Favourite electric guitar

[TomG76]

I know what you're thinking: this belongs in another forum.

But actually I'm interested in which electric guitars you folks like. I'm always going primarily to be an acoustic player.  As acoustic players yourselves, which electrics do you find to be worthwhile additions to your collection / what do you hanker after? 

I have a massive preference for clean tones. After folk and country I probably like jangle pop the most. Johnny Marr is my favourite electric guitarist by a mile.

An ES-335 might seem an obvious choice but I find myself rather drawn to the SG.

Pedals, amps and pick-ups are all very mysterious to me.

[Leonard McCoy]

Les Paul Standard with an asymmetrical neck and an American Fender Stratocaster. I'd love to get my hands on an ES, though, these days.

[TomG76]

14 minutes ago, Leonard McCoy said:

Les Paul Standard with an asymmetrical neck and an American Fender Stratocaster. I'd love to get my hands on an ES, though, these days.

 

Nice.

[Lars68]

Tom, we seem to share a taste in music. I knew you liked Townes, but now also know you like Johnny Marr.  Johnny, Jason Isbell, and Neil Young are my favorite electric players, all with extremely distinct styles. (Jason and Neil also happen to be my favorite acoustic players). Johnny is playing on my stereo as I type (The Smiths).

I'm not much of an electric player. I have never figured out how to make an electric sound good in my hands. I mostly do open chords, with hammer-ons and pull-offs, which don't work that well for me on an electric, unless I use a very clean tone. I do have a telecaster, a Yamaha desktop amp, and a tweed Fender blues Jr amp. I don't use them much, but I would never sell them. I love playing them from time to time, and have used them to make a few recordings too. The teles have a very unique twangy sound, which is used often in the Americana style music I love. That's probably why I gravitate towards them.

The Johnny Marr signature Fender Jaguar would be perfect for you!

Lars

[J185cat]

My favorite electric of the ones I own is my ES137.  I have a LP Standard, an old Ovation Tornado (not the round back, think ES335 style) and a Strat copy I made from a StewMac kit.  The reason I like the 137 is it is very versatile.  Jazz, blues, rock even country.  No not a Strat sound but a versatile Gibson.  It is a little heavy though. 

[northcntryblues]

I don't own any electric guitars, but there are a few I love the sound of:

1. Fender Telecasters

2. 12 string Rickenbackers- the Byrds/Heartbreakers sound.

3.  Strats.

[TomG76]

3 minutes ago, Lars68 said:

Tom, we seem to share a taste in music. I knew you liked Townes, but now also know you like Johnny Marr.  Johnny, Jason Isbell, and Neil Young are my favorite electric players, all with extremely distinct styles. (Jason and Neil also happen to be my favorite acoustic players). Johnny is playing on my stereo as I type (The Smiths).

I'm not much of an electric player. I have never figured out how to make an electric sound good in my hands. I mostly do open chords, with hammer-ons and pull-offs, which don't work that well for me on an electric, unless I use a very clean tone. I do have a telecaster, a Yamaha desktop amp, and a tweed Fender blues Jr amp. I don't use them much, but I would never sell them. I love playing them from time to time, and have used them to make a few recordings too. The teles have a very unique twangy sound, which is used often in the Americana style music I love. That's probably why I gravitate towards them.

The Johnny Marr signature Fender Jaguar would be perfect for you!

Lars

Thanks, Lars.

We absolutely have a similar taste. I ADORE Jason Isbell. In fact in my one and only gig to date, I played Speed Trap Town as one of my songs.

Do you know John Moreland? He's awesome too. I'd now be surprised if you didn't like him.

It started with Simon and Garfunkel for me and my favourite artist is James Taylor.

I've got a Yamaha Revstar 320 but like you, I've never been able to work it out. I am sure that's my fault and not the guitar's. I play it through a Yamaha practice amp that may be like yours.

[TomG76]

2 minutes ago, J185cat said:

My favorite electric of the ones I own is my ES137.  I have a LP Standard, an old Ovation Tornado (not the round back, think ES335 style) and a Strat copy I made from a StewMac kit.  The reason I like the 137 is it is very versatile.  Jazz, blues, rock even country.  No not a Strat sound but a versatile Gibson.  It is a little heavy though. 

The ES 137 looks gorgeous too. I wasn't aware of that model. Thank you.

[TomG76]

3 minutes ago, northcntryblues said:

I don't own any electric guitars, but there are a few I love the sound of:

1. Fender Telecasters

2. 12 string Rickenbackers- the Byrds/Heartbreakers sound.

3.  Strats.

Yeah - I've certainly enjoyed all of those guitars on songs.

[Dave F]

6 minutes ago, J185cat said:

, an old Ovation Tornado (not the round back, think ES335 style) 

I still have the one I bought new in ‘70. It was my main guitar for years. 

[TomG76]

13 minutes ago, Lars68 said:

Tom, we seem to share a taste in music. I knew you liked Townes, but now also know you like Johnny Marr.  Johnny, Jason Isbell, and Neil Young are my favorite electric players, all with extremely distinct styles. (Jason and Neil also happen to be my favorite acoustic players). Johnny is playing on my stereo as I type (The Smiths).

I'm not much of an electric player. I have never figured out how to make an electric sound good in my hands. I mostly do open chords, with hammer-ons and pull-offs, which don't work that well for me on an electric, unless I use a very clean tone. I do have a telecaster, a Yamaha desktop amp, and a tweed Fender blues Jr amp. I don't use them much, but I would never sell them. I love playing them from time to time, and have used them to make a few recordings too. The teles have a very unique twangy sound, which is used often in the Americana style music I love. That's probably why I gravitate towards them.

The Johnny Marr signature Fender Jaguar would be perfect for you!

Lars

Oh, I also like Neil Young. I saw him live at the now defunct Phoenix Festival near Stratford.

I hideously butchered Rockin' In The Free World at a concert at college. (I didnt count that as one of my gigs as I was just singing and not playing guitar. Also I've excised much of it from my memory.)

Strewth that show went badly. 

[TomG76]

1 minute ago, Dave F said:

I still have the one I bought new in ‘70. It was my main guitar for years. 

Acoustic Ovation guitars are intriguing. Frailers in Runcorn have a Gibson J-25 that is obviously based on them.

The Tornado, meanwhile, looks very Gibson!

[kidblast]

For me, the top pick is always one of my Les Pauls.   Both are standards, and both I've had for a while.  They are a part of me at this point. 

But, I also like variety so I have more guitars than one could possibly need... 

[MorrisrownSal]

Years back I owned a Gretsch Country Gentleman... It was a royal pain to keep tuned... and that Bigsby Whammy threw it out all the time.

More recently I owned a Tele, which I always have an affinity for, and the one I use occasionally now... a Reverend Double Agent OG. It loos like this one:

 

https://reverb.com/item/34806120-reverend-double-agent-og-2020-metallic-alpine

 

It is the best electric I have ever played. I know it's imported, but you can get a lot of different sounds out of it, and it refuses to go out of tune...

 

 

[TomG76]

13 minutes ago, Salfromchatham said:

Years back I owned a Gretsch Country Gentleman... It was a royal pain to keep tuned... and that Bigsby Whammy threw it out all the time.

More recently I owned a Tele, which I always have an affinity for, and the one I use occasionally now... a Reverend Double Agent OG. It loos like this one:

 

https://reverb.com/item/34806120-reverend-double-agent-og-2020-metallic-alpine

 

It is the best electric I have ever played. I know it's imported, but you can get a lot of different sounds out of it, and it refuses to go out of tune...

 

 

Aha! I first learned of those from the movie Crazy Heart. (The novel is brilliant too.)

[TomG76]

2 hours ago, TomG76 said:

I know what you're thinking: this belongs in another forum.

But actually I'm interested in which electric guitars you folks like. I'm always going primarily to be an acoustic player.  As acoustic players yourselves, which electrics do you find to be worthwhile additions to your collection / what do you hanker after? 

I have a massive preference for clean tones. After folk and country I probably like jangle pop the most. Johnny Marr is my favourite electric guitarist by a mile.

An ES-335 might seem an obvious choice but I find myself rather drawn to the SG.

Pedals, amps and pick-ups are all very mysterious to me.

Actually I've made a terrible mistake and overlooked Mark Knopfler!

I love his fingerstyle playing. He's fascinating on the relative qualities of guitars. He's also a fantastic guitar teacher.

I've seen both him and Tommy Emmanuel explain technique superbly well. Both claimed to have had to work very hard at it. It seems that even genius is perspiration as well as inspiration.

I love Knopfler on a Strat AND on a Les Paul. (And his National. And on a Martin. And on an Advanced Jumbo.)

Edited July 28, 2020 by TomG76
Typo

[tpbiii]

At this point, I am mostly totally acoustic -- but I am pretty old.  In the late 50s, I started playing folk revival and "rock and roll." 

In my years of making a retirement investment out of old guitars, I did end up with an occasional electric and at least two newish ones- 84 Strat and 84 ES-335S.  They were not new, but probably only a few years old when I got them.  In about 1990, my Son borrowed the Strat and never came back -- he became a fairly successful musician using that guitar.  I got them both from pawn shops.

Here is a picture of my "new and electric" stuff.  Most of the acoustic guitars and all the basses shown have pickups -- I have used those in situations where not doing it was not reasonable. 

 

 

The basses all belonged to my late wife.  The "coolest" for me was the 50/60 Kay bass on the bottom left.  There are a bunch funky stuff there, some of which I own with my daughter from her ALT ROCK period.  The BC Rich Warlock had a big impact on my son' early heavy metal period -- scary.  The three Danelectros -- two Silvertones and a Coral -- sound like coming home if you played in the  late 50s/early 60s.

The 72 Tele Deluxe was a graduation present for my daughter (she had many graduations) and that got a lot of use in Texas honky tonk bands for awhile. 

I don't see the ES-335S  -- that is an oversight.  The other two "cool" guitars are the 68 Fender Coronado II Wildwood and the 67 Lake Placid Blue Fender Coronado I.  These are true hollow body guitars -- not like the ES-335 which they resemble.  Feedback is a problem on a loud stage -- they mostly now get use yearly to play Christmas carols.

Here are the Gibsons.  62 Melody Maker, 67 SG JR, 84 ES-335S, 49 ES-150, 67 EM-150.

I am still hoping to play that ES-150 in a Honky Tonk gig - I have never done that except with a harmonica.  I probably would not be very good -- but that has never stopped me.😎

Best,

-Tom

[bobouz]

ES-330 is the one for me - fully hollow & P-90s.  Clean with a touch of reverb.

I have a 2012 330-VOS, as well as a 2010 330L, and a 2009 Elitist Casino.  Also have a 2011 ES-335 with P-90s, which is of course very similar but semi-hollow.

[littlejohnny]

To me there are two essential guitar designs:

1) Gibson style set neck, humbucker  guitars  (Les Pauls, SGs, Es 335 etc.)

2) Fender style bolt-on neck guitars with single coils. (Strats and t

I own a ES 355 (basically a 335) and a Telecaster, nothing wrong with a SG, though.

Oh and I know a lot might disagree, there are more cool electrics to consider, p-90 equipped Gibsons, Richenbacker or Gretsch guitars, but to me those are not essential.

One more thing, a good guitar(tube-) amp is mandatory, its like 50% - if not more - of the sound of an electric guitar.

Edited July 28, 2020 by littlejohnny

[TomG76]

1 hour ago, tpbiii said:

At this point, I am mostly totally acoustic -- but I am pretty old.  In the late 50s, I started playing folk revival and "rock and roll." 

In my years of making a retirement investment out of old guitars, I did end up with an occasional electric and at least two newish ones- 84 Strat and 84 ES-335S.  They were not new, but probably only a few years old when I got them.  In about 1990, my Son borrowed the Strat and never came back -- he became a fairly successful musician using that guitar.  I got them both from pawn shops.

Here is a picture of my "new and electric" stuff.  Most of the acoustic guitars and all the basses shown have pickups -- I have used those in situations where not doing it was not reasonable. 

 

 

The basses all belonged to my late wife.  The "coolest" for me was the 50/60 Kay bass on the bottom left.  There are a bunch funky stuff there, some of which I own with my daughter from her ALT ROCK period.  The BC Rich Warlock had a big impact on my son' early heavy metal period -- scary.  The three Danelectros -- two Silvertones and a Coral -- sound like coming home if you played in the  late 50s/early 60s.

The 72 Tele Deluxe was a graduation present for my daughter (she had many graduations) and that got a lot of use in Texas honky tonk bands for awhile. 

I don't see the ES-335S  -- that is an oversight.  The other two "cool" guitars are the 68 Fender Coronado II Wildwood and the 67 Lake Placid Blue Fender Coronado I.  These are true hollow body guitars -- not like the ES-335 which they resemble.  Feedback is a problem on a loud stage -- they mostly now get use yearly to play Christmas carols.

Here are the Gibsons.  62 Melody Maker, 67 SG JR, 84 ES-335S, 49 ES-150, 67 EM-150.

I am still hoping to play that ES-150 in a Honky Tonk gig - I have never done that except with a harmonica.  I probably would not be very good -- but that has never stopped me.😎

Best,

-Tom

Marvellous stuff. Thank you.

I'm sorry to hear your wife has passed away.

[TomG76]

1 hour ago, littlejohnny said:

To me there are two essential guitar designs:

1) Gibson style set neck, humbucker  guitars  (Les Pauls, SGs, Es 335 etc.)

2) Fender style bolt-on neck guitars with single coils. (Strats and t

I own a ES 355 (basically a 335) and a Telecaster, nothing wrong with a SG, though.

Oh and I know a lot might disagree, there are more cool electrics to consider, p-90 equipped Gibsons, Richenbacker or Gretsch guitars, but to me those are not essential.

One more thing, a good guitar(tube-) amp is mandatory, its like 50% - if not more - of the sound of an electric guitar.

Yes - really need to try my Yamaha on a more sophisticated amp.

[Sgt. Pepper]

When I had my BB King it was pretty bad a-ss. All my guitars now have one huge hole in them. Hope they are not broken.

[RBSinTo]

My one fully electric guitar is an ES335 knock-off that was made in the '60s or '70s at the Matsumoku factory in Japan. They made guitars which were badged for many different sellers. Mine is a Granada, made for a music school in Western Canada. Except for a very narrow neck at the nut, it is a very nice guitar. Extremely pedestrian by the standard of the guitars described here by others, but more than enough for my musical needs

My other electric guitar is a Washburn Parlour acoustic that a friend and I added a removable pick-up to.

Because of a badly torn supraspinatus muscle ( one of the four muscles that comprise the rotator cuff) in my right shoulder, the large bouts on my D28,  j45 and Granada make playing for long periods painful, so currently the Washburn is my most played instrument.

RBSinTo

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by RBSinTo

[northcntryblues]

6 hours ago, TomG76 said:

I know what you're thinking: this belongs in another forum.

But actually I'm interested in which electric guitars you folks like. I'm always going primarily to be an acoustic player.  As acoustic players yourselves, which electrics do you find to be worthwhile additions to your collection / what do you hanker after? 

I have a massive preference for clean tones. After folk and country I probably like jangle pop the most. Johnny Marr is my favourite electric guitarist by a mile.

An ES-335 might seem an obvious choice but I find myself rather drawn to the SG.

Pedals, amps and pick-ups are all very mysterious to me.

Agreed re. clean tone.  I love the clean tone of a telecaster in classic soul music, a la Steve Cropper.   Muddy Waters straight up blues on the Tele.  Roger McGuinn or Mike Campbell with a 12 string Mapleglo?  Heaven.  David Gilmour on the Strat.  And Johnny Marr and Peter Buck with clean tone Ricks are also awesome.  Having said that, I can dig a big fat tone on occassion too. I'm looking at you, Jimmy Page and Neil Young.

[BoSoxBiker]

My favorite of what I own is a simple USA Tele. A close second place is a Gibson LP Trad Pro 59 from like 7-8 years ago that I enjoy quite a bit. One of those GC private "custom" jobs. Has a 5db mid-boost and push-pull for splitting if I should ever desire.

My next big guitar purchase will be an ES of some sort. Once in a while I creep back towards thinking it will be a Country Gentleman of the Gretsch order. Thruth be know, I think me and an ES-339 could be very happy.

My hidden gem is the poorly received Floyd Rose brand guitars that I picked up on a SDOTD from MF for $100. It takes Double bullet-end strings and is a bear to tune. I had to add a POT just so it could have a tone knob. Best of all, though, are some cheap P90s from Guitar Fetish that went on it. It does one thing exceedingly well. The keef-quack ala "Midnight Rambler". I paid more money for 3 sets of strings on Reverb last year than I did on the guitar itself. Not opening a pack until I need the guitar for something as I get back into more electric and studio offerings.