O/T Hot Rod rockabilly/surf guitar reccomendations on a budget?

I think there are several choices here,A lot of a guitars sound is the player and the amp....
You say you are new to music -so Id not blow in for an axe that costs 2000 or so just yet.
I like the older Les Paul copys as stated- the tuners are weak.[good sound]...
The Teles are hi but some of the copys are pretty good and have a narrow kneck which is kinda nice on a startup guitar.
I Like the Strat copys too.
A tube amp and a few things like reverb and delay are cool too.
I built this clone Tele from new parts using a CNC swamp ash body and a Birdseye Maple fingerboard/ kneck and Fender Custom shop pickups-for less than 450 total.... look at Pawn shops and music stores for the first guitar!
FEEL IT- HEAR IT- ROMANCE IT- BEFORE YA BUY IT.....

 

No contest.I'd get a Strat. -Strat.

 

thanks guys. That musician's friend scratch and dent is right up my alley

Start cheap, upgrade one piece at a time huh?
So if I were to buy some "classic" pickups for a cheap guitar, would they fit in another if I got one down the road? I know amps would of course be interchangeable, but what about the rest of the gear? Or would you reccomend just learning cheap, and then upgrading to a whole new package, I know how it goes with cars and sometimes it's better just to drive a beater into the ground!

also I haven't found a definitive answer, do you need to play through a foot pedal or can you go straight into an amp? I'd think keeping it as simple as possible would help to learn

What do you think about the Fender Blonde Blues Junior amp? It looks like good savings on the musician's friend scratch and dent

 

I played one of those DanElectro's a friend in Tucson has and it's got nice sound.
He said he had to try out half a dozen of them before deciding on one though because their QC is all over the map. But when you fond the good one in the stack, it's real good!

Just curious, anyone have any first hand use/opinion on the Gibson Epoch Les Paul clone Electric Guitar at Target?
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.htm...8?_encoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000BV1YOE

 

I went to guitar center and played allot of hollow body guitars, and for the price my artcore AFS75T is hands down an great axe, the feel of the neck is great. It feels very close to a 330 dot neck. It felt better then some more expensive gretsch's. I would sugest for what ever guitar you get, have it setup and get a nice case. If you want that gretsch sound you could always buy some tv jones pickups. Also have them pin the bridge becuase it will move if you playing style is "agressive".

 

You never need pedals. That being said, I am addicted to effects and almost never play without them. To play surf/rocakbilly, you'd want only two things, really, a slapback delay/reverb and some overdrive. Both are easy to come by, but you don't have to have either to start. Both probably come with/can be created by any Fender amp, but I don't know about that Blonde specifically.

Guitars are like cars when it comes to upgrades: you can put a really pimp part on a really shit car, and guess what - you have a shit car with a pimp part stuck on, not a pimp car. There's a lot more than pickups involved when it comes to sound. I have an American Strat with the same pickups in it that Clapton uses, and no one's ever going to accuse my tone of being similar to his. Sound comes from type of wood, quality of wood, quality of construction, quality of hardware, quality of strings, quality of amplification, even the quality of the cable you use. On top of that, nothing matters more than your own two hands. All this means, you can buy a $100 Strat and throw $500 in pickups in it, and it won't all the sudden be a great guitar.

So don't worry too much about tone yet. You won't sound like Dick Dale, Rev. Horton Heat, Setzer, Buddy Holly, or anyone else for a long time. After that, you might eventually sound like you. But don't concern yourself with details like pickups just yet...find a solid guitar that you dig, then, if you think "hell yeah, guitar playing is for me," get a nicer guitar. And another. And another

Dano's can be cool (I had a 6/12 doubleneck once) but like the guy said, they can be awful too. Have someone you know check out a Dano up close before you buy.

 

ibanez makes a cheap semi hollowbody

 

Get a cheap Tellicaster or Strat and a cheap tube amp ( you don't want over 5 whats). Practice! It'll be a month before you get your fingers to harden up and stop hurting and around 6 months you stop being shure you'll never learn to play it. At about a year you'll start to love playing.

 

One last tip.....
Get a guitar with a truss rod in the neck.
That way when you throw it in the corner it will not likely break the neck off.
Learning Guitar is kinda tough at times-don't expect miracles.....

 

i'm a huge rev fan, but will probably never have gretsch dough. all the original rockabilly players had telecasters ('cept maybe chet) and the americans are outstanding. twangy, great for that country/ rockabilly style.
someone else mentioned this, but the ibanez artcores really are a good inexpensive option. they look great, sound right, and come with bisgby-type tremelos. i should mention that adding a bigsby to a tele is not easy and usually involves shimming the neck to change the string height.
all that said, my wife bought me an ibanez iceman( steve miller, kiss, white zombie) that i love. cannot get any kind of tone or rockabilly vibe from it, absolutely has no soul, but i pick it up every day. that's probably more important.

 

Just one more thing from me. A cheap guitar is cheap. The necks warp and the tuners don't stay in tune, ect, ect. With that said the mexican and jap guitars can be good. I have a peavy with dual humbuckers that is like a battle axe. I play it everyday, it sits by my recliner. It wasn't cheap I think I payed around $500 for it.

First things first, learn to play. If you have a nice feeling neck and a good sound you'll play more, if it sounds like crap you woun't play at all. Leave the pick-up changing to later and any half way good amp will have 2 channles a clean and a dirty. The old guys didn't use effects (I do, I love them). if you want get a chorus and a delay. I never turn them off. I've been in the same band for 12 years. I'm not an expert but I've bought my share of junk. If you need any help there is always someone willing to help just look around.
Mick

 

B & B,
Now that you have WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION.....some of it good, and some you didn't ask for and don't need.

Here's a couple of tips I hope you find helpfull:

#1. You like guys that play Fender Strats and Tele's? Get one. You think they look and sound cool playing one? Would you look cool playing one? Get one. Most of the guys you mentioned, play a Fender. This is the most basic information that will get you started AND keep you interested.

#2. DO NOT go to a pawn shop! They think because it has 6 (or less) strings...it's worth something. They know more about VCR's than guitars. As a personal favor, DO NOT go to Guitar Center. I'm sure there are some knowledgable, friendly and patient people that work there, but I've never met them. Find a friendly "mom and pop" used or vintage guitar shop. Your odds of being eased in the right direction are greatly increased. Plus, these giant comapanies would love to see all the little guys go extinct! You can probably get hooked up with a couple starter lessons there as well. This will also decrease the likelyhood of your new or used guitar collecting dust. You may also find a good older used entry level guitar that has cool factor. (I bought a real Danelectro many years ago for like $150 and it's still killer, and has a history) As a beginner, you want one that stays in tune. Period. Stay away from a "whammy" or tremolo arm. While they are cool, they typically are harder to tune. That's a frustration you don't need right now.


#3. There are cheap solid state amps that sound kinda shitty, but who cares right now. You got a gig next week? No. Spend $100 - $200 on the high side. You will want instant gratification. Loud, now. You want to have a clean sound and a distorted sound. Newer practice amps also may have a headphone output for when you come home late and want to rock out without getting kicked out. Pedals can be cool. You shouldn't need one right away, if you follow the above advice. Leave buying pedals for when you get bored, or have a birthday or trade somebody something for one.

#4. Don't invest too much right now. If you get frustrated, you will resent the fact that you spent all that money on that "fucking guitar rig," and never play it again. As you learn more, you will discover why and how different people get different sounds, and that's the thing people spend the rest of their guitar playing days experimenting with (see above posts).

#5. Good luck, happy hunting and you don't have to be good to have fun. If you want 'ol-timey...get a Tele and a small Fender amp. Get a tuner and a cable and some picks. Oh yeah, don't worry about "sheet music."

I feel like dispelling some mythical/confusing information you have been given.............

"but to be honest the guitar is less important than the amp"
No, it isn't.

"make sure its in tune with open strings and at the 12th fret octave -- this may only require a neck set to fix"
No. Intonation is adjusted at the bridge. You have to be in really bad shape to need a neck reset.

"Get a guitar with a truss rod in the neck. That way when you throw it in the corner it will not likely break the neck off"
That's not what a truss rod does. Anything produced lately is going to have a truss rod. The truss rod helps the neck remain "straight" while under string tension.

Z

 

Glad to hear from anyone getting into guitar; I wish I'd not waited until I was 36 to start! Two and a half years, six guitars, and eight amplifiers ago I bought a Squier Strat. Then after a few months, I dislocated a finger on my left hand and couldn't play anymore. So, I built a left-handed guitar, and started over. Right now I'm building a short-scale solid body electric for my daughter's graduation gift (shhhhh.... it's a surprise!)

My first guitar was the Squier from Guitar Center. That guitar was okay, but then I got an Ibanez GAX 70 (Gibson SG clone) which I really dug the feel of. I agree with the other guys who recommend the Ibanez hollowbodies; I think Ibanez makes pretty good axes for the money.

After buying the Strat, I learned that I prefer shorter scale (like gibson) and a flatter fretboard (like jackson). But, it took a year's playing to figure that out. I'd recommend buying a 2nd hand guitar that won't drop in value while you own it. In a year or two, if the guitar you have is still the one you want; keep it. If you want to change... you're not going to lose money.

I had a Kay and a Harmony which both had major 'blues mojo' tune to them. The Kay was a little expensive for a guitar which needed work, but the Harmony H802 was dirt cheap ($50 ebay) and perfect condition.

I've played PRS, Fender's US models, and the first guitar I played on was a Gibson Les Paul (US model). And they're cool. But I also dig cheap axes and amps. Think Silvertone, Harmony, Danolectro, and Mosrite (not so cheap anymore). Good enough for The Ventures, Ramones, Beck, Jimmy Reed, and many more.

You can get into an enjoyable guitar for < $100 if you shop wisely. I found ebay is a good place; I stick with sellers who have good feedback, and value their descriptions when they are detailed, make some promises (none of that "I didn't try to plug it in..." shit), and have sold other guitars or musical instruments before (should know what they're looking at).

And, I always ask: is the neck straight, are the frets good, what is the radius on the fingerboard, what is the scale length, are there any cracks anywhere... unless these questions were answered in the auction. Sometimes guys won't know what the radius is on the fingerboard; that's not a sign that the seller is being dodgy; the seller should have definite answers for the rest.

I'd also suggest looking for a good deal on a small tube amp. Not a 'hybrid' tube amp that has a tube stage and a solid state stage. IMO a waste of money.

Lots of good sound to be had in a good amp. But, a forty dollar POS solid state will get you going, and won't lock you into anything with a big price tag - and you can look for the score on the little tube amp. Like the earlier poster said, something about 5W; that's right. Then you can get the cranked tone whithout meeting cops. Or hearing aid salesmen.

Tube amp questions: does it hum? hiss? crackle/pop when knobs turned? Any new parts put in?

Long post; hope some of it helped. Best of luck, and always feel free to PM me with any questions.

-bill

 

Sorry for the misinformation on the neck set thing I should have just mentioned that I have had a problem with cheaper guitars and usually just take it to a guitar tech -- like you -- and have em fixed up. Sorry for the flub. Sounds like a complete beginner guitar player might have way too much info to start anyway.

 

Crappy guitars played through Fender amps RULE!!!

 

Hey Max,
We gotta figure out how to get that guitar hooked up to the propane tank as well. Talk about your "hot licks"! You could prolly use a little heat up there eh?

Chad

 

As posted in the thread regarding the SoCal guitar, this site is all about building your own. Here's my advice, for what it's worth.

Go to http://www.stewmac.com/ and buy the parts, (or books that will teach you how to MAKE your own parts) and buld your own! It will cost you about the same or a little more, but you can then say that you built it. And you can't put a price on that. Period. Building a guitar is like building a car. The more you know about how they go together, the better you can use, abuse and enjoy them.

Get in touch with me if you want more help on this.

Vance

 

I know everybody has their own opinion and playing style, but i feel that a telecaster is a good starting point, i've played one for the last ten years , and it is a pretty universal guitar, i played in a few bands with all different types of music with my mexican standard witha seymor duncan hot rails pickup, i picked up that guitar for 300$ witha hard shell case.As far as hollow body guitars go ,if it were me i'd pick an epiphone dot studio, the play really nice , and with some grover tuning pegs they stay in tune very well, you can pick one up for under three hundred from guitar center.Right now i have a epiphone sg and it's my favorite guitar i own.

 

Les Paul or Gretsch copy with P90-like pickups. I have a DeArmond M-77T which has two nice Dearmond USA fat single coils and a bigsby trem. Catch 'em for under $400 on ebay.

 

I'd LOVE to, that would be super cool, but admittedly I'm a little intimidated since I have no idea how an electric guitar works. But, I'm a quick learner and self starter. Just like with cars I'm game for anything, what's the worst that could happen, it doesn't work? At least I won't go flaming off the side of a cliff in a guitar I built!
Can you reccomend a book or two?


I went through and read all the advice again, thanks again guys.
I still haven't decided, but will keep giving it thought. With my bidget I'm leaning towards a Telecaster and small Fender tube amp. I'd rather buy the American made now, but we'll see what my budget's like. I'm (90% sure) my motorcycle is sold to a friend, so that will help things along.

Thanks again!

 

The upside to buying nice stuff is, if you get "what the fuck was I thinking disease" in a few months, you can sell for okay money. You'll never move a $100 guitar and a $50 amp.

I buy interesting stuff on eBay all the time, just to see if I like it. If I don't, I can turn right around and eBay it and I'm out about $6-15 for shipping. It's always worth $6-15 to find out if something is gonna sound badass.

 

I'm with Max Wedge... I'd rather have a killer amp + crappy guitar than vice versa.

I bought a single pickup Teisco Del Rey "Tulip" Japanese guitar (sold in the sixties at Kmart) at a garage sale a few years ago for $75. The action isn't that good and it has tuning issues, but thru the right tube amp it screams. It now belongs to my daughter the rock goddess. With a few cheap mods (new bridge, tuning pegs & extra pickup) it should be righteous.

Check pawnshops & garage sales in your area, you ought to be able to snatch a fine vintage junker for less than $250 -- look for names like Kay, Teisco, Danelectro, Silvertone -- and save your money for the amp.

 

i have myself an ibanez artcore AFS75T, they are a semi- slimline hollowbody . they play amazing , they run from 369.99 to 399.99 . it has a grat sound , and a bigsby syle trem arm. its sounds great , he price is right , and its a dream to play. it has 2 humbuckers . one of the reasons i dont like strats is the single coil pickups. they just sound bad to be .

but hey thats just me

 

I own 12 guitars,5 amps and several effect pedals and I'm still looking for more.Since you are a rookie I think too much info is rather confusing so I try to make it short.

There are MANY cool guitars out there and a Strat is a pretty good allrounder ( I have 5 of them ) but I would recommend a Danelectro.Very cool guitars.I lately bought this DC 59 for 220 bucks on Ebay and I love it.Basically,look out for a guitar with single coils since you wanna play Rockabilly and Surf.



I would recommend a SX Vintage Strat if you wanna go with a Stratocaster.They can be bought VERY cheap (under 100 bucks ) and they sound very,very good.You can find them on Ebay and for more info check the user reviews on Harmony Central...

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/SX/SST_57_Vintage-1.html

The Fender Champion 30 DSP is very cool amp for a beginner.It has built in effects so there's no need to spend more money on pedals.It has slapback echo for Rockabilly and spring reverb for Surf,also cool is the tremolo effect and vibratone is cool too.30W are enough and it also has a headphone jack which is really useful for practising.Here's one on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Champion...ryZ38074QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I understand this particular amp is defect so use it for reference only.More info is here...

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2367300030

So 200 to 300 bucks are enough to get cool sounds.Have fun !!!

 

TheFrenZ is spot on regarding the Danelectro. My first guitar was just like his but with only one pickup. That guitar was super sweet and the history behind Nathaniel Daniel and his venture into guitar building is great. Like I posted earlier, build it if you can. If you can't, look for an orphan like the Danelectro or maybe a Kent. After all, just like a beater of a car, you can always hot rod it later.

Vance

 

thanks guys, Here's what I've decided. I'll be watching the sales for a good american Fender, preferably a Telecaster but maybe a Start, or both! I wish. If I can't find one, I'll be watching for a Danalectro, Ibanez, Dearmond, or similar. Of course a small Fender tube amp. Will skip pedals and all that for now.

Also, who can reccomend a good source for guitar parts. I'd love to build my own, but is there a good one-stop-shop for all the parts you need, a company with helpful service that can help me match parts and make sure I don't forget anything? That would be super cool. I saw some nice Telecaster bodies, for $275, one was metal flake gold, very cool

 

Do yourself a favor and make sure you get a tube amp. Neil Young said, "If your guitar doesn't hit a tube first, you're fucked"

 

Here are some places to buy guitar parts.I have two Custom built 50's Teles and three Custom built 50's style Strats.My latest was a '54 Strat Replica.Found a handmade one piece Ash body on Ebay and that guitar turned out very nice.Still needs to be painted but can't decide between Two Tone Sunburst and White Blonde seethrough ala Mary Kay.Building your own guitar is defintely fun.

You said you want to buy an American made Telecaster but for that money you really can build a "better" sounding Tele with aftermarket parts but again,a Danelectro is really a cool guitar.

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/

http://www.stewmac.com/

http://www.allparts.com/

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/guitars.cfm

http://www.wdmusic.com/

http://www.angela.com/

Again,this is just the very beginning of this subject.I really think too much info is rather confusing.I have to admit,I bought my first guitar just by the look of it.You really have find out the "differences" by yourself.That really will make you appreciate a "good" guitar then.Like I previously said,just look out for a guitar with single coils pick-ups as you wanna play Rockabilly and Surf.That's important,IMHO.

 

Again, TheFrenZ is on the money.

Stew-Mac is my choice. Great stuff at good prices and solid service.

Vance

 

Here's some interesting stuff,what is the real Rockabilly sound etc.Also some sound samples on there...

http://www.the-jime.dk/Rockabilly_Guitar.htm#PIU

Hollowbody guitars are of course also VERY cool.I have two Gretsches.The only problem is there's no cool "cheap" holowbody guitar available with the RIGHT sound so you would need to buy a cheap one and change the pick-ups.I saw Oscar Schmidt OE 40's go for 130 bucks on Ebay.Buy a set of matched Lindy Fralin P 90's ($160) and add a Bigsby B6 (under $100) and you will have one super cool guitar.Maybe change the tuners to more period correct ones and some small changes here and there.

Check the the link to hear what the Rockabilly P 90 sound is all about but make sure to turn up the volume.Click on "electric guitars" at top of fhe page and then watch the Rockabilly video...

http://www.windsweptmedia.ca/learnrootsmusic/