best metal guitar?

Whats your price range?

And theres no definite best anything guitar, a lot of it is personal preference. And the guitar is only half the sound. You want a great metal sound? I'd be more concerned with the amp. A killer guitar will sound like crap through a bad amp. I've found that often guitars that have a nice clean sound can distort very well, if the amp or pedal your using has a good distortion.
For metal I'd highly recommend the boss MT-2 metal zone pedal, a fantastic metal pedal that can get a nice thrashy old metallica sound, the more modern metal sound, and a few others.

And as always, try some out at your local shop.

Almost forgot, humbuckers are probably the way to go, they have a thicker sound which is better for metal. They also aren't as noisy as single coils at high gain and volume settings.

ESP's. definately check those out. Very very metal guitars that dont look like they came out of hell. used by metallica. the EMG pickups in them will give u awesome awesome cleans. and they have a VERY good lower range of price. it was actually my first guitar (an LTD, like epiphone of gibson) and the quality and sound i get from it still amazes me. also you may check out ibanez, but the pickups on those are not too good for the lower price ranges (thats actually why i got the esp). besides that obviously gibson, if u can afford one.

I have an ESP Mirage Custom, bought it used a couple years ago for around $500. It's a late 80's model, has a Jackson style pointy headstock, neck through and EMG's and is awsome. Gotta check 'em out.

Man there's only 1 weapon of choice that's a EPI/Gibson Explorer. I've had mine (EPI Goth EXPLORER) for awhile now and nothing NOTHING comes close. I didn't play with the stock pickups for long and replaced them with active EMG's 60/81. it realy sounds great both clean (i'll pitch again that the EMG60 is awesome for clean sounds) and distortion.

Added that it looks real cool and is very comfortable playing. Allot of people look past these type guitars because of their look "it's just a metal guitar it can't do x.y.z... " bull !!

BTW in US$ it cost about $600 and EMG are about 80$ one. you get a real kickass guitar well build for the money you spend

Minus Human

I agree, the ESP / LTD's are 'effing amazing for metal. (they also do other genres really well!). Metallica aren't the only heavy group that use 'em, but they sure are one of the most well known.

Just remember, they have active pickups, which means every year or so, you're gonna want to crack open that plate on the back of it and drop in a new 9 volt battery. Small price to pay for great sound!

However, don't rule out companies like Jackson, BC Rich, and even Epi/Gibson. They also make some donkey kickin' metal guitars. (yes, the Les Paul is metal!) :P

Typical heavey metal guitars are the Ibanez RG range, and ESP guitars. If clean sound is really important to you, I wouldnt go with a guitar which has EMG pickups - really toneless clean with no depth. Although they are awsome for distortion.

I would consider and Ibanez RG Prestige maybe

sorry I left out a few details. I have a mesa/boogie F series amp, and my price range is about $800 down, although I know you can't really get a good guitar for $200 or less, so you can rule any of those out too.

To verify on the clean thing, I probably wouldn't use this for clean songs. I just need a sound that is ok for lessons, because during lessons we do excersises and sometimes those require clean only because distortion can cover up how well you are moving your fingers.

By the way, what kind of ESPs are worth getting? I don't really want anything
over $900 or anything ed like a les paul, because I'm not really looking for a chuck berry spinoff.
Keep the advice coming!
Thanks,
Dan

gibson chuck berry spinoff?!!! are u kidding! les pauls are the first metal guitars out there. ud be surprised how many bands use em. just recently on tour i saw godsmack and metallica w. them. not much more metal than that! if i misread u, very sorry. didnt mean to be rude, so sorry if I misunderstood your post.

for esp tho check out pretty much any of them. all built quite similar.

I kinda new that was coming. I thought there was probably more uses, so I waited. And I saw.

But is there any specific type of ESPs that are better for metal than any of the others?

Also what does EMG and LTD mean?

Hard to say about ESP, 'cause they all seem to work well for metal. Choose one that feels good to you. Like I said, you can get a decent used one fairly cheap-o.

EMG is a maker of pickups. The one's you usually find in ESP guitars are active, meaning they are battery operated as opposed to passive pick ups. Very good pick ups (IMHO).

LTD, not 100% sure, but I think it's an ESP model.

LTD is a subclass of ESP: as Epiphone is to Gibson, or Squire is to Fender.

Does anyone know what either of the names stand for? Is it something other than the obvious "Extra-sensory Perception" and "Limited"? As would normally be dictated? I can't find anything on any of the web acronym dictionaries or on their forums.

If money is no object, check out B C Rich guitars.

At the affordable end, Washburn make the Dimabag Darrell signature axe.

Best,

A :-)

I'd personally go with Ibanez Prestige :D, obviously unless you can afford custom built, which I'd assume not.

ESP=Electronic Sound Products....started back in 1975?? actually if u buy a guitar now youll get a 30th anniv edition. LTD-dunno.