Electric Guitars:

At Music Central, we carry a wide range of electric guitars: including traditional styles, and the more recent shapes and brands. Obviously the way a guitar plays and sounds is a combination of many things. The timber, pick ups, bridge type etc all make a difference.

Here are the thoughts and solid advice from Music Central owner and guitarist Trevor Bernhardt:

I guess I narrow guitar sounds down to a couple of major styles.

The traditional sound of a single coil equipped guitar says to me: great rhythm sounds, traditional blues and overdriven lead tones. While the humbucker equipped guitar offers more thickness and warmth to the tone. This translates into a tone that can be overdriven to the point of saturation, which allows harmonics and sustain to be easily achieved . Of course this is a pretty narrow description. Both styles of guitar can support many types of playing.

Look, Feel and Sound.
While a lot of pro players may tell you that as long as the guitar feels and sounds okay, that’s it for them, most mere mortals are usually driven to something by its looks," Trevor continues,"We don’t buy clothes that are made well but make us look like crud. Likewise, we don’t usually by ugly cars. No, we want to make sure our new guitar is a damn fine looking piece of equipment. And that it, of course, plays and sounds fantastic as well.

"That's why we display you 90% of our guitars face on. It has never excited me visiting another music store where the guitars are so crammed together that they have to be physically moved before you can drool properly. The first contact you have with your new guitar will be with your eyes, so it better impress. Like the legendary line from Wayne’s World It will be mine. The drooling stage is so important."

More Choice, Better Quality.
Never have we been more spoilt for choice than now. The price of a reasonable guitar these days is so much less than it was even ten years ago. With the emergence of many new brands and spin off brands,the competition for your consumer dollar has never been fiercer. This is great news for the guitarist. Even in the budget line, you will still find a very playable instrument.

Bridge Trends.
Over the years, many ideas have come and gone. These days a major decision is whether to have a solid tail piece or some kind of vibrato system. It's up to the individual to decide whether vibrato or dive bombs are an important part of their playing. A well set up vibrato system used by someone that has some understanding of its limitations and mechanical attributes is a great piece of gear. But if you detune often or play in alternate tunings, a solid tail piece is probably the way to go.

We carry: Jackson ESP & LTD Indie Italia Cort

Jackson guitars are the legendary and original, metal style of guitar. While guitar brands go in and out of favour, the Jackson legacy has seen its style of guitar copied over and over again. Fast playing neck twin humbuckers and probably a Floyd rose trem are now the standard set up for some metal mayhem. Like most makers these days, you’ll also find some less metal guitars in their range that suit many styles of playing. All in all, Jackson has history and their prices are very reasonable. Call or email for a price on the model you are after. There's no obligation.

ESP & LTD came to prominence throughout the 90's, with an impressive endorsement list, featuring some of the biggest names in rock. They're still going strong. ESP & LTD both offer a huge range, covering entry level to the full professional. They also include many styles of guitars in their catalogue, to suit most players.

Indie guitars are the new kid on the block. Offering unbelievable value for quality guitars, and built with the best materials, like ebony fingerboards on many models and high silver content frets. They all have hand wound pick ups and “real” mother of pearl and abalone inlays on their prestige models. Indie has the philosophy of having a real, realistic cost. They don’t mark up the sales price, just so the shop owner can “seem” to give you a deal. Indies are simply great value.

Italia guitars offer a retro look that may not be for every one, but they do stand out. Fitted with Wilkinson hardware and pick ups, they play and sound great. These guitars offer the musician an immediate difference from the norm. Finished in sparkle and mother of bowling ball, these instruments are refreshing and a definite talking point.

Cort guitars From their basic models up to their best, Cort guitars all offer fantastic value for the money. Their range is enormous with guitars stretching from the traditional to the metal masters. Feature for feature, the Cort range is hard to beat.