Telecaster's are 1 of the 3 original solid body guitars that have shaped rock(and roll). All 3 have their own sound and charecter. The tele was the first mass produced guitar, made by Leo Fender in the very early 50's(although briefly preceded by a single pickup version). It was scorned upon by Gibson for a couple of years until they realised what was happening and quickly got in touch with pioneering guitarist and studio wizard Les Paul who helped design the Gibson Les Paul model which is a posh version of the theme with 'humbucker pickups(double coil) and bound body and neck. Fender came out with the Stratocaster a couple of years after that which was a development of the 'tele' with a 3rd pickup for more sound variation and a contoured body for comfort. The tele is still very popular and has its own 'twang' sound. Favoured by country musicians for their 'bright' sound. Bruce Springsteen, Joe Strummer and Keef Richards are pehaps the most famous Tele affictionardo's. That setup you have for sale is a very good learner package, the Vox is modelling meaning it'll mimic various amp sounds and being fairly low powered it'll sing or distort without blowing the windows or neighbors away. An electronic tuner(£20ish) some plectrums, strap and a good beginners book or a few lessons and you could be busking a few easy songs in a couple of weeks.
Right......we're not playing games now Viv............I'll give you £9.99 and a twix. You wont get a better offer. :smile:
Hi Dave, As you probably know, Ive been a working guitarist for 20 odd years, so i'm pretty acquainted with the guitar market. The Strat(ocaster), is the most famous of all guitars and is the one 99% of people would draw if you asked them to sketch a picture of a guitar. It has a twin horn body design (two curves projecting out from the front of the body parallel to the neck). the body is also deeply contoured for comfort and balance. Depending on the model variation (of which there are many) the specs can be very different, but its all variations on a theme. It has 3 single coil pickups (the narrow thin ones) which produce a very clear tone with a low to medium output, and of course the tremelo system bridge with the bar for giving it Hank Marvin. Mark Knopflers clean sound is the quitessential clean strat tone. the strat is the perhaps the most versatile workhorse guitar available, and even though there are fancy models with lots of electronic gadgetry, or gimmickry depending on your opinion, even the earliest, simple and most coveted instruments are capable of playing very technical music styles and techniques that werent even around at its inception...in many ways, the strat if the guitar by which most others are compared, is the industry standard and is the most copied and influential of all guitar designs. in 1954 when it was first made the stratocaster was the most futuristic guitar ever made and was considered too avante garde by the majority of players and was very nearly dropped by Fender due to poor sales. These days a decent, unmolested pre 1965 original model will easily sell for anything between £10k+ with prices usually several times that. The highest price paid that i know of was more than £250k for 'Brownie', the guitar upon which Clapton wrote Layla...Expect to pay £50k for a mint 1950's guitar. Strats are also available in just about every colour under the sun. The Tele(caster) Fenders 'other' great guitar. An older, simpler, less sophisticated model but no less endearing guitar. No body contouring (they call the body a bread board in the trade), fixed bridge with very primitive adjustment and 2 single coil pickups (different to the strat pickups)..Although they are often made of similar woods to the start, the tele has a very bright, trebly tone...'Twang' is the word that springs to mind..and is THE sound of country guitar. It is the weapon of choice of country players but it is also very capable of playing hard rock (springsteen etc) and some jazz..a great piece of kit. Les Paul Solid body based on the shape of the acoustic guitars and hollow bodied electric guitars of the day but with a lower horn ..Much more traditional in appearance and with a fussier decorative finish, two humbucking pickups (large rectangular in shape) with medium to high output. Body and neck made of mahogany..This give the LP a more powerful, mellow, darker tone and although not as popular as the Strat, is often seen in rock situations. It tends to be favoured by less technical players for some reason. It also has a looser feel when playing, in part due its short scale length (the length of the strings from the bridge to the end of the neck)..this means lower string tension, but it tends to be sloppy for fast playing. A lot of jazzers use the LP for playing at high volumes as it doesnt feedback and can sound warm. The LP is also very traditional in appearance and coloured ones are less common, and there are only a few colour options available. Flying V/Explorer These are more or less the same as the LP 'under the hood'...same electronics, neck dimensions, bridge (which is very simple in design) and sound..it just has whacky body shape Construction methods are very different between Fenders and Gibsons...mostly the way that the neck is attached to the body. Fender bolt their necks on, Gibsons are glued in, much like the way acoustic guitars are made. The advantage of a bolt on is that it can be replaced and is cheaper to produce. Fender necks are typically maple, Gibson typically mahogany. Now re-read this post as i may set an exam at the end of term...
I was waiting for you to write all that, Funky, as it seemed obvious that you were the most qualified guy for the job. Let's face it though, LP, Strat and Tele are really all essential guitars which one must own sooner or later and preferably simultaneously.
A Ricky is a very traditional guitar dating back to the 40's. They are often hollow bodied electric guitars, as were all the electrified guitars if that era. They use the humbucking type pickups and uses the Bigsby tremelo system which uses a large spring and plate mounted onto the front of the guitar. This is a crude design and was much improved by fender's total redesign..however, its great for the styles that were around at the time..blues mostly. Rickenbacker moved into solid guitar bodies as the size of venues, bands and volumes increased. Theyre very traditional with a very narrow neck and not very versatile...but what they do do, they do very well! you tend not to see many players flying around the neck on one as theyre used mainly by chord merchants..still a good guitar but too limited for me personally..this is why the other 3 conquered all... Theres other guitars like the Gretch models that are very similar to Rickenbacker are you regularly see them playing big band swing, be bop, blues, rock n roll.....stuff from that era..Bryan Setzer is the kiddy to listen to for this type of playing...
But surely Gretches are also good for that huge sound that you hear in Killing Joke (can't remember guy's name) or The Cult (though think that may be a Gibson hollow body of some description). But you get the idea - they do make a great huge rocking sound on occasion.
or..... you could just get the session players guitars, the Godin A6 (or CT summit) or the Parker Fly which emulate all of the above convincingly enough for most people to be taken in by them when theyre on record..For me, the only guitar that lights my fire in terms of playability and versatility are the vintage spec Fenders, particularly the Strat..its short comings and foibles (7.25 curved fingerboard radius, 21 skinny frets, overly loud G string being too close to the pole pieces and non locking trem) can quite easily be gotten around with a good set up and decent playing technique..Ive found that other guitars limitations are harder to accomodate, although not necessarily impossible (unless you MUST have a trem). The strat can give a passable emulation of the LP and particularly the Tele..The Tele can give a passable interpretation of a strat, but not so much the LP (although it can sound quite Gibson SG'ish)..The Les Paul always tends to sound like a Les Paul.. I guess this is why there have been so many 'super strat' type guitars like the ubiquitous heavy metal guitar-the Humbucking/single coil hybrid Ibanez RG series, or the humbucking and hollow bodied teles..The non Fender super strats essentially have a strat style double cutaway contoured body, strat scale length, Fender type trem system but taken to the next level, flatter boards, more frets and maple necks....most even have similar pickguards, 6 in a row headstocks and the 5 way toggle switch.. Ive owned loads of different guitars down the years and more than my fair share of Ibanez rock guitars, but for me, ive found them a little bit sterile..fantastic but uninvolving...rather like the latest and greatest japanese bikes (ibanez are after all, Japanese)....they do everything well but without character or feedback..Its nice to have a guitar that does everthing you want it to, but that fights back a little bit..something youve got to focus on...if im doing something lairy on a strat like some mad tapping thing i feel like im 'getting away with it'..using a modern technique on a 60 odd year old design..and it does it as well as any Ibanez, but youve got to be on top of your game as they are unforgiving and can sound horrible when it goes wrong...but..it makes you a better player and makes the relationship between you and the instrument closer, bridging the gap..yeah, you can bounce around all day on an Ibanez but you havent really achieved anything if that makes sense?..it just doesnt talk back to you and let you know how youre doing.
yeah, his name was geordie.. thats the hollow body for you...great for all that chordy stuff..but dont forget, Killing Joke use so much signal processing thats its Beyond a Joke..Any hollow body guitar will have that sound, i dont think its intrinsic to the Gretch, cool though they undoubtedly are....
