Why do you play the guitar you play?

[BloodRose]

I thought this may be interesting. Why do you play what you play? Price? Your hero play one?

I'll start. Im an 80s guy.. LOVE 80s hair metal. LPs were pretty "uncool" at that time. I LOVED all the shred sticks like Kramers,Jacksons, charvels and all. No pickguard, floyd, cool graphic of plain. I still LOVE those..

However...... I LOVE the huge sound of John Sykes and the soaring tone that Gary Richrath got on Hi infidelity and a few others. (I cant recall some of the others tht really stuck in my head.. But that sold me on the big tone of a les paul. I then found that I love the short scale and 60s neck. So I love my shred sticks and I love my pauls too...

Whats your story??

 

[AlexR]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

I was listening to typical radio music, then found Guns n' Roses, Gary Moore and The Cult. All played LP's at that time, and so the love was born.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

i like fender style guitars but i like humbuckers too. i wanted a prs cause the pretty maple tops but couldnt afford one so i built myself an oversized chambered tele with lp style electronics and its been my main guitar for probably 10 years

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

i mostly play biggger hollow or semi hollow archtop axes cos i like the way i can wrap my arm around them and relax. Super comfy. I also like some air in the tone cos i like the way it feels when they vibrate. I also like the way bigger axes balance either standing up or sitting down. I like big chunky necks too which feel rock solid and i can have the action super low. I like a2 humbuckers for a soft attack and plenty of sustain.
all this equals a 175 for jazz or solo gigs and a 335 for pretty much everything else.


But i mainly like them cos they are shaped like a beautiful womans backside.

 

[BTMN]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Big fan of AM radio starting at about age 4-5 as my mom played American Bandstand every Saturday afternoon on TV and listen to the local Top 40 station. Saw Sly and the Family Stone Spring of 1970 at age 9 and have been a fan of guitars every since. Had to have one of my own.

Also a big fan of 1957 Chevys. I saw the Ibanez Destroyers, Cub Koda of Brownsville Station, Rick Derringer, and Ace Frehley with Explorers all about the same time frame. With the look of the '57 Chevy fender in a guitar that began a lifelong affair with that style.

This month I have owned the first "Explorer" I ever bought 30 years, a 1979 Hamer Standard.

Sherry Baby

On the right...

 

[hermetico]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

My #1: my Fender American HSS Stratocaster, moded to SSS and loading a set of Antiquity II surf.

Why?.
Well, everything started with Hendrix, Blackmore, Gilmour, Latimer, ... I wanted a strato.
I had one American Standard first but, run fed up of noisy single coils in a solid state amp that bored me for years.

But, after that, I've played a lot of different types, including LP, Tele, Charvel, JEM7VWH, Luthier made, Flying V, Explorer, Music Man, Brian Red, Wilshire, PRS 513, Danelectro, Hammer, Chinesse stuff, Korean stuff...
Every guitar has something of interest that I find usefull for a certain song or when I want to achieve something in concret but, I always come back to my Strato.

But this time, I wanted an enhanced version of a Strato, with all the things that I didn't liked of my old Standard fixed. And that's the American Deluxe I've got for about 1220 Euro, brand new.
Better, more stable and sensible floating bridge (floating into two posts, with pop up bar), staggered locking tuning keys (that helps to stabilize tuning, gives the right angle and makes unnecessary the use of string trees), mother of pearl inlays, wider fretboard, wider radius, LRS nut (increases sustain), some cut on the neck's talon (helps to better reach lower frets) and, with the right pickups, preserves all that Strato tone.

This is the guitar where I've spent more time: shielding, testing pickups, pickup combinations, variated wiring designs, etc. Its removable pickguard allows me to try new things in a new pickguard and swap pickguards to test. If I don't like new things, I swap again the old pickguard.

It suits better my hands and body and, I love how it sounds and, it has that floating bridge for when I feel crazy or very subtile (one more expresion weapon).

I see guitars as tools and, my most versatile tool is, indeed, that guitar because is the one that allows me to be versatile.

Got it?

Want to see / hear it?
Lets go dirt...

 

[erksin]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

I started out a Gibson guy 35 years ago then played nothing but Fenders for the past 25 years. I got this thing a few months ago and it feels like home:

Incredibly versatile, very comfortable to play, kicks major ass. Pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a guitar.

 

[Kam]

Because I wanted to play the best kind of guitar in the world and that's obviously the Telecaster. Pretty simple, really.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Ace Frehley played a Cherry Sunburst Les Paul. The end.

 

[zontar]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Variety--so I have different guitars
I like the way they feel when you hold them, and they play and sound nice.
Price does enter into it as I am not rich.

Never really concerned myself with what my favorite guitarists played.

 

[3'scompany]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Because I think that ES-335s look bad ass when done correctly and they sound damn good to boot. Surely isn't for the fit and finish...

 

[guitarrob]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Can't find or afford the ones I want, just yet. Very soon though..

 

[tonello]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

I liked Gibsons when I first started playing (my dream guitar was a 1959 Les Paul Black Beauty). Overtime, after I get the obligatory Squire STrat, I started playing Fenders more. Around 2000, I got back into Gibson and bought an Explorer.

I recently have started tossing around the Idea of Warmoth. I still love the Strat and Tele bodies, but I hate the brightness of the guitars. I've been thinking about doing a couple Strats (HH Maple or Ebony boards), and after this years Tax refund check, I might go buy a couple.

 

[esandes]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

high quality wood
high quality hardware
high quality craftsmanship...made in USA..it's the only guitar and hardware i buy
low action
every fretted note is in tune all the way up to the highest fret
good pickups

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

I chose my PRS torero based on price and features. I can't see myself ever selling it. I'm hoping to pick up a nice Edwards Les Paul as my next guitar, but that might be a while as I have other plans for my money right now.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

I was in my teens during the hey day of underground FM radio, hippies, psychedelic rock, & light shows. There was an explosion of musical creativity. New bands emerging all the time: Cream, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck, Procol Harum, Mountain, Humble Pie, Ten Years After, Savoy Brown, Santana, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Black Sabbath, Curved Air, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver, Spooky Tooth, Traffic, Dave Mason, Who, Johnny Winter, MC5, Stooges, Amboy Dukes, Frost, Ultimate Spinach, Chicago Transit Authority, etc. It was a great era to experience first hand; there's been nothing like it since then.

Most of all I loved the powerful sound and style of the late 1960's British blues-based players. When I saw the preponderence of Gibsons and Marshalls amongst them, my future became clear.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Because I had more modern guitars, and figured I'd that fundamentally, I dig old school guitars. I can tell you that my LP is a burst because of Page. Aside from that, I just picked up what ever I liked best off the rack. I have a soft spot for Gibsons, probably because of the players who wielded them.

 

[verbotenco]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

Cause I didn't have the bucks for a Jem Flower.

 

[ExplorersRock]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

My custom guitar is a Strat-type because the ergonomics of the Strat are perfectly matched to me. The style has always been what rock-n-roll means. The reverse headstock has more to do with a Washburn I had then Hendrix as some friends have suggested. I loved the ergonimcs of it, and the look was cool.

But my favorite guitar? My screen name? Well...

I often have people suggest that my love of metal makes it obvious... James Hetfield. Nope. When I was about 15, the Foo Fighters had just come out with their debut album. Their was a live concert one day on VH1 of all places. I loved their stuff from the first time I heard them so watched the whole thing. And that's when it happened. Dave Grohl was plaing the most oddly-shaped guitar I'd ever seen and it was completely bad ass! PURE rock-n-roll! It was a black Gibson Explorer.

I was determined from that day forward to get one. Years later I played one and was happy that I liked playing it as much as I liked looking at it. Still, to my hands, very comfortable and has some of the greatest tone I've ever heard. I owe Dave Grohl a debt of thanks for sure!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Why do you play the guitar you play?

I was listening to typical radio music, then found Guns n' Roses, Gary Moore and The Cult. All played LP's at that time, and so the love was born.

YEP!! Billy Duffy on Sonic Temple was another one for me!!