Electric Guitars
 

Hey there. I'm getting an electric guitar pretty soonish, and I just want to ask about the quality / sound of a few types, and whether they suit the genre I wish to play.

First off are the BC Rich guitars, models being Beast, Bich, Virgin and Mockingbird. They look pretty sleek but I'm not sure on the quality / sound. Anyone have any experience?

The type of music I'm going to be playing most of the time would be Heavy/Thrash metal. e.g Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden kind of stuff.

If they aren't that good, an Ibanez or Epiphone would be good (friend has one). What are their good models?

Price range: $600 - $1500 (AU, multiply by .7 for US)

Thanks, james.

had a buddy with a BC Rich..........sounded good.......nice and deep.


go to a store and plug a few in til you find the sound you wanna hear

I guess the first question would be if you have an amp or not.
After that I'd look at the mid to high end LTD eclipses/vipers/etc, maybe even that kirk hammet signature one. They have EMG pickups which would definantly be hot enough for any kind of metal.

Actually just about every manufacturer puts out a pretty good guitar in your price range, so I would just look at the features and then play em to see if they feel right.

well if you are just starting out i would highly recoment getting a low end guitar, i know tons of people who have started out playing guitar with expensive guitars and then realise that the guitar isnt for them, so they just wasted all that money.
Ibanez makes fairly nice entry level guitars geared towards metal music, check some of them out. The first guitar i ever bought was a squire strat, i play alot of metal so that was a bad choice for me, but oh well.

And get a decent amp to start out with, it will make you guitar sould 100x better, dont get a lame little 8inch practise amp, go for a 500 dollorish 12inch amp or somethinglike that, currently i have been playing for 6 years and i still have my little peavy bandit 112, its not the greatest but it sounds okay and it only cost me about 400 bucks canadian, hope this helps and cheers!

You will want to get something that has humbuckers instead of strat style single coils. Other than that check out this website and read the user reviews for whatever guitar you are interested in. Good luck man :thumbsup:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/

Thanks for the info, good site there Mister_B.

if you are a beginner...do not get a floyd rose style bridge. and remember that even an expensive guitar will not sound great with out the rest of the sound chain ie...amps, studio tweaking, rackmount effects etc. the guitar may play well, but do not expect to get the sounds you hear on cds.

A tweaked Epiphone "Les Paul" type will sound good, if you're willing to drop the dough, go full out Gibson Studio. You also may want to look into self modification of a less good guitar. You can get great crunch and gain from a DYI active pickup system in an existing body. As far amps go, I reccomend the Roland Chorus, with a tone-bone distortion pedal and boss-gigadelay. Also, a Clone chorus would be good but the Roland built-in on that amp is really good. For good variety in tone, go with a mid-level Line 6.

if you're going for metal, stick with Ibanez. Everything about these guitars has been going up in quality for the past 5-10 years.

Of course, Jackson is a good alternative, but quality control is not up to par as of recently.

I myself have never relaly been impressed by BC rich's feel or tone, kinda cardboardy


Now, back to Ibanez, look for any RG Model, the 350 is pretty much the workhorse, fantastic sound, great feel, very versatile. That's pretty much what id reccomend

but most importantly, go to a shop and play around. you could be impressed by something completely different.

For metal type music, you can't go wrong with an Ibanez, IMO. I've always like the way they play, and they've got a good chunky metal sound, especially with humbuckers and a good quality distortion pedal or good amp distortion.

I never dug Jackson or BC Rich. BC = too much show and not enough go, IMO. (hah, that rhymes.)

Of course, I personally dig Strats... American Strats. Mmmmmm. There's nothing like it IMO, but that's because I play more blues/rock/alternative and and I just really like the sound. I'm debating right now between a fat strat (i.e. with a humbucker) or a standard American Strat (three single pickups.)

Les Pauls are okay, but I don't think I'd ever actually buy one simply because I think the strats sound better for how and what I play. Plus, they're heavy as all hell! That's not a huge deal, but they start to dig in after a while.

Squire's (Fender copies endorsed by fender) are quite good for you classic rock sound same as epiphones (Gibson endorsed) but both are excellent for the whole range of playing styles...

Some good advice up there.
Tone/sound is very subjective - go to a music store & test run some amps & guitars.
I have tested a lot of gear over the years. For a beginner such as yourself, you might want to get an amp with heavy distortion (for metal, thrash etc) like a Peavey Triple XXX 112 combo (its all-valve so it sounds very sweeeeet). Its cheaper than a Mesa Boogie & has as much, if not more distortion. Man, these amps can make any crap guitar sound good! Get a guitar with humbuckers, not single coil. You'll get a much thicker sound...more low end too. Pick-ups do make a difference which is why you have to test them. An Epiphone Les Paul style or Ibanez is a good place to start. Good luck!

BC Riches are great for metal. I would look at ESP first, depending on what kind of sound you want.

well i ended up getting an Ibanez SZ520

im loving it, just need a good amp now!

Thats an excellent adjective for BC Rich guitars. I still think they're damn cool, but I agree with that comment.
I'd say RG, or an AX for starting out.

EDIT: Oh, you already got one (I'm slow today, ack). I played an SZ once, actually, it was damn cool, hope you enjoy playing.

The kind of stuff yoru playing, jsut make sure it has humbuckers and THE NECK FEELS GOOD!
I think neck feel is super important, you can always throw in different p/ups and the amp affects the sound so much too.

Start with a cheap Ibanez, and save your money for when you get alot better, then buy an Ibanez JEM Signature. :D

That means save ALL your money. FOR A LONG TIME.
Jems probably cost too much for what they are, but DAMN would I like to own one :D

But with higher up guitars, if you decide you don't like it, you can sell it for almost as much as you bought it for. With cheaper guitars, you'd be lucky to get half of what you paid for it.

Meh, Higher up Ibanez are nice, but WAY over priced. I'd rather have a similarily-priced Jackson (mmmm... Soloist...)

Used is the way to go if you're looking for an amp on a budget. I got my Laney GH100L for $300 used, and it rocks. Comparable to a JCM 800, but with more gain (and 1/4 the price). Does Slayer/Zakk Wylde sounds very well.

Right, enough gear-head posts from me (for now).

The fretboard is the coolest

Also look at Parker, or PRS

Just recently played one of my students 80's Charvel guitar. I'm a Les Paul guy but I have to say, for a very light guitar the sustain was o.k ( through my setup) and the neck was slicker than a cats ass on a tin roof.

But buy something cause it feels and plays good, not for the looks. When I was about 18 I bought a black semi-acoustic Ovation (not cheap) and gave it away cause it was the worst piece of shit guitar I have ever played, even after countless setups to soup it up. So good luck.

Get a Les Paul, and then you can play any kind of music you want. Cheap guitars are OK, but at some point they will hamper your ability to learn due to poor action and tone.

My advice: take some lessons. It will help keep you from learning bad habits and really jumpstart your playing.

Have fun!

An LP for versitility? I think strats are way more versitile.

I think Strats are pretty versatile (I have a Big Apple that I love) but he said he was going to be playing thrash metal. I think that's one area where the Strats are lackluster. LPs, however, can do rock, blues, and metal and that seems to be what most folks start playing.