Best all round humbucking pickup guitar?

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0262600521

read the specs, coil tapped!!!
$769 at MF
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Special-Edition-Spalted-Custom-Telecaster-Electric-Guitar?sku=513879

Lefty (or anyone else) -

I have one of those (in black) for sale. PM me if you are interested. Buy it from me for 1/2 the MF price.

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0262600521

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read the specs, coil tapped!!!
$769 at MF

With only a master volume and master tone that seems less flexible than a guitar with controls for each pickup. Wouldn't adding coil tapping to any humbucker guitar increase the versatility? Even better still, what about the "Jimmy Page" circuit changes to basically add push/pull pots to all four controls for coil tapping, phase, and serial/parallel switching to add even more flexibility? If this one is only more flexible because of the coil tapping circuit then adding that or the "Jimmy Page" circuit to another humbucking guitar would make it as flexible or more so.

(Psssst: About coil tapped 'buckers: The results often are less than spectacular.)

PRS does a very good job of using various combos of the HB coils in (once) novel ways to get different, yet usable tones. This is available in the 5-way rotory switch versions of their guitars.

As far as the "best all around" guitar: I gave up on looking for the most tonally flexible guitar a long time ago. I'd rather have something that has a distinct voice, and learn to use that voice in playing different styles.

Hi.
Well, I've never owned a guitar with HB's, though I just had to add something to this thread.

I agree with Greg here.

My 71 Strat has the original SC pups and 3 way switch.
It has the most distinctive sound of any guitar I've ever played.
I wouldn't ever think of changing it to be more versatile.

As you could see from Moonrider's excellent youtube postings (ThankX by the way. Sister Rosetta was GREAT, and Les & Mary had a smile on my face the whole time :D ),
amplification has a lot to do with your sound.

My 88 Strat has a 5 way switch, and is way more versatile than my 71 Strat.
The only problem with trying to squeeze EVERYTHING out of one guitar is that sadly, it ends up doing NOTHING exceptionally well.

My 71 has soul and a personality.
It inspires me to play better.
Sometimes it dictates what and how I play.
It's part of me when I play it.

My 88 is nice.
Can do just about any genre....
It's just that it's kinda BLAH at everything.

As far as LP's/335's/SG's go....

Last time I was at GC in Chicago, I picked a 70's LP off the wall....
HOLY CATS was it heavy, AND off balance.
I didn't even try to play it.
I ended up with a new 335 dot neck into a Vox amp.
It played really nice.
Didn't have a whole lotta character IMO.

I had an SG (W/P90s).
Couldn't say as I was overly impressed with that guitar either.

I say: Get a Fender w/SC pups :P
(J/K :wink: )

Ken

I have this guitar and Naylor has done some crazy things... he doesn't make the chrome or the Rocco anymore, but I have a Smoke Chrome Rocco - none of the etching, it just looks like a smoky mirror and was probably on of the last 20 or so he built.

http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/archive/guitars/usa_chrome_elite_series.html

As to the sound- the pallete is insane... though it looks really retro, its high-tech- its polymer and laminates and the body is chambered... and to answer the question no, it doesn't feedback like other chambered guitars.

Here are sound samples of the humbuckers Joe puts in the guitars he has now. These are the same samples I've heard before I ordered mine.

http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples.html

http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_n_kin_bf_jazz.mp3
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_b_kin_bf_cleanblues.mp3
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_b_kin_brit_ztop.mp3
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_b_kin_brit_hotblues.mp3
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_b_kin_bf_jkl_carlos.mp3
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_b_kin_vh78_evh.mp3
http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/sound_samples/hum_b_kin_bf_jkl_metal.mp3

And props to Rusty for being such a hot player - he has a link on that site too.

Pros - tone tone tone... this thing is a shapeshifter! Anything from plucky, chime-like sparkle, to dirty crunch. Its light and the neck is very nice. Also, due to its design its sustain is incredible... it must be heard to be believed.

Cons- while it will do some pretty hard stuff (see below) it is not a death-metal guitar. But that's outer-fringes stuff - and 'best' of anything is really a compromise, so there you go. Also, its probably a little more fragile than a solid wood guitar (its chambered)

The last thing I will say is not meant to be a buzz kill - I love trying to find the 'perfect guitar' too. But all in all, while everyone looks for that 'holy grail' of tone, as a hobbyist, one thing I have learned in all of my reading and trying guitars and then having someone else play the same guitar is this - good equipment is all well and good, but the chops (fingers) make or break the tone it seems.

ZZtop plays with 8s.... 8s!!!!!! with that wall of sound!!! Roy Buchanan got such sounds out of an old trashed telecaster that people today are STILL trying to figure out how he did some of it... There are examples all over.

But if you insist on getting an answer to such a subkective question I will try to at least give some tech to think about:

I would tell you to look for guitars made of 'medium' tone woods, avoid anything too 'bright' or 'dark' (mahogany is a dark tone wood), and look for guitars that use solid humbucker choices- avoid EMGs or other specialized pickups as they limit tonal flexibility.

Also, alot of guys will get the guitar they LIKE (feel, looks, whatever) and then put whatever pickups on they feel they need.

But to me, its whats between your ears and on the ends of your hands that will make the most difference in how you sound.

Without a doubt it has to be a 1962 gibson SG

Is my impression of the range of the guitars wrong? Would you bring a fat tele to a jazz jam? Would you bring an SG to a blues jam?

Ya think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ Sister Rosetta Tharpe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PczPU6w4M70 Danny Gatton & Tom Principato

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Df09Sodpk Les Paul & Mary ford

Slightly diverging from the topic here:

That Sister Rosetta video was brilliant and I had tears in my eyes in each of the three times I watched it - not because of the religious content but the sheer emotion, voice and guitar playing. Just amazing.

And the Les Paul/Mary Ford one: notice how thin their guitar straps are? They must have HURT after a while. (I use 3" padded straps myself.)

On topic now: As I've said a few times here I'm just a beginner who started with a Strat copy and an LP copy. I've found that I tend to pick up the LP way more often than the Strat - because it sounds better? Feels better? I don't know the answers to those questions yet.

I have just ordered an Epiphone Les Paul Ultra which has a chambered mahogany body and is several pounds lighter than a traditional LP which might help with the weight problem on my old shoulders.