Hi, First of all I am sorry for posting this question again. (didn't realize that I was posting in the beginner's section initially ) I have an old Yamaha Pacifica currently. Thinking about buying a new one. Can you please tell which one is better for playing metal?- Ibanez or Fender? Budget is 20k max. Also any advice on the type of pickups? Thanks.
But I've heard Fender is better.. Iron Maiden's guitarists use Fender, right? I don't like the Slayer kind of thrash metal playing. I want my head to function properly for some more time.. hihi.. Anyways, thanks for your comment. \m/
You should first specify which type of metal you actually play. There are a lot of sub genre in metal. One band is not enough though I got the basic idea. Fender might work for you but what if you like some other band that plays another metal sub genre that you can't play on your Fender. What I am saying is be more specific.
I like to play songs by Iron Maiden, Metallica, Deep Purple, Aerosmith etc. Though I do not know how to play any Motherjane songs as of now, I would like to learn someday. Strict NO to bands like Slayer, Meshuggah, Slipknot, and all such thrash metal bands. Hope this gives you an idea. Thanks!
The guitar that allows you to play all the techniques which are encountered in metchul music. That can be Ibanez or Fender or Gibson or Peavey or Gretsch ... Its personal preference. BTW, what is the problem with your existing Pacifica? Single coils?
Oh..k. The guitar I have is 11 years old. Got it when I was in 8th std. It's humbucker does not work too.. Btw, I like single coil pickups. The tone is really good. Can you please tell whether the active pickups (EMG type) are as good as some people say? I'm talking about its sustain. Thanks. \m/
At under 20k, you aren't gonna get much better than the Pacifica. Also, the guitar being old is not necessarily a bad thing because the quality control was good before these Japanese companies contracted Chinese and other eastern countries to manufacture their guitars. You should try a pickup change (as one of them is not working at all). Also get a general cleaning and setup done on your guitar, which needs to be done once in a while. Low sustain could be due to wrong/poorly adjusted pickup height and bad quality cables. About EMGs, don't expect them to improve your sustain drastically unless your current pickups are actually dying (sounds like it ) or badly setup. But they do have a nice slightly compressed tone. If you like single coil sounds, try out the EMG SA/SAV range. There are plenty of other manufacturers too out there with excellent single coil pickups. Look out for DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan pickups too.
I don't think upgrading the pickups in an 11 years pacifica is good option... Not really worth the investment... I hope you know the pickups will cost a lot more than the guitar itself.... I wouldn't have done it.. my two cents !
Unless you have cracked the neck at the joint or seriously damaged the guitar in some other way, it should be fine. My guitar is 13 yrs old too and there is nothing wrong with it. The good thing about a pick up upgrade is that you can keep it with you and put it in your new guitar when you get one. Or in the worst case, sell them second hand. If you have been playing for a long time and you really feel that the guitar is limiting your technique, I'd suggest getting a reasonably better guitar like a MIM Fender Strat or Ibanez S or RG Prestige (Edge III trems are not nearly as smooth as Original Edge or Edge Pro). You could get a used one too as a well constructed guitar is likely to last a long time (if not manhandled ie).
