Help choosing a guitar!
 

First off, I know there are already similar threads already, but I wanted to try and get some feedback specific to what I'm wanting to do.

I've played acoustic for years a d have a cheap starcaster and line 6 Spyder currently. I definitely know I want to get a good quality guitar and tube amp.

The problem is the variety. I want good cleans, like John mayer, Ed Sheeran, light distortion like a lot of modern country, worship type stuff. I would like to probably mess around with some classic rock sounds but not my main deal.

I know a lot of the clean stuff was done on a strat, while a lot of country and worship is done on a tele. I have heard that a tele is the most versitle, but wonder about a strat or even a HSS strat or G&L legacy HSS. I just don't have enough experience to know about getting various sounds out of different guitars.

Thanks for the help!

A Strat is pretty flexible. Nice clean sounds. Good blues too.

Take a look at the Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin. A couple of us here have one, and you can get pretty much anything you want out of it, except maybe metal.

I love mine. And everyone who has played it has been amazed....my teacher, my set up guy, and even my son in law who is strictly a Gem and Strat man.

I have a Yamaha Pacifica 012 (strat) that is HSS, I upgraded among other things, the neck pickup to a Duncan Hotrail humbucker, and the bridge pickup to a Bill Lawrence humbucker, and there isn't much that I can't get the right tone for. I use a Bugera Infinium V22 amp on the clean channel and plug my pedal board into the front end. I get a lot of compliments on my sound.

I had a Fender modern player plus Tele that was quite versatile and would likely suit your needs.

I would try to stay away from active pickups, or dual humbucker based on the type of tones you're looking for.

Yamaha has a few Pacifica models that have a P90 and a humbucker. Super versatile. The Pacifica 611 has Graphtech saddles, nut, Seymour Duncan p90, Seymour Duncan splittable humbucker, locking tuners, and a maple top. Excellent guitar for the money. Check out the reviews.

Best of luck!

Thanks guy's. I think I would like to stick to familiar brands. Just because it's going to be hard for me to find and play others and they are easier to sell if I decide to try something different. So is a HSS probably the best option for the range of tones I'm looking for? Would a standard MIM or American strat or tell cover all the bases I'm looking for?

An SSO (strat shaped object) is a great way to go for what you listed. Love me some tele, but in no way does it even approach a strat for versatility.

As far as HSS goes, the most important pickups (in terms of historical signature tones on recordings you know) are the middle and front, and the combination of the two. So an HSS can be the perfect do everything guitar.

G&L legacy HSS in both the USA and import models have a switch to split the bridge pickup, which sounds kind of unnecessary until you think about mixing the classic bridge and middle, and to get a sharper tele style tone.

Excellent setup - I've got the same one BTW - it'll cover the tones you're after with no problem, and you can have it all for about $1000-1200 complete. I'd also recommend checking out the Korean-made Gretsch 5400/5600-Series Electromatic hollowbodies; I've been a Gretsch player since 1964, bought a 5622T-CB last May, and the tone/playability/QC are every bit as good (and often better) than the Brooklyn originals - the class of the under-$1K Pac-Rim market IME...

Heads up- G&Ls are very nice and in many ways the next generation of strats- better trem, better saddles etc. But their pickups are very bright. So play both Fender and G&L next to each other if you can. And Buy used. You will lose less money if you decide to go a different way.

As far as amps go, there are a lot of things to consider. Are you going to gig? If so what is the size of your average venue? Are you a bedroom player exclusively? Will you be a pedal player? There are other questions but I will stop there.

Yea I know the amp is a huge part but one step at a time. I don't gig. Most of the playing will be a home simply for my enjoyment. I play acoustic at church at might occasionally play electric but not a big focus.

Amp-wise - I concur about the little 5 watt Bugera. It's a great sounding little amp (I have literally owned dozens of tube amps, as a lot of these probably have).

If you want more volume, I would take a hard look at the Carvin Vintage 16. They have been having 20% off sales a lot lately, making the Vintage 16 about $350 new. A LOT of amp for the $. Switchable from 5-16 watts and doesn't need a tube upgrade to sound good. Very versatile. I don't know anything about the Bugera V22, but defer to Steve in his knowledge of it - a likely candidate.

As far a guitars go: G&L Tribute. Every 3-4 weeks they have a model as the SDOTD at MF. You can easily score a Strat or Tele type for $299-329 if you are patient.

While I cannot disagree with what Blue says about the versatility of Strats, my approach is a bit different. I just really like 2 pickup guitars. My Tribute Bluesboy can do almost every tone I need. Thick Gibsonish tones at the neck HB, very Stratty center position and Tele Twang at the bridge.

I think a G&L Strat or Bluesboy is capable of giving you the tones you want.

My opinion, for the type of playing you describe, and where you will be doing it.

1. Pick the guitar that feels best in your hand. I've heard pretty much everything played on pretty much everything, so the difference between guitars in terms of tone, versatility, and so forth is of rounding error-level importance.

2. Think about why you are convinced you need a tube amp. Some of the modelers are so good (the Boss Katana in particular) that the advantages of tubes are far more debatable than they used to be and, IMO, basically disappear at home-playing volumes. Now, this from a guy who only plays tube amps but that's partly because that's what I'm used to, partly because I gig and can turn them up a bit, and partly because at gig volumes I like the tone a bit better. However, if they all died tomorrow, I'm not sure that I would go back to tubes. Katana and Tech 21 Flyrigs are two I can immediately think of that I've heard played live that sounded great. Not acceptable, great.

3. If you settle on tubes, for home use, I agree with the Bugera V5 suggestion. I have a head that I run into my home PA and it sounds remarkably good.

The best news is that it's really hard to go badly wrong these days, there is so much quality gear out there at low prices. You can save lots buying used, too.

Love my hard rock, metal, and sweet gospel picking, and lately I'm thinking that a Fender Nashville Tele with it's 3rd strat pickup would fit the bill. I'd look into installing a Bigsby. I have a Gretsh 6122-1959 that can do about anything but it's very expensive. I know some "low-end" guitars can sound wonderful too. Too many models to think of but try some out. Fender Classic Vibe 60s strat or Classic Vibe Custom Tele are both super axes. I'd try out the Boss Katana amps based on reviews, to save dollars on the amp front. Wish you were here...we could jam.

If you want to versatility, check out a few YouTube videos of John 5 playing one of his telecasters. He has no problem getting from heavy, distorted tones all the way through "chicken pickin'" country tones out of his rig.

IMO The telecaster is the Swiss Army knife of electric guitars.

Ex-worship leader/50+ year P&W/CCM musician here:

You will be playing electric in church - been there/done that, count on it, and sooner than later IME; in a way it's like GAS - you'll hear a song, start noodling around on electric, think "Gee, that sounds really good," try a few more, some more after that, and next thing you know you're slogging amp and guitar to rehearsals. That said, think both immediate and future needs in your choice of equipment - something that'll be adequate in a large setting, but won't overwhelm you when you're practicing at home; I'll +1 YamahaGuy and Roylor here - a 15-25W tube amp with a low-power option would be ideal for your needs, and neither the V22 nor the Vintage 16 will break the bank at under $400 street...

FYI I'm also a "big-clean tone" fan who happens to own a V5 Infinium 1x8" combo, and while it's a great little amp for home practice/recording, jamming with acoustic players, or smaller settings (<100 people), it's not designed to give you the clean headroom you need when playing in a larger house and/or competing with drums/other electric instruments/PA, nor the "big tone" you'll get from a 12" speaker even at lower volumes (note Paleolith runs his through his home system) - bear in mind that most guys who buy these low-watt tube amps do so in order to achieve that inimitable combination of pre/power-tube distortion at OHSA-approved sound levels. BTW I'm keeping mine - I've done a couple low-tech DIY tweaks to fine-tune the tone to my taste, and it fills a niche in my stable that none of my other amps can quite match - but if you're going to be a one-amp guy at this point I'd recommend either the V22 or Vintage 16...

Bluesboy? They're HORRIBLE. Must be why I own one... ;) As a bonus the color of mine, Fullerton red with the standard parchment pickguard, gets more comments than any guitar I've ever owned. And I've been playing since the seventies.

The middle position on a bluesboy is one of those "if you make me pick one setting at the beginning of the night and I have to stick with it, this is it" tones.

But the strat has the same appeal to me with the middle pickup, and the quack of a strat is such a dramatic changeup from that middle position that if I could have only one guitar, the strat wins, for me

I am so far able to have more than one guitar, thankfully.