Hey MC. I'm thinking about buying a guitar and amp because I like guitar. (duh)

Problem is I'm totally lost. I don't know shit about the construction or what materials make up a good guitar/amp. What I DO know is:

1) I want a heavy(weight) guitar that's suitable for music like rock/punk/metal. Something that's fast, but is versatile enough for power chords and the like.
2) I want a tube amp with 100 watts. I know that's plenty of volume, but as far as tone and quality go I'm lost.
3) I want to spend around 2,000 USD for both.


So far I've looked at Gibson Les Pauls, Ibanez RGs, Jackson USA soloists. I'm leaning toward the Les Paul but any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Well, as far as weight goes, the Les Paul is known for being heavy but having amazing tone. While some think they're too heavy, I think they're perfect because they sit at a good angle when standing up due to the weight distribution on the guitar. So yeah, I highly recommend a Les Paul for the guitar. I bought a 1959 Re-Issue Les Paul about 2 years ago and I have absolutely no regrets.

Just a small add on if you are getting a nice class a tube amp, 100 watts is almost completely unnecessary honestly, a 30-50 watt is MORE than enough to make your ears bleed and also makes it easier to push the tubes and get some real peak tube tone

Thanks for the input. I like the weight and feel of the Les Paul, but I'm also looking for some other suggestions.



That's an interesting point, I didn't know 50w could push a half stack like that.

I have an epiphone valve jr head I use to fuck around with, its 5 watt class a, and pushes a mesa recto cab loud enough to play with drums lol.... my sovtek mig50 will make you deaf at half lol, same with my marshall jcm 800 50watt head. I don't like 100watt heads because you can't push the tubes enough to get great tone, lower wattage amps sound better at reasonable volumes

This post was edited by MyExitEmergency on Sep 2 2010 09:50pm

A friend of mine & his band played a stadium gig supporting Judas Priest this autumn. He played Mesa Boogie 50w, with 50% volume.
50w head can push more than enough volume, unless you play open-air gigs for 1000+ people

This post was edited by Rupsu on Sep 2 2010 10:31pm

Generally speaking, a tube amp has triple the power of a solid-state amp of the same wattage. So for example, a 50 watt tube amp would be similar to a 150 watt solid state amp (assuming the amps are of good quality, and not just thrown together). I have a 40 watt Fender Hotrod Deluxe, and it is amazing. I would say you would do fine with a 40-50 watt amp, at least until you start playing stadium gigs.

Alright, you've all convinced me I don't need 100 watts. Especially because I'm not really even a good guitar player and I wanted it mostly for just jamming. But now I don't know what sort of brand to look for.

So now onto the issue of the guitar. Any advice?

Are you wanting a half stack (head+cab) or something like a combo amp such as a 2x12 combo. Also do you want something that has a high gain stage built in, or do you like distortion pedals.... also do you want a two channel amp lol.

Guitar wise, it really depends, do you like the compressed sound of active emg's or the more open sound of a passive humbucker? I have been playing guitar for 16 years, so if anything I definately know about gear.

Also are you wanting something brand new or used?

Used is fine as long as it works and isn't butt-ugly. I was interested in half stacks with a slant cab with built-in gain and 2 channels with a 3 band eq for each of em.(Expensive?)

I'm not too sure about the pickups. Can you give me some examples of one vs the other?