Zisis

This is my first guitar and I have it for ten years now! The fact that it **works perfectly** after all this time says everything. It's very well made and comfortable. For **beginners** it's the best so far because i found the **neck** to be the perfect size to build your style and practice your fingers to cover space on the frets. The only **cons** is that i would give it a small setup. You will need to change the **nut** and the **machine-heads**. If you want to have a better sound you can change the **pickups** as well because they are ceramic and might sound a little bit **muddy** and... you know, pretty **decent**. It's not very **heavy** on weight and you can play many different styles with it. I'm not going to give away mine, after replacing the pickups it sounds way better and like a more expensive guitar. I'll use it for studio and shows as well \m/

The fact I'm using a low budget guitar made me to want to search for a certain budget pickup to add some more color and, obviously, make it sound way better than the stock ones. The pickups on Epiphone Les Paul Special II are **650R humbucker** for the neck and **700T humbucker** for the bridge. The sound of both is decent. And the neck can be **muddy**. I wanted to upgrade the sound and I decided to not spend more than what I gave for this guitar (which I really love and I'm very grateful for the construction). I came up with **IronGear** pickups and after watching many videos on YouTube and reading reviews around the forums i said to try the **Tesla Shark** for the bridge, since i use mostly the bridge to play. The sound is amazing! They have **Alnico 2** magnets and the sound is more **bright** and **creamy** which is a very good combination. I don't have any issues with the **output** since it's medium and you can even get this **punchy** tone you're looking for. They work very well with aggressive sounds from an amp (like JTM45 or Silver Jubilee) and they can work so much well when playing **hard rock** and such. I really like them. The **price** is very affordable. Maybe the shipping can be an issue but they came to me (*i don't live in UK where they are shipped from*) within three days, during Christmas! That says a lot. Keep in mind to have them as much close to your strings as you can (*but not so close that can affect the tuning and such*) because of the **mid-output** Alnico II gives and all I can say is that my guitar sounds way better and i'm impressed that they come close to the original Alnico 2 from other companies. I will definitely go with **IronGear** again when i'll replace the neck pickup and for future guitar upgrades!

This is my first amp that I have used for ten years now. Not something impressive but i have to say it has the **most aggressive overdrive** sound i ever heard ! It's the best for **Rock & Roll** and works very well when you have the **treble and mids** on full with the **bass** close to 12 o'clock to have this **bright** sound you're looking for. The only **cons** is the **clean channel**. I think it's not good for clean sounds. It doesn't have this rich tone and it kinda sucks. Glad i don't play clean often. For that i give it only **three stars** but it's very good for home practice and you can play anything you want with the **overdrive** it has !

I wouldn't think a pedal in that price would be the ideal for some **rock & roll and agreesive sounds**!!! This pedal is supposed to sound like **Marshall JCM800** and it does come close to it! You can use it with the **clean channel** of your amp or with the **dirty channel** to get some hard rock sounds. Ideal if you play **Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Whitesnake** etc. Honestly I have this pedal on every time I play. It transforms any amp into something way better especially if you use an **amp with 40 watts or less** and adds some "color" so it won't be boring. However the **Voice** knob (stands for the **Character** knob you might find in other pedals) will make the sounds to be weird if you turn it all way up so keep that in mind. And it's incredible its made by aluminum. Usually cheap pedals are plastic. It also has a kind of **rubber on the bottom** so it won't slide if you put it on a pedalboard or on the floor. Amazing!!!

These strings have the best **balance** I found so far. I used to buy a different brand each month, when i would change strings on my guitar so in that way i would know what is out there and what's the best for me. I came with Rotosound when I used to use 9-42 and I liked them. After trying many other brands and advancing to 10-46 i choose Rotosound as my main strings. The **tension** is a little bit higher than other brands which i like because i'm playing hard and they are more **bright**. I never liked smooth sounding strings, to be honest. Bright ones can " **sing** " better. They don't **rust** so fast and they keep their sound even by playing every single day for a couple of weeks. The best thing is that they come with an **extra e string** and that's a huge benefit. They never broke to me but in case you have a reserve!

I came up with these strings after trying for months different brands. I use them as second choice when i can't find the main brand I use. They sound pretty **bright** and they have a **smooth tension** but not in that way that you will feel uncomfortable to play hard, punch or bend them. The only **con** I found is that after a couple of weeks they sound a little bit muddy and dark. Then you know when to replace them. The **price** is very good and i would recommend these strings for those who want to have a **good tone** on their guitar and like to change strings often to keep their guitar tone fresh!

The first thing I noticed when I used the RPS was the **bright sound** these strings give. A little bit more than regular Slinky and they don't break! Sadly I had to give 4/5 because they did **rust** faster in comparison of other brands.

After playing for ten years I think this is the pick I will never change! I used to have **Dunlop Jazz 1.0** picks but i noticed they would bend after hours of playing and the tension was smooth so i couldn't play guitar in a comfortable way. I visited a guitar shop and tried a few of them. The **Dunlop H3** is what i used that day (*I think it's 1.14 of thickness ?*) and i fell in love with them. They don't give so much smooth and warm sound when you hit the strings (*which i like it cause i prefer bright tones*) and they never bend. You can use them for weeks ! The reason i use **Jazz picks** is because on electric guitar the space between each string is small so you need a smaller pick to play faster, more aggressive and feel comfortable. This is what the assistant from the guitar store told me and it was good advice because i didn't follow it before and opened my eyes. I have used them for years now and never found anything else to replace them. They are my favorite picks so far!

These are my primary picks I use, especially for clean sounds and chords. The **texture** is slippery but won't fall off your fingers. They have a slight more **bright** sound than Tortex picks and you can play faster if you'd like to. They also feel very **comfortable** and they **won't bend**. Best picks out there!

It's very **well made**, **top construction** in comparison of other brands I used and it delivers a little bit more **bright sound** that I adore. They also come in many **different and appealing colors** which is a huge benefits if you are looking for a specific aesthitic. Honestly I will use more cables by **Ernie Ball** from now on!!!

This cable is a decent one that will stay around for years. Nothing impressive, it delivers a good sound when you plug your guitar into an amp and the construction is very good. The one I have has a corner/angle jack to go into my guitar and with that way it won't " **break** " for you. The only **con** I would give is that once I had to open it and fix it inside with my finger because **it made the sound to stop** but didn't affect the tone afterwards. It's a good cable for **home practice and shows**. For **recordings** you will need to seek for a better one tho.

The fact that I have this strap for three years now, carried around all the time and it still looks like new says everything! The **edges don't wear out** and the holes are **still tight** and didn't open wide to "loose". Personally is my favorite guitar strap after those thin vintage ones.

It's a normal peg winder and the **quality is very good**. Never broke or had any issues to replace it!

I use this kind of oil to clean my frets once a month. Very good product and the smell is not intense.

This is a classic guitar stand that has **foam** where the bottom of the guitar rests and you can secure your instrument with the **cord it has on the neck**. Never had issues with it and I have it for a decade now.