But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

Uk Ant

Uk Ant

New member
Every now and then I think I should save up for a proper, made in the USA, Gibson or Fender. You know, a proper electric guitar from the the two companies who have so dominated the market of the years.
But every time I think this there's part of me that just loses interest. Now this is isn't a big company bash, both make some guitars I wouldn't say no to.
But the thing is I never wanted one as a kid.
Being a teenage rocker in the eighties meant one thing... superstrat or angular metalhead guitar like the Ibanez destroyer. Why would I dream of owning some as frumpy and old fashioned as a strat, especially a tobacco sunburst with a tort scratch plate!
These days I'm a little more tolerant of more old fashioned looking guitars, lets face it I have to be, I'm old; but that old tendency to want just slightly more modern styling still stays with me.
Ok, I do own a Les Paul but it's a Tokai, and it was my sisters late boyfriends last guitar. Nice guitar mind, and it is the best sounding instrument in my small collection.
It may just be that simple fact that when I was a kid Gibson and Fender just weren't very cool at all, and they were not making great instruments (they got better) and what you learn as a kid stays with you.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

To each his own. I guess that's why they make pointy guitars.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

I think that's a perfectly fair stance, though I giggle at the notion of superstrats and pointies being "modern" by today's standards. If anything, the modern trend is to play up the funkier elements of old designs -- look at all the indie-pop bands sporting offset waist Fenders and hollowbody Gibsons.

I think that for many of us, there's a psychological satisfaction that comes from having The Thing, rather than The Thing That Is Very Much Like The Thing, even when The Thing That Is Very Much Like The Thing is, in fact, an improvement upon the original. But, for each of us, exactly which The Thing we're lusting after (not to mention what does and does not actually qualify as The Thing) is different. If your The Thing happens to be an Ibanez RG or a Jackson Kelly..GO FOR IT. You've got the benefit of being out of sync with current trends, which means you're not gonna have to pay nearly the premiums that people chasing pre-CBS Strats or 50s LPs have to.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

Fair enough. I'd recommend not buying either Fenders or Gibsons then. :)

Personally, the only Fenders I'm interested in aren't available left handed, so I'll probably be piecing together some sort of copy from Warmoth or other makers/luthiers. I also don't see myself paying Gibson prices anytime soon (and for the record, I'm not one of the perpetually whinging Gibsons-are-soooo-overpriced crowd). I'm just not thrilled enough about their designs to pay that money, even if they are worth it. I'd like to pick up a nice SG someday but that's it, at this stage.

But you're right; it's the era that you grow up in that shapes you. St_Genesius is also right. I'm not even an indie kid and all I do is GAS for offset waist Fenders. :banghead:
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

I own 2 Gibsons and 1 Fender mainly because I got them for really good prices. If money didn't matter I'd have a Martyn Booth or a Feline. But I can't afford them.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

Uk Ant said:
Every now and then I think I should save up for a proper, made in the USA, Gibson or Fender. You know, a proper electric guitar from the the two companies who have so dominated the market of the years.
But every time I think this there's part of me that just loses interest. Now this is isn't a big company bash, both make some guitars I wouldn't say no to.
But the thing is I never wanted one as a kid.
Being a teenage rocker in the eighties meant one thing... superstrat or angular metalhead guitar like the Ibanez destroyer. Why would I dream of owning some as frumpy and old fashioned as a strat, especially a tobacco sunburst with a tort scratch plate!
These days I'm a little more tolerant of more old fashioned looking guitars, lets face it I have to be, I'm old; but that old tendency to want just slightly more modern styling still stays with me.
Ok, I do own a Les Paul but it's a Tokai, and it was my sisters late boyfriends last guitar. Nice guitar mind, and it is the best sounding instrument in my small collection.
It may just be that simple fact that when I was a kid Gibson and Fender just weren't very cool at all, and they were not making great instruments (they got better) and what you learn as a kid stays with you.
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i was a teenager in the 80's and i have superstarts under my skin... Jacksons, Charvels, Kramers and so on... a JB and Floyd, yaahoo! too me i think a Jackson Dinky or Soloist is a great modern axe...

that being said i'm a huge Hendrix fan and i paid a small fortune to buy a Custom Shop 1966 reissue strat simular to the ones Jimi would of had around Are You Experienced...

then ontop of that i paid i large sum for a Pete Townshend Signature SG and a 76 Les Paul Deluxe because i'm a massive fan of The Who....

99% of the time i'm playing my Jacksons, my Charvels, and my Wolfgang....
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

I'm a complete 180 from you, lol. I was a teenager mostly in the 70s, and my favorite bands when I was young were Boston, Foreigner, Deep Purple, Kiss, and then of course Led Zeppelin. All Les Pauls and a strat. When the pointy guitars came around it's not that I didn't like them, I just didn't pay any attention to them. When someone paid a ton of money for a Charvel or something else, my thought was "heck, I could get two old vintage strats or Les Pauls for that money." When I PLAYED a good pointy guitar, I usually thought it was fantastic but like you, what influenced me as a kid stuck with me.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

I was a teenager in the 70s. All my guitar heroes played Gibsons or Fenders. I never wanted anything else!
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

75lespaul said:
I'm a complete 180 from you, lol. I was a teenager mostly in the 70s, and my favorite bands when I was young were Boston, Foreigner, Deep Purple, Kiss, and then of course Led Zeppelin. All Les Pauls and a strat. When the pointy guitars came around it's not that I didn't like them, I just didn't pay any attention to them. When someone paid a ton of money for a Charvel or something else, my thought was "heck, I could get two old vintage strats or Les Pauls for that money." When I PLAYED a good pointy guitar, I usually thought it was fantastic but like you, what influenced me as a kid stuck with me.
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when i was in highschool in around 1986/87 i saw some fellows in my music class all start trading in their late 60's and early 70's Les Pauls for Kramers... and not long after they did the trade they were crying for their Les Pauls
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

your argument is valid except that those frumpy old man guitars played way heavier, higher-quality rock music in the 70's than those dudes in spandex with yellow ibanez ever did in the 80's :smokin:
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

Empty Pockets said:
your argument is valid except that those frumpy old man guitars played way heavier, higher-quality rock music in the 70's than those dudes in spandex with yellow ibanez ever did in the 80's :smokin:
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What about the guys in the 80's who wore jeans and black T-shirts, didn't wear makeup or prance around on stage, and wrote the textbook on metal in the last quarter-century?
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

You're usually best off playing the kinds of guitars that most of the players in your genre use. There's a reason they chose them. It's usually because it's the right tool for the job and represents your genre properly, image-wise.

A good reason for classic guitars is that they cover almost all genres, and they always hold value because they're timeless designs. Timely guitars look good on a young guy, doing a particular genre, but they soon become dated and lose value.

Look at the guitars U2 used, compared to the guitars Duran Duran used. Which band's pictures don't look dated? That's what I mean.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

Maybe someday I'll own a corporate guitar. Fender does own Jackson, Charvel and EVH, so those are a few high-quality (mostly) US-made companies that satisfy the "80's rocker" or modern rock guys.

Honestly though, since I already put together a good guitar from parts, likelihood is if I really start itching for a "normal" Strat, I'll just build one from Warmoth or some other good quality US-made parts company.

I'm not sure how bad I really "need" a set-neck or Gibson-style ax, but I find for the stuff I want (thick maple cap, two buckers or P-90's, high quality hardware, etc), I won't go for a Studio or lower-line Gibson. I'd probably go the Agile route.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

It's definitely a matter of being comfortable with what you grew up with. Many of today's teenagers would scoff at the likes of 80's styled guitars for being 25 years out of date. It came as a startling realization of the passage of time and my own mortality when I started hearing people refer to equipment from the early 80's as 'vintage.' That makes my guitar, 'senior citizen.'

It's alright to like what we like. Most of the time when somebody is trying to coerce others into liking what they like, it is only to assuage their insecurities about their own purchases. Like Jolly does in my sig.




Cheers........................................ wahwah
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

Jessie's ghost said:
What about the guys in the 80's who wore jeans and black T-shirts, didn't wear makeup or prance around on stage, and wrote the textbook on metal in the last quarter-century?
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Yeah, the 80's had a huge heavy/speed/power metal scene ..then there was thrash...that was the stuff I was into myself (and still am ..lol). Too bad all it's (the 80's) remembered for these days is the puffy hair & rouge brigade.

Like the OP Gibsons and Fenders don't really appeal to me at all. I'm sure they're great, just not my thing. Pointies & superstrats all the way for me.

My first guitar was a Destroyer..
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

wahwah said:
It's alright to like what we like. Most of the time when somebody is trying to coerce others into liking what they like, it is only to assuage their insecurities about their own purchases.
Click to expand...

This is one of the smartest things anyone has ever written about anything.
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

I agree with the comments saying that 80's guitars aren't modern by today's standards IMO. The cutting edge would probably be Blackmachine, Flaxwood, Aristides, Music Man's Game Changer, that kind of deal. Not that it takes away from the awesomeness of the 80's shredsticks!
 
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Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

I think they just don't fit current musical trends.

They're still more "modern" than Gibson's, Fender's etc etc in the sense of technological advancement, materials, ergonomics/design, playability etc.


It's just that they are'nt cool anymore..

But these things (trends) go around in circles...
 
Re: But I never wanted a Gibson or a Fender!

The OP is all off.

"proper" and "US-made" don't really go together. From a craftmanship standpoint a MIM Fender isn't worse than a US-made. It has other paint and hardware. Myself I think the basic US Strat is kinda bland and I'd rather have a better model made elsewhere. Get a AVRI or better.

Basic Gibson Les Pauls are the center of swiss-cheesing if you are lucky and big caves if not, and Nashville bridges and dumb pickups. Get a historic or go MIJ I'd say.

If there's some actual Gibson GAS try a Explorer or SG. Those aren't hollow, they have fret access that you are used to and they are "proper" US made guitars.
 
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