Lowyat.NET: Latest posts in Good Esp guitar around rm 1.3k

Post #26

wreckens15 — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:17:35 +0800

jackson also good >_>
+u can be different because not many people use jackson in malaysia
cort rocks too
just go to the music store and play the guitar for a time
dont rush and just test all the guitairs if ur in kl bentleys is the best shops for varieties and qualities for ibanez or cort and maybe JACKSON

Post #25

bman — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:27:58 +0800

QUOTE(fatboythin @ May 19 2008, 02:03 AM)

RG321 or RGR321EX would be your best bets at that price range. Stay clear from trem equipped guitars below the 2k range, the trems on them normally are crap.
[right][snapback]17440104[/snapback][/right]

Vintage strat style trems are ok, they can be blocked easily (like i did for my squier) and they're not complicated devices.

It's those locking trems that you really gotta be careful of.

For vintage style trem units, you can always get this for replacement.

http://www.tremking.com/

[YOUTUBE]fyJNvY4MlFg[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]uuhlbkUkvGs[/YOUTUBE]

Post #24

fatboythin — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:03:42 +0800

RG321 or RGR321EX would be your best bets at that price range. Stay clear from trem equipped guitars below the 2k range, the trems on them normally are crap.

Post #23

sean392 — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:54:18 +0800

Corts also makes korean Ibanez's
Knew that long ago =/

Post #22

bman — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:52:20 +0800

QUOTE(sean392 @ May 19 2008, 01:02 AM)

Corts are a good option, I've played some nice corts.

and yes, Staggs aren't as bad as you think. I like some of them. Good for the price.

Really depends on what you want though.
[right][snapback]17439245[/snapback][/right]

That's because Corts are Korean and also has an Indonesian factory.

There's no China made Cort, yet.

Cort is also a contract manufacturer for Made-In-Indonesia Ibanez, such as the RGR321EX.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cort_Guitars

Post #21

enteryourusername — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:28:14 +0800

QUOTE(Crusnik04 @ May 18 2008, 11:22 PM)

Look like i hv start the wood debate in this topic,although i just wanna know any good esp around 1.3k.i'm very sory ...But can u guys sure me what the best bang for rm1.3k guitars?any brand it is ok.appriciate for the hell guys

[addedon]May 18, 2008, 11:23 pm[/addedon]sorry i mean for the help!!
[right][snapback]17437425[/snapback][/right]

for me, i would buy an ibanez rg321, or used epi lp.

Post #20

bman — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:03:55 +0800

QUOTE(gapnap @ May 19 2008, 12:46 AM)

uhh

lazy to read all of it ..
but..FYI
Ibanez JEM uses ALDER body ..

who made the mistake ?
[right][snapback]17438963[/snapback][/right]

It's either YOU or Ibanez themselves

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/eg_page20...=1&series_id=77

neck type - 5pc JEM Maple/Walnut neck
body - Basswood body
fret - W/6105 frets
bridge - Edge Pro bridge
neck pu - DiMarzio� Evolution� (H) neck pu
middle pu - DiMarzio� Evolution� (S) mid pu
bridge pu - DiMarzio� Evolution� (H) bridge pu

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/eg_series...r=2008&cat_id=1

Ok to be fair you're not wrong either.

They seem to vary between alder and basswood, also depending on location I think, but basswood seems to be used more than alder in JEM series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibanez_Jem

Post #19

sean392 — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:02:00 +0800

Corts are a good option, I've played some nice corts.

and yes, Staggs aren't as bad as you think. I like some of them. Good for the price.

Really depends on what you want though.

Post #18

bman — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:58:25 +0800

QUOTE(Crusnik04 @ May 18 2008, 11:22 PM)

You didn't specify what you're looking for, the type of music and whether you want a trem or not.

Btw, your stagg is not a crap guitar. It gets good reviews and because it's a new brand, it goes for real cheap. If I am not wrong, they use alder for your body, but I am assuming you're using a strat style stagg. It's supposedly better made than the squier strats and is cheaper. If I haven't bought my squier I would've bought stagg since it's way cheaper by at least rm 150.

The price might shoot up anytime once its brand is established.

Since you said you wanted an ESP i just assume you're more into metal/humbucking stuff.

For 1.3k, I recommend you avoid any trem based axe esp those locking trems. Your guitar will crap out fast or the trems might not last long enough for you to keep in tune. (For the Ibanez Edge iii)

You can check out the ibanez rgr321ex. I have that one and I am happy with it. Rm 1250 before discount. Sweet price spot for a basswood fixed bridge. Nice sustain. EMG designed humbuckers (based on passive EMG Hz pickups) and 24 frets. Got mine for rm 1125 but I think you can get it cheaper in KL.

Do pay attention to the frets, mine was levelled nicely with low action set but not crowned nicely at the higher frets (not really an issue but just a bit of an eyesore)

Let's see what else I can think of within that price range. Some are probably cheaper.

1. Samick avion av3 (rm 700++) and some interceptor series (1k++).
2. Squier fat strat. (humbucking bridge) if you can find lah.
3. Yamaha Pacifica PAC112. (rm 800++)
4. Cort. (Neil Zaza's favorite)

You can also look at 2nd hand used guitars, easier for you to choose with the budget you have.

Seriously dude, I think you should just play/test the guitar out yourself or get someone who knows better to go with you. We're not you, we don't know what you like. What I like might be what you dislike. Play the ESP first then decide. If you still scared of agathis then check out the Ibanez rgr321ex, confirm basswood. Just don't touch a locking trem at that price range. Ibanez has rgr321mh (mahogany) too but they've not been successful at their mahogany bodies compared to their basswoods.

The other option is to upgrade your pickups, get a hotrails humbucker (if your guitar is SSS single coils) and install it, then you get metal sound, just do it for the bridge I guess, save you a lot of money. You can get cheap good ones from http://www.guitarfetish.com that rival even branded ones.

ESP LTD agathis guitar below. Listen to it yourself whether you like/dislike it.

[YOUTUBE]xXdjrtdBDv4[/YOUTUBE]

The Ibanez rgr321ex that I recommended, just sweet for your budget range.

[YOUTUBE]maYgivIaKZM[/YOUTUBE]

Btw, what amp you got ? That one also play a part leh.

Post #17

gapnap — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:46:54 +0800

uhh

lazy to read all of it ..

but..FYI
Ibanez JEM uses ALDER body ..

who made the mistake ?

Post #16

Crusnik04 — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:22:45 +0800

Post #15

wreckens15 — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:07:52 +0800

QUOTE(don8ld @ May 18 2008, 08:45 PM)

wanna get a guitar , get my ibanez pgm3 selling for 1.2k ; in bentley 1.9k which is better than the ltd shyt
[right][snapback]17434684[/snapback][/right]

thats very good offer buy it
i tend to buy pgm before but my budget only 1500
and i got my self a jackson dx10d
very worth it and its japan made
just get a secondhand guitar from the guitar site check out ibands also
if ur lucky u might get a mexican strat for ur budget and thats WICKED

Post #14

sean392 — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:52:31 +0800

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

QUOTE(bman @ May 18 2008, 08:28 PM)

Dude, basswood also shit lah based on price ratio. You forgot that Basswood's reputation used to suffer like how Agathis suffers now. Tone Wood snobs spread their religion/misinformation like wildfire and slows down the guitar production industry, it's like how the west spreads myths about certain Asian produce out of fear and image issues.
My rgr321ex also basswood and cheap but everyone always say go for alder or mahogany. Btw, Ibanez sucks for mahogany. This shows you it's not always the wood quality but the parts and design, and also how they cut and shape the wood. It also depends which part of the tree the wood is from. No 2 wood will sound exactly the same, even from the same type of wood/tree.

It all boils down to the other parts used, not the wood alone. If you're unlucky you might even end up with an irrepairable dead spot no matter how much tech adjustment done for a particular guitar coz resonance so happens to die at that particular piece of block, which could be mahogany,alder,basswood or even agathis.

They have to use some sort of wood somehow to make low end guitars so agathis happens to be the cheapest so they used that instead, but it doesn't mean it's sucky.

Most low end guitar you play sound like shit because they come with shit tuners, shit nuts, shit bridges and shit pickups, shit lazy wiring/shielding.

Those factors affect the tone much more than just the wood.

It's precisely because of tone wood snobs that's why ESP has to stop agathis wood use in their low end gear. If it sucks in the first place they would never have even used it in their line of products. Don't tell me they have no product evaluators in their QC/design department?

Most of the differences are psychological and peer pressure, not backed by factual research.

People just compare guitars made from which wood and come to conclusion but very seldom people actually use the same pickups across identically constructed but different body wood guitars to make some real conclusions.

You talk about sustain, man if like that let me show you what SUSTAIN means and this guitar isn't even constructed from wood.
[YOUTUBE]45hYDhyJ5_0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]My_chJj2ph4[/YOUTUBE]

Stone is even more abundant than wood so might as well use that one if people are so into sustain. :-P
But according to the great Frank Zappa when he spoke to Steve vai, the tone is not in your gear, it's in your fingers... it's in your head.
[right][snapback]17434435[/snapback][/right]

Go ahead then. 16 kgs is probably very light for you.
How strongly the sustain of guitar relatively depends on its density, different woods affect the sustain differently with many factors, density being one of a major role.
Woods do make a difference in tone, so before you speak from your ass anymore let me save you some of your sorry ego shall I?

Like I already mentioned before, each wood has its own sonic characteristics, no doubt, like what you mentioned that wood types prices are governed by their availability. Have you forgotten that the fact that demand also governs the prices for this woods. True there are many types of the same woods, say mahogany. There are honduran, cuban, african, sapelle, nato, and phillipine mahogany. True that all, even if its the same tree, they will have difference, and that difference though, it might not be important to your ears, might be to those who can tell the difference. Which is why Gibson has been receiving a number of bad comments relating to their latest guitars. Reason? Simple, their premium wood reserves for Honduran mahogany are low, they have to chamber the newer LPs else it'll be too heavy to play for a long while. The added air inside the body also affects the tonality of the guitar.

Basswood. True, its plentiful, but remember, basswood appears to have a prominent low end is not because it is naturally strong on the low end, its because of the softness of the wood which dampens the high notes which makes us perceive that its low registers are strong. Mahogany has a naturally strong low midrange, and with mids being our peak of hearing sensitivity, its perceived very strongly as a warm sounding wood, however this does not affect its high notes which are also considerably strong.

Agathis is dubbed as the poor mans mahogany. Why? Simply because it shares similar sonic characteristics as mahogany. But what makes it cheap is because it is a softwood compared to mahogany which is a hardwood. Softwoods generally grow quicker than hardwoods, making them mature quicker and less valuable. Agathis is also sonically inferior, though similar to mahogany. Why? Its less complex with very little of the harmonics and overtones which made mahogany a "better" wood compared to agathis.

Lets see what I've missed out. Oh yeah, bout Vai's JEM? Don't forget it carries his name, which Ibanez paid for with their endorsement. For sure, they'll transfer the costs of that to the consumers. This also puts LTD into play. Why they changed from Agathis to basswood? Look at ibanez and their success with basswoods. How many artists do you see playing a basswood bodied guitar? How many bedroom or hobbyist playing a basswood guitar? Definitely more than agathis guitar players. Why? Market research lah, you think they don't follow some forums? They need to know what the market wants, else they'll have swallow losses just because they're stubborn to change.

Yes not every part of the tone from guitar players come from wood, given that. But every small matter counts, from the amp, guitar woods, pickups and your little stompboxes.

So please, don't push your ideals to others who come to appreciate tone more than you, what you believe might not necessarily be true.

P/s factual studies actually has been done, just not published, you won't find resonance articles bout woods on journals, no physicist will bother to read them, because its nothing new to them. Else why guitar makers choose specific types of woods for differenct guitars for different sounds and different manufacturing costs?

No offence meant to alternative tonewood users here.

Post #13

don8ld — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:45:45 +0800

NO ADVERTISING YOUR SALES ON THIS THREAD!

If you want to advertise your sales, do it on the sales thread.

THIS IS CONSIDERED STRIKE 1. You have been reported to the admins.

3 strikes will give you a holiday for a week from the forums.

= Mod Intervention =

Post #12

bman — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:28:21 +0800

QUOTE(skindred @ May 18 2008, 07:57 PM)

Agathis muddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd sustain killllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll quality shitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

bman : Damn man, why are you saying Steve Vai's rm 16,000 JEM is a piece of shit??!?!?? Basswood is goooddddddddddddd..... No kidding.
But don't u feel something fishy about the ESP website..? From Agathis, suddenly now it's "Basswood" .. LOL .. Even if they did change to Basswood, sure most of the old stocks selling here gotta be get rid off before the new stock with "supposedly Basswood" come in.
Krusnik04 : Just go to the guitar store and get whatever you think looks good for rm1.3k man.
[right][snapback]17433998[/snapback][/right]

Dude, basswood also shit lah based on price ratio. You forgot that Basswood's reputation used to suffer like how Agathis suffers now. Tone Wood snobs spread their religion/misinformation like wildfire and slows down the guitar production industry, it's like how the west spreads myths about certain Asian produce out of fear and image issues.

My rgr321ex also basswood and cheap but everyone always say go for alder or mahogany. Btw, Ibanez sucks for mahogany. This shows you it's not always the wood quality but the parts and design, and also how they cut and shape the wood. It also depends which part of the tree the wood is from. No 2 wood will sound exactly the same, even from the same type of wood/tree.

It all boils down to the other parts used, not the wood alone. If you're unlucky you might even end up with an irrepairable dead spot no matter how much tech adjustment done for a particular guitar coz resonance so happens to die at that particular piece of block, which could be mahogany,alder,basswood or even agathis.

They have to use some sort of wood somehow to make low end guitars so agathis happens to be the cheapest so they used that instead, but it doesn't mean it's sucky.

Most low end guitar you play sound like shit because they come with shit tuners, shit nuts, shit bridges and shit pickups, shit lazy wiring/shielding.

Those factors affect the tone much more than just the wood.

It's precisely because of tone wood snobs that's why ESP has to stop agathis wood use in their low end gear. If it sucks in the first place they would never have even used it in their line of products. Don't tell me they have no product evaluators in their QC/design department?

Most of the differences are psychological and peer pressure, not backed by factual research.

People just compare guitars made from which wood and come to conclusion but very seldom people actually use the same pickups across identically constructed but different body wood guitars to make some real conclusions.

You talk about sustain, man if like that let me show you what SUSTAIN means and this guitar isn't even constructed from wood.

[YOUTUBE]45hYDhyJ5_0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]My_chJj2ph4[/YOUTUBE]

Stone is even more abundant than wood so might as well use that one if people are so into sustain. :-P

But according to the great Frank Zappa when he spoke to Steve vai, the tone is not in your gear, it's in your fingers... it's in your head.

Post #11

skindred — Sun, 18 May 2008 19:57:17 +0800

Agathis muddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd sustain killllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll quality shitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

bman : Damn man, why are you saying Steve Vai's rm 16,000 JEM is a piece of shit??!?!?? Basswood is goooddddddddddddd..... No kidding.

But don't u feel something fishy about the ESP website..? From Agathis, suddenly now it's "Basswood" .. LOL .. Even if they did change to Basswood, sure most of the old stocks selling here gotta be get rid off before the new stock with "supposedly Basswood" come in.

Krusnik04 : Just go to the guitar store and get whatever you think looks good for rm1.3k man.

Post #10

fatboythin — Sun, 18 May 2008 19:56:56 +0800

Yea, low end LTDs have bad wood, hardware and horrible wiring. Seriously not worth it. Around budget, best you get an Ibanez. They make decent quality axes in that price range.

Post #9

bman — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:40:51 +0800

QUOTE(Crusnik04 @ May 18 2008, 06:33 PM)

i hv one question b4 i gonna buy the guitar maybe tomorrow..is it fender squier affinty strat with alder body better than esp ltd with agathis body?

[addedon]May 18, 2008, 6:34 pm[/addedon]i jsut ask about affinty alder vs ltd agathis but i not gonna buy either of them.just wanna know in term of the wood and sound tone
[right][snapback]17432946[/snapback][/right]

Don't judge a guitar by the wood type.

Even mahogany got cheap and low end tonewood that sounds worst than others.

Play the guitar out yourself.

Agathis tend to have brighter tones and this is really just a matter of taste.

Cheap wood doesn't mean no good, it just means the wood is easier to obtain because it is in abundance and not marked as reserved.

Going by the logic of tone wood snobs, Steve Vai's rm 16,000 JEM is a piece of shit then for using basswood.

Don't follow the tone wood snobs, just as one shouldn't follow the tube snobs.

http://www.agathis.info/guitars.php

Disappointment usually comes from peer pressure from tone wood and tube snobs. It's mostly psychological.

Let your ears do the judging, not peer pressure.

Agathis gets bad rep because they tend to use cheap pickups/parts on guitars built with agathis body. Wood is hardly the main factor that determines the quality, mostly it's the pickups. Put the cheap pickups from an agathis guitar into one with a mahogany body guitar you'll probably end up with equally crappy sound/tone.

Post #8

Crusnik04 — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:33:19 +0800

Post #7

skindred — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:12:54 +0800

Honestly.. Don't waste your money on low end LTD dude.. You'll regret it. I've seen too many ppl go through that phase.

Agathis wood (now they claim is Basswood on the esp website) is badddddd wood.