[slejhamer]

Okay, I really enjoy the sound of a classic 1960's era Rickenbacker and other hollow body guitars. And I think I'm familiar with the twangy and bright Telecaster sound. But what are the characteristics of other guitars like a Strat, a Les Paul, a Paul Reed Smith, or others? Can you tell the differences in a song heard on the radio?

The more I look into electrics, the less I realize I know ...

[slejhamer]

Partly in answer to my own question, a carefully structured google search gave me the following article. Do you agree? I'm not sure I do, as there are too many exceptions (esp. with respect to the 335.)

Guitar Talk: Stratocaster vs. Les Paul


In the war of rock and roll guitar, the battle has always been between a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul. There are other guitars to be sure, but the primary weapons for guitar soldiers since the fifities have been the aforementioned.

Sure, you got your Telecasters and SG’s, both fine guitars. You got your Rickenbackers and Danelectros. You got your myriad Strat copies in all their permutations, your semi-hollowbody ES-335’s and their ilk. But except for the Tele’s, SG’s and 335’s, which are true "players" guitars, the others are more for looks than they are for playing. And there’s nary a decent tone to be wrung from them!

I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, "How can he just dismiss all these other guitars?" And "What’s so special about Strats and Les Pauls?" So let me explain my position and answer these two valid questions.

Basically, I can dismiss all these other guitars because all the great guitar players (with a few notable exceptions) have already done so. I’m just taking their lead. My opinion on Rickenbackers and Danelectros is that they have a distinctive look and style that is great for achieving a certain aesthetic on stage, but the sounds they produce are mediocre at best. They are also not sturdy, tough pieces of equipment. Rickenbackers, in particular, are very brittle and do not hold up well. Danelectros are pressboard. ‘Nuff said!

There are, however, other guitars that are great pieces of equipment and sound fantastic. Telecasters and SG’s , for example, are also two of the great electric guitars. There are good reasons why these two stalwarts are not as prevalent as Strats and ‘Pauls’, though.

The Tele is a classic rhythm instrument, as evidenced by the guys who have made it their main axe: Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and Bruce Springsteen. It has also been worked to perfection by Roy Buchannon, Danny Gatton and blues great Albert Collins -- the "Master of Telecaster" --, so it can be a good lead guitar, as well. But, tonally, it has a very narrow range. It’s the same with the Gibson SG. Duane Allman sure made that sucker sing with a slide. But it’s not nearly as versatile as a Les Paul. These guitars always sound the same and therefore do not have the "range" of tonal qualities that Strats and ‘Pauls’ have.

This is the greatest thing that a Strat or a ‘Paul’ have going for them, a "range" of tonality so that they fit a wide variety of musical applications. They are both strong and sturdy, they are both great feeling and playing guitars. But it is their tonal versatility that makes them special. So, are they the same? Of course not! Why would you choose one over the other? Let me tell you.

Let’s take a look at the Strat now shall we? Let’s see, who’s played a Strat that we know about (Lots of pretend head scratching). Let’s see, um….oh yeah, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan and so on. Many of the best guitarists of all time! And they not only don’t sound the same compared to each other, they somehow managed to coax a wide variety of tones from their axe.

A Strat sounds like a Strat, yes. But, a Strat sound has a lot of options. It’s typically not a real fat tone, more stinging and biting. But as Clapton demonstrates, it can be fat and chunky, too. It can produce a smooth jazzy sound a la Jeff Beck and also has that signature "out of phase" sound that people like Robert Cray use very well.

Now, what about the Les Paul? Only people such as Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Peter Frampton, Gary Moore, Dickie Betts….you get the picture. It has the ultimate fat tone, hands down. It’s a great guitar for blues, jazz or heavy rock and can also sound very sweet and chirpy. Frampton really brought out the clear, bell like tonalities it can produce. But no one better showcased the Les Paul in all its tonal glory than Jimmy Page (and I think the old man Les himself, would agree with me on this!). Page displayed the ‘heaviness and fatness’ this guitar is famous for. He created some of rock guitars’ greatest chunky rhythms as well as incredible, soaring leads. With effects or without, it is unmistakably a Les Paul. It’s a very big sound.

So, put down that no-name brand! Stop looking for something obscure or "cutesy" to get that great tone. Instead, go for what everyone already knows will sound great, and make it your own.


Stay Tuned,

The Virtual Musician

[shuttertalk]

Ok... I'll have to take that at face value... I have no idea what he's talking about

Nowadays with FX boards, pedals and amps though, you can produce totally different sounds regardless of the guitar you're playing. In that case, is the pure tonal quality really important? Sure, you need a good tone to begin with, otherwise garbage in = garbage out... but ah, I dunno, depends what you're trying to achieve, I guess.

[de_axeman]

No, I can't tell exactly what guitar is being used just by listening on a radio. I can hazard a guess, based on who's playing and what genre the music is from, but too many variables come into play - type of amp, type of pickups used, effects used, and even the way it is played affects how a guitar sounds.

I don't think I agree that Rickenbackers and Danelectros are lousy. Sound is very personal and what sounds bad to him might sound good to you. What he is harping on seems to be that there are generally 2 main guitars popular with players: Strat and Les Paul and they are popular (not necessarily 'better') because they are very versatile and well-made guitars.

The sound of a guitar is not the only consideration when you choose to buy one. Things like cost, the look of the guitar, the tradition of who's used it, and other factors affect why some people like Strats, some like Les Pauls, etc. Heck, if Rickenbacker chose to sponsor me with free guitars, I'd probably say they're heaps better than Strats and Les Pauls!

Don't stress about how little you know, but rather feel free to test out as many guitars as you can but understand that there are many ways to get the 'tone' you're after, and it's not just restricted to the type of guitar you use.

[slejhamer]

Heh heh ... "Lucille" is a modified ES-335!

I hadn't even considered modeling and other FX. So I should get a good guitar that "feels" best for me, and deal with emulating other sounds later.

But tell me - can I really get that Pete Townshend trademark machine-gun feedback effect, which seems inherent to the Rickenbacker design?

Guitar World, 1996:
The toggle switch thing was literally to make the guitar sound like a machine gun when it was feeding back. And when I bought my first Rickenbacker, I packed it with paper and found I could actually produce feedback on select harmonics, which was quite extraordinary. You can hear it briefly on “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere.” And I could reproduce it live. I could actually do that by moving the guitar in relationship to the speakers and get harmonics. That was extraordinary to me, to be able to reproduce that live. And as long as I kept that guitar — which was briefly, unfortunately — I could do it. It was a stunning example of how we were able to reproduce very difficult studio recordings live.

[de_axeman]

Sounds good slej. If you're not happy with your basic guitar tone, no amount of effects will make you happy...

Dunno what Townsend's machine-gun feedback sounds like... :/

But I doubt you'll be able to get that with just a basic guitar and amp, and at volume levels that fall short of blowing your doors apart...

[slejhamer]

Sounds good slej. If you're not happy with your basic guitar tone, no amount of effects will make you happy...

Great point!

Dunno what Townsend's machine-gun feedback sounds like... :/
But I doubt you'll be able to get that with just a basic guitar and amp, and at volume levels that fall short of blowing your doors apart...