Semi-Hollows/Les Pauls for beginner.

autoriot · #1 April 12th, 2007

Are these any good for a beginner? I've been playing for ~4 months, and need a new guitar cos I'm borrowing a craptastic no-brand cheap strat. I would really like either a Semi-Hollow or a Les Paul copy, I play mainly Heavy Blues and have a budget of up to $500AU. Any suggestions on a good cheap Semi-Hollow? I was looking at the Epi Les Paul 100. Has anyone used one of these? Cheers.

allthumbs · #2 April 12th, 2007

Semis are generally brighter than solid bodies and tend to feed back. Something to keep in mind. 414 U.S. would get you a MIM strat with enough left over to upgrade the pups.
Sounds like your leaning more towards something with humbuckers though. Fatter tone than single coils. In my opinion LP clones in this range will need to have the pups upgraded and are heavy beasts so that is also something to keep in mind. I would suggest looking through ebay to get an idea of what's out there in your price range.

autoriot · #3 April 12th, 2007

The weight of the guitar doesn't bother me too much, and I really like the look/tone of Les Pauls, so I'm leaning towards them. I tried looking on Ebay but to be honest there really isn't really a lot on the Ebay Australia Guitars section. Thanks for the quick reply.

allthumbs · #4 April 12th, 2007

Epiphone LPs and the higher end Agile LPs are worth looking at. Both can be significantly improved at a later date with pickup upgrades.

autoriot · #5 April 12th, 2007

I'm a bit of a noob with guitars, what difference does changing the pickups make? And is it a difficult process?

allthumbs · #6 April 13th, 2007

The above LPs have ok pups but, nothing special. You can get pickups that have much more tone. Quality humbucks can go as high as your bank account though you don't have to break the bank to get decent pups. There are lots of sites that have sound clips of their pups with descriptions of the characteristics of the pickups.
Here is a link to reasonably priced pickups. You can easily spend from 100-380 bucks if you really wanted to go crazy.
http://store.guitarfetish.com/humbuckers.html
No rush to upgrade. The pickups in the Epi will do fine till your ready, the Agile pups may not be as good.

autoriot · #7 April 13th, 2007

I'd really like to get an Agile, but I can't get one since there doesn't seem to be anywhere in Australia that sells them. Supposedly they make better LP copies than Epiphone don't they?

allthumbs · #8 April 13th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by autoriot

I'd really like to get an Agile, but I can't get one since there doesn't seem to be anywhere in Australia that sells them. Supposedly they make better LP copies than Epiphone don't they?

Agiles are on line sales only. The basic platform is better so they can be upgraded substantially. To get an Agile reasonable close to the tone of a Gibbie LP, say around 75%, the upgrades would cost as much or more than the guitar its self. A good deal since that is still less than half the price of a Gibson LP. Doesn't help you in Aus. though.

Dewy · #9 April 13th, 2007

$99 US Dean Evo http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...tar?sku=519795

Thats my main guitar... Humbucker pickups and full stop tailpiece. Its a good solid guitar, spend a few extra bucks on a case and having it set up professionally since your budget allows.

I personally spent $129 on mine at the local shop, but got to pick the best of 4 of them. Always good to spend a few bucks with the local shop if you can... they're going to be setting you up with strings and cords and such... good to have a friendly relationship with them.

allthumbs · #10 April 13th, 2007

These are a good bang for the buck in an LP style.
http://www.ravenwestguitar.com/rg350amberash.html
I don't know if you can get them in Oz though. Man, Ebay.AUS is a wasteland as far as guitars are concerned.

737blues · #11 April 14th, 2007

You can be lucky or not on Ebay, but for you Autoriot I'd suggest what you'd spend on freight and insurance would be better spent on a trip to Melbourne. What is it, about 3 hours drive? If you know somebody down here and you can overnight, even better. Make a full day of your guitar hunting and check-out Billy Hydes, Allans and Manny's. At least that way you get your mitts on a lot of stuff and you'll generally get good advice at any of those stores. Personally, I'd never buy a guitar without playing it first, particularly if it's not distributed here.

Krister Karlsson · #12 April 17th, 2007

I would go for an Epiphone. These days they are actually making quite decent guitars for a very reasonable price.

bluesguy · #13 April 17th, 2007

I know a lot of folks, working musicians, who swear by Ibanez Artcore guitars. There are a number of semi-hollow body models that can be found. Prices are going to be <$500 (US). Check out http://ibanez.com/hollow/series.aspx?s=ag

Dewy · #14 April 17th, 2007

I played my dean right next to Epi-Pauls... and would rather have had the Dean. Better price too.

Stratrat · #15 April 18th, 2007

I hated getting this answer in the beginning, but after buying several guitars, I now realize the truth in it: If it's at all possible, the best thing you can do is go play a few and decide which one you like best. Guitars are very personal, and once you've held and played a few, the decision becomes much easier.....usually there will be one of them that really "speaks" to you over the others. There will even be variations amongst the same model of the same brand, as no two guitars are made exactly alike. Getting your hands on as many as possible really helps clear the decision process up. Besides, it's fun to play all those guitars!