Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Which Guitar, Why?

This post is about which guitars we prefer for whatever type of music we happen to be playing at the moment. First off, let's start off with Gibson vs. Fender. A lot of guitarists I meet seem to be one or the other, where as I feel there is a time and a place for both. If you're gonna be playing blues, hands down fender is your guitar. Nothing quite cuts through the din like the piercing attack of a strat with the selector in bridge position. Think SRV. Think Buddy Guy. Think Hendrix. Actually, there are so many different guitarists associated with both gibson and fender, playing a wide variety of styles, it can be hard to keep track of. Let's talk about who plays Gibson's and why. For my money, if you're going to be playing any kind of "heavy" music, Gibson will do you right. Much of Randy Rhoads' best work was done with his cream colored gibson les paul custom. Hendrix was actually known to play gibson(Flying V) in his later years. See the Isle of Wight concert from 1970. Another Ozzy guitarist associated with the Les Paul is Zakk Wylde. His tone is a little over the top and that has a lot to do with the pickups he uses. He uses Emg's. Emg's with a les paul can almost bee Too distorted and heavy for my tastes anyway. If your gonna tackle country, its pretty much the Telecasters place. Although Keith Richards used it famously throughout the Rolling Stones for country inflected rock. You also might want to consider The Chet Atkins Gretsch or The Country Gentleman for country. I will briefly mention a few other models and comment on how i feel about them. ESP Guitars: Cool, and really good for metal, good shredding guitar. Gretsch White Falcon: Awesome, extremely versatile and a guitar i hope someday to own. Gibson ES-335: Probably the most versatile guitar out there, you can play almost any style on it, and it rocks!(Full disclosure: I own a cherry red 1967 ES-335). PRS guitars:my least favorite brand. I can't stand the twig like necks and i think the "tone" people speak of when they mention them is very overrated. Plus they are sorta ugly. Haha. Anyway tell us what you think! what guitars do you play, and what styles do you use them for?
-Danielelectric