help with guitar for my son

take this one serious man:

yamaha aes 920 (2 seymour duncan pickups)

or priceed a little lower

yamaha aes 620 (just bought one) (1 seymour duncan pickup)

Only this -

http://www.music123.com/Gibson-SG-Special-i129305.music 8)

Dean Hardtail Select.
http://www.deanguitars.com/hs_tam.htm

Surprise surprise....hold the front page....Arjen recommends a Dean Guitar....!!!! Are you sure you're not on a retainer there, Arjen?

Does look a nice piece of kit, though....!!!

:D :D :D

Vic

Just looked through the reviews....Dean guitars do seem to have a lot of satisfied customers, some really good feedback there....Arjen, how did you discover them? I can honestly say I've never come across Dean guitars in a British shop....maybe you ought to write an article or review about them.....

:D :D :D

Vic

My first guitar was/is a Dean (avalanche Zone H) and while nothing spectacular it did made me look at other Dean axes. Over here the Dean Evo Special Select is a true hit, I know five dudes my age in my city playing live with it and it really is a great guitar. If I didn't detest LP-style guitars I would have got one long ago: two buckers with coil splitting, full mahony body, tight tuners and superb finish. All for around $400. The hardtail is something I've been eyeing ever since I saw them. A few months ago they released the 'Hardtail standard/select' lines which are Asian versions of their exlusive USA lines. A USA Dean Hardtail costs more then most Fender/Gibson guitars so not much of an option, but these Asian versions are really superb. Best of all seems to be their customer support. The Dean forums are filled with people writing how the owner of Dean personally solved whatever issues they had and even calling them back to ask if things were right.

Now I'm not totally sucking up to them, out of my seven guitars only two are by Dean, so they are not the ultimate for every genre, budget and style. But they seem to care about their stuff and I've never been dissapointed by a Dean in any guitar store I've been, their QA is quite tight. I know the USA has plenty of dealers but I'm not sure about the UK. If you see one check it out, you never know. :D

Bobblehat,
Those are some big name rock guitars you mentioned there. It's important that your son tries out a guitar before he buys it, he may be dissapointed he isn't getting a zakk wylde or a toni iommi, because he may want them just for the name. It's not a rare thing, a lot of people just want a guitar because it says fender or it says gibson on it. It's worth double checking on.

That said, I have no new suggestions, and good luck :)

That Tony Iommi SG is very nice. Good pups and seems to rock well. Not helping, I know, but it seems to be a very well built guitar with good quality Gibson USA pups. I don't think you'd go wrong for the money.

Jason

Have a look at the RG line from Ibanez. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/519965/

They have really thin necks, and they put out rock tones like nobody's business. They are very well made, from the models I have messed with. IMHO, the H/S/H setup will give him every heavy rock tone he will ever need. The Ibanez neck is the fastest I have ever picked up. Since my GAS is only getting worse, I'll probably own one someday, once I get this Tele virus out of my system.:lol:

The ESP's are really hot as well, most of their stuff falls right in your price range. Those EMG pickups are way hot. Fast necks and fun to play. And don't forget PRS. I've never played one of them, but I hear nothing but good things.

Check out the websites for bands he is into and check out their gear. Definitely have him play all the choices, as the one he likes the best won't be one of the ones he now wants. Kinda like women when you're a kid, y'know?

:D

I have to agree with the RG. My buddy has a copper RG (dont remember which model) with the original Wizard neck, and it screams.

you may also wanna check out the Fat Strat...a Fender or Squier stratocaster with humbucker pickups. Other companies make knockoffs too. You can get a good Mexican Fender Fat Strat for $400 and under.

I will echo Arjen on the Dean guitars.
I only have a Dean electro acoustic and have played a couple of electrics at GC but I will vouch for the quality. Case in point, I play hard sometimes and since my kids misplaced my tuner I went several weeks without checking the tuning on my Dean. When I got my tuner back I found only 2 strings that where just slightly out of tune.
Guitars are fickle things and should be tried before buying.
Maybe a gift certificate to the guitar shop might be an idea to ponder.

Thanks for all your input guys.Made the mistake of playing the zakk wylde model last night!It went something like this.

My son and I walk into the store.We spend an hour trying out different guitars being careful to avoid the zakk wylde model hanging on the wall in the corner.We finally narrow our choice down to an epiphone explorer and a epiphone les paul custom.Then I made the mistake of asking for the zakk wylde model.I was sure it wasnt worth the extra but wanted to play it just out of curiosity.Unfortunately for me (and my bank balance) it rocked.10 minutes later I was at the counter ordering the damn thing.I did get a free case and they said they would give me two receipts one for me,and one for the wife for £400.