Neapolitan

I can't see this as a problem imo, because of the tone nob - it can be use to change the sound of the guitar. Frequency analysis shows that Fender single coil pickups have both higher levels of both high and low frequencies, with lower levels of mid range frequency. This gives Fender guitars with single coils that trademark twangy sound. If it's a pretty decent guitar with good pickups and the electronics in it are OK one can use either the tone to warm up the sound or use the volume to bleed off some of the high end off the single and still end up with a decent sound. Having a Strat in the 2 or 4 position also warms up the sound a bit too.


Even though I like Fender guitars, I don't think Fender is the greatest guitar company out there when it comes to manufacturing quality guitars down to the finest details, and feel sometimes they rely on their reputation from the past to sells their guitars - but this is true with most guitar companies imo.

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Dr_Rez

To be honest this whole argument is mute. With enough modding any guitar can sound like any other guitar. Also how one is better than the other I dont know, they are typically used for different purposes.

Not every time but Fenders have been long used for cleaner sounding music while gibsons (at least as of last) are more used in distorted music.


Also anyone who knocks Gibson or Fender as a company has the right to do so but fails miserably. Even if they go through bad periods (which all companies are bound to do) they each created the most popular and widely used guitars today.

Ibanez wouldnt be selling guitars if not for these companies.

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GuitarBizarre

That reasoning is bull****. A company that trades a sub-par product is a company that trades a sub-par product, regardless of their heritage. Be it a guitar company, a bank, a cinema or anything else, the product you are selling to me this moment is the important thing.

I did not buy a guitar in order to own a piece of history. I bought a guitar to play it and make music. If the guitar in question is capable of doing that well, for a reasonable price, I will respect the company that made it. If it is not, as many recent gibsons or fenders are not, then I will not respect your company until the time at which you provide me with a product meeting the standards of quality your advertising (Or more importantly, pricing) purports those products to provide.

For less than £3k I can buy a guitar handmade by a luthier to my exact spcifications out of my choice of hardware, woods, and design features. It will be measured to fit my body and will be in every way the closest possible thing to what I want, built to a high standard even by the standards of boutique production, let alone mass production. The hardware will be customized, the pickups my choice, the neck profile copied from my favourite guitar, the fretwire my size and choice of material, and the body sized to fit me and balanced to fit me too. It will be built from start to finish by one man, with whom I will have direct contact throughout the build process in order to turn out an instrument that isn't just a collection of paper specifications, but also a piece of functional design, integrated in every sense posible to achieve a high quality end product.

Sadly, for upwards of £7k I cannot get any of that from Gibson, Fender, or PRS, to name but 3 particularly overpriced guitar companies. Thats more than twice as much, for LESS, and that is bull****.

As great as a good old strat is, or a good les paul, or SG or Explorer or M-II or Jaguar or Jazzmaster, they're great because they're good instruments, not because they're oft copied instruments.

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Neapolitan

It would still be nice to buy a guitar off the rack and not have to mod it, or worry about dull pick ups or fret buzz etc etc.

That was a rule of thumb that carried over from the 60s when they needed the humbucker to overdrive tube (valve) amps. I don't know how much it really matter nowadays when using distortion pedal, but imo humbuckers still do a better job for a tighter distortion, but not every humbucker have the same treble response and the ones on certain mid range guitars are dull when playing clean.

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Dr_Rez

I wont disagree with anything you said. But I think you missed part of what I meant. When talking about getting (for instance) a Gibson I dont mean new, I mean in any condition and from anyone. There are so many WELL MADE ones floating aorund the paper, craigslist, friends, and other sources.

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GuitarBizarre

And so few of them are from the late 70's or 80's that those periods can be effectively missed out, the 90's aren't a great deal better, the 00's are awful, and we're just now starting to see an improvement again. You have to be so very, very choosy when it comes to buying a used les paul.

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Dr_Rez

Counting out an entire decades worth of guitars is absurd. You have to take them on a guitar by guitar basis. I have played and seen some amazing new models. Especially there Reissues. Now I may not be the best guitarist but I dont know quite a bit about lutherie, and telling if a guitar is made well or not is not the most challnging task.

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Bloozcrooz

If you always make sure to play for a drunken audience they will never hear the difference anyway. Just buy a walmart special (not that theres anything wrong with walmart) and paint Gibson on there and pluck away.

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Dr_Rez

Epiphone Special 2 ftw!

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Odyshape

yes <3 actually quite glad I didn't buy that as my first guitar