***The Official Guitar Thread***

Simplest test of an amp is to plug in the guitar lead, turn it up pretty loud (more than halfway for a small amp like that) and touch your finger to the tip of the lead at the other end. Try this while being careful not to touch anything grounded including the sleeve of the jack, or any metal casing. This should make you the biggest source of noise possible and give you a good loud hum/buzz out of the amp.

Agree with everything uncle-rufus says about quality, in terms of both guitar and amp. It will make you want to play more if the gear is not holding you back.
 
Simplest test of an amp is to plug in the guitar lead...

Thanks, I don't get any buzz with either lead tapping the end which I have done with soundcards etc when recording things. No hum from the amp on max volume or anything. No noise when plugging the cable into the input when the amp is already turned on.

If I end up needing to spend a bit less on guitar to get an amp too, this Jackson JS22 seems to review welleven though it is basswood not alder and uses "generic" pick ups?

https://www.theguitarstoreonline.co...p-in-natural-oil-with-amaranth-fretboard.html
 
Seems okay as well, Jackson are a reputable brand - technically an offshoot of Fender these days. What sort of thing do you want to play though? The Pacifica is a bit more versatile but the Jackson will be a little bit more restrictive and suit heavier music. (Both will be fine for learning technique on, but once you get a bit further along they will suit different musical styles)
 
To be honest I would like the versatility as the guitar sound that piques my interest ranges from things like Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler, Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny, Don't Fear the Reaper, through to various Metallica...
 
Without wanting to put too fine a point on it... there are 2 types of "common" pickups - single coils which give you the kind of glassy "jangly" tones of Knopfler - they can do distortion (e.g. Hendrix) but are mostly lauded for their clean or only slightly overdriven sound... and humbuckers which are heavier, louder and really shine when used with distortion for rock and metal

The Jackson guitar you posted has 2 humbuckers, the Pacifica has 1 humbucker and 2 single coils... So hopefully from that you can see how/why I would say the Pacifica is more versatile
 
I would get the pacifica 112V - the V is the key thing, it means it has a coil tap on the humbucker (only selects half of the humbucker) so you can get the knopfler 3 single coils sound (he used a strat for a lot of his stuff). The bang for buck is excellent and ebay/gumtree usually has a good selection for less than retail if money is tight, or if you just want to dabble without shelling too much. I have a 112V which I've since modded for better pickups and some custom switching, it's good fun. Yamaha really do make very good budget-mid range instruments that punch above their weight.
 
In the end I got the Pacifica 112V (after considering the VMX but couldn't see any difference other than the finish), spare set of strings, a new strap and a fairly cheap amp. Coming to £321.

This wasn't quite the £150 starter pack I planned on last night!
 
VMX is V coil tapped, M maple fingerboard, X natural body finish. The 112V has a bit more laquer on the body and a rosewood fingerboard, which will give a slightly different tone (in theory, you'd be hard pushed to notice) but will last longer and is generally easier to maintain than a maple one (though tbh so long as you buy the right oil neither really give much problem, just with rosewood you tend to get more years before you need to worry. Unless you have very acidic sweat (which some people do).

What colour did you go for? Mine's a vintage sunburst, hobsons choice as got it 2nd hand, but I quite like the look now.
 
One thing you might want to do if you're not scared of basic wiring is mod the circuitry to allow the coil tap to be selectable in position 4 as well as position 5. By default pos4 is middle single coil and tapped humbucker ie bridge single coil always. This is to balance the pickup resistances (ie signal strengths). However with a simple snip and a bit of insulating tape I think you can make this tapped or untapped same as possible with position 5. I will dig out the wiring diagram and confirm.

Edit: I've looked it up in the Service Manual.
I was right. What you need to do is (depending on how it's been done from the factory):
either
a) If the white wire from the humbucker goes directly to the pins on the tonepot switch (not the potentiometer lugs, the DPDT switch below it) then cut the adjoining wire going from the same lug on the tone pot DPDT to the 5-way switch (it will land at the switch in between two empty pins).
OR
b) If the white wire doesn't do go straight to the tone pot but goes to the 5-way switch 1st, and from there a separate wire goes to the tone pot switch, then you need to remove both of these wires from the 5-way switch pin, but leave them connected (and wrapped in insulating tape) to get them to still travel to the tone pot pull-out DPDT switch but now disconnected from the 5-way switch.
OR
c) (not recommended) Alternatively you can cut the black ground lead going to the 5-way switch, but this leaves the switch ungrounded so this option is not recommended.

This mod prevents the 5-way switch shunting the white humbucker lead to ground when in positions 2,3,4 and therefore gives the user the option of full humbucker blended with the mid coil in position 4 (positions 1, 2 and 3 do not connect the hot lead of the humbucker so this makes no difference to those settings)

(As an aside the white lead is actually a pre-joined combo mid lead from the two single coils in the pair. I did a bit of surgery on the stock pick-up when I swapped it out and if you want to convert it to a 4-lead humbucker you can, but there isn't much wire to play with and you'd probably be better just buying a new 4-lead pickup to start with as you have to butcher the wax tape barrier to get to them, and the wire is rather thin behind there)
 
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Jackplugs come loose on a 4 month old ESP 400, same thing happened on my ibanez before i bought it. Bad luck or something i am doing wrong? I leave it plugged in on my guitar stand, is that a problem?
 
Jackplugs come loose on a 4 month old ESP 400, same thing happened on my ibanez before i bought it. Bad luck or something i am doing wrong? I leave it plugged in on my guitar stand, is that a problem?

Not necessarily but some stands leave the lead too close to either the floor or support arm that kinks the cable and puts pressure on the jack. Do you mean you are getting the jack socket on the guitar body coming loose? If so is that due to the screws losing their grip or the wiring in the socket breaking connection? It's more common for the jack lead to get a duff connection tbh.
 
Jackplugs come loose on a 4 month old ESP 400, same thing happened on my ibanez before i bought it. Bad luck or something i am doing wrong? I leave it plugged in on my guitar stand, is that a problem?
tightening up the jack plugs on some guitars is just one of those things I've accepted needs done every so often...I've never actually used a spanner/socket just tighten with fingers...I wouldn't see it as a problem but curious if there's a way to stop it....thread lock/spring wasdher or something
 
Jackplugs come loose on a 4 month old ESP 400, same thing happened on my ibanez before i bought it. Bad luck or something i am doing wrong? I leave it plugged in on my guitar stand, is that a problem?
I'd say it probably happens to most new guitars, I'd usually just tighten it up firmly at the first opportunity.
 
I bought Yellow Natural Satin. to bee honest I doubt I'll be modding it any time soon!

so the natural body but still with rosewood neck? Fair enough. (though technically IIRC that's a 112VX not that it really matters ;) ) Enjoy it, it's a great instrument.

First pedal to snag when the time comes (since you already have a tuner) is the awesome, and budget friendly, Donner Yellow Fall delay. <£30 on Amazon. It can add a nice depth to your clean lead.
 
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tightening up the jack plugs on some guitars is just one of those things I've accepted needs done every so often...I've never actually used a spanner/socket just tighten with fingers...I wouldn't see it as a problem but curious if there's a way to stop it....thread lock/spring wasdher or something
Maybe if you use a star washer and an actual spanner it'll stay done up :P
 
Not necessarily but some stands leave the lead too close to either the floor or support arm that kinks the cable and puts pressure on the jack. Do you mean you are getting the jack socket on the guitar body coming loose? If so is that due to the screws losing their grip or the wiring in the socket breaking connection? It's more common for the jack lead to get a duff connection tbh.

i took off the plate and the the input tube sinks to the bottom of the hole unless i turn it upside down, i have no idea how to get it to stay in place as i’m not sure what is supposed to keep it in place. The wiring is still intact.
 
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