Guitar Choices

[thefallenangel]

Hi,
Am thinkin about getting a new guitar.
hoping to spend over a £1000 anyway.
Was thinkin about

Musicman Axis
Musicman Petrucci
Ibanez JEM
Ibanez JS1000
Peavey Wolfgang

Personally I am comfortable with a guitar that I can raise pitch with the bridge.
The Axis/Wolfgang are flushed bridges so i am unsure whether i would like it or not.
The Petrucci i really like but wud be tough gettin to try one without actually havin to have it specificially ordered. Is the bridge on that any good?? Can it be abused like a Floyd?
I like to play Maiden, Satch, Vai, Malmsteen, AC/DC, Metallica....A whole load of different stuff what would u recommend..

Thanks

Douglas

[szulc]

There is nothing anyone can tell you to help you with this. Buying a guitar is subjective. Go and play all the guitars you are thinking about. Dropping 1000 pounds on any guitar you haven't held in your hands is stupid.

[metaljustice83]

just to let you know here's one satisfied wolfgang costomer :) :)

[thefallenangel]

of course i am gonna try them out!!!!!

But i want to know about them from people who have had experience with them and who have owned them and of course wot the "real deal" is with them.

Douglas

[EricV]

Hi there,

as James said, you gotta decide for yourself, but maybe I can tell you what I thought about the guitars you mention.
Although all of those have a similar configuration ( humbuckers, whammy bar ), they are all kinda different.
You gotta decide based on what you are looking for.
If you i.e. are looking for Strat-style clean sounds ( middle position sounds ), the Jem might be a good choice, since it has a single coil in the middle, while those other guitars have two humbuckers and no SC.

OK... here is my opinion on each guitar...
Axis: OK, I haven´t tried that one, but I used to own the old Van Halen model by EB, which the Axis is based on. Very well-built, warm sounding guitar, sounds even better if you put in DiMarzio Tone Zones. Those guitars are quite durable and well-build.

Jem: More of a shred-guitar ( although you can "shred" on all of those :) ), thinner neck etc. Nice clean sounds are possible due to the 5way switch, but to me, the pickup-configuration sounded a bit muddy. But it´s possible that I perceived it that way because of the amp I tried it through, which wasn´t my own, so I wasn´t used to it.

JS 1000: A quite special one. A cool neck ( asymetrical AFAIR ). The pickups had that "open wah" / vowel-sound ( FRED ). I liked the feel of the neck, but I couldn´t get used to the shape of the body, and somehow the guitar sounded... I dunno, a bit muddy, too. Again, just my opinion.

Peavey Wolfgang- Of all the guitars you mentioned, this is the one I like most. I used to own a USA-built Wolfgang ( the regular model with binding etc, not the special ).
I thought the neck felt great ( no finish, I like that ), the pickups are great, very "brown sound-ish", warm, loud and fat. The whammy bar worked great, of course the D-Tuna is a cool device, especially when you consider how many bands are using the Dropped-D-tuning. Although it looks very nice, I´d consider this a plain workhorse-guitar, it is very durable, stays in tune, sounds good, and is quite versatile. Only part I wasn´t that happy with: the clean sound was a bit.... harsh. I prefer mid-position, strat-style clean sounds, but again, that is just me.
For distorted and crunch stuff, lead and rhythm, that one really delivered.

Anyway, just my opinion, hope this helps
Eric

[Greg]

Hi everybody!

About the bridge on the Petrucci model, I was just wondering about that one myself. It´s not a floyd rose, but you can raise the pitch with it. It´s shaped so you can rest your hand on it more comfortably than a floyd, but how high can you raise the pich? Has anyone tried it?

Best,
Greg

[thefallenangel]

Hey Guyz,

So far I have managed to play a Musicman Axis.
I really liked it - altho I would like to see how it would have performed if the bridge was floating a bit because I like to add a bit of bar vibrato at times.

anyone any info on the petrucci??

[Greg]

A new (and VERY pleased) USA-built Peavey Wolfgang owner reporting in... :D

[metaljustice83]

so tell me what color your wolfie is? and what do you like about it. mines the ivory color with black binding. and my favorite feature is most definatly the neck!! with the d tuna being a close second :cool: everyone kinda does one of these when i say "oh thats in drop d?" if you've used it enough you know that sound it makes (it means business) whhhheeerrrrrrr :eek:

[Greg]

Mine´s in ivory as well. It looks really nice. I love the neck! It feels really, well... real, if you know what I mean... :rolleyes: The d-tuna is a great tool, so easy to use. I also like the reversed pickup-switch (switching up selects the bridge pickup). This was one of the last USA-models available in stores in Sweden, so I´m very lucky.:D

[Bongo Boy]

You guys might enjoy visiting the Edward van Halen Custom Shop at www.peavey.com, if you haven't already.

[EricV]

Yeah, I went there a while ago... it´s fun to hang out there and design some kind of a custom Wolfgang... I posted two of my results here:

http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45

Eric

[metallibeast]

Hi, what's up?

Eric I remember a couple of wks or maybe months ago, you posted couple of pics of your old guitars, the ones you painted ur self...

I thought you might like of the designs

here. (http://www.gimguitars.com/parts.html)

-Beast

[EricV]

Yeah, they sure have some interesting designs.
I do like the JS-7 ( that blue-ish Strat-style guitar )... it has that 80´s vibe I like :)
Thanks for the link
Eric

[metallibeast]

I thought that their custom pickups with those wooden covers are pretty cool.

I've always like guitars that are left in their natural colors. Maybe if I do get the chance to own a guitar like that, I will probably get GIM to make me one of those wooden pickup covers!!!:D


-Beast

[Greg]

Nice Wolfgangs there Eric ;)
Here´s one I made. Did I mention how much I loved the 80´s..? :D

http://www.peavey.com/wcs/builds/wolf_floyd_body_pinkcadillac_birdseye.gif

[EricV]

LOL... don´t think you have to mention it... a pictures says more than... =)
Cool, I dig it !
Eric

[Greg]

Thanks! To bad you can´t see the golden floyd rose... :p

[EricV]

LOL

You should see what the red Vandenberg guitars looks like these days... the picture on my site isn´t very recent.
Well, it has green pickups know... Andy ( drummer ) left the room quickly when he first saw it, shaking his head... :)

Eric

[Greg]

:D Can´t wait to see it!

I think red knobs on a pink guitar along with purple pickups would really bring out the artist in me... :eek:

[EricV]

:)

I can only repeat myself:

[Greg]

AAARGH! YOU WIN!!! :D

I´ll return when I´m a worthy opponent...

[metaljustice83]

just played some custom shop wolfgangs at a local music store and let me say.....mmmmmmmmmm nice. if you think the necks are silky smooth with a maple fret board i have one thing to say ebony is a million times smoother :cool: i am seriously thinking of sending my neck to the custom shop to have one installed. if you have the chance try one out!!! in fact make it a goal in life to try one with a ebony fret board you won't be dissapointed if you like the wolfie neck to begin with

[Greg]

Thanks for the tip! I´d love to try one out, if I can just FIND one...
Also, the ebony neck looks great!


http://www.peavey.com/wcs/builds/wolf_floyd_body_blonde_ebony.jpg

[Bongo Boy]

Originally posted by metallibeast
I've always like guitars that are left in their natural colors.Yup, me too. That's exactly why I like Eric's so much. :D

[EricV]

Which one ? THAT one ? :)

[Bongo Boy]

Don't be silly. THIS one. Nice, natural colors--the way God intended.

[EricV]

LOL

Oh yeah...

I don´t know what wood that guitar was made of, but judging by the way it looks, you better don´t smoke any leaves from that tree :rolleyes:

Eric

[Bongo Boy]

I think Brunswick made bowling balls like that in the early 70s!

Actually I'm getting rather fond of that guitar, to be serious.