Need opinion from you electric players!

[ky224]

I don't know if anyone's ever heard of these guitars...but they're getting GREAT reviews at harmony central. They're PRS knockoffs, but they look great. I can't attest to sound because I have yet to try one myself, but for the money...they seem pretty solid.


http://www.ravenguitar.com


The models, RP300, RP350, and the RP450 seem to be the best buys.

[marklyn]

I've had an Epiphone Sheraton for about 15 years and I love it. It's gone through combo rock, surf guitar and Jazz Orchestra and sounded real nice in all of them. I've replaced the tuners with Grovers and I would like to replace the pickups though. Great suggestion from Beatlenut above to look for a used one and then upgrade the pickups and switches.
I would also second the suggestions for the Mexicasters both Tele and Strat. Play a bunch and you will find one or two that stand out above the rest.

[DD Bluz]

I have many (too many??)electrics, 2 of which are Gibsons. One of my electrics is a Korean made honeyburst finish Les Paul Standard. I replaced the bridge pickup with Seymour Duncan SH14-5 and put in a coil tap. This guitar cost me a total of 500 including the modifications, which I did myself.

My Korean Les Paul is as good a Les Paul I have ever played at any price or vintage. Seriously. If you buy one, just make sure it sounds good unplugged before you fall in love. If it does not sound good on it's own, no pickup or amp will help make the tone better. You will find vast variance between these guitars, it may take you a while to find one that has the great unplugged sound...just be patient.

DD

[Simplyhere]

DD,

Thank you...that's "essentially" what my friend said. This guy owns a lot of nice, brand name electrics (and is a great player to boot) and his comment was essentially yours. He "swears" (not literally) that if you search properly, and tweak properly, your $500 Epiphone will play and sound as well as your $2000 dollar Gibson. He completely realized the headstock value (hence resale) isn't there...but for sound, he agrees with you.

Me? I plan to be a basement electric player ONLY (cheap amp, and everything) and I can't help but wonder if putting a few hundred dollars into an Epi isn't a smart idea. Acoustic? Hey, I'll spend thousands if needed, but electric...that's a different animal entirely and one I'm just starting to tinker with.

Thanks again, for everyone who has responded. I greatly appreciate the advice.

[iguitaryo]

Originally posted by proy
I'm with Tom.

Mexi Strat or even a used American Strat.

There's something about a Strat that just feels right.

me too. I have owned an epiphone SG and it was a peice. The tuners and all the hardware was cheap. I also once had a Mex strat which was 1/4 the price of the epi and 10 times better!!

[Taylor Poor]

I'd go with a used American Standard Strat or Tele. Should fit your budget and they are great guitars. Fenders are one of the few guitars that can take a beating and still look good.

[Red]

Of course I'd say build yourself a custom strat or Tele with the woods from usacustomguitars.com. The only thing that could maybe touch it would be $3,000-4,000 custom shop fender or a custom guitar builder like Andersen or one of many others. But.......you weren't asking about that and probably don't want to go that route.

An Epi LP will do you just fine and if you were to invest $100 and put some Bill Lawrence (the pickup guru from Gibson) humbuckers in it, the thing would hand with any 57'-60' LP. You can only get his pups from his ma and pa website but the value is unreal. Go on Harmony central or other forums and you wont hear a bad review about his products. Be careful though because you will stumble across negative reviews from guys who got duped into buying the stewmac ripoff copies. It's such a scam and leaves players stuck with crappy pups.

Bill also makes the most amazing hum-cancelling single coils that put anything but the vintage fender's to shame. If you own a strat or tele drop $100 and buy his 280's or 290's. They will blow you away no matter how happy you are with your current pups. I'm sorry, I don't like to hype manufacturers but Usa Custom guitars and Bill Lawrence stoke me EVERY BIT as much as Taylors do.

billlawrence.com Becky (Bill's wife) or Bill will answer the phone.
usacustomguitars.com Ask for Tommy

[Boogie]

For the price many of the new guilds are great. If the Epi is your thing the 335 style mini humbucker model that hooker played is a great guitar. If a les Paul style guitar is what you want then seriously ckeck out a guild Bluesbird, it is one of my favorits and can be had for a fair price if you shop.

Good luck!

Starfire, Strat & 514CE.

[mgrasse]

Originally posted by franchelB
You either get a Tele first, forget the rest...
OR try everything else first and waste your time before you realize that you should bought a Telecaster in the first place

Well said.

[rhinollc]

Originally posted by mgrasse


Well said.

Hey Mike,

I see you've got a Power Tele. I dropped a Fishman Powerbridge in my '72 Custom. How do you wire it/what amps etc? Just curious.