "Grab that slab, and just tear it up!" 8)

I'm not very helpful here, am I? :P

I'm no expert on whammy bars - I hate em! I like to think my technique is purer or cleaner because i bend a lot of notes, but having said that - there are advantages to having them as well. You can get a lot of cool effects - learning to use a trem arm PROPERLY is a whole new technique in itself. It's (bad pun alert!) another string to your bow....I just don't have the patience to fiddle with the tuners every few seconds.

You have absolutely nothing to lose if you do try the whammy - hell, you may like it! - and if you decide you don't like it, you can either ignore it or take it off completely.

:D :D :D

Vic

It's (bad pun alert!) another string to your bow....How about "another arrow in your quiver?" One string on a bow's enough.

The RG's are nice guitars, some of the fastest necks out their, and great actions. I think, based on your tastes in music, that would be best. Plust it will last you a while. The pickups in the RG are much better than the GRG.