What electric guitar to put on my wish list? Epiphone vs PRS

[serene prism]

So I have played for maybe 1-1.5 year on and off. Lately I’ve found such passion for guitar, I’m loving it. I’m still a beginner in the sense of well I can ask weird questions sometimes, however I think I’m ready for my first electric guitar in a couple of months. I only have 2 acoustic guitars.

Budget will probably be around $700-900 for the guitar

I’m considering Epiphone and PRS. Honestly I love how Epiphones look but looks aren’t everything, I haven’t heard too much about them. Some PRS guitars come with a whammy bar. I will probably not use the whammy bar at least in the beginning.

Can I just ignore the whammy bar? Like not install it or put it on the side or something?

Does guitar with whammy bars get out of tone more often?

Here’s an example of what I’ve been eyeing.

https://andreassonmusik.se/epiphone-les-paul-standard-60s-figured-top-blueberry-burst

https://andreassonmusik.se/prs-se-ce24-standard-satin-ice-blue

I will also get a boss katana mk3 with Bluetooth I think.

Unfortunately I can’t try these guitars at a store. My acoustic guitar that I bought was a coin toss and I simply ended up loving it, the first guitar was a gift from my sister.

Thanks 🙏

Also I don’t know if this helps, but I want to play music like this guy. Obviously I’m not as skilled etc, it’s more about the sound I want to achieve.

https://youtu.be/3LKcFQlX380?si=CccVxQI1ebxBP3_s

[elfin vigil]

They will both sound very similar, it depends on what amp and effects you use

I'm not a big fan of les pauls especially when they don't have that belly cut because it feels pretty bulky

And yeah you can remove the wiggle stick if you don't want to use it. I'm not sure about going out of tune though, theoretically yes.

[urban vortex]

Look at the PRS Se McCarty 594 if u like the singlecut look

[rapid birch]

90% of the sound is the amp

not the guitar

no guitar will make you sound like that guy if you dont have an equally good sounding amp

[serene prism]

Thanks for all your insight. Ah so that means I can buy a guitar I like and ignore the whammy bar, good to know 😊.

[serene prism]

Oh I’ll definitely check it out!

[serene prism]

Do you mean I need something more expensive than a boss katana gen 3?

[rapid birch]

i think you just need to know how to dial in an amp better

i dont see why a katana can't sound like this

[urban vortex]

I will warn u the neck is thick it is a 50s lp neck

[serene prism]

Seems like people think PRS are better guitars on like Reddit etc

[lethal condor]

You can also form your own opinions ... By actually playing some guitars in a store ... Its your wishlist, asking others to put stuff on it makes it their wishlist

[honest sky]

Looks ARE everything

can't stress that enough

Get something that is going to make you A) want to play everyday and B) give you the confidence that you look cool af

I've had great guitars in the past that I didn't really like the look of and as much as they were quality instruments I just wasn't that into them after a while

[lethal condor]

But a great looking guitar with horrible playability is also not something you want to pick up

[honest sky]

Of course. What I’m saying is that your primary deciding factor should be looks. Only look at guitars you like the look of.

[serene prism]

I don’t have access to a store unfortunately 😅.

[lethal condor]

Like nowhere ?

[umbral cradle]

For a first electric the safer choice would be the PRS, as its tone and playability would be in the middle between the big F and G. LP lean towards the darker/fatter tonal range with lesser versatility. I would only worry about the prs trem if you use different tunings a lot.

if you have no means to try maybe just listen to the demo clips widely available online these days. After a while you might notice the tonal difference and develop a preference

[serene prism]

Well if I drive about 2-2.5 hours I have a store. I live in Stockholm Sweden but not in the middle of the city. Going by subway would be smarter but I find it hard to match the timing form my job to a store etc. We used to have a store pretty near called 4Sound here but that company went bankrupt years ago, like maybe 5 years ago.

About maybe 10 years ago I went to music stores quite often but I didn’t play anything, I was just into music production and curios.

There’s a store in Gothenburg my home city that I’m curious about. I’m going there on a vacation this weekend and guess what? It will be closed exactly when I’m there.

[serene prism]

Thanks for your insight! It helps a lot 😊

[serene prism]

I got a response from my friend who knows more about guitars than me, unfortunately we don’t live close anymore. In a nutshell he told me to go for PRS, he did say the Epiphone doesn’t seem too bad though.