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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
 Posted - 03/23/2008 : 02:56:53
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i'm needing to pick up a shred guitar in order to help rehab my left hand from muscle atrophy and nerve damage that occurred when i sliced the crap out of my index finger (think 8-38's for strings)
i'm looking to add a guitar to my collection of a style that i've never owned before in the 30+ guitars i've had over the past 15 years... namely, a shred guitar.
i'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations. i'm kind of a stickler about resale value so i tend to only buy items that will retain a minimum of 85% (and hopefully 100% or more) of their value. due to this i've pretty much limited my search to american or japanese wade with a few exceptions of high end korean/mexican models. my budget for this is $300-$600 range (with some flexibility for super good deals).
there is a catch... due to my hand size (i have very short fingers), there is a limit on a fretboard radius that is manageable to me, so i'm going for a balance of thin and narrow. it's easier for me to play a fat neck with a short fretboard than a super thin neck with a tall fretboard. the peak fretboard radius i can manuver well is around 12", which eliminates a whole lot of ibanez, jackson, and charvel models that have a ~17" (430mm) fretboard radius.
i'm wondering if people have any recommendations or comments on what i've been looking into.
guitars i am currently investigating for this purpose...
on the toneful side:
PRS SE series tremonti, doublecut, or singlecut.
gibson sonex 180
ibanez artist series set necks
ibanez s series set necks
fender MIM sambora stra
on the less toneful side:
ibanez satriani signature (this is the most comfortable neck i have played so far out of these, ~9.4" ~305mm for the metric)
ibanez s series bolt ons
ibanez radius series
peavey wolfgang special
musicman SUB
anyone have any recommendations worth investigating?
i've always struggled with the brands that don't have very many distinguishing marks or model names on their guitars (e.g. jackson).
i'm also curious on pickups. going for the hottest pickup that still has decent tone. i've heard dimarzio evolutions and leaning towards those.
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 03:18:13
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| I recommend looking into BC Rich. The NJ Series one I have at my parents house has a skinny neck and a 24 3/4" scale... |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 06:14:26
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at that scale i'm guessing it's a set neck?
i've never played a bc rich i really liked the sound of... but i haven't played that many (maybe a half dozen).
i'm willing to try stuff out though. |
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exodia333
Silver Member
USA
273 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 06:34:58
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Try a Gibson shred series they have kahlers  |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 06:43:12
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actually, i've been trying to find a list of the gibson shredders out there...
i know of the M3 and U2...
if you can list off some model names it'd be much appreciated. |
Edited by - zentropa on 03/23/2008 06:43:21 |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 11:19:29
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For shred I've found Ibanez to be the best guitars. Their neck profiles sort of invites that sort of paying and their Floyd copies are of the best ones around.
I would try to get an Ibanez RG series with the narrow wizard neck profile. |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 13:29:41
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quote:
Originally posted by zentropa
at that scale i'm guessing it's a set neck?
i've never played a bc rich i really liked the sound of... but i haven't played that many (maybe a half dozen).
i'm willing to try stuff out though.
Actually its a bolt-on. Its an NJ Series Warlock from the late 80's-early 90's. If I recall correctly, its serial number is 10154.... |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 16:23:07
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quote:
I would try to get an Ibanez RG series with the narrow wizard neck profile.
unfortunately, the wizard, wizard 2, jem, and ultra necks have a fretboard radius > 400mm. i'll put it this way, on a wizard neck my pinkey barely reaches the 4th string unless i put my hand in a classical guitar position.
been leaning towards ibanez because of their superb quality control, even on cheaper guitars. just been hard finding ones with a neck that suits my hand. |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 17:22:35
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| There is an old trick that I use quite often on my acoustic, and was used by both Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. I tune the guitar down one step and put a capo on the first fret, this effectively shortens the scale length and lessens the distance that you need to reach. Also the string tension is less so it is easier on the hand. this may or may not help, zentropa, but if it does help, please let me know. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2008 : 18:08:31
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thanks p4pv.
battling the effects of 2 injuries that happened. i used to do something similar after the car accident in '99 that screwed up my tendons and the supportive tissue in my wrists. before then i was playing 13-58's on my electric and i was forced to go down to 11-52's. i also downtuned to DGCFAD for the first year or so after that.
the downside is that since i cut my hand, none of those factors have mattered much. going to have to downgrade to 8-38 strings for the time being. going for something with hot pickups as i find the tone degradation is of a lesser magnitude on shred-esque guitars. i put some 8's on one of my les pauls... for about an hour before taking them off and putting heavier strings back on.
the downside is right now i'm unable to play bar chords for longer than about 3 minutes before cramping/pain sets in. |
Edited by - zentropa on 03/23/2008 18:09:03 |
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Caliban
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
145 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2008 : 22:37:12
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Can I suggest - gently - that a shred guitar is the wrong idea? Most of those guitars have very thin necks, which will mean that you'll have to use extra pressure to fret chords, which is entirely the wrong thing to do when you've got nerve and tendon damage in your hand.
You'd be better off talking to a physiotherapist (if you haven't already) and getting a regular exercise routine, using something like a Gripmaster, to build up your strength. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2008 : 23:04:40
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Caliban,
thanks for the input. unfortunately, i have no medical insurance, so any kind of specialized doctors/trainers are out of the question as... i just can't afford it.
as for shred guitars, i'm trying to stay away from ones with overly thin necks. i'm looking for something more with a compound radius like the satriani necks have (closer to a strat). mainly looking for a shredder so that i can set it up with extremely low action with fat frets so that i can start working my agility back up without pain.
i was hoping to use guitar as it's a lot more fun than working with strengthening devices :)
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2008 : 06:58:09
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looks like i have a 1987/88 MIJ kramer focus 1000 (baretta copy) on the way for $200 w/ OHSC in near mint condition. original recessed floyd rose , single angled humbucker, etc.
anyone have any experience with these?
i'm always prone to picking up guitars in matching pairs... realized with these japanese kramers it's truly affordable to do so.
thinkin about droppin a dimarzio evolution in the bridge but going to sample it stock first. |
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Topic |
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Shred Guitars
