Metal Guitar For a Teenager

[MDV]

There isnt really a hard and fast rule to what a metal guitar even is. There are metal players, and thats it

I mean, look at Rodrigo y Gabriella! Metal as $%&#, on acoustic :D

But, anything with a powerfull bridge humbucker. Thats about the only real requirement.

Brands that do good guitars for not much money -
Dean
Ibanez (avoid the low end Edge trems though)
Schecter
Maverick
Yamaha

Avoid at all costs
ESP LTD - very, very inconsistent and overpriced until you get into the high end stuff.
Jackson - Same. Never played a sub-£500 jackson that was put together well. Past that and they start getting really, really good.

Were I to pick one brand to look into it would be Dean. Some really good cheap guitars off them, and the pickups are very good as well, even on the cheap stuff, which isnt true of any of the others (I actually put a set of nailbombs in a Dean Z and struggled to hear more than a marginal difference, so that should give you an idea what they sound like)

[Jonny]

Take into account Schecter have thick necks.

[BigK]

Take into account Schecter have thick necks.

that depends on the model, my 006 elite's neck is about the same as the 'thin U' on my esp stephen carpenter or a prs wide thin.

But +1 on schecter and maverick. Try and find a maverick f1 or species 1 going cheap on ebay excellent guitars especially the earlier ones.

[MDV]

Werd - early mavericks were dynamite. Newer ones are fine, but the old species were pretty top class guitars for ~500£. Pretty much unheard of when they first arived

[Spat]

+1 on the Schecter, I picked one up a couple of weeks ago with a roland cube 20X for my friends son the combination sounded great picked the lot up for £240 with a deal from the store.

[dave_mc]

+1 on what mark(MDV)'s saying (other than deans, i haven't tried many of those, i'm sure if he says they're good, though, they probably are).

also, lags can be quite nice and sometimes you can get good deals on them- just get a hardtail one, you want to avoid locking trems on cheap guitars as a general rule. :)

[MrBump]

Pretty sure that if he still looks for guitars by wanting something that 'looks cool' then he's not gonna be abe to tell the difference between a stock pickup and a BKP.

... I still want guitars that look cool...

[JDC]

I rather like my Jackson! :( (ok I admit the floyd is knackered and doesn't stay in tune but I don't use it)

[Jonny]

Pretty sure that if he still looks for guitars by wanting something that 'looks cool' then he's not gonna be abe to tell the difference between a stock pickup and a BKP.

... I still want guitars that look cool...

+1

[TwilightOdyssey]

I would get a Strat. They are infinitely customizable and can grow as he does and his needs/wants change with simple parts swaps.

[Yamhammer]

My Gibson Les Paul Studio Premium Plus for £200, lol  :)

It sucks hard!

[ToneMonkey]

I noticed no one has said BC Rich.

[mikeluke]

Few people have mentioned Schecter - any models that I should look out for? I know nothing about them at all.

Yamhammer - now then, about that LP Studio....

 :lol:

[BigK]

Werd - early mavericks were dynamite. Newer ones are fine, but the old species were pretty top class guitars for ~500£. Pretty much unheard of when they first arived

Yup I had two early mk2 species 1 (the ones with the maverick body contours) serials 00011 and 00051 and I wish I never sold them They were some of the best playing guitars I ever owned. I loved the pickups as well, extremely versatile guitars.

[noodleplugerine]

There isnt really a hard and fast rule to what a metal guitar even is. There are metal players, and thats it

I mean, look at Rodrigo y Gabriella! Metal as $%&#, on acoustic Very Happy

But, anything with a powerfull bridge humbucker. Thats about the only real requirement.

Brands that do good guitars for not much money -
Dean
Ibanez (avoid the low end Edge trems though)
Schecter
Maverick
Yamaha

Avoid at all costs
ESP LTD - very, very inconsistent and overpriced until you get into the high end stuff.
Jackson - Same. Never played a sub-£500 jackson that was put together well. Past that and they start getting really, really good.

Were I to pick one brand to look into it would be Dean. Some really good cheap guitars off them, and the pickups are very good as well, even on the cheap stuff, which isnt true of any of the others (I actually put a set of nailbombs in a Dean Z and struggled to hear more than a marginal difference, so that should give you an idea what they sound like)

Funny you say that, I'd steer clear of Dean with a MASSIVE barge pole, and find the LTDs from the 400s and above very good actually.

I'd say go for a Schecter Blackhawk. £175, my mate has one, I would say its a good guitar in any price range really.