Beginning gearstuffs

[Owwwccchhh]

Hey all. I posted a thread of the same name over at the Chapman forums. I just want more opinions over here of which guitars/amplifier I should get for my beginning gear. So my budget is $200 for the guitar and $200 for the amp. So yeah. Also hello everyone. This is my first post. Please relay the rules of the forum to me, it would be greatly appreciated so I don't get in trouble around here.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Welcome to the forum!

Here are the rules

What style are you wanting to learn? There are a lot of great guitars and amps in that budget range.

 

[Owwwccchhh]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Welcome to the forum!

Here are the rules

What style are you wanting to learn? There are a lot of great guitars and amps in that budget range.

Mostly high gainy kind of metally styles. Hardcore, punk, metalcore, metal, rock, blues as well.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

My suggestion would be an Epiphone Les Paul and a Marshal MG series amp. Blues to Metal is quite a gamut of styles–the Marshall MG can some nice clean tones as well as some good sounding gain. Go used and you can get the MG for well under $200 (I bought my former MG amp for $100 on Craigslist) and put that savings into a pedal or something.

Best of luck!

 

[Owwwccchhh]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

My suggestion would be an Epiphone Les Paul and a Marshal MG series amp. Blues to Metal is quite a gamut of styles–the Marshall MG can some nice clean tones as well as some good sounding gain. Go used and you can get the MG for well under $200 (I bought my former MG amp for $100 on Craigslist) and put that savings into a pedal or something.

Best of luck!

Are the epiphone Les Pauls any good though? I've heard very differing opinions on them. I also had an epi SG suggested to me, what does everyone think of that?

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Are the epiphone Les Pauls any good though? I've heard very differing opinions on them. I also had an epi SG suggested to me, what does everyone think of that?

With guitars one can not make an absolute statement like "good" and "bad"...there are SO many opinions out there. lol Personally, most guitars that get a bad rap have not been properly setup. The Epiphones I've played were easy to play and sounded great for the price.

I think Epiphone makes a great economical product–you can't compare them to a $2,000 Gibson or you will be disappointed. The Epiphone Les Paul and SG offer iconic design and similar tone for a fraction of the price. In a sense, you get what you pay for BUT you are a beginner...the SG or Les Paul will give you a decent instrument to learn on.

You want dual humbuckers for the styles you are wanting to learn, a Les Paul or SG would be great either way.

 

[Owwwccchhh]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

With guitars one can not make an absolute statement like "good" and "bad"...there are SO many opinions out there. lol Personally, most guitars that get a bad rap have not been properly setup. The Epiphones I've played were easy to play and sounded great for the price.

I think Epiphone makes a great economical product–you can't compare them to a $2,000 Gibson or you will be disappointed. The Epiphone Les Paul and SG offer iconic design and similar tone for a fraction of the price. In a sense, you get what you pay for BUT you are a beginner...the SG or Les Paul will give you a decent instrument to learn on.

You want dual humbuckers for the styles you are wanting to learn, a Les Paul or SG would be great either way.

So, assuming I get it properly set up I'll be fine. Okay. Understood. Would a pickup change be suggested? And if so what would you suggest?

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

So, assuming I get it properly set up I'll be fine. Okay. Understood. Would a pickup change be suggested? And if so what would you suggest?

For a beginner I really wouldn't worry about a pickup change. The newer stock Epiphone pickups probably get the sound you are looking for and until you play the guitar you won't know what it needs (for example, you don't know if you need more output, more bass response, is it ice picky, etc.) Hope that helps!

 

[Demanic]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

I would say, check some pawn shops and if you can, bring along someone who knows what to look for. You can get a decent Epi LP or SG, and a serviceable solid state amp for what you have to spend.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Are the epiphone Les Pauls any good though? I've heard very differing opinions on them. I also had an epi SG suggested to me, what does everyone think of that?

I was in a band for about a year with a guy who played a stock Epiphone G-400 SG through an I-can't-remember-no-name amp. He had a Roland or Vox-type multi-effect handling most of his distortion tones and he did pretty well getting nice sounds that matched recordings we were playing. I was playing a Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall JCM-900 and we could blend parts decently and trade off parts. His sound was a little more filtered and lost some shimmer on the top. His pedals did so much of the work I don't think pickup changes or mods would have done much that was discernible. A better cleaner amp would have let more of the guitar sound through, though. If the amp is too low quality it can be like having a blanket over your sound. Down at the $200 price point some of the emulations (like Line6, SansAmp) running into a clean full-range amp become attractive to my ears.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

I too recommend the Pawn route. Some people choose drugs over music, and that's a win for you. Find someone who knows something, and buy them lunch. You can get a helluva guitar for a buck fifty IF you know which one.

And always remember Amp > Guitar for great sound. At this point, I agree with the little Marshall MG, or again, a used modeler of some sort. A little practice amp is never a bad thing.

But save the pickup money for a great amp.

Seth's through a 15 watt Crate = Crap.

Stock whatever through a Mesa = TONE.

 

[Owwwccchhh]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

What about a Peavy valveking royal 8? What kind of sounds are they good for? Also I'm pretty dead set on an Epi SG.

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

I don't normally like these, but for a beginner I would recommend a modeling amp. Line 6 Spider, Peavey Vypr, or Vox Valvetronix are the most common. Go for the 1x12 models (IME these sound better than the ones with smaller speakers) I've seen plenty of 1x12 Spiders and Vyprs for $100, the Vox is usually a little more but deals can be found. The reason I suggest these for beginners is that you will have access to a variety of amp models that can help you narrow down what type of amp suits your playing best when/if you decide to upgrade later.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Welcome! many Epis are very good guitars! Especially one from recent years. You'll see alot of trash talk about them on forums because alot of forums have alot of "parrots" (people that have no real experience but repeat what they heard or read and try to pass it off as fact) and alot of people that aren't always honest... Ive quit going to some forums because it seemed like every 12-15 year old kid there owned 2 or three custom shop les pauls or prs' and boutique amps of some sort, and so they talked smack about everything else..
So, anyhow, yes, EPI can make a great guitar. Sounds like you have your mind made up on an SG. Thats good. Will cover alot of ground for you and can be had for around $200-300. I would recommend getting the G400 model if you can.

As far as amps, I'll let others guide you here as Im not well versed on amps in that price range and dont want to steer you wrong

 

[voggin]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Whether it's an epiphone or something else, guitars today are all pretty well built, largely due to mechanization of the manufacturing process and the cost of labour in some countries. When I started over 30 years ago you had to be really cautious with lower-priced guitars, but that isn't the case today.

Best advice given here is to take someone you trust with you who knows a bit. But there's lots of good used stuff at your pricepoints out there. And the used modelling amp idea might be a good one, because you can get a whole range of good tones to suit a number of styles, in case your taste in music changes, or you get a chance to jam with people who play different stuff than your usual. Modellers often have lots of built-in effects, and can save you a fortune in pedals when you're starting out. They can also help you decide down the road if you need a particular pedal/effect or not, because you can "audition" them in the modeller.

Modellers can also be very handy for home recording on a laptop or whatever.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

I don't normally like these, but for a beginner I would recommend a modeling amp. Line 6 Spider, Peavey Vypr, or Vox Valvetronix are the most common. Go for the 1x12 models (IME these sound better than the ones with smaller speakers) I've seen plenty of 1x12 Spiders and Vyprs for $100, the Vox is usually a little more but deals can be found. The reason I suggest these for beginners is that you will have access to a variety of amp models that can help you narrow down what type of amp suits your playing best when/if you decide to upgrade later.

THIS! ...some great advice here so far. Used guitar+ a setup is always a good route. Modelling amp since your starting out.

 

[Securb]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Another vote for the Epiphone G-400 SG, I could gig with that guitar and be perfectly happy. As others have said a lot of people parrot what they read on the interwebz, try to block out the noise. You have a bunch of guys in this thread all whom I have the utmost respect for suggesting the Epiphone G-400 SG. There are a lot of options out there but for what you are playing I think it is a home run. As far as amps go, I would look for a used solid state Marshall. Hit Craigslist you can't sneeze without hitting one.

What about a Peavy valveking royal 8? What kind of sounds are they good for? Also I'm pretty dead set on an Epi SG.

Don't just look for an Epi SG take note of the model G-400. The reason people are suggesting that model is it is a set neck guitar. Don't take this as me saying set neck guitars are better than bolt-ons, in no way is that true. However, in the Gibson/Epiphone product line the quality gets drastically better with the set neck guitars. The G-400 is the entry point to that quality.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Epiphones are lame. 200 could get you a second hand shred machine which will eat the epiphone like pacman on a cherry.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Don't just look for an Epi SG take note of the model G-400. The reason people are suggesting that model is it is a set neck guitar. Don't take this as me saying set neck guitars are better than bolt-ons, in no way is that true. However, in the Gibson/Epiphone product line the quality gets drastically better with the set neck guitars. The G-400 is the entry point to that quality.

Great point here, and while I am no expert on the SG tone I would say I out of the SGs I've played I've always prefered the set neck versions...not knocking the bolt-on Epis its just that they didn't sustain like the set neck ones.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Beginning gearstuffs

Epiphones are lame. 200 could get you a second hand shred machine which will eat the epiphone like pacman on a cherry.

You are lame lol :dance:

Are you talking about Ibanez for that price point? And personally, I would NOT recommend a locking tremolo unit for a beginner