The Instrument Recommendation thread

[lucifer_sam]

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

What about a solid body Vox (Series 33, 55 or 77) w/ switchable Humbucker/P-90s? I've only seen them in mags and youtude but I think they look sharp and I would get them over a Gibson if I was in the market for buying a guitar.

The Classic Player Jazzmaster Special seems like a decent guitar, what I like about this is that it has a tune-o-matic bridge, if you get a regular Jazzmaster with the oringal bridge it rattles apart. One way of getting around that is using nail polish on the hex screws to set them in place but that seem like a lot of time spent tweeking just to set up your guitar. Another choice if you think you might like a Jazzmaster is Thurston Moore's it has the soap bar pick-ups (by Seymore Duncan) and it also has a tune-o-matic bridge but the guitar doesn't have a tone knob, you can get around that and warm up the sound of your guitar lowering the volume.

You might also want check out some some stomp boxes too like Death by Audio (Fuzz War) or Home Brew Electronics (HBE Germania).

I suppose I should have been more explicit in my original post. I'm not really looking for anything with humbucking pickups, or any solid body guitar which has a predilection to arrest feedback. Which is kinda why I was straying towards a hollowbody in the first place. And even if I had the money for a Gibson, I wouldn't buy one.

I'm very familiar with Jazzmasters and I'm aware of most of the idiosyncracies they possess. For instance, the Tune-O-Matic bridge which you made reference to is an early noughties creation, but people have been retrofitting Mustang bridges on Jazzmasters for decades to avoid the "string pop" issue they are prone to. Additionally the Custom-In-Japan (CIJ) models don't have quite the same soapbar pickups and are generally lower in quality than American models, resulting in an atypical 'buzz' rather than the typical 'hum' that is the traditional Jazzmaster sound, but the Made-In-Japan (MIJ) models are actually superior to many American Jazzmasters, as they weren't manufactured for export. The AVRI Jazzmaster is an attempt to reconcile those initial issues while retaining the classic sound that graced the originals, which is what I'd be aiming for if I actually decided to buy one.

I plan on getting a fuzz box (most likely a Big Muff) and a compression pedal in due time, but for now I just want an electric guitar.

But thanks very much for the input.

[Neapolitan]

Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

I suppose I should have been more explicit in my original post. I'm not really looking for anything with humbucking pickups, or any solid body guitar which has a predilection to arrest feedback. Which is kinda why I was straying towards a hollowbody in the first place. And even if I had the money for a Gibson, I wouldn't buy one.
...
I plan on getting a fuzz box (most likely a Big Muff) and a compression pedal in due time, but for now I just want an electric guitar.

How about a Epiphone Nick Valensi Riviera P-94? It looks cool and for it's vibe alone I would recommend that guitar. The Riviera differs from the Casino where the latter has is hollow body (with - I think- a partial block under the bridge) and the Riviera is a semi-hollow and has a block thru body construction like an ES 335 and then there is the "Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93" (electric guitar) with a Bigsby (style) vibrato bar which looks interesting.

Epiphone guitar are always 90% of a mid -> hi price guitar, there are always certain minor things about them that different from Gibson like the curve radius of the neck the sound quality of the p-ups, fret buzz etc etc

Fender put out a new line Pawn Shop guitars which I think a little pricey for what they represent - a cheap pawn guitar but there's a semi-hollow Strat body, Cassie Ramone of the Vivian Girls has one and it looks sweet.
http://www.fender.com/products/pawnshop

Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

But thanks very much for the input.

no problem

[Odyshape]

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

How about a Epiphone Nick Valensi Riviera P-94? It looks cool and for it's vibe alone I would recommend that guitar. The Riviera differs from the Casino where the latter has is hollow body (with - I think- a partial block under the bridge) and the Riviera is a semi-hollow and has a block thru body construction like an ES 335 and then there is the "Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93" (electric guitar) with a Bigsby (style) vibrato bar which looks interesting.

Epiphone guitar are always 90% of a mid -> hi price guitar, there are always certain minor things about them that different from Gibson like the curve radius of the neck the sound quality of the p-ups, fret buzz etc etc

Fender put out a new line Pawn Shop guitars which I think a little pricey for what they represent - a cheap pawn guitar but there's a semi-hollow Strat body, Cassie Ramone of the Vivian Girls has one and it looks sweet.
http://www.fender.com/products/pawnshop



no problem

Actually she has a squier 51. The pawn shop series looks the same though.

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

How about a Epiphone Nick Valensi Riviera P-94? It looks cool and for it's vibe alone I would recommend that guitar. The Riviera differs from the Casino where the latter has is hollow body (with - I think- a partial block under the bridge) and the Riviera is a semi-hollow and has a block thru body construction like an ES 335 and then there is the "Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93" (electric guitar) with a Bigsby (style) vibrato bar which looks interesting.

Yes, the Casino is a true hollow body, and is more prone to feedback than a semi (such as a Dot or 335) with a center block. As long as one is not playing highly distorted guitar (like metal), a Casino is probably a workable option, if one will put the time in to learn to harness/control the feedback issue.

There's unwanted feedback, which is always a bad thing, and controlled feedback, which can be a very good thing indeed.

I recently received a Casino as a birthday gift from the kids in my church band, and have played it both there and with my old school punk rock band (through a 50W tube head into a 4x12 halfstack cab), and have not had a problem with uncontrollable feedback.

[Howard the Duck]

^^I think there's an Epiphone version of the ES-335 that retails for around $400

i'm not sure how it sounds like, though, never tried it

[lucifer_sam]

My roommate owned an Epiphone Sheraton that I played for a few months, it really wasn't anything special (heavy as a sack of bricks), so I can't imagine the Dot to be any better. Of course, I never played it through anything better than a Fender Deluxe with a broken gain channel, so I may not have a full appreciation for Epiphone's uses...

[Howard the Duck]

Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

My roommate owned an Epiphone Sheraton that I played for a few months, it really wasn't anything special (heavy as a sack of bricks), so I can't imagine the Dot to be any better. Of course, I never played it through anything better than a Fender Deluxe with a broken gain channel, so I may not have a full appreciation for Epiphone's uses...

i used to have an Epiphone Strat - it was pretty competent, i had to change the pickups, though - too microphoney

[evi1gun]

Alright guys. Advice on guitar needed please.

My 14 yr old son wants a new guitar for xmas.

He likes Foo Fighters, Avenge7fold, Blink182 ETC.
A few guitars have caught his eye, (SG, les paul, jazzmaster)

But I've only got like £350/ $400.

A mate told me to check 'Jackson Guitars'. They look good but I'd like some opinions please.

Any recommendations would be very welcome. Thanks music lovers

[sgsawant]

I needed advice to buy a piano. I have asked a general question on music.stackexchange.com but here I have a specifice question: a choice between two specific instruments.

1. amazon /Yamaha-YPT-230-Premium-Keyboard-Headphones/dp/B005N4N2GC
Yamaha YPT-230
2. amazon /Yamaha-Full-Sized-Sensitive-Lighted-Keyboard/dp/B001FSJC5A
Yamaha EZ-200

Which should I choose? The only criteria is the closeness to a grand piano. I know for more bucks I can get more closer but I have a limited budget.

[mr dave]

Originally Posted by sgsawant

Which should I choose? The only criteria is the closeness to a grand piano. I know for more bucks I can get more closer but I have a limited budget.

I don't play piano so take this suggestion with a grain of salt.

Based on the product descriptions I'd go with the YPT-230. Basically they're both low-end Yamaha pianos, and as a result I'd be really surprised to find out they don't use the exact same samples for their 'Portable Grand Button' which gets listed as a feature for both keyboards.

Basically, buy the cheaper one that doesn't have 'light-up' keys, unless you need that feature to learn new material.