Shopping for a new guitar

Ive got about a range of 500 to 600 maybe 700 dollars. Any suggestions??

...I play rock, funk, some jazz... Ive got a very decent 60watt tube amp.

Also something gig worthy.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Classic-Player-Jaguar-Special-HH-Electric-Guitar?sku=518749

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gretsch-Guitars-Electromatic-Pro-Jet-Electric-Guitar?sku=511586

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gretsch-Guitars-Electromatic-Double-Jet-Electric-Guitar?sku=511589#used

The Ibanez Semi Hollow Body does give you a good guitar for the money. You may want to replace the pick up at a later time get more warmth. This is a nice axe for your genres that you like to play.

i have an AF-75... wait... i think it's an AF-75? haha, don't quote me on that. it's a nice guitar, but i would buy it second hand. i think it lists for $400-500 new? i bought mine for $250 off craigslist.

ironically, i bought this guitar because it was an electric guitar, but the semi-acoustic body resonates loudly enough that i can play it unplugged while watching TV or late at night. so i basically bought it for its acoustic properties. but plugged in? man it's a great punk rock guitar. i love the sound out of the humbuckers.

any guitar, i think you should look used. you can get great deals, you are helping out a fellow musician, and in a way it's a form of recycling. craigslist is your best bet because you can try the guitar in person, and since you are paying cash you can't really get scammed. and if you live in a big enough city there will be plenty of postings. (the only problem when buying used is that you have to wait for your desired guitar to show up. i saw a beatiful epiphone natural faded SG G-400 for $250 with hardshell case, but had to buy new tires for the car. so i missed out on that one. now i have the money, and nobody is selling SGs!)

I Have an Ibanez afs75td and it is awesome. both Epiphone and Ibanez make some really quality hollow body's and i would strongly suggest them

I've got an AS93 and it's my favorite. Almost the same AF75 but has double cutaway. If you want to save bucks I would get the AS73 though. Same guitar as the 93 but less cosmetics.

i think mine is the AS73 now that you mention it. i do think it's the cheapest one. no pick guard, double cutaway, semi-hollow body, set neck. it looks just like nater2's profile picture minus the pickguard.

my only complaint is that it's made in china. but that's not even that big of a complaint.

I'd probably look for some of the cheaper schecter ones, I have played 4 guitars of that brand yet, and every single one was amazing

I have a schecter, one of the higher end models. its awesome ^_^ I've been looking into their hollowbodies, they seem pretty dece. a little on the expensive side though

Whenever i go to guitar center, i immediately grab a Schecter Tempest... (or other interesting non-floyd rose styles)
Schecter guitars are highly versitile (great for jazz to metal and beyond), most have pickup coil tapping (pull tone/ 1st volume [i forget which] knob for single coils, push for humbuckers) and many run in your price range.

If I had 500-700 bucks to spend on a guitar and I already had a Schecter, which I do, I would get a Strat. They are great utility guitars. Just like Schecter, great for rock, blues and Jazz. Also, there's a plethora of mods you can make to it over the years. You can replace hardware and parts to the point that you can eventually make another guitar! I know because I've done this. Not with a Strat but with a Tele. Unfortunately I don't have either anymore!

i wouldn't spend $500-700 on a strat. great guitars, yes, but you are overpaying if you spend that much. GRANTED, you can spend a lot of money and get a MIA strat for anywhere from $700-1,400. these are not bad guitars, and you get what you pay for. i've seen an american deluxe strat, and compared to my MIM it was very, very nice.

but that being said, you could easily spend $250-400 for a MIM stratocaster and you will get a great guitar. mine is a 2000 MIM stratocaster with a hardshell case, i paid $380 for it and i think i overpaid a little compared to some of the other prices i've seen on the 'net.

you get what you pay for, but you don't really miss what you don't pay for. you know what i mean? if you spend $800 on an american stratocaster you get an $800 guitar. but if you spend $400 on a mexican stratocaster, you don't necessarily lose out on $400 worth of guitar.

For your genres, I would say, as much as I hate to, Fender Strat with a bridge humbucker, like a Fat Strat or something similar. Either that, or like others mentioned, Some sort of semi hollow. I really have liked all the Gibson semi hollows that I've played over the years. The last one I played was an ES-335 and that was freaking awesome. Had a really clean tone, but the neck was surprisingly fast. It would probably be a bit over $700 though.

Rock on!

I usually wouldn't put my two cents in on electric guitars, but here it goes.


I own a fat strat. It is my favorite electric guitar. It's great for bluesy/rocky/jazzy sounds. If you want to do metal/heavy stuff, you might struggle.


If you buy an ibanez, I will slap you. I'd rather jump off a cliff into spikes than listen to a low end Ibanez.

*like*

I think they have some quite decent ones starting from 500/600 bugs onwards

I agree to some extent. I think for what you get when you buy a MIM it is a better value. They play the same and sound the same. However, if you have the money to spend a MIA Strat has a better resale value. For example, if you buy a MIA Strat for $800 it will probably be worth at least $800 10 years from now. But if you buy a MIM Strat for $400 it will be worth a lot less than $400 10 years from now. If that's not important to you, by all means get a MIM. You also have left over money to upgrade with specific parts you want.

gee excuse me guy owning an ibanez sorry it offends you so much...?

Dude, the best answer to your question is... Go to your local music store that allows you to play and spend a few hours on everything you can get your hands on. Because as you can see one man's Harley is another man's scooter. You are the one playing and paying for the axe so it should fit your preferences. And you can't judge a guitar just by the brand since different models of like brands will sound and play differently. We are guitar players and we like what we play on best. If we didn't we wouldn't be playing what we play, we would sell it and find something we like.

..+1

Get a fender jazzmaster...there great for the styles you play....that's just my opinion

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with myself about the Mexican and American Strats being the same. I just went to guitar center and played each. The made in America Strat was $1000 and far superior than the Mexican in terms of sound and playability. The Mexican is still a great guitar for the price but is by no means the same. I based my prior opinion on what I've read and not by sitting and playing each one behind the other. I played 4 of them. A $400 and $500 MIM. And a $800 and $1000 MIA. Even the difference between the $500 MIM and the $800 MIA was substantial.

Just my opinion;)