OT: Suggestions for a new guitar

[Michael Allen]

I'm looking for a new guitar, to mess around with some different pickup wirings.....inspired by Brian May. Right now I think something with Humbuckers so I can mix single/dual coils in series/parallel output.

I think i'll either look for something LP'ish or a Strat copy. Any suggestions for an inexpensive but still well crafted guitar? I was looking at some of the guitars on the Rondo Music site and figured they might make a good choice?

Open to any and all suggestions.

[cd]

Try to find a used Yamaha Pacifica, I just picked up a Strat-clone one for $100, SSH configuration and very well made for the price.  Kills any new $100 Squier.

[aron]

A new low-end Pacifica will be about $150. The Tele version was good too.

[travissk]

About a month back I ordered a LP2500 from Rondo -
http://www.rondomusic.bigstep.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=850849%7C940498&PRID=1040941

My main guitar is still a MIM Strat, but for $200 this thing is simply amazing. Production quality is stunning ;there are no scratches anywhere, fretboard inlays are great, and pickups are actually very good right out of the box. I don't have too much experience with Les Pauls, but most reviews of the Agiles state that they're probably the best LP you can get for $600 and under. It's beautiful, too

I have also heard great things about the Pacifica; depending how much free time I have this summer, I might buy a used one because I'm leaving my Strat and LP2500 in storage here for the summer and will only have a Squier to practice with.

[brett]

Try to find a used Yamaha Pacifica,

CD and Aron are right.. these are good guitars for the price.  Also, before the "pacifica" series came out there was a strat-like series.  I had one that was a RG(??)211 (?), with a HSS pickup setup and a very nice neck.  Got it for about US$70 from a pawn shop.  My main current guitar is also a Yamaha, an RGZ121FP (HSH).  The body is kinda half-way between an RGZ and a strat, and it doesn't have a floyd rose setup (I really don't like those things).

have fun

[Michael Allen]

What do you guys think about an Epiphone LP? I've heard they're really just as good as the Gibsons....

[Jered]

Hi,
     The Epiphone LP's you need to try on an individual basis. I've played some that sound OK and play OK, not great, and played some that were awful and sounded the part.
Jered

[claydavis]

the epiphones have crap hardware, and the pickups are hit or miss. the tuners are quite possibly the worst ever made.

-clay

[Ben N]

For LP copies I think you are probably better off with the new Dillions, although you probably have to buy them sight unseen.  Dillion has a great reputation for customer service, though, so he will take care of you if there is a problem.  I agree that the Epi copies I've seen have been pretty uneven.
OTOH, you can do pretty well with a used Ibanez Artist, if mahogany, mapole and humbuckers are your thing.

[Somicide]

as far as ibanez go, i got a reather nice rg for little over $200 at a local music shop (the expensive shop too).  If its a floor model, and the previous years model, they go down in price quick.  granted, you'll have to go about customizing it, but you do that new too, right?

[Ge_Whiz]

I've just picked up a brand-new Washburn Idol WI24 for £100 here in the UK. Uncluttered, two humbuckers, nice build quality for a Chinese axe, and loads of space in the control cavity for mods and extra switches. Nice guitar, and rather different from all the 'clones'.

[/b]