duane v Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Funny thing with all the guitars I have I seem to use my Epiphone Casino in many different musical situations. Its great acousticly as I can sit with a group of friends and play and sing. It has a great clean tone through any amp I have, and no matter what pickup combination I use. It growls really nice when overdrive is added to the amp. The only restriction is the upper fret access. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I lack versatility. My Strats and Teles are pretty much the same, one has one more pickup than the other is all. Esquire has only one pickup, the same as in the Teles. Decent clean, decent overdrive, that's about the extent of the versatility I need. In that regard, since they all perform essentially the same, the are all equally versatile and I can count on each doing what I want it to do. So, yeah. I'm not versatile. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I'm all acoustic. Can't play much past the 14 fret. But the D-41 man oh man what a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlwwalker Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Versatility was forefront on my mind as I bought my only two current guitars. I GAS for nothing as a result. Electric: 2010 Gibson ES-335 Satin Black with a Mesa Boogie Express 5:25 1x10 Combo amplifier (no pedals) Acoustic: 2007 Gibson L-4A EC Rosewood unplugged, or through a Fender Acoustasonic SFX amplifier This is better equipment that I will ever deserve as a player. I am blessed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Vet. Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 My most versatile guitar is my 2019 American Professional Series Butterscotch Blonde Telecaster. It has great clean tones, it can get twangy, and it can get real crunchy. And I can crack pecans with it. Ash makes a great pounding material. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) My Blueshawk pretty much does everything for me from clean to scream. I upgraded to Grover machine heads (Kluson style) with threaded bushings. Reworked the nut. Rebuilt the bridge so the strings could pass through to the tremolo, installed hex screws for the saddle intonation adjustment and moved the bridge 1/8" farther back from stock position. Installed a permanent mounted Duesenberg Tremola Short. The Vari-Tone and 3 way switch provide 18 posible tone ranges not counting the tone pot. Unplugged it doesn't sound bad either. Edited January 11, 2020 by mihcmac 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 ES 335, whatever you play on it, it always feels right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 This got me thinking. All things considered, it has to be the Ric 650C (Recently got a 650D too which I posted up here). most importantly: the tonal range is very versatile. These simple mini humbuckers (same ones used in the 4000 series basses) sound very like single coils. I get great woody cleans from the neck, and biting highs from the bridge which cut through nicely. With a little gain, it retains detail and clarity. Its easy to find a jazz voice, or a country voice with it. But I play soul, ska and rock live, and awkward venue acoustics are never struggle using it. next is playability: I get unfettered access to the 24th fret. It's a wide 1.75" neck, (much like a classical guitar) at the nut. That means its easier to fingerpick amongst other things. So I can employ a wider range of technique than some other guitars. The string spacing adjustment at the bridge allows me to keep both E strings away from the edge of the fingerboard. That's important to me. Lastly it's tough: Much tougher than it looks. The maple neck is chunky and robust. In fact, the whole guitar is maple. It entirely lacquered too. so although it doesnt look as nice as the oiled 650D, its protected and resilient from dirt and lighter impacts. This means I can use it with confidence under pretty much most conditions. The pic is from my laptop screen. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bill Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I have to say my ES-339. I can get about any tone I'm looking for out of that thing, plays nice and clean and can get down right dirty when I want it to. Those 57 Classics are awesome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Hello. It's my '78 Recording. It can mimic so many guitars. Bence. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 45 minutes ago, Big Bill said: I have to say my ES-339. I can get about any tone I'm looking for out of that thing, plays nice and clean and can get down right dirty when I want it to. Those 57 Classics are awesome! I have to somewhat echo BB. my ES335 with the 57 Classics. it's tone is almost 3 dimensional. cleans up nice, just does it all. my Firebird would have to be the runner-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) Parker DF522NN (NN for Notes Norton). Parker P-Rail pickups with Triple Shot Rings give me the following sounds: 1) P90s 2) Rails 3) Series Humbuckers 4) Parallel Humbuckers Plus the Piezo under the bridge gives me Acoustic tones that I can play alone or blend with the Magnetic pickups It's the "Swiss Army Knife" pf guitars. Edited January 10, 2020 by Notes_Norton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) this one seems to cover a lot of sonic territory. that said,, and I may get flogged for this.. but I believe that any guitar can be the Right Tool if it's in the right hands. Edited January 10, 2020 by kidblast 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 1 hour ago, kidblast said: ...that said,, and I may get flogged for this.. but I believe that any guitar can be the Right Tool if it's in the right hands. I have to agree. The word "versatile" has to have limits of some kind. I think a guitar that does the things I need it to do is "versatile" enough for me, because I'll make it do what I want. If you ask me to do the banjo in Theme From Deliverance well, I don't have a guitar for that so no, I'm not very versatile. I guess I don't ask my guitars and amps and pedals to do anything I don't do, so in lots of eyes I'm "limited". I'm not. I get paid for this, not that, that's why I can't/don't do that, I do this. yeesh that took too many words. rct 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 6 hours ago, btoth76 said: Hello. It's my '78 Recording. It can mimic so many guitars. Bence. Those are bad @ss. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 As much as I love my Les Pauls and Flying V's, probably my most versatile guitar is my Ibanez Jiva, the Nita Strauss signature guitar. The three pickups, Humbucker, single, Humbucker with 5 way switch allows me to split the humbuckers and get a nice Strat style quack. The pickups aren't as hot as what you'd think they are and backing off the volume gets a fairly clean/crunch kind of tone. Combine that with 24 frets and a Floyd Rose style whammy, there's not much that guitar can't do. This is my guitar she's playing in this picture. She (Nita Strauss) couldn't get to her guitar so I offered up mine for her to play. My favorite live guitars, however, are my Les Paul Goldtop with P90's and my Les Paul Traditional. I simply know what they're going to give me and what I can get out of them and we play a wide variety of music from classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues, country and whatever else my band wants to do. One of those are usually on the stage with me. I recently got a Schecter CR-6 and it's pretty versatile as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Mac Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I have to say that, though I love my Les and my ES-330, my most versatile guitar is my Strat. I've found Strat style guitars to have the widest range of sounds and, combined with a simple control scheme, is capable of everything that I require of a guitar. I have a Mexican Strat with single coil pickups: bone stock. It's great! Also, I have always loved the 2 and 4 switch positions: that hollow quack just gets me and, really, only a Strat will do that properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx-ogre Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 My ES-335. The ‘57 Classics cover a lot of ground. If I could only keep one of my guitars, it would be the one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 This one: Custombucker coil splitting pickups. Pretty much runs the gamut of humbucker and single coil possibilities. Very versatile. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 The 335 - or maybe the Telecaster. The 335 does everything except real twangy stuff and the Telecaster does everything except the mushy hollow sounding stuff. The 339 I had was probably more "versatile" than the 335. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 My SG, because I got rid of my strat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 My Ibanez jazz box. Man, she's a lot of bang for the buck. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) I have thought for a long time that one of the best guitars for playing Strat songs is a Gibson with P90's. The versatile tone ranges of the fat single coil are extreme and the tone control actually provides usable sound. If you are fortunate to have a P90 guitar with one P90 in reverse polarity (for hum cancelling), you can get the Strat position 2 and 4 like sounds. In order to get the Strat out of a P90 Gibson, you just need to lower the gain on your guitar down to Strat level. A contender in Gibsons versatility stable is the ES-335 Dot P-90 with a reverse coil in the bridge position. a 335 that can get some twang and more... I think.. maybe... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvgUsbbQqc Edited January 11, 2020 by mihcmac 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 On January 9, 2020 at 8:57 AM, duane v said: Funny thing with all the guitars I have I seem to use my Epiphone Casino in many different musical situations. Its great acousticly as I can sit with a group of friends and play and sing. It has a great clean tone through any amp I have, and no matter what pickup combination I use. It growls really nice when overdrive is added to the amp. The only restriction is the upper fret access. I have Electric Fenders, Gretsch, Epi's, Gibsons & Ric's. Mini HB's, various HB's, various SC's & P90's. I agree of all my Guitars my Casinos are the most versatile.. They seem to do everything well & with just about any Amp.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Larsongs said: I have Electric Fenders, Gretsch, Epi's, Gibsons & Ric's. Mini HB's, various HB's, various SC's & P90's. I agree of all my Guitars my Casinos are the most versatile.. They seem to do everything well & with just about any Amp.. I have wondered why ES-330 and Casino sound very different to me being of similar designs. But possibly because the ES-330 has a center block and the Casino is a true hollow body giving it a unique sound that is to die for. The Casino's "P90 Classic pickups" are slightly more microphonic and brighter than "Epi's P90 Pro's", giving the Casino the ability to transmit more of the acoustic sound from the chamber.... anyway I like both guitars but they are every different... 🙂 Edited January 12, 2020 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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