Fender or Gibson?

[HerbieBoogie]

Fender Fo Sho

 

[rottingcorpse]

The op's question was "which do you prefer?". It's easy to say "the right tool for the job" or "I like all flavors".

IMO, single coils sound thinner than humbuckers (a fairly popular opinion). Not a whole lot of thrash players use single coils for rhythms. I play a specific style, and have purpose built tools that I like for that job. I'd rock a strat with a single humbucker with a Floyd all day, but I'd prefer a Les Paul. And that middle pickup on a strat gets in my way. That said, I freaking love a good tele, but not as much as a great Les Paul.

 

[Racerxrated]

If I have to choose it'll be a strat. Like LPs, love the sound.....love strats, like the sound....I'll take feel/playability over tone. LPs don't feel as good to me, kinda awkward. I can usually eq my rig to make up for the thinner strat tone. I have an LP and do play it though..

 

[LP Freak]

I love it when new guys show up to school us. It's so refreshing when they know it all and can educate all us poor stupid musicians on something we've all done our whole lives and never researched.

Thanks new guys.

I welcome knowledge but coming across as a complete tool is a different story.

 

[JTyson]

It is true though, most other singlecut style guitars just don't match up well to LP's. . . . I'm not sure why this is since it isn't rocket science.

That's your opinion, and it stops there.

Also, building a guitar isn't rocket science. Rocket science is geared towards people that actually know how to build and make a rocket.

Look, I hate Gibson as a company. I WANT PRS and others to make better sounding singlecut style guitars. I've owned an SC250 and 2 Stripped 58's and an Anderson Bulldog. They all played great, they were flawless and just made great. When played next next to a good LP I was like "FUCK". My friends 2014 LP Traditional just sounded better than my last Stripped 58, but I hate the 50's neck on the LP. I've about learned my lesson.... I just need to force myself to like the Gibson 50's necks.

Truth^
Been going through this for several years, my bass player has a custom shop 1960 that as soon as I heard it, I was floored
Its not a looker at all, but it absolutely sounds amazing, even with the stock pups in it. One of the better LP's I've ever heard/played.
We are currently in negotiations on a price
My beloved McCarty's were about as close as I was able to get, played like butter and built as good as anything I've ever seen. They have been my go-to guitars for years, and were better than lots of the LP's I had played, but then I played his through my Marshalls and had the exact response you did. I actually drooled on myself while playing it
I will have it soon, and I will never part with it. We have dubbed it "The precious"
There are tons of LP's out there, but every now and again you get one that is stunning

 

[Ventura]

^^^It's gotta be something with bolt-on necks and me that just don't gel. Weird.

Never bothered me. I'm more into the neck thickness. Too thin and I'm out./

My ESPs all have sleeker, thinner necks than any of my Lesters, but they play like buttah... So who knows, right? It is what it is. Overall, each of my Lesters sounds massively "full", and that's what I love about 'em. As well, sure they're heavy compred to a strat, but they feel super balanced strapped or seated. I just love me some LP goodness

 

[Steinmetzify]

I love it when new guys show up to school us. It's so refreshing when they know it all and can educate all us poor stupid musicians on something we've all done our whole lives and never researched.

Thanks new guys.

I welcome knowledge but coming across as a complete tool is a different story.

Yup, exactly...like this genius.

CNC Einstein! Loo it up.

There was no CNC back in the early Jimi, Eric and Trower days. Actual craftsmen did the hard work to make these guitars what they are from the beginning. Learn your history before you jump on the turnip truck.

Also not many folks know that Jimi being a left handed picker never flipped his pickups on his guitars (Fender or Gibson). The 1st string pickup pole became the 6th string pickup pole, and so on. And this is why Jimi had a very unique tone stack to experiment with.

'Actual craftsmen', huh? So there weren't any immigrant Mexican women working in the Fender factory building guitars, huh? Learn your history yourself before you start making fun of people....you need to check yourself on your 'facts' pal.

 

[controlled_voltage]

ironically one would not exist without the other




EDDIE VAN HALEN When Leo Fender was doing his thing and you were doing yours, was there ever any competition?

LES PAUL No, not at all.

VAN HALEN Did you ever collaborate or talk about your ideas?

PAUL Absolutely. Leo Fender would come over, and so would his engineers. They saw the Log and some of the other guitars I had built. They saw it all happening. There was never any friction. It was just the opposite.

Here’s the story of how Leo really helped me: When I developed my first solid-body guitar in 1941, I took it to Gibson and they dismissed it. They called it that “broomstick with the pickups on it.” From 1941 to 1951, I couldn’t convince Gibson to do a damn thing about putting out a Les Paul guitar. Finally, Leo decided to come out with the Fender solid-body line, and immediately Gibson said, “Find the character with the broomstick with the pickups on it!”

And so they asked me to design a guitar. I thank Leo for coming out with his Broadcaster, because it woke Gibson up. Gibson was asleep and Fender was not asleep. That’s the way it goes. Fender was the first to market, but I was way, way out front.

VAN HALEN It’s kind of like the car business—Toyota woke up GM.