Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock Boy
I am looking into getting a decent electric guitar, but can't decide which one to get.
Gibson SG or Fender American Strat?
Which one would you buy and why?
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I'd say play them both and see what you like better. The trouble comparing these two guitars is that they sound and play completely different. It really depends what kind of sound you want to achieve.
The SG with two humbuckers would probably be a better choice if you want to play more high gain stuff. In general I think humbuckers are better suited to crank the distortion than single coils, and you can still get a really nice, fat clean tone out of them. Try a Les Paul as well. It's a little more expensive but I think they are more versatile than an SG (plus they look pretty). Gibson guitars are a shorter scale than strats which makes them pretty comfortable to play unless you are going up to the 17th-21st frets a lot where things get a little tight. The shorter scale also lowers the string tension a bit making bends a little easier.
A strat with 3 single coils is not a very good high gain guitar IMO. Although you can crank the amp for some singing sustain on the solos I dont think single coil pickups handle heavy rhythm guitar parts as well as a humbucker. Of course strats are great guitars for overdriven blues tones ie Clapton, Hendrix, SRV, style etc or for clean stuff. The thing you do get with single coils that a humbucker can't do is clarity. When you strike a chord you can hear each individual note ring out but with a humbucker they blend together more and can sometimes be just plain muddy sounding. This also makes strats less forgiving to sloppy play...you got to get your fingerings right on or you will hear the wrong notes. The strat also has a longer scale...so you have to stretch a little more on the low end but you have better access to the higher frets.
In my experience the Epiphone guitars, while they are pretty decent instruments for the money, don't stack up when compared to Gibsons. If you want an SG or LP just buy the Gibson and don't fool around with a copy, they just aren't the same.
Check out the Schecter stuff too. I played a bunch of them when I was looking for my first decent electric guitar and they are pretty nice instruments but there are a lot of choices in that 400-1000 range that would be good. If you are looking for a higher end guitar don't bother because in my opinion they don't compare to the standard or custom shop Gibsons, Fenders, or PRS. Standard Gibson SGs and LPs can be found pretty cheap used and even the 1957 and 1958 reissue custom shop Les Paul's can be had in the 2 grand range.
As for Fenders, the American guitars are really nice and worth the price tag. My personal favorite is the Clapton strat. The thing with Fender is that there are tons of Mexican made strats that are really killer guitars and just as nice as the Americans and they cost under 400 bucks, but you have to look hard for them because there are even more Mexican strats that aren't nearly as good.
And just because this is the Acoustic (Taylor) Guitar Forum...Check out the new Taylor solid body electrics coming in 2008. I haven't played one but I think they look sweet.