Guitar recommendation

[avillaronga]

Hello all,For those of you who play guitar, what are your recommendations for an electric with a tremolo bar? I currently play a Gibson Les Paul and I have begun to miss the tremolo bar so I'm considering another one. I used to play a Strat until about 6 years ago so naturally my first inclination was to go with that but I'd be interested to hear what others play. Price range of under $1000 would be ideal...Thanks!Antonio

[silvercord]

Antonio~the sky is the limit on guitars for under a grand..im in a band with a guitar junkie...(never take the man near a guitar shop if you are pressed for time!)well, let's see..you have a Les Paul, which has its own special toneand the strat would be the other guitar with another popular tonei think you would want a tone that's way different than your Les Paul so you can maximize your tone possibilities!i say to go a local guitar center or other guitar shop and wank away! find what feels best for you!im super biased, but i think this baby rocks:http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... -LISTKorea is the place for cheap yet high quality guitars these daysgood luck Antonio! Be sure to holler when you have found your baby!peace!geoff

[slideboardouts]

Well, about 4 years ago I built a strat style for just under $1000 and its the best guitar I've ever played. If you go that route warmoth is a good place to start, and I would HIGHLY recommend using a hip shot strat style "floating" bridge (I don't float it and I wouldn't recommend floating ANY bridge...put it on the deck). They are extremely well designed and built. As a matter of fact, I might even say it is the best trem bridge ever made. It's certainly the best I've ever played (and I've played a lot). I have that with a bone nut and graphtech (sp?) string trees on the neck and I can put the trem arm on the deck all night long and it stays in tune perfectly. And you don't have to worry about it wearing out as quick as a floyd.Like silvercord said, you can get some good stuff on the cheap from korea these days. You're biggest issue will be that trem though. If you have a cheap trem, you are going to have issues...and even the best "cheap" guitars usually have crummy trems. Hell, I've seen expensive guitars with cheap trems on them.Its hard for me to point you in a good direction brand wise, but here are a few pointers:-Stay away from plywood. Anything is better than plywood.-Stay away from floyd copies. You can tell which ones these are as they will say "licensed" on them. The original floyd's these days aren't built as well as they were in the 80's, so imagine how bad the imitation ones are.-Don't assume that a big brand name like Fender etc. is going to give you a better value than a no-name or less prestigious company. In fact, in the low end stuff, I find that fender products especially are inferior to lesser known brands. American Standard Strats are still decent enough and I believe are under $1000 still, and you can upgrade/mod things to make it perform better.Good luck, and happy shopping!-Steve

[avillaronga]

Thanks Geoff and Steve, lots of good info. Antonio

[ggalen]

Antonio,You can get a very good electric guitar for $600 or even a bit less.Get it set up by a professional after you get it so it plays nice, and you should be fine. After that it's your fingers and your feel that determine the sound...not the guitar.By the way, I float the bridge on my Fender Standard Strat and have never had a problem. I always thought I'd buy a more expensive guitar some day, but I've never needed to.And I hear from other good guitar players that Fenders have never been better for the money than they are today. That said, there are other fine guitars in that price range as well.Just another opinion for you.

[christig]

Hi Antonio:I have several guitars. Of course it depends to some degree what type of music you want to play. I always play the guitar unplugged first and determine whether or not I like the neck. For me it must feel the way I need it to first on this level. Then I plug it in and determine the electronic sound. As you are probably aware there are single coil and double coil (humbucker) pickups. There are a multitude of pickup sounds and combinations of configurations depending on the wiring. Of course these react somewhat with the wood (the body) they are mounted in.Whether or not the neck is solid with the body or bolted on can make a difference in sound and feel as well.Another consideration re: the tremolo is what style of trem you want. Again, this is somewhat of a feel issue, but some stay in tune better than others and some are a real bear to change strings out which can be a big consideration if you're using it for live applications as well.And of course it depends on what you play it through. Some guitars can sound fantastic through some amps and not so hot through others. If you have a particular amp you'll be playing through i'd bring it along so you can play through it.You'll find many guitars to buy in your price range. But if you take your time one will choose you. Christi

[davekershaw]

Quote:i say to go a local guitar center or other guitar shop and wank away!Is this another of those words that hasa different meaning outside the UK?

[billg]

check out www.rondomusic.com buy several guitars, mod 'em the way you want, have 'em set up right & then your good for recording a variety of guitar sounds. Hate to sound like an ad but I've bought several instruments (guitars, basses) from these guys and am satisfied with my purchases.

[avillaronga]

Thank you Glenn, Christi, and billg. It's interesting to see different opinions on the matter. I'm leaning towards the strat with some mods as suggested since that's what I played in the past and it would give me a nice variety of sound as compared to my Les Paul. Thank you all.

[Mark Kaufman]

I prefer the Strat-style whammy bar to Bigsby's because they are so fluid and you can go as deep as you like, Hendix-style. They don't stop short like the Bigsby does. That said, don't buy a guitar for the bar...A Strat is a nice complement to a Les Paul...different feel, different tone. I'd say get a Strat because it's a Strat! The American-made reissues are awesome. Don't buy sight-unseen because they all play differently, sometimes quite radically different. Some have thick necks and some don't.