Sqrl, solidbodies would all sound the same if they were absolutely rigid but that doesn’t exist in the real world. A Les Paul with its maple neck glued and dovetailed into a heavy maple and mahogany body will be more rigid than a Stratocaster with its neck attached to a light alder body by four screws. This makes a differenc in sustain and to some extent the resonant frequencies of the string. You can’t judge an electric as you would a classical guitar, the differencs are subtle but they do exist. Yes, if you put both guitars through a Jimi Hendrix signature model fuzztone box, a compressor, reverb and a Marshall double stack cranked up to eleven you won’t be able to tell much difference. 
I’d take Mel Gibson over Freddy Fender any day!! Huh? Not what you were talking about? Nevermind.
Work is fine for killin’ time, but it’s a shaky way to make a living.
My husband is a professional guitar player, so I asked him what he thought. He said:
“Tele. There are no other guitars.
Tele. There are no other guitars.
Tele. There are no other guitars…”
But he was just kidding. What he meant to say was:
“I’ll play whatever my wife can afford to buy me.”
He does prefer Fenders, though. He had a Les Paul Custom that sounded totally sweet, IMHO. He didn’t much care for it. He was the only one. That thing just sang. He said it was just too darn heavy.
As for tone, the wood does make a difference, along with the bazillion other things already mentioned here. Tim (my husband) swears that sometimes, the color of the paint affects the tone. He says that the best tone comes from bare wood, with no finish. But most times, a light finish is necessary, to protect the wood from sweat & stuff.
My personal opinion, as someone who doesn’t know diddly about the technicalities, but has a pretty good ear: Les Paul. I like that big, fat tone. But there’s some darn good Fender copies out there, that sound great & don’t cost as much. My husband plays one. He loves Teles, he just doesn’t own one.
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My husband is a professional guitar player, so I asked him what he thought. He said:
“Tele. There are no other guitars.
Tele. There are no other guitars.
Tele. There are no other guitars…”
But he was just kidding. What he meant to say was:
“I’ll play whatever my wife can afford to buy me.”
He does prefer Fenders, though. He had a Les Paul Custom that sounded totally sweet, IMHO. He didn’t much care for it. He was the only one. That thing just sang. He said it was just too darn heavy.
As for tone, the wood does make a difference, along with the bazillion other things already mentioned here. Tim (my husband) swears that sometimes, the color of the paint affects the tone. He says that the best tone comes from bare wood, with no finish. But most times, a light finish is necessary, to protect the wood from sweat & stuff.
My personal opinion, as someone who doesn’t know diddly about the technicalities, but has a pretty good ear: Les Paul. I like that big, fat tone. But there’s some darn good Fender copies out there, that sound great & don’t cost as much. My husband plays one. He loves Teles, he just doesn’t own one.
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Now you see why it pays to always check back to your own posts! I appreciate all the info folks. Here are a couple quick answers (and the way guitar I’m leaning towards…)
I’m a 39 year old drummer/guitarist and play in a regularly gigging R&B/Classic Rock band. (Lots of Stones, Willie Dixon, Stax/Volt style R&B, almost 100% of the tunes covered by The Blues Brothers, and just about anything you can imagine from any “Classic Rock” playlist–No heavy metal {no offence, it just doesn’t go over too well in bars.})
My current guitar has served me well. It’s an Ibenez (Damn, I’ve seen that name a hundred times and I still don’t know if I spelt it right) hollow-body. I like it (it’s light and I always thought the “F” holes look cool.) but it’s kind of tinny sounding. So, for the fatter, juicier, “fatback” sound I’m going to pick up a Gibson Les Paul. (I’m keepin’ the Ibby) I know they’re heavier (weightier) so it may take a little getting used to lugging it around the stage all night, but, hey, I had to be a musician. I’ve been trying out a Les Paul Custom Deluxe at the local music shop and I think that’s they way I’m going.
Thanks again to all. (Hey, the thread is still open. Feel free to put your $0.02!)
My fate keeps getting in the way of my destiny.
I know this thread is about guitars, but I was sure a tube amp vs. solid state amp discussion was going to pop up somewhere. I don’t think I’m the one to start up that debate, though.
SqrlCub,
You asked:
The only way I know to prove it would be for you to listen for yourself. The hollow body versus solid body comparison that I did was with a couple of identically setup Dan Electros. Many Dan Electros actually have a hollow cavity in the body with no holes and there are no acoustical pickups. I found a shop that had a Dan Electro with a solid maple body and compared that to one of the hollow body models. There was a perceptible tonal difference.
My “experiments” were not quite as ideal on the aluminum side. I was comparing a Rogue Aluminator to an Ibanez (I think it was a Jem). They were both set up with the same model DiMarzio pickups, one humbucker and two single coils. The Ibanez had similar DiMarzios, though they were in a slightly different configuration.
But you don’t have to listen to me - listen to what the experts have to say about the effects of body material and construction on tone:
for what you’re playing Droll, I’d say a Gibson, but Its got to feel right. That should be your only requirement. I have a POS
chinese Strat, but it feels so good I play it more often then my Stratocaster. I have the stratocaster for an Acid-jazz style, and the POS strat for effects and feedback.
I’m more of a bass man these days, and then its also how it feels.
My friends criterium for picking a new guitar is “Would I be able to play it during Oral Sex”
I kid you not.
well, at least one person wants to meet me…
http://fathom.org/polldata/pollcheck.adp?poll=dope-page5&question=62
Cheers!!
PARKER NITEFLY!!!
ach, mein gott! i have one of these beauties, and it’s beautiful! there’s a standing vibrato in it and everything and the fretboard’s sooooo nice.
I think there are a few steps that (should) go into purchasing your electric guitar.
- Go to whatever shop(s) your using, and decide your price range.
- Play as many different guitars within that range as possible (ask the people who work there why some are priced higher than others).
- When you’ve narrowed it down to two or three, ask if you can rent/borrow them to try at home with your gear, or if you can bring your gear to the store to help you decide. Most places are hip to people doing this.
- Take the one that is the most comfortable and sounds the best, and scrap it in favor of the one that makes you look the coolest!
I like the big ol’ Gibson hollow bodies, more than the Les Paul, and I like the Fender Telecaster, and Jazzmasters a lot more than the Strats… But I’m just an Organ guy.
Sweet Basil
Didn’t get voted for a damn thing!
(thanks guys…)
I about spit my Coke when I saw this, Basil! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the music store with my husband, and seen the little boys trying on the guitars. Not trying them out, trying them on. Too funny.
…does this guitar make my butt look too big?..
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I don’t play, so I should keep my mouth shut. Here’s my (admittedly worthless) opinion anyway:
The best guitarist I’ve ever seen (this guy could make Knopfler hang it up) usually plays a custom Gibson hollow-body that he just loves.
Every time I see his band, I hope for him to break a string so he’ll have to finish the set with his Tele. The Gibson is great by itself, but with the band, the tele just sounds better (IMHO).
The Fender Telecaster is a great guitar, even if doesn’t look good.
I would not really trust the Guitar Player website. They have given false information in the past. The information provided appeared to be more of a comparitive study between different guitar models for example comparing a Les Paul’s mahogony wood to other guitars without ensuring that they changed the hardware within them. I don’t believe that there was an accurate, scientific approach involved in their process. If, however, you find a website that compares wood tone in through identical pickups and identical amplifiers, I would be happy to completely concede my point and fall back into my classical snobdom. 
In a classical guitar, the soundboard is the resonating body of the instrument. The sound is projected completley from the instrument, not its electrical vibrations that the strings produce. There is an incredibly significant difference between the two. I still fail to see how the wood of an electrical instrument can influence the way that its electrical components transmit the sound. It is the electrical parts that pick up the metal of the strings. If the wood had anything to do with the sound at all, you would be able to attach the pickups to a solid board (that way you won’t get any residual tone from the strings or other part of the guitar’s hardware) and strike on the wood with a mallet or other non metalic instrument and produce a tone that will come out of the speaker. The tone will only occur in the case of an acoustic pickup not a magnetic coil pickup. If you are not satisfied, get a set of classical guitar strings and only put on the high e, b, and g strings. Leave the other three off completely. Turn on your guitar and play. You won’t hear any sound coming out of the amp, yet you can hear the mild sound produced by the wood’s harmonics. The wood does influence the sound, just not the amplified sound.
Also, it was brought up that someone traded the pickups from one guitar and put them on another and still did not have the same sound. I would suggest that the guitar’s lengthfrom bridge to nut are not the same. This is very common in classical guitars. The tend to have a length that varies by up to 15 cm! Also, the nut and bridge can also influence the sound of an acoustic guitar. The way they hold the strings can actually influence the way the strings vibrate and thus picked up through the soundl however, this is a minor difference.
That last point makes me want to reconsider my argument. There could be a very slight difference given from the wood through the hardware attachements influencing the strings. The sound is not actually produced by the wood though. As I said earlier, the pickups do most of the work in transforming the electrical guitar’s sound to the amplifier. I still would contest the validity of the Guitar Player’s article that was quoted because it didn’t take the issues I posted into it. It was really comparing one style guitar which has different pick ups to another. I looked for their sources online and was not able to find any and thus am even more suspicious. When I was taking Acoustic theory, my ideas were mostly supported by what was taught within the class. The wood of the electrical guitar may provide a minor difference in tone assuming it has identical hardware attached with differing wood, but that is all minor when the electronics are thrown into the equation.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Now I’m spitting my (Diet DP)! Thanks, Cristi.
BTW, Any REAL guitar players out there that don’t use them electrical doo-dads? I have one electric and 7 acoustic and never mess with the electric.
Maybe another thread–Martin D-28 or Gibson Advanced Jumbo?
“Did you ever wake up,
Bullfrogs on your mind?”
- Wm Harris
Martin, without a doubt.
But I have a Gibson Epiphone Accoustic, which I love
well, at least one person wants to meet me…
http://fathom.org/polldata/pollcheck.adp?poll=dope-page5&question=62
Cheers!!
I have an Ibanez electric guitar. It is nice enough and has the feel and sound I want.
I currently have two good classical guitars. One is a luthier made guitar by Tom Blackshear. It has a wonderfully aged sound and a history behind it. I had it appraised between $2500 and $3500. My other guitar is a La Patrie and is worth about $1000-$1200. The difference in the sound is remarkable. In the past I have also had several acoustic guitars which are different from classical guitars. Anyway, I had an Ovation Celebrity which had a pretty nice tone and cost about $600 new. I have to say the tone sucked in comparison to either of the classical guitars. I have also had a Ventura guitar which had the best neck of any guitar I have ever played but perhaps the worst tone of any of them either. Since the neck had such a nice feel it was very easy to play, it just sounded bad. I have owned several other classical and acoustic guitars in the past but those are the highlights. I also had an Fender Strat (electrical, of course) growing up which had the tone I desired. As above, I also owned several other electrical guitars but none really compared to the Fender.
HUGS!
Sqrl
When I was a teenager the zenith of my existence was trying guitars in the shop and playing you-know-what. When I saw the guitar shop scene in Wayne’s World with the sign “No Stairway to Heaven” I laughed so hard I nearly injured an internal organ. Since Stairway is getting kind of long in the tooth what tune to aspiring, wannabe, teenage guitar shoppers play these days to try out a new axe?
my $0.02 drollman . .
considering the type of music you listed and the fender/gibson debate.
straight to amp . . no effects
the stones . . fender, hands down
stax/volt(booker t& the mgs . . fender
r&b . . fender
classic rock . . no metal . . im guessing no 70’s aerosmith/kiss/nugent . . their gibson
clapton . . fender
jeff beck . . both
page . . both
deep purple/bad company . . fender
frampton . . both
steve miller . . fender
gilmour . . strat
you play rhythm or lead?
amp . . tube or trans?
the les paul will give you great sustain, but muddy bottom with too fat of strings,
especially with a tube amp set up.
great midtones ala beck/frampton.
tele/strat is brighter and with med overdrive will give you that classic keith richards/stax/volt pumpin raunchy rhythm.
david gilmour gets his almost les paul sound with a strat; a lil fuzz/delay/bright eq settings. works for me also.
personally i would go with fender; you can sound like either with some experimentation to find the right combination. but ive never been able to make a les paul or a hollowbody sound like a fender. i like the fender necks as well.
you must feel comfortable playing the instrument first, whatever choice you make.
then try out different string guages, amp settings, simple effects pedals and maybe you can have close to both gibson and fender style sounds from one instrument.
Padeye: Eruption. I kid thee not. And on a really good day, you can hear Vai and Malmsteen.
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