Swapping between Gibson/Fenders

Longtallronnie

Is it just me that struggles like fuck?

Always been a Gibson man, had a 72 Tele Deluxe but whenever I picked it up after playing one of my Gibsons, I just couldn't find the notes. 

Recently acquired an AVRI 52 Tele which I've been playing exclusively since I got it. Picked up my Les Paul earlier today, it was like trying to play a bloody Hoover! 

RandallFlagg

I switch quite easily between R8, AV52 Tele and CS Strat with jumbo frets but I do rotate frequently. I think If I played one of the Fender's exclusively for a few weeks or more and then switched it would take a bit of getting used to.

Alterlifeson

Can't say I struggle all that much, but it does take a few minutes to get used to as I use different string guages on each. Its radius more than scale length for me!

Jack_

I'm shit on all my guitars.

Easy...

guitarfishbay

Yes. I find doing some scales/chromatics etc helps, I can't easily switch without some kind of adjustment period

richardhomer

I must admit - always an issue for me. Strats feel like 'home' - Gibsons far less so. But I've come to the conclusion that you just have to accept that the different feels are part of why they sound different.

ICBM

That's funny… when I started playing in the mid 80s, the only Fenders and Gibsons that were easily available - and certainly affordable - were second hand 70s models. With a few exceptions - Marauder, S1 and the like - the quality of the Gibsons just blew the Fenders away. Even today I don't find most of the better 70s Norlin-era Gibson models bad guitars at all, despite a tendency to be too heavy. Later 70s Fenders on the other hand were not only almost equally heavy, they were usually just crap in almost every way - lumpy, over-thickly-finished, shrill-sounding horrors. For a couple of years I just couldn't understand why Fenders were so rated, when *clearly* Gibson were the superior maker.

Then I played a '68 Telecaster and it all became obvious.

Longtallronnie

Even now I'm used to the Tele, 7.25" radius, maple neck with 9's - I find I tire a lot sooner than playing either of my Gibsons (LP and Fat Neck 335, both strung with 10s). 
My thoughts are it's related to string tension as the action's fine bit not sure really. I love having some single coil action at last but I don't think I could ever gig with it. Not that I'm likely to any time soon!

Roland

It's not the fret spacing which gets me, or the difference in radius. Each style of guitar has certain notes which jump out, whether it be a chord or a run. When you swap guitars it's a different set of notes which stand out. Which means that you have to play differently.

Two weeks ago we played a pub with faulty wiring, and massive mains hum. Neither of my usual Telecasters was playable. I had to nip home for a humbucker equipped guitar, and spent the whole evening changing chord inversions and arrangements on the fly.

Neckwringer

Rotation is the key.............

Sassafras

Yes.
I just can't get used to the sound of humbuckers no matter how long I play them.

octatonic

Scale length doesn't bother me but I just don't like the weight and ergonomics of Gibsons.

olafgarten

I don't have any difficulty finding notes, but with my Epiphone the frets are slightly taller and so I have to use a lighter touch. 

dindude

Yeah it's ergonomics for me. Being more a Fender guy I can switch between Strat and the 24" of a Jag no problem, but a Les Paul or SG feels quite alien.

stickyfiddle

I've never had any problems switching between any two guitars. The only thing that remotely throws me is a Les Paul as the switch is in the "wrong" place

usedtobe

Jack_ said:

I'm shit on all my guitars.

Easy...

This

fandango

Roland said:

 changing chord inversions and arrangements on the fly.

Gulp! I struggle to play standard chords, never mind inversions. And as for auto-switching between the two, it must be like conversing in English to Spanish then to Japanese and back to English again. It won't surprise you, I can't do that either.

But back to guitars .. I regularly switch between Gibson and Fender guitars, and don't usually find it a problem.

CarpeDiem

Like a number of the other contributors to this thread, I regularly switch around guitars. It felt odd initially, but now I'm used to it in terms of playability. Of course, there's the challenge of remembering different control layouts!

stimpsonslostson

Tele to SG is fine- they're both "long" guitars. 
Going from either to my LP feels a bit weird initially. 
I've just acquired a 2015 LP Jr. Now THAT feels WEIRD! It's great to play in isolation, but the neck feels totally alien if I've played anything else beforehand. 

ronnyb

Yes, had a Les Paul deluxe about 20 years ago and never really got on with. Sold it and have played a tele ever since. Far more user friendly I think. I've often hankered after a Les Paul again and admire them as they are beautiful looking instruments but I played one at a friends the other day and it brought back everything I thought when I owned one. Wouldn't get another. 

Voxman

Nope, I switch naturally and easily from one to the other but then I do tend to switch regularly and use them for different types of stuff. If I'm in a rocky Led Zep/ACDC/Gary Moore etc mood its h/b guitars eg LP/SG or a Tele for some Zep stuff, and if I'm in a Hendrix/SRV/country/Stones etc mood its a Strat/Tele etc.  Of course there's loads of stuff that fits nicely with any guitar eg Stones/The Who etc.

But for those that play a LP everyday for 3 months and then switch to a Fender, or vice a versa, I can understand how that might then feel strange for a while.