Different guitars make you play differently?

RandallFlagg

I grew up and learned to play on a Tele. I loved The Jam in my early teens and my playing style was very much influenced by Paul Weller/Pete Townsend so I would bash out barre chords and be quite heavy handed, that's the style I developed, but I also loved Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols and spent much time trying to sound like him or Mick Jones from The Clash.

Fast forward to now and I have just 2 electrics in 2016, AV52 Tele and R8 Les Paul. When I pick up the Tele I'm all kraaang and slash wth the chords and play quite hard and the Tele responds. When I pick up the Les Paul I play quite differently, I rarely play full chords but more 3 note power chords akin to Sex Pistols or lots more bluesy lead playing.

It's almost an unconscious change of style, in fact it just feels wrong to be bashing out 6 note barre chords on the Les Paul for some reason and I certainly am more gentle with my right hand.

Do different guitars make you play differently?

I always wonder how I would play on a Gretsch or 335.

   

usedtobe

Yes, somewhat..

octatonic

Nope.

dindude

Definately. Most extreme example in my small collection is my AVRI Jaguar, doesn't lend itself naturally to bluesy bends and endless sustaining notes, makes me think very differently and sounds awesome whilst doing it.

guitars4you

totally agree - and I don't mean say an acoustic to a Les Paul - even a Tele to a Strat makes me want to lean in a different direction - The only guitar that I find allows me to play many styles is a PRS - don't know why but somehow me and them are very suitable - whereas a Ricky 330 to a 335 is a totally different texture for me - maybe sometimes it is a psychological issue in that a Ricky makes me want to me in The Who and a 335 and I'm a s*it poor Larry Carlton - But surely that is why we want different guitars for different textures

Like a painter with a pencil and paper v a host of different coloured oils etc etc

Basher

Very much. Sometimes it's a physical thing. The vintage fretwire on my partscaster Strat means that I just can't bend the strings in the way I can on my Squier CV or Gibson-esque guitars.
There are also the mental associations - I play much more smoothly on my Yamaha SA2200 than my bashed-up, old Tokai tele.

paul_c2

I see where you're coming from but I think (for me) its the other way round - if I want to play something different(ly), I'd pick up the other guitar. For example, most stuff: Stratocaster, and if I'm feeling in the mood for something heavier or even heavy metal style, I'll possibly swap to my Les Paul (copy) - the humbuckers make a big difference to the sound at high gain. But if I'm on it, its versatile too so I can do pretty much all the other stuff too if I wanted to.

I don't think I actually play differently, as in different technique, on a different guitar - at least I hope not. Of course I'd never know if I subconciously were!

stimpsonslostson

I blame telecasters for this. I'm ALWAYS more aggressive towards my tele than to my other guitars, they seem to encourage it. 

ESBlonde

I tend to use the classic sounds of the classic designs. In terms of style yes I do have leanings and find I get inspired by the guitar. 

bluechargeboy

If I set myself up a little loop to play over, then switch between Strat and Ibanez RG, the difference is huge. Strat encourages more percussive playing, whereas the RG wants me to dance about all the fretboard. Strat is more "me" but the RG is great fun!

dogload

Not so much as I once did, but I tend to be less rough with my Casino and Gretsch 5124 than I am with semis and solids, but Jags and Strats I play more lightly than my Jazzmasters. And Teles take a pounding.
I also have a different technique for electric 12s, which I suppose is obvious,although I'm not averse to giving them a beating!

horse

I think playing on your own makes this happen more whereas with a band you're more likely to  just do what the song needs. Playing on my own I find that even the colour of the guitar can make a difference to how / what I want to play!

Nunogilberto

Yes, this is true. I play mostly Les Pauls these days and I find I play a lot slower and more melodically because of it, as opposed to trying to play fast with my old Ibanez etc.

paul_c2

I know its a bit abstract, but when we say "playing" are we actually meaning "improvising", or "playing the same thing but in a different way"? And....if the latter....is that a good or bad thing? I am probably more from the "classical" side where I'd read a piece of music, or otherwise copy/interpret it, I might do it a number of different ways but I'd seek out a "right" way and aim to replicate this, rather than playing it 20 times, all different. And of course sometimes when reading a piece of music, it is sufficiently notated with slurs, accents, etc so that it very much defines the "way" to play it while leaving a little room for further interpretation. I'd have thought in a band situation there's a danger that a wacky interpretation will just be plain wrong, while a consistent approach to playing would yield a better end result. And, if you swapped instruments, possibly because you had to, the aim would be to play it the same irrespective of which guitar it was on.

thomasross20

True to an extent, especially going from single coils to humbuckers.

Drew_TNBD

Not really to be honest.

Sassafras

I don't think so.
I play the same old crap whatever I'm using.
Some guitars might lend themselves more to shredding but since I don't shred, that's neither here nor there.

TTony

RandallFlagg said:

Do different guitars make you play differently?

Personally, yes.

And that's a big reason why I never really got on with the Variax models.  It was *supposed* to sound like a Tele or a Strat or a whatever, but a large part of creating that sound is how you play the guitar, not just changing the position of a switch to emulate what that guitar "should" sound like.

Hence, I never really felt that it was sounding like a Tele/Strat/etc, because it never felt like I was playing that particular model, so I didn't play as if I was playing that model ...

richardhomer

Yes - the dynamics of a Strat suit me better than humbucking guitars - I think I play less subtly on Gibsons, generally.  

RandallFlagg

TTony said:

RandallFlagg said:

Do different guitars make you play differently?

Personally, yes.

And that's a big reason why I never really got on with the Variax models.  It was *supposed* to sound like a Tele or a Strat or a whatever, but a large part of creating that sound is how you play the guitar, not just changing the position of a switch to emulate what that guitar "should" sound like.

Hence, I never really felt that it was sounding like a Tele/Strat/etc, because it never felt like I was playing that particular model, so I didn't play as if I was playing that model ...

Wis'd! I tried a Variax years ago as well and I agree, I found the physical experience was quite sterile and it don;t feel like any of the guitars it tried to emulate so was a fail for me

Voxman

I think it must do, to some extent - if you consider the different scale lengths (eg Gibson v Fender), string tension, fret types, neck shape, fingerboard radius, fingerboard material, body shape, weight, whether semi or solid, headstock (impacting on balance) etc, it's difficult to see how these don't affect your playing in some way.  

That's why sometimes we'll pick up a guitar and just take to it because it just feels so right ie a good fit with how we play. Other guitars we might find less comfortable or even uncomfortable and don't feel right to us.  But to someone else, that 'feel right' factor could be completely the other way around.  That's why, taking just two famous guitars as an example, a lot of players prefer a Strat over a Les Paul or vice-a-versa because they are very different guitars - not just tonally, but in feel.  

The idea of the Variax, commented on by a few folk here, is that you can change tonal characteristics without having to change guitars and adapting to a guitar with different construction & feel.  But for many folk, as commented on, the feel of the original is just as important as the tone - even if this might be (to some extent or other) partly psychological.  

And that's why guitars are so personal because of the physical way we interact with them, and if we have several different types of guitars, why we might play some slightly differently (ie adapting to the differences) even if we're not necessarily conscious of doing so.  I can't help thinking of my guitars as having different personalities, and I'm sure my playing adapts accordingly.