Fixing To Buy Guitar, Need Help Quick!

[Erik2005]

Hi all!

I am fixing to buy my first guitar and I really desire one that has a sound like the band Sum 41. I know the Dave guy uses a PRS McCarty (and from what I have seen he does alot of the main playing for them) so my question is what guitar would have a similiar sound to that and would cost me $200-$400? I know for my price range its asking alot but there must be something that sounds like a PRS McCarty in my price range =)! If you guys could recommend one to me that sounds like a PRS McCarty I would appreciate it. Also, what would be a good amp to get? I have been wanting to learn guitar for a long time and hearing this band all the time makes me what to learn even worse, and I like their sound and style alot!Thanks in advance all!

-Erik

[Raskolnikov]

Here's what you're probably best off doing:

Since you're just starting out, there's a good chance you'll quit. Even if you don't, you'll almost certainly reach a point where you decide that you want to sound like yourself and not Sum 41. Also there's the comfort factor: I love Incubus and Dirk Lance's bass tone, I also love Norwood Fisher from Fishbone. Both of them play Warwick basses. I've hated every single Warwick I've ever picked up and played. Great tone, but I loath the way the strings are spaced, the setups, and the feel of the neck.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...
You're probably best off going to a guitar shop, walking over to the used rack and trying various guitars. You'll probably want one with humbuckers for the kind of sound you're looking for, but try as many as possible. Find one you like the feel of and sounds good to you. Buy an amp along the same lines. If you buy both at the same shop at the same time, they'll probably cut you a deal.

Best of luck.

[Led Zeppelin]

An Epiphone Les Paul is the nearest.

Get an Ibanez amp theyre usually cheap.

[Erik2005]

Thanks for the replies! Well I really do want to learn and I have listened to Sum 41 songs countless times and I just love the way their guitars sound (the other guy plays a Gibson Marauder). So an Ephiphone Les Paul will sound the closest to a PRS Paul McCarty? Also which do I get I have seen many Les Paul and they range from Les Paul Studios to Custom To Standard, which should I get? I have been down to the local guitar shop and even though I dont know how to play I tried some out. I really like the sound Sum 41 has and im certain thats the sound im looking for =). Also, I have seen some Essex Less Paul Copies are these at all good or should I stay away and try to find an Ephiphone Les Paul? Thanks again guys I appreciate it!

-Erik

[Led Zeppelin]

The basic PRS is very similar in sound and look to the Gibson Les Paul. Epiphone is Gibson budget range. I dont know price ranges but I recommend the Black Beauty.

[Joseph]

I know how it is, once we decide on wanting to play guitar, we have the perfect image in our mind, based on what our heros play. I know it's great when we think that we've got it all figured out before we even make it to the guitar shop, but there are a few things you have to realize. 1. What works for others ont necessarily work for you, and 2 it's important to shop around before coming to that final conclusion.


If you're just starting out with the guitar, it's best to check out the guitars in thew 200-300 price range, because you don't know how far your desire will take you. Hoewever, it's always good to be optimistic.


Raskolnikov: Also there's the comfort factor:

Yes, and that's very important. Although it's important to find the perfect sound, something that we constantly search for (as musicians) it's also very important to find comfort. There are so many different guitar necks, and the weight of your guitar is also important, (especially if you're a skinny guy like me.) Personally, I prefer The Fender Stratocaster, and other instruments that are modeled after it. However, if you truly have the desire to play, than you wont mind searching around a bit before you make that final decision.


-Joseph

[Erik2005]

I was checking the Fender Stratocaster at the shop here but all I did was plug it in and strum since I dont know how to play so im not sure how it really sounds when you can acutally play it. Does anyone have any sound files of a Epiphone Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster playing? Also does anyone know what kind of guitar the Blink 182 guitarist plays? Trying to get an idea of the range of sounds between the guitars. Thanks again all!

-Erik

[Joseph]

Here you go Blink 182 guitarist Tom Delonge (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ex/shop/guitar/011013072224209255187045022239?pid=510636X)

-Joseph

[Bardsley]

I know the fender website has sound files of all of its guitars playing little bits. Go there. http://www.fender.com

[Raskolnikov]

When I saw Blink 182, Tom was playing a Les Paul. He's pretty new to the Fender camp so far as I can tell.

Seriously though, how your guitar sounds depends on many many factors. Tone is the result of a very complex system. Your body, neck, bridge, saddles, strings, pickups, amp, effects, nut, fingers and so many other minute things come into play. You may want to look into a Dean- I think their Del Sol is probably very close in spirit and construction to a PRS, yet is fairly inexpensive. Though I haven't liked the feel of every Dean I've played, I have liked the quality, and my Dean fretless has held up very admirably so far.

[boing]

If your looking for a good amp i would recommend a hughes & kettner Metroverb. It is 50 watts and has a 12 inch speaker. It is the best sounding amp iv played through in that price range. I think it is about $350

[boing]

http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/startseite/start.htm

Chech it out

[Erik2005]

What is the difference between Tom Delonge's Fender Stratocaster and a Standard Stratocaster, the reason I ask is I noticed his doesnt have any tune and pickup knobs only a volume knob and my question is if I bought this guitar would I not be able to play alot of other songs because I couldnt tune it? How big is the difference between it and a Standard and can I make a Standrad Stratocaster sound like it if I want to? Also I read somewhere on here that you can make a Standard Stratocaster sound like a Les Paul if you want to, can anyone give me some details on that? Thanks everyone!

-Erik

[Raskolnikov]

Tom Delonge's Strat has no tone knobs. All guitars have tuning machines, usually on the headstock. You can tune that guitar any way you want (basicly), where it limits you is you have one pickup and a volume knob- you can't change your sound around very much making the guitar a one trick pony. A standard Strat has three single coil pickups, allowing five pickup combonations. It also has two tone knobs, one for the neck pickup, one for the mid. How you get a standard Strat to sound close to a Les Paul is to select either the neck/mid position or the mid/bridge position and roll off the tone for the mid pickup about half way. This does two things: First, you're using two coils, aproxomating a humbucker sound. Second, you've muddied up the tone a little. You'll never get a Strat to sound totally like a Les Paul because the Les Paul is made out of different woods, has a short scale neck (makes the strings looser), and has a set neck. But you can make a Strat sound a lot closer to a Les Paul than you can make a Les Paul sound like a Strat.

[Led Zeppelin]

Yeah Tom Delonges has just one pickup and a volume knob making it perect for punk. Its Mexican so its cheap and its around your price range but youd be better off buying a proper one I reckon.

Hey Erik when you get your guitar come ack and tell us about it wont you?

[educatedfilm]

my first guitar was £80 ($116) brand new, Encore, Strat copy, I dont regrett doing it at all, Cos when i first went out to buy a guitar I didn't really know anything about the "sound"... I learnt to play on it, and quickly got an idea of what i want...
I saw Tom using a strat with two humbuckers (on the "first date" vidoe i think)...
My advice is get a cheap guitar, learn to play on it, if you dont like it you dont feel too giulty about giving up... If you like playing, save up as much money as you can over the next few months and get your self a decent guitar and amp...
Second hand guitars some times have some real treasures, but take someone along with you who knows about guitars...

[Erik2005]

Led: I will be sure to tell ya =), you guys have helped me more than you can imagine!

Now if I could just figure out which one to get. I like the idea of the Tom Delonge because I love punk (i.e. Sum 41 =) ) but I want to be able to play other types of music at times. My twin bro is getting a Tama Rockstar Drumset, two of my friends are getting bass guitars, and my other friend is getting a guitar also , so we are going to try to play songs when we get decent (should be alot of fun!) =). Anyways, can I make a standard Stratocaster sound like a Tom Delonge and still be able to tune the pickup etc? I listened to the standard Stratocaster on Fender's website but it sounds like they are just going through the notes and not playing what the guitar could really do which doesnt give a real good idea fo what it sounds like =). Here are link to the two Sum 41 videos with the guitars that have the sound I really want, In Too Deep: http://www.mtv.com/sitewide/videoplayer/index.jhtml?vid=13993 and Fat Lip: http://www2.islanddefjam.com/av/go.ram?num=1459075886
If you guys could take a look at these videos and listen to the guitars in them and tell me what I could get that would sound like that I would really apprecaite it =). Also does the Stratocaster sound like that or could it be made to sound like that and if so which one (i.e. Standard. American Standard etc..). I really really really want one that sounds like the ones in those videos =)! Thanks again guys and sorry for the long reply hehe.

-Erik

[Raskolnikov]

I don't have real player on my computer, so I can't listen, but I can tell you this: I'de stay away from the Tom Delonge Strat because it only has one pickup and no tone control. Basicly what must have happened when he had the guitar made is he said "look, I only use the bridge pickup, and I never use the tone control, so why bother having all the rest of that stuff?"

Which for him is fine. He doesn't do much on guitar. From the sounds of things you want to be a more versital guitarist, so you'll probably want a more versital guitar.

The bottom line is you can get "that sound" out of a wide variety of guitars. Humbuckers (double coil pickups) will help you, but they aren't totally neccessary. You could go for a Fat Strat, or a Double Fat Strat, that Dean I mentioned, even a low end Parker Fly (the $600 model even has a fishman powerbridge so you can get acoustic sounds out of the guitar too), just about any Gibson based guitar (Les Paul, SG, Flying V, etc), or countless other brands. Go to a few shops with a friend who knows guitars, look around, see what grabs your attention.

Also keep in mind that the guitarists you're talking about are playing expensive guitars into expensive amplifiers and nothing in your price range is going to sound the same way.

[Erik2005]

Real Player can be downloaded here: http://scopes.real.com/real/player/player.html?src=011011realhome_2,011011rpchoice_h2&dc=101510141013

=)
-Erik

[Erik2005]

I was watching the Fat Lip and In Too Deep videos (I also read a couple days ago that the guys used this guitar) and themain singer is using a Gibson Marauder. How does the Gibson Marauder sound? Is it mostly like a Les Paul? Also, im still trying to figure out if I could get the sound of the guitars in the videos I linked to above out of a Standard Fat Strat. Can anyone look at those videos and tell me what they think. On another note, can anyone verify and see if the guitar the main singer is using in both those videos is a Gibson Marauder? The only thing im worried about is getting a Les Paul or Marauder and not being able to get the higher pitched sounds that the PRS McCarty can make in addition to the Les Paul type sounds it can make. Would I be able to get about the same higher tones out of a Les Paul or a Maruader as the McCarty can get? Thanks again all!

-Erik

[Erik2005]

Found a better way to get these guitars identifieds =), this would be a Gibson Marauder correct? : http://www.xtremepunk.com/pics/group17.gif

and this would be a Gibson Les Paul Correct (what kind of Les Paul is this if it is i.e. Cutsom, Special etc..?) : http://www.xtremepunk.com/pics/deryck3.gif

Thanks again and my questions about the guitars are in my previous reply =).

-Erik

[hendrix_jimi]

First of all - WHOAAA!!! Slow it down a notch!

Unless you're independently wealthy, or your parents have no problem financing several guitars for you, I would definitely not recommend buying a guitar based on what your guitar hero plays, especially if you have not yet learned how to play.

If you do have a limitless amount of money at your disposal, then go ahead and buy whatever guitar. However, I would assume that you would probably be able to buy just one, at least for now, and then might want to upgrade at a later date. So, instead of buying a $500 guitar, why not buy a $200 guitar (or $116 guitar, like educatedfilm), and spend the extra $300 on lessons?

Also, unless you area already a musician with another instrument, you probably will have a hard time telling the sound of a Squier Strat played with some distortion apart from Sum41's PRS.

Another thing is that, as you learn more songs and become more proficient on the guitar, your tastes will likely change. Perhaps you'll even start appreciating the intricacies of the guitar work of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, or maybe Jimi Hendrix, or even Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who knows? And then you'll have a guitar with one pickup that has one tone, and you'll be extremely frustrated until you go out and buy a more versatile instrument.

Finally, you'll soon realize that a guitar's sound is created in a large part by the amplifier, effects, custom pickups, even a person's fingers change the sound of a guitar. That means that it will be very difficult to reproduce anyone's particular sound - all you can really do is play the same notes and hope for the best.

Please take all this into account before you go and buy a guitar just because some punk rocker has his name on it.

[Erik2005]

Well I found a Gibson Marauder for a really good price and I was thinking about it, but how do they sounds. I believe they are similiar to the Les Paul Guitars correct? When I buy stuff I usually like to start out with a little better if possible to try to eliminate the hasle of trying to sell it later and all that. But really the Gibson Marauder is really resonable that I found and im trying to figure out how they play. Does the sound sound similiar to a Les Paul and Prs McCarty? Thanks again all! =)

-Erik

[Lordathestrings]

...give your head a shake, son. You're asking what model of Ferrari would suit you best, before you've even learned how to drive!!!

The rest of the folk here have politely tried to steer you in the right direction. If you totaled the playing experience represented in these two pages of posts, it would add up to more years than most of us can expect to live!

Thats worth a few minutes of your full attention.

[Erik2005]

I understand completely, its just that im very picky as you can tell lol =). One of the bad parts is I go down to the music shop and hook up some standard stratocaster but since I cant play one yet its just sounds plain. Of course Im almost sure that it doesnt sound this way if played properly. I need to find out how I could make a few sounds on it to see what it would sound like. One thing I also dont like about the music shop is there lack of Fat Strats and Les Pauls, I would like to feel and hear them but the dont have any and its the only place here that I really know of. Im jsut trying to go the right way the first time and not be unhappy with my purchase, and the only way I can tell how a guitar sounds and which sound I like is by the songs I like =). Any suggestions on what to do im at a dead end hehe.

-Erik

[hendrix_jimi]

Alright, I think I can distill what the advice in these two pages has been.

A good idea would be to wait to buy your dream guitar, and learn on something within your budget first. So, again, try buying a cheap guitar - you can still play all your favourite Sum41 tunes on it [a sarcastic remark was originally here, but was later removed by the author], and when you get better at playing guitar, you'll still have enough money in the bank to buy what you really want, not something that you dreamed of 2 years ago, when your musical tastes were totally different.

Here are some questions for you: What is your budget? How old are you? How long have you been into "punk" music [sarcastic remark again removed]? Do you plan on taking lessons, or how will you learn guitar?

Perhaps the others have other questions for you, so that we can offer some more specific advice.

[educatedfilm]

I like Lordathestrings' example, I think really at the minute you just want something that has four wheels and get's from point A to B....
Another point that i missed, was if you're gonna spent most of your money of a beuty of a guitar, you'r only going to have enough to buy the most apauling sounding amp!!! So you'll have a nice guitar, which will sound not up to standard cos of the amp!
My first guitar was very cheap, and to honest playing it now it's not a bad as i remember, I mean the pick ups are... welll... just not very good, but now that I've got a nice amp it sounds OK... Although I did get my guitar at a huge dicount (about £30 ($43.5) as it had been in the shop and now one was interested, and I didn't have enough to pay what's on the tag, so the nice shop owner dicided to cut his losses and sell.. saying that I think he still managed to make a little money from it...), so it was a bargain...
If you spend $150 on a guitar you'll be able to get a great sounding amp for $200 -$300, and you'll sound great...

In the mean time borrow a guitar and learn a couple of chords, just so you can play something in the shops...

[Erik2005]

Well here is the situation:

I have plenty of money to get an Epiphone Les Paul or a Gibson Marauder and a decent amp. I have listend to countless live shows of Sum 41 where the main singer is using a Gibson Les Paul, and I like the sound of it. Now, apparently his main guitar is a Gibson Marauder (you can see him playing it in both there videos) and if that is the guitar he uses is he studio etc than it must sound extremely close to the PRS Paul McCarty that the other guy uses. Now my question is this, is the Marauder sound like a Les Paul? I noticed it had single coil pickups and I read somewhere on this forum that that is good for playing punk music. Can it hit some of the higher notes like the PRS Paul McCarty? I want to have some opinions on the Marauder so I can make a decision on which to buy. What would you guys buy between them, the Epiphone Les Paul or the Marauder? Anyways if you guys could give me soem opinions I would appreciate it a ton. Since we have only one guitar shop hear and they dont have Les Pauls or a used Marauder there isnt much way I can hear one and hold it so ill just have to choose which one I like more based on the opinions I have heard and hope for the best. After listening to the live songs of the Les Paul, and hearing the recorded versions where the Marauder is im almost certain used I think that each should be close to the sound im looking for (the PRS McCarty sound). Also, if anyone knows a guitar that is close to the PRS McCasrty sound than either of these, feel free to tell me about it =) (would it be possible to put the McCarty humbucker pickups on a Les Paul or Marauder and would this help with getting the sound closer to the PRS?). Thanks!

-Erik

[Edited by Erik2005 on 10-18-2001 at 12:36 AM]

[hendrix_jimi]

Originally posted by hendrix_jimi
Here are some questions for you: What is your budget? How old are you? How long have you been into "punk" music [sarcastic remark again removed]? Do you plan on taking lessons, or how will you learn guitar?

Sorry to repeat myself, but I'm still wondering what the answers are to the above questions. Even if you have plenty of dough, you don't want to go wasting it. Here's an idea: Why not try renting a guitar and an amp for a little while? My local guitar shop will rent you a guitar and then if you want to buy, they'll apply up to three months worth of rent towards the purchase of the new (or used) guitar. That way, you'll find out whether you even want to play guitar or not.

Also, if I was still a beginner (and into "punk" music) I wouldn't be too worried about the high notes. I don't really remember the last time I heard anything above the twelfth fret in "punk" music.

Finally, it seems that your opinions on the various guitars are shaped primarily by what other people's opinions are (e.g. famous guitarists, people on this forum, other people on the 'net). Are you sure that you can tell the difference between a Gibson Marauder and a Squier Strat set to the right settings?