Gear Gurus : Need help!

Hello people. I'm new to the forum, and was originally going to be more active before posting my first post, but time's running out, so anyway.
edit: I won't be able to upgrade my gear for another 3 years, so I need to buy stuff that'll last and won't limit me.

Budget : 30k.
Have to buy : Guitar, Processor, Amp.
Genre : Blues-Rock - Death Metal, and everything in between.

I'll be buying from Goa in May 20-23rd. So, Furtado's Panjim is most like the best choice, and I need stuff available there.

TOM or Trem : Unless it's a good, usable trem, I would go for TOM.
Processor : If the guitar is TOM, the processor should have the expression pedal.
Amp : 30 watts. I need that much power.

Right now, I've been looking at
Guitar : ESP LTD EC 50, Ibanez GRG270 [24 frets, and dual humbuckers are a must]
(a schecter omen 6 was ideal, but I heard Furtado's doesn't stock Schecters)

Processor : Zoom G1xn, Digitech RP80/RP55

Amp : Laney LX35R.

Can anybody suggest more of combinations/permutations, gear, ideas, suggestions or anything in general? Please?

 

If you're going for the Zoom G1X.n, I'd rather suggest you buy the KORG AX-5G because it also a wah-wah pedal with it and the effects range is worth it ... I got it for 6k or u can go for the Digitech one also, but do checkout the AX-5G

 

The Korg looks promising, but I doubt I'll be able to spend 6k on it. If I do, I'll have to cut down on the guitar.

Anybody here has experience with Furtados, and what they stock?

 

Hey Aniruddh! Great to have you here. Now, WORK!

First of all, An Amplifier comes first in your gear, because the overall sound comes from the amp and top priority should be given to it so don't ever play a good guitar with a crappy amp.

I'd suggest you to reserve atleast 12-15k for the amplifier. According to you, you want a 30w amp, so you may be thinking for a Solid State one. For Solid State Amps, a Roland Cube 30x would work out for you. But if you want TONE, go for a tube amp. The Laney Cub Series are decent tube amps fitting in your budget. And in tube amps, 10-12 watts is enough for practice and small/medium sized(P.A available) gigs, it will give pretty much the same output as you'll get from a 30w SS.

For guitar, try Greg Bennetts Avion and Torino Series for a TOM bridge in your budget. You'll get pretty much everything with this guitar.

In your processor budget, you could get modulation and time based (exp pedal, delay, reverb, trem, etc. etc.) effects out of it but not good enough distortion. So, I would suggest you to buy a tube amp with in-built Tones and Distortion Channels.

 

Dude, I'd love to get a tube amp. But the ones in my range are the Laney Cub series, and they DO NOT handle hi gain well, from what I've heard. To make them work, I'd need a Metalzone or similar pedal, and well, I have budget limitations.
Plus, a small tube amp + Very Hi Gain = Bad combo.
I'll look into a Cub + Metalzone combo too though. In that case, I'd want a guitar with a whammy.

I looked at the Greg Bennett's, they have EVERYTHING, except for 24 frets. I'd have brought the AV3 with closed eyes, if it had the 24 frets. I really need those 2 frets.

And as for processor, if not a processor, I'd get the 'Metalzone + Cub', but
1) My BUDGEETTTTT
2) I can't upgrade for 3 more years, and I'm bound to encounter the need for a wah, or whammy someday soon.

EDIT : Will a Zoom G1xn plugged into a Laney Cub 8 fulfill my tonal needs, which are from RHCP to Pantera?

 

hey man if ur in mumbai and still looking for a guitar to buy, drop me a pm.

 

I think you should probably go for this:

Greg Bennett AV-1- 11k
Laney Cub 8- 9k (will cover your clean and crunchy distortion sounds and it's a tube so good tone too)
Boss MT-2- 4.5k (I'll get it keeley modded for you till the end of this year. It'll become a beast after the mod)
Crybaby GCB95- 6k

I think a couple of decent pedals would be better than a bunch of s**t sounding effects box..

 

someone did their homework! the other mitigating factor is that your lows are going to be compromised with high gain and the small stock speaker in those combos. tube amps need more power for good bass reproduction; it's a known fact. i've gotten good metal sounds from a metal pedal (zoom trimetal, eats MT-2s for breakfast) and an 18W tube amp though. home use only, however, i don't think that combination would sound good with the amp cranked up.

don't get the connection with the whammy at all though. elucidate?

 

Man, that sounds good, but
1) Greg Bennett has 22 frets. I can't live with that. I need 24.
2) As flood said, and as I read, a 5 watt tube amp won't handle metal too well. It might give me awesome cleans, but what I need, is a beast. A 30 watt beast.
3) I'm not really the guy who'd go for multiple pedals (AT THIS PRICE RANGE). I'd prefer a processor. Why? because I'd prefer more control over a mediocre tone, than no control over an awesome tone.

Thanks for the help man. It is a sweet sounding rig, but not the one for me.

Thanks man. You seem to be pretty respected around here, so I was kinda waiting for your reply.
18w might be great, but 5w. I don't think it'd do Pantera and Sylosis all that well.

So, if I take the whammy pedal out of context, I'm back to the :-
GRG270/EC 50 -> Zoom G2/Digitech RP80 -> Laney LX35.

If anybody could sort those 'obliques' out, I'd be VERYVERYVERY happy.

 

a 5W tube amp will give you barely any cleans at all. low wattage amps are great for crunchy sounds and bluesy, dynamic breakup. clean headroom is fairly low, and metal-style gain with the volume turned up gets a bit too mushy and undefined - yes, that's right, there's a lot more distortion happening at lower power. the problem is clarity, basically.

 

Careful with the GRG. The trem may not be useful at all due to tuning instability. You are much better off with a fixed bridge at your price point.

 

Processor offering more control over tone than individual pedals? A Zoom G2/RP80 at that? LOLQUE?

 

In 30k, one can get a really decent gear but I am surprised your own requirements are the primary limitations. AND you're preferring control over tone. And who says there's no control over pedals? Most people prefer pedals only for better control + tone. Get over it man!! LIFE'S TOO SHORT FOR BAD TONE, Mind that!

 

The ec 50 is a great guitar and for your budget, it gets my vote. I've heard it takes replacement pickups well too so it may not just be a temporary tool. Try it before you buy it though. I just saw that you need 24 frets so ignore my pm about my guitar which is 22 frets.
If you are hell bent on a processor, try to pick up a gt-8 second hand from somewhere. If you want amp modeling, get a pocket pod.

 

more control in a processor compared to pedals? O_O

this is new to me. and either an paradox or a barefaced lie.

 

THAT rather controversial comment was posted because, if I'd have bought a Boss OS 2, and a Laney Cub, mind this, I'd have NO eq.

The OS 2 has no equalization, neither does the cub. That doesn't work for me.

While on the other hand, if running through a processor, no matter how 'bad' the tone, I can use patches and loads of things to get the exact tone I want. I want to explore various tones, and once I find out what kind of tone I want to play with, I'll get the single pedals and a tube amp. Till then, I need access to a lot of tones on my hand, easily.

 

I bought the Danelectro DJ-14 EQ for 2k. I'd say again, surprisingly, your own requirements are the primary limitations.

Anyways, if you've decided to buy a processor, don't get used to them and their tone. You should've started off with individual pedals, but you want access to s**t tones. I'm not saying it's a bad idea but it isn't a good one either.

Buy this,

Roland Cube 20x + Washburn X11 + Digitech RP Series Crap Processor..

 

Washburn + Roland + Digitech sounds like a good combo.

Anybody has any idea whether Furtados stocks Washburns or not?

 

okay.. just a suggestion.. i'd say keep most of the money for the guitar.. and rest for the amp and effects.. your processor idea seems alright since you've not used processors or pedals before.. i'd suggest look for a used cheap one.. u might get a lot more for a lesser price.. and you will soon junk it anyways.. with the processor, you can always just use some decent headphones for jamming.. no need for an amp unless you plan to jam with a band.. but those small amps wont help there anyways..

also, getting a good sound is much easier on pedals than a processor.. less knobs to fiddle.. i'd suggest keep 20-22k for the guitar (i dont know what u get in that range, but i'd go for one of the yamaha super strats since they will give you the sort of versatility you need and offer good price to performance ratio)

4k for a used processor, and 4k for a used amp or new small amp..

altho what i would do is.. keep 25k for the guitar, 2.5k for used distortion pedal and 2.5 k for a used 30 w solid state amp.. with a good amp when going live, this sort of setup will give a lot more punch than the processor.. cheap processors sound like shit live..

i feel that if your guitar's not good enuff.. everything else fails.. and a good guitar is a joy to play.. plus at gigs..you usually get decent amps, all you carry is your guitar and effects.. and if u have rent a jam room thing like mumbai.. not much use for an amp most of the time..

 

This guy above is CRAZY!!!

All of you just check his post! Lol!