Dabbling in the electric on a budget: let's talk gear

[harpspitfire]

you should be up to 5 pages of advice by now- which means impatience and, never mind, anyway- i went back to your 1st post,'dabbling on a budget dont need volume' - personally, you really to decide on a humbucker or single coil style, my advice is single coil but thats your option, you mentioned a small amp and would like some effects to play with, whats wrong with a small fender for $100 or less? i got 2 electrics here, both under $100 i think are terrific, the one partscaster i play all the time, if you get a good deal used and dont like, youll sell it for same not lose anything

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

That's right. Sorry to quote myself, but I posted this awhile back:



A bit of general advice. Beware of those who say "Oh, Mexican Fenders are nice, if you don't like the pickups, you can always upgrade", etc. I think I would make sure I would be happy with the Mexican as it stands.



I recently bought an American made strat, because I found out that if I bought a Mexican and then added a case, better pickups, a trem block, and the labor to change it all out (I'm not friends with soldering irons) I was actually gonna have more $ in the Mexican than in a MIA American Standard. No-brainer.

I think modding a Strat is more for the love of it type of thing. That’s the cool thing about Strats, is that you’re a loaded pickguard away from having a completely different sounding guitar.

I know I’ll never get what I’ve invested in this guitar, but it’s been a fun ride.



Same guitar. Top pic was after restoring with American Strat pickups. Second is with a set of hand wound pickups and also a “bucker” toggle switch mod (it connects the bridge and middle pickups in series so they essentially become a humbucker). And the third one is the American pickups but with a very hot hand wound humbucker on the bridge. Great for high gain.

[jwguitar]

Originally Posted by JeffreyAK

Another vote for, go check out some gear and see what you like. You mention Les Pauls, Strats and Teles, but they're pretty different beasts suiting different people, and there are LOTS of other guitars out there that may suit you much better than any of the Big Three. Amps are even harder, lots of options depending on what kind of sound you want.

Agreed. If you are unsure of all your options I would shop around and see what guitar suits you best. The same for amps.