So, i've been looking for a guitar for a while now, and I was settles on an HSS Stratocaster. Recently, though, I found out that they dont make left handed HSS Strats, so i've had to look for other options. I've narrowed it down to three guitars, but I want some opinions before purchasing, so if you have any information on these guitars, please post and tell me your opinions. Here are the three guitars that I am considering, if you have any other recommendations please post them. Ibanez S470DXQM: This guitar has a nice setup, two humbuckers and a single coil, and a fast neck. I love the humbucker sound, and the neck is a plus. However, i've heard that this guitar is only really good for metal, and I dont play metal. I play mainly stuff like Weezer, Muse, and RHCP. So im not sure if it would be that good. Fender Standard Stratocaster: I like a lot of guitarists who play this instrument, so I think I would like the tone. However, I really like the humbucker sound, so im not sure if this would be as good as it could be. Epiphone Les Paul: I really like Les Paul's, but they're way too expensive for my budget. These are more affordable, but I heard that they're not very well made. I also had a bad experience with the Squire Stratocaster, which this seems to be like. Anyway, those are the guitars im considering. Any help is appreciated.
This is in the wrong forum. I'd go with the Epiphone Les Paul. It's an amazing guitar. Two of my friends own them and actually prefer them to the heavier (as in weight) Gibson Les Paul. There's no difference in sound, really.
Fender Standard Stratocaster: Now we're talking AMERICAN MADE Strat then if you buy this and find it isn't "Heavy" enough you will still find use for it. My dad bought one and it is EXTREMELY Versatile, the clean tones even with a mediocre amp sound amazing. The distortion won't be choppy but pretty good. I own a Paul Reed Smith SE Custom myself and That was narrowed down to what I play generically but I would say AMERICAN Strats can do a WIDE variety of sounds. So out of the 3, I recommend that.
IMO: Ibanez > Fender Strat > Epi Les Paul. The Ibanez S series guitars aren't made solely for metal, at least not as much as the RG series is. The bodies on the S guitars are thicker and more rounded, and they have a bit smoother tone. My one concern is the locking tremolo. Those things make string changing and tuning a bitch, and at least in terms of low/mid-range Ibanez guitars, usually aren't that great. That's why both of my Ibanez guitars are fixed-bridge models. However, none of the current Ibanez S series guitars are fixed-bridge models, so it's something you'd have to deal with if you bought one. They aren't really THAT bad once you get used to them, but it takes a while to do so. The Fender Standard Strat is a good bargain guitar, regardless of where it's made. A lot of Mexican/Asian-made Fenders are actually great guitars outside of their electronic components. In general, if you upgrade the pickups on a Standard Strat, it can sound just as good as a Strat that costs 3-4 times as much. It might not stay in tune quite as well though. I absolutely loathe Epiphone guitars. I have NEVER played one with good intonation, and that includes owning 2 of them and having spent hours at a time trying to adjust them to be playable. I also own a Gibson, and unlike what a lot of people think, you are NOT "just paying for the Gibson name" when you buy one. Gibson guitars are far and away superior quality instruments to their Epiphone counterparts.
I say go with the Epiphone Les Paul, it's really good stuff .. i've got an Epiphone myself and it was the one i first started playing with ..
I've decided not to go with epiphone, i've heard some bad things about their quality. However, i've started looking at Telecasters, and they seem pretty awesome. Plus, I like a lot of guitar players who played that (Jimmy Page, George Harrison). So, right now its between Ibanez S Series, Standard Stratocaster, and Standard Telecaster.
Telecasters are amazing as well. Both guitarists in Circa Survive use them about 90% of the time live. just a little random fact