Fixing To Buy Guitar, Need Help Quick!

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

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.

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

...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 [u]full[/u] attention.

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

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.

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...

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]

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?