Re: What should I get this summer?
Find a late 80s/early 90s higher end (550/570 and above) Ibanez RG, swap the pups and call it quits for way under your budget.
Failing that, just find a guitar with a neck you like and the features (trem/stoptail/right amount of pickups etc) and buy it. Because, tbh, by the time you put on enough gain to play 'strictly metal' on it, you'll never hear that extra $500 worth of guitar. I do agree that you can feel the better craftsmanship of a higher range guitar, but I used the disclaimer 'neck you like'
I honestly believe you won't hear all that much of a difference in the really high range metal axes when playing metal through a really high gain amp like a Recto etc. By the time you've got nice pups in a guitar that's solidly built to a ballpark tone (eg: mahogany 24.75", stoptail single cutaway) and well set up, you're good to go.
Find a late 80s/early 90s higher end (550/570 and above) Ibanez RG, swap the pups and call it quits for way under your budget.
Failing that, just find a guitar with a neck you like and the features (trem/stoptail/right amount of pickups etc) and buy it. Because, tbh, by the time you put on enough gain to play 'strictly metal' on it, you'll never hear that extra $500 worth of guitar. I do agree that you can feel the better craftsmanship of a higher range guitar, but I used the disclaimer 'neck you like'
I honestly believe you won't hear all that much of a difference in the really high range metal axes when playing metal through a really high gain amp like a Recto etc. By the time you've got nice pups in a guitar that's solidly built to a ballpark tone (eg: mahogany 24.75", stoptail single cutaway) and well set up, you're good to go.
