Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

[formos]

I recently got my hands on a really old rg220 Ibanez (metal guitar I believe) for free so I am hoping to use it to start my guitar journey. But aside for the guitar itself, it doesn't come with anything else, not even a guitar cable, so I'm hoping to get some advice on the rest of the gear that I should get in order to get the sound that I want and to have a better starting point in general.

Guitarists and tones I'm looking for: modern blues/blues rock
Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour, etc.

1. Strings
2. Picks
3. Amp

I know that when it comes to strings and picks, there's a plethora of products to try (even within the same genre) and everyone has their own personal preference in terms of the thickness, etc - and it it will probably take some exploration of my own until I find what I personally like. Nonetheless, I would love some suggestions to at least narrow down the selection process.

In regards to Amp, I live in a pretty spacious apartment with my family and because how the building is structured, each apartment pretty much has a corner and separated from each other for the most part - although I do worried about sound traveling through the ceiling. I hear tube amps are exceedingly loud and furthermore, in order to get the proper sound out of it, you pretty much have to set the volume pretty loud? So are tube amps completely out of the question?

Anyways, since I I'm just starting out and don't have a gauge on how loud a tube amp is, should I just pick something safe like Yamaha's Modeling Amp? like THR10 or THR10c? (If so, which one would be more suitable for what I want to play?) Or if you think a tube amp should be ok, what would you recommend? what are some good options I should look into?

[CaptainWhizz]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

The Boss Katana 50 combo looks pretty good. Contains a whole bunch of effects, you can run it quiet enough to practice at home with, but loud enough that you could jam with a drummer. I have the Katana Mini in my living room so I can play guitar while I watch tv, and the sounds are decent.

[PFDarkside]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

For a beginning guitar player, the most important thing Gear can do is remove roadblocks and make practicing fun.

Your guitar has a Flyd Rose Tremolo, are you familiar with tuning a guitar? Do you have any experience with a Floyd Rose?

I’d so few things:
-Take it your local guitar shop and have it strung with D’Addario XL 9-42 or Ernie Ball Slinky 9-42. Have them do a basic setup so that you know the action is good, the bridge is setup correctly and that it’s all in tune. (I’d also ask how much they would charge to “block” the Floyd Rose Tremolo system so that it can’t raise or lower the pitch. This will allow you to tune with no issues.) Also, watch YouTube videos on how to tune a Floyd Rose, you use the fine tuners on the bridge, not the tuning keys on the neck if it’s all been setup and tuned for you. Budget for a few monthly string changes while you watch more videos in how to change strings on a Floyd Rose.

Regarding your questions...

Strings:
As a beginner, starting with industry standard D’Addario XL or Ernie Ball Slinky strings in 9-42 with a good setup will give you a consistent, easy to play instrument to learn on.

Picks:
Get the two Dunlop variety sets. Then you’ll find what you like.
Dunlop PVP101 Pick Variety Pack, Assorted, Light/Medium, 12/Player's Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055V7UR0..._Y44VAbBA06M9C

Dunlop PVP102 Pick Variety Pack, Assorted, Medium/Heavy, 12/Player's Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055VBYWC..._J54VAbBS3X3DJ


Regarding amps, I think I’d look for one of the following used:
Yamaha THR series
Boss Katana
Roland Blues Cube/Cube
Fender Mustang

The simpler Boss and Roland ones make dialing in a good sound pretty easy. At this point you just want a few tones that you like that make you want to practice as much as possible.

Cables:
A basic cable will work, just don’t get the $2.99 Special.

Accessories:
Get a tuner! Either a clip-on or a stand-alone.
Get a strap, if you want to play out, practice standing up.

Good luck on your guitar journey!

[VinceT]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

My top tips for starting:

1) Strings - go for a standard set of 9s - they won’t hurt you too bad as you learn and you can tweak up or down a gauge as you get used to them. Right now, don’t pay for higher priced treated stings, etc. go for standard ones. I would go for Ernie Ball or, my own choice, D’Addario.

2) Picks - there is no right or wrong here, and my back pocket has 5 different types of pick in it right now. I would buy one of the selection packs and try them all out for a while, see which one works for you. Once again, stay cheap until you get some experience to know why you might want to pay for extra stuff.

3) Amp - I would second the Boss Katana recommendation as your first amp - can’t go wrong, really and the onboard effects will save you having to buy and sell pedals (until that particular bug bites!)

4) Guitar - play the hell out of it! One tip, especially with an older guitar, take it to a well-regarded guitar tech/luthier and have them set it up for you with reasonable action, neck relief, intonation and pick-up height - don’t underestimate this, it will give you the best possible platform to learn your basics, as well as a foundation to understand what a well set-up guitar feels like (learning to do the whole setup yourself should be as much of a goal as learning scales, chords, etc.) Your experienced playing self will thank your learner playing self for doing it!

Welcome to the greatest journey on the planet (except, maybe, parenting)!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Thundermtn]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

There are some lower watt tube amps that sound nice and aren't priced to the moon. They will need pedals to cover the bases of the digital modelers though. I like that tube amps can be fixed and used for several decades though so that's a factor. I like some of the Katana tones though, it's not a bad option as well. Used Vox AC10's and AC15's, used Fender Princeton and Deluxe Reverbs will cover a lot of bases and won't break the bank while sounding pretty darn good.

For strings for a new guitar player I almost always recommend Elixors. They sound good, are coated so they last long and won't tear up your fingers. Once you know what tones your ear really likes then you can get more in depth with them but electric guitar strings aren't the big deal strings are to an acoustic. Most any elc. string will be just fine.

The three picks that I will never be caught without are; orange Tortex (.60 mm), Ultex (.73), and Primetone (.73)

Have fun on your tone quest!

[Aceman]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

Hey Formos! Welcome. Great choice stopping in first!!!!

I agree with the people who say Roland/Katana/THX etc. Get something smallish maybe 30 watts. Loud enough to be loud, small enough to be quiet. And as said - you want to sound, and those sounds are easy to get in the ballpark with a modeling amp and a couple of fx presets. That makes it fun! Most of those will have a headphone out also. It's never bad to have one as a backup that is flexible, light, reliable, etc. And ALWAYS remember: A crappy guitar through a great amp sounds pretty good. A great guitar through a crappy amp sounds crappy.


I will say this. That guitar works just fine (once you get it set up and know how to deal with Floyd). YouTube is your friend. I'd pay the money for a tech to do it the first time.

Strings. Meh - D'addario 9's and don't think about for a couple of years. Don't change them until they fall off. Wipe after playing!!!!!!! Get discipline about that.

Picks - cheap enough, try a few. You'll lose them by the dozens. I can play any guitar but I need Tortex Yellow pics. It took me 20 years to settle on that. Get anything medium.


DEEP ADVICE: I could play out with that Ibanez and a Roland Cube no problem. In fact, pretty much did a few weeks ago. That kind of guitar/amp combo can recreate the tones of the gods from 20 years ago no problem. Reality is that a lot of the gear bug ends up being water money that is spent by you on you for you. Most people don't care. And I'll say the better players don't either. Spend time playing and less time time futzing with the gear. When you do move up, you'll be focussed on the right things instead of making excuses about the technology that are expensive and ultimately don't hide your flaws as a player.

Well said about keeping gear out of the way. When you have 10 choices of amp and pre-dialed basic fx at the twist of a knob - it just takes care of all of that.

Cube - Blackface, turn some EQ, a little reverb = SRV (If I can play it)
Cube - Marshal, Strat, turn some EQ, a long delay = Gilmour (If I can play it)
Cube - 5150, Les Paul, turn some EQ, no fx at all = Slash (I can play that one!)
Cube - Tweed, Les Paul, turn some EQ, tweak the gain just so, no fx = Billy Gibbons
Cube - Marshall, Les Paul neck, turn some EQ, maybe verb or delay...you get the idea

[FuseG4]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

Gauge 9-42 is good and then work up to tens at least, you'll want a warm balanced tone but it takes time to build finger strength.
Picks... For blues I like fender heavy picks. The normal celluloid ones.
Amps... Yeah a modeling amp would be good to begin with. I mean, I've had 50w Marshalls when I lived in an apartment and I had to crank it down to master on about 0.5 sometimes, had to drag it out to buddies places to jam but at that point it was worth it.
If you're serious about getting into it and have maybe friends houses you can go play loud at them go get like a 15w tube combo cuz the clean sounds will still be great for your apartment and pedals and a good master volume can work. You don't need power tube distortion to get into the blues rock stuff at home but there's always attenuators and I've gone that route too
Something versatile like a fender bassbreaker or egnater tweaker can sound pleasing in an apartment. Tube hybrid combos like the super champ x2 are cool, I owned the tweaker and the super champ when I was apartment dwelling and they're fun

[CaptainWhizz]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

If you do go down the tube amp route, Fender Bassbreaker 7/15 and Egnater Tweaker 15 would be amps I would also suggest looking at. Depending on the prices where you are, it might be worth trying out the 15 watt Ibanez Tube Screamer Amp; it’s supposed to be a Fender-style amp, with a Tube Screamer circuit built in. I think the foot switch is extra, whichever is a bit harsh, but it lets you switch the TS circuit on and off, and also kick in a volume boost. If you factor in the cost to purchase a TS separately, the price is quite good. Also, you can switch from 15 watt mode to 5 watts.

[Nightburst]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

Welcome to the wonderful world of guitar!
I started out with an Ibanez rg too.

There will be many great recommendations here so all I can add to that is, explore, check out stuff that appeals to you, figure out why it appeals to you and if it gets you to where you want to be as a guitar player. Stay inspired!
Modelers are great and have many tonal options, however small low wattage tube amps are affordable, abundant and can sound good at home too so don't rule them out to soon. I suggest to go to a store and try out a couple of different amps to see which one you like most.

To narrow down the search ask yourself what is the most practical thing you can get right now: does it need to be low budget or can you stretch it a bit? Do you want a solid good sounding base tone and expand form there later on? Do you want a lot of sounds and effects straight away?

Can I ask what your budget is? Makes it easier to make suggestions.

[Jacew]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

I'm not that sure 9"s are good way to start. They're more difficult to play well as you need more control, and you'll build up strenght slower. 10's are standard gauge and they will feel more difficult, once you get used to 9's.

[formos]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

thanks guy! I really appreciate you all for taking the time and lending me some good advice - especially regarding picks and strings, and the importance of getting this old guitar setup first. I will make sure to do that!

I'm still deciding on the amp however. At the moment, I'm really interested in either Yamaha's THR10c or Fender's Super Champ XD or 2x.

Does anyone have any experience with these particular amps by any chance? Would you recommend them? Are they suitable for the type of music/sound I'm after?

While the THR10c is more of a niche amp with a focus on blues, I wonder if it's possible to get a high gain sound out of it by using some sort of pedal in the future so I can get that Gary Moore tone. I do really like the blues sound it creates though. Some of the youtube videos I've seen of this amp are pretty incredible. On top of that, it can directly connect to a sound source and play backingtracks and directly record my session into a DAW on the computer which I can then show others and get some quick feedback and critiques.

Super Champ XD/2X on the other hand seem extremely versatile so i'll be able get both the blues and the gary moore sound right out of the box. However, I don't know if its blues sound is better than Yamaha THR10c's.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Gear Recommendation (Blues, Blues-Rock)

Get a couple packs of 10-46 strings. I like D'Addario, but they're all excellent quality. The guitarists you're describing are all very emotive, dynamic players. As such, they play with varying right hand aggressiveness and bend the bejesus out of their strings. SRV used an 11 set with extra heavy high and low E, Gilmour and Moore (RIP) are both 10s with heavier wound strings.

I disagree with Aceman about not changing them until they fall off. Rusty strings wear out frets, so change them if the plain strings feel rough or look discolored. If you wipe them off as he recommended and your guitar is in good repair, you'll probably get several months out of a $6 set.

Get some picks of a medium-heavy thickness. I like Dunlop Tortex .88mm.

Get a small modeling amp. Recently, I was buying a used Epiphone Dot, and the owner gave me a Peavey Vypyr 15 for an extra $30 or so. I use it more than the vintage Super Reverb sitting next to it.

Like a few others said, get a tuner that clips on the headstock. The D'Addario/Planet Waves NS Micro is tiny, works great, and you can leave it there and barely notice it. I think it's around $15.