Picking one guitar for gigs

bobliefeld

I wouldn't dream of using more than 1 guitar at a gig unless I had to switch between some very different tunings.  I have a bunch of very, very different guitars... More different than a 335 and a Jazzmaster that's for sure and there aint a single god damn thing I can't play on any guitar and make it sound rad.  Just play whatever you think looks cool

Lebarque

In my opinion, 335's and strats are the most versatile guitars out there, so in your situation, I'd choose the semi. Chuck in some underwound PAFs if you're feeling flush. Perfect.

MartinB

Lebarque said:

In my opinion, 335's and strats are the most versatile guitars out there, so in your situation, I'd choose the semi. Chuck in some underwound PAFs if you're feeling flush. Perfect.

The Vanson pickups on there are not too bad, and are low-ish winds (iirc the neck is just over 7k with the bridge at 8ish). They're in the right sort of ballpark, though I'd be curious to see if some of the design tweaks offered by more upmarket pickups (offset coils, more attention to winding patterns, unpotted etc) could open things up a little.  I'm not feeling massively flush, but keeping an eye on the classifieds and shifting some unused bits is always an option...

Alegree

MartinB said:

Lebarque said:

In my opinion, 335's and strats are the most versatile guitars out there, so in your situation, I'd choose the semi. Chuck in some underwound PAFs if you're feeling flush. Perfect.

The Vanson pickups on there are not too bad, and are low-ish winds (iirc the neck is just over 7k with the bridge at 8ish). They're in the right sort of ballpark, though I'd be curious to see if some of the design tweaks offered by more upmarket pickups (offset coils, more attention to winding patterns, unpotted etc) could open things up a little.  I'm not feeling massively flush, but keeping an eye on the classifieds and shifting some unused bits is always an option...

Upmarket PAFs? The main design tweak is the liberal application of snake oil.

MartinB

Alegree said
Upmarket PAFs? The main design tweak is the liberal application of snake oil.

Yeah, I meant "upmarket" as compared to £30 a pair generic types - so that would be things like stock Gibsons, Duncan, the sensibly priced end of UK custom makers, rather than the crazy priced vintage repro stuff!  
Although I think I'll have a play around with the current pickups before I try anything else. Swapping the neck magnet to A5 has already helped, and I could try taking a few hundred turns off one coil too.  

ESBlonde

I tend to use humbuckers a bit further away from the strings (questionable if winding up the poles helps, but some swear by it) and get drive from the guitar volume first and a pedal second it I need to goose the front of the amp. Have plenty of presence mid and treble available in the amp to call on.
The comment earlier about strats and 3X5 guitars being very versatile is true, perhaps add in the Tele too. A great number of hits were recorded on those guitars through the decades, the Les paul was a much smaller contributor to music in the early decade or so. It's only since the introduction of hot rodded high gain superstrat types for genre specific music that much has changed in the electric guitar market.