Looking to buy a new guitar in the 450$ range

[old dome]

Im looking for a couple opinions, I already have an ltd ec 256 and im really unhappy with the extremely packed sound of it blending the notes in sustain, I bought it switching from an acoustic and didn’t really know what sound im looking for at all, ive played a couple ibanez gio’s and ive really prefered the sound over it but the build quality was horrendous what would yall recommend?

[glass fiber]

A used prs se ce 24

Also the amp will matter more for the sound then the guitar will

[empty maple]

Depends on whether you want a tremolo or not, but the Ibanez S521 or 520 series are brilliant, IMO. Play like a dream, lightweight, and sound bloody great.

[blazing swan]

why dont you switch the pickups

everything you buy for the price is gonna have random oem stuff thats gonna be compressed no matter what

[glass fiber]

U can find non oem stuff at that price

Not all oem pickups are compressed either

I’d still consider getting a different amp over a guitar

U haven’t said what amp u have so I’m going to assume something not great

[old dome]

I currently have a blackstar id core 20 v2

im gonna upgrade to a boss katana asap no matter the guitar

but ive used the other guitars on the same amp and got the sound I wished for with them

[old dome]

would pickups really solve that issue

I would be willing to try what would you recommend

[old dome]

will keep that in mind thank you !

[old dome]

would be really cool to have a tremolo

[blazing swan]

isnt the only issue sound?

you mensioned sustain but that's either nut or fret related which can be adressed

if you're otherwise pleased with the guitar and it is a good one i dont see a reason to buy another one especially if its of the same tier

[old dome]

the guitar does have a pretty fucked up truss rod luthier took a whole day to move it but inrest its good

frets are completely refitted and leveled same with the nut

I would be able to swap out the pick ups later into a future guitar anyways

what pickups would you recommend most for heavier music

[blazing swan]

dimarzio d activator, emgs or seymours

emgs would be 81/85 or the cheaper ones you can find

for seymours i like how sh-2n and tb14 sounds like in old j customs but the hot rodded set also works

the thing is for 450$ you can only find some meh indonesian entry level stuff and would be the same as you have in terms of quality

for like 800$ or so then you can get some ltds or korean stuff

[old dome]

honestly I literally only use the neck pick up

would I be good to get an emg 81 and we ball

I would go for the 85 to complete it at some point

[glass fiber]

Do u play jazz or something

[blazing swan]

neck?????

and you say metal

[old dome]

AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO ?

wait

have I been playing wrong for a year

[glass fiber]

The 81 is a bridge pickup btw not a neck pickup

[blazing swan]

bro..

[old dome]

Ohhh

[blazing swan]

the whole thing with metal and rock is that you use the bridge 99% of the time

[old dome]

I use the down position on it

I think that means neck

I might be wrong

one sec

[glass fiber]

Dow pos on selector is bridge

[old dome]

no that means bridge

im straight dumb okay

ive not been playing wrong atleast

[blazing swan]

not that it affects the playing itself

[old dome]

would I be able to swap out just 1 pick up though?

currently atleast

[glass fiber]

U could also just consider buying an eq pedal

Instead of a new set of pickups

[glass fiber]

Yes but it is tricky w emgs

Or atleast trickier

Not for the money

[old dome]

I would go for both honestly

I have a decently big enough budget to be able to do it

[glass fiber]

Get an eq b4 u go swapping pickups

[blazing swan]

to be fair actives are different from passives and not just eq

[glass fiber]

U can grab a 10 band for 50$ and that can reshape ur sound more than a pickup swap can

[glass fiber]

No they aren’t

Active pickups are a passive pickup w an eq / preamp on it

[old dome]

https://www.thomann.de/ro/yuer_yf_40_ten_band_eq.htm?glp=1&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=10126895432&gbraid=0AAAAADuDMCV-dMVKaIYjUEwqnamHcvU1G&gclid=CjwKCAiAu67KBhAkEiwAY0jAlVo0lBfb3z9PPR-OQ2r4QjnMJywmmcnk19rvOhbTYw5vTqqrE1YpgRoCK2YQAvD_BwE

is this what you are talking about?

[glass fiber]

Something like that yea

Idk how good that one is specifically but that is a 10 band eq

[old dome]

what brands would ya recommend

ill go order it along with a new amp

[glass fiber]

For cheap either joyo or behringer or NuX or if Harley Benton has one that would be fine

[old dome]

okay perfect

is there anything more worth it than a boss katana 50

[glass fiber]

The behringer one is 7 band but that is also fine

[glass fiber]

U could look at the nux mighty series if u want but it would be one of those 2

[old dome]

bet

thank you man for all the help

I appreciate it a lot

[glass fiber]

If u play metal I’d probably recommend the nux

[old dome]

60 watt unit is okay?

I found the mk2

I see it has a whole lot of bad reviews for some reason

[glass fiber]

That depends what ur trying to do w it

[old dome]

bedroom practice honestly dont need much but im gonna gig with some friends soon so ill need something slightly beefy

[glass fiber]

Yea a 60 would be fine then

The katan has more u can do w the knobs on top but u connect the nux to the app and it has more features then the katana

The nux high gain is better than the katana

[old dome]

oh hell yuh