Best Metal Guitar? - Metallica/3DG/Megadeth/Lacuna Coil tone

[Heritage Softail]

If you had 1K to spend. Tried out a Schecter w/EMG actives, pretty decent. Open to any brand. Will be playing thru a MKV and Single Rec on a Y splitter.

 

[dmcguitar]

Ibanez make some nice guitars in that price point. Charvel has a USA made strat style that a very nice. ESP 1000 series are very nice also.

are you going for a specific look, like a metal looking guitar? a jackson V or kelly does that well. For a little more you can get a Gibson Explorer, and if those pickups don't suit you, you can swap them for something else later on.

I'd say try all of those, since they have different necks and fret sizes. thats going to make the biggest difference in any guitar, find the comfy neck and you can make it sound how ever you want. (emg's for metallica/ dave mustaine sig pickups, etc)

edit: unless you need a specific look then any guitar will do metal through those two amps, although im guessing you want a humbucker in the bridge

 

[Heritage Softail]

Ibanez make some nice guitars in that price point. Charvel has a USA made strat style that a very nice. ESP 1000 series are very nice also.

are you going for a specific look, like a metal looking guitar? a jackson V or kelly does that well. For a little more you can get a Gibson Explorer, and if those pickups don't suit you, you can swap them for something else later on.

I'd say try all of those, since they have different necks and fret sizes. thats going to make the biggest difference in any guitar, find the comfy neck and you can make it sound how ever you want. (emg's for metallica/ dave mustaine sig pickups, etc)

Don't care about a Metal look. I really don't like the camoflage dimebag or lime green V type guitars. I have a JP6 and love it but will not change the pups to get a more metal sound. I do have a used Skully I paid $300 for. Is is it a good enough basic guitar to invest $200 for a set of active EMG's?

 

[Spewnz]

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Michael-Kelly-Patriot-Premium-Electric-Guitar-515959-i1395992.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Schecter-Guitar-Research-Hellraiser-C-1-Electric-Guitar-103135695-i1446249.gc

just my opinion for bang for your buck!

 

[boogieslayer]

honestly i wouldnt walk across the street to snap the neck of an ibanez. personally i cannot stand them but thats just me

with that said lol i'd recommend ESP eclipse , explorer ( hard to find) flying v or gibson flying v, sg , pre 1990 explorer or standard les paul and last but never ever least jackson 0 flying v , aww hell damn near any model...

 

[BrownieD2W]

honestly i wouldnt walk across the street to snap the neck of an ibanez. personally i cannot stand them but thats just me

with that said lol i'd recommend ESP eclipse , explorer ( hard to find) flying v or gibson flying v, sg , pre 1990 explorer or standard les paul and last but never ever least jackson 0 flying v , aww hell damn near any model...

Why a Pre 1990 Explorer, I have a 1998 and its great, I have tried models from like 2005 through the 2009 ones and they all seem to have severe quality issues (finger boards coming undone, stuff like that), but my '98 Explorer plays, sounds, and looks amazing, and the quality seems to be much much better than more recent year models of the Explorer. If you're saying Pre 1990 because of the quality I would be curious to find out why, honestly I would be curious either way, just wondering.

Regarding the OP's question. The ESP LTD Eclipses seem to be pretty good, although I like the feel of their SG-type models more. The Dean Dave Mustaine sig VMNT is actually pretty great as well, I have a friend who has one and it sounds great, really fast neck, and the pickups sound great even for cleaner type tones. And of course Gibson Explorers sound and look metal, like I already said mine is a 1998 and I picked it up a few months ago for $850, guy at the shop was cleaning out his back inventory and found it, had been professionally set up and never touched again since he had forgotten about it and I talked him down to that price he had been trying to sell it for awhile since he was getting ready to move shop and wanted to clear out as much inventory as possible. I don't own a Schecter Hell-Raiser but I have played one a couple times and I loved it, the Bridge pickup is an EMG 81 (Hetfield puts 81's in almost all of his guitars), I think it also has the push/pull option, I may be wrong about that maybe its the neck I dont remember at the moment, anyway it was cool. So in conclusion I pretty much agree with the previous posts haha.

 

[Heritage Softail]

The search continues.

I found a used Ibanez 1550, in poinsoned pumpkin. Not a big fan of the orange guitar but it plays very well. Quite thin neck and great neck pup, average bridge pup. For $650 I can afford to hit the bridge pup spot with something else. A can of Krylon can cure the "hot dog w/extra mustard" colored vomit that found it's way on the guitar as paint. So 100+5+650 would be 755 total investment.

Anyone have an IBZ 1550 or any time in the saddle on one? Seems like a potentially great shredder with the right p-up. 750 total coin compares with a new ESP or close to a 98 Explorer 8)

 

[ryjan]

You can pick up a high end LTD from ESP for about a grand. The Jeff Hanneman or Kirk Hammet 600 series are about $900 brand new. They both come with tremolo's and EMG's.

 

[MesaENGR412]

You can pick up a high end LTD from ESP for about a grand. The Jeff Hanneman or Kirk Hammet 600 series are about $900 brand new. They both come with tremolo's and EMG's.

+1 ESP/LTD guitars are really nice, and the ONLY ibanez guitars that I would buy are their PRESTIGE models, which most, if not all, are above $1200, and most of the "cheaper" Prestige models come with crappy ibanez-made pickups (the same v7/v8 duo that came on my RG470 in 2000, when i paid ~$500 for it new). The necks on the lower model ibanez guitars are more squared off now and just plain uncomfortable. ESP's are a little thicker, but a lot more comfortable to play. They may be a little thinner than Schecter's though, but both companies make EMG(Or SD blackout)/Floyd Rose equipped axes for under 1k and they are good road guitars. My MH-1000 has held up quite well in a Midwest tour of sub zero temps and frost laden hardware when brought out of the freezing cold trailer into a warm venue (And I don't play my guitars "lightly" :twisted: .)

-AJH

EDIT: Just noticed this thread was from two years ago and read my response. I would now recommend PRS SE Toreros with the others that I mentioned above. They didn't exist yet when I posted this I don't think, or if they did, I didn't know about them yet......

 

[Deathf***ingmetal]

Here are some choices:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/b.c.-rich-nj-deluxe-warlock-electric-guitar/516095000643000

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/b.c.-rich-nj-deluxe-jr.-v-electric-guitar/516096000643000

Both good guitars.

 

[Guitar GeeK]

Guitar - BC Rich Bich Pro X

Amp - Mesa Boogie Mark V

Pedals - Boss Power Stack

Strings - SIT Power Wound

Bridge - Kahler 2300

 

[purpledc]

Im hooked on carvin guitars no matter what the price range. You can go to the extreme and get a complete one off custom with exotic woods or you can go the minimalist route. And the great thing is you can get a usa made guitar made to your specs at a starting cost of, $699

 

[jeff5]

I'll add another vote for the ESP LTD Deluxe. Great guitars for the money. Every one I've tried has been top notch. They have the T/CTM models too which have thicker bodies and are supposedly more LP like but I haven't tried one of those.

 

[BrownieD2W]

Don't forget to hit up the used market. I picked up a 16 year old Gibson Explorer for $800 that had only been played a couple times and sat around in its case for a good 15 years. The guitar was pretty much brand new and its way better than what they are putting out now. Might not be that old, but that 16 years seems to have made a difference compared to the 2011 models I have played recently.