Beginner guitar for heavy metal

valkynaz

valkynaz

valkynaz

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I'm a heavy metal fan and for years I've wanted to start playing some of my favourite songs on some sort of instrument. Guitar is the only choice due to space constraints.

I already purchased a cheap guitar a while back and give learning guitar a go and I've decided it's something I definitely want to do so now I'm looking at investing more money into a decent guitar.

Budget is between £200-300 (maybe a bit more if justified).

What would you guys recommend?
 
I would go into a shop and play stuff - don't just order offline. I'd start off by looking at Ibanez who make some great guitars in the price range. See what plays well and feels good and most of all you love the sound of.
 
inb4 Dimple :p

Like Xordium said, go to a shop and check some out. As a starting point, find out what guitars your favourite bands use and try those. I almost bought a Pacifica online, but then I went to a GuitarGuitar and played an Epiphone Les Paul just by chance since I remembered Bill and Brent from Mastodon play on Les Pauls. I bought that Epi and it's awesome.
 
Not a guitarist (I'm a drummer actually) but had experience with band mates going through loads of guitars.

As others have mentioned getting a cheapish Ibanez or Epiphone are good choices but at the budget you're looking for it I wouldn't be expecting "awesome" for something new so you might want to consider second hand. Go into a guitar shop to try out some guitars to get a feel of what you want, then do a search of a similar model that is in the lower price bracket.

I play in a heavy band but I generally dislike the look of the really pointy "heavy metal" type guitars like a number of B.C. Rich ones .... they look so cheesy and some of them (in my eyes) make people look like try-hards to be "metal" :p v.... but that's my opinion haha
 
I agree with Weazle, those "metal" guitars are horrible. Super Strats are my thing.

Going second hand is a good shout, as you'll get more for your money.

But please, don't get caught up with the "tone wood" stuff (the notion that the wood influences the sound of an electric guitar). Focus on something being nice to hold, with the sort of features you want and of course one you like the look of.

Pickups make a difference of course, but I feel that people massively over-egg the difference pickups make. The biggest component to how your guitar sounds, is how you play it.
 
A les Paul or SG copy would be decent as you want something with a fixed bridge due to a lot of metal bands use drop tunings which are a lot easier to tune to with a fixed bridge. If you're into classic metal like Maiden, Sabbath and Metallica then this isn't as important.
 
A PRS Bernie Marsen SE is hard to beat for value for money this end of the scale.

Here it is going up against an original 1959 LP, press play and look away and see if you can tell which passage is which.

 
They can be quite tricky to play though from a shredding point of view as the necks aren't conducive for real speed. Not that you'd be getting that for some time anyway.

It depends whether you want to shred or not!
 
Raymond Lin said:
A PRS Bernie Marsen SE is hard to beat for value for money this end of the scale.

Here it is going up against an original 1959 LP, press play and look away and see if you can tell which passage is which.

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That's touching £600 and he's a beginner!? Don't push him in to the "All the gear and no idea" camp so soon ;)

I'd go for something like an Ibanez RG7421 if you fancy playing metal, fits your budget and will last you a while once your skill improves. That said, go in to a local guitar shop and give them your budget and play whatever takes your fancy - you may pickup something that just feels right :)
 
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As someone who is also looking to start learning guitar, I'll ask here.

Assume I have literally zero experience playing instruments. When you say "go to a shop and try some out", what am I supposed to be looking for at this point? Purely comfort/ergonomics? Is there anything to be wary of to avoid a dodgy one?
 
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I don't think there is such a thing as a metal guitar, pretty much any guitar can be used for any music style. Try out guitars and find out what is comfortable for you, look for a slim neck for easier shredding a fixed bridge will let you detune better than a floating bridge at this price range.

Some good guitars to start looking at,
Epiphone Les Paul, too many users to list
Ibanez RG, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci
Most Jacksons, Adrian Smith
Squire Jim Root Tele is suposed to be a very good guitar too.
But like I said get something that you like and feel comfortable with, don't feel it has to be matt black and pointy to be metal.
 
If you want to play Metal you can get away with playing any major guitar but the other week a guy bought me a Kramer to play on stage and it was so bloody awesome it nearly played the solos itself.
I regret getting rid of a Jackson PS2 because that was a really good shredder.
In that price range I'd look at the Ibanez type metal guitars but go and try them yourself.
 
Pez said:
That's touching £600 and he's a beginner!? Don't push him in to the "All the gear and no idea" camp so soon ;)

I'd go for something like an Ibanez RG7421 if you fancy playing metal, fits your budget and will last you a while once your skill improves. That said, go in to a local guitar shop and give them your budget and play whatever takes your fancy - you may pickup something that just feels right :)
Click to expand...

You can get that guitar for £449 and even less 2nd hand :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
It's not £200-300 new no. I said 2nd hand. if its new at £449, there is no way one would pay £449 used.
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It's not the point, if I asked for a guitar to play Country music on would you suggest an ESP E-II ST-2 FM with Floyd Rose locking trem?
You could do it but it wouldn't be the right tool for the job.
 
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