Good idea? Bad idea?

[ShredLemming]

I'm thinking about getting a new guitar, and like anyone getting a new guitar I want a good one. Now, I'm not exactly rich, which is a problem cause I want a guitar that sounds awesome. So I came up with an idea.

I get a fairly cheap guitar with 2 humbuckers, take out the stock ones, and put in some pickups. After a bit of research on Bareknuckle, I worked out that I could get a £200 guitar and upgrade it with another £180 of pickups for some "omg hawt tone secks!!!111".

Then, later, I decided that there must be a catch. I've never heard of anyone actually doing this, and my suspicious cynical mind decided that there must be a reason. So I invite you to utterly destroy my reasoning here.

Would the guitar actually sound better than just getting a £380 one? And are Bareknuckles actually as good as the site productwankage makes them out to be? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Quofreak]

I would personally advise getting a £380 guitar as appose to your other choice simply because only people who have attempted to do what you have stated would know how good or bad that is.

Also if you try to put in new buckers and it goes wrong then thats 380quid down the drain and you will have to start saving again for another guitar.

So you safest bet would be to buy the £380 guitar.

[Insomniac20k]

the most effective way to make a guitar sound better is swapping out the stock pickups. I think most people here have either done it or considered it.

You also need to be careful what kind of guitar you get. Just pay close attention to how the guitar sounds unplugged. If you like how it sounds acoustically, you'll probably like it when it's plugged in (with better pickups, of course) Some cheap guitars are very good and some are ****.

[ShredLemming]

While I'm at it, how hard is it to change a pickup?

[Alive]

The most effective way to make a guitar sound better is to get a better amp.

Take that for what you will.

[Insomniac20k]

The most effective way to make a guitar sound better is to get a better amp.

Take that for what you will.

Point taken, but it's irrelivant unless the amp is part of the guitar, which it hopefully is not.

[CantBuyAThrill]

Personally, I would go for playability first when looking into getting a guitar. Then sound and aesthetics would be tied for second. I say this because, as Alive said, the amp is the most effective way to improve sound. I've never found too many 200 dollar guitars to be too playable after playing stuff that's just a little bit more expensive (for the most part), and not too aesthetically pleasing after seeing some of the slightly more expensive guitars.

That being said, I switched out the pickups on my Gibson SG for some '57 Classics, and there was a very noticable difference. Like, before (soundwise) it was a 6 out of 10, now it's like a 9 or higher (to my ears and for my style). It also made it look alot better, in my opinion.

To sum this post up: go for a guitar that you find easy and fun to play, as well as looks nice to you. Make sure that you personally like the sound, but remember that a better amp has a bigger effect on your sound than something like upgrading the pickups would. Upgrading the pickups for a cheaper guitar may make the guitar's sound better than getting a slightly more expensive guitar, but would probably not look as pretty or play as smoothly, which are problems an amp cannot help to redeem.

[Omar Keenan]

Taking out and replacing the pickups coupled with a better amp=better, more versatile tones.

[imlost]

ive tried this before (taking some swap meet priced guitar and putting high end pickups in it) and i'm telling you it didn't fit. most companys who make those "cereal brand" guitars (ex. silvertone is such of a company) do a sloppy job at measuring the correct size of their pickups. it pissed me off a ****load and if you really want a nice guitar, have patience and save some money. since this is the beginners thread, not tha tmany people around here will care about your pickups, but will only notice your brand of guitar. take my advice, save some money and buy a +500 dollar guitar. you'll notice the difference in the quality and sound of it.

[ShredLemming]

Thanks, guys! You've all been really helpful, and I'll follow your advice.