Fender or Gibson

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 27 Sep 2007 12:59

I'm getting to the point where I'm getting good enough on the guitar to have sort of outgrown my Squier. For a long time I've wanted to get a Les Paul, but I found it tough to play and they are so expensive and I just love strats.

What is your favorite guitar? Why? (not actually restricted to Fenders and Gibsons)

PegLegHolly · Post by **PegLegHolly** » 27 Sep 2007 17:28

hollow body gretch

brinard · Post by **brinard** » 27 Sep 2007 18:03

i like jacksons or SGs. slim necks (not les pauls) are my fav. dual humbuckers are really nice too.

les pauls are wayyyy to heavy for the avarage guitarist, like 9 lbs.

also, i like options. depends what fender if you go that way (i wouldnt, fenders arent that nice, and they sound crappy imo). but the older ones are nice. (i like tele's, and their jaguar type shapes, if i had to pick a fender)

so if it were me,

id pick a jackson dinky/soloist, slim mahogony neck, a humbucker in the bridge, and two hot singlecoils at the bridge, with a 5way selector, and a volume, and tone knob.

coated neck. for sure.

floyd/locking tremolo.

brinard · Post by **brinard** » 27 Sep 2007 18:05

CautionFragile · Post by **CautionFragile** » 28 Sep 2007 12:11

How much money will you be dropping?
Cause if it isn't much, I would highly suggest checking out some Yamahas.

If you have some cash to spend, it all depends on what music you're playing. Some guitars are smoother than others, some punch harder, some are made for tricky stuff, etc.

If you wanna shred and solo, Ibanez and Jackson kinda take the cake.

Les Pauls have a suuuuper thick sound, and do way a bunch. Good for bluesy stuff. I find the Strat is slightly more versatile of an intrument.
Lucile, B.B. Kings model from Gibson is something I've wanted to find for quite some time.

Some of the guys from Gibson took off to start their own project called Heritage Guitars I believe, which are mostly hollow bodies from what I remember, but they play and sound great.

If you want a crisp clean sound but don't want an acoustic, the Taylor T5 is a gorgeous instrument. And it plays like a dream and sounds amazing.
http://www.taylorguitars.com/Guitars/El ... T5-Custom/

Also Taylor will be coming out with a full-on electric guitar line in 2008.
http://www.taylorguitars.com/video/electricpromo.aspx

Gretsch hollow body guitars are some of my favorites, and I would definately pick one if I were to be jamming Jazz or country. The White Falcon is just, soooooooooo pretty.
http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/inde ... 2=&q=&st=1

If you want to go acoustic, it's obvious that you should check out Taylor, Gibson, and if you can afford a high-end Martin you're laughing. Takamine makes great guitars too.

And until the day I die I will push Stonebridge. The best guitar I've yet to play. I got one, and then my friend Angele ended up getting one as well because nothing else she played compared

.

mc · Post by mc » 28 Sep 2007 18:06

I owned a les paul custom for a while. it was so heavy that it hurt my shoulder to play for any extended period of time. I owned a squier strat for a while. it's got a decent-feeling body and neck, but I feel like that's all that would compare with a real strat.

compared to the price of a nice gibson les paul, it's a lot cheaper to buy a decent stratocaster, maybe a mexican one, and soup it up with special pickups and some upgraded tuners.

the upgrades you make really depend on the kind of music you want to play.

your amp of choice is also a huge consideration. I played my guitar through someone else's (less expensive) amp today, and it sounded way better. I have a marshall, and my friend has a fender. the marshall is louder and has more badass distortion possibility, but the fender had way better clean tone.

so, don't forget to invest in a good amp. a super good guitar can't really shine without one.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 28 Sep 2007 18:41

Thanks for the input, I should have probably given more information.

I mostly play rock and blues, but I'm starting to get into a lot of Jazz.
Money is not so much of an issue because I probably won't buy for several months and I don't really have anything else that I spend my monies on and I really want a guitar that I can use for basically the rest of my life and I'm certainly not planning on using any more commas any time soon.

P.S. I'm absolutely not looking for a shred machine.
P.P.S. That Taylor is gorgeous.
P.P.P.S. My dad already has the world's best acoustic ('68 Martin 0018)
P.P.P.P.S. My English teacher would have a heart attack.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 05 Oct 2007 12:58

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 15 Nov 2007 17:06

Bump. I've been trying out tons of guitars and it's down to Fender.

Should I get a strat or a tele? What model? Why?

I play Jazz, funk, rock, blues and fusions of the four.

mc · Post by mc » 15 Nov 2007 17:26

go to a huge guitar store, BRING YOUR AMP, and try a bunch of guitars on it. try each guitar at different settings with the amp. try the different pickups. try the coil tap. if it has a whammy bar, use it a lot and see if the thing stays in tune. Notice how it feels under your hands. try the different necks. try each guitar twice.

there are lots of good choices. Narrowing it down to a particular model online isn't nearly as good as playing lots of guitars, and checking for what feels good. if you can, bring an experienced guitar player with you.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 15 Nov 2007 17:27

Thanks. I'm actually planning on bringing my dad who's been playing for about forty-five years and my friend who's an expert on hardware.

CautionFragile · Post by **CautionFragile** » 16 Nov 2007 13:27

I also say don't narrow down the brands. Go for whatever you're drawn to whilest looking at the wall of guitars. Do everything Matt said, and I will add play with your eyes closed. Even if you aren't at the level where blind play is easy yet, you'll really get the true FEEL of the guitar.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 16 Nov 2007 14:39

I actually didn't originally limit myself to brands (despite the title of the thread), but after a bunch of playing, I've found that Fender tends to have the best sound and playability for me. Possibly because I have small hands and some guitars don't accommodate that.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 18 Nov 2007 18:54

I was extremely disappointed with just about every new guitar I tried out, so I'm gonna do something awesome to mine. I'm gonna us blue, gold, red lace sensor pickups (neck to bridge), switch out the bridge for a wilkonson tremolo, and some fender locking tuners. That way it'll sound and play better than just about any new strat.

Langstaff · Post by **Langstaff** » 24 Nov 2007 16:08

I heart Washburn, but I play metal.

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 24 Nov 2007 20:28

id get a gibson les paul if they werent so expensive, so im probably going for a telecaster or a strat depending on how i feel at the time.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 25 Nov 2007 07:16

I find strats more versatile because they have more settings and they are more customizable, on the other hand, nothing beats a wood finish tele with a white pickguard. Just a block of wood.

shaggster · Post by **shaggster** » 27 Nov 2007 08:57

i prefer gibson i have a les paul studio and an 84 strat.. the gibson just plays so much nicer.. also i am selling it haha

Krafty · Post by **Krafty** » 17 Dec 2007 04:46

I just got a Fender strat for my birthday:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=511143

It plays better than any guitar I've ever had the chance to play (although, I've never tried out a Gibson). But yea, I really like this strat and it plays like a dream.

Edit: Sorry, I just noticed that noone's posted in here in almost a month.

mc · Post by mc » 17 Dec 2007 09:13

nice, kaushik! those fancy american strats are always something special to play!