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* [http://www.espguitars.com/guitars ESP]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=eclipse-series-guitars-3 Eclipse]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=frx-series-guitars-2 FRX]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=horizon-series-guitars-3 Horizon]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=m-series-guitars M-Series]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=mystique-series-guitars Mystique]
* [http://www.deanguitars.com/ Dean]
** [http://www.deanguitars.com/subcategory?series=ml_series ML (Dimebag)]
* [http://peavey.com/products/index.cfm/category/523/Instruments Peavey]
** [http://peavey.com/products/index.cfm/item/738/116780/Power%26nbsp%3BSlide%26trade%3B%26nbsp%3BBlack PowerSlide]
* [http://www.evhgear.com/ EVH]
** [http://www.evhgear.com/gear/?section=guitars&series=Wolfgang%C2%AE%20USA Wolfgang]
** [http://www.evhgear.com/gear/subpage/?partno=5107902528 Striped]
* B.C. Rich
** Warlock
** Mockingbird
→Features
{{Top-Level Crumbs|4}}
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{{Buyer's Guide Crumbs|2}}
There are numerous concerns you should have when choosing a guitar, such as...
== A Note on Warranties ==
===Neck Finish===
Luckily this is something you can change if you need to, but given the option it's easier to buy the guitar that needs no modifications. The neck finish is important because it affects easily you shift positions up and down the neck. I like an unfinished neck, sanded with increasing grits to be as smooth as a baby's butt. Often guitar manufacturers will paint the neck or finish it with a clear-coat. This leaves the neck with higher friction and a little sticky (it's subtle but enough to affect your play). You can always sand it down yourself, but it's quite difficult to completely remove the finish, and this can look ugly especially if painted a color that stands out against the wood's natural color.
=== Neck Heel/Joint ===
There are a variety of neck heel designs. The most comfortable depends on the player, but is more than likely a ''neck-through'' design, which has no joint at all, as the neck and center of the body are made of the same piece of wood. Others can sometimes interfere with playing the higher frets. Most manufacturers now use some kind of low-profile heel designed to be smaller and rounder than early guitar designs.
== Tone ==
===Body/Headstock Shape===
This is the main thing you see when you first see a guitar, besides the finish color. Guitars come in all kinds of different shapes, with various pickguard and face designs. Here's a list of the most common shapes/styles:
* B.C. Rich
** Warlock
** Mockingbird
* [http://www.deanguitars.com/ Dean]
** [http://www.deanguitars.com/subcategory?series=ml_series ML (Dimebag)]
* [http://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars.html Ernie Ball/Music Man]
** [http://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/the-majesty.html Majesty]
** [http://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/silhouette.html Silhouette]
** [http://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/luke.html Luke]
* [http://www.espguitars.com/guitars ESP]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=eclipse-series-guitars-3 Eclipse]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=frx-series-guitars-2 FRX]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=horizon-series-guitars-3 Horizon]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=m-series-guitars M-Series]
** [http://www.espguitars.com/products?categories=mystique-series-guitars Mystique]
* [http://www.evhgear.com/ EVH]
** [http://www.evhgear.com/gear/?section=guitars&series=Wolfgang%C2%AE%20USA Wolfgang]
** [http://www.evhgear.com/gear/subpage/?partno=5107902528 Striped]
* [http://www.fender.com/guitars/ Fender]
** [http://www.fender.com/guitars/jazzmaster/ Jazzmaster]
** [http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eg_series_pre.php?year=2014&cat_id=1&series_id=31 Iceman]
** [http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eg_sig_series14.php?year=2014&cat_id=1&series_id=22 Jem]
* [http://www.jacksonguitars.com/guitars/ Jackson]
** [http://www.jacksonguitars.com/guitars/kelly/ Kelly]
** [http://www.jacksonguitars.com/guitars/soloist/ Soloist]
** [http://www.jacksonguitars.com/guitars/warrior/ Warrior]
* [http://peavey.com/products/index.cfm/category/523/Instruments Peavey]
** [http://peavey.com/products/index.cfm/item/738/116780/Power%26nbsp%3BSlide%26trade%3B%26nbsp%3BBlack PowerSlide]
* [http://www.prsguitars.com/ Paul Reed Smith]
** [http://www.prsguitars.com/s2series/ S2 Series]
Besides the sillouhette, also pay attention to the "top". This is really the ''face'' of the body - the part facing the audience. Some bodies use a rounded top to give the guitar a more 3-D look, which I find appealing.
== Features ==
Here some various "extra" features you may want.
* '''Piezo pickup Pickup''' - Uses vibrational, not magnetic, sensors in the bridge to get a more acoustic-sounding output.* '''Hexaphonic Pickup ''' - Independent sensor for each string. This is usually for a pickup to output [[MIDI ]] data, so you can have different strings trigger different MIDI instruments.* '''Sustainiac ''' - This is a special kind of pickup that actually works in reverse - inducing the signal in the string for infinite sustain and musical-sounding (harmonic) feedback.* '''LED Inlays ''' - There are just inlays that can be switched on to light up in the dark.* '''Luminescent paint Paint''' - Glow in the dark paint* '''Swirl paint Paint''' - Uses techniques to separate different colors of paints and apply them to create a swirling, random pattern. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3dm-FzI-EQ this video] for an example.* '''Evertune Bridge ''' - A complex bridge that can prevent your guitar from going out of tune and quickly switch to alternate tunings* '''Fanned Frets ''' - Some guitars are built with different scales for all the strings, where the thicker strings have a longer distance from nut to bridge than the thinner strings. Usually found on 7/8 string or baritone guitars, they get the longer scale which is associated with better pitch and tonal properties for the thicker strings, but the shorter scale which allows for better bending on the thinner strings.* '''Scalloped Fretboard ''' - Some fretboards feature what looks like dremeled out parts of the fretboard between higher frets - this ensures your fingers don't hit the fretboard during bends.* '''All Access Neck Joints ''' - There are various methods to improve the comfort and ease of playing higher frets. Neck joints were originally just rectangular blocks of wood that were not too comfortable. New designs reduce the size of the neck joint wood, smooth it, and/or angle it, all to increase comfort.* '''Floating Bridge ''' - A floating bridge does not press against the body, but "floats" against a set of posts. The tension between the strings and the bear claw springs keeps it balanced and pressed against the posts. This allows you to pull the whammy bar up to raise the pitch in addition to diving, and let's you seamlessly transition from pulling up to pushing down. Very useful for vibrato on chords, flutters, and other whammy bar techniques.* '''Trem Stabilizers ''' - These are usually double-hinge type devices that go in the bear claw cavity. They are designed to help force a guitar with a floating bridge to stay in tune better; however, they often hurt the seamless transition of moving the whammy bar through the "zero" (resting) position.
== Pickups ==
====Type: Fixed vs. Floating vs. Dive Only ====
====Brand/Quality====
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[[Category:Guitar]]