Hi everyone, before I start, please note that I will be talking about budget-ish guitars so please don't shoot me down regarding the brands.
Here we go, I've been researching electric guitars for the past 5 to 6 weeks and trying to find the "right fit" for me. I can confidently say I prefer an LP shape. I owned a Pacifica when younger and didn't like it at all so Strats and similar are out for me. My father owns a '76 Gibson Marauder and I absolutely love the shape and feel (hope to restore it completely one day and make it my own). Having said this I've been researching several companies and trying to understand build quality, playability, component quality and value for money. So far one of the best choices I've come back with is a Harley Benton SC custom P90 (in black and gold of course). The guitar comes equipped with mahogany body, mahogany set neck, jatoba fretboard, Roswell Alnico P90's, Grover tuners, strap locks and d'addario 10-46s. The other companies I've been looking at are Epiphone, Ibanez (335 style) and ESP LTD.
Epi makes my absolute favorite guitar which is the Lucille BB King edition but that's slightly over the budget at the moment so will come at a later time.
If any of you have any insight or recommendations please share. Keep in mind I will be learning on this guitar although I still remember some basics, my main interest is blues. Whichever guitar I buy will be run with a VOX Amplug 2 Blues edition and headphones (So i don't wake the kids)
Thanks for reading!
Comments
The issue with Harley Benton is that you can't try before you buy and some of them can be not very good apparently. If you are buying by delivery the same can be said for most brands.
Have you tried a telecaster - in my view probably best all round guitar and squier's can be had very cheap and upgraded bit bit bit if you so choose.
For a blues guitar a used epiphone dot would be a very good place to start as would any of the ibanez types. I don't like les paul shapes so can't really help there.
If you buy a harley benton and there's something terribly wrong with it you can always return it. More likely are slight bodges on paintwork etc which won't affect the sound.
Good knowledge to have and can turn a poor guitar into a decent one.
Even before swapping pickups etc. No point in getting fancy pups if you don't know how to set them up to taste really.
There's no shame in going to your LGS and trying a few, i find the standard too much of a lump so for my money i'd look at a studio. I've actually been considering one for myself to mod for a while. They are essentially unchanged in decades so one you know what you like you can start to search the classifieds for a bargain!
I once bought a guitar from a well known manufacturer with great specs; Seymour Duncan pickups, standard woods, Grover hardware etc. When it turned up it sounded like a strangled banjo and felt like I was playing a fence post.
Just be aware that it can be a bit of a lottery what you end up with. Sometimes it can work out fine, others, not so much.
I would follow some of the advice here and go to a shop and try lots of different guitars to determine, for starters, what sort of neck profile will suit the size and shape of your hands. Getting something that suits your personal ergonomics goes a long way to being happy with your instrument.
Try one first of course.
There's plenty of good advice here already about trying as many guitars as you can without preconception, getting help with a setup etc so I'll just throw one more thing into the mix. From the selection of perfectly playable guitars that you end up with - pick the one that you like the look of (or better still, love). It takes time and effort to learn an instrument. If you have a guitar that you want to stare lovingly at and which you can't pass by without wanting to pick it up then it will help. I've just set a guy in the office up with his first electric and amp. I was selling the amp but I gave him the guitar for free (a LP copy by Vintage). He absolutely loves this guitar and he put in several hours practice over the first weekend (he's been playing acoustic for a couple of years). If the name is important to you, get that name. Colour to match your favourite team? If it matters to you then it's important. This is your guitar, not anybody else's.