One guitar to rule them all?

dindude

Dan_Halen said:

p90fool said:

dindude said:

The correct answer I fear is not one of versatile but one of finding “your sound”. Think of all the famous players synonymous with one type of guitar, or even one guitar full stop - Angus Young / SRV / Hendrix / Brian May / Vai, the list goes on and on. Bet they never felt restricted by only having single coils or humbucker. The problem of trying to cover all bases is a problem of the forum bedroom player. 

Speak for yourself. There are far more paid sidemen than there are rock stars - versatility is essential for most working musicians.

Well said. If you dep, session, play in a function band etc etc then just having 'your sound' isn't going to get you far. Well, probably as far as being shown the door.

I played in a covers band for years and used an American Standard Strat for all of it - no one cared that I played sweet child o mine on a Strat.

stickyfiddle

dindude said:

Dan_Halen said:

p90fool said:

dindude said:

The correct answer I fear is not one of versatile but one of finding “your sound”. Think of all the famous players synonymous with one type of guitar, or even one guitar full stop - Angus Young / SRV / Hendrix / Brian May / Vai, the list goes on and on. Bet they never felt restricted by only having single coils or humbucker. The problem of trying to cover all bases is a problem of the forum bedroom player. 

Speak for yourself. There are far more paid sidemen than there are rock stars - versatility is essential for most working musicians.

Well said. If you dep, session, play in a function band etc etc then just having 'your sound' isn't going to get you far. Well, probably as far as being shown the door.

I played in a covers band for years and used an American Standard Strat for all of it - no one cared that I played sweet child o mine on a Strat.

I bet 50 quid there was at least one guitar player, at one of your gigs, standing at the back, sucking his teeth and quietly seething...  

octatonic

It's the player, not the instrument that matters.

Roland

stickyfiddle said:

dindude saidm

I played in a covers band for years and used an American Standard Strat for all of it - no one cared that I played sweet child o mine on a Strat.

I bet 50 quid there was at least one guitar player, at one of your gigs, standing at the back, sucking his teeth and quietly seething...  

Just to piss them off even further I sometimes play the riff an octave lower

AlexC

octatonic said:

It's the player, not the instrument that matters.

Is THE right answer!

p90fool

stickyfiddle said:

p90fool said:

dindude said:

The correct answer I fear is not one of versatile but one of finding “your sound”. Think of all the famous players synonymous with one type of guitar, or even one guitar full stop - Angus Young / SRV / Hendrix / Brian May / Vai, the list goes on and on. Bet they never felt restricted by only having single coils or humbucker. The problem of trying to cover all bases is a problem of the forum bedroom player. 

Speak for yourself. There are far more paid sidemen than there are rock stars - versatility is essential for most working musicians.

Yes, but they're not getting paid because they have a guitar with a bazillion tone settings.

They get paid because they're versatile, tasteful players who show up on time and don't show up drunk..!

I agree, that why I said you need versatility. 

But you still can't cover the ground you need to with a single signature sound. 

Obviously it starts with the player, but how you achieve that versatility in different situations requires knowledge, taste AND equipment. 

You do often need a bazillion different settings as a sideman, but whether that's built into the guitar or your pedalboard or your amp collection is up to you.

Dan_Halen

dindude said:

Dan_Halen said:

p90fool said:

dindude said:

The correct answer I fear is not one of versatile but one of finding “your sound”. Think of all the famous players synonymous with one type of guitar, or even one guitar full stop - Angus Young / SRV / Hendrix / Brian May / Vai, the list goes on and on. Bet they never felt restricted by only having single coils or humbucker. The problem of trying to cover all bases is a problem of the forum bedroom player. 

Speak for yourself. There are far more paid sidemen than there are rock stars - versatility is essential for most working musicians.

Well said. If you dep, session, play in a function band etc etc then just having 'your sound' isn't going to get you far. Well, probably as far as being shown the door.

I played in a covers band for years and used an American Standard Strat for all of it - no one cared that I played sweet child o mine on a Strat.

Er, what? Can only assume my understanding of finding 'your sound' is clearly completely different to yours.

I thought the point of this thread was to discuss the guitar people feel can cover the most ground. Your argument was that people shouldn't worry about it and just find one that works for you i.e. find 'your sound'.

My counter point is that what 'my sound' might be isn't necessarily what the gig requires. If I'm doing a dep slot with a wedding band then turn up with an 8 string, a Diezel amp and a couple of 4x12s I don't think it'll go down too well.... even if I explain 'hey man, it's just MY sound'.

Unless you think finding 'your sound' comes solely from the guitar and that alone?

mudslide73

octatonic said:

It's the player, not the instrument that matters.

This is true. I've done identical cover gigs on the last two Saturdays - one on LP and one on my Strat. It's not too difficult to dial it all in either way. I do have an SSL-5 in the bridge on my Strat though. 

dindude

Dan_Halen said:

dindude said:

Dan_Halen said:

p90fool said:

dindude said:

The correct answer I fear is not one of versatile but one of finding “your sound”. Think of all the famous players synonymous with one type of guitar, or even one guitar full stop - Angus Young / SRV / Hendrix / Brian May / Vai, the list goes on and on. Bet they never felt restricted by only having single coils or humbucker. The problem of trying to cover all bases is a problem of the forum bedroom player. 

Speak for yourself. There are far more paid sidemen than there are rock stars - versatility is essential for most working musicians.

Well said. If you dep, session, play in a function band etc etc then just having 'your sound' isn't going to get you far. Well, probably as far as being shown the door.

I played in a covers band for years and used an American Standard Strat for all of it - no one cared that I played sweet child o mine on a Strat.

Er, what? Can only assume my understanding of finding 'your sound' is clearly completely different to yours.

I thought the point of this thread was to discuss the guitar people feel can cover the most ground. Your argument was that people shouldn't worry about it and just find one that works for you i.e. find 'your sound'.

My counter point is that what 'my sound' might be isn't necessarily what the gig requires. If I'm doing a dep slot with a wedding band then turn up with an 8 string, a Diezel amp and a couple of 4x12s I don't think it'll go down too well.... even if I explain 'hey man, it's just MY sound'.

Unless you think finding 'your sound' comes solely from the guitar and that alone?

Oh god (face slap) I’m worn down and can’t be bothered with your argument. Go and tell your wife you won the internet today.

kt66

The one in my avatar, bought it new in 1989,  loads coming into the house since, but they all know who is the Daddy.
I will be buried with it. The best Rick' I have played and most others agree

Dan_Halen

dindude said:

Dan_Halen said:

dindude said:

Dan_Halen said:

p90fool said:

dindude said:

The correct answer I fear is not one of versatile but one of finding “your sound”. Think of all the famous players synonymous with one type of guitar, or even one guitar full stop - Angus Young / SRV / Hendrix / Brian May / Vai, the list goes on and on. Bet they never felt restricted by only having single coils or humbucker. The problem of trying to cover all bases is a problem of the forum bedroom player. 

Speak for yourself. There are far more paid sidemen than there are rock stars - versatility is essential for most working musicians.

Well said. If you dep, session, play in a function band etc etc then just having 'your sound' isn't going to get you far. Well, probably as far as being shown the door.

I played in a covers band for years and used an American Standard Strat for all of it - no one cared that I played sweet child o mine on a Strat.

Er, what? Can only assume my understanding of finding 'your sound' is clearly completely different to yours.

I thought the point of this thread was to discuss the guitar people feel can cover the most ground. Your argument was that people shouldn't worry about it and just find one that works for you i.e. find 'your sound'.

My counter point is that what 'my sound' might be isn't necessarily what the gig requires. If I'm doing a dep slot with a wedding band then turn up with an 8 string, a Diezel amp and a couple of 4x12s I don't think it'll go down too well.... even if I explain 'hey man, it's just MY sound'.

Unless you think finding 'your sound' comes solely from the guitar and that alone?

Oh god (face slap) I’m worn down and can’t be bothered with your argument. Go and tell your wife you won the internet today.

Classy.

UnclePsychosis

I've always thought that the idea of "one guitar to do literally everything" was a bit of a weird concept to be honest. 

To some degree, you can play almost anything on almost any guitar---so for those of us playing for the pleasure of our pets and relatives at home, just use whatever you want. For most of us, we just aren't genuinely going to be playing Slipknot as often as we play the Shadows so pick whatever gear works for what you do most and it'll be perfectly sufficient for 99% of everything else anyway. 

For the professional covers band and dep artists---'aint no way you're pretending you're doing those gigs with only a single guitar. If you're gigging in a professional band without a second guitar you have far bigger worries than whether you're using a single coil or a humbucker for that riff. Two guitars covers 99% of your bases musically and gives you a backup. Plus, there's only so much versatility which is actually realistic...the number of professional giggers who realistically have to sound like John Mayer one gig and Kerry King the next can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand! 

For the uber-professional guitarists, lets face it you're playing whatever the musical director and the stylist agree between them is most appropriate for the gig.