Metal Guitar On A Budget

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All musicians, be them hobbyists, amateurs, or professionals all want to play on gear that not only sounds good but looks good too. This is especially true of hard rock and metal musicians. Though there are certainly those metal musicians that don't care what guitar or amplifier they play through the vast majority of musicians in this genre gravitate towards the most recognizable and sometimes expensive names. In many scenarios buying expensive brand name gear isn't born purely of lust but rather necessity. Metal and hard rock guitar players of even limited experience know that in order to achieve a warm bouncy clean tone and a dirty gritty crunch that they'll need to spend quite a bit of money on high end gear. Using inexpensive or "budget" gear can result in flat and timid clean tones as well as muddy and fuzzy dirty tones that fart out when the volume knob is pushed past 3.

The Good News

Although metal guitarists will eventually need to splurge on expensive gear at some point, those individuals who simply enjoy jamming with friends, playing at home, or are taking Corona guitar lessons can rest easy knowing that there is some very exciting, effective, and affordable gear out there. Although less expensive than their high end brethren this gear works great for playing alone, jamming in your garage, and even recording in the studio. Metal guitarists on a budget and those that simply want good but modest gear should consider these alternatives.

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The Les Paul Alternative

Metal and many hard rock guitarists flock to and fall in love with Gibson Les Paul guitars because they are highly playable, sound fantastic, look awesome, and their heroes play them. The problem many metal guitar players run into however is the price tag associated with the Gibson Les Paul. "Cheap" Gibson Les Paul's usually run just under $2000 while the more expensive ones can cost an individual $5000 or more.

Fortunately metal guitar players dead set on buying and playing a Les Paul can instead opt for an Epiphone Les Paul. Epiphone is owned by Gibson and is their budget line of products. The term budget is a misnomer here as Epiphone adheres to very high quality standards and its Les Paul's are nothing to scoff at. Some are even comparable to their Gibson produced cousins.  Best of all however, at least where guitarists are concerned, Epiphone Les Paul's run anywhere from $300-$1000. Epiphone also produces all of the same Les Paul styles that Gibson does!

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Inexpensive Amplification

Ask any metal musician what type of amp they want to own/play out of and you'll get the names Marshall, Bogner, and Peavey more than any other. While these brands have certainly been made famous by the metal and hard rock genres they're also outrageously expensive. While metal guitar players dream and/or save up for their high end big name amplifier they can find very solid and inexpensive big name alternatives. Guitarists on modest budgets and those musicians whom only play at home or in the garage with friends should forget about expensive tube amps. Tube amps still produce the best sounds but are heavy, require a great deal of care, are very expensive, and aren't effective at low volumes. These types of metal guitarists should instead look into solid state amps. Marshall for example produces some outstanding solid state amps that deliver the bone crunching overdrive and warm clean tones that metal guitar players crave.  Check out Marshall's MG100HCFX which costs around $600. The cabinet and 100 watt head are often sold as a package making this a fantastic budget deal. If you think that's still too expensive keep in mind that this amp will allow you to play with a band, play live, hit the studio and that traditional Marshall tube amps sell for thousands of dollars...just for the head! Peavey also makes some fine affordable solid state solutions though Bogner has very few budget products.

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Guitar Effects

There are a large number of metal guitarists that rely on high end rack units and modded pedals to craft just their sound. If you don't have much to spend stick with pedals as opposed to rack or multi-unit effects processors. Companies like Boss, Digitech, and of course Ibanez all make good pedals that don't cost a whole lot. There are even lesser known brands that produce some great pedals at even better prices. The famed Ibanez Tube Screamer is one of the more expensive pedals and it comes in at a friendly $99. The Digitech Bad Monkey is an excellent alternative boost pedal and costs about half what the TS-9 costs. Guitarists looking for Chorus, Flange, Octave, etc. can look to both Boss and even smaller companies like Behringer for variety and affordability.

Metal doesn't have to be expensive nor does using affordable gear make your music any less poignant or heavy hitting. The key to success with metal guitar gear is to shop smart and try everything! Happy hunting metal heads!