Help me find my ultimate guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter thebigcheese
  • Start date Start date
thebigcheese

thebigcheese

"Hi, I'm in Delaware."
When I first started guitar and picked up an electric guitar, I thought twang was the worst thing in the world, so I went with a used Gibson "The Paul." I have since come to realize that I actually really like twang, but I also really like the sound of Gibsons. I am borrowing my friend's Squier Strat to fill the twang void, but, although it sounds decent, it is not particularly well put together and goes out of tune every time I play with the whammy bar. My Paul isn't ideal, either, as the pickups don't seem to have the brightness that a "real" LP should have. Granted I haven't changed strings in a while, but even still, it has never sounded quite the same.

So here's what I'm thinking now. It'll be a while before I can get a new guitar, so I want to do some research and learn a bit from you guys about what to look for. I think my ideal guitar would be one that can sound both like a Strat and like a Les Paul. I realize that might not entirely possible and that it would never sound exactly like either, but I would still rather have just one guitar that does both instead of one guitar for each sound. I think the bridge pickup would be used most often for the nice Fender twang, so it could potentially be just a single coil, but it might be nice to instead have a coil tap that would allow me to also use a humbucker there to get more metal sorts of sounds. My Gibson gives me a good metal sound. I think the neck pickup would most often be used either by itself or in combination with the bridge pickup to get a Les Paul sound, but it could again be nice to get a twang sound there for some SRV sounds.

Does a guitar like that exist? It wouldn't surprise me if it did, but I'm just not really sure what I'm looking for. And I definitely don't want a crappy guitar brand.
 
A Les Paul fitted with P90 pickups (such as an R4 or R6) will get you spank and twang, darker than a Fender, though, with all the sustain you'd expect from a Les Paul. The neck pickup will give you a very robust "woody" sound. But you can't get that Strat quack that comes from the out-of-phase pickup switch positions.

One guitar I'm looking at is the Reverend Warhawk II 390. It's a set-neck, triple p-90 guitar with switching like that of a Strat, and it sounds like a Strat on steroids, with sustain. Check out their web site at reverendguitars.com.
 
Hopnestly, if you look at the specs on a PRS, it's hard not to come away with the conclusion that they designed it to split the difference between a Strat and a Les Paul.

They're fucking expensive, but the much-cheaper SE series are supposed to be quite good for the price. An
 
Telecasters are nice, but the ones I tried didn't seem very much like what I like about Strats. They sounded mostly just like slightly different Gibsons, which is not really what I want.

I haven't checked out PRS guitars yet mostly because they guy that started the company grew up around here and is a huge tool. But I guess if the guitars are nice, then who cares, right?

I forgot to mention that ideally, the guitar would also have a whammy bar of some sort, but a nice one that wouldn't knock the guitar out of tune all the time. It's not a totally essential element, though.
 
Watch Ebay for a Patrick Eggle "Berlin Pro" with the rotary switch instead of a tone control, made from '92 to pre 2000 ;). After 2000ish, the company has been owned by people who's quality control is questionable.

They're PRSish but smaller, (in early days there were words between PSR and Patrick), they have dual h/buckers with 1) a 3 way toggle switch AND the afore mentioned rotary which switched from single coil to h/bucker configurations. Being smallish, they tend to be a brighter sounding guitar but they pack some bite ;).

:cool:

Just read your last post.............the Berlins have a locking trem which when set up properly work very well. Also, amongst our arsenal, we have 6 LPs,an SG, a Strat and a Tele Plus......the Berlin doesn't sound like a Strat,Tele or LP, but is it's own beastie that fills a void between the others.
 
Check out a Dan Armstrong, might have what you're looking for, though they only have a single pickup in the bridge position it can be switched out between a single coil and humbucker (that are included with the guitar). And it has a tone switch (I'm not quite sure how to explain it, look it up on YouTube)
 
I mean, if a single coil has the sound I want, then whatever, I'm just assuming that since all Les Pauls have humbuckers in the neck position, that's part of what that tone is. I definitely want them to be noise free, though. The single coils on the Squier buzz entirely too much for me, but the humbuckers on my Paul are whisper quiet.
 
I can second the PRS recommendation. Beautiful guitars, well made. They do have a very wide and flat neck profile that's great for shredding, but I find them uncomfortable.

However, if I could recommend a single guitar that would fit all of your needs, it would definitely a Carvin. With Carvin you have the ability to piece together a guitar yourself, so you can really get exactly what you want and need. You could see if they have humbuckers with coil taps (although those never seem to sound as good as you'd think), or maybe there's some other combination of pickup layout that would fulfill all of your requirements.

I'd think that Carvin or some other custom guitar maker would be up your alley since you have such specific needs, and you know all of the different sounds that you're after. The price would probably be less than a new Paul Reed Smith too. I can't remember what my attempts on the Carvin website have priced out as, I think around $2000 or $2500. It's been a while so i can't remember.

Hmmmm, I might have to geek out and go do another custom on Carvin's website tonight :D

:edit:
I seem to remember Carvin being way more flexible in building a guitar to your own specs. I thought that you could basically go through and specify exactly what features you wanted. Am I remembering incorrectly? I'm looking at the guitar section, should I be looking at the kits?
 
I dug my The Paul until I traded it on the Airscreamer, which is the best guitar ever. I would get one of those :cool:

Who ever said stock Paul pups were bright :confused:

Yeah, stick a P90 in the bridge of your Paul, leave the stock neck bucker.
 
G&L ASAT Bluesboy
+1 on P-90 Les Paul
Nashville Telecaster

You'll just have to get out there and try them to know. Report back if you do.

You could also try a Fralin Twangmaster pickup in your LP bridge position. It's a drop-in replacement that may just fit your requirements. Look 'em up. Great company.
 
clearly I am an SG guy - But from what you say regarding the tone you are looking for, you might try a Firebird. Both the Epiphone and the Gibson versions are good and the mini humbuckers are brighter than most of the SG or Les Paul tones. Some have been able to get considerable twang out of the Firebird, and it looks cool AND ,,,, it is a Gibson. Or, P90s in a SG or Les Paul may be the answer as others here have stated as well.
 
Milnoque said:
G&L ASAT Bluesboy
+1 on P-90 Les Paul
Nashville Telecaster

You'll just have to get out there and try them to know. Report back if you do.

You could also try a Fralin Twangmaster pickup in your LP bridge position. It's a drop-in replacement that may just fit your requirements. Look 'em up. Great company.
Click to expand...
I was going to head out to GC tomorrow and spend some time with different guitars.

I remember I was considering Carvins before because I could customize them, but maybe I was also looking at the kits. I don't think GC carries them, though, so that could be a problem. It'd be nice to get to try one out so I know what to expect.
 
this is SO weird. Usually we came come together as a group and give someone A SINGLE recommendation that is perfect for their needs. you'd think it was subjective or something?? :laughings:
 
acidrock said:
You need more than one guitar and that's that.
Click to expand...
This. You'll never find one guitar that does it all. Even if you do, whatever middle ground you find will be NOT a strat and NOT an LP etc so if you crave those tones it will not deliver. It'll be a compromise to some extent. Just get a bunch of guitars.

I'm happy I've found what I consider my ideal guitar for my current tastes and band, but I also know that those things change as much as anything else so there's always an excuse to buy another guitar... not a bad thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top