Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

Butch Snyder

ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Hey guys,

I am in a lot of trouble here. It's not the kind of trouble where people are mad; but the trouble where you just are at a standstill. I have always made decisions on what guitar(s) I wanted to use based on what style of music I was into at the time. I don’t have a huge budget to buy something whenever I get the urge. Here’s an example. A buddy of mine called me up and wanted to do a gig and possibly restart a band together. We played in a cool Country band a couple of years ago. I was pretty stoked. Well, that’s when I got the Tele bug again. I went nuts; putting it in my sig and everything. Well, we played the gig and I ended up playing the OLP more than the Tele. The Tele just wasn’t feeling or sounding good. I could do a lot more things with the OLP also. Another thing is that I used a sound with a lot more girth and overdrive than in a typical Country setting.

Here’s where it gets bad. I was in the garage working on my wife’s Jeep with her and she told me she was going to buy me a certain really cool Strat from a forum member; for my upcoming birthday. After reading all the posts, PM’s, and signature from me concerning all the Tele stuff, she decided not to. Was I disappointed? Of course I was. But, she was right. She said that I am to “iffy” about guitars right now. That leads me to my main issue here.

I realized that I change my mind about guitars waaaaaay too much. Some guys have the ability to buy guitars anytime they like. I can’t; nor do I want to. I have always been a 1-guitar guy. I have always wanted that one guitar to handle all the musical situations I could get myself into. Now we all know there is really no one guitar that will handle every musical situation perfectly. There are some, however, that can come close. Then we get into all kinds of configurations like HSS and HSH setups and so on. I have seen players take a standard 2-pickup Tele or Les Paul and be able to play pretty much everything. That comes from the player.

I told my wife that while I was disappointed in her decision, I fully understood and supported it. I had to be honest with myself and say that right now, I don’t know what I want. Do I want a Tele? Probably not. I have one that I can do the chicken picking stuff with. So what do I want? Well, if you’re interested in going down this road with me, please read on.

I want a guitar that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I want something I can be proud of. I want something that if I go to a Jazz gig or a Metal gig, Blues gig, Country gig and all I bring is it; that I will be able to pull it off. I have thought about an Axis or Wolfgang. I love the guitars. They’re smaller and look really cool. They rock hard, clean up nice and can twang with the proper right-hand technique.

I have also thought about an HSS or HSH guitar. I love Steve Lukather, Dann Huff, and Mike Landau. They all use HSS guitars for the most part. They can also play about any style of music they like. So, maybe a good Ibanez S-series, Fender HSS Strat, or the like might be the ticket.

I know I have been down this road with you guys and I appreciate the interest you take here. So, I would like some feedback and direction…

Cheers,
 
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Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

im primarily a humbucker guy...but i have a tokai tele that i put rail pickups in and i find a huge amount of versatility between having them wired series and parallel.

in series the neck has enough fatness and growl to pass for a bucker and the bridge still has enough twang to remind you its a tele but its def more bucker than single coil. when they are in parallel, the neck sounds straight up clean clapton tones, nice and stratty with some bell and the bridge is all out twang.

not really an answer to your question but hopefully a little insight into some possible ideas. this guitar could handle blues, rock, country, jazz with the tone rolled off but i doubt it would cope with metal
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

well, you took the obvious answer off the table, which is have multiple guitars ...

that said, i'll tell you that my hotrodded ibanez 540s is one helluva versatile guitar ... i own five electric guitars, and if i had a gun to my head and could only keep one, it would probably have to be that one (even though it is currently at #4 on my depth chart) ... it is H-S-H with a push/pull and a mini toggle (1-0-1) ... i have custom switching in it to get me 16 different pickup combinations ... i have played all kinds of gigs with it, except metal ... i am sure it could do metal with a pedal for uber-crush ... if it had a beefier neck, a GK synth driver, and a piezo, it would be #1 ...

i have C5 (b) - a duck(m) - and a 59 (n) ... they work great together and the tones are all very happenin to me ... if i was to do it over, i would do a classic stack plus or a VR in the middle ... and i would experiment more to get the 'perfect' bridge pup (a CC and a PATB1 or PATB3)

good luck in your search

t4d
 
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Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

i'll tell you that my hotrodded ibanez 540s is one helluva versatile guitar ... i own five electric guitars, and if i had a gun to my head and could only keep one, it would probably have to be that one (even though it is currently at #4 on my depth chart) ... it is H-S-H with a push/pull and a mini toggle (1-0-1) ... i have custom switching in it to get me 16 different pickup combinations ... i have played all kinds of gigs with it, except metal ... i am sure it could do metal with a pedal for uber-crush ... if it had a beefier neck, a GK synth driver, and a piezo, it would be #1 ...
t4d

I have thought about the S470DXQM

I have seen many players besides Metal guys playing them. In fact, I pride myself as being mostly a Fusion player. I fuse Country, Pop, Blues, Jazz, whatever I want. That guitar was initially designed for Frank Gambale right?
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

yup, the 540 was the basis for the gambale sig model ... usually they were acid pink or acid yellow with shark inlays and whatever ... they didnt make many of the less flashy models like mine

i bought it after getting back from NGSW studying with gambale ... i was only playing fusiony, electric jazz then

good luck
t4d
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

yup, the 540 was the basis for the gambale sig model ... usually they were acid pink or acid yellow with shark inlays and whatever ... they didnt make many of the less flashy models like mine

i bought it after getting back from NGSW studying with gambale ... i was only playing fusiony, electric jazz then

good luck
t4d

Cool.....

Another model I have been thinking heavily about is the Axis Super Sport with piezo. A lot of versatility....
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

I do certainly not have much experience with different guitars... However I will throw out my 0.02$... Lately I have been toying with the idea of obtaining a Parker, at least as a temporary guitar before I will travel the US and purchasing the budget line Suhr.
I am completely dependent on having a guitar that can do most styles; rock, hard rock, jazzy and funky gospel music, you name it. From what I have read and heard about the Parkers are that if you find you like the tone, you can dig the design, you will have a guitar that will cover more or less every style. A plus is the piezo most of them have, I have no doubt I will use it, even though I have a nice acoustic..
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

I do certainly not have much experience with different guitars... However I will throw out my 0.02$... Lately I have been toying with the idea of obtaining a Parker, at least as a temporary guitar before I will travel the US and purchasing the budget line Suhr.
I am completely dependent on having a guitar that can do most styles; rock, hard rock, jazzy and funky gospel music, you name it. From what I have read and heard about the Parkers are that if you find you like the tone, you can dig the design, you will have a guitar that will cover more or less every style. A plus is the piezo most of them have, I have no doubt I will use it, even though I have a nice acoustic..

While in college, I worked at L&M Music in Chattanooga, TN. We were a Parker dealer and I played a lot of them. The guitars had great tone and feel. I hated the looks and still do.
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

I see.. I am sort of intrigued by the looks, although I am and will forever be a Strat-design guy. Thanks for giving me further weight to the argument of my possibly purchase, by the way..
Good luck with your hunt for your #1 guitar!
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

I see.. I am sort of intrigued by the looks, although I am and will forever be a Strat-design guy. Thanks for giving me further weight to the argument of my possibly purchase, by the way..
Good luck with your hunt for your #1 guitar!


Thanks man, I appreciate it....
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

Define "an arm and a leg". What about a Jackson SL1?
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

If my band is doing a shorter set (20 - 30minutes) then I'll generally take along my HSS Strat that has a semi hot PAF style pickup in the bridge (with a push/pull coil tap) and 2 7K-ish Single coils in the middle and neck. As the bridge pickup is around 13K or so, it still sounds quite 'Stratty' when coil tapped.

There's a few songs during my bands set where I prefer the sound of a SSS Strat to the Les Paul I normally use. I find that in a situation where I can't take the 2 guitars, the HSS Strat is a good enough substitute.

Just my opinion based on my gigging experiences :)
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

sounds like you need to just save up and buy a nice Les Paul somewhere and throw a set of Pearly Gates in it. :cool2:
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

I find that in a situation where I can't take the 2 guitars, the HSS Strat is a good enough substitute.

Just my opinion based on my gigging experiences :)

Mine too. Before I got back into Teles and playing Country, all I used were HSS guitars. They fit the bill for about everything; however, I used them back in the 80's and early 90's....


sounds like you need to just save up and buy a nice Les Paul somewhere and throw a set of Pearly Gates in it. :cool2:

Interesting Mr. HM, care to say a little more about that?
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

...Fender Mustang.

Like a strat but heavier, deeper, more percussive, and twangier at the same time (almost teleish in the latter respect). When set up right, the trem has more range than a strat's and stays in tune better.

better at distortion than a strat, better at cleans too :laugh2:
 
Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

I say a Strat HSS. Wire up the bucker to a series parallel switch or push/push and that way you can also have SSS in the same guitar. That or maybe a Strat with a bridge bucker, middle single coil and either mini hum or P-90 in the neck. Strats look cool in any musical setting, especially an all-white one or Red with a Red Pearl pickguard. Hmmmmm.

Good luck.

EDIT: My strat, with the lace sensor red bridge, ind. pup on/off switches and phase and series/parallel switches, can handle ANYTHING. There's a setting on it for ANY musical style.
 
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Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

As a non-wangbar-playing-type, I think Tele's are the be-all and end-all. However, if you put a gun to MY head and said I had to play a superstrat from now on, I'd probably pick this HSS Ibby right here.
 
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Re: Huge Guitar dilemma (Longish).....

Interesting. It looks good; but maybe a little too over-the-top for me...

What's over the top, the price? Used you can find a decent price on one especially a black one.

What about something from Shecter?
 
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