Splurging on a guitar?

My 2 cents...

If that is your budget, I think you should spend $1500 on equipment and $1000 on lessons.

The best billiard players in the world can beat pretty much anybody using a broomstick as the cue.

The same goes for guitars. You have a lifetime to play and buy new (and better) guitars.

The two best guitarists I personally know (my teacher and a coworker of mine) both own relatively cheap guitars. Definitely nothing worth over $1000.

Just something to consider.

Also, Les Paul's, SG's, Strats, etc are suited to different styles of playing. If you haven't settled in to a style or have a personal preference based on your playing (not "cosmetics") then I don't think you should be investing that much yet.

I'll still be taking lessons as always, and I doubt I'll be able to find anyone better (although I suppose a lot of people'll say that about their teacher).

I completely understand your point, and I fully agree too. It's all in the playing, and the gear won't suddenly make you sound like whichever artist is your greatest idol. The thing is I'm quite a big saver, so I can sometimes afford a big purchase like this.

As for style: I'll be playing rock mainly, and preferably classic rock at that. I sometimes enjoy playing a bit of blues but that's really just to have some variation. Jazz really isn't my style, and neither is heavy metal or anything like that. I was pretty much already sold on the SG, but decided to try and be a bit more open-minded because you never know what you find.

I always try to invest in things I really like, and save on the things that aren't really important to me. I'd rather invest in something that'll last me a long time instead of going at it in steps, considering I'll be in it for the long haul. But thanks for the advice, it's surely something I'll take into consideration!

wow - thats a good budget.

if i gave my honest advice i wouldnt be buying a second set of gear. i would pick up a "pocket pod" off ebay and a set of headphones, that should come to less than £60, a cheap electric which feels comfortable in your hands then and you can practice in your room and achieve all the tones you want without bothering the neighbours with the noise.

however, i dont know your situation-- to me that is a lot of money and i would save it if i could, but you might be in a different position, in which case, enjoy :D

also, if your not gigging at the minute, is a second amp an absolute necessity yet, maybe you can get by without one.

for what its worth i practice through my pod 2.0 every day, i never use an amp unless im gigging, i think as a practice tool they are superb value for money, you will probably be able to get away without buying a pedal board as well.

I'd be inclined to split the budget some more and buy at least 2 guitars along with your amp. The second could be an acoustic or another electric for alternate tunings...
Probably everyone on this site knows more about gear than me, but is it fair to say that the price/performance ratio tends to drop off dramatically over the 1K mark? Meaning between say 1000 and 2000 you might be paying a lot for cosmetics or prestige, but not performance?
Regardless, wish I had your budget. Happy shopping! :)

Yea, to an extent, price increases at that range tend to be for cosmetics and signature guitars (tho some signature guitars sound excellent).

That is a lot of cash. I agree that splitting the budget and getting an acoustic as well would be a good option. If you're off to uni, you'll probably have the opportunity to play some open mic nights locally. Even if you don't sing, being the backup guitarist for someone else is an excellent way to get some first gigging experiences.

For amps, I'd seriously recommend Blackstar - all their amps that I've tried have been great. I'd be looking into getting one myself were I not more into jazz and a lot less rocky these days. Try the usual Fender and Marshall, too, but give Blackstar a listen.

For electric guitars - I find the SG the 'cheap pro' guitar. I've never found it as tonally interesting as a Les Paul, Strat, or Tele. That said, Frank Zappa cut some good records with one.

For 2000-3000 Euros, you could get a Blackstar combo amp, a Fender US Strat or Tele and a Les Paul Studio, and still have cash left over for a Martin D15 acoustic or some pedals or maybe even both. Basically, unless you want a custom built guitar and boutique amp, you've got a lot of money to play with there, so choose wisely.

Sounds like you have a more than adequate budget, and a good relationship with the shop, both of which are great to have.

Were I you, I'd be tempted to take my time. When you're only six months in, you generally don't have your style figured out yet. And any guitar that costs anything close to $1000 is one you're going to have for the next 30 years. Don't rush it. You mentioned les pauls, sgs, and strats.

They are all great. And they are all very very different. Take your time until you know which one you want more than anything.

And also remember that the gear is fun, but it's not essential. Your Pacifica is a good instrument. Really, for the price, those things are GREAT. And...I have a friend who sounds like a million dollards on the rebuilt garage sale pacifica I used to have. And when I play his $2500 less paul, I sound like....a hundred and fifty dollars.

YOu've got the right idea- to get good, you have to be able to play, a lot. You need the gear to be where you are. But I wouldn't rush to make it a high class rig, yet. When I travel for work, which is too often, I get by on a single guitar or my "backup" bass, and a vox amplug. I do carry it on a train, though I often just leave the backup bass in the other town where I work if I'll be going htere often...

Best,
Ande

Up from a Yamaha Pacifica, you could go further into familiar feel, sound & territory with both the Strat and Tele - you might want the Strat to be fat! :shock:

There have been good suggestions for amps too depending on where you live & what the stores stock. Try a whole bunch.

Fender again has a new series of classic amps and hybrids out, too many to name, but I like tube amps like Blues Deluxe.

Of course buy the guitar(s) that suit your taste, but I think the amp choices are much more wide open. Get the sound you like whether Marshall, Carvin, Crate, Peavey, Roland, Line 6, Bugera or Mesa Boogie which have good unique variety. 8)

Are you looking for the guitar to play while you are at college, or one for when you are at home?
Do you expect (hope) to be jamming with your fellow students on occasion?

Have you thought about used? You can et a lot of guitar for a reasonable price if you are patient.

Alright, thanks for the great responses guys!

I'll be taking my Pacifica, Laney Cub 10 and RP-1000 with me to college. I used to take the train but this year I switched colleges and will be returning home on fridays. The reason I'm not taking the new gear with me is because of risks, haven't heard of a lot of break-ins but I'd rather not take the risk. Probably even more dangerous and a larger chance of it happening: drunk students in my dorm. I myself don't drink, but an accident happens rather easily. :?

I'd hope to find some people to play with, and actually expect it too. The reason I'm also considering a big purchase like this is because of something rather weird, in a good way. I often play outside on a bench in the sun, and a guy started talking to me. He was about 30 years older than me, stockbroker and he'd been playing guitar for 20 years. He complimented me on my playing, for such a short time of learning. We exchanged numbers to jam sometime or have a drink. Now, apparently it seems he passed my number on to one of the most succesful bands in my country. He's their backing guitarist and recommended me to them. :shock:

Now, I don't expect anything to come of it (I find the entire event something like in the movies already) but it's a nice compliment and I'd rather like doing performances when I find myself a bit more experienced and somewhat smaller scale. It'd be nice to have the gear for actual performances for when I think I'm ready, while also having something to practice on without fear of theft/damage.

I've thought about buying used, but prices here don't seem very profitable (saving 100-200 on a 1900 purchase isn't worth the risk/lack of service imo). I can also probably get the store to go even lower. I tried a (mexican) Strat and I didn't really like the feel of it, or at least preferred the SG. I'll definitely be trying an American standard once they're in again, as the supply's quite meagre at the moment. I read Blackstar has some great amps and will definitely be trying them out, thanks for reminding me! I tried an Orange Rocker 30C which I rather liked, but as I said I don't really have a lot to compare it to. Amps will probably be the hardest for me to pick.

But feel free to share anything, from gear you might be looking out for to great experiences with other. What to look for in an amp, guitar or maybe even pedals, anything's fine! Thanks a bunch guys!

Yeah, Blackstar seriously impress me. They started just doing boutique amps, but then branched out and their mass-produced amps and pedals are great value, imo. The other top amp brands, again imo, are Fender Marshall, Vox, and Orange, in no particular order. I tried the Orange Tiny Terror recently tho, and wasn't impressed. The tone was just okay, and there isn't really any variation to dial in other tones with it.

Before you buy, I'd check thomann.de - they tend to be the cheapest generally in Europe that I know of. They also have massive stock, and a regular B stock/clearance section. They do have a shop, but I don't know how difficult it owuld be for you to get there from Belgium. When I had a big purchase list a few years ago, I price checked and my local store matched thomann.de's prices on many things when I took the list to them. Maybe your local store will do the same. I've never order a guitar from thomann.de, but I did order a bunch of of stuff from them over the years and always found their service prompt and of high quality. I've ordered stuff like keyboards, a mic preamp (which had an American/European fitting, so they sent me a British adaptor for free when I mailed them about it), microphones, and various miscellaneous stuff. They're my go-to price checker and my go-to store if I bypass my locals for whatever reason.

If you're planning to play with a pro band, I'd deffo get an acoustic as well as an electric as you might well be expected to play both. And there isn't a great deal of tonal/playability difference between a Fender US strat and e.g. a Fender Signature Series Strat for the money - spending that cash on a decent acoustic would be a better move, imo.

In addition to buying your gear, I'd suggest budgeting in a small amount for getting the guitars set up and, if you buy a tube amp, budget a small amount for replacement tubes, cos your tubes will invariably go in the middle of a gig, or five minutes before practice, so having spares on hand could prove useful. Guitar set ups in the UK tend to cost about £40, I don't what that would be in Euros, tho. Hope this helps.

I checked the prices and they were pretty much the same, and with pretty much I mean a single € difference, between the guitars at least. If I'm buying a Fender I'd definitely get a normal American standard (instead of getting an EJ signature or something like that).

I'll also ask for setting the guitar up properly, which they might even do for free. They don't mind putting in work provided they see you're serious. Normally they charge €10 to change strings for example, because they really get a lot of people in who ask them to do it. I asked them how to do it, and they spent more than an hour (I'm *really* bad with things like that normally) explaining it properly, helping me put them up and they charged nothing at all. It's a store chain called Keymusic. I live pretty much next block and I go there every week for my private guitar lessons there. I always check out the new stuff, talk to the people who work there (the guitar guy has been playing over 20 years) so by now I know them quite well. First time I came for a guitar they helped me out great, could've made me spend a lot more than I did and I'm currently very glad of the material I got for the price.

As for an extra guitar: I'd rather wait with buying those. The money won't go anywhere, and I feel it's a lot more fun to buy them separately than in one bunch, a bit in the same way I never bought multiple computer games at the same time because I could only enjoy one (or one better than the other). Besides, they already think i'm mad over here, I can't imagine the reactions of the folks at home if I returned with 2 guitars! :D

I will definitely have money for replacement parts should there be any need. The first 2 years they'll be covered by warranty (being in law school has its perks in this department), and I have a rather steady income. The budget I gave is everything I can spend on the guitar and amplifier, or things I need. I'd rather spend 2000 than 3000, but I'm willing to go that high if it's really a worthwhile investment (for example the LP being really good and even increasing in value over 10 years). I'll also have enough left for emergencies/lessons/various things I might need!

Sounds like a plan. Could be a Strat and an Amp, Tele or Les Paul from the sound of things.

Somebody just posted Gibson's new Slash Les Paul on the forum, which of course has his mandatory Alnico II's, but I was researching an 80's group called XTC for my son, who just bought 12 of their vinyl records, and I could swear I saw Slash's tobacco burst Les Paul on one of their Youtubes! :lol:

No really the $6,000-or-so price tag would be unnecessary splurging and a standard standard would be excellent, hey hey!

Anywhoo if you like the warranty and set up buy new from reputable dealers and you should be good for a lonnng tiem. :D

Well, in that case, and seeing as you've already said you're good with saving money, I'd suggest going with one guitar and one amp that you're happy with and saving the rest. Good luck with it!

I'd keep thomann. de as a ref point for in future, as they do tend to be the cheapest and with a great range, I use their site regularly as a price checker and get locals to price match when necessary. Their pries tend to be fairly standard for the market, but some stores will overcharge ridiculously on seemingly random products.Tends to be down the deals they strike (or don't) with various distributors.

Hi again, decided to throw in a quick update, and a thanks to all those who helped! :)

Today I went to the shop to try out all the new goodies they got (Yay, delivery!). After spending multiple hours of playing, and "Let's try that other one again" I had a good idea of everything. I've been playing around with a Fender American Standard, Gibson SG Special, an Ibanez, a Gibson Custom and some various others.

I found the Gibson SG (second time playing it, mind you) rather disappointing. The Standard will sound a bit better, but overall it wasn't fun to play. Didn't enjoy the feel of the neck as it didn't slide properly for me, I have some issues with sweaty hands while playing. The sound was good or at least until I decided I wanted something other than rock. It didn't seem to give a lot of depth. I tried him with multiple amps, like an Orange Rocker 30, Line 6 Flextone III, Marshall JMD 501, but still I found it a bit of a one-trick pony. Not something I was really looking for as a guitar to provide for the next few years. :roll:

The Fender really surprised me, I wasn't a real Fender-fan despite not having heard them properly. Even though I like my Yamaha, which is a Strat model, I found the Fenders to be a bit plain whereas I usually go for the more eccentric models. The action was low, and I mean really low. My Yama already has a very low action, a lot of guitarists have commented on it. It has a bit of fret buzz, but the Fender blew this one out of the water with no fret buzz whatsoever. The neck was smoother than any baby I've ever seen and it slided like it was already lubed up for some steaming ... guitar play. I really enjoyed the rather bright tone, or that's as good as I can explain it. :shock:

The Ibanez was also very disappointing, it had a $2000 price tag, and I feel it didn't deserve that in any way. The fretboard didn't feel smooth, didn't slide properly. The tone was very dull, didn't have any character or real punch. I won't say it was very bad, but if you asked me to guess I'd have said 1/4 or 1/3 of the price. Not even a dot inlay on the neck, which made it for me a bit harder to play but wasn't dealbreaking. It looked rather nice, unique, and I was interested because my guitar teacher's an Ibanez fan but I really couldn't see why if I had only this guitar to judge.

The Les Paul Custom was a joy, you can pick any aspect and the answer stays the same. Beautifully decorated and a very nice paintjob, it was a black one with dark gray which I hadn't seen on a Gibson yet. Playing it was also extremely enjoyable. The neck was a lot better than the SG, but it still took some getting used to. After a few minutes you could easily see why these get so much praise. A sound with an immense depth, as if layered by sounds, each with its own distinct detail. It felt a bit darker than the Strat, with more punch. :o

Had some Epiphone to compare and see if I could actually tell the difference. The answer was very much yes, found the other (lower end) guitars to have a lot less character.

In terms of amps I decided on the Line 6 Flextone III. Extremely versatile from what I've seen and still good tone. Not only that, but it was sold at a heavy discount for $600 as opposed to the 1046 normally. Found it very enjoyable to hear, and also decided to get the Line 6 FBV Shortboard MK II with it. I had the guy play both the Fender and Gibson, heard pretty much any style I was interested in from AC/DC, to Dire Straits, to Snow White (Yes, the one with the dwarfs). Considering everything I decided on the American Standard, with a fond memory of a Les Paul when I finally win the lottery. Destroyd my fingers on getting my straplocks installed but now thoroughly enjoying my guitar play on a budget normally reserved for only the guitar, but now I also have an amp and pedal to go with it. :D