Seeking advice on new electric

[kiteman]

I'm not surprised. I was an LP and SG guy til I bought my first strat, the Carvin Bolt. Since then it's all strats.

[Bookkeeper's Son]

More good input; glad to benefit from others' experience. The Nighthawk and 339 are ones I intend to play, just haven't seen them in the flesh yet. The 339 in particular seems to fit just what I want (though aesthetically I do prefer a single-cut).

And re the Strats/Teles, I wasn't even considering a Fender until I played a Strat the other day (for the first time in about 20 years). Couldn't believe it. Now they're on my list...

What you've narrowed down to are what I consider two basic and generic types of guitars/tone - Gibson-type and Fender-type, where there are easily identifiable differences between a 2-pickup humbucker guitar and a 3-pickup Fender-type single coil guitar (I know that P90s are single coil, but I still tend to lump them overall in the "Gibson-type" category). And I'll mention that I think (still thinking very generically) that the main difference between a Strat and a Tele is a middle pickup (that's where the Strat "quack" comes from).

What I'm trying to say is that if you can narrow you choice to which basic type of guitar tone you're looking for, then you can choose one that has the feel and look that works for you. And don't forget that the amplification/effects are a BIG part of the overall tone, regardless of the guitar.

Edit: I guess I should have included "hybrids" like HSS Strats, too.

[deeaa*]

Just get the strat. It will be by far the most versatile, upgradeable and repairable plus proper quality with great resale value compared to epi and the likes - but very likely a guitar you will never need to change from.

Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk

[Duffy]

There is even a great Fender Black Top strat that has twin covered full sized humbuckers as well as the vintage tremolo. I have on of these and it is a great guitar.

Also the faded Gibson LP's now have solid maple caps on the body over the mahogany. It is a satin finish, not like the older ones with the rough feeling mahogany on the top that look unfinished. They have excellent Gibson USA Burstbucker Pro pickups as well. These Gibson's sound and play great and I can notice the difference between these and the nice Epiphone's.

Strats are great, but the MIM ones that are higher up the line than the standards are, to me, way nicer guitars and excellent values for like 100US more. The MIM ones with Vintage Noiseless pickups are very nice, without the noise.

P90's in most cases can be quite noisy and I personally wouldn't choose one as my "only" guitar, rather I would supplement my guitars with one and use it when I want that particular sound. Noisy pickups can get annoying. At least "most" sss strats have five way switches that give noise cancelling in the 2 and 4 switch positions. Some people favor humbucker guitars for the obvious reason of quietness and they work great and are fairly quiet when using high gain overdrive and distortion or fuzz pedals.

Don't forget the amp. 500US for a Black Top Fender twin humbucker strat or tele.

[NWBasser]

I'll chime in for the faded LP. My only reasoning being that when I tried one out, I couldn't put it down. It felt and sounded perfect to me. I really like the worn finish on the neck.

I'd really recommend going through a music store trying different guitars until one says "take me home, I'm yours!"

[hubberjub***]

My .02. I know a lot of players who come from a classical background and do a lot of finger picking who like Godin guitars. Some of them tend to have a wider nut that classical players find comfortable. They are incredibly versatile and many have traditional electric pickups, piezo acoustic pickups, and MIDI pickups built in. Just a thought.
http://www.godinguitars.com/godinmontrealp.htm

[bcdon***]

Hello Music has the Highway One for US $575, I'm sure it wont last!
http://www.hellomusic.com/ec/DealMain.aspx?did=12471

[bcdon***]

My .02. I know a lot of players who come from a classical background and do a lot of finger picking who like Godin guitars. Some of them tend to have a wider nut that classical players find comfortable. They are incredibly versatile and many have traditional electric pickups, piezo acoustic pickups, and MIDI pickups built in. Just a thought.
http://www.godinguitars.com/godinmontrealp.htm

I have a Godin Icon Type 3 (see here) which is just incredible. Mine came with Lollar P90s and is a limited production run (only 50) and cost $1400 US but you can find it cheaper. This is an incredible guitar for the money and if it had Gibson stamped on it it would be over 2.5K.

I agree with hubberjub, take a look at their other guitars too.. very good workmanship.

[Sada Yairi]

Never played a Godin, but I certainly will now! Seem to be a sweet unit, and at a reasonable price. Thanks very much.

[Tig***]

Hello Music has the Highway One for US $575, I'm sure it wont last!
http://www.hellomusic.com/ec/DealMain.aspx?did=12471

Hello Music has been sending me emails on some great deals lately. Damn them!
Today, they have the Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Bass on sale for $640 US. Bass GAS is strong...

[jpfeifer]

Hi Tig,

After reading through your description of your ideal electric guitar I was thinking that we have similar tastes in guitars, in terms of liking the mellow-er sounding guitars that sound good finger-picked as well as played with a pick.

I agree with you about wanting to get the real Gibson if you can afford it. The Gibson ES-339 is a fantastic guitar. I may get one of these some day myself. They have a lot of the qualities that you mentioned here, but they are more in the $1700 to $2000 price range, although they are worth it in my opinion. They are really that good.

Another great guitar that I played some time ago was a Tele-style guitar from (from Fender) with P-90s instead of the standard Tele pickups. This guitar sounded very 335-like to my ears and I really liked it. You might want to check out the Jim Adkins Thinline Telecaster if you can find one. This is a great guitar with some very warm sounds, and also some great blues tones as well:
http://www.fender.com/products/searc...tno=0262350538

I also agree with the mention of Godin guitars. I only recently discovered these guitars. I bought my wife a Godin classical guitar for a Christmas gift and I was amazed at the quality of their guitars, especially for the price. This is a great company.

Good luck in your search.
--Jim

[Duffy]

I agree, I like the Jim Adkins thinline Fender - but the P90s on it, real Seymour Duncans, are pretty noisy. I have played a couple of these several times and like them. I just don't really like the noise.

I did a set up last night on my fat tele, or whatever you call them - the ones with the full sized covered humbucker in the neck and the traditional bridge tele pickup. Man, it sounds great. It is one of my most versitile guitars. All three switch positions produce distinctly different sounds. The bridge pickup is quiet as is the middle switch position, even when playing thru my ultra high gain amp. The neck humbucker is silent and sounds great. One of these fat tele's or whatever they are called, could make a very nice versitile guitar for someone. The bridge pickup played clean sounds a lot like an acoustic guitar and the middle position is very nice, even for leads.

If you are only going to have one electric guitar for a while, a versitile one might be a good idea. The Gibson isn't a bad idea either. The strats with the better pickups are also totally nice, in my opinion, and somewhat versitille.

[Tig***]

^ I think you meant the post to go to Sada Yairi.

[Sada Yairi]

Either way, we both read it!

[Bigcdizzle2011]

bottom line, I love the Wildkat, it is one of my favorite new designs, but the strat will have more versatility than either of the other two. So if down the road you want to expand your tones you'll be able to. also for that kind of money you should definitely consider the Fender Jaguar. Its small, light, incredible versatile, and it has some of the sweetest jazz and blues tones you can find anywhere. Plus Fender parts are easy to replace, and their customer service is incredible. You can't beat it.

As to the Godin's they are a beautiful guitar, the only downside I see is the upkeep. I hear horror stories about replacing parts, but in the event that that is not true, they are a great quality guitar for a working man's price.

hope this helps,
Chad

[Sada Yairi]

I finally managed to play a Wildkat the other day (very difficult to find in Sydney) and it was beeeeuuuudiiifuuuuullll. Loved it. And given what I want to do with it, it has all the tonal quality I'm after. Plus it looks so sweet! Played it through an Epi Valve Senior which I also loved (and am now trying to justify). The Godins are nice, but a much less practical option. Haven't played a Jaguar at all so far.

[Sada Yairi]

Incidentally, that was the first time I had played with P90s too. Much better and less noisy that I had expected.

[Sada Yairi]

Time to update this thread. After months of thoroughly enjoyable research, playing all sorts of guitars and amps, the Wildkat was my clear favorite. Of all the amps I tried (ss & tube) I found the Epi Valve Senior the most enjoyable. I found the modelling amps too complicated and difficult to use - really struggled to get tones I liked out of them. However, both the Wildkat and the Valve Senior were out of my price range (in Aus they both go for around $800). As such, I decided to wait on the guitar and keep playing my old Dot. I also decided that the best amp I could afford was the Bugera V22. Tried to organise a V22 but got jerked around by the music store. Happened to check out another store's website just for fun, and guess what? Due to a big sale with unbelievable prices, I have just ordered a Wildkat AND a Valve Senior!!!!! My ideal dream pair, and they're about to be mine!!!

[jtees4]

Godin!?