Selecting a new guitar...

[GuitarGnome]

I've been playing guitar for about four years now on a Fender James Burton Standard Telecaster and my little ol' Squire Strat. My problem is I like playing my cheap Squire moreso than my Tele. The tone is actually more to my liking... but it also seems actually easier to play. Maybe it's because it has a rosewood fretboard as opposed to the Tele's maple fretboard. Any way, lately I have been thinking of selling my Tele and buying a new guitar. My deal is... I have no idea what guitar I am looking for. I realize that most of you are going to say that it is merely a choice of personal ear, but give me a little more help here. :)

I need something that is extremely versatile. I need a guitar that will allow me to play slow soulful blues as well as shred some insane metal riffs. I am not looking for a single tone unfortunately, as I consistently listen to everything from Van Halen to Clapton, from The Beatles to punk, from Cat Stevens (who I know plays acoustic :)) to the Deftones. Maybe I could modify the pickups on the new guitar to make this work a little better. I know no one guitar will have that diverse a tone but... a man can always hope. I'm definitely guitar market/gear illiterate... but I can play pretty good. :)

If I can sell my Fender James Burton Standard Tele for $400 (please tell me if it's worth more than that! :P), my price range would have to be somewhere around $700 or less.

Thank you for reading this and please reply.
-Nick Shifley

[Lordathestrings]

Frist off, get into the habbit of dropping into the shops during the week, so you don't have to contend with the crazies who congregate on the weekends.

Play something on its own (no amp). If it sounds good like this, you will probably like it even better after you plug it in. It has to FEEL right. Ideally, the instrument is an extension of your self. You shouldn't have to rearrange yourself to suit the guitar.

When you do plug in, start with the amp set for a clean sound. Get to know what the GUITAR sounds like. For the versatility you need, you should check out something with at least two humbuckers that have switches for selecting series or parallel coil arrangement, and phasing. That hollow sound you can get from your comfortable old Squier can be approximated with a humbucker axe set for series, out-of-phase connection.

Don't make any decisions in a hurry. Don't let some string-slingin' showoff who works at the store give you any guff. It's your money, your music, and your choice.

[Elmo45]

I think your Telecaster is worth quite a bit more than $400bucks!! I'm serious find out first!
Check out some lower end Gibsons or higher end Epiphones for that price range. Or if you,like the looks of the Jacksons and Ibanes'. $700 is a good price range to get yourself a good guitar.
Let us know what you get!

[Lordathestrings]

I think Elmo45's got it right on both counts. If Ibanez appeals to you, check out the Artist series. Rumour has it the best ones were made around 1981, when they had coil tap switches installed at the factory. In mint condition, one would go for about $700 here in Canada. That's about $450-$500 real dollars.

[Elmo45]

With no luck, if my Standard Telecaster was $300bucks, than that one should be quite a bit more!

[PonyOne]

I play a lot of Tool/Deftones-esque rock plus a little blues, and have a bottom-line Epi SG Special. Earlier tonight, I put in a Duncan Buckshot Performer in the bridge position... man oh man, the thing sounds like a $750 SG now. And in total, that setup would cost $210 (the humbucker is on sale right now at guitar center for $30, marked down from $89, and the guitar was $180). I'm serious, I played it against my friend's Gibson SG Standard, and mine actually sounds better. I'd like to get one of the Duncan Antiquities to put in the neck position next. The guitar itself is an awesome springboard if you're into tinkering, and it has a rosewood fretboard and a very nice neck acton.
I also just played a Dano Convertible last night, which is a hollowbody electric that has a lipstick pickup over the sound hole and an acoustic pickup on the bridge, and it was a really awesome guitar. You could play it like an acoustic as well, it had about as much resonance as a lower-end one, which is pretty damn good for an electric and it was only $300.

[longtall33]

I play a Hamer Duotone. It has two Duncan humbucker which enables me to play blues-style and more rock too. The cool thing about the Duotone is that it also has a acoustic pickup inside the body (semi-hollowbody). I can flip the switch and get really good acoustic tones. Its a great guitar and in your price range.

[LEEtheV]

I'm new here and posted 3 times over in another thread on this board....Here is the link: http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=915

*I'm diggin' on the new Mexican stuff....Please check the posts out and I'll start posting over at this thread from now on....Thanx...V

[LEEtheV]

*These are few of my "toyz" that keepz me outa the bars...kinda :D

<center>http://www.geocities.com/leethev/twins1.jpg</center>

*Both have different, distinctive sounds due to a Warmouth Bros. neck on the right guitar...It's Bullet-proof and I call it "The Rock" :p .....The guitar on the left is what I use to chase cats away at 900 Ft. by playing 5 minute solos on the wireless out in the front yard :D ..... I call it "The Wild Child" :)