I have two electric guitars, neither of them particularly fancy. My band have just recorded the tracks for a new album where I used them about 50/50 on different songs, but I'm now pondering how I can get one or the other to do most of what I want live. Switching guitars at gigs seems like too much faff for the kind of venues we play. The band is quite an eclectic mix of styles, but I'm mostly playing clean to slightly hairy rhythm parts, the odd clean-toned melodic part, lots of echo noises and just a few more rockish riffs (pretty much no solos, the band just seems to work that way).
The sort-of-Jazzmaster mutt is the one I've played for longest; It's a partscaster with a guitarbuild UK body and a cheap chinese neck. It's got a neck pickup I wound myself to approximately vintagey Jazzmaster specs and the bridge pickup is an Artec GVT-1 tele pickup hidden under a JM cover. I have a 5-way strat switch on there - the extra positions are the neck pickup with a fixed tone roll-off, and both pickups in series. But the series position is a little too wooly and indistinct to be useful, even if I like the idea of a louder, thicker option in theory.
The 335 is an 80s Hondo Revival - I picked it up last year and the different sound and feel helped get us out of a songwriting rut. It's got Vanson pickups which are cheap alnico humbuckers (going for something like a PAF level of output), which I added nickel silver covers to. I have them wired with a bass-cut tone control and a no-load master tone, so I'm definitely chasing the brighter, cleaner end of humbucker tone with this one. I keep the bass-cut control at about 7-8 most of the time, then turn it
up on the sections where I want to be a little louder and dirtier.
Both have their good points live - the Jazzmaster has some pleasing brightness and sparkle, plenty of twang on the bridge pickup, but has that subtle fast-decay plinkiness on the top strings that seems to go with this style of guitar, which isn't always what I'm after. It can be thin when I want to play more riff-y stuff too.
The 335 has that extra thickness that can help fill out a one-guitar band, does a nice sort of jazzy Ernest Ranglin impersonation on the neck pickup, the middle position is good for clean rhythm parts, but it's almost a bit too polite sounding for some things.
It strikes me that to get just one guitar working for me at gigs, I could look at playing around with the JM, perhaps trying a different pickup in the bridge or experimenting some more with the series wiring, adding a tone control, and maybe a buzz-stop to dial back the plinkiness a bit (and I think the novelty of that pickguard might have worn off too). Or I could look at pickups with a little extra bite for the 335. Or perhaps a solidbody with low output humbuckers might be up my street. I'm just rambling, really, while I consider the options...
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https://www.alegree.co.uk/blogs/news/building-a-chameleon-a-pickup-build-saga-part-1-the-concept
part 2 https://www.alegree.co.uk/blogs/news/building-a-chameleon-a-pickup-design-saga-part-2-the-build-initial-impressions-and-remedies
The aim is of which is to solve the issue you're facing here
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
Takes only slightly longer to do than to read. If both your guitars hold their tune well (they should...) then that's all there is to it.
You may well be able to work out your setlists so that you can keep the same guitar for several songs in a row, and time your changes to coincide with songs where you aren't playing during an intro or an outro. Practice it a few times at a band rehearsal and you'll have it down in no time.
It gets more difficult if you're the singer as well as the guitarist (you don't mention it, so I'm assuming you aren't), but between a well-setup guitar and a well rehearsed set you can get it pretty much seamless. Plus that way you get to avoid messing with guitars I'm assuming you like as they are, and spending money on stuff you're not actually that interested in.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
If the Hondo was a Gibson I would say take the Jazzmaster, since a broken headstock is a worse problem - but the Hondo should have a maple neck, I think… which makes it much more robust. There's not much risk with a semi-acoustic body, they're pretty strong.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The durability aspect of the 335 copy is not something I'm worried about. These guitars go very cheaply, it's 30 years old and came pre beaten up, and it has a maple neck with a chunky volute. I do wonder if it could be livened up just enough with a better set of pickups, particularly as I find myself picking up this guitar more often than the JM at the moment. The Vansons are as good as could possibly be expected for £30 a pair, but they may be more at the mellow end of things. I suspect that just a little more clarity and bite from this guitar (particularly on the bridge pickup) might get me to where I'd like to be. I guess I could look at other pickup styles in a humbucker size (P90, Filterton etc) or even just a livelier PAF style.
Also, if you're going to do any work on it, replace the jack with a proper US-made Switchcraft (deep bushing type) with a grip washer on the inside, and superglue the nut on. If you don't, you'll remember me saying this when you're wondering what to do about a jack that has fallen inside the guitar at a gig and can't be reached…
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Earlier this year I got caught out. It was a small pub which we play two or three times a year, and I just took one Telecaster. When setting up I got enormous mains hum. The only solution was to go home for a humbucker guitar. It turns out that someone had smashed to one mains socket, and a customer had wired a new one in without connecting the earth correctly. We've since bought a mains tester.
For me though, a Tele does everything and is the most fun in the process
So as a bit of an experiment, I'm trying a humbucker in the JM bridge position. I didn't want to spend too much just to try out the idea, so I've stuck an Entwistle HV58 in there under the existing cover for the moment. First impressions are that it works pretty well, the middle position still has some sparkle and the bridge is middy and focussed without being over the top. I'll be rehearsing with it tomorrow and gigging again on Friday, so I'll see how I get on. I keep thinking about losing the crazy pickguard too, but my wife likes it!
b) plugged in ready to go. c) each with it's own strap/cable etc.
Finish one song, mute the first guitar swing it off onto a stand, swing the second guitar over your head and unmute. Wait for the applause to receed and Go!
Just watch out if you play anywhere with a silly low ceiling. ;-)