Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankHudson
A lot of those models that I pointed out are P90* pickup guitars. If one is sitting between humbucker and single coil in one's preferences, the P90 delivers that. Which part of it's character is more predominate seems to come out with volume settings and amp gain etc.
Other pickups are around that sweet spot. Dynasonic single coils are a bit like that, but hard to find. Small humbuckers in the LP Deluxe or Firebird styles are another rare bird, and the best Filtertrons I think are in that middle ground.
Another thing we may not be picking up is that the OP is asking about is around a $250 price point, which is way below what the Squire CV etc line goes for new. He may want to go a bit higher, but if it's a hard cap, the choices are more iffy I think.
Maybe an Epi LP Junior model, maybe from their lower lines that are cheaper than the new IBG line? Maybe with a pickup swap?
*The Squier J Macis Jazzmaster is reputed to be more a P90 than traditional Jazzmaster design pickup. Sounds fine, whatever it is. My Guild Starfire I Jet 90 are called "Franz" style pickups (after an old Guild pickup model.) I find them sort of P90-like as well. The pickups in my Epiphone 339 P90 model are great, but I'm unsure that model is available in Great Britain, and if it is, it's likely above the OP's original idea of a price range, as are my other suggestions.
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I think most of the crappyest electrics I have ever laid hands on were the super low end Epiphones, the ones in Squire affinity price range. My personal rule of thumb is to avoid any Epiphone with a bolt on neck like the plague, once they have a set net they are usually in the $500+ CAD range, but they are generally good instruments.
Played a few Epiphone SG specials this last year, which have two P-90's, a set neck, and come in at about $500-$550 CAD (seems like that would be fairly close to his upper limit) and found them to be a great guitar. Although I'm generally more of a LP guy, I think the SG has the neck pickup closer to the bridge, and that neck P-90 had a tight crisp sound when overdriven hard that the LP's generally do not.