Guitar suggestion for a family member.

[man-in-moon]

Ok guys since y'all were so helpful helping me pick out an amp for my cousin. Now he needs a better guitar. He likes to play mostly rock and metal. Every so often he will play some zz top type stuff. So far there are 5 guitars he is looking at. They are different for the most part.
LTD EC 1000 with the thick body
evh wolfgang special
Charvel san Dumas
Prs tremonti se custom
Prs se custom 22/24
Around here it is hard to find some of these to play. But he has managed to try most of them. And he likes them all equally for certain things. He doesn't mind swapping pickups if need be. He likes the feel of the all maple necks on the evh and charvel. But he likes the look and feel of the singlecuts as well.
Which one would be the best bang for the buck?

 

[Blille]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

All great choices.

A lot of variety but I think the key difference is the scale imho.

For 25.5, the San Dimas comes with 59/JB pickups so that’s an advantage in my book, and the neck is awesome.

For 24.75, the LTD EC1000 is great imho.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

The EVH Wolfgang Special is hella nice, they are famous for their neck profile. The slightly hotter neck pickup can be a bit confusing if you aren't used to it though.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

For my money the Charvel San Dimas is tough to beat. Excellent build quality, great colors, great necks, fair price and either a Floyd or a hard tail. The Wolfgang Special is a fairly distant 2nd in that list.

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

I own a San Dimas and a Se Custom 24 Floyd. Both are awesome axes.
As mentioned above the Charvel sports a JB/59 combo, which are an
excellent match for the Alder body. I did switch out the pups on the
Prs, didn't care for the HFS/VB pair. Both are well built and the necks
and fast. Can't go wrong with either one.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

I’ve been gassing for a San Dimas, so that’s my pick. Plus it comes stock with great pickups.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

That Charvel has some pretty sweet pickups already, and can cover a variety of music. That would be my choice. My 2nd choice is the EVH, which is a great playing guitar, but I don't remember the pickups in that or if they would need to be upgraded.

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

Likes the Charvel, but also single cutaway bodies...
Easy, Charvel San Dimas Style2. Same specs and neck as the regular San Dimas, but with a Tele style body instead of Strat.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

Thanks guys I'll have him try out more charvels. I've noticed the trend with most of the bands he likes are thicker sounding guitars. Mainly mahogany body set necks. With the occasional floyd rose threw in.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Guitar suggestion for a family member.

Get used Japan-made versions of the above for the same money, they're a lot nicer (fullbrand ESP Eclipse II for the ESP, a bit harder to ID with the Charvels afair you need to check serials or markings, iirc they moved em to Mexico, and ditto on the EVH stuff)

For PRS look for used USA PRS


All of the above will put a muuuuch bigger smile on anybody's face and will be keepers