Ok, so what $1000 guitar would you buy?

[Top-L]

The fade burst and "blood burst" finishes on the SLS Elite series are ok if you go in for flamed maple - veneer, so it doesn't have the same impact as a cap in person, but whatever. I can vouch for the build quality. I have two. Direct mount pickups, stainless frets. The necks feel great - the one I bought new took a long time to settle in but it's fine now. The backs and necks have an open pore satin finish so you can feel a little texture but the profile is nice. The necks are a little thin for my taste, maybe you would dig that though.

I'm tired of messing around with guitars at this price point though. I bought 3 guitars in the 1k neighborhood over the past few years. They're all fine, but I could sell them and never miss them. If I had it to do again I would save the money for one really amazing instrument instead of frittering it away.

I have two Fugijen Ibanez s540s that in today's dollars would be 2K guitars. Its kinda amazing that the lo pro edges still have perfect return to zero after 30 years. They are both a bit bashed up, the necks are not perfectly straight, but recently leveled they are currently my best players.

But do I like them more than my M400 and M1000? Not really. The original finish quality and fretboard materials were 10/10, where the LTDs are more in the 8.5/10 range. Put another way, I would rather have three 1000 series LTDs than one E-II.

What I'm looking for now is another neck through in the 1K range. I liked the painted neck on the M1, probably because I don't have any other painted necks. I don't think that jump up to 3K gets much extra. If I was making a 3K purchase it would be a new Uberschall or UFX III.

 

[Chris Pile]

Used guitars ime are sold because they have used guitar problems. Almost always a less than good neck.

That is utter horseshit.

 

[GuitarStv]

That is utter horse****.

I have to agree. It's pretty rare that I've found a used guitar is a real dog. Certainly no more common than with a brand new guitar.

 

[dave74]

Schecter.

They have a huge line so if you go through their whole website it's very likely you would find a model acceptable to your style.

I've only had (still have) two Schecters ever, and both have stainless frets with very level smooth frets and edges. I love their usa sonic-seducer pickups too.

 

[Top-L]

That is utter horse****.

Statistically, people are going to hold onto guitars with great necks, and let go of the ones that are "not great".

You can't convince me otherwise.

 

[Top-L]

I have to agree. It's pretty rare that I've found a used guitar is a real dog. Certainly no more common than with a brand new guitar.

As I've found recently, bad guitars get stuck in the return/resell cycle and can also be bad.

But with those you have the option to return and get another.

I might have higher standards than other people when it comes to guitar necks. If someone is playing at medium action they won't know the difference.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

That is utter horse****.

Most of my guitar's were bought new, Sure I like/much prefer minty guitars but it was mainly because of the lack of any quality instruments turning up in the local used market. People here tend to hang on to anything half-decent they own. So all you really find for sale is the bottom of the barrel sort of stuff, Cheap squeirs, low end Cort's,cheap Aria's, Ibby Gio's and the like.

Off late things have been improving though and I've bought a lot ot of pretty sweet axes used. The only one I ever had a problem with was the Indo S Series I bought off ebay about 10 years ago which had shipping damage to the neck and was returned.... but all my recent purchases have all literally been as good as new. My 3 new Indo Ibanez Sabre's being cases in point. They're awesome playing/sounding/looking axes ..and I got all three for barely over $1K,,

 

[JOLLY]

A Charvel.

 

[ErikH]

A Charvel, or an EVH Wolfgang, or a HSS Fender Strat, or a Fender Player Series Precision Bass.

 

[jeremy]

Statistically, people are going to hold onto guitars with great necks, and let go of the ones that are "not great".

You can't convince me otherwise.

i dont agree. ive bought maybe three or four new guitars, and owned over 100 guitars in my life time and have around 30 currently. tastes change, people leave bands or bands break up, people wanna upgrade to a "better" version of something they have (ie mim strat to mia strat), need money to pay bills, etc... people sell things for lots of reasons. i dont buy guitars without playing them for the most part though cause i know what i like. i dont run into a lot of used instruments that have significant issues, although that may be due to the guitar types i go after

 

[devastone]

You could get this for $1000 if you let me know ASAP.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-trading-post

 

[devastone]

I'm looking at Les Pauls and have the Limba/Wenge version. this one is a one off proto, MIK, ash body, lacewood top, baked maple neck, SS jumbo frets, 1500 series Floyd (1000 series with SS hardware).

 

[Hsb]

You could also look at some of the Sterling by Ernie Ball, some of those come in just shy or just over 1k.

If you are taller, like I am, 6'4" may not fit you well, deeper set necks and some have a smaller body, but those are some really great guitars as well.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Goth teenagers. I don't like the blacked out and dire look of many schecters.

I believe Shecters and LTDs made in same factories.

Of course, you're not going to buy a guitar just because I like it if you don't like, but I don't see that one I shared as particularly teen-angst-looking.

But in general, yeah. I agree. Schecters are just LTD's for crabcore kids, LOL.

 

[Top-L]

Crabcore lol. I forgot that word.

Its sad, I really just don't like the look of almost any of the schecters, while I admit they are well specced.

The headstock, finishes, fretboards on LTDs are generally better for me. That is not to say I like all the LTDs either. There are some head scratching things going on.

But if I wanted a LesPaul with a fast neck and a Floyd, LTD is the first place I would look. And they also have a good range of superstrats, neckthrough and bolton, in traditional finishes.

 

[devastone]

I don't like the look of a lot of the Schecters either, especially 3 on a side headstocks on "strat" type bodies, yes, it's a personal thing. But, the one I posted is none of those things. The only niggle I have with it is the black binding on the fretboard. I also have a black Solo II Custom taht is a great guitar, I'm just looking for a "real" LP at this point that says "G" on the headstock.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

https://www.schecterguitars.com/Reap...aster_list=629

How about this? It's just a black guitar with slightly off-putting (althought, not attrocious) inlays. Many other things make it attractive to me, personally. And it doesn't look edgy.

Discounted, even. Not THAT high over budget either.

 

[Top-L]

I'm confident I will never own a Schecter.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'm confident I will never own a Schecter.

Honestly, as much as I get where you're coming from, that kinda limits your options just because some of them look kinda "edgy".

In that price range, Schecter is one of the safer bets as far as quality goes. Because well, you've tested your luck with some of the other "major" competitors, and you know how it went.

Honestly, IME, you have Schecter and LTD, and then everyone else as far as quality is in that price range.

The other option, then, is maybe save up a bit more since even LTD has left a bad taste in your mouth, and you're unwilling to try your luck with Schecter.

 

[Top-L]

Honestly, as much as I get where you're coming from, that kinda limits your options just because some of them look kinda "edgy".

In that price range, Schecter is one of the safer bets as far as quality goes. Because well, you've tested your luck with some of the other "major" competitors, and you know how it went.

I still have two really nice LTDs I bought a few years back, so I haven't given up on the brand.

I think the LTD I recently returned was B-stock. It didn't have inspection stickers and I feel like they were trying to unload B-stock. ESP has something they call "player grade" which are scratch/dent/returns that they sell as new. Again, I can't imagine that guitar would pass ESP inspection.

I really do think that right now, the shelves are clogged with a bunch of bad stock they are trying to flip. Stuff that gets returned, sent to the factory, repackaged, and sent to some other store to sell. The last four guitars were all absolute stinkers with serious manufacturing defects. Maybe the last guitar shipment from China unloaded 12 months ago and now all that is left is companies trying to re-sell leftover junk.