First electric guitar: Ibanez GRG140 or rather Yamaha Pacifica 212?

[Master Mi]

A little question for the guitarists and electric guitar experts here...

I would like to buy my first electric guitar in the foreseeable future (around spring 2024) and had already found my real favorite with the Japanese Yamaha Pacifica 212...

... until I stumbled upon the Ibanez electric guitars (also a well known Japanese electric guitar series with a really cool, stylish design), which really appeal to me from the design and have a really heavy sound, rather so fender-typical sound profile for racy leads and loose, funky chords - while the Yamaha-Pacifica models rather have a warmer, full sound suitable for strong, massive leads without large accompanying instruments or for powerful, soulful chords.

With the guitar's internal controls as well as the downstream amp settings and EQ settings, you can of course make pretty much anything your heart desires in terms of sound - so for me it's more important that the basic sound, which is generated primarily via the pickups and guitar materials, doesn't sound somehow fuzzy, washed out, dissonant or off, as is often the case with some entry-level electric guitars in the far lower price ranges.

That is also one of the many reasons why I absolutely favor a Japanese electric guitar model.
There you usually have solid top technology, durability and a decent amount of kaizen-like perfection.
And in contrast to many Western models, you get the most for your hard-earned money.

...

Here are the two models with the associated data and listening samples at various settings, which could come with me in the shortlist:

1) Ibanez GRG140 with the ultra-stylish design in white
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https://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_grg140_wh.htm

or

2) Yamaha Pacifica 212 in translucent black (a bit more expensive, but very pleasing sound)
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https://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_pacifica_212v_fm_tbl.htm

...
 

I don't want to rule out the possibility of buying the other model at some point in the future in order to use both sound characteristics for specific music projects or combine them with each other.
But basically I want to first learn to play on a rock solid, flawless and yet affordable electric guitar.

...

My general idea was to feed the electric guitar signal directly into my DAW Samplitude Pro X4 Suite via the audio interface (in my case the Steinberg UR44 from Yamaha) for later recordings and then shape the exact guitar sound individually with the guitar and bass amp plugin Vandal as I need it for the particular recording - just like the person did in this case here:
 

...

But since this will be my first guitar, I will have to learn how to play it properly.

And that's guaranteed to take a few years, even though I'm already somewhat familiar with how guitars are played through basic theoretical music and instrument knowledge or using guitar VSTis for composing my soundtracks and remixes.

I've also played a bit on an electric guitar and bass in the music store - and that was really fun.

I think that the fluent coordination of the fingering techniques will be the biggest sack of work.

...

It's possible that the whole thing could drag on for a while, since it could be possible that I'm going to crush a couple of sneaky superiors of my company in some real fights - and that could be accompanied by my own dismissal and smaller financial dry spell maybe.
But somehow I don't really feel like tolerating such kind of superiors any longer, who obviously had a big share in the fact that a few of the more sympathetic colleagues were spontaneously dismissed or already left of their own accord, and who, apart from racist statements, Nazi-speak, gossip, insults, humiliation, gloating over dismissal of several colleages, bullying and psychological mobbing of especially friendly, sympathetic employees (they even picked on a really nice apprentice who breaked out in tears after she had been informed of her sudden dismissal - until I stopped their nasty bitch 'n' snitch talk into some very long hours of deadly silence after incidentally bringing up a story from my past, where I threatened a superior with force), shone above all through standing around, gossiping and having their little parties during working time - stuff like that.

I would kinda break my heart and irritate my sense of justice seeing these little suckers getting away with all this or even grinning towards me with their smug but still overrated and not-always-so-safe-as-they-think "as-superiors-we-can-do-as-we-please" attitude.
According to my very own full contact fighting experiences on the street, smug people like these don't even smile anymore after a hard knee strike hits their face and they literally kiss 'n' bleed the streets.

But that's a completely different story and with a little luck it might even be a juicy inspiration for another soundtrack.

...

Nevertheless, I still wanted to get some feedback from guitarists and connoisseurs about the electric guitars in advance, so I can make a solid decision about buying my first electric guitar in due time. ))

[Nase]

hey mi, not reading all that right now, but fyi pacifica was my first guitar in 2001ish. my dad had bought it for himself in midlife crisis, didn't end up playing it, so i got it set up for lefty a year later.

i loved it. i'm not a guitar pro at all but it served me very well. my second guitar was an epiphone les paul, because they were supposedly epic for hard rock, metal and stuff...

well, the sustain clearly was better than the pacifica, but i never fell in love with it the same way.

i painted a lot of stuff on the pacifica's pick guard and made it sorta grimey (my guitar teach hated it, haha.)

painted a lot of cell structures on it and dubbed it "cellular guitar".

i think it's the only guitar i had i ever really loved. but well, most of my learning on guitar happened in the first two years, i got decent very fast through obsession, and when i got to know sequencers in 2004 that quickly faded.

can't really vouch for its quality objectively. just a well priced guitar that's perfect for beginners, if it's anything like what they sold 20 years ago. it's probably a bit better now, right??

yamaha is kinda no name generic but decent quality, and you can make it your own. i did it with eddings and such

ibanez is a name that rings a little more. like, satriani or steve vai. haha. but what is that worth for entry models.

idk i'd guess they're both good.

the sustain on the pacifica 2000ish model definitely was pretty poor, that's one objective thing i can say. idk if it's better today. but i didn't care about perfect lead sound so much. in all honesty the pacifica would've served me well for anything i ever did.

i sold it on the street for like 30 bucks in 2016, while giving up my apartment to travel. that was stupid. i shoulda kept that guitar.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Nase

[Master Mi]

@Nase

Thanks for sharing your information and experiences. ))

I guess I've already made a decision.
If I take all the essentials into consideration - especially the assumed quality, the sound and sound stability in different playing styles and articulations, the pickups and possibilities of internal sound control and then the really stylish design - my choice will most likely be the Ibanez GRG140.

I really fell in love with sound signature of this Japanese masterpiece:
 

But I will still wait a few months for saving some money without scratching my minimum reserve.
I just have spend further 300 bucks (pretty annoying, I know) for a huge set of robust, durable, water-repellent workwear for winter service 'cause I don't want to freeze my ass and have at least some fun in the snowy nights.

But with the hefty winter service surcharges of just under 20% to around 50% (depending on whether night work or work on Sundays or public holidays is involved in addition to the simple winter service surcharge) on top of the already decent hourly wage, the money for the electric guitar should be recouped quite quickly.

...

Besides, no superiors were harmed or used as punching bags in this company.

Maybe I just pissed them off so much, or those nutty gossips were just scared that they'd catch a good knockout punch if they don't behave, that they just sent me back to the building sites.
Luckily, it was actually totally in my interest, because the workers and supervisors there aren't quite so bitchy 'n' scratchy - and I can snore the night away for a good hour longer.

Guess the magical trio of nasty supervisors consisting of the cold witch, the prickly besom and the way too warm gossip gay lord won't be bothering me for a while. ))