The Official Guitar Thread

Need advice bros. I currently have an Ibanez S520EX I got over 10 years ago. Around that time I had a Mesa Boogie F-50 head with an orange 1x12 cab. But I was in a bad place financially and sadly had to sell them. Since then I've just been playing an acoustic and the Ibanez has been in its case collecting dust under my bed for over a decade.

So I am finally looking to put together another rig. It's been a while and not sure where to start. I want to try to stay under $1000. This would just be for home use. It can be a combo but I would prefer a stack. Any recommendations?

pharmakos said:

These days I just play DI into a PA. I've got an audio mixer with a USB output I use as intermediary so that I can easily record DI to the computer as well. I just use a Vox Clear Drive preamp / cabsim pedal to DI, but with a bit more of a budget something like a Strymon Iridium would be the way to go. A lot of guys that used to be amp guys swear by the Iridium.

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Well I guess I have been living under a rock. All of this is new to me.

Let me start with this question. Say I want to be able to record on my PC and hear it through a speaker at the same time. Should I be looking at an audio interface or a multieffects pedal?

Talos said:

Need advice bros. I currently have an Ibanez S520EX I got over 10 years ago. Around that time I had a Mesa Boogie F-50 head with an orange 1x12 cab. But I was in a bad place financially and sadly had to sell them. Since then I've just been playing an acoustic and the Ibanez has been in its case collecting dust under my bed for over a decade.

So I am finally looking to put together another rig. It's been a while and not sure where to start. I want to try to stay under $1000. This would just be for home use. It can be a combo but I would prefer a stack. Any recommendations?

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Just go full digital. I bought a Line 6 Helix LT three years ago and I haven't looked back. Sounds great through neutral speakers, extremely convenient for recording, and with headphones it still feels like you're playing with the balls of a full stack. I really don't think I'll go analog again and I used to be "that guy" with the 75 pound pedalboard. Digital is REALLY fucking quality now. It'll fool anyone.

pharmakos said:

I don't understand why digital multi FX pedals don't use miniaturized tubes for some of their OD sounds tho

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They don't make em anymore though.

I’ve been putting in a ton of practice and playing time the last few years and improved to the point where me and a buddy of mine that sings had our first gig a few months back and we are going to plan a couple more for this summer. Feels good man, it’s so much fun being able to go out and play the songs that made me pick up a guitar in the first place.

Silly little side story. A friend of the guy I play with asked him to play for a craft bazaar he was having in a barn. He can’t really play guitar worth a shit so he asked me to come. He asks me, sounds like fun, we have our first gig. I borrow some equipment from another buddy that gigs and off we go. The gig goes really well and one of the owners was telling us how good we did and mentioned that she saw a lady in the one booth crying when we were playing Leonard Cohens hallelujah. I didn’t think too much of it at the time but a couple days later it sank in that I played a piece of music that touched someone like that. It really choked me up. Usually the only reaction I get from playing is that if general annoyance from my wife and stepson. I’m not saying it was because it was that spectacular of a performance. Maybe it just brought up a memory of a loved one that passed away that loved that song, maybe it was the first song at her wedding, it doesn’t even matter the reason.

2.5 year progress update:

Bodhy said:

Last time I was seriously playing guitar this technology wasn't around, so I'm really out of the loop on it.


Do Line 6/Axe-Fx etc. have both profiling amp capacities and a wealth of effects and patches built in? So for all effects and purposes, you've got all the wealth of sounds you like?


Because I've been seriously considering a profiling amp/digital effects setup to go with my next guitar.

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It's got it all. It has almost 100 amp models. And then you can mix and match heads with cabs. And then there's gotta be over 100 pedals you can add to your chain. Endless combinations.

When I first got mine I went back to gear rundowns to see what my favorite tones were from guitarists I love. I would input them exactly as they were in the interviews and they sounded insanely close. It's pretty unbelievable.

Lookin for advice, thinkin want to learn how to play guitar. Lifelong professional air guitarist!

Is there such thing as too much instrument for a beginner? Looking at the Adam Jones Les Paul model.

Nice, will take a look at the Epiphone as well, thanks!

As much as I hate to say it go to a guitat center and pick up what appeals to you. Dick with them for a while. Then see who plays the kind of music that used that type of guitar. If you don't really like a guitar you'll drop it after a while. You also might really pick a guitar that appeals to you and feels clunky as shit to you. Look up what people use often to play the type of music you want to play. Pick those up and see if they speak to you or yell "ewww".

You can get playable guitars relatively inexpensive now to start. Epiphone, squire classic vibe etc...Or you can do like I've seen a number of people do. Pay $10k for a guitar and they've never played a note before.