And the winner is...

The Ibanez in repose.

...the Ibanez. And in the end, the epic battle wasn't even close.

When I finally got to Guitar Center, I went right for the JP50. It was still there, which was surprising, especially since it they knocked $100 off the price for a Christmas sale (yes, it's not even Thanksgiving yet and we have Christmas guitar sales). So the JP came in with a $100 advantage from the start.

After handing over my Telecaster for an appraisal, I grabbed the JP and tried to find a place to plug it in and try it out. The Christmas sale was obviously working for them, because it was packed. Ideally I would've liked to play it through the same amp I played the Ibanez through, but someone was already there. I sat in front of a bank of Peavey Vypyrs and plugged in. After getting the hang of the built-in tuner, I started tuning it up. It took forever, and it gave me flashbacks to my Strat before I locked down the tremolo. Not good. First minus point for the JP.

Of course, the guy behind me thought he was the only person in the building and was blasting his guitar through what I believe was a Line 6 Pod HD, so I couldn't hear a damn thing. It sounded bad, too - I don't know if it's the player or the Pod, but let's just say I won't be trying one of those things out. Ever. I ended up moving to a line of Vox amps but the only one that was on was an AC4TV tube amp. I plugged in anyway and it sounded OK, but it didn't have the kind of gain a guitar like the JP needs. Still, I cycled through the pickups and it wasn't bad. Not the best pickups, but not shabby either. I still think the ones in the Schecter Omen 6 I played were nicer. Not to mention the ones in the Ibanez I played last week. Another minus point for the JP.

Then, I had the salesman get me the Ibanez so I can compare the two side-by-side. I plugged the JP into a Marshall MG30 (nice amp, by the way) while the salesman grabbed the Ibanez. It sounded OK and played pretty well. Although the bar wasn't in the tremolo, I tried to move it by hand to see if it would knock out of tune, and it did. Another minus point.

The Ibanez finally arrived and I switched guitars. The second I picked it up, I knew it was over. It felt so much better. Then I plugged it in. It sounded so much better. And it was still in tune from when I played it last weekend (I don't think anyone played it because they had it high up on the wall, out of reach). I looked at my wife and said, "This is the one."

The JP50 was a nice guitar, but it couldn't compete with the Ibanez. The RG looked better, felt better, played better and sounded better. Plus, I just didn't trust the non-locking tremolo on the JP. I've been burned by them too many times.

So the Short List winner is the Ibanez RG4EXQM1. I've never named guitars before (I never really got into that), but I think I will name this one "Triumph." Not only does it commemorate its victory over a slew of contenders, it's also a name of a great motorcycle company.

On another positive note, I didn't get raped in the trade-in, either. I got about what I expected on a sale, which means I was able to walk out of Guitar Center with the Ibanez, a hardshell case, a strap, a new set of Dean Markleys and some picks, and all I had to pay out of pocket was 27 cents. Nice.

Short List - the final battle

Today is the Epic Final Battle. Ibanez RG4EXQM1 vs. Sterling JP50 (if it's still there), with a third-party candidate in the GRGA32T.

It will be a monumental fight to the death!

To make things even more win-tastic, I got a Guitar Center flyer in the mail yesterday that showed the JP50 with an even bigger price cut to $349 (it was already marked down to $449 last weekend) and a mail-in rebate for a free gig bag with the RG4, which doesn't come with a case (the JP50 does).

I'm hoping they'll let me try out the tremolo on the JP50, because that's my only source of trepidation. I've used non-locking tremolos before with disastrous results, but everything I've read about the JP50 says the tuning stability is excellent. I want to see for myself, though, before I buy one. The two Ibanezes (Ibani?) already have double-locking tremolos, so they automatically have an advantage over the JP. Still, I'm anxious to try the JP because of its ergonomics. Maybe the asymmetric neck profile will work better with my DeQuervain's which, if that's the case, will put the JP in the win column.

Exciting stuff! Full report to come...

Maybe a winner?

I took a trip to Fort Collins on Saturday (an expensive one, thanks to the fine folks at the Colorado State Police) and stopped by Guitar Center. I didn't have time to play a lot of guitars, but I saw a lot of them that are (and were) on the Short List and ended up playing one of them.

Here are some observations.

As I suspected, all of the non-Gio Ibanez guitars that I have left on the Short List have identical specs, including woods, pickups and hardware, so any choice among the RGs will be made strictly on looks alone. They had both flavors of RG5EX1s in stock - black and pewter - and although the pewter one was definitely better looking, neither of them floated my proverbial boat. They also had an RG350DX (the white one) and while I liked it better than the RG5EX1, it still wasn't my favorite.

I was surprised to see that they had a Sterling JP50 in stock, especially since their Web site didn't say they had one. Another surprise was how small it looked in person. It always looks huge in photos, but it's really not, especially the neck. Music Man guitars are known for their narrow neck profiles, which players either love or hate. I didn't play it, but I will be back to try it out.

The one I did play, though, was impressive. Amazing, actually. It was the RG4EXQM1 in red (Blackberry Burst, to be more precise). It really was a work of art. The quilted maple top was high quality, the sunburst paint was flawless, and it had added niceties like a bound body, a bound neck, and a chrome logo on the headstock. I had to play it. I ended up going through a Line 6 Spider Valve 112, which was surprisingly awesome (many surprises on this trip). The guitar played and sounded incredible. The 5-way switch and HSH configuration did everything from clean to bluesy overdrive to all out shred with ease. This is the third RG I've played and it was by far the best. Unless the JP50 really blows me away, methinks I found a Short List winner.

On a side note, my first attempt to play the RG4 (as I will call it now) was thwarted by a bad cable, but being the geeky troubleshooter I am, I picked up the first guitar next to me to make sure it was the cable and not the guitar. That guitar turned out to be one of the new Gio RGAs that are on the Short List (a black one) and although I didn't end up playing it, it made a good first impression. It felt solid, the carved top was nice, and the knobs had a quality feel. I especially liked how the knobs were grooved. It made them nice and grippy. I still want to try one out.

So it looks like the Short List is down to three guitars, with one clearly in the lead:

Ibanez RG4EXQM1 (ahead by a few carlengths)
Ibanez GRGA32T
Sterling JP50 (back on the list now that I know I can play one).

One last pruning...

The Dean has to go. I've read too many bad things about their low-end guitars to take the chance. Maybe if I'm bored and it's still in stock at Guitar Center I'll give it a whirl, but otherwise it's no longer a Short List candidate.

I'm keeping the Gio RG on the list because I'm curious to see how good it is, plus it has a different neck profile than the standard RGs so it may make a difference. For those of you who don't know what I mean when I say "Gio RG," Ibanez has an entry-level range they call their Gio range. (To put it in SAT terms, Gio : Ibanez :: Squier : Fender.) The tip-off is that the model numbers start with G - in this case, GRGA32T - and the Ibanez headstock logo has a smaller "Gio" logo along with it. To dive even deeper into Ibanez nomenclature, RG is the series (they have others, like the S series and the ART series), A means it's a carved top, and T means it has a tremolo.

I get the "T = tremolo" thing, but where the hell did they get "A = carved?"

Moving on...

The Short List is now complete. I think there's a good chance I'll end up with an Ibanez. You think so?

Epiphone Les Paul Nightfall ($499, GC)
Ibanez GRGA32T ($299 GC, SM)
Ibanez RG370DX ($399, SM)
Ibanez RG350DX/MYE ($399, SM)
Ibanez RG4EXQM1 ($449, GC)
Ibanez RG5EX1 ($399, GC)
Schecter Damien FR ($449, GC)

More (possibly final) Short List pruning

As all one of my readers knows, I recently pruned the Short List down to just guitars that fit the Satch mold - basically, a heavy metal guitar. Dual humbuckers, locking tremolo, 22 or 24 frets. I then added guitars that also fit the mold that I may have overlooked.

Well, certain circumstances have changed that may allow me to fulfill the Short List's goal much earlier than anticipated. I want to be careful with this purchase, as I expect it to be the last guitar purchase I make in a long time, most likely the last guitar purchase I make, ever. I don't want to make the same mistake I made when I bought my Telecaster (that mistake may be "corrected" some day). Because of that, and because of the shortened time frame, I'm going to further prune the list to include only those guitars I can actually play. So if it's not in stock at either Guitar Center or Spotlight Music, it's off the list.

Here is the newly pruned list, ready for me to take with me when I'm guitar shopping. I'm adding a "GC" or "SM" to indicate where each guitar is in stock.

The (Really) Short List:

Dean Vendetta 1000 ($299, GC)
Epiphone Les Paul Nightfall ($499, GC)
Ibanez GRGA32T ($299 GC, SM)
Ibanez RG370DX ($399, SM)
Ibanez RG350DX/MYE ($399, SM)
Ibanez RG4EXQM1 ($449, GC)
Ibanez RG5EX1 ($399, GC)
Schecter Damien FR ($449, GC)

As you can see, the list is quite short. There are a few Ibanez RG variants, so that choice will most likely come down to looks as they all probably play and sound the same. I'm a little wary of the Gio RG and the Dean, because they're both a bit cheap, and I want this next guitar to last.

Now I get to do some real guitar shopping!

The Short List is about to get a lot shorter

I've been listening to a lot of Joe Satriani lately (which reminds me - I must get more of his stuff) and I want to try to learn his songs again. I know it'll be difficult, but ultimately it'll make me a better player. Because of this, I came to a realization last night while I was running on the treadmill with "Surfing with the Alien" playing on my iPod - I need to get a Satch guitar.

Maybe not necessarily a Satch signature guitar, but a guitar that's capable of pulling off Satch's music. A guitar with a fast, thin neck, dual humbucking pickups, and a locking tremolo. I would like 24 frets, but since most of Joe's signature guitars have 22, I'd be OK with that.

So that means the Short List needs some pruning. All guitars that don't fit the Satch mold will be jettisoned. I'll also add a few that fit the new criteria that may have been overlooked. So without further ado, let the pruning begin:

Dropped off:

Epiphone Les Paul Studio
Schecter Omen 6
Dean Cadillac Select
ESP LTD EC-50
Fender Blacktop Stratocaster (after less than a week, what a shame)
Ibanez ART100
Sterling JP50
Sterling SILO20
Chapman Guitars ML1 (Sorry Chappers!)
Chapman Guitars ML2 (And again!)
DWG Contender

The new list, with updates:

Agile AL-2000 with Floyd Rose ($279)
(NEW) Dean Vendetta 1 with Floyd Rose ($299)
Dean Vendetta 1000 ($299)
(NEW) Epiphone EM-2 Prophesy FX ($399)
Epiphone Les Paul Nightfall ($499)
(NEW) ESP LTD MH-50 ($289)
(NEW) ESP LTD M-100FM ($319)
Ibanez GRGA32T ($299)
Ibanez RG350DX/EX ($399)
(NEW) Ibanez RG4EXQM1 ($449)
Ibanez RG5EX1 ($399)
Ibanez S420 ($499)
(NEW) Jackson JS23R ($329)
(NEW) Laguna LE400Q ($399)
(NEW) Peavey Predator Plus EXP ($239)
Schecter Damien FR ($449)

I'll try to play some of these as soon as I can. I'll also keep on the lookout for good used deals, especially on older Japanese Ibanez Roadstars or a Satch signature JS100. It's nice to finally have a goal in mind for the Short List. I felt that I was all over the place for a while, but now I can concentrate on one style of guitar.

Let the testing begin!

Fender does it again - another Short List entry

The Blacktop Strat.

I've always been a Fender guy. Maybe that's why I've owned three of them (two of which I still have). The company has really done a good job of making quality, affordable guitars with the Fender name - quite the opposite of Gibson, who have really gone downhill, at least in my opinion.

But that's another post. This one is about the latest from Fender that is also the latest on the Short List - the Fender Blacktop Stratocaster.

I have a profound weakness for Strats. If I could, I'd probably have about 50 of them. They are, as I've written in other posts, my guitars. My signature guitar would be a Strat - hence the Johncaster. The Blacktop Strat is probably the nicest Stratocaster I've seen in a while. I especially love it in black with a rosewood fretboard. That's the one that's made it onto the Short List. What amazes me even more is that it's the least expensive Fender-branded Stratocaster on the market, cheaper than even the run-of-the-mill Standard Stratocaster.

And run-of-the-mill, the Blacktop Strat is not. Two powerful AlNiCo humbuckers, a coil-splitting five-way switch, tone controls for each pickup, and 22 frets make the Blacktop not your ordinary Strat. The only thing that's missing a better tremolo system - it's got the typical Mexican vintage tremolo that's on my Strat, and will probably have to be upgraded or blocked off. Still, it ticks off enough boxes - not to mention the all-important "gotta-have-it" box - to easily make it onto the Short List.

I have to give Fender credit for the entire Blacktop line. The Blacktop Tele looks almost exactly the same as my Tele HH, the Blacktop Jaguar is Short List-worthy (and will be re-visited in the near future), and the Blacktop Jazzmaster is a unique take on the classic Jazzmaster. The fact that they're all affordable just makes them even more remarkable.

Here's an updated Short List:

Guitars I've played:

Epiphone Les Paul Studio ($349)
Schecter Omen 6 ($299)

Guitars I haven't played:

Dean Cadillac Select ($479)
Dean Vendetta 1000 ($275)
Epiphone Les Paul Nightfall ($499)
ESP LTD EC-50 ($249)
(NEW) Fender Blacktop Stratocaster ($450)
Ibanez ART100 ($299)
Ibanez GRGA32T ($299)
Ibanez RG350DX ($400)
Ibanez RG5EX1 ($400)
Ibanez S420 ($499)
Schecter Damien FR ($450)
Sterling JP50 ($499)
Sterling SILO20 ($399)

Guitars I can't play:

Agile AL-2000 with Floyd Rose ($279)
Chapman Guitars ML1 ($490)
Chapman Guitars ML2 ($525)
DWG Contender ($299)

Yet another Short List addition, this time a Les Paul

Back when I played the Epiphone Les Paul Studio at Guitar Center that made its way onto the Short List, I noticed another Epiphone Les Paul model I never saw before. It was all black and had EMG pickups and a Floyd Rose. At the time I wasn't looking for a guitar with a locking tremolo, but I kept the image in the back of my mind for future reference.

Since I'm looking at tremolo-equipped shredders again, I decided to look into this mystery Les Paul and figure out if it warrants a place on the Short List. In a word, hell yeah. Wait, that's two words. Anyway, I watched another Rob Chappers video series where he just abuses locking-tremolo-equipped guitars and one of them was an Epiphone, which reminded me of the black Les Paul I saw that day at Guitar Center.

Epiphone sells two versions of this guitar - the Nightfall, which is the one I saw, and the Plustop Pro F/X, which was in the Chappers video. The only difference I can see is the color - the Nightfall is all black (including hardware) whereas the Plustop is a more traditional Les Paul with a sunburst top and chrome hardware. Oh, and there's the price - the Plustop is $200 more for all that woody-chromey goodness. Personally, I don't know if it's worth the extra dough, because the black one looks really cool. But all my guitars are some type of black, so it might be nice to get something different.

I hope they still have the Nightfall Les Paul at Guitar Center because I'd love to play it. On paper, it ticks off a lot of boxes - Les Paul style, dual humbuckers (with coil tap, no less), locking tremolo, thin neck. The only thing it doesn't have is 24 frets, but 22 frets are good for me. It makes it on the Short List, but only in Nightfall guise as it rings in at $499, which blows the budget a little but not enough to be a deal breaker. The $699 Plustop is a little too expensive, even if it does look exactly like the Gibson Les Paul Alex Lifeson used on tour with Rush this year.

Here's the updated list, now in alphabetical order:

Guitars I've played:

Epiphone Les Paul Studio ($349)

Schecter Omen 6 ($299)

Guitars I haven't played:

Dean Cadillac Select ($479)

Dean Vendetta 1000 ($275)

(NEW) Epiphone Les Paul Nightfall ($499)

ESP LTD EC-50 ($249)

Ibanez ART100 ($299)

Ibanez GRGA32T ($299)

Ibanez RG350DX ($400)

Ibanez RG5EX1 ($400)

Ibanez S420 ($499)

Schecter Damien FR ($450)

Sterling JP50 ($499)

Sterling SILO20 ($399)

Guitars I can't play:

Agile AL-2000 with Floyd Rose ($279)

Chapman Guitars ML1 ($490)

Chapman Guitars ML2 ($525)

DWG Contender ($299)

Just when I thought I may have figured it all out...

...here comes another guitar I'd love to have. It's currently the only offering from a company called Durango Guitar Works called the Contender. Corny name, to be sure, but the guitar it's attached to is anything but. What really caught my eye about this guitar is the fact that it's a short-scale guitar, 24" to be exact.

So what's the big deal about that? Well, as I've blogged about in the past, I sometimes have issues with DeQuervain's tenosynovitis and the shorter 24.75" scale of my Les Paul Special often makes it feel better. I also have crooked pinkies that bend inward at the top joint, making some scale and chord stretches difficult, especially on my Fenders with their 25.5" scale. There aren't too many short scale guitars made, especially ones that are intended for hard rock or metal, so until I found the Contender I pretty much gave up on trying to find anything like it. I saw a few videos on YouTube and I think it sounds pretty good, especially since it has Wilkinson humbuckers with AlNiCo magnets.

I wish I could play one of these, or any guitar with a 24" scale. There aren't too many out there - the Fender Jaguar and Squier Duo-Sonic come to mind, but they're hard to find - but if I know what a 24" scale feels like, I may be more inclined to bump it up the Short List. As it stands now, the $299 guitar (a bargain if you ask me) is on the list under the "Guitars I can't play" heading.

Here's another updated list:

Guitars I've played:

Epiphone Les Paul Studio ($349)
Schecter Omen 6 ($299)

Guitars I haven't played:

Dean Cadillac Select ($479)
Sterling SILO20 ($399)
Sterling JP50 ($499)
Ibanez ART100 ($299)
Dean Vendetta 1000 ($275)
Ibanez GRGA32T ($299)
Ibanez RG5EX1 ($400)
Ibanez RG350DX ($400)
Schecter Damien FR ($450)
ESP LTD EC-50 ($249)
Ibanez S420 ($499)

Guitars I can't play:

Chapman Guitars ML2 ($525)
Chapman Guitars ML1 ($490)
Agile AL-2000 with Floyd Rose ($279)
(NEW) DWG Contender ($299)

A drool-worthy addition to the short list

I found another guitar worthy of the short list. In fact, it just might be a favorite. The Ibanez S420. Look at it - it's stunning. It's a little over budget at $499, but wow. It has everything I'd want in a tremolo-equipped shredder - 24 frets, dual humbuckers with coil tapping, thin neck, and a good locking tremolo.

In fact, the tremolo itself is worthy of special consideration. It's Ibanez's zero-return tremolo, meaning that it always returns to zero position when used. It also stays in that position if a string breaks, so no more horrendous cacophony after a break (it's happened to me, so I know how bad it sounds).

I must play one of these. Although, I'm afraid that after I play one, I won't be able to put it back. There's a real good chance that the short list will end here. I hope it lives up to the hype I'm giving it.

More short list changes

Another short one today, this time another addition to the short list. The catalyst for this change was a series of two videos I watched on YouTube from Rob Chappers in which he compares a handful of affordable guitars, giving some brief tone examples and general comments. He also gave an overall winner, which has found its way onto the short list.

Spoiler alert: If you want to watch the videos first and learn which one was the winner the right way, click on the link above, watch the videos, and come back. I'll wait.

Good videos, huh? I like his comments on the Ibanez and I think I'll be revisiting the RG series again before this is all said and done. Anyway, the winner of the video competition was the ESP LTD EC-50. I had the EC-100 (basically an EC-50 with a nicer top) on the list before, but I took it off as I thought it wouldn't match up to the Ibanez ART100. After watching the videos and hearing how it sounded, I decided to put it on the list. That, and the fact that the EC-50 has 24 frets while the ART100 only has 22.

On a related note, lately I've been playing my Les Paul Special a lot. I'm starting to really like the shorter 24.75" scale and I may want to get another guitar like that, which makes this latest addition to the short list all the more important. It's also a bargain at $249.

So here's an updated short list:

Guitars I've played:

Epiphone Les Paul Studio ($349)
Schecter Omen 6 ($299)

Guitars I haven't played:

Dean Cadillac Select ($479)
Sterling SILO20 ($399)
Sterling JP50 ($499)
Ibanez ART100 ($299)
Dean Vendetta 1000 ($275)
Ibanez GRGA32T ($299)
Ibanez RG5EX1 ($400)
Ibanez RG350DX ($400)
Schecter Damien FR ($450)
(NEW) ESP LTD EC-50 ($249)

Guitars I can't play:

Chapman Guitars ML2 ($525)
Chapman Guitars ML1 ($490)
Agile AL-2000 with Floyd Rose ($279)

Add one to the short list

Just a quick post today. I wanted to add another guitar to the ever-lengthening short list - an Ibanez JS100 Joe Satriani model (the cheaper one). Yeah, I know they cost $800 new, but the local Music Go Round (OK, the closest one, which is an hour and a half drive away) has two of them for $399.

I love them because not only are they Satch's own guitars, but they're like a new classic guitar. Imagine being able to go to a car dealer now and pick up a brand-new 1984 Corvette and you get the idea (had to stick with an 80s reference on that one). It's basically an old Ibanez Radius with different pickups, so it has an old body style and an old neck profile, and because of that it looks anachronistically cool.

Of course, these being used guitars opens up another colossal can of worms - do I pay $400 for a new Indonesian or Chinese guitar, or do I pay $400 for a used Japanese guitar? For the record, the JS100 is made in Indonesia, but look how much it costs new. I'm already enjoying the fruits of used guitar buying, having bought my Telecaster for almost half of what it cost new.

Too many choices. I know what'll probably happen - I'll have too many choices and end up getting nothing. I don't think I'd mind that outcome too much.

Refining the short list: wants vs. needs

There are a lot of guitars I'd like to have. In fact, I would be more than happy with any guitar on my short list. More than one of them would be even better. Hell, I'll just take one of each.

Excuse me for a moment while I collect myself. OK, that's better.

Where was I? Oh yeah, guitars. Bottom line is, I want a lot of guitars for one reason or another. If I had unlimited disposable income, I wouldn't have to worry about a list and I'd get any guitar I wanted. But life isn't that way, and I'm glad it's not. Buying a guitar is fun and exciting, but after the initial high wears off, you end up with a lot of guitars that you don't really play. It ends up being nothing more than runaway consumerism. What a guitarist really needs is a handful of guitars that suit specific purposes and, combined, gives that player the ability to play pretty much anything they want.

I have most of that. I think one more guitar will round out my collection nicely (and officially give me a handful) and will probably make a great 40th birthday present, as that's when I'm most likely to get one. So the real question is not what do I want, but what do I need? What gaps are there in my current gear that a new guitar will need to fill? What gaps do I want filled?

With these questions in mind, I created the following list of four things I don't have in my guitar rig. I'll also point out which guitars fill those holes and maybe even add some new ones to the list.

Short List Smackdown: Ibanez vs. Schecter

My wife and I were in Fort Collins over the weekend and, as usual, I ended up at my favorite place, Guitar Center. Since I posted my short list of guitars from which I will choose my next axe, I planned on playing as many as I could and telling you, faithful reader, my thoughts on them and adjusting the short list as necessary.

I didn't have a ton of time to play guitars, so I ended up playing two - one that's on the short list and one that's sort-of on the short list - a Schecter Omen 6 and an Ibanez RG3EXFM1, which is very similar to the purple Ibanez I played at Spotlight Music and is the current top choice for a shredder, should it still be available. Well, kinda. I'll explain.

But first, the comparison. I played both through a Line 6 Spider IV 75, only because I have a Line 6 and I didn't want a steep learning curve trying to figure out how to use the amp. I played each for about 10-15 minutes using clean, crunch and metal settings. Since I played the Omen first, I'll start with that one.

Clarifying the short list

In a recent post, I mentioned that I played an Epiphone Les Paul Studio and that it made it on my short list. This comment completely freaked out my wife, who thought it meant that I want to buy a new guitar soon! My wife has been very supportive of my new guitar habit and has, within reason, agreed to my purchases, but there are some upcoming expenses in our life (not the least of which is expensive jaw surgery and orthodontics) that mean guitar and guitar-related funds are in short supply, plus there are other things I want to get first.

So in an effort to clarify the short list, I'd like to first say that I don't plan on purchasing another guitar for at least two years, most likely three. I have plenty of guitars to suit my needs right now and I want to concentrate on other things. I already got the RP90 and I should be getting a new MacBook for Christmas (which will be my recording platform), so all I need is a MIDI controller to round out phase one of my recording studio, and they're cheap enough to be a birthday present. After that, there will be a moratorium on any guitar-related purchases until my jaw surgery and orthodontics are done, which is in about two or three years.

That being said, over the course of these two or three years, I want to play as many guitars as I can when I get the chance so I can whittle down all the guitars I like to a short list of 10 or fewer guitars from which I'll make my decision on my next guitar purchase. I'm putting a cap of $400 on my purchase, because even though there are some amazing guitars out there for a lot of money, 400 bucks can buy a really nice guitar and I can't see spending more than that unless it's an amazing instrument. I'm torn between getting a Les Paul style guitar or getting a shredder guitar, so I'm hoping that by playing them I can make a decision.

Without further ado, here is the short list, broken down into guitars I've played, guitars I haven't played, and guitars I probably can't play: