Hey im a guitarist that plays metal. i need a new guitar any ideas?

Question

Hey im a guitarist that plays metal. i need a new guitar any ideas?

Answer 1

Asking the internet what kind of guitar you should want is one of the least metal things you can do.



And so, I'm not gonna rattle off a list of brands and models, but I'll throw you some pointers. For the record, ANY solid body guitar is good for metal if it's in the right hands.



Here's the specs I look for in a good metal guitar.



-24 frets. Not just for range, but the 24th is a good mark to find harmonics by.

-Powerful pickups. I love EMGs, but basically I'm saying no single coils.

-Floating bridge. They're a huge pain to re-string and tune up, but there's no other way to drop a divebomb to the center of the earth and have it come back up in tune.

-Good woods. Do some research. Different woods make different sounds when used for different parts. Maple and mahogany are awesome for bodies and necks, rosewood and (the pricier) ebony are great fretboards. It's not limited to that, those are just some common examples.



Other than that, find something with a comfortable neck that looks cool.

Answer 2

Strats work for metal with a pickup change. I usually went to Seymour for Hot Rails, but DiMarzio has some good single coil sized humbuckers. The Tone Zone S was a good pickup to me.



Honestly, just about any guitar can work for metal, so long as it isn't some Squier or low end Ibanez that sound bad because of low wood quality. What really makes the guitar metal is your choice of pickups. Many manufacturers make suitable aftermarket pickups, DiMarzio has the X2N, the Steve Vai line of pickups, the Tone Zone, the D-Activator and others. Seymour Duncan has the SH-5, SH-6, SH-8, etc, Bill Lawrence has the noted 500XL, GFS has Crunchy Rails and Power Rails, and there are other pickup makers out there that make high output pickups for heavier music. There's also EMG if you like that kind of sound.



Some guitars simply look more like a metal guitar, like the Dean ML, the BC Rich Warlock, the Ibanez Iceman, etc. The look isn't nearly as important as feel and tone.

Answer 3

les Paul's are great guitars, you'll find allot of rockers use them. But saying that you should always get a guitar that feels great to hold and has a great neck;)

Answer 4

I'd say either go with a classic, like a flying V (Gibson or Epiphone), or go with something a little more contemporary with pretty high maneuverability (Schecter or Ibanez[maybe]).

Answer 5

well strats are def not gonna be suitable for metal.........



i would try looking into bc rich's - http://www.bcrich.com/

their geat for metal and general metal core



or you could try looking into ibanez or schecter's

http://www.schecterguitars.com/

and

http://www.ibanez.com/splash.aspx

but be careful about what one's you get, the ones with the emg pickups should be pretty good for metal

Answer 6

You can never go past a classic red Gibson SG or if you dont have the money an epiphone.

If you want to kick it up a notch get a les paul, since he died an everything. just a small thank you token.

Answer 7

mmmm any BC Rich Warlock is perfect for playing metal mmmmm

Answer 8

I wold uggest an Ibanez or Dean, 'cos they are both classic metal guitar makers. Also try BC Rich - they suit hevier stuff.

What I would do is buy an Ibanez Iceman (http://www.ibanez.co.jp/world/country/frame_uk.htm) and swap out the pickups for Seymour Duncans. That will get you an awesome metal guitar.



ATM my metal guitar is a 7string BCRich Warlock Platinum - Excellent. I also have a Shine (if you've ever heard of that) and it's pretty good for the less heavy metal styles and comes with a Floyd-Rose tremolo as standard

Answer 9

There is essentially no guitar that is "bad" for metal... as long as it feels good in your hands and your hands fit the neck and it has the right set of pickups in it, any guitar can be made to work as a "metal" guitar.



The pickups, your amp, and your speakers are far more important in terms of getting a good metal tone than even the quality of the wood itself - sure, good wood doesn't hurt, but the more gain you add to a tone, the less obvious the subtle characteristics become.



I gave a thumbs' down to everyone who suggested Dean or BC Rich. Unless you buy the higher price point products in these companies lines, you're buying guitars that might look pretty cool, but have crap quality for hardware and pickups *in general*. For BC Rich especially, I point to their low-quality agathis wood bodies (poor sustain, poor tone in general), the soft hardware (causes burrs in the bridge, which leads to string breaking), and poor quality trems, both vintage and floating.



*Can* they work? Sure. Are they any good from a quality perspective? Not in my opinion.



Far better choices would be Ibanez, Jackson, LTD, Epiphone, and yes, even Squier. All of these brands have lower price-point guitars that are pretty decent for the most part. I have a couple of LTD's, and for the price they are some of the best guitars I've ever owned. I also have a Jackson Dinky, and although it doesn't have the low end that I favor, it sits well in the mix and is great for leads/lead guitar.



Who says that Strats are bad for metal? Maybe you should talk to Yngwie Malmsteen or what's his nut from Slipknot. Mick? Something like that. They rock the Strats - and like all great metal bands, they get their tone more from their fingers, amps, speakers, and pickups than the guitar per se.



So anyways, I guess what I'm saying is that the most important considerations are going to be how the neck feels for you, the basic tone of the guitar, and the quality of the hardware moreso than anything else.... mostly because you can, and really should, swap everything else out eventually.



Stock pickups blow, so swap 'em out with something better. I put a Seymour Duncan JB into my Jackson Dinky... thought it was pretty sweet... then a set of Dragonfire Actives (cheapo active pups) into my LTD EC-50, and was happy with the distorted tone (its now my "metal" guitar).... then put a combination of an SD Alnico II Pro in the neck and an Alternative 8 in the bridge of my LTD EC-100QM, and totally just fell in love - similar chime as the JB, but less high end and a tighter low end, so much better for rhythm. Coupled with a 1Mohm pot, that Alt 8 just chunks it out with the best, and has great cleans besides....



I put a buffer amp into every guitar I own, as well. They're not terribly hard to make if you're handy with a soldering iron and can read a schematic, but I like my local guitar shop's work better than mine (its prettier!) so I had them do it for me.... in every instance it lowers noise and keeps long runs or cheap quality cable from sucking my tone.... good times.....



I would invest as much money as I could into a good amp first, as even a crappy guitar will sound better through a good amp than a great guitar will sound through a crappy amp.



Try it! Go to Guitar Center and play a 2k$ Gibson through a Line 6 15 watt amp, then play a 300$ Ibanez or whatnot through a 2k$ Marshall JVM... if you can figure out how to dial it in, that is... the difference should be immediately obvious!





Saul