hello everybody and first of all forgive my english :)
i play keyboards with a friend of mine who is a drummer and we started thinking about adding a guitar to improve the palette of sound, let's say. after a long discussion whether it was better to use a real instrument (none of us can play guitar) or using a vst to emulate that sounds, we both decided for the "real deal". the "burden" of learning the guitar is on me. we play a sort of ambient stuff so basically lots of loop and textures and this helps me because you don't have be really technically skilled to play that music (i think, at least). we might go into other territories, like adding a bit of psychedelic flavor to the mix. at the end of this message i'm going to post a couple of links to make you understand where we might end (i know they are two completely different genres of music but at least you can have an idea of what i'm talking about). now (and sorry if i took so long) my main question: since the sounds of the electric guitar are going to be "drowned" in a sea of effects, is there a guitar best suited for this music? should i go for single coils, humbuckers? is a stratocaster good because it is versatile or are there guitars "born" to be used in certain musical environments? obviously we're going to buy a more than decent amp and good effects, but since i don't know much of guitars i'm writing to you experts about it. so, can you help me? :roll:
thanks to anyone who's going to read this :)
paolo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imkU0Kjw_eY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHM7JTIXCc
Alright then, you need a guitar that handles effects well and is able to keep its own in a sea of effects, well I'm assuming you have a good amount of bass and midrange in your recordings and songs already and really, if you need something to "pop" out single coils tend to be really nice and bright and for that Strats are absolutely perfect, you get a good sonic space in the mix thats going to be largely treble ranged and if there's nothing there in your songs, single coils are the way to go and with the 3 pickups on a Strat coupled with effects you have a wide wide variety of sounds from a single setup. However single coils tend to be noisy and you might have to curb the hum using an additional pedal that might affect tone or finding a good sitting position where the hum is less noticeable. Nextly if we're talking humbuckers you'll get a more mid range focuse and fuller sound and the first video you linked the guitarist was using a set of humbuckers, really whenever somebody aks what type of pickups they need to get, what guitar etc. I always say use what your guitar heros use as you'll get clsoer to the sound you like. Humbuckers also don't have hum and more "hotter" meaning that if you have a tube amp you'll push it into distortion fairly quickly unless you're using a Fender amp. The main point to take away however is that the guitar is just part of the equation, the rest is up to the player and amp, effects etc. I saw someone use a Tele for heavy metal and it sounded brilliant. If you asked me I would say you go to a local music shop and plug in a guitar you fancy into the amp you plan on buying and see how that sounds, that'll also help in you getting a "feel" for the guitar. The major major factor is that if you're running effects it's generally a good idea to have a super clean guitar and amp and for that I think a Strat with HSS pickup setting is a fine choice along with a nice clean amp with a massive amount of headroom if you're going with a tube amp. There's always Fender N3 pickups you can fit into a Strat for zero hum...
