oh, which guitar...?

[Kipkip]

I've been playing just over a year and own a second hand Squire strat. I'm thinking about getting a new guitar and with my budget in mind, I've narrowed it down to 3-4 guitars: Epiphone Les Paul Standard/Goldtop or a Custom or a Yamaha Pacifica 312.
I'm really looking for a guitar which sounds a lot better than my current squire and is easy to play. I'm only what you would call a a bedroom guitarist!
If any1 has any good advice, I'd love to hear it

[Lordathestrings]

If you like the feel of your Squier, you may get enough improvement just by changing the pickups.

It's all good. I own a couple of Yamaha guitars, but I've also tried out few impressive Epiphones. The main thing is to 'try before you buy'. So start prowling those shops, and spend some time checking out what's available.

Second-hand is a good way to get the best value for your dollars. I own 7 guitars, and only one of them was new when I bought it.

Use the search button at the top of the page to look through the posts that are already on this site. Read through the User Reviews (http://www.harmony-central.com/User_Reviews/) at Harmony Central to find out what people who own a particular kind of guitar think of it.

Happy hunting! :)

[Kipkip]

Thanks for the advice. I have played on my friends Yamaha 312 and liked it a lot. Guess i need to try out an Epi for comparison.
One question about the Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop:
It has Alnico-V P-90 pickups as opposed to the Les Paul Custom or Standard humbuckers. What is the differnce between the two??? Is there a large variation in sound???
Thanks again for any help :)

[Polera]

who told you that it has p-90's? The real Les Paul have p-90's im pretty sure. The epiphone just has alcino magnet standard humbuckers from epiphone/gibson. Listen, ive had a epiphone les paul for about 4 months and i find it to be ok. Nothing special but good for the price i guess but i will not go another day with the pickups it has! There are jsut the most awful pickups in the world, if you buy a epiphone les paul, be sure to get ready to shell out for some seymour duncons or dimarzio's are gibson cause i really dont like the pickups! If you like the squire, i just suggest getting new pick ups, if you want an upgrade, get the mexican strat but the pickups arent much better, but the qaulity is.

[Kipkip]

Go to http://www.epiphone.com and look at the Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop. In it's spec, it states that it has '2 Alnico-V P-90s'
I don't really want to buy a guitar that needs immediate pickup replacements - are they really that bad in your standard or is this in comparison to a real Gibson Les Paul?

[Polera]

Originally posted by Kipkip
Go to http://www.epiphone.com and look at the Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop. In it's spec, it states that it has '2 Alnico-V P-90s'
I don't really want to buy a guitar that needs immediate pickup replacements - are they really that bad in your standard or is this in comparison to a real Gibson Les Paul?

Your right then, but its not the standard, its the 56 goldtop that only has p-90s. I think the p-90's are in the standard gibsons and there pretty goood. But dont settle with the standard humbuckers from epiphone as they are awful! Ask to try before you buy, but i would recommedna pick up upgrade, so maybe the '56 will be siginificagantly better!

[PonyOne]

Perhaps I can add to this post in some way.

P90's are an older pickup design than humbuckers. A P90 is basically a really big single coil, like on your Squier, it just has more wire in it to affect a bigger tone. Sonically, P90's tend to give more chunk and crunch than a standard single coil; they are really good for blues, ska and reggae, and other styles that use a lot of muting and quick stops (in my opinion). The Epi LP Goldtop is a great quality guitar, and it has awesome sound. What makes it even cooler is that it's almost indistinguishable from a Gibson Goltop LP at distance, giving you the "i paid more for my guitar than I did for my car" look that's all so important when you're playing live.

Humbuckers tend to have more output than any other type of pickup, though more ouput doesn't necessarily mean better. The main advantage to humbuckers is that they are designed to elimniate the hum you often get when using single coils, especially at high volumes and with higher gain and distortion. This is why so many metal bands (most) use guitars equipped with humbuckers.

Both the Goldtops and the Standards are great guitars, and you'll probably be satisfied with either, especially next to the Squier. If you do get the standard you may not need to replace the p/u's right off the bat; I don't know if it's still the case but it used to be that the Epiphone Standards and Customs used Gibson USA pickups, which aren't the best, but are still great pickups. My first guitar was an Epi SG and I switched the pickups out for a Seymour Duncan bridge and a Gibson neck. I never use the neck on it, so I sold the Gibson and put the stock back in. Believe me, the Seymour Duncan makes all the difference in the world.

Look second hand; unless you're one of those prats who can't stand knowing that someone else played your guitar, you can probably get a used Gibson LP or SG Special for about the same cost as a new LP Goldtop if you scour the right stores.