Hi
A colleague of mine approached me yesterday for advice for his son. His son is 15/16 and in a band that is doing quite well. I went to see them play recently and they are progressing very nicely. Recently they managed to get a friend of a friend in the business to watch them at a gig and he was surprised at how good they were, but he did say my colleagues son's guitar was a week point in the sound of the band. He has an American Fender Tele. The pro's advice was to get a double humbucker guitar preferrably a Gibson Les Paul. Now I have a Custom Shop 59 reissues, so I guess my colleague thought I would be able to help. Sadly though they only have around £1000 to spend and I am not familiar with non custom shop Gibsons.
I was hoping for some advice from a Gibson LP expert or two. Sorry this is somewhat vague, but what would be the best option for a gigging musician, who with a bit of luck and the right break will be hitting the big time sometime over the next few years....after which he'll be able to afford what he wants! All I have said so far is that he needs to pay particular attention to the nect profile and the weight. I was guessing a Traditional or Standard. Whereas looks are never unimportant it's tone that needs to be good.
Thanks in advance
Comments
Anyway as regard your query you, should be able to pick up a decent LP Standard for around a grand, maybe a little more. They can get pretty heavy though. I played a 2007 LP Classic the other day and it was very light and resonant. Finish wasn't as glossy as a standard/traditional, but I certainly liked it. That as going for around £900 IIRC.
Noise, randomness, ballistic uncertainty.
This.
What type of music do they play? It could be an amp/pedal issue. The Boss doesn't seem to have a problem getting a decent sound out of a Tele ...
As for a Les Paul you could get a decent Studio for under £1K like this http://www.coda-music.com/gibson-paul-studio-2014-desertburst-vintage-gloss-p-17683.html
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
By all means buy the lad an LP if HE wants one but pedals, amp and a poor mix could all be contributing factors.
What type of music do they play ?
There's a £400 studio in the classifieds that would do the job...
My band - Crimson on Silver For sale - Blackstar HT-5S
Gear - Guitars, amps, effects and shizz. Edited for Phil_aka_Pip, who is allergic to big long lists.
"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
Sometimes when people are asked for advice they actually don't have any advice to give. This does not always stop them giving advice.
When an 'expert' says something to fill a conversation it should not be enough to warrant spending a grand on a new guitar, but if he has money to spend and wanted a new guitar anyway then sure, try some LP's to see if they fit. Also worth looking at other ways he may want to change his sound and reflecting on the advice to see if any of the band think its an issue too.
There is no reason for a tele to be a weak point in the bands sound
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I have never, EVER, known a band to not progress "to the next level" in the industry because of their guitar sound.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
Amp is a Blackstar HT50....style err well not sure how to anwser that...failry mixed but currently heavier than they are going to end up I am sure. They do play a few covers so perhaps that would give a clue...the ones I recognised were from The Subways and The Black Keys.
In any event shoudln't a gigging guitarist playing a variety of music have several guitars?
This guy can do it ...
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
"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
That kind of "rocky indie" stuff should be a doddle with a Tele, a Blackstar and those pedals, to be honest. In fact, I actually think it suits singlecoils better than HB's, but that's just me.
I should add that I'm a professional gigging musician myself and I managed to tour playing the heaviest of music with a Telecaster, I just put a mini humbucker in the back.
I think the reason you are getting such a reaction here is from a guitarists point of view, a so called expert saying there's a problem with the guitar being used doesn't make any sense and does indicate they may not know exactly what they are talking about, especially when it comes to guitars!
Trouble is, by the time we get the third-hand version it starts to sound like opinionated nonsense.
If someone who really does know what he's talking about suggests that a Les Paul type tone would work better in this context then he'll also be aware that its a doddle to get an appropriate tone out of a USA Tele.
It all sounds like a mixture of bullshit with a hint of mistranslation to me.