Cheap Denstone guitar for upgrades and testing new parts part1

[Ronsuri]

wow that was fking better than fender.... denstone rules!

[SpartanL03]

okay, next im geting a new pickguard. Anyway i bought a tusq nut too, i had to sand it a bit to make it fit. Now the tone is amazing and there's less fret buzz. would i be able to put active emg 81/85 pickups in this guitar?

[nightwolfsden]

I had to do the same thing with my nut. Just a little too thick, but the tighter you get it in there the better the sound transfer between the nut and the rest of the guitar. I'd say your well on your way to having a nice guitar.

I've been a big advocate of building from cheaper guitars for a while because people go out and buy a $1200 Les Paul then change the pickups anyway. I think this way you get the guitar you want for cheaper. Cheers.

[SpartanL03]

Yea, i dont even like gibsons. also you learn more and it's actually kinda fun. I went to my local music store today (again) and they were out of stock for the pickguards with slots for the humbucker pickups. they said they'd get some in next week and the guy made a note about it. we talk for an hour about with my options for pickups. I dont think I need a new pickguard, just buy the single coil emgs, and a "seymour ducan little 59". He says the emg 81/85 are the same.

[SpartanL03]

he told me not to put so much money into this guitar, and it'd be better to get a new amp first for a better sound. he told me i should invest in the ibanez grg and then put the pickups in.

[SpartanL03]

Ibanez GRG170DX (my bad sry)

[nightwolfsden]

Yup, you can get mini versions of a lot of pickups, so you don't have to change the pickguard. He's 1/2 right about not dumping the cash in to this guitar. See, in the meantime you need something to play that will sound good. If your learning on a shitty guitar, you'll lose interest. You can also allways put some $ in to this guitar, then when you get a new one pull the parts out and use them in the new one. True on the amp too, but to get a good amp is gunna cost you more than a good gui

[nightwolfsden]

tar in a lot of cases. Its realy a matter of what YOU think. You can get "pro advice" from any guy who can talk the talk, but you gotta remember that guitar and the tone factor is an art, not a science. I guess it depends on the budget you wanna set for yourself. Either you can build your way up, or save and get to a certain level all at once. The important thing is to have fun with it no matter what you decide :). Maybe do 1 pickup and the amp, then new guitar? Just a thought.

[SpartanL03]

yea the 1 pickup and the amp then new guitar was exactly what i was gonna do.

thats what i meant by the upgrade for my current guitar. the pickup is a emg sv

[SpartanL03]

i told him what style of music (metal/rock) i played and i asked him about the line 6 spider III amp he said it would be perfect.

it was cheaper than the guitar he recommended to me too. so i think i'll get the amp, upgrade my guitar a bit, save up, get the new guitar, install the parts from this guitar into the new one, and learn from there.

[nightwolfsden]

I've played thu a spider before, they are pretty good. If you get something bigger like a 2X12 or even 1X12 you should be able to keep up to drums/band if you find yourself in that situation. They will also give you an idea of what kind of effects and direction to go with on the EQ and whatnot before you get in to a more didicated rig. Best thing to do is take your own guitar in and play through the thing before you decide to buy. Try a couple other things to, even stuff out of your $ range.

[SpartanL03]

about the amp the only one they have right now is the (15W) 1X8. i could ask them to order me a (30W) 1X12. i want to be able to keep up to drums/band but with the smallest amp possible to reduce the budget and weight of carrying it around. yea i guess i'll ask if i can try the amp.

[SpartanL03]

or maybe i'll go farther and get the 75W. whats your opinion? stick with the 30W or go with the 75W

[nightwolfsden]

Well, I wouldn't even try to go smaller an 1X12, wattage... maybe like 60W in that range, some amps are loud at 15W, but depends. It would probably be best to get the biggest you can afford. the 75W would probably cut it. You have to watch though b/c in a heavy band if you arn't pushing enough power your clean tones can get overdriven when you push the amp. A 1X12 might cut it though, so don't be discouraged if you can't get a 212. A 112 if pretty good weight/volume ratio.

[SpartanL03]

i wouldnt be discouraged anyway.

[SpartanL03]

Worse guitar ever, huh? Thats great! I'm dad won't let me buy a Ibanez guitar! >:(

So, I guess I'm stuck with this piece of shit.

[nightwolfsden]

well, look at it as an opertunity not only to learn to play, but learn to set up, maintain and improve your instrument. It all comes with the playing anyway. It should be fine for a beginner, but I'm a little boyond that. If you find that its difficult to play (or even painfull) take it to a local luthier or music store and spend a couple bucks to have ome work done on it. If price is an issue maybe look at the Ibanez GAX 30, they are cheap, but REALY good. One of my favorite guitars.

[SpartanL03]

we have a music store down here that sells guitar parts (nuts, tuners, scratch plates, pickups, strings, and saddles, but no bridges) do u think i could improve my guitar with these things. Note: Not sure if they work on guitars.

[nightwolfsden]

if you have access to all these things your off to a good start. Maybe buying a perfect guitar strait away isn't a reasonable proposition, but you can sure put a few dollars here and there in to it. A good nut is key to having good tone, and its a simple replacement. The tuners on these guitars are quite annoying, so if you can change those too you'd be in good shape. Some pickups are worth more than this entire guitar, but over time it could be worthwhile for you to try.

[nightwolfsden]

You can allways watch the next 4 or so videos I did with this guitar as I upgraded it so you can see the diff. it makes over time.

[SpartanL03]

do u think, i could put a dual coil pickup in this guitar?

[SpartanL03]

if not then, do you the seymour duncan quarter pound flat SSL-4 pickup would sound good on this guitar? I have play metal, and heavy rock.

[nightwolfsden]

Well youhave two options when it comes to this. You can either 1) cut the pickguard or replaceit with another that will take a fullsize humbucker, or 2) get a mini-humbucker (IE: George Lynch Screamin'Demon)

A new pickguard gives you the added option of changing the of the guitar too, which could be good if you want somerthing different. The rout in the body for the guitar is HUGE so you could even get a PG with 3 humbucker setup.