i give credit where credit is due, i didn not think this up i found it on a forum site while i was lookin up pics for trem demo's posted by mr Dave_Mc on the Ultimate Guitar Forum!! (the ? are all apostraphis ' that thing)

Electric Guitar: the 10 commandments.

1: Though shalt not play an expensive guitar through a cheap amp.

Your amp is more important than your guitar. 80%-95% of your tone is in your amp (an entirely scientifically-sound percentage, that I just made up. You know what I mean, though). Spend accordingly: under £400, split your budget between guitar and amp about evenly as some cheap guitars play VERY poorly, and you need to normally spend at least about £150 to get something playable, ditto for the amp; up to about £1500-£2000, a 2:1 ratio on amp to guitar is about right- over this, split it about evenly, or however you want (but make sure you?re spending at least about £1000 on the amp). Increasing the cost of your guitar will make it FEEL better to play, but it?ll only SOUND slightly better.

2: Thou shalt read #1 again. It?s that important.

3: Thou shalt not buy a guitar made of a crap wood (agathis, plywood, etc.).

The quality of the wood in your guitar is the next most important (from a modding point of view, at least- it?ll sound good with a pickup change, for example). Alder, mahogany, ash and basswood and maple are all good woods. Agathis (generally) and plywood are not. Bear in mind wood can be of different quality, even of the same species. You can upgrade things like tuners and pickups a lot easier than you can upgrade the wood your guitar is made of!

4: Thou shalt have the correct pickups for the style of music you want to play.

This is the next most important thing to getting your sound after having the right type of amp. Make sure your guitar is routed properly for the right pickups for the kind of music you want to play. As a (very) general rule, if you play metal or hard rock, you want humbuckers, and for softer stuff, single coils are good. Or you can get a mixture. If you have a bridge humbucker, you can play metal with ANY solidbody guitar (of decent wood), if you have a good enough amp.

5: Thou shalt not spend lots of cash slightly improving your sub-par amp with pedals etc.

If it?s not metal enough etc., it?s cheaper in the long run to bite the bullet and buy a new amp, which you?ll end up doing anyway when you buy £300 worth of pedals and find your amp still isn?t cutting it. (Exception: if you have an all-tube/valve amp, an overdrive pedal can be useful and indeed almost a necessity, and a delay pedal is very useful to have) Spend the money on pedals AFTER you have a great amp.

6: Thou shalt not be influenced by the guitar?s looks as they (generally) don?t affect the tone.

BC Rich?s and similarly ?metal?-looking guitars DO NOT sound more metal. As in 4, any solid body guitar made of decent wood, with a bridge humbucker will sound metal if your amp is metal enough. If you aren?t sounding metal enough, it?s probably your amp?s fault (as long as you aren?t using a Rickenbacker or hollow body jazz guitar or something!).

7: Thou shalt not ask ?I like X?s tone, what pickups does he use??.

If you like said player?s tone, getting his amp will get you 95% of the way there. THEN get the pickups, and it should make up the last 5% (if your guitar is made of the same wood). Also, related to this commandment: PLEASE STOP LOOKING AT EMG?S IF YOU HAVE A PRACTICE AMP, THEY?LL ONLY SOUND HOW YOU EXPECT IF YOU HAVE A MESA RECTO, OR SIMILAR ALL-TUBE, DARK-VOICED, HIGH GAIN AMP. If you have such an amp, be my guest, EMG?s can sound huge/awesome/generally pretty darn metal, BUT WITH THE RIGHT AMP. See Commandment #1 and #2.

8: Thou shalt not buy a guitar with a cheap, crap double locking tremolo.

They are more bother than they?re worth. They?re made of crap soft metal, they won?t hold tune and they won?t sustain as well. You MAY get lucky, but it?s not worth the risk. Either fork out for a good trem (Original Floyd Rose, Floyd Rose Pro, Floyd Rose Speedloader, Schaller, Gotoh, Kahler or Ibanez Edge (NOT Edge III), Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge, Ibanez Edge Pro (NOT Edge Pro II), or Ibanez ZR, and a lot of expensive guitar brands? own brand of trem (e.g. Vigier) - if it?s not one of these, assume it?s crap, unless proven otherwise), or go with a hardtail or non-locking trem. Also, a lot of the decent trems are a different size to the crap ones (even the studs can be a different size, if the whole trem is the same size) so it?s frequently not just a matter of buying a better trem when your crap one breaks. Most guitar companies are incredibly scabby- they?re TRYING to make it hard to upgrade, so you have to buy a whole new guitar from them.

9: Thou shalt not buy a guitar without trying it.

Forums can give you advice like ?the electronics on X model are dodgy?, or ?Y has a dodgy tremolo?, but you won?t know if you like the ?feel? of the guitar unless you try it. Ditto with amps and any other piece of kit.

10: Thou shalt make the right choice in Looks versus Specification.

If you?re on a budget, you may well find you have to either buy a guitar you like the look of, or one you like the specification of. Pick the one you like the specification of. A guitar that looks good but is made of plywood or which won?t stay in tune, is no fun. Also, frequently, companies try to persuade you to hand over your money for looks in cheaper guitars. If you have lots of cash, then you can buy a guitar that both looks good, AND is good.

11: Since number 2 isn?t really a commandment? .Thou shalt not buy a high output, ceramic NECK humbucker (like an invader) unless you have a damn good reason, and know exactly what you?re doing.

?But I play metal!? I hear you squeal.

[Tommy Lee Jones voice] ?I DON?T CARE!? [/Tommy Lee Jones Voice]

You then jump over the edge of the giant dam (clearly about 300 feet up), and emerge unharmed, but wet.

Anyway?

99% of distorted metal is played in the bridge pickup position. You?d be FAR better off getting a less me(n)tal neck pickup that actually sounds nice with cleans (most metal I listen to anyway has more cleans than need of a ceramic neck pickup). Exception: you know exactly what you?re doing and the tone you?re after, and you need said ceramic neck pickup for that. Or you never use cleans (you have a second guitarist in your band who covers those, for example, or a second guitar).

12: Thou shalt not expect a major difference in tone from higher gauge strings (thanks to Danno 13 for this one- if this is controversial, it's his fault! )

You'll only notice much of a difference if you make a major jump, say from 9's to 12's- I find that I play so much worse with higher gauge strings (because of the increased tension) that my tone actually gets worse- but if you want to try, be my guest.