Guitar and amp opinion

Swampyseifer

Swampyseifer

Swampyseifer

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Ok so I'm new to a six string but I'm an experienced bass player (10 years on and off) and drummer (3 years). The way life ends up I've had to give both up and sell my instruments, I find myself with a bit of spare cash so I've been looking around for an electric guitar.

I'm sorta attracted to the look and sound of a Gibson Les Paul but I don't really want to be too cheap, despite being a beginner, so I had sort mentally settled on one. As for an amp, I'm happy to get something small and relatively cheap - I'm a sucker for playing with settings and things so I think I have found s good option there as well. Just hoping others could give their opinion?

Epiphone Les Paul Studio (probably in Smokehouse Burst)

Black Star ID Core10 V3

My logic is that the studio is the first "proper" look and feel LP, the 3-way switch and pots for both pups. I know it's not miles away from the standard but you have to draw somewhere, unless the standard is really worth the jump?

As for the amp, it's a solid choice, well established, relatively cheap but not too cheap. It's got lots of options to play with the sounds so that I can get an idea of what I want "my sound" to be. Built in tuner too.
 
Bass player here who moved to guitar as well. I also liked the Les Paul and found a used Epiphone Les Paul and paired it with a basic Marshall 20 watt amp for practice.

I found it very difficult to play. When I let my friend try it he thought the action was off, so I did get it properly looked and and set up but honestly never been that much of a fan of the guitar. I’ve also tried a Gibson SG, which was nice but quite distinctive tone and a Fender Jazzmaster which I liked the tone but it didn’t feel as solid as the Gibson.

Then one day I tried the Gibson Les Paul (standard I think) and wow that was nice to play. Pretty heavy but the more expensive Gibson is night and day versus the Epiphone, at least the one I have. I’m by no means an authority on guitars as I only play very casually but in retrospect I would have spent a bit more and got something more enjoyable to play.

I would also ask:

Do you have a budget?
What kind of music do you like to play?

I wish I had also considered a more versatile option as well, like maybe a Strat, even though that’s not reflective of the music I like necessarily, it probably would have opened up some different musical avenues to explore as I learnt to play.
 
As I'm sure you'd appreciate from bass, you really need to hold and play some guitars to get a feel for what works for you. Neck shape is a big personal thing, as is scale length, body style/weight, so really you'll want to get hands on.
 
Yeah. I like a LP, but they're quite odd. I'm a bass player too. I play a Precision bass. I do have a nice 60s Jazz but I only really play it for certain things or to remind myself how much I like a P neck.

There's a reason why strats are very popular with beginners and that's because they have a very forgiving neck and feel.

Buy a used Squier Strat and if you don't like it pass it on. They cost buttons and are great. They literally cost nothing as you can sell them for the same dirt cheap price you buy them for.

If you really want a LP, get a Vintage brand.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I'll try to take things in order...

Yeah so I should have said price range...for the guitar an amp, I really wouldn't be keen to go above £600 unless it's a bit more to get something well worth it (my choices above are just over £500).

As for what I'll want to play, Im pretty eclectic in my tastes but most of my Spotify favourites are rock, metal, poprock and much more recently I've really fallen for southern rock (Black Stone Cherry, the crowes, blues saraceno, shamens harvest etc). Tbh though I just want something mess around on, amusing myself with learning some great licks/lines and maybe eventually being able to understand enough to be able to build my own lines.

Tbh when I was at my peak with the bass I bought a £1600 USA handmade Gibson EB0 (SG shape) and it was the worst thing I ever owned. I absolutely loved my Ibanez SR700 though. One thing I hate was the feel of the shorter neck, but I'm guessing that no guitar is really going to be as long as a bass and the 24"/25" is pretty standard for 6strings so that's not a negative to me.

I have arthritis issues so I won't be playing standing at any point so the weight won't matter too much.

Obviously so far I've been unable to attend a music shop, so I've been researching online. Listening to various guitars being played (Dagan on PMTv is amazing to watch). I deffo prefer to sound of the humbuckers to the single coils although the metaller in me does like the sound of P90s.
 
If you want a long neck, get a Strat or a Telecaster or a Jazzmaster. A Les Paul or a Jaguar or is pretty much the shortest. PRS will be varied depending, SE 245 would be 24.5 but their Silver Sky would be 25.5 and regular PRS is 25".

If you don't know what you are looking for then a Strat would be a good place to start, a HSS pick up option to get you even more variety in the sound. They are a bolt on so if you need any work doing, it is easily fixed (action, shims etc).
 
LPs are shorter scale length than strat style...I barely notice but some people don’t like LPs for that reason

I’ve got a Vintage V100AFD that was mentioned a few posts above...don’t have much to compare it to tbh but I love it

I was looking for a ‘slash style’ guitar in 2013 and that was recommended...they still get good reviews
 
The Les Paul I mentioned above is 24.75", a strat seems to be about 25.5". Is that really going to feel much different? I think everything is going to feel like a Tonka toy coming from a bass with like 34" necks!

I did really think about the PRS SE model buts it's quite a lot more than the Epi LP!

Is that v100AFD only come in that colour? I'm not that keen on the really standard yellow/orange/black/white colours that 75% of guitars come in!
 
Every little helps and you can only know when you try.

New Epi are quite good, I was going to get a Les Paul Junior, but IMO at lot of them do need some work on the nut and a set up out of the case. They tend to cut the nut a bit on the high side out of the factory so that you can file it down if you want to.
 
Have you thought about some kind of Super Strat? I used to play (not mine, but I used to play it!) an Ibanez RG back in 1990s. It was a great guitar. Easy to play and had loads of variation of tones.
 
The V100AFD is only that colour yupp, but there’s other V100 models

google ‘V100 Vintage‘ and you’ll see others

Ideally need to try some guitars tho...I dunno when guitar shops will be open again and what they’ll be like letting you try stuff but Gear4Music do a no quibble 30 day return
 
I've been buying guitars and gigging in bands since 1970 and when buying a guitar there is only one way to do it - go and try them in a shop.
Shops are open now so no excuse.
Buying a guitar is like getting a new girlfriend, you'll hold a few until you know.

The amp is a good choice.
 
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