Weekend Project - What "shredder" to look for

In my humble opinion, you can get a really nice ibanez rg in that price range that should have everything you need. I personally purchased one within the past six months, and it is currently my favorite (unless i'm playing my esp, then that is my favorite) the only caveat, is the edge 3 trem. they take a little getting used to, especially if you are used to a floyd.
GOOD LUCK! I hope your search goes well, and let us know what you get.

I am looking for a guitar for the 80's plus "shredder", high gain sound. Ratt, Scorpions, Satch, Vai, Van Halen type sounds. Looking to spend around $800. I know I want 24 jumbo frets with tremelo and flatter profile neck (compared to my LP), but I'm not settled on a brand, woods, pups, scale length, good tremelo systems, etc. so I'm looking for advice. Mainly for the pups - I prefer not to change them out. I have a 30W Egnater head with 1x12 cab. Down the road I may get a solid state amp to play with this shred sound some more. I have a simpler modeler too to play around with the sound.

Might take advantage of a weekend sale, but willing to wait for the right guitar. Thought I would toss this out there and see if I can narrow the range down enough to try some things out Sunday afternoon.

Thanks in advance!
Chetzki

Try out a Charvel/ Jackson

Went through the catalogs today. I always wanted an Ibanez, but I've heard the pups aren't as good as some others? Going through the catalogs today, this is what appeals to me:

ESP MH1000 with EMG 81/85, Schecter Hellraiser C1 FR w/ EMG 81TW/89, Jackson DKM Dinky w/ EMG 81/85, ESP EC0401 w/EMG 91/96

These all have FR tremelo but are made of different woods so I expect they would sound different. I don't know much about these pups. Also like Motley, GNR. I need to go look at their setups.

cantankerousd - what ESP do you have?

..............but are made of different woods so I expect they would sound different.

a guitar for the 80's plus "shredder", high gain sound. Ratt, Scorpions, Satch, Vai, Van Halen type sounds.
I think the second quote pretty much cancels out the first. The pickups will have far more influence than the wood.

I've got the ltd mh 103 qm. its a really nice little guitar, but the pickups are stock esp. I have no problems getting the sound that i want out of them with a zoom g2.1u unit, but some folks seem to like changing out the pickups, and using bigger names. (EMG/Dimarzio/SD) I can't honestly say how well any changes would work, as I have left mine stock, although, I have considered putting twin rail humbuckers in the single pole positions. (my budget for guitar work just barely covers strings when I need 'em)

Greybeard - I would be surprised if two guitars with the same pickups made of different woods (and shape) would sound exactly the same because they will resonate differently. I also expect they are similar enough to still create the same sounds of a genre of music. Are you saying it doesn't make that much difference once you get into these types of pups? Just asking - I'll find out soon enough.

Thanks - Chetzki

Greybeard - I would be surprised if two guitars with the same pickups made of different woods (and shape) would sound exactly the same because they will resonate differently. I also expect they are similar enough to still create the same sounds of a genre of music. Are you saying it doesn't make that much difference once you get into these types of pups? Just asking - I'll find out soon enough.

Thanks - Chetzki
As soon as distortion is introduced, most of the difference in wood is totally killed. The influence comes, mostly, from the difference in the pickups - try changing pickups (e.g. from PAFs - pretty mild - to Bareknuckle Warpigs or Nailbombs - high/very high output - or single coil to humbucker) in a guitar and see how much difference they make. Once you turn up the gain, you could be playing a cigar-box guitar, for all most people would know.

You often see the question "How do I improve my sound? It is to mushy/dull/strident/harsh/etc". How often have you seen the advice "Your guitar's body is made from the wrong wood. To get the tone, you're seeking, you need one with a Mahogany/Ash/etc body" ? How often have you seen "Change the pickups"?

80's shredder guitar? I would definitely pick a Jackson, if it were me. As for the Ibanez guitars, I am a bit soured on them at this point. The last RG I purchased for around $800 in '06 had such soft frets on it, I couldn't believe it.

Only played at home for a couple of years, & not really that frequently, the frets really grooved up something awful. My '03 Jackson still has nice frets on it with minimal wear showing...

Thanks Greybeard - that's the kind of advice/knowledge/experience I'm looking for. Did not make it to the store today so I'm going to miss the 15% off sales this weekend. Not a problem - I spent several hours playing at home on what I have instead. Thanks others too - helping narrow down from 10's to a handful of choices to look for.

Did more research online and listening to YouTube. Now leaning toward Seymour Duncans. Again, looking for that Scorpions, Ratt, Poison, GNR, Motley, Def Leppard, Randy Rhoads, EVH 70's sound. I'm wondering if the EMG's are more toward Metallica, etc. or if you can get both (because I like Metallica too) I am the 80's - I went to high school and university from 1981 to 1989 :mrgreen: . I know they used all kinds of different setups and I'm looking for something that gets in that genre. I can find some setup information for these guitarists, but haven't found much with the level of detail to give me the pickups.

I was successful seeking older Aerosmith, Zeppelin, AC/DC, bluesy rock sounds. My LP is too dark and muddy for the next decade after.

Tried out a Schecter C1 FR with EMG's and it sounded very nice. Also looking at ESP MH1000 with EMG's, Jackson DKMG Dinky with EMG's. Anyone with experience with these guitars or something similar. Didn't like the sound of the Ibanez with Infinity pickups as much.

Got one. ESP LTD MH1001FR. Red with quilted maple top (I prefer flamed), EMG81B and EMG85N and Floyd Rose Trem. I've been playing it for about 6 weeks and it has solidly replaced the Gibson LP Studio. I still like the LP, but this new guitar is so easy to play with the long neck and larger frets. It looks beautiful and sounds so good. No unwanted noise plugged straight into the amp. I unplug it every time to keep the battery from going down. I've been very skeptical reading reviews where people say they've been cranking on the wammy bar and their guitar never goes out of tune. I can play this guitar 1 to 2 hours a day without the wammy bar and barely touch the tuning knobs after a week. That was after I unlocked the nut and did a good tuning after I brought it home. I haven't played a lot of guitars, but this one has been very satisfying for $800. This is very similar to Schechter in appearance and sound for about the same price with the same wood and features.

It's doing what I wanted for Motley, Ratt and Metallica just with the amp controls (gain, equalizer, tube mix (EL84/6V6) and power). The LP covers the rest that I like. :D

Now I'm thinking about petals. Wah is next I believe and some noise suppressor and chromatic tuner. Setup is not sounding too good through the Digitech modeler. Lots of noise with cables that should be good enough. Nothing is working well through the effects loop on my amp. Hopefully petals with no gain will do better through the loop.

Thanks for the suggestions!