New guitar advice please.

[hamfist]

I'll be coming into some money in a few days, and will be in the market for a new guitar, and I'd appreciate some advice.

  I currently have a MIJ Tokai Love Rock Les Paul, which fulfils everything I want from an LP, although being an LP, is tonally rather limited.
  I also have a cheapish Cort strat (HSS pickup setup), which covers that side of things and has been my number 2 guitar, in case of string breakages. It plays really nicely actually, but I'm just not a fan of the strat guitar shape.

I'll be looking to spend anything between about £250 and £500 I suppose.

My requirements are :-

- 43mm nut width, or wider.
- HH or HSH pickup layout.
- tonally more flexible than an LP, so coil-splitting or something similar required.
- better upper fret access than a Les paul !
- A really nice playing neck would also be much appreciated.
- NOT a strat shaped guitar, or any shape that is too spikey.

The real contenders at the moment are :-

A Washburn idol of some sort.
Sgmypod's Gordon Smith Graduate.

I love the tele shape but can't find any tele with a wide enough neck fitted with two Humbuckers. Ah, there is the Schecter PT tele shape HH, but I'm a bit concerned about quality, as it's pretty cheap.

What else am I forgetting about, or not aware of ?  I am happy to buy second hand also, but I don't really want to wait around for ages until the right thing becomes available so a used guitar would need to be fairly commonly available.

[horsehead]

Sgmypods Gordon Smith would be perfect for you Alan, it plays beautifully & you can do just about anything with it!

[Twinfan]

I'd say an SG of some sort, so the Gordon Smith would kind of fit that bill too.

[Scotty477]

How about a used Yamaha SG1000?

That would seem to fit the criteria you've set.

[PPPMAT]

What about the brian may guitar - as flexible as a guitar can get - never played one mind  :shock:

[Jonny]

I've never heard of a bad thing about Schecter.

[hamfist]

I've never heard of a bad thing about Schecter.

I've also heard a lot of good things about Schetcer. The particular guitar I mentioned though is certainly one of their lower priced (and no doubt lower quality) models.

[ToneMonkey]

Anything with P-90's.  Sound's like your after extending your tones.

[dave_mc]

^ that might be a good idea, actually. there's an MIJ tokai with p90s for around the £500 mark...

[sgmypod]

Do like those Yamaha Sg's but would want an original or an Ibanez artist..shame prices are high now for them

[Scotty477]

Do like those Yamaha Sg's but would want an original or an Ibanez artist..shame prices are high now for them

I've seen a few vintage SG1000's go for under your £500 limit on ebay?

There's also the SG1200 AND 1500 to consider as well. I picked up my '79 SG2000 for £750 in a store but they do go for less than that on ebay.

[WezV]

the SG2000 i have had great pleasure messing with (TLC rather than changes... none are needed) in the last few years was brought just before for £400.  i doubt you would find one that low  but they are well worth keeping an eye out for.  the only thing i dont like is the weight

[Scotty477]

£400 is a killer deal for an SG2000  :D

The weight has to considered, as you say.

My SG2000 tips the scales at 11.5lbs, although it is perfectly balanced. I use a special Yamaha gel filled strap when I have it around my neck and to be honest I don't really feel the weight too much.

If I was using a 2" normal nylon strap  though .... ouch  :D

[ailean]

Hey Alan, I think I saw a Yam SG2000 in Fret's just before Christmas if you want to get a feel for them. Not sure what the price was though.

[hamfist]

Hey Alan, I think I saw a Yam SG2000 in Fret's just before Christmas if you want to get a feel for them. Not sure what the price was though.

THanks for that Rich. I'm pretty much set on getting Sgmypod's Gordon Smith now though. To be honest, I quite fancy a rather lighter guitar, and the Gordon Smth is slightly thinner bodied version. My Les paul weighs a ton and I would appreciate something la bit lighter for long gigs.