What is the best all round cover-all-bases guitsr you've ever played?

streethawk

I'm glad I don't need a do it all guitar!

But if I did: there's a reason so many 'pro' guitars have HSS config. I think the suhr/anderson lads are correct on this occasion.

sted

Gotta be a stratocaster with a bridge bucker every time for versatility.

johnonguitar

streethawk;657712" said:

I'm glad I don't need a do it all guitar!

But if I did: there's a reason so many 'pro' guitars have HSS config. I think the suhr/anderson lads are correct on this occasion.

They didn't invent the HsH and you wouldn't take an Ibanez RG!

AuldReekie

Blade RH4 or my Berlin Pro which has a Blade VSC fitted giving 27 switching options and all useable

ToneControl

Fender USA VG strat, fitted with SCN pickups

Not only can it emulate several guitars, and do alternate tunings, but it IS a REAL strat as well

ToneControl

For a non-emulated guitar, the most flexible I have ever had is the Steinberger transcale

Has EMG pickups, active bass and treble and mixes in a piezo

On top of this, it has a built in captive capo, goes from 28.6" scale to mandolin scale length

Not much you can't play on this

thomasross20

streethawk said:

I'm glad I don't need a do it all guitar!

But if I did: there's a reason so many 'pro' guitars have HSS config. I think the suhr/anderson lads are correct on this occasion.

Ah but .... HH or HSH??

ToneControl

thomasross20 said:

This does sound as good (very similar to) a Suhr:

@hubobulous have you tried these Tom Anderson guitars?

For a passive-pickup traditional guitar with no piezo, my favourite is the Tom Anderson drop top HSS

Mine has:

Pickups - SA1R SA1 H2+ 

Switching - 5 Way, Mini Splits 1-4, Pull Adds Bridge, Vintage Voicing 

The pickups are very well balanced, and work together, unlike most HSS sets

trouble is, to me, the single coils are not clean enough, they have a bit of grit, that demo with SFs sounds better, but hard to tell from a youtube vid. As Octa says, Suhr make some excellent pickups.

I'm not sure whether to leave my HSS as it is or replace the pickups, but if it was my only pro guitar, I think I'd replace the 2 single coils at least

thomasross20

Basically that is what I keep hearing - Tom Anderson is great for ergonomics and it's super light... but Suhr do the best pups. 

mike_l

Probably my ESP. Since changing the pickups and putting coil splits on them it does a huge range of sounds......

Although I've used both my Jackson and Ibanez RG550 live for Metallica and Pink Floyd covers......

Also My Charvel does a lot of different sounds really well, for a "simple" guitar (electrically 2x HB's, 1x Vol and a toggle switch)

octatonic

thomasross20 said:

Basically that is what I keep hearing - Tom Anderson is great for ergonomics and it's super light... but Suhr do the best pups. 

There is nothing wrong with Anderson's pickups per se, but they have a different eq curve to everything else I've tried. 

It makes integrating an Anderson pickup loaded guitar a pain because you have to re-eq the amp if you change guitar. 

The difference is quite dramatic with Anderson SA's, compared to something like a Fender, versus going from a Suhr to a Fender (as an example). 

Not tried the SF's.

thomasross20

I'd like to try an Anderson but I believe there are none in Scotland (!) so will probably stick with Suhr. Maybe one day..!

Col_Decker

Any guitar with a tone & volume control. All bases covered

 

Grumpyrocker

There are likely many more versatile, but of the guitars I've played the answer is my Les Paul Studio Deluxe 60s. The Burstbucker Pro (Bridge) and 490R (Neck) get you more readily into hard rock territory than the 57s in my LP Traditional, but the coil-tapping extends the range towards to lighter and twangier at the other end. 

frictionfraction

Older I get the simpler I like it. U.S. Tele with Bare knuckle flat 50s. Funk to punk, pop to papa roach. Just got to live with a bit of hum when the gains up.

SquireJapan

I'd suggest the much maligned PRS 513 - specifically the one with a maple neck (those models seem to make the strat sounds brighter and more "strat-like").

Very strat-like cleans, good PAF sounds and an option for overwound PAF.

The problem with them though is that each option on the pickups seems to need adjustments to the amp, as they each sound very different. The main one on this is the overwound PAF - if you have good settings for the normal PAF and switch it in, it just turns into a "muddy" switch. So you have to adjust the amp to get that to sound good (and it does), but then you kind of loose the edge off the normal PAF sound.

Very flexible. I wouldn't say it nails each sound (in the sense that it sounds just like a strat/les paul), but they're all very musical and fit their respective genres very very well.

xmrchi

I'm sorry to keep harping on about the prs studio but with the narrowfields and slightly thicker body, plus Coil tapable 57 08s it's a truly versatile guitar,

MattFGBI

My USA Charvel San Dimas with JB / '59 and coil splits. I use it in the covers band and can get pretty much any tone I need from Bruno Mars to Jon Bovi. 

drwiddly

Out of the guitars I actually own:
PRS Custom 24
Blade RH-4
Eggle Berlin Pro

Not tried a Suhr or an Anderson but they're on the list ;-)

StefB

RaymondLin said:

PRS Custom 22 Special.

A guitar to cover bases.

Single coil, humbuckers, coil split, 5 blade switch.  I still look at it from time to time at WG's site...

Interesting @RaymondLin, as it disappeared from their site for a while so I assumed it had sold.  For £899 more than I sold it to you for!