need help with a new guitar

frufrukurtjimi

so basically im set ampwise so soon ill be getting a new guitar (once i have enough cash)

im not sure what my budget is but im looking for more or less an intermediate guitar. good enough to be pro but not top of the line. also i want it to be a fender (i just love them).

my favourite guitarists are John Frusciante, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Hazel,Jimmy Page, Mike Mc Cready, James Williamson, Matt Bellamy

basically grunge/funk/blues and general rock..mainly funk rock though

while most of those use a strat i already have one (a squier only but i want a different guitar), id go for one if it was just that but id rather not

any ideas?

thanks

SeriousCat

I would go eighter for a: ''Telecaster, (with hotrail/humbucker at the bridge) Jaguar (hotrail humbucker in the bridge) or a Mustang (with hotrail/humbucker in the bridge)

frufrukurtjimi

i would prefer to keep to single coils but what if i were to add a hotrail to my strat (so it would still have a use and ill be able to get more sounds)?

also if i were to get a humbucker guitar what about the jag HH. and how does the coil split compare to the normal SS jag?

gilmourish

look into the classic players jag and jazzys. I have a jazzy which due to the hotter pickups sounds a bit more strat like and can pull off classic rock tones with ease, aswell as that gorgeous clean tone..

SeriousCat

frufrukurtjimi said: i would prefer to keep to single coils but what if i were to add a hotrail to my strat (so it would still have a use and ill be able to get more sounds)?
also if i were to get a humbucker guitar what about the jag HH. and how does the coil split compare to the normal SS jag?

If you really like your Squier Strat why not? It gives you a hotter sound + you can still play Funk/Blues with it. Altough i myself prefer to use the neck or middle single coil for Funk.

I can't say to much for a Classic Player HH Jag since i never played one. I do have a MIJ Jag with 2 standard Jaguar pickups and to me, they sound really thin for funk/blues etc. It's getting modified for 2 full humbuckers + coil tap at the moment.

But the standard HH Jag pickups aren't that bad from what i've heard. They are pretty decent i believe........

BTW, the: ''Fender FMT Telecaster'' is also a really good guitar. But it plays a little bit different then a normal Tele since it has body contours and a different scale lenght i believe.

But believe me the sound is amazing!!!!!!!! It has 2 Seymour Duncan humbuckers. ('59 in the neck, and a Pearly Gates in the bridge) + both pickups can be coil tapped. (and it has binding around the body/neck)

I had one, but i sold it. (because i brought it secondhand and got ripped. the neck was a bit out of straightness so i took it to my guitar tech and he said he couldn't do anything to keep it from buzzing. So somebody ####ed up and i was paying the price for it. (and it still didn't help) So always keep a eye out if the neck of the guitar is straight!!!!!!!

Just try that Classic Player HH Jaguar out to see if you like it. 😉

Or even better try MORE guitars out. Even if you have to get a Fender try some other Brands aswell, (Gibson, G&L, Ibanez, Jackson, Michael Kelly, Aria, Schecter, PRS etc.) you might end up with a total different guitar then you orginally had in mind.

Hack, i have a Jackson Professional with 2 standard Jackson single coil pickups and they sound really good. Even though the guitar is orginally meant for hard rock/metal. 😀

Richie

Based on you liking Frusciante, Hendrix, Hazel and McReady, I would say get a strat, but then for Teh Kurtzz or Matt Bellamy tones you might want to consider a humbucker in the bridge position. So an HSS strat would be my recommendation.

frufrukurtjimi

Richie said: Based on you liking Frusciante, Hendrix, Hazel and McReady, I would say get a strat, but then for Teh Kurtzz or Matt Bellamy tones you might want to consider a humbucker in the bridge position. So an HSS strat would be my recommendation.

would the bridge in my strat (is i change it to a hot rail) be enough for grunge and muse?

the funk tone i like is more based around the bridge pick up...very dry and with twang

sort of like of if you have to ask

in general though how good are coil taps compared to real single coils?

feedbackismyfriend

Richie said: Based on you liking Frusciante, Hendrix, Hazel and McReady, I would say get a strat, but then for Teh Kurtzz or Matt Bellamy tones you might want to consider a humbucker in the bridge position. So an HSS strat would be my recommendation.

In my experience coil taps are close but sound a tiny bit different

also yes you can do grunge with a hot rails, but I dun think you actually need em..... I could swear there was somebody who used lower output pups for grunge.....

Disappearer

To be honest, the whole thing that you need humbuckers for good high gain tones is a load of bull####. Obviously if you want Metal tones humbuckers are better, but if yr going for messy Muse-ish fuzz or just Grungy distortion, singlecoils will be fine.

SeriousCat

You can play Grunge with single coils but it sounds fuzzy and dirty. (if you know what i mean) 😛 It sounds fuller with a humbucker/hotrail in the bridge.

I like a distorted Strat bridge single coil for a more classic punk rock kinda sound. Or for a more blues rock kinda tone.

Just look at Jimi Hendrix's sound. His tone is not the brightest sound there is. (which is a good thing, so don't get me wrong on that!!!!!!!) 😀 Of course Hendrix used a number of Fuzz boxes + Marshall amps for his muddy sound so that explains a lot, but you can stil hear how dirty and muddy a Distorted single coil sounds when you listen to him in one of his videos. (with a Strat of course)

Just search some guitars on the internet and see if someone springs out. (you still need to try it in real life of course) 😉

gilmourish

Hendrix's tone is not muddy in the slightest? Live his tone would be hugely saturated because he was using fuzz faces/axis fuzz to push his amp even more, then it would be muddy on the neck pickup, thats why live especially he uses bridge pickup on most of the fuzzed out songs.

Think you need to find out wht muddy really means 😀

Richie

Serious Cat said: I played a Gibson SG once. (old one) To see if i liked it.
The Results = ''Pickups weren't that great, body didn't feel right, not to talk about the huge ass long neck the thing has.
Overall it just wasn't my kind of guitar.

As I recall, Serious Cat has also once said that he dislikes SGs because they have "really long necks", or words to that effect, which confused me to no end seeing as they're a shorter scale than most Fenders, and he actually owns a Les Paul which is the same scale length. I seemed to be the only person who picked up on it at the time though...

EDIT: Just to prove that I'm not insane...

I apologise for the off-topicness, but it still tickles me. 😆

SeriousCat

gilmourish said: Hendrix's tone is not muddy in the slightest? Live his tone would be hugely saturated because he was using fuzz faces/axis fuzz to push his amp even more, then it would be muddy on the neck pickup, thats why live especially he uses bridge pickup on most of the fuzzed out songs.
Think you need to find out wht muddy really means 😀

You're right,

I thought the SG had a longer scale lenght because the neck doesn't go as deep in the body like on a Les Paul. My mistake back then, i actually like SG's now....... 😀 (it's just that i had to get used to them)

@Henry: I know what you mean, but this sound is what i call: ''muddy:''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYg-pUfkjwM&feature=fvst

Richie

Well. Egg on your face, eh?

To get back on-topic: You still haven't told us what kind of budget you're working with, which would help a lot.

frufrukurtjimi

Richie said: Well. Egg on your face, eh?
To get back on-topic: You still haven't told us what kind of budget you're working with, which would help a lot.

a good intermediate guitar...say 600-800 euro, maybe slightly more but i wouldnt like to spend that much

while i know that i dont need humbuckers for grunge (mike mcCready didnt use humbuckers for ten) i would like to able to get a different sound and the strats pick ups arent too great so in order to make it not obsolete i think i will change them. a compltely different sound imo would give me more variation (i know it wont be that different but different enough)

Robbmonster

I love my Squiers, so I would probably suggest one of the Classic Vibe strats.

Or hunt around and find a nice MIM Fender strat.

I'm in the process of putting a GFS Lil Killer (hotrail) in the neck position of one of my strats.

frufrukurtjimi

Robbmonster said: I love my Squiers, so I would probably suggest one of the Classic Vibe strats.
Or hunt around and find a nice MIM Fender strat.
I'm in the process of putting a GFS Lil Killer (hotrail) in the neck position of one of my strats.

i was hoping for something better than a squier (although i love mine)...any other ideas?

also what does everyone think about the baja telecaster?

Robbmonster

Robbmonster said: I love my Squiers, so I would probably suggest one of the Classic Vibe strats.
Or hunt around and find a nice MIM Fender strat.
I'm in the process of putting a GFS Lil Killer (hotrail) in the neck position of one of my strats.

There are those in the world who believe the Classic Vibe series are equal to - if not better than - the MIM Fenders.

But if you are determined to have something that says 'Fender' on the headstock (which is a desire I completely understand), but still keeping the spending down, then yeah, and MIM might be the way to go.

There is also a new Fender series called the American Special, or American Standard or something like that. What they are (I believe) are Fenders that are made in the USA (where the craftsmanship and quality control are supposedly better), but they are made with slightly cheaper components to keep the costs down. I understand the prices for these are about the same as for MIM's.

That said, I haven't seen this series being heavily promoted, but I'm sure the Fender website can shed some light.

frufrukurtjimi

Robbmonster said: I love my Squiers, so I would probably suggest one of the Classic Vibe strats.
Or hunt around and find a nice MIM Fender strat.
I'm in the process of putting a GFS Lil Killer (hotrail) in the neck position of one of my strats.

its not that i dont want a squier...rather that i want one of the higher end MIM...like a classic player or a jag or something like that

imo my best bets are either classic 60s telecaster, baja telecaster or classic player jaguar

what are people experiences with these?

gilmourish

what kind of tone are you looking for? what is your amp?