My First Electric...

[ZOSO]

At this point I have 2 guitars in mind:The Ernie Ball MusicMan (Wolfgang clone for $200) or the Epiphone Special (Les Paul clone for $200). I'd appreciate any suggestions.

[Cato]

eh...Wolfgang clone made by Musicman?

interesting......buy it.

[Triumph]

You mean the Earnie Ball "Axis" guitar, right?
If so that isn't a Wolfgang clone, it's an Earnie Ball Musicman EVH clone.
And it won't come with a trem for that price unless it's used.
I don't like Epiphone guitars.
Ibanez has some cool guitars in that price range also.

[Seshmeister]

I thought this thread was gonna be about butt plugs.

[Panamark]

Originally posted by Seshmeister
I thought this thread was gonna be about butt plugs.

So what would your answer have been, assuming this thread was what you had thought it was ? :p

[Hecubus]

Re: My First Electric...

Originally posted by ZOSO
At this point I have 2 guitars in mind:The Ernie Ball MusicMan (Wolfgang clone for $200) or the Epiphone Special (Les Paul clone for $200). I'd appreciate any suggestions.

I think you're talking about the OLP MM1.

I've heard they're decent guitars. A solid product. I've heard mixed signals about the Epis, but why not find a solid used Fender Strat or something?

[GAR]

I haven't seen the OLP line in 2 years, since it first debuted. I thought it was okay, but find a guitar repair man and have it gone thru with a good setup and intonation. All new chink guitars come with just the basic setup enough to play a chord and somewhere in the ballpark of acceptable intonation: I know firsthand having worked for a chink guitar company so find out locally who's the musical instrument repair pro and get to know him.

[Mr Grimsdale]

just get a squier strat, ok it doesn't have a flashy name but it plays like a strat - if anything easier than a strat, sounds half decent and can be modified when you're feeling you want something a little more personal

[GAR]

By saying "personal" you must be referring to upgrading to better than shitty Stock hardware Squiers come stock with - if so I agree wholeheartedly.

A Squier ranges so much in quality though: I once handpicked one, I had to go thru about 80 just to find one decent one with nice paint/straight neck/fair-weighted body.

Most Squiers I used to go thru were made of plywood and thusly weighed and felt more akin to a bowling ball than a musical instrument.

But what the Squiers have going on ina good way is that they let one get into guitarring on a ground basic level very cheaply, over here Guitar Center's advertising 'em $159.95 with choice of 3 basic colors (blue, red, black). Once you learn what the thing does and does not do - depending on the person's learning ability (8 mos - 3 years) you'll want to upgrade the lead position pickup and volume control to a 500K DiMarzio audio-taper/push-pull volume pot.. then tuners, and then the neck pickup and tone capacitor from that SHITTY green fuckin' Panasonic green-drop cap to a silver Mica .03 or .05 cap.

Parts to assemble them are cheap on ebay - 2 Octobers ago I bought one as a gift with the neck broke for $30 including shipping and rebuilt it, shaving the neck as well. Came out like a Charvel - so those deals are out there. You just have to go chase them and if you do you can put the extra money into better pickups right off the bat.

Squire tremelos are just okay.. but you won't be using the trem much your first year playing IMO.

[Cathedral]

I agree, even though i hate strats with a passion i'd go for one of those if i were starting today.
I picked up the mini Squire for my daughter as her first axe and after setting up the intonation and loweing the action it plays really nice and stays in tune 90% better than when i pulled it out of the box.

She hasn't touched it since i got her the Korg though, so very soon Daddy is going to adopt it and upgrade it to his standards, lol.

[Mr Grimsdale]

that's exactly what i meant GAR

out of the box they're perfectly playable for a beginner and can be easily and as you've showed cheaply upgraded

[GAR]

The shit I had to choose from on the shelf at Pedrini's or Graham Music - fucking depressing Korean made late-60s early 70's copy-guitar shit solidbodys.

Warped necks..
Sucking Blowdart-Dick pickups that would rather whistle and squeel at you in defiance than pull out a ripe note from your fingers..
PLY-wood bodies with finishes thick as God-damned bowling balls..
HEAVY as fucking bowling balls..
Shit knob, same for the electronics underneath 'em.. fucking non-standard anything..

Young guys of today are playing the equivalents of SUV's compared to such horse-n-buggy crap instruments they used to sell 30 years ago because they have very little maintenance, setup, repair or upgrade issues. Guitars on the shelf today are ten times better quality, but the kids that play 'em suck 10X worser'n the sucketest geek guitar playing kid on the block when I was in school..

WHICH JUST GOES to prove a point about human nature: the more you give someone of something, or the less they have to work or fight for it, the less they appreciate it and work less and less as per the quality of instrument available to the beginner these days and the level of involvement they get out of it.

FU-cking don't makes sense to my ass.. I'da DIED to have a Squier when I was 9 or 10 like they sell these days -

(okay I'll stop now..)