heavy sound on a budget

drew_half_empty

Looking for Real Life
my friend is on an extreme budget, but needs a pretty versatile guitar, and first and foremost needs a good hardcore punk sound (not so much metal sounding, with a touch of vintage)

I'm reccomending a squier or standard tele with a hotrail, but im not sure if that will give the desired tone, i'm not really good with guessing sound cuz, well, i'm not familiar with what woods give what tones

so, would this be good, or does someone have a better suggestion?
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

Modern hardcore or 1978-1986 hardcore? If you want a heavy sound, get a mahogany/basswood/korina/koa/walnut body. Ash, alder, and maple are standard fender woods and are brighter... but that doesn't mean they're useless, it will come down on how you have your rig set up. Try to avoid woods such as poplar, agathis (I've heard good things about agathis but I've never heard good agathis guitars), and wood composites/plywood.
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

I disagree with the poplar statement. My Guitar <<< is poplar and sounds really good for heavy music with the right tone settings.

just how extreme a budget does he have?

a yamaha pacifica is real cheap, is H/S/S so is pretty versitile... i suppose you could just swap out the bridge pup for something hotter and that would be fine. the yamaha shouldnt be much more than a squier
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

A friend of mine has a Pacifica 112, solid guitar, i recommend. Alder can easily be heavy, i love the sound i get from my Kramer. In fact check out kramers on www.musicyo.com
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

I hope your friend has a 4X12 cab and a good tube head or you're NOT gonna get anything very heavy, irregardless of guitar.
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

MrHeavyMetal said:
I hope your friend has a 4X12 cab and a good tube head or you're NOT gonna get anything very heavy, irregardless of guitar.


:rolleyes:

I second something like a Squire strat with atleast a bridge pup swap, like a hotrails, or a HSS squire strat with maybe an invader? I high output ceramic mag single coil would be my choice.
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

MrHeavyMetal said:
I hope your friend has a 4X12 cab and a good tube head or you're NOT gonna get anything very heavy, irregardless of guitar.

:bsflag:
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

well, i paid 200 for guitar bout 200 for the duncans (yes they are rickin expencive here) 225 for the amp and 75 for the pedal (well, not everything at the same time) this is pretty much as low as you can get.. my gear is described in my sig. if you want to hear it, you will have to wait till saturday (throughout the day i'll be posting sound samples of me just messing around.. i dont think there'll be 'professional' or produced playing, just what i come up on the spot.. and it will be pretty sloppy also lol... but for good fun :))

mrheavymetal, that is the biggest piece of crap i've ever heard.. well, not really the biggest, cos the things told at the maiden BB are better left unread >.<

but i got a 65W amp that goes through a stock 12" speaker and i get the same tone as het had on to live is to die and that is the definition of heavy. and i cant play it on full volume (with the pedal level on half, which means as loud as the clean signal, just added effect) it can be used for club gigs with without a problem
 
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Re: heavy sound on a budget

Can you get heavy with a 1x12 open back combo? Sure. Can you get as heavy as a high gain, high powered halfstack with a 1x12 open back combo? Not really. :smack:

BTW, gentlemen, expressing differing points of view and opinions is fine, but there is no need to be abrasive. :smoker:
 
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Re: heavy sound on a budget

theboatcandream said:
I agree. My tone is heavy as hell, and I play through a 2x15.

i used to play through a 1 x 15, when i had a crappy Digitech pedal but my tone had more bass than my 2 x 12.

however that had a closed back and my 2x12 does not.

i get some pretty heavy sounding tones outa my guitar port, check the link in my sig and check out the craply titled "huge riff" - its only 300 k or something, thats pretty big sounding considering the thing only costs 100 quid
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

VERY low budget. But he'll be playing thru my friend's avt150

heavy sounding like...a global threat, or 9 shocks terror, or antischism

i guess not necessarily all THAT heavy sounding


another option that i inconvenienty overlooked was an ibanez GAX70, and put like p90's or something in it, i'm also up for reccomendations on this, since its HH, and mahogany

would this be a better choice than the squire with a hot rail? I'm trying to get the guitar off ebay & keep the ammount as close to $200 as i can get
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

Gamera said:

if you think what I've said is BS, then you have obviously never stood in front of a 4X12 with Vintage 30's and 100-watt 59 Plexi cranked. I own both. Plus, can't you speak in words instead of posting a "BS" flag. :rolleyes:
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

Davey said:
...mrheavymetal, that is the biggest piece of crap i've ever heard.. well, not really the biggest, cos the things told at the maiden BB are better left unread >.<

dude, that's a low blow. I've been playing 25 years and I think I have enough experience to give advice. Crap ? I think not.
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

MrHeavyMetal said:
dude, that's a low blow. I've been playing 25 years and I think I have enough experience to give advice. Crap ? I think not.
First off, dont take it seriously MHMM. These new guys dont remember you from old forum where you were one of the best contributing members around... we miss you here, you should post more, but i understand. I rarely have the time to post anymore too. I do agree that you can get heavy with a 212, but a 112 simply wont do it. If you want really heavy, a 412 is what you need. However, i dont think that the kid could afford a 412 tube stack so id suggest a 212 tube combo for a budget. I prefer the sound from my 212 actually. Its heavy, but not too heavy which is just right for my sound.
As for the poplar, Poplar is a very good sounding wood. Its main disadvantage and problem is that it is much heavier than alder and thus dampens the low frequencies slightly. Its tone is very similar to alder though. For a better description, www.warmoth.com has it nder its wood selection. I know for a fact that great tone can be gotten out of a poplar guitar and a nice heavy sound is not any harder to come by with a poplar guitar, than an alder guitar. Aside from weight and aesthetics(poplar is often green streaky and all together ugly) poplar is a great tone wood.
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

MrHeavyMetal said:
if you think what I've said is BS, then you have obviously never stood in front of a 4X12 with Vintage 30's and 100-watt 59 Plexi cranked. I own both.

Now you're just showing off.

Plus, can't you speak in words instead of posting a "BS" flag.

You want words? Okay:

"Irregardless" isn't a word. I believe the word you were searching for is "regardless." ;)
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

Uh, this is getting way off topic.

The Question is: Can you get a heavy sound on the cheap?
The Answer is: Yes, but probably not a great one. But that was never a criteria.

Your Q is too open-ended. Your friend needs to play whatever is in his price range and go with the one that plays and sounds the best.

Talking about what wood gives you the heaviest sound is just silly.
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

thank you twilight

my friend isn't picky enough, he's an awesome guitarist, but he knows nothing about guitar tech, at all

i'm thinking the ibanez with p-90's. Anyone care to second this?
 
Re: heavy sound on a budget

I would like to humbly suggest an SG of some sort, maybe an Epi or even a used Gibby SG special? I think that the SG is a great design for heavier-type punk sounds. It's light, resonant, and has a full-sized bridge humbucker. And at the risk of being unpopular, on my special I never even thought to change the stock pickups! I thought that my SG special was just fine stock, and was giving me the right output and tone for heavy sounds.
 
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