Guitar Shopping...

I thought it apropriate to split this into a new topic, as I find that the bash fender thread is better off remaining a bash fender thread...
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ProgRocker53 wrote:I outlined a little bit of what I wanted in a PM to Frank (thinner neck and lower action, very clean and bright tone) and he recommends this Ibanez RG1570 to me... I looked it up and it does seem up my alley.

I want to model my playing style along the lines of Schon, Lukather, Petrucci, Reb Beach, Satriani, Steven Wilson, Rothery, Eric Johnson, etc. (tall order I know, but that's the style I dig most)

Prog, you can't go wrong with an Ibby1570 if you're looking to do Petrucci, Satch, Vai like stuff. Just be mindful that the stock Ibanez pickups will likely need to be replaced...but that's a cool thing, as Dimarzio has a *great* selection of pickups that will work well in a basswood guitar body. For example, the EVolution pickups will give you a Vai tone, the Fred/PAF Joe combo for satch, tone zone/air norton for Paul Gilbert, and Dropsonic or Steves special paired with an air norton for Petrucci (although petrucci used a tone zone when recording Images and Words).

However, keep in mind, that the Ibanez 1570 is basswood...and it gets a particular tone. I happen to like basswood for it's hard rock tones, but hate it because it's soft and dings like crazy. You will often find older ibanezs with dings and finish chips....so keep that in mind. Ernie Ball seems to have figured out a way to finish basswood well, without it chipping.

Regardless, the biggest calling card of an Ibanez is it's thin neck. Some players *love* that, some hate it. I'm not so sure where I stand. I grew up playing ibanez necks, so they're comfortable to me. However, my Gibson Les Paul has a chunky 59 profile neck...and I love that too...so go figure.

Still, having said that, I've been wanting to get an ibanez rg1570 for a while now. The nice thing about the Ibanez, is that it's a good value. For $800 bucks, you get a damn finely built guitar, with a hard shell case (most guitars dont come with them anymore,sadly)....and if you want to change the pickups, you can.


The drawback of the Ibanez, is that there's a metal side to them that the brand has never shaken. While guitar gods like Vai, Satch, Gilbert, etc play them, they're used by the dorks in all of these D-tuned slacker crap bands like Korn, Limp Shitkit, etc...and as a result, the guitar carries a bit of a negative stigma for me.


I think, when searching for a particular guitar, you need to decide off the top of the head, what you're looking for with respect to certain qualities:

* neck profile - thick, chunky, flat, thin.....it's what your left hand always feels when you play. It's a very important part of the puzzle.

* set neck, bolt on, or neck thru - the most over rated part of a guitar. I've heard bolt on necks with more sustain than set necks and neck thrus. Dont let anyone tell you that a well built bolt on wont sustain as well as a set neck. it's not true.

* fixed bridge or tremolo - do you do the whammy thing or do you prefer having a fixed bridge. Right now, floyd rose tremolos are out of vogue, so the guitars built with them can either be less expensive or less available (depends).

* shape/finish/fit - do you wan classic shapes (strat/les paul/tele) or radical shapes (some of the radical jacksons, ibanez's, etc)...do you want wood grain finishes or solid colors..?

* pickups - least important, as these things can be changed by any monkey with 3 minutes of solder iron training....

Hope that helps....

-Frank

I'm sure you guys are into guitars way more than I am. I used to play, but haven't picked one up in a long time. And I'm sure you're all better than I ever was at it. So maybe this is old hat for you. But I stumbled onto this website awhile back:

http://www.brawerguitarrepair.blogspot.com/

I find it completely FASCINATING looking through the pictures on their blog. WOW! These guys look like they really know what they're doing!