thinking of getting a new guitar. Opinions?

I don't understand why people are so obsessed with guitars. 90% of your tone comes from your amp. Plug a 1959 Les Paul into a Peavey POS and he'll sound like crap. Plug an average Strat copy into a vintage plexi, crank it up, and it'll siiiiing...

Look in esp (or ltd which is the base model) or prs guitars. Im into heavy music so im biased. Those come with nice active pickups so you dont really need many mods to the guitar unless you want nicer pickups (emgs?). Im a sucker for a solid body guitar with active electronics plugged into a high quality tube driven amp.

PRS in my opinion. I love them. Goatse is right though. Find a guitar that you like to play and then find the right amp for what you want to do.

I bang away on the real Gibson Explorers you cant beat for metal or alot of other types of music.

I run Crate heads and marshal stacks mostly but you cant touch the electronics of line6!!

The amp is deadly important .. and the best guitar in the world will sound like crap coming out of the worst amp .. yet it's also true of the converse .. the best amp in the world will not make the worst guitar sound good.

You've got to consider a lot in a guitar .. the tone wood, the pickup, the bridge etc. A misaligned truss, fretware, bridge too high or too low can greatly affect your tone.

Personally I can't recommend any type of guitar. I feel the instrument is very personal. You just have to go into a shop and find one that suits you. I usually spend 2-3 months shopping for a new guitar before I find one that's just right. The same is true for the amp.

I like Jackson guitars

there are many good guitars, and it depends on what sort of sound you are interested in.

truth is the solid body electric guitar is mostly about electronics and neck action.

if you want a guitar with some flavor you must go acoustic.

the best guitars are mostly hand made, and just sound good, without amplification.

if you are interested in music (and resale value) look at martin and gibson. a more unique sound comes from physics, like ovation, etc.

if the interest is in noise anything electronic will do.

mostly play a bunch of guitars in a quiet room, and listen to them, check the neck action, listens for burrs, rough spots, dead spots, how long you can hear a note, etc.

a good guitar should be easy to play, should work well with capo without burring, and should have a straight neck. sight down the neck and check for bow before buying.

in the end, let the sound be your guide.

For electrics I have an applause Strat, el degas les Paul, Transparent green finish Yamaha Pacifica, and a magtek blue Parker Fly Deluxe.

Acoustic: Yamaha FG-430a

AMPS: Peavey audition 110, '72 all tube Traynor 2 x 12 and I use the line6 Pod as a head.

while amp selection is important, I feel guitar selection is MUCH more important, your choice of wood, pickups tuners bridge types, strings all come together to make up your guitars overall tone. Some guitars like Parker guitars even offer a peizo element to get acoustic tones out of your electric guitar.

It also depends on how much money your willing to spend. For a higher end guitar I'd go with Gibson Les Paul or a Parker Fly (Both VERY different guitars but both VERY nice)

www.parkerguitars.com for Ken Parker guitars

I love my Parker but I might be selling it to buy other things and free up some space.

http://parker.daltech.ca has some pictures (doesn?t do justice) and a deeper description.

If you're interested hit me up on the IMs or email me

admin at Supremenames dot com

GL on getting that new axe

I've got a Fender Telecaster and a Fender Mustang.

I also suggest looking at buying used (but not abused)

guitars tonal characteristics come out with age. you'll find buying a played in guitar much more enjoyable.

but like latinasojourn said, you just have to play them and let the sound be your guide

I'm a BC Rich Warlock fanatic (the death/thrash metaller in me)
I like the tone of them and they are a decent budget-priced guitar as well....
you also have to take into consideration if you're a serious player or a hobbyist or a collector...the answers to those questions will change the asnwer of which guitar to get

I'm a marshall fan when it comes to amps
and agree with spending a little extra on a quality amp...although, again, that should be based upon what level you're playing at...

BC Rich make nice guitars

I almost bought a warlock not too long ago. Coupled with aheavy set of strings they are great for thrashing