Looking at a new electric... what brand?!

[ultimateguy]

I currently have a Squier Bullet, and it's a piece of garbage. It was good to start out on, but it's time to move on. I've been looking at some Flying V's, particularly the Dave Mustaine Dean signature one, but I can't find it anywhere in Canada and I don't feel like paying shipping+customs. At any rate, I have about $400-$500 to spend. I mainly play metal and punk, and I'm looking to get much better at soloing. Only problem is, there are way too many brands and I don't know the differences. Dean, Shecter, Jackson, ESP, Ibanez... etc. I would prefer a Flying V, but any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[WEEZY]

Check this out: Epiphone Flying V Korina (http://www.zzounds.com/item--EPIEGV2)

They're around $500 new. As a Gibson/Epi product, they have 2 humbuckers which will sound a lot different than your Squire.. you can always get someone to tap the pickups so you can have that single-coil tone on demand as well.

[Ripper]

http://www.fadersmusic.com/ These guys are in Brandon Manitoba and they had/have one of the Mustaine V's in stock. Talk to Chris or Kyle. Great guys to deal with. If you're going to get an epi flying v, find an older one, the quality is much better. I've got a 58 Korina made in 99 and it's a great guitar. Check out the Jackson King V's as well. They have really nice necks.

[The Kicker Of Elves]

If you are looking at spending $400-500 then you would be looking at the bolt-on version of the VMNT, the X model.

Axe Music now has them in stock:

http://www.axemusic.com/product.asp?P_ID=18502

http://www.axemusic.com/product.asp?P_ID=18503

[ultimateguy]

I'm not very familiar with pickups. What do you mean by single coil, and what's the difference between having one or two or more? Is it just sound quality?

[Edutainment]

It's not a matter of sound quality; it's a matter of sound. Both single coils and humbuckers can sound good, they're just a different type of pickups. Basically, a single coil is a pickup with only one coil (of copper wire), where a humbucker has two coils in reversed polarity which decreases the hum characteristic of single coils (this is where it gets its name). This probably sounds like gibberish if you don't know how pickups work. I'd wait for someone who knows what (s)he's talking about for what the difference in sound is exactly.

Just for reference...

Single coil:
http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/DimarzioDP170Big.jpg

Humbucker:
http://www.tonebender.net/images/landing/kent-armstrong/KENT%20ARMSTRONG%20OEM%20DISTORTION%20HUMBUCKER.jp g

I'd go to a music store like Long & McQuade and try a bunch of guitars you like, and see what feels/sounds good to you.

[WEEZY]

yeah...

Single-coil = David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Eric Clapton, Stevie RV, Jimi Hendrix and a billion more. Think of the solo to Comfortably Numb - that's the single coil pickup sound which Fender Strats are famous for.

Humbuckers (double-coil) = Jimmy Page (Led Zep), Slash, Angus Young (AC-DC), and a billion others. Think of the riff to Sweet Child Of Mine - or any Led Zep riff - that's a humbucker sound. Bigger, deeper, beefier. It's called a humbucker because single coils are known to be noisy (pick-up radio stations, buzz or hum when plugged-in) and the double coil design fixed that problem (bucked the hum) for the most part.

There's also a triple coil (called a motherbucker) which is rare.

Like I said above, you can have a guitar tech add a switch, usually a pull-out tone knob, that makes your double-coil pickup into a single-coil. It gives you more tone options which is always a good thaing. PRS McCarty's have it standard, lots of newer guitars are making it standard now too.

[ultimateguy]

Awesome! Thanks for the replies guys, that cleared a lot of things up. I ordered the VMNTX from Axe Music. Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

[ultimateguy]

Has anyone else ordered from Axe music before? I bought the VMNTX model there. I ordered a full week ago and it still hasn't shipped. I was told that it was right there ready to be shipped out... that was 2 days ago. I'm not impressed with their speed.

[Robert1950]

Has anyone else ordered from Axe music before? I bought the VMNTX model there. I ordered a full week ago and it still hasn't shipped. I was told that it was right there ready to be shipped out... that was 2 days ago. I'm not impressed with their speed.

If you do a search, you might find a previous thread close to the same. I seem to remember mixed reactions - fast and superslow service.

[BenJammin]

yeah...

Single-coil = David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Eric Clapton, Stevie RV, Jimi Hendrix and a billion more. Think of the solo to Comfortably Numb - that's the single coil pickup sound which Fender Strats are famous for.

Humbuckers (double-coil) = Jimmy Page (Led Zep), Slash, Angus Young (AC-DC), and a billion others. Think of the riff to Sweet Child Of Mine - or any Led Zep riff - that's a humbucker sound. Bigger, deeper, beefier. It's called a humbucker because single coils are known to be noisy (pick-up radio stations, buzz or hum when plugged-in) and the double coil design fixed that problem (bucked the hum) for the most part.

There's also a triple coil (called a motherbucker) which is rare.

Like I said above, you can have a guitar tech add a switch, usually a pull-out tone knob, that makes your double-coil pickup into a single-coil. It gives you more tone options which is always a good thaing. PRS McCarty's have it standard, lots of newer guitars are making it standard now too.

Jimmy used a Telecaster for alot of his stuff, so I wouldnt say "listen to any Zeppelin riff"


if you are into metal and punk, a humbucker is the place to be, a single coil will work, but I can almost guarantee that 95% of punk and Metal artists primarily use humbuckers

[WEEZY]

You are right he used a Tele and other non-Gibsons here and there (including the Dazed and Confused video where he used the violin bow), but his signature sound IS the Les Paul which was used for pretty-much all of the famous riffs. Here's a list of all the guitars Jimmy has used over the years: (from Wikipedia)

* 1959 Fender Telecaster (given to Page by Jeff Beck and repainted with a psychedelic Dragon on it by Page. Played with the Yardbirds, on Led Zeppelin, the early tours (68-69)
* 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 2)
* 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 1) Given to him by Joe Walsh[36]
* 1978 Gibson Les Paul Standard
* 1959 Danelectro 3021 AKA 59-DC (tuned to DADGAD tuning and used live for "White Summer", "Black Mountain Side", "Kashmir" and "Midnight Moonlight" with The Firm.)
* Another Danelectro 59-DC, tuned to open G or A tuning for slide and used live for "In My Time Of Dying".
* 1967 Vox 12-String
* 1960 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom(with Bigsby Tremolo) - stolen in 1970
* Rickenbacker 12 String
* 1971 Gibson EDS-1275 (used for playing "Stairway to Heaven", "The Rain Song", "The Song Remains the Same" and on some occasions, "Tangerine" live and "Sick Again" throughout the 1977 U.S. tour)
* 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard (seen in "The Song Remains The Same" during the theremin/solo section of "Whole Lotta Love". This guitar was later fitted with a Parsons-White B-string bender and used on the Outrider tour.)
* 1964 Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster(Used during recording sessions for In Through the Out Door and 1979 at Knebworth, especially for In the Evening)
* 1966 Cream Fender Telecaster (Used on Physical Graffiti)
* 1960's Rosewood Fender Telecaster All rosewood body featuring a Parsons and White B-string bender. Seen primarily during the 1980s The Firm and Outrider era. Also used at Knebworth in 1979, notably on "Ten Years Gone" and "Hot Dog".
* 1965 Fender Electric XII (12-String)
* 1977 Gibson RD Artist (used at Knebworth in 1979, on "Misty Mountain Hop")
* Gibson SG (Very seldom used, 80s tour)
* Another Gibson doubleneck guitar was given to him after he agreed to allow the company to reproduce his original EDS-1275. The guitar was picked by Page out of numerous others after he struck one chord. Page declared "This is it, this is the one!" The guitar was marked (beforehand) #1.
* 2007 Gibson Black Beauty custom (remake of his original stolen in 1970, has modifications concerning pickup configurations which include a 6-way pickup selector, and coil-tap on the bridge pickup)
* Les Paul Goldtop w/ Transperformance tuning device Used on Atlantic 40th reunion, Coverdale/Page recordings, and Page/Plant tours
* Mid 80s Black Kramer guitar with a trem Used for Outrider
* Paul Reed Smith (used on the Outrider tour, notably on "City Sirens" and "Wasting My Time")

[ultimateguy]

Well it's been almost 3 weeks now and my guitar still hasn't shipped from Axe Music. They have been telling me for the past 2 weeks that it is "ready to ship." I'm canceling my order, because this is just ridiculous.

[Archer]

Thinking in terms of brands is a bad idea unless you are a person that flips guitars.

The best (and worst) instruments out there are not made by the big name companies we all know.

[DocMarkA]

Has anyone else ordered from Axe music before? I bought the VMNTX model there. I ordered a full week ago and it still hasn't shipped. I was told that it was right there ready to be shipped out... that was 2 days ago. I'm not impressed with their speed.


I've ordered several things over the past couple years from Axe, and had no problems.... maybe the B shift is working while the A shift is on vacation<G>.

BTW, if you find a weird looking black, guitar shaped thingy with a couple of paper guitars on the top and bottom, don't throw it away... it's a T shirt!!!

Mark

[enforcer505]

what about a used gibson sg? great qaulity and has great pickups for metal and punk!

[Archer]

yeah...

Single-coil = David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Eric Clapton, Stevie RV, Jimi Hendrix and a billion more. Think of the solo to Comfortably Numb - that's the single coil pickup sound which Fender Strats are famous for.

Humbuckers (double-coil) = Jimmy Page (Led Zep), Slash, Angus Young (AC-DC), and a billion others. Think of the riff to Sweet Child Of Mine - or any Led Zep riff - that's a humbucker sound. Bigger, deeper, beefier. It's called a humbucker because single coils are known to be noisy (pick-up radio stations, buzz or hum when plugged-in) and the double coil design fixed that problem (bucked the hum) for the most part.

There's also a triple coil (called a motherbucker) which is rare.

Like I said above, you can have a guitar tech add a switch, usually a pull-out tone knob, that makes your double-coil pickup into a single-coil. It gives you more tone options which is always a good thaing. PRS McCarty's have it standard, lots of newer guitars are making it standard now too.

I have a triple coil guitar. They are actually thinner sounding than a regular humbucker....very cutting but still warm like a humbucker.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a152/Archeroffish/V.jpg