Favorite Guitars to Gig With

ErikH

ErikH

Well-known member
I haven't been around much. I hope everyone is doing well. For those that gig regularly, or those that like to play for the neighbors or local wildlife, what are you favorite guitars to gig with?

Mine is my trusty #1 Frankenstrat that I've had since 1993. No matter what else I get, that one never lets me down for anything. My SG Junior that I built from a Precision Guitar Kits kit is my second fav. It's been 4 1/2 years since I made it and it still makes me smile when I play it. A good sign of a definite keeper.

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Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

"The Phoenix," my 1985 Westone Spectrum LX is still #1 after all these years...

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Followed closely by "Rachel," my 2005 Ibanez Artcore AS83...
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And my newest addition is "Lucy," my 2014 BC Rich Perfect 10 Bich...
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All are just a blast to play, and all are very special to me!
 
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Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

I've been digging my Les Paul 7 string, even when I'm playing 6er material. It just sounds and feels amazing.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

LP's are my 'go to' guitars for on stage. They always feel right and sound good. Since I always take two guitars to a gig, I like to mix that up and for variety sometimes take an LP with an SG, 335, and once in a while a Flying V.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

I go between 2 Music Man guitars, a custom Silhouette Special (with a scalloped neck) and a USA SUB1. I also use a Warmoth I built a few years ago.
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Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

blueman335 said:
LP's are my 'go to' guitars for on stage. They always feel right and sound good. Since I always take two guitars to a gig, I like to mix that up and for variety sometimes take an LP with an SG, 335, and once in a while a Flying V.
Click to expand...

I would take an LP and something with single coils, whether it's a P-90 loaded SG or either a Tele or Strat.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

I really like using my black Epi LP for gigging. It's fairly light, it plays and sounds pretty damn good and it's not too precious.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

I've been using a 335 for a number of years, but swapped to tele for the last six months or so.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

My main live guitar for many years has been my PRS Custom 22.

While I love Gibson, Fender, G&L and Guild guitars also, it just seems that the PRS always fits best.
So much so that my band will ask if I brought it to rehearsal or not. (They know it will be at the gig!)

Oddly, it isn't my favorite guitar to play, it just has something special about its tone.
This is one of those guitars that has taught me not to judge an electric instrument by its unplugged tone.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

ant_riv said:
My main live guitar for many years has been my PRS Custom 22.

While I love Gibson, Fender, G&L and Guild guitars also, it just seems that the PRS always fits best.
So much so that my band will ask if I brought it to rehearsal or not. (They know it will be at the gig!)

Oddly, it isn't my favorite guitar to play, it just has something special about its tone.
This is one of those guitars that has taught me not to judge an electric instrument by its unplugged tone.
Click to expand...

PRS are wonderful guitars to play, but they always seem to be lacking something in the tone department.
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

For a solo acoustic gig I take my Martin HD-28E Retro, a Takamine EF381 12-string dreadnought and maybe a second Martin D-28 as insurance if a string breaks.

Band gigs involve a few more instruments. My Number One is always a G&L Legacy; I have a bunch of them. Different colors, but all set up to play the same. Two have T-H Antiquity sets, but for the most part they are interchangeable.

Then a 2HB; lately it has been a Gibson 335, but it could also be one of my 11 Pauls. I have four Historics, an Elegant, and then two each of the Supreme, 1960 Classic and Classic Antique models. These aren't really interchangeable, with all the different feels and different pickups, so I'll pick one depending on what I expect the gig to be and sometimes just by whim. I'm not as comfortable with a Gibson as I am the G&Ls, but I love the tone for certain songs. I also have my Ibanez Ghostriders and an Artstar AS-120TR.

And since I don't want to play all night on a Gibson, I take a backup for the Legacy, and a backup for the 2HB....and usually that guitar is a Legacy Special. The Gotoh Dual Blade pickups have a thicker PAF-ish tone, and the PTB tone system make for a really versatile guitar. Love the Legacy's ergonomics, the vibrato and the thicker tone gives me something that can back up both styles, yet create unique tones of its own.

And then depending on the gig, there could be an acoustic 6-string, acoustic 12-string (Tak), electric 12-string (a DanElectro-2 Innuendo), and my 5-string Ibanez banjo. I might only do 2-4 songs on each of them, or not use them at all, but I love to use them if I can. They add color and versatility to the band, and they can really pull people into what we're doing. I love to ENTERTAIN, and to see people's eyes light up when they hear the banjo or the 12-string is very rewarding.

And then for a jam session, anything goes. Might be a Legacy, or a 335 or a Paul as I try to get more comfortable with them. Might choose depending on which guitar has the freshest strings. I took a G&L Comanche to my last jam, not knowing the people or the music they played and it was perfect. I love the power of the Z-Coils!

It's a blessing to have so many nice guitars to choose from, but it makes for some tough choices on Game Day!

Bill
 
Re: Favorite Guitars to Gig With

For covering all the bases my main axe for many years was a '79 Floydcaster with a mid-70s T-top at the bridge, a 59n at the neck, and a QuarterPound Strat pickup in between. All three pickups clean up well with the volume control but sustain nicely at volume. Trusty old warbird never let me down through thousands of sets, as long as I kept the strings fresh and had our stage guy wipe 'em off immediately each time I put the guitar down. I sweat under the lights. A lot, and mine is pretty acid. Even being wiped with Fast-Fret to slow the corrosion, about three hours stage time is the most I can count on before the plain strings start breaking.

Then I got my first PRS, the first guitar I was ever inspired to give a name, and still my #1 thirty years later. A product of the days when Paul was selecting the wood himself with a rubber mallet, she has the liveliest nature of any axe I've ever owned. Born to fly. Just a slightest tap to the back of the headstock sets the whole guitar quivering as if she wants to take off. Between the unique pickups, PRS' 5-way rotary, and a sweet switch, she gives me a lot of versatility. And a whole lot of personality. Purrs like a kitten, sings like an angel, screams like a banshee. Stays in perfect tune, always. Still a constant source of inspiration even after all these years. I have several other PRSs; some are prettier but none compares for feel and tone. Not even close. Every guitarist deserves one instrument that really lights up their synapses and lifts their spirits. Midnight Angel is mine.

So those have been my Swiss-army-knife axes, and I've always had at least one woody sounding double-PAF guitar along too. One Les Paul at a minimum, maybe also an Explorer, or something flashier like the Moderne when I felt like showing off. That was back in my heyday though, playing to packed houses five and six nights a week. Mostly I don't bring vintage axes to gigs anymore- some of the guitars I got for a few hundred bucks back in the 70s and 80s are worth thousands now. And there's no longer an all-inclusive insurance policy to count on.

If I were still playing big venues I'd want a Strat or Tele along to round things out, plus a P90 guitar probably- very fond of a Les Paul Special acquired in a lucky deal last year (haven't pulled out any of the other P90-equipped axes in months). But most gigs in recent memory were done with just a PRS and a Les Paul.

As for all-time favorite guitar to gig with, that one PRS wins hands down.
 
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