Multiple guitars - Different kinds

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Fusioninspace

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I'm just curious about this....

I have several different guitars as many of us do:

Accoustic - Seagull 6 string
Solid Electric/single coil - MIM Strat
Solid Electric/Humbuckers - Hamer Standard (like a Gibson Explorer)
Semi-Hollow/Humbuckers - Hamer Echotone
Odd Ball class - Jay Turser "solid body" resonator :)
Project hollowbody/jazz box - not done yet
5 string bass
Mandolin - not a guitar, but sort of?

But when I went about expanding my line-up, I focused on making sure I was not duplicating my sounds (and wasting money). Since I mostly record, I'm more concerned about getting the various guitars to not overlap each other or not sound out of place.

My amp? A Trademark 10 of course - more variety for the money.

If I played out, I might be strumming a different tune though
:o

What strategy do some of you take when buying new stuff?
 
same strategy as you.

1 Musicman Sillouhette Special h-s-s
1 Washburn PRS copy h-h
1 Washburn Steel String
1 Washburn Nylon String
1 Kent Banjo
1 Fender P
1 piece of poop steel string acoustic set up for slide.

1 Roland JC120
1 Marshall Artist 3203 1/2 stack
1 Mesa Boogie V-Twin
1 Sansamp Original
1 Sansamp Tri-AC

My set-up is built for live, but it works for recording as well.
 
Ditto here. Variety rules, but I tend to lean towards shred and rock.

'70-ish Fender Stratocaster
'02 Les Paul Studio
Fender HM Strat
Ibanez RG550
Yamaha Acoustic
ESP MIII w/ EMG-81
Heartfield EX
Ibanez 5-sting bass

Next axe should be a PRS or another acoustic.

For amps, again variety leaning towards shred and rock:

Mesa/Boogie TriAxis
Mesa/Boogie Quad
SansAmp PSA-1
SansAmp GT2
Peavey Bravo
Pignose
ART SGX2000
(And various other modelers and pedals like the Boss RP100, Korg Pandora PX3, Boss DS1, Ibanez TubeScreamer, Zoom Crap, etc.)

Next amp should be a Marshall DSL.

Strategy? Ya know, all I really NEED is one or two great tones. In fact, that's possibly all I really WANT. I could be quite happy with my Quad or SansAmp and my ESP (because of the 81's) for both recording and live.

Unfortunately, on different days, some tones sound better than others. Also, quite often using a different tone or different guitar brings inspiration. Thus, I love the variety.


(This almost seemed like a "list your gear" thread. However, it gets interesting because the question is regarding strategy in your choices).
 
I usually just buy what what helps progress the sounds in my head..............

I'll tell you what I found works for me, and this is from learning out of experience, 10 or 20 cheap guitars can not match 1 or 2 Great guitars.

(If you notice there are only a couple guitars that are NOT just different shaped Strats and Les Pauls. hint hint)
 
ok ok ok

So I have no idea what to tell you about getting for that hollow bodied sound. I would like to get something for that, but I can't afford a Gretch right now....or any time soon.
 
Tell you what I picked up a little while back that was a very cool "new Voice" in the arsenal. I picked up a DanElectro 12 string electric. If you're just looking for a new color, that would do it (and it was cheap too).
 
LocusLarsen said:
I'll tell you what I found works for me, and this is from learning out of experience, 10 or 20 cheap guitars can not match 1 or 2 Great guitars.
Click to expand...

Personnaly, I buy for collecting and not necessarily sound.

Fender
'72 strat single coil
40th aniversary Strat plus

Gibson
1275 doubleneck P90 Hums
SG Supreme 24 fret '57 pickups
Les Paul Black Beauty
Peter Frampton Signature

Now for the sound, I bought a Yamaha acoustic and put a roland gr2 pickup on it and ran it through a gr9 guitar synth. Now if I run that into a mixer and also run the acoustic pickup and balance them, I get the most incredible sounds out. My favorite is mixing a little pan flute or orchestra in for backround fill. It sounds totally awsome. Of course you can also run it into a drum machine through the midi port and play drums on it too (isn't that strange). Of course I can run it into my Yamaha SY99 synth also throught the midi port, but I find the midi port does have limitations for that. You can also run it into the PC and get your printed music out also, but that has the same limitations as the synth.

I do have a couple of clasical nylon strings as well, That is a good sound for recording and relatively inexpensive. I think I paid about 500 for my Alverez and it has a pickup on it. That is something that you will want to go play a bunch of them though. I did find a big difference in the sound, playing and the necks. I actually liked the sound and playablility of the Alverez of the many Martins I played (go figure).

Oh yes, do pick up a 12 string by all means. I have an Ovation I just love and probably play more than any other that I own.

God, I hope I never get married, I know I will have to get rid of the toys.
 
JustStartingOut....

Those are far beyond cheap guitars. I was refering to have a bunch of 2-500 dollar guitars. Each one of those that you listed is at bare minimum 1 grand. If you can afford to have 10 expensive guitars then by all means go for it, but if you have say 5 grand in guitars, 2 or 3 1000-2500 dollar guitars (a custom shop strat and a LP) would blow the hell out of an arsenal of cheapies, in playability at least (and you can still get any sound you want with a good selection of FX)
 
I do agree LL. You can get just a couple of good ones and get all the sounds that you want. But like I said, I took more of a collecting route and these have been bought over the years (been playing since the early 70's).

I do believe adding a 12 string and/or a clasical would be needed to round out a "sound collection" as such.
 
6 string A/E Takamine EF261S(BL) '98
12 string A/E Takamine EF381C '92
Gibson Les Paul Classic '00
Fender Strat+ '85
Dillion PRS Copy

Funny, the latest acquisition....
Went to GC to get a hardshell case for my Strat. The nice tweed one $149. On the way, I told myself maybe I can get a used guitar with hardshell for dirt cheap.

And I did for $150.
Yamaha RGX612MA

I've been playing it for several months and love the maple neck, sound, and versatility. I'm not a gigging pro though. My first experience with active pickups and I'm hooked.

Sometimes the best things come without explanation or intention. Though this was not high dollar value.

[:D]
 
I got a long ways to go to catch up with all you guys! Looks like bighand has the spectrum covered for natural sound. juststartingout....I like the idea of the roland synth, I might try that out.
 
Hey BDBDBUCK, that Roland synth is probably the best toy I ever got. Every configuration that I ever saw on that was with an electric, but I just couldn't. I tried the pickup on a squire for a while, but once I tried it on an acoustic, I was hooked. I went out and bought a black Yamaha (chosen for color and the neck is curved similar to a strat). I took the time to get some springs and screwed the pickup and cable mount in place. Now I am not one to deface a guitar like that, but everything worked out very well on it. With the rig being all black, it actually looks like it is part of the guitar.

Roland has a new synth out to replace the GR-09 but they still use the same pickup. The pickup is unique in the fact that it seperates each string into it's own channel. The wire going to the synth is actually 7 wire (6 strings and ground). It allows you to seperate each string so you can put a bass on the low E and A, and set the upper 4 to whatever else you want.

Roland also put out one of the first cab and amp modelers using that pickup. Although from what I understand it wasn't that great overall, so I didn't pick it up. One thing that they did do which I thought was unique, was to put pickup modeling in also. You could get any pickup model and move it wherever you wanted to. For instance, you could in fact move the bridge pickup all the way up to the nut if you so choosed to.

The only problem that I found with the whole setup is the cable to the synth. It is similar to a MIDI cable and moving around does stress the connections. I have replaced it a couple of times over the years (about 7-8 yrs on it so far).

Setting up the pickup properly is very critical also. Distance to the strings matters a lot in order to get the most out of it (1/100" makes a big difference). It does need to be adjusted each time you change string sizes which takes me about an hour to do. Consiquently, I have stuck with running 10's on it.

Fender did offer a Roland ready Strat at one time, not sure if they still do. But I will tell you that the acoustic sound, to me, is far better to mix in than an electric (IMO). The whole setup is a highly recomended toy. I am sure you can get the components on ebay fairly cheap ($100-$500).
 
I'm surprized more people didn't focus on the pickups when I strated this thread. From an amplified perspective, this would have a major effect on sound/tone.

I'm rewiring my Strat and in the process putting a Dano Lipstick PU in the bridge position. Again, that lipstick will give me a different sound than the stock single coil.

And what about coil taps?

I keep hearing about playability and these expensive guitars, but three $1,000 solid bodies with similar humbuckers will still sound similar. I'm sure they'll PLAY much better....

I'm not concerned with subtle differences. I'm looking for major differences - almost like mic'd accoustic vs. LP Studio.
 
Fusioninspace said:
I'm surprized more people didn't focus on the pickups when I strated this thread. From an amplified perspective, this would have a major effect on sound/tone.
Click to expand...

Probably because the topic specifically stated multiple guitars - different kinds, but that is a good point. Which is why I mentioned my ESP is my fave because it has the EMG-81.

However, pickups can be swapped with relative ease and a relatively inexpensive. Also, many pickups mix with the guitar's characteristics to provide the end tone. (Whereas the EMG-81 tends to impart more of its own tone regardless of the guitar characteristics). Additionally, playability is much more based on the physical guitar, such as neck characteristics, etc. Thus, there is more of a focus in this thread on the overall package.
 
I made my choices because of pickups... configuration more than brand though. h-s-s in the musicman and 2 emg humbuckers in the other.
 
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