#1
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Best electric guitar choice...
Hey There,
I'm a singer/songwriter and play mostly acoustic guitar (and mandolin). I'd like to get an electric guitar to fill out the sound on simple demos/home recordings. Old country/Americana vibe. Tone-wise, I'd like something versatile that can do the "twang" but also can play with a fuller sound if needed. What's the best guitar for under $1,000 for my purposes. I'm also patient/not too picky so I don't mind buying used. Any thoughts are much appreciated. Kirk |
#2
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Hi Kirk, when you mention "twang" I'm thinking Tele, perhaps a Players Tele. What specific artists are you looking to play with that "Old country/Americana vibe" tone? That will help narrow things down.
An amp will give you ~50% of your tone so make sure you budget for that. It doesn't have to be loud but it needs to be good. |
#3
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Player Tele and Champion 40. Great setup.
The Player was on sale for $699 at MF or SW. Amp is $230. Both for close to $1000. You’ll be happy.
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Thanks, Vic Martin OOO-10E Bristol BB-16 Over a dozen ukuleles. My YouTube channel- https://youtube.com/c/VicSchmeltz |
#4
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You might think about a Tele with both a single coil at the bridge and a bucker at the neck. The G&L ASAT is a good candidate based on your budget:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...andy-apple-red |
#5
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Folks like a lot of different guitars even when aiming for "twang" and "full" sounding.
As mentioned, up thread the amp is a big part of the sound with an electric. Telecasters are a classic model, and I find even the basic design very versatile. As mentioned above a classic style Tele bridge PU with a neck humbucker is a nice way to get some different sounds. Another Tele with a different option model is the "Nashville" Tele with three pickups, which is still in the current Fender lineup. This gives you some "Stratocaster quack" sounds too, and the Strat-style middle PU alone is a nice additional sound. Steve will be here to mention current Electromatic Gretsch models. Nice guitars, can twang. I myself wouldn't choose one as my single electric, but that's me. A personal favorite of mine, which is slightly off the beaten path but value priced is the Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster. P90'ish pickups* on this model which I think presents a very versatile sound, smooth, grungy, twang, crunch, all the adjectives are there. I love mine, and my "home town" is Telecasters. I really like the Jazzmaster's whammy bar too. *Yes, I know original Jazzmaster pickups aren't P90s, but the ones on this model lean a bit more to the P90 side of the sound spectrum.
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----------------------------------- Creator of The Parlando Project Guitars: 20th Century Seagull S6-12, S6 Folk, Seagull M6; '00 Guild JF30-12, '01 Martin 00-15, '16 Martin 000-17, '07 Parkwood PW510, Epiphone Biscuit resonator, Merlin Dulcimer, and various electric guitars, basses.... |
#6
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I’m loving my Gretsch 5420T and it certainly has that “twang”. Then again I also love my Player Plus Tele. Each is under $1000. If I had to sell one of them it would be a very difficult decision. Good luck.
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Taylor 322,512ce 12 fret cedar/hog & 362ce Martin 00015SM Guild 1966 F20 Larrivee P03 sitka/hog,simple 6 OM & OM 09 Eastman E100ss-sb Gibson J185 & 2016 J35 Fender player plus telecaster & Mustang P90 Gretsch MIK 5622T |
#7
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Quote:
Gretsch Electromatic 5400-Series hollowbody: About as "old-country/Americana" as it gets, these Korean-made beauties have all the tonal/visual vibe of the iconic 1955-65 Brooklyn Gretsches, with better playability/QC than the vintage stuff (they were my hometown brand growing up, and during my lifetime I've played - without exaggeration - several hundred) - fully professional-quality, gigworthy instruments that just happen to sell at intermediate-player/step-up prices (under $1K - well under if you shop around and/or take advantage of holiday sales)... Used: Gretsch Electromatic 5600-Series semi-hollow: Although they're still being made in China, IME the pre-2019 Korean stuff is in a class by itself in this price range - same high-quality fit/finish as the 5400's but in a more feedback-friendly (and arguably more versatile) package, and the no-longer-available Super Hi-lo'Tron pickups (based on a modified Baldwin-era Filter'Tron humbucker, but with a single set of polepieces that duplicates the appearance of the single-coil Brooklyn design) are my favorite of the "new generation" Fred Gretsch-era offerings; FYI I've been using one of these for the last 5+ years as my go-to gigmeister - I also play a lot of country/country-rock/Americana (among other genres) and even with a Tele, Strat, Godin CW II (dual P-90 hollowbody in the Scotty Moore tradition), and two other Gretsch instruments (including a White Falcon) presently or formerly in my arsenal, I've never owned a single guitar that covers as much sonic ground: BTW don't confuse this with the similar-appearing (but sonically/qualitatively-inferior) MF/GC-exclusive G2627 - different animal entirely... Since you're using it for recording purposes I'm going to assume - correctly or not - that you're likely going direct-to-board with some sort of processing hardware/software, so I haven't budgeted an amp into the equation; that said, if you're a guitar-cable-amp stickler for period authenticity you'll likely want a low-/mid-powered tube amp of some kind. If you're going to be playing mostly or exclusively in a home-recording situation (where you won't be moving the amp off-premises extensively) these get a lot of love from the TDPRI crowd; essentially a no-frills version of the first-edition Laney Cub 12R (which sells for twice the price) it's a good first exposure to tube tone, and if you're an inveterate tweaker they're a popular mod platform: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=611815 FYI Monoprice runs sales on these periodically - catch one right, purchase your guitar wisely, and you should come in close on either side of your $1K figure...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#8
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You're probably looking for a Gretsch. I would suggest one of the many fine MIK Electromatics.
A bit more than the MICs not as steep as the MIJs, good solid guitars. Then again hard to argue with a word like Telecaster
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#9
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Perhaps, something with the letters Paul Reed Smith in script on the headstock.
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(insert famous quote here) |
#10
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I bought my kid a Squire Tele with two humbuckers, and to me it seems like a pretty versitile guitar. The humbuckers are warmer than the single coils, but I can get alot more twang and bite out of them than I could with any of my Epi's or Les Pauls.
Recently I played a Godin 5th ave II, the one I played had two humbuckers, and man I loved that guitar. By nescesity I generally need to play an electric guitar far differently than I do an acoustic, just to avoid making it sound like a big noisy mess.... that Godin though, with minimal tweaking you could play it anyway you wanted and it all sounded great. Big cowboy chords with a lots of gain... somehow it sounded great, thin things out for a more typical electric playing style and it also sounded great, inverted powerchord and drop D nu-metal type riffs... it will get into that territory too. Pretty sure that will be my next electric. Last edited by Bushleague; 12-23-2021 at 06:55 PM. |
#11
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I own the P-90 version (see my post above), and although I've never used it for metal it's a sweet-sounding axe for cleaner styles - very similar in this department to the vintage Gretsch hollowbodies, which were also constructed of exceptionally lightweight woods...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#12
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Quote:
Having played mostly acoustic for a number of years, usually when I pick up an electric theres a short period where everything sounds like a big noisy mess, as I figure out how to play whatever I've been working on a little differently... with both the 5th Ave's that just didnt happen. |
#13
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Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#14
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I think Tele, or a Gretsch. I would pick a Tele first, personally, but I like Gretsch too. I don't have one now, maybe one day.
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#15
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Twang is the back pickup. The neck pickup on a tele is plenty full.
You just can't beat a tele. |