What Electric Guitar Type Should Every Electric Guitarist Own?

[redir]

Originally Posted by blue

Blondie puts the "hard" in hardtail. I bet that thing rings for days.

Yup. Old growth White Oak body hard as nails and a real back breaker in weight. But it's worth it

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by revive

If one already has a strat, does he need to also own a tele (or vice versa), given that the two guitars have a lot of similarities?

The Strat and Tele do give you different sounds (think chicken pickin in country music) but if you're looking for more diversity a Les Paul (or SG) will give you that considering you already own a Strat. It just depends if you like humbuckers and the shorter scale length whether it is worth it to you.

[blue]

Originally Posted by revive

If one already has a strat, does he need to also own a tele (or vice versa), given that the two guitars have a lot of similarities?

It's impossible to answer, because there are so many flavors of pickups that have come out, even just counting OEM Fender products, for both guitars.

But if we are talking middle of the road Strat, I have found that I can get a tone that keeps me from missing a Tele from my SSO (strat shaped object) where the treble pickup does not go through a tone knob, with a nice clean boost pedal. And that's probably what most people who don't really want a tele, but every once in a while want "that icepick thing" want out of a guitar.

If you like teles the middle position is probably a fave though. But my Tele is an Esquire with a cocked wah mod, so what do I know? mine goes from front to back on the selector switch from Nasal, to icepick, to glacier pick!

[GangstaPat]

When forced to choose 1 I choose Tele but you should have had a 4th "all of the above" option.

[RP]

Originally Posted by GangstaPat

When forced to choose 1 I choose Tele but you should have had a 4th "all of the above" option.

You weren't forced to choose just one. I set up the poll to allow multiple choices so just choose all of them...

[cliff_the_stiff]

None of the above.
All three are solid tops and very similar depending on pickups.
I would poll instead-
Solid body (LP, strats, tele, prs etc)
Semi-Hollow body (Epiphone Bonnamassa, etc)
Hollow Body/ archtop

[RP]

Originally Posted by cliff_the_stiff

None of the above.
All three are solid tops and very similar depending on pickups.
I would poll instead-
Solid body (LP, strats, tele, prs etc)
Semi-Hollow body (Epiphone Bonnamassa, etc)
Hollow Body/ archtop

Cool. Why don't you set that up???

[C-ville Brent]

Yea, picked all three. Sadly, I don't have a Tele yet, but

Two out of three ain't bad.

[revive]

Originally Posted by blue

It's impossible to answer, because there are so many flavors of pickups that have come out, even just counting OEM Fender products, for both guitars.

But if we are talking middle of the road Strat, I have found that I can get a tone that keeps me from missing a Tele from my SSO (strat shaped object) where the treble pickup does not go through a tone knob, with a nice clean boost pedal. And that's probably what most people who don't really want a tele, but every once in a while want "that icepick thing" want out of a guitar.

If you like teles the middle position is probably a fave though. But my Tele is an Esquire with a cocked wah mod, so what do I know? mine goes from front to back on the selector switch from Nasal, to icepick, to glacier pick!

Isn't there a way to imitate tele middle sound by using a strat? Maybe position 4, with the middle pickup tone knob turned way down.

[j3ffr0]

I picked Les Paul, because it works better for the type of music I play the most on an electric guitar. I can also approximate everything else pretty well because I have the push pull pots with coil taps, phase, and series/parallel. It really depends on what you like. IMO for a versatile guitar you can't go wrong with a Les Paul with similar wiring or an HSS strat. Tele? Never spent much time with them.

[redir]

Originally Posted by revive

Isn't there a way to imitate tele middle sound by using a strat? Maybe position 4, with the middle pickup tone knob turned way down.

Yes!

https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/blender-pot/

[BoneDigger]

I can't see the poll on my phone, but if I could only have one, it would be a Gretsch.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by BoneDigger

I can't see the poll on my phone, but if I could only have one, it would be a Gretsch.

Hey Todd, here are the Poll Results to date. I'm in the minority!

Guitar, # Votes, %
Strat-type Guitar, 19, 45.24%
Tele-type Guitar, 24, 57.14%
Les Paul-type Guitar, 13, 30.95%

[blue]

Originally Posted by revive

Isn't there a way to imitate tele middle sound by using a strat? Maybe position 4, with the middle pickup tone knob turned way down.

Definitely. But not as good to my ear as the bridge with booster to copy the tele bridge.

To be honest, my two favorite positions on my Strat type are 3 and 5. Never been a huge fan fo the quacks. though if you're trying to nail a specific tone on record, they are a must!

[FrankHudson]

I didn't vote and almost wasn't going to respond since my opinions about what other people should like are mellowing over the years. I've owned a ton of electric guitars over the last two decades, though never any pricey examples. My opinion on what provides versatility should be understood as coming from someone who likes a variety of musical genres. I believe pickups make the most difference in actual sound, though other thing do enter in.

I think the one "Do Anything" guitar is three pickup Telecaster* with a neck humbucker.** I own two of this configuration, and you get a very good powerful single coil bridge sound, a the bridge+middle quack, the best humbucker sound (IMHO) in the neck position, and a very useful single coil bridge with neck humbucker "middle" position. The later is my favorite pickup combination overall. Alas this is not a common combination, but it really does a lot of different things well.

But in general, everyone should get what they like, and then get another, different one or two if they have room and funds.



*This could be a Stratocaster just as well, though this is incredibly difficult to come by other than a custom build or hot-rod job for some reason.

**Having come to love the sound of the P90 I'd consider a P90 in there somewhere as a alternative. A good Tele bridge PU in the Nocaster style is sort in that area soundwise though, and I have one three pickup tele with a neck mini-humbucker which is a little more P90 like than a traditional full sized 'bucker. Maybe someday I'll hot-rod something with a middle P90 pickup.

But in general, everyone should get what they like, and then get another, different one or two if they have room and funds.