Best guitar for function band

Chris_J · December 2017

Add an SG, keep the strat.

gubble · December 2017

Get a USA Fender Sambora Strat.

PAF Pro in the rear, a Floyd, Active Mid Boost - snazzy star inlays.

You can find it for under £2k and in my opinion is the best all round guitar on the planet

Danny1969 · December 2017

For 2K you can pretty much get made what you want, mine was about that although that was about 8 years ago

I have strat shape with 2 humbuckers and a middle single coil. Neck is coil tapped so I can get that middle and neck single coil sound and a full on SCOM neck humbucker sound. Mines active as in the summer a lot of cover band work is outside with poor electrics. Trem goes down but not up so I can carry on playing if I break a string .... for cover band work it's the most versatile guitar I've used

Phil_aka_Pip · December 2017

I think (i) you're after versatility (ii) Joe Public doesn't care what guitar you play. I'd suggest a 335 as you can get lots of different sounds out of one, or an SG2000 as it has coil splits on both pickups + Gibson-style pickup selection. Or, an SA2200 as it also has the coil splits etc plus the hollow-ness (but don't expect it to sound like a 335 'cos it won't)

ICBM · December 2017

Chinese Squier Double Fat Strat fitted with better pickups and coil splitting.

Because that's what I used when I was in a band like that and it was perfect! A very well-made guitar with a two-post bridge and good machineheads which stayed in tune nicely, in a nice shade of Candy Apple Red. I used it in preference to the PRS I had at the time because the split-coil sounds were more 'Fendery'.

rico · December 2017

You could make a pretty damn awesome custom/parts built strat for that £2k.

chillidoggy · December 2017

Yamaha SG2000or SG3000. Coil split switches, and superb quality.

hoops · December 2017

The goldtop Krautster in the classifieds.

stimpsonslostson · December 2017

Yamaha Pacifica 611vhm.
Humbucker bridge (with split). Thinnish neck. Wilkinson trem. Single coil neck (it's a P90, but sounds great). Flat board. Impeccable build & quality components throughout.

They're not expensive or flash, but they're DAMN good guitars & cover LOTS of ground.

martinw · December 2017

I had a Strat with a Dimarzio Chopper in the bridge. Don't want to get too heavy for the punters anyway....too much chug might scare them!

However I now have the perfect guitar for a function band, now I'm not in one!

Stormshadow DBS (Superstrat type thing, one piece mahogany body, pau ferro neck) with 2 humbuckers and a Schaller megaswitch P. You get PRS type switching, so lots of Stratty sounds, but full buckers when you need them.

Choice of pickups is critical though, some split better than others....don't go vintage.

I've got a Tonerider Rocksong in the bridge, with a Bulldog Aldrich-alike in the neck.

The Strat had nicer cleans, but the DBS has a better mix.

dazzajl · December 2017

A Duesenberg Paloma might be worth getting your hands on for a play if you can. Anything from Doooozy is ensured to split the room into love or hate, so it really might not be for you but it ticks all the boxes you’ve listed.

The bridge pickup is a nice crisp bucker and will go all the way to being downright rude if you raise it up a way.

I have a Caribou here that’s a very similar set up but one creamy P90 at the neck instead of the two more strat style pickups. Whether this or a Paloma would better suit me occupies far too much of my thinking.

siraxeman · December 2017

You don't need amother guitar - just change the dark sounding hot rails for a full fat humbucker of your liking. A HSS strat can do anything and is about as versatile as you can ever get. Of course if you just WANT another guitar that's different......that's called GAS.

dindude · December 2017

How about this....

I have a USA Schecter PT and it’s every bit as good quality as my Suhr build wise, in fact the fretwork is the best I’ve seen on any guitar I’ve owned no lie.
The necks are the same on all of them, they are slim, not Ibanez wizard but slightly slimmer than a Fender Modern C and with a pretty flat 14” board. Which is about the only reason I’ll be moving away from my Schecter, I prefer a chunkier neck these days. Awesome guitars though.
http://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/schecter-usa-custom-shop-traditional-hss-candy-apple-red.htm

ICBM · December 2017

martinw said:

Stormshadow DBS (Superstrat type thing, one piece mahogany body, pau ferro neck) with 2 humbuckers and a Schaller megaswitch P. You get PRS type switching, so lots of Stratty sounds, but full buckers when you need them.

Choice of pickups is critical though, some split better than others....don't go vintage.

I had a Duncan Jazz neck and Distortion bridge in the Squier, which seemed to work well - although I didn't have the split Jazz alone, it was inner-coils and outer-coils in the 2 and 4 positions. I used a standard CRL Superswitch, I don't like the Schaller ones.

Brilliant guitar, I sometimes wish I'd never sold it, but when I left the band it wasn't really 'my thing'.

HarrySeven · December 2017

Something subtle and versatile, maybe?

Image: http://www.minarikguitars.com/images/products/trin000.jpg

Perhaps reined in a bit?

Image: http://www.minarikguitars.com/images/products/inf016.jpg

Or maybe one for the Dads?

Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1a/3a/be/1a3abed7f5fec8a46f38690b3997daf2.jpg

rossyamaha · December 2017

Here’s my two pennies.

My my main guitar is a Strat. Nothing amazing, just a USA std. I have bare knuckle mother’s milks in the neck and middle and a mule in the bridge with series parallel switching. I’m going to put a P90 in the neck and have the Yamaha dry switch fitted to roll off low end for the more chimey single coil tone. That’s a versatile guitar. It’s going to be essentially the guide guitar for a custom Pacifica I’m working on.

the other guitar I use a lot is a Variax 69 hss. There are more and more gigs where I’m using this 85% of the time. If you want versatile, it kind of doesn’t get more versatile than that. Spend some time with the workbench software and it will be exactly how you want it. Something I wouldn’t rule out.

All the the rest is done with tone control, volume control, fingers and East Coast IPA.

andy1839 · December 2017

I found the right amp was just as important as the guitar, I gigged a two amp rig for a long time for that reason.

For me, a PRS 513 and a Kemper is about as versatile as you can get.

fastonebaz · December 2017

Get a JEM. Check out the function band Catch22 on you tube he uses a jem. I used to own one too. Awesome at every sound clean rock leads gorgeous. But sadly my fingers arent 18 inches long like Steve vai's so eventually i got fed up and sold it.

AuldReekie · December 2017

If you can get your hands on an early Eggle Berlin Pro, you'll have yourself a well made guitar that can cover almost anything and way under budget

mburekenge · December 2017

Gray guitars emperor

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