Contemplating new guitar purchase!

EvilGrin · 9 May 2007 at 13:58

Giving some thought to buying a new guitar. I'm still learning, but i feel like i'm struggling with my current guitar, a vintage VS6B.

I've been doing some exercises to build up my finger strength and speed, one in particular called "The Caterpillar", where you start at the top, where you play fret 5, then 6, 7 and 8, keeping your fingers all down, then move down a string and repeating, leaving your fingers down until its time to play it's fret. It sounds easy, but I think my guitar's neck is quite wide, my fingers are fairly short and it kills my hand! Find it a hell of a lot easier on my fiancée's yamaha pacifica which has a narrower neck.

Anyway, I don't want to be playing her guitar all the time, so its made me think that perhaps its time to invest in something new. I can afford up to £350. Basically looking for something with perhaps a narrower neck and thats generally good to play on as a beginner up to intermediate level. Is there anything i should look out for bargain wise on the likes of auction sites or 2nd hand local advertisements in my price range? Any suggestions would be most welcome!

I'm definately going to keep my current guitar as I love it even if it kills my hand, plus when i'm better, i'm sure i'll be able to make it squeal the way it should without quite so much suffering!

EvilGrin · 9 May 2007 at 14:28

Tried an LP before, not a huge fan really!

Plus the neck on the epi LP and SG's are the same radius as my vintage SG, which is a bit thick really! Thinking about something along the lines of an Ibanez with a wizard II neck... anyone got suggestions?

EvilGrin · 9 May 2007 at 20:55

tTz said:
You're on the Regents guitar forum, aren't you? Either that, or there's someone scarily like you lurking on the internet.

Anyway, I gave my opinions in the Regent's thread, as did many, others.

:edit:

Oh, for what's it's worth, in case you've not seen the Regent's thread, I said that if you're after an Ibanez with a Wizard neck (which is what you'd said), the RG321 is only £169 at the moment, and is an absolute steal.

Lol, yeah i'm on Regent's too. Saw your post over on regent's, thanks for all the help and advice! Have any experience with the Ibanez SAS36FM btw? Aesthetically, I like the look of it much more than RG ones, but the playability of the guitar is the most important thing of course!

Oh yeah, where did you see that RG321 for £169 by the way?

EvilGrin · 12 May 2007 at 09:52

Right, just now i'm following the auctions of an RG320FM TL which has had evo pups fitted and an S470Bk, which do you guys think is the better guitar? They're both 2nd hand, I think the S470 is quite a bit newer, but both seem in good condition, how much do you think they're worth? Other than that i'm looking at the SAS36FM brand new for £285+p&p.

Anyone tried any of these guitars that can comment on their necks and general playability or even better offer up a comparison? Cheers!

In reply to the question of music tastes, mostly Heavy Rock, some metal, stuff i've currently been trying to play are along the lines of QOTSA, Muse, Foo Fighters, Guns 'n Roses etc. However, i'll probably be trying a whole variety of stuff while learning, from blues to jazz to classical to rock, so I think I really want a versatile guitar, my current guitar is a dual humbucker buttkicker, so i'm thinking a fat strat configuration for this one, however i'm just looking to get the best guitar for the money tbh, not that picky!