What is the most versatile guitar?

guitarcookie1

ICBM said:

monquixote said:

Fret King do a lot of "do it all" guitars

Do they design them by getting a bunch of blind monkeys to randomly assemble mismatching guitar parts until they have something which has them all in roughly the right places?

Dear God. The middle one isn't *too* bad, but the others...

I'd like the bottom one with the pickups from the top one (but that headstock would have to go).

mike_l

meltedbuzzbox said:

And who uses all 5 positions on a strat? 

Me. I'm aware that I'm different.

Although my favs are middle and neck (separately)

Phil_aka_Pip

+1 for @McToot's yamaha sg ... mine's an SG2000 and it does everything with its coil splits etc. I'd hate to lose any of the other guitars but if forced at gunpoint to keep only one it would be the SG2k. For a slightly lighter guitar with a different neck profile, try the SA2200, it has similar hardware but on a body closely related to a 335.

ESBlonde

Lixarto said:

Somebody said the guitar isn't necessarily versatile, but the player is.

Dull, but probably true.

More than a little wisdom in this, I was thinking the same reading down the thread. A good player has you not thinking about what guitar or amp (s)he is playing because what they play is musical and fits the songs context.

Rocker has already said about getting a guitar and a decent (valve?) amp and learn to use the interactions as a musical instrument.

Wisdoms duly awarded.

blueskunk

Is it me or do these versatile guitars with loads of pickups on look a bit, well cluttered ?

Evilmags

Depends on what spectrum of music you want to play. For some it would be an ES335 and for others it would be something more multipickuped like an RG or a JEM.

digitalscream

Lixarto said:

Somebody said the guitar isn't necessarily versatile, but the player is.

Dull, but probably true.

I'd say this is pretty close - really, it's the combination of the player and the guitar which is versatile to me.

For example, there are some guitars with a fuckton of options which will let you tap and split all the pickups, use any combination of pickups etc...I wouldn't be able to use any of that in a live context.

I'd rather have a guitar where I know how to get every sound I want out of it - that's versatility. I also want one which does (almost) nothing more than that, on the basis that I don't need extra shit cluttering up the place getting in the way of the bits I want to use.

Therefore...two humbuckers, coil split, volume and tone. Anything else is superfluous.

thumpingrug

Lixarto said:

Somebody said the guitar isn't necessarily versatile, but the player is.

Dull, but probably true.

This is very true.  Im capable of making all guitars sound sh*t.

mike_l

@digitalscream ; I've used my Charvel live and always get a good sound and that's 2 'buckers, and a single volume pot..

Also the RG (H/S/H), volume and tone always sounds good. There is a switchable mids boost/phase on it too.

And the Jackson (H/H), volume and tone.

huge range of sounds from all of the above........I mean how may "shredders guitars" sound good when being used for Floyd covers.....

 

I think as long as the pup's aren't massively powerful, causing distortion even with the volume rolled back, then the guitar should be pretty versatile

axisus

I have a very versatile guitar but it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea:

Tele shape but with trem

splittable humbucker in bridge, tele neck pup

piezo saddles

Midi enabled (I have a GR-20 and a GR-55)

Very versatile, but I only play 'Angel tele' these days so it doesn't get a look in

NPP

for me, a versatile guitar would be one that could be used in many different styles of music and never sound out of place rather than a jack-of-all-trades type of instrument that can more or less accurately mimic a lot of different sounds. I think an ES335 type guitar or maybe a ballsy Tele would fit the bill.  

usedtobe

thumpingrug;127820" said:

Lixarto said:

Somebody said the guitar isn't necessarily versatile, but the player is.



Dull, but probably true.










This is very true.  Im capable of making all guitars sound sh*t.

Hey, I can do that, too!

koneguitarist

I`ve found the older I get the less sounds I want anyway. I have 4 guitars and only 3 pickups !

roundthebend

I've got a Squier Strat with 3 single coils. I was after one in HSS configuration for £100 but nothing came up so I picked this up. It's nice to play, but doesn't quite do it for me. I think new pickups would be good but there's something about the slinkyness of the strings that doesn't compare to my old Epi LP Std. Is that a combination of string selection and scale length?

p90fool said:

OP, what guitar do you already have?

dindude

I fear we have forgotten the Music Man Gamechanger, 250,000 pickup combos, some of yuck probably sound ok too!

http://gamechanger.music-man.com/home.eb

stickyfiddle

-Every Fret King I'v tried has been a great guitar in the hands and intelligently designed from an ergonomic point of view. They have also been ugly as sin, particular the more expensive ones. The Esprit is kinda cool though. 

-Versatility definitely comes from the player as much as gear. 

-HSS Strats are definitely versatile, but kinda dull

-You can get plenty of sounds out of a double-humbucker, 4 control guitar, even without coil taps. You just have to use the volumes and tones intelligently.  The only thing you can't get close to is the Strat in-between tones. 

impmann

stickyfiddle said:

 The only thing you can't get close to is the Strat in-between tones. 

Huzzah for that! Where do I sign?

ICBM

dindude said:

I fear we have forgotten the Music Man Gamechanger, 250,000 pickup combos, some of yuck probably sound ok too
!

You mean the PMT Music Products Guitar Max Control System, which EBMM got PMT to develop, then stole and sued PMT over?

EB have tried to bury all reference to this disgraceful episode, but I certainly haven't forgotten.

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

dindude said:

I fear we have forgotten the Music Man Gamechanger, 250,000 pickup combos, some of yuck probably sound ok too
!

You mean the PMT Music Products Guitar Max Control System, which EBMM got PMT to develop, then stole and sued PMT over?

EB have tried to bury all reference to this disgraceful episode, but I certainly haven't forgotten.

Agreed. I was in shock when I first saw the demo video, could have sworn I'd read about it before... That was back in the days of mr. Such a bad thing to do. How can you get that many combinations from 3 pickups?!

xSkarloey

stickyfiddle said:

-You can get plenty of sounds out of a double-humbucker, 4 control guitar, even without coil taps. You just have to use the volumes and tones intelligently.  The only thing you can't get close to is the Strat in-between tones. 

Agreed. And even then there's always the option of doing the 'Peter Green' thing and having the HB's out of phase when both on, giving you an entirely new level of sonic beauty and all round funkiness.