Quick Poll to help me out

Hi,

My friend is coming in from China on the 20th, and I need to decide which guitar to buy immediately. I am also getting a wah pedal. I play some gilmour, santana, some knopfler, uriah heep and a mix of many things. Don't gig, hardly ever use the tremelo, and I don't play metal mostly rock / hard rock / ballads. Guys, the choices are below, let me have your invaluable opinions fast.

Guitars
1. Ibanez RG321MH -Mahogany body, hard tail, wizardII neck, H-H Infinity pickups
2. Ibanez RG 370 DX - Edge Pro bridge, Wizard II neck, H-S-H Infinity Pickups
3. Epiphone Les Paul Ultra - Alnico pickups, Grover Tuners (ignore the picture saying standard)

Wah
1. Dunlop Cry baby with Fasel Inductors GCB95F
2. Rocktron Black Cat Moan
3. Ibanez Tone Lok Weeping Demon TLWD7

So keeping in mind what I play, your suggestions are awaited. Thanks in advance, and extra thanks for people offering advice out of their own experience.

 

Pics for the Wah

The pics for the Wah pedals here.

 

I would go for the two Ibanezes ..if you dont need a whammy dont bother with the Edge, buy the hardtail..life is a lot simpler without a Floyd.
Another nice option in my option which can cover a lot of stuff you mentioned is a PRS Santana SE..similar price range and very well built.
And the Wahs...the ibanez has lots of parameters to tweak, which you normally won't find outside rack wahs, like sweep as well as Q. My vote would go for that one as well. You can emulate a Vox,, Morley or Crybaby pretty easily

 

Buddy, I'm getting the RG321MH for RMB 2100 (USD 260 approx). Don't think I can get the PRS Santana SE that cheap can I? As for the Wah, its the tweaking that I get scared of sometimes , but yes, I do like the TLWD7. Lets see what the others have to say. Thanks a lot.

 

i have the 1st wah, crybaby with fasel...i like it. Its more of a vintage wah(hendrixy types)

 

LP if u dont need a tremolo.

 

Just thought of a couple more points...what kind of guitar are you used to playing?
If you are used to a thin neck with a high-radius FB (15" or so) then switching to a LP would be traumatic, no matter how nice it sounds. If youve played a variety of styles, then I guess its ok. Also, higher fret access is a pain in the ass in LPs..not to mention the fact that the scale length is smaller. If your hands are big, you'll have trouble up the FB with an LP.

 

I would recommend the RG 370dx since you'll have a variety of sounds coz you've got the single coil . But for that price range I'll probably get a Jackson Dk2 Dinky

I own the Crybaby with Fasel and its amazing , specially good for that Vintage tone . Only problem with it is that it doesnt have true-bypass , but I think most Wah pedals dont have them either .

 

@abhijitnath - right now I am using a Squier Standard Stratocaster with Maple neck and Fretboard, which I am told is the same spec as a Fender Stratocaster. I have played on Ibanez, both the GRG neck and the Wizard neck, and find both comfortable. Never played an LP, but played a LP copy from Tulasi, and was OK with that too. By the way, my friend has a Epi strat, and I don't like it too much, maybe its the action or something. My hands are medium, actually bigger palm with fingers on the shorter side I would say. What are your suggestions?

 

Hmm..if you're comfortable with both Fender boat-neck specs and Wizard, then even a fat LP neck shouldn't be a huge problem IMO..but I still think you should play one first, because more often than not, playability rather than tone is a deal breaker. Since you have short fingers, the shorter scale length also shouldn't matter that much. Tonally speaking, I guess its upto you whether you want slightly muddy tonality which sounds great for lead (but not very defined clean, so if you're playing quick fingerpicking changes or jazz, :-() from the LP or a more modern vibe from the Ibanez.

 

Ibanez it is then

Ok, made up my mind for the Ibanez. Now, the RG370DX or the RG321MH?

I have a bunch of processors, so I should be able to get enough sustain out of the RG370DX also I think. Moreover, the RG 370DX offers more tones with its 3 pick up combi. But like I said, I almost never use the trem, so the Edge Pro would be wasted. What do you think?

 

I really don't know anyone who uses the middle position single coil on its own, really. The only place I've heard anyone use it for some valid musical application are on S/S/H guitars, with the middle RWRP so that you get hum cancellation, and then you can use it for the Strat 'quack' sounds. Most definitely the target audience for the shred guitars they are usually installed on don't use them!
About the Edge Pro..hmm. In my opinion they are the best made of all Floyd-type whammys. However, there are distinct disadvantages to them, chiefly double stops not being in tune etc, which you might use a lot of if you play bluesy stuff like Lep Zep etc. I think it makes sense to either get a fixed bridge, or buy an Edge if you think you're going to start using the whammy sometime in the future. I've suddenly begun using mine after arond 2 years of having mine (to play Carnatic-style microtonal noodling).

 

Decided

OK, amongst all that you said, I think you are advising the RG321MH? I have asked my friend to pick up the RG321MH. First choice is the mahogany oil shade, I would be really sad if I did not get this and had to settle for some other colour. I'm also getting an Ibanez M100C hardshell case and for the WAH, I have put the Rocktron Black Cat as my first choice, chiefly for the Wah + Moan combi, second choice Cry Baby with Fasel. I don't want to be tweaking the Wah, so the Weeping Demon is out for now. Thanks Abhijit for your inputs.

The total package of RG321MH + M100C case + Wah will cost me about Rs. 20000.

 

No problem
Awesome deal on the price front btw.

 

nice deal!!! Congrats

 

Congrats dude..one hell of a deal!When does your friend go to China again??:

 

Epiphone Les Paul Ultra - Alnico pickups, Grover Tuners .........

 

@nebu - Don't know when he will go next. My boss keeps going, but can't ask him to get. BTW, you get these deals in HK or Singapore also. And prices in the US are only marginally higher than these.

@nanda - swalpa late now, already told my friend

 

Yup Hong Kong and Singapore have great deals^^^^^^^

 

cool....one of my colleagues might go to Singapore soon..and I am already getting pups from the US thru another colleague...Hell, in a few months even i might get to go to the US