gibson or fender

Subject: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 08:50 PM

which one is the minebender. BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Mark Clark
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 10:05 PM

Well here's a Fender that might not be too bad although I don't think I've ever heard one played. Gibson's are far more popular including this one and one like this.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 12 Nov 01 - 02:49 PM

electric guitars, only please BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 12 Nov 01 - 06:09 PM

Bob, What do you want? Opinions? Comparisons?

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: UB Ed
Date: 12 Nov 01 - 06:18 PM

Gibson

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 12 Nov 01 - 06:39 PM

opinions. BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 12 Nov 01 - 06:46 PM

I don't think you want to try bending mines with electric guitars. These things are dangerous, they can blow up and ruin a valuable instrument. If you come across one, call 911 and have the bomb squad dispose of it.

Murray

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 12 Nov 01 - 06:50 PM

funny. BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Grab
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 08:06 AM

Find a guitar shop and play a couple. I honestly can't tell the difference between the sound of a Les Paul and a Strat. Sure, different players have different sounds, but it's all in the electronics you hook the guitar up to.

And I once overheard a conversation between the last honest guitar salesman and a couple buying a guitar for their son: "Is there much difference in sound between Strat copies and the real thing?" "Not really, no."

Graham.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 08:24 AM

Funniest Strat copy story I know comes under the heading of "Geez, I'm getting old" Department.

I was in store in Columbus with a nice stock of non-remarkable instruments geared more to the masses and fooling around with an Epiphone Hummingbird copy thinking it really wasn't too bad for the bucks and listening to the salesman talking to two kids who wanted to be future rock star/guitar gods. He shows them this and that and then somebody's Strat copy. He cranks out the line he's probably said a thousand times in hopes of selling another------"This is like what Clapton plays."

The kid says, "Who?"

Spaw

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 08:49 AM

ho ho ho he he he that's a good one spaw. BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 09:35 AM

SSSS'aaallll Good!!

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Raptor
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:06 AM

I would take a strat over 10 Les Pauls any day for that clean crisp sound. If you don't think theres a difference ask a dire Straights fan, You can hear the difference when Knophler put down his strat for a les Paul on the Golden Heat Album!

Raptor

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 12:19 PM

Then again, Neil Young seems to prefer the Les Paul for playing or having sex with. I can never tell which it is he's doing with it, but he has one onstage with him.

Spaw

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: mooman
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 12:22 PM

Hagstrom

Was OK for Frank Zappa!

mooman

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 12:36 PM

Zappa had sex with a Hagstrom? Huh.....Didn't know that. Then again it would go a long way toward explaining Dweezil.............

Spaw

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: GUEST,Fiver
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 02:18 PM

If you guys can't tell the sound of a Strat from a Paul, then May God Help you--

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Justa Picker
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 02:32 PM

For Fender I'd go with the Strat.
For Gibson I'd go with either an ES-335 or an old Firebird.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Grab
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 02:40 PM

Raptor, I love Dire Straits, but I still think it's electronics - adjust your fuzz, overdrive, chorus and amp, and it can sound like whatever. There's a rumour I heard that David Kossof's "All Right Now" riff was originally played on a Strat and then was electronically distorted to give it a Les Paul sound as per his standard guitar.

Having said that, I've not heard the DS album in question. "Golden Heat"? Which one that?

Graham.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 02:41 PM

Well, whatever you go with, be sure to use a condom. You can see what a raging case of the clap has done to Neil Young.............

Spaw

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 02:56 PM

Zappa sometimes played a Les Paul, modified with DiMarzio pickups. It said so right in the liner notes to "Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar."

Instead of Gibson vs Fender, maybe it should be set-neck vs bolt-on, because basically that's what these two companies manufacture: set-in neck guitars = Gibson; bolt-on = Fender. Although as with everything, there are exceptions.

The Gibson Firebird is a neck-thru-body guitar. Looks like a beautiful instrument...anybody had any experience with them?

Squire (by Fender) also makes a neck-thru that sells new for about $350 USD.

As far as Strat copies go, one difference between the U.S. Strats and the Mexican Strats is in the wood. U.S. Strats use ash or alder bodies for the most part. The Mexican Strats use poplar. There are probably other differences as well...just guessing but the Mexican Strats might use cheaper tuners, and maybe different pickups. Wood and pickups would affect the sound.

The guys in the store sometimes don't know their product line all that well, especially if they don't typically play that manufacturer's guitar. If you ask a salesperson to let you look at a "fat" Strat, he/she probably won't know what you're talking about. (A fat Strat has one or more humbucking pickups installed, instead of the usual single coil array.)

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 03:01 PM

very good answer guest. BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 04:19 PM

Strats seem to be about piercing highs and ringing rhythms, Gibson LPs about sustain and dense (some might say "muddy") tone. Most Blues players seem to favor the Strat, but both BB and Muddy were Les Paul men, and I think BB King is a classic example of Les Paul tone, as Clapton is a classic example of the Strat. Different strokes, but I think the LP has more character.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Mark Clark
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 04:52 PM

“Lucille” a Les Paul? I don't think so. Look here and here for info on B.B. King's “Lucille.” As for Muddy, I think he normally played a Fender Telecaster. At least all the pictures I've seen show Muddy with a Tele.

I'm going to see B.B. tonight so I'll let you know if he shows up with a Les Paul.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:02 PM

The BB King guitar is an ES335 basically which was what he played before Gibson gave him his own model (still an ES335)

Spaw

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Mark Clark
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:22 PM

Spaw, I think Lucille is similar to an ES335 except that an ES335 has sound holes. The Gibson “Lucille” model has none.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:30 PM

If not, he can borrow mine, Mark!

Yep, Lucille was a Gibson, but not an LP.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: GUEST,Fiver
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:51 PM

I am partial to the L&S Tele--seems better than the current Fender stuff--Always loved the sound of the Les Paul, and played one years ago. but it is too heavy to play it for three or four hours straight in a club --mostly gigged with a strat, for a cover player, it is more versatile--still, not as much fun as the other two--

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: UB Ed
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:06 PM

Never could get the "right" souind from my 1980 American Strat; always went back to the Les Paul Custom. Both had the factory pickups and it makes me wonder....what if I'd changed 'em out of the Strat (nice neck)?

Strat is gone; the Paul lives on...

Ed

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 08:24 AM

Having owned both Gibson and Fender electrics (Les Paul, Strat and Telecaster), and played many more of them over the years, I would submit that they are very different instruments. The methods of construction are different (different woods, different weights, "set in" vs. "bolt on" necks), the scale lengths are different (Fender is 25.5 inches, Gibson is 24.75 inches), the necks feel very different, the electronics are different, etc., etc. Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time playing both would attest to the different "feel" of the instruments, and the different sounds they produce. Moreover, within the two companies you have a wide array of choices -- pickup types (single or double coil, high gain vs. "polite," coil taps, in or out of phase, etc.)and configurations, various types of whammy bar vs. stop tailpiece vs. string-through vs. floating bridge, etc. Myriad choices, which can make a profound difference on the sound.

It is also true that what you are playing through can be as important as what guitar you are playing. The type of amplification (tube class A, tube class A/B, solid state, modeling amplifiers, size and number of speakers, cabinet dimensions, wattage, etc.) makes a huge difference, as does the number and type of effects, the pre and post gain levels, and so on. This is not even close to a thorough exploration of the variables, and how they interact with one another -- merely a list of a few of the factors that shape the sound. Some types of setups mask the "true" tone of the guitar more than others, and with heavy overdrive and/or effects you may in fact have trouble telling what guitar is being played. But if you take a stock Strat into a stock Fender Twin on a relatively clean setting, and then compare it to a stock Les Paul Standard through the same amp at the same settings, I think most will hear the difference pretty quickly.

Of course, the player is the biggest variable of all. Some players do their best on Fenders, some on Gibsons, some on other brands (my current main electric guitar is a PRS, which is a different beast altogether). Many players have more than one electric guitar, and switch off for different tones.

For the record, there have been many "Lucilles" over the years; mostly Gibsons, but early on B.B. could be seen playing a Telecaster, and in the very early days he had a variety of other (lesser) instruments. The "Lucille" model that Gibson came out with in 1979 or thereabouts resembled an ES-335 (a dual-cutaway semi-hollow body with two humbucking pickups), but as someone mentioned it had no F-holes, and it also had an adjustable stop tailpiece rather than the stock stop tailpiece found on most 335's, as well as some cosmetic differences. For the most part Muddy played stock Telecasters, although you can see him with various other instruments in pictures from the 40's and 50's.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Raptor
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 08:39 AM

Grab I do agree that electronics plays a big part Mark Knophler has several strats that are rewired (see the alchamy video) but there is a distinct stat sound he has! The album GLODEN HEART is a solo by Knophler! By the way I don't hate Gibsons I like the SG, The Les Pauls will break yer back! I Just love Fenders, I have a Strat And The 72 Custom Tele.

Raptor

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Grab
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 10:05 AM

Ah, "Golden Heart". Sorry, I must have been particularly slow yesterday - the typo completely threw me! :-)

Graham.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: Arbuthnot
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 05:27 PM

Just a few facts:

PAUL Kossoff played the solo on All Right Now on an old Les Paul Custom. He did play it on a Strat for a while in public (sponsorship deal), but you can't see the guitar used in the studio on a record. OTOH if you are using someone's brand as an advertisement, you don't tell people that you used a competing brand.

Re: Mark Knopfler; Mr Knopfler is historically a Strat lover, and plays one most of the time - but he always switches to his Les Paul to play Money for Nothing.

In generalities, Fender electrics generally sound sweeter and cleaner than the fat Gibson humbucking sound. The Firebirds, especially those with P90 (soap bar) pickups were put out in competition to Fenders - they didn't take off in that sense, but they really are a very versatile and underrated design - listen to Johnny Winter, for example. In a similar vein, Fender have put out guitars with humbucking pickups that deserved better recognition - the Starcaster and Telecaster Deluxe were great guitars. It is true that a lot of The Sound nowadays can be generated by electronic wizardry, but it is a lot easier to get the sound you are looking for if it is three-quarters there to start with.

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 09:29 PM

i really do like the strat sound on dire straits song sultan of swing,mark does a great job and the sound is so clean and clear. BOB

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 15 Nov 01 - 04:02 AM

As a non-player, I dislike the look of the "all pegs on one side" Fenders and twin cutaways. However, I have been known to press my nose up to music shop windows at the sight of a single cutaway hollow body Gibson archtop (was it a 600 series, can't remember?)until moved on by the owner, as the drool was misting the glass.
However, if ever tempted to buy one I guess I'd need a Les Dawson rather than a Les Paul.
RtS (Is the blues model the Les Miserable?)

Subject: RE: gibson or fender
From: 53
Date: 15 Nov 01 - 06:30 PM

oh roger you are a skiffler. BOB