Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

[Charvel1975]

Hello all, so I'm thinking of selling my 1998 Gibson Les Paul Special that has a Dimarzio super distortion p90 in the bridge and factory Gibson p100 pickup in the neck and using the funds to go towards another electric guitar as I'm trying to get the miles off my MIK Epiphone Les Paul Custom that's in my sig and maybe going for something lighter as my Epiphone weighs a ton and takes a toll on my back! I'm trying to stay on a budget below $1,500 if possible and I've even been looking at guitars in the $400 on up range.

I've been looking around online a lot and watching Youtube videos and reviews for some time, it's very hard for me to get to a music store like Guitar Center in Fairlawn, OH for example which is the closest to me, due to my work schedule. I'm in a classic/hard rock cover band and we play 70's/80's classic rock/hard rock in standard E tuning and are a 2 guitarist band. My primary Live rig right now is EVH 5150 III 50 Watt V2 6L6 head thru my Marshall 1960A w/2 WGS Retro 30's and stock celestion g12t75's in xpattern with my pedalboard: Korg Pitchblack tuner, ZOOM MS-70CDR and ModTone Clean Boost. As we are doing more shows, the EVH rig will be for live shows and right now my other guitarist is letting me use his Blackstar HT5R 1x12 Combo running through the matching Blackstar 1x12 cab and my aforementioned pedalboard is running through the effects loop.


Anyone have any suggestions or input? Thank you

[zionstrat]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

Are you only comfortable with 24.75 scale? If 25.5 is possible, it tends to be more flexible. The bottom line is you can take some snap out of a 25.5 but you can't add it to a short scale.

Following article lists many of the standard cover guitar combinations.

https://www.guitaryoudreamabout.com/blog/page/3

If you stick with the Les Paul platform, you almost have to come up with workarounds to thin out the mud for all of the 'open' sounding classics (from early Knopfler to the Eagles).

Bass roll-offs, humbuckers that are parallel to themselves and matching coils from two different humbuckers ( a la PRS) are among the possibilities... a lot of it has to do with the voicing of that particular guitar, the way you play and the feel of controls.

Note the article mentions Gretsch Jets and Nashville Telecasters... Two incredible platforms for cover guitar mods.

And of course the classic HSS is also a proven platform for crunch and snap...here's an HSS cover overview including a JB and cool rail with video clips...

https://www.guitaryoudreamabout.com/single-post/2018/04/07/Turning-a-Parker-Nitefly-into-a-Great-Cover-Guitar

Other than the Parker, all of these platforms and mods fall easily into your $400-1500 range... consider doing the mods yourself so that you can learn combinations that work well together and are easy to access in the real world.


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[GuitarDoc]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

By far the most versatile guitar would be an HH Strat with a Stag Mag in the bridge and a PAF type pup or the 59/C hybrid in the neck with Dave's "Do It All Wiring" and a p/p to split the pups for good Stratty tones:

Positions:
1) bridge bucker
2) bridge + neck outside coils
3) both buckers
4) bridge + neck inside coils
5) neck bucker

With the split on, 1), 3), and 5) would be single coils.

I have this in one of my guitars with a Jazz bridge pup in the neck and the tone possibilities are amazing, versatile, and all very useful tones...nothing waisted. It is a wiring scheme I am using as a default in nearly all of my custom guitars (because it is that good, and because customers LOVE it).

Thanks go to Mincer for turning me on to his simple but beautiful scheme.

[lp1987x]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

I play in a 70's and 80's hard rock cover band and, while a Les Paul is my guitar of choice, I needed something with a tremelo bar for some of the 80's stuff. I picked up a PRS Tremonti SE because it played like a Les Paul, had the same controls (I really like having separate volumes for the pickups so I can set the neck for clean and have distortion with a flip of the toggle switch), and had the bar too. It worked great for me.

I ended up selling it and getting a real PRS Tremonti 10 top used on Reverb about a year later because I liked the SE so much.

[bigcupholder]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

You could do classic rock covers with just about any guitar unless you're playing stuff that requires a trem. It's the amp and pedals that get you 90% of the flexibility.

But since you specifically mentioned getting something lighter, why not an SG? A PRS of some sort would also work without being a huge departure from your LPs in terms of feel.

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[NegativeEase]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

By far the most versatile guitar would be an HH Strat with a Stag Mag in the bridge and a PAF type pup or the 59/C hybrid in the neck with Dave's "Do It All Wiring" and a p/p to split the pups for good Stratty tones:

Positions:
1) bridge bucker
2) bridge + neck outside coils
3) both buckers
4) bridge + neck inside coils
5) neck bucker

With the split on, 1), 3), and 5) would be single coils.

I have this in one of my guitars with a Jazz bridge pup in the neck and the tone possibilities are amazing, versatile, and all very useful tones...nothing waisted. It is a wiring scheme I am using as a default in nearly all of my custom guitars (because it is that good, and because customers LOVE it).

Thanks go to Mincer for turning me on to his simple but beautiful scheme.

Not really a Strat fan.... but this post is pretty damn true.

Fenders Strats can be set up to do a Gibson tone.

-but Gibson's cant really do a Fender tone as well.

[Chistopher]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

Not really a Strat fan.... but this post is pretty damn true.

Fenders Strats can be set up to do a Gibson tone.

-but Gibson's cant really do a Fender tone as well.

If you ask me, the real "Fender sound" is the Fender amps that so often got paired with Fender guitars back in the day, not the guitars themselves.

[ehdwuld]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

A PRS SE Tremonti would probably give you the best compromise between Fender and Gibson

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

Maybe something like this if your used to Gibson type guitars but want something dufferent.

https://www.prsguitars.com/electrics/model/se_custom_24_roasted_maple_limited

25" scale.
Lighter weight.
Versatile pickup selections.
Easy to see on a dark stage fingerboard.
Same price point.
Some Fender vibe.
Humbuckers
A tremolo bridge.

[lp1987x]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

Maybe something like this if your used to Gibson type guitars but want something dufferent.

https://www.prsguitars.com/electrics/model/se_custom_24_roasted_maple_limited

25" scale.
Lighter weight.
Versatile pickup selections.
Easy to see on a dark stage fingerboard.
Same price point.
Some Fender vibe.
Humbuckers
A tremolo bridge.

[Aceman]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

So many things here; First if you have that gear and are in a 70's/80's cover band and can play all those tunes, why can't you pick a guitar?!?!?!? I'm a little confused at what you need help for here???

And, what does the OTHER guitar player have/do? Are you all rhythm, or do you play leads also?

Example: In my band (80's hair tribute) we both play leads. Just depends on who is "feeling" that solo and the nature of the beast. Since I Play LP types (dean Cadillacs, or V's) I usually do Sweet Child, Whitesnake (Sykes played a Les Paul) etc. The other guy plays Ibanez mostly, so anything stray or whammy he usually does. Between the two of us, we cover whatever is needed.

But for all around flexibility, I'd be getting an HSH Ibanez to play whatever. A humbucker loaded, Floyded Strat can play any of that. An SG or a Les Paul, not so much. But again...since there is another guitar player, what does he do? If you play rhythm only, no need for a whammy. If he is a Strat guy, I'll say SG or PRS on principle.

[dudiluty]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

I think you just have to follow your own sound.. what sound best to your ears.

If you really want to sound like the song you're playing you have to buy the same gear and have the same techniques as the artist.

But if you have a favorite guitar you can customize it and use some more pedals. Or go to a shop.. take some days off, spend some money and have fun trying some guitars.(best option)

I have a Guild Starfire V(light weight) and a DIY strat with p90 in the bridge(all custom handwound pups) and they sound great and can do almost everything I want from dire straits to queen to sweet child etc. Technique and some pedals do the trick mostly.

[dudiluty]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

If you ask me, the real "Fender sound" is the Fender amps that so often got paired with Fender guitars back in the day, not the guitars themselves.

If I play a Les Paul through a fender amp and play a song that's really fender... I'm getting my fender! The true fender sound is really the guitar imo.. not the amp.

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[ehdwuld]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

If I play a Les Paul through a fender amp and play a song that's really fender... I'm getting my fender! The true fender sound is really the guitar imo.. not the amp.

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Huh?

[dudiluty]

Re: Good Electric Guitar For Covers Band

Huh?

Just get a fender if you want a fender sound.