One electric that can actually do it all or very close to it

[Dru Edwards]

Rick Nielsen is a character (I mean that in a fun, lovable way). I've watched a YouTube video of him play "Surrender" with a 5 neck guitar. It's a gimmick but I'm sure the crowd loves it. I have a couple of double necks and that's hard to handle.

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Those poor guitars! They need to be surgically separated. That guy's poor back! I would think that later in life he would have severe back problems.

Better to stick with a simple Tele.

Tony

[FoxHound4690]

My nominee would be basically any Ibanez electric.... some of them are ridiculously good and very underrated guitars.

[rockabilly69]

A Gretsch Duo 6128T (T signifies Bigsby) can pretty much cover it all from twang to harder hitting rock. If you lean to cleaner playing maybe get a model with Dynasonics, of you want a slightly fatter tone maybe go with Filtertrons.

Here's my Duo and I could easy cover a lot of ground with this one...



But as others have said a good Strat can cover most any ground.

And remember a good pedal board can help you change up the tones!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Jimmy Page used a Telecaster on the first two Zeppelin albums.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

If you lean to cleaner playing maybe get a model with Dynasonics, of you want a slightly fatter tone maybe go with Filtertrons.

I was quite enamored with the HiLo'Trons on the '61 6117 I had years ago.

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

Jimmy Page used a Telecaster on the first two Zeppelin albums.

He started using his No. 1 ‘59 Les Paul prominently from LZ II onward.

[TobyB]

Johnny Marr Jaguar or PRS Custom 24-18 are enormously versatile.

Variax JT69 with a Helix could be ultimate.

[jseth]

Well, that's the rub, innit? Unless you want to be lugging around several guitars, you want one guitar that does it all...

That's why I've "frankensteined" my Gibson ES-345 so severely... purists gasp and gag at what I've done, BUT the net result is, it makes all the sounds I want it make.

Seymour Duncan pickups with coil taps (PAF '59 on 'board, Jeff Beck on the bridge) and a Kahler locking nut tremelo system... the face had to be routed to accept the trem unit, which absolutely negated any "vintage" value on the guitar. Oh, yeah, I pulled that "variatone" pot out of it, as well - it was a SERIOUS signal suck!

I get great humbucker tones along with decent Strat and Tele tones... not exact, mind you, but close enough for Rock and Roll!

[Pdfiddler]

A Telecaster (Nocaster version)

[stephenT]

As a few folks have written, the answer IS a telecaster.

I have a t style guitar w/ a custom p90 in the neck position and a 10k bridge pickup. I can play anything authentically (that I'm capable of playing) on that guitar with it's mate, a Goodsell tube amp w/ tremolo and reverb.

You know, it's not the guitar,.. it's the notes one plays and the phrasing that define various styles of electric guitar music.

No matter what I wrote at the top, there is no "One electric that can actually do it all,..". A custom t style guitar with the right configuration is one answer, tho I think my guitar comes "very close to it".

[BoneDigger]

Assuming we are talking about a standard configuration guitar and not modified, I am quite intrigued by those that say a tele is more adaptable than a strat. Since I own both, I am not biased. A strat has a five way switch and three pickups where a tele has a three way switch (in most configurations) and two pickups. The strat also has a tremolo available. So, honest question, what makes a tele more suitable to "doing it all" than a strat?

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by BoneDigger

Assuming we are talking about a standard configuration guitar and not modified, I am quite intrigued by those that say a tele is more adaptable than a strat. Since I own both, I am not biased. A strat has a five way switch and three pickups where a tele has a three way switch (in most configurations) and two pickups. The strat also has a tremolo available. So, honest question, what makes a tele more suitable to "doing it all" than a strat?

Switch positions are not the same versatility in all judgements.

There are guitars with more switch positions than a Strat, yet they may not be more versatile depending on the aims of the player, and most more complicated switching systems have not become dominant in the market, indicating market judgement about the versatility/value in meeting various needs with those schemes.

Leo Fender probably considered the Jaguar as at least arguably more versatile as originally designed than the Strat. Interesting, a lot of Fender factory variations actually remove switch options from the Jaguar! (I own a Squier Jag with all the switches and while I once used to make fun of its "who uses it/understand it" nature, I now kind of enjoy its charms).

There's also the "no true Scotsman" factor in considering standard configurations. The original Tele and Strat had different switch behavior than many think of as "regular" today. Things like Fat and three pickup Teles and Strats with bridge tone controls or humbucker options are common, not rare-birds almost never encountered. I know what you mean by "standard" I think.

Here's the Telecaster "more versatile in practical use" argument.

A "standard" Strat as you and I are probably envisioning it has five positions, and some tone control over 4 of them. Fewer Strat users use the tone control in my observation however, and of course many would like to use a tone roll off on the bridge pickup more than any other. Two of the positions are different in a moderate way, but I won't call them duplicate. Though position and winds and adjustable pickup height produce different sounds, they are all the same pickup design wise.

The Telecaster as three positions and tone control over all 3, two of them duplicate Strat position and one is not available on the "standard" Strat. Furthermore, more Tele users make use of the tone control. The sounds of a Tele bridge or neck pickup with the tone control rolled off to taste can be considered almost a continuously variable extra pickup "switch" sound. And the two pickups are different pickups, mounted differently and with different sounds, so the "standard" Tele neck pickup has more character difference than simply being a neck pickup selector position. Tele neck and even middle position settings can mimic an archtop "jazz tone" effectively. It's downright weird how much "woody with some hollowbody flavor" you can get on a Tele neck pickup with the right use of the Tele controls. And that bridge pickup. Here's an important argument. Strats just can't get exactly that sound and response. I think I could get closer with a P90 LP Jr than a Strat. If your versatility aims include that Tele bite and response, then the Stat may lack a "position" even if there's a bridge pickup position on the Strat.

Back to the tone control: pinky swell reach to the tone control when on the bridge PU on a Tele is possible (even without the reverse control plate mod) and it's a neat sound.

Whammy bar? Yes, a standard Strat has it, and folks like Hendrix proved you could use it way beyond Leo Fender's expectations. Many whammy expressionists now go with other systems than the standar Strat if that's a big goal for them, but I like to go all Hendrix every so often on a traditional Strat. When I played with a Strat-type player with my Tele they liked to point out "Well you can't do vibrato with a Tele." I'd joshingly reply: "Well I can go out of tune just using my fingers." Their retort: "No, I mean can you do tasteful down-bends on whole chords?" And I'd play a chord, clench my Tele's upper bouts and wring the neck forward. "You mean, like that?"

So, in summary, the argument is that every player has a different "grocery list" of versatility ingredients. For some a single missing item may be non-negotiable. Other things that are there are not useful for a certain player's variety needs (e.g. the "strangle switch" on a Jaguar or the Jazzmaster upper bout "rhythm circuit" sound) are countable. but don't "score" in their versatility judgement. Where the Tele gets judged more versatile in practice is that the two pickups have more difference in character than just position on the body (the "standard Tele" then has something that Fat Teles or HSS Strats aim for present in its original design) and that the standard Tele controls offer more variations even within a single PU switch position than the Strat.

[posternutbag]

I tend to agree with the above post. Strats may have more tones, but a Tele has more tones that I use. I use the neck pickup for overdriven rhythm and with the tone rolled off I can get convincing jazzy tones. I use the bridge pickup for lots of lead playing, from clean country twang to overdriven hard rock leads. I use the two pickups together for funk rhythm.

Now, that being said, the new Nashville Telecaster in the player plus line has literally every tone I need. It has everything a standard Telecaster has, plus the middle Strat pickup for Jerry Garcia and Eric Clapton lead tones. Literally everything I want, nothing that I don’t.

[s2y]

A lot of people nominate the usual Strat, Tele, Les Paul, 335 usual suspects. I find a regular Strat and Tele to be a little weak once crossing to heavy metal.




This one is my personal fav. The Ibanez AZ would be my go to if I could only grab one guitar. I wish more HSS guitars offered a booster or neck+middle in series to get a nice humbucker tone.

[Glennwillow]

I have several electric guitars because my own experience is that there isn't one guitar that can do it all.

My first electric guitar, a 1978 wine-red Gibson ES-335, has dual humbuckers with a coil-splitting switch. For me, that coil-splitting switch was really useful, because I found a single-coil sound worked better for most rhythm playing and the full humbucker sound worked well for lead playing. And of course, the neck pickup sound is considerably different from the bridge pickup, and then there is the combined sound. So I got a lot of use out of that guitar on stage.

However, I did buy a Stratocaster next, then a Rickenbacker 360-12 (12-string), then a jazz guitar (currently my Eastman AR910CE), and then I picked up a very modestly priced, used MIM Telecaster. So, I think I got it covered.

- Glenn