Suggestions for a do-it-all guitar...

LordOxygen

I have a milestone birthday later this year and I've got the green light to gift myself a special guitar to mark the occasion. I'd like to find a guitar that can give a wide range of tones capable of replacing both the Epi LP and the Mexican Strat that I have now.

I'm at a bit of a loss really where to start, never considered a highish end guitar before, or picked one up to play because I've never been in a position to buy one.

With a £2-3K budget. new or used from a dealer, what brands should at least be on my (hopefully long) shortlist to try as a do-it-all guitar? 

An obvious one to look at is PRS, any others?
Thank you.

King85

What style of guitar do you think you're after? Super strats can be found with hsh setup with coil splits to do a bit of everything.

LordOxygen

I'm really trying to be as open minded as possible, I'd consider a single or double cut guitars, I know PRS do coil splits, 
 I like the neck PU tones on my LP and Strat and the bridge on the LP.  I play at home for my own amusement and dabble with lots of styles (blues, rock, metal, jazz)

crunchman

PRS DGT is very versatile.

A good 335 can rock out, but also be very articulate to replace the Strat.

richardhomer

‘Super Strat’ style guitars are a good option - but the HB sounds aren’t that close to a Les Paul - whether this matters is down to taste.

A PRS DGT gets you very much into LP territory - but their are no ‘Inbetween’ single coil sounds. What single coil sounds there are, are good - but lack the ‘snap’ of a bolt-in maple neck guitar.

There is an inherent level of compromise with all ‘do it all’ guitars. You need to compare a few at a good dealer and decide if any work for you. 

stickyfiddle

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about specs and trying to find one thing that does everything. I would go to a good shop with good stock in your price range (Peach, Coda, etc) explain your budget and aims and try everything that takes your fancy. 

Obvious to-try suggestions would be PRS DGT and ES-335 and maybe Collings if the budget will stretch a fraction (or go used). Or go towards a superstrat type which takes you to Suhr, Tom Anderson, etc

But the key thing is to go and try stuff and find what works for you - the player is much more important than the guitar, so find something you click with and you'll be happy. For me, that would likely mean a Custom Shop SG or a CS-336, or a really nice Jazzmaster or Strat, but I'm not you. 

Nikc

Surly a PRS Paul's guitar would be a good place to look - the PUP's are a bit special and there is an SE model you could get yourself a stocking amp to go with it

Or get a tele of course 

hubobulous

A Suhr with HSH and coil tap gives you every tone you'd ever need

equalsql

Nikc said:

. . .
Or get a tele of course 

This.. A good Telecaster will cover pretty much all musical styles.

RandallFlagg

Nik Huber Krautster II https://www.nikhuber-guitars.com/krautster.html

Fuengi

A semi hollow Telecaster with a coil split humbucker will cover a lot of ground.

The nicest two guitars I have ever played are a Suhr Strat and @peteri 's Gibson ES 330. I'd have either in a heartbeat. 

andy1839

Patrick James Eggle 96.

http://i67.tinypic.com/4sfcdd.jpg

meltedbuzzbox

stickyfiddle said:

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about specs and trying to find one thing that does everything. I would go to a good shop with good stock in your price range (Peach, Coda, etc) explain your budget and aims and try everything that takes your fancy. 

Obvious to-try suggestions would be PRS DGT and ES-335 and maybe Collings if the budget will stretch a fraction (or go used). Or go towards a superstrat type which takes you to Suhr, Tom Anderson, etc

But the key thing is to go and try stuff and find what works for you - the player is much more important than the guitar, so find something you click with and you'll be happy. For me, that would likely mean a Custom Shop SG or a CS-336, or a really nice Jazzmaster or Strat, but I'm not you. 

Please listen to this man

slacker

Often guitarists know what they want and don't have the money. So as you have the money, try a lot of guitars to see what you like. So as to not to end up try all the guitars made, try to eliminate things.

Tremolo (vibrato) bridge? To bigsby or not to bigsby? Etc

Pickup type, number, splits etc. 

Fingerboard, material, scale, radius

Go to a well stocked shop on a weekday and try stuff.

Happy hunting

chris78

A tele with a 4 switch. I can use it for pretty much any musical style.
As above, you also owe it to yourself to check out an Eggle 96. The twin humbucker models have coil splits and are exceptionally versatile, the hss have stunning single coil tones in neck and middle and a great splittable humbucker at the bridge. They’re as well made as PRS too.

uberscott

Suhr Alt-T Pro covers a hell of a lot of ground. Semi-hollow swamp ash body with bolt-on maple neck, and two humbuckers with split coil switching gives you a big ol' range of tones. 

MikeB

For that amount of cash a couple of nice second hand items would give you the best of both worlds?

TTBZ

Depends how much you like the in-between sounds but I'd probably just get a nice Les Paul with decent splittable pickups to get you close to that singlecoil neck tone. The new Les Paul Modern actually looks great. I liked the new all access neck join on the one I played. Very tempted to save up and find a nice one for myself, trade in my SG on one.

I find splittable humbuckers more versatile than singlecoils - you can approximate the twang and hollowness with a split but can't really fatten up or "un-twang" a singlecoil without the use of pedals.

stickyfiddle

TTBZ said:

Depends how much you like the in-between sounds but I'd probably just get a nice Les Paul with decent splittable pickups to get you close to that singlecoil neck tone. The new Les Paul Modern actually looks great. I liked the new all access neck join on the one I played. Very tempted to save up and find a nice one for myself, trade in my SG on one.

I find splittable humbuckers more versatile than singlecoils - you can approximate the twang and hollowness with a split but can't really fatten up or "un-twang" a singlecoil without the use of pedals.

You know that's literally what tone knobs are for, right? 

TTBZ

It still sounds like a singlecoil though, to me.

p90fool

There isn't a single guitar which will cover all bases as well as your current two budget guitars, at any price. 

Pickup style and placement and guitar construction have their tonal limitations, however much money you throw at them. 

If you simply MUST switch between a Strat and a Les Paul mid song then you'll need some kind of compromised do-it-all guitar, otherwise just stay where you are or upgrade what you have.

If you really want to treat yourself for your birthday though, just buy a great Telecaster and you may end up not needing the other two anyway.