Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

S

SepultuRick

New member
Hi, i am looking for a new electric guitar.

Here are the general specifications i want:

Mahogany body
Fixed bridge
string thru body would be good
fast or fastish neck
24.75 scale
2 x humbuckers minimum

I am willing to upgrade pickups if necessary.

I have £250 - £350 to spend.

i play a lot of metal, lots of palm mute stuff but i also like to play solos and melodies.
A decent clean sound would be great too.


any suggestions?

I live in the uk so something of great value for money to uk residents would be ideal.

for example esp are overpriced in the uk as are many other american guitars.

please help
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Perhaps some Schecter stuff? Tried some and liked them alot :)
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Ibanez SZ is pretty close to those specs (25.1" instead of 24.75").
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

I have a Schecter C-1 Blackjack that plays pretty good (not great, but you get what you pay for), 25.5" scale tho, but otherwise a pretty good guitar, came with a JB-b and 59-n.... meets all your other requirements excepting the scale...
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

With those specs and at those prices Jacksons are out (there are Mahogany Jacksons but not at that price point).
From Ibanez the S SA and SZ lines are as noted above 25.1 instead of 24.75 but they otherwise fit the bill nicely (including the fastish necks).

However for that money I think your best bet is a Schecter for a more pure metal guitar or perhaps a Michael Kelly Patriot (they have the Patriot Shadow and Patriot Black) or Valor for a more LPish guitar.
Another Korean based company I've taken a special liking to is Swing but I do not know whether there is a local dealer or availability in the UK...
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Checked a little, I really think a Schecter Tempest and the above Michael Kellys are perhaps your best bets.

From Schecter the Tempest Extreme is well within your budget while if you can scrounge up 50 more pounds then you can move to the Tempest Blackjack or the Tempest Custom which are IMO a hell of a good deal.

The Blackjack is EXACTLY what you asked including the string thru and even have real SDs, the JB and 59 so no need to change pickups, if instead you also prefer to have a figured Maple top and a multi-piece neck for improved stability then the Tempest Custom has those and Duncan Designed pickups to offset the cost (which aren't bad pickups by any account and you might also not want to change them either...)

From Michael Kelly there are the LPs with a modern twist (single cut or double cut, PRS style), many to choose from, all amazing bang for buck and many should be within your budget. Many (most?) Michael Kellys also have coil taps for those good single coilish cleans...
(BTW their top of the line Patriot Custom/Limited will be my next, LPish guitar)

At that price point I really think these are your best choices...
 
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Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Dude Jackson makes the best metal guitars ever. They're usually not mahogany, but who cares? They sound and play awesome. You can get an SL2MAH for about $1,600 new. There ya go!
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Schecter C1 Classic or BC Rich Mockingbird Special X.

The Schecer isn't mahogany but it's a great guitar.
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Yamaha AES620. Comes stock with a bridge JB. Won a Guitar Player Editor's award and a Guitar One award. Mahoghany body, thick but comfy set neck, string thru-body. Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth) plays one.

And from a Jackson player I gotta tell ya, even tho' it's not a Jackson you can riffs for days and more importantly - shred on this thing. It's not Metal looking but it's definitely a guitar players instrument. And it's $499.00. Pobably a bit more than you wanna spend, but I wouldn't suggest it if I hadn't played one.
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

^ Nonono, played it just a few weeks ago, it was just ok, the Michael Kellys TOTALLY smoke these things to kingdom come...
(Didn't A-Bed them with the Tempest but it'd probably smoke them too...)

BTW, 350£ are about 685$ and 460€...
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

look for a used ibanez RG..

resale prices on ibanezes are piss-poor in the UK, you might be looking at basswood (rga121 in violin flat is exactly what you describe in the first post, but the used prices havn't dropped to your price range yet ;)
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Looks like those Michale Kellys are going to be real hard to get hold of in the UK, let alone try out. The schecters are interesting me though. There is only one dealer in the whole of the UK as far as i am aware :)

How is the epiphone les paul standard?
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

A lot worse that it used to be.

I was also looking around for an LPish guitar, naturally the first thing I checked were the Epiphones, their quality was abysmal. A friend of mine has a 2001 Epi and it was night and day in quality (and I didn't just settled on checking one or two...).

Then it was the AES620 like J.D. said, it was ok but DEFINITELY not worth what it cost (at about 740€, almost double your budget), then came a couple more not worth mentioning and finally when the Michael Kellys came it was all over.
(BTW, if I were you I'd contact them asking if/where I could see/get one of their guitars in the UK, I don't see them listing their international dealers...)

Also, they're not really metal guitars but I've heard good things about the PRS SE line...
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

today i tried out the following. Epiphone les paul standard Korean made, ibanez sz320mh, washburn wi65pro, yamaha aes720, vintage v100 les paul and a samick greg bennett prs type thing.

the best were clearly the sz and the epi les paul standard. the guy in the shop was telling me that the newer chinese made models are not as good as the older korean models in terms of material and build quality.

the sz was really nice, felt more comfortable to play then the les pauls. maybe because of the of slightly larger scale neck i am used to. both would need a pickup change for my style though the sz had better pickups than the epi for metal at least.

the wi65pro was a let down after such hype. its built great, fantastic hardware for the price but the feel didn't do it for me. nothing wrong with it, just my personal preference. the yamaha felt ok but nothing amazing.

all in all the sz and epi les paul stood out.
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Man the SZs are awesome! I have a sz520 that I put a distortion and alnico II pro into and it is really a keeper. Thick mahogany body and thick maple cap, although I don't think the 320s have the maple. Its not quite as big or sustainful as my LP guitar, but it is close. Its like a PRS with a faster neck, carved heel, and thicker body.
 
Re: Looking for a new guitar for metal among other things, suggestions please

Yeah, if you got to play an older Epi then it definitely should stand out compared to today's. Even my friend's Epi was a Chinese but it was from the very first batches since they built that factory and things were still more controlled. It just shows that they CAN do better, they just don't care enough...

Ibanezs are very well built, my only gripe with them is the quality of the wood they use.

Sorry to hear about Washburn, I really like their upper import line, didn't care much for their lower ones either but that was too low anyway...

Honestly man, try the Schecters, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at how good a Korean made instrument can be...
Same thing about the M.Kellys, just send them an e-mail, finally, do try to check out a couple PRS SEs.
All in all these should be your best choices at that price point...
 
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