Beginner in need of Advice

[Panzer]

Hey guys, this is my first post on these forums. I was looking for some advice and I heard nothing but good things about these forums.

Here is my Dilemna...
I have been playing about 4 months now, I gave up Piano after 7 years of lessons to play guitar, I need something new. I have been playing my heart out for 4 months straight now and I want to move up the ladder a bit, get together with some friends of mine who have bands and Jam. My gear is a little mediocre at the moment(That being a Generous statement) This is where I need help. My first guitar is a Hamer slammer series electric. Some beginner guitar my brother bought me as a birthday present. He warned me when he gave it to me that its not going to be good enough for me later on, although he said the hamer slammer series was the best actual beginner guitar he knows of. I dont know much about this stuff so I just play it. I want to try to spruce up my kit a bit so I can jam with a live drum set.
Im currently using:

-Hamer Slammer [Strat Style] - Was a gift from my brother
-Marshall MG-30DFX combo
-Korg Digital Tuner

The tuner is the only thing that will be able to stay in my kit as far as I know.
My main issue is amplifier. I went to a music shop in december with a couple hundred dollars and walked out with a Marshall MG30DFX combo amp. It seemed good enough for some low volume embarrasing practice. From what im hearing I will need at least a 50 watt amp with a 12" or something in it to play with a live drum set. I was thinking about a Marshall MG50DFX because I have some experience with the MG30 and got used to the tone and effects. But the last couple days I have been reading through various articles and reviews Bashing the marshal MG series for various reasons. If I work well with what I have at the moment I think I can squeeze about $500 CDN for an amp, and possibly $400 for a guitar if I play my cards right. Anyone have any usefull suggestions, maybe someone who was in my possition that would have some guiding advice?

Sorry in advance if this is in the wrong area of the forums or if my questions seem a bit Silly.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Welcome to the board Your 30 watt marshall should be loud enough
to hang with a live drummer.( Granted, you won't be overpowering him)
Being that it's a new amp I would look to upgrade my guitar 1st.
When you start giging you can start thinking about a upgrade for
a 50watt 1x12 tube amp.But for now I'd stick with the Lil' marshall
Solid state you have now and get a new guitar.

 

[Panzer]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

30 watt will keep up? thats awesome news. speaking of guitar I was in the music shop here in town a week ago and they have an Ibanez guitar of some sort, 5 pickups, tremolo bar, in some funky sleek metalic body. Either that or one of the Hamer Diablo's I know a guy who has a Hamer Diablo II and he says its a pretty cool guitar for the money. Do you know much about those?

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

30 watt will keep up? thats awesome news. speaking of guitar I was in the music shop here in town a week ago and they have an Ibanez guitar of some sort, 5 pickups, tremolo bar, in some funky sleek metalic body. Either that or one of the Hamer Diablo's I know a guy who has a Hamer Diablo II and he says its a pretty cool guitar for the money. Do you know much about those?

Sorry I don't know much about Ibanez's I'm a Fender/Gibson guy.
5 Pickups??? you must mean two humbuckers and a single coil ?

 

[Panzer]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

I dont know much about guitars in general. hehe, My guitar now has 3 single coil pickups, the ibanez I looked at had 5 similar looking pickups, only 2 on the front were packed together, the one in the middle was by itself, and the ones in the rear were packed together aswell.

All I know is it sounds good, I used it with an Ibanez Toneblaster 25 in the shop, Played Seek and Destroy, god was it ever heavy. I have only played 3 electric guitars before though, so I dont really have a good idea of what guitars give a really nice heavy sound.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

I dont know much about guitars in general. hehe, My guitar now has 3 single coil pickups, the ibanez I looked at had 5 similar looking pickups, only 2 on the front were packed together, the one in the middle was by itself, and the ones in the rear were packed together aswell.

That's O.K. a long,long time ago I didn't know the difference. The 2
that are packed together are actually one called a humbucker. The
one coil is wired together w/t the other to cancel hum. You'll get
a better 'seek and destroy" Metal tone from the humbuckers.
More crunch :13: You wanna learn about PuPs ?? you came to the right
place.

 

[Panzer]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

mmmm crunch :dance: Thats one main reason I bought a marshall, all the reviews said marshall=Crunch. Hey, While I have your attention, would it be a good idea to take my korean strat knock off and build it up into a custom, or would the overall quality in the body and everything make that a bad idea?
I was just listening to some samples on the site with the hot rod pickups or whatever, those sound soooooo nice.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP; GET AN AMP;

Change your pickups, and GET AN AMP.

A great amp can make a bad guitar sound ok,

But a crap amp will make a great guitar sound like crap.

Just my opinion.


If you take that $900, splerge on a good pickup, and spend the rest of a good used amp, you'll be set. That way, you can save up and get a really nice guitar later on.

 

[Panzer]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

well, the sun is rising, today is the day. Im going to spend all day browsing music shops, sampling guitars and amps, My first jam session is tomorrow night, so I wanna be ready, Ill take your advice into serious consideration, this thread has Helped me quite a bit Thanks guys.

 

[Hoss]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

hmmm...only speculating on what i would do if i were you...for $500 bucks i bought my tech 21 trademark 120 (2x12) USED...and that's the key word...if you're patient, you can find excellent used gear...why pay for the huge markup in new stuff...let somebody else pay that...

anyways, it's as loud as i'll ever need...and has tons of nice features... www.tech21nyc.com

for a guitar...again...look for something used...$400 bucks...let's see...fender mexican strats & teles...maybe some schecters...epiphone les pauls...etc...

go to a music store and play stuff in the $600-$700 dollar range...you can almost guarantee to find these same guitars in the $400 dollar range used...my best advice is to play tons of stuff...alot...and then don't just buy something to be buying it...be patient and picky...

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Amen, Hoss.

Welcome to the forum, Panzer. None of us knew much about gear starting out. The best advice that can be offered is: "trust your ears". AND, as Hoss suggested, you might be able to buy a guitar and and amp for your money.

 

[59paul]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Pretty good advice, Hoss. Cool Avatar, too !!!

 

[y2stevo]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Ok A few months ago i was in your position, only i was playin for like 2 years but i was either going to get a guitar or an amp.....I chose an Amp and im soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Happy i did, then at the same time i ought new pickups(well actually they were second hand) and IMO its the best thing i could have done..Now Though im in the market for a new guitar but because i upgraded my little Aria strat Copy (which is actually quiet a very well made guitar for the price, no problms with the neck except little fret buzz because i need a new nut but nothing noticable yet) with new Pickups i get killer tone out of my Marshall DSL 50 All Tube Amp so i recommend that you do the same (not nessicerally get a DSL 50 but mabye a tube Combo).. Im so glad i did this also because when i get a new guitar i will have a brilliant Rig to Plug It Into...


Cheers and elcome Also...

 

[Norman_T]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Hi Panzer,

Welcome to the forum and as you will have seen most of us are really very friendly and helpful. What people have so far posted is very true, insofar as giving you ideas, advice, knowledge and many years of experience.

However the best person is always going to be yourself, or as you are new to the game someone you can trust, so trust your ears (and also your wallet). If there are questions then don't be afraid to ask and believe it or not people here can help you and once you get hooked into this place it will get addictive. Use not only this room for guitar related questions but also the other rooms as there are other people who could also help you there.

It sounds to me that you will be looking at more of a twin humbuckered guitar at some point in the near future with a possible upgrade in the amp (probably tube). I would say get used to playing what is essentially a hot strat in the Hamer Diablo, then go out and try some other guitars and amps. Make a list of those that people here recommend and then be ruthless and cut these down to 3 or 4 and then start on the holy grail of searches for them.

In summary what I am saying is save your money until later on when you have built up enough experience and know what you want, rather than spend out for something that may cost you more in the long run.

 

[y2stevo]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Hi Panzer,
In summary what I am saying is save your money until later on when you have built up enough experience and know what you want, rather than spend out for something that may cost you more in the long run.

Thats something i should have said also... although i loved that i got a great am firts im even more pleased that i got it when i was much more experienced than where your probly at now..if i had have just went out waving wads of cash(which i still am not able to do mund you) i would have made so many mistakes in buying the wrong eqipment for me..Even tho im playing for over 2 years i still havent even bought a new guitar that the one i have and im still very pleased at what it can offer.. I still learn lot of new stuff everyday with this guitar...Be catious when picking thi sort of stuff dont just go full on buying the first thing thats recommended...IMO i think your still better off with the MG30 for now..

Mabye one thing you could do is get mabye just one new pickup..and if you are going to do this get it second hand.. Be i from Ebay or one of the great guys here selling stuff...99.99% of 'em are guys that you will have no problems whatsoever with..

Althoug im not saying do that either but im just saying that that is an option for you...

Good Luck!!!

 

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

HAILS MAN
about the guitars stuffs.....
you must choose from the following neck , pickups, options
you should form the wood(bright, medium, dark sound), you must choose what pickup configuration : if humbucker, single coisl, humbucker, if single coil, single coil, single coil, or if Humbucker-humbucker.
you choose your path.

for teh neck.....
theres a medium size neck, thick neck(gibsons and fenders) and thin necks (jacksons, ibanezs)

i suggest that you must buy a Fender standard USA or japan.

 

[BluesNRock87]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

dude, u wanna blow 900 on a new gutiar and amp?

well, seeing as thats more than i spent and my rig gets some of the best tone amongst my friends and even better than some stuff that costs way more, ill give you some tips

play a cheap, good value guitar that you are comforatable on and u like. I use a h-s-h (5 pup as u put it) for versatility. buying DUNCAN pickups, for about 150 used, i got my guitar to sound really nice, and do what i want it to do. my gutiar cost me 340, so thats a total of 450 so far

i bought a cheap 30 watt amp (solid state) as you did, for 125, it sucked. i sold it to a friend for 115, so technically that cost me 10, bump my total cost to 460

i was patient, and found a nice used tube amp i liked, i got a crate vc3112 (vintage club 30) for 225. this amp is a cheap vox ac30 clone, but with a plexi gain circuit, i think. either way, it is one of the best souding amps you can buy for under 300. find a good used tube amp, peavey classic 30, there are some others too.. so far ive spent 885, thats just under ur 900 limit. i have good tone. i have nice stuff, and im happy....for now (granted i have a 750 acoustic, but who has to know). ive spent more money on stuff like strings, capos, slides, a few pedals, but so far ive resold everything at a good rate. had i got my tube amp, i never woulda bought the pedals

find a good gutiar, maybe used? get duncans. find a good used tube amp, plug guitar into amp via a GOOD cord, and voila, instant tone

 

[y2stevo]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

If you really want to get both for under $900 then i think BluesNrocks way is proboly best... Shop around and see what deals you can find...I revommend starting right here at out very own trading post.....If you think something might be a good deal or have some more questions don't hesitate to ask at all and we'll be glad to help you..


Cheers...
y2stevo

 

[RACER X]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

Just remember one thing, tube amps are very expensive and costley to maintane, but worth it if you have the money. I would suggest a good Solid State amp, its cheaper and you can get lots of crunch from it, even at bedroom levels. Try that with a Mesa or a Marshall, haha it aint gonna happen.

 

[Panzer]

Re: Beginner in need of Advice

I just stumbled across an older Fender Solid State 100(I think) half stack for $570 CDN Not sure if it will deliver the tone Im looking for though. Im going back tomorrow to give it a try. And as for guitars, You guys are definitely right, I want something better, something with humbuckers. Thanks for all your advice and help.