Just saw this vid over at http://www.reso-nation.org and thought I’d share.
Top 10 Electric Guitars of all time
The Guitar Blogs Definitive List
10. Fender XII
This guitar always seems to get a bad rap, I suppose the price tag for a vintage is a bit high (around $3500) but still, that is relatively low for a piece of history. So hate me, I am ignoring the ‘no stairway’ sign here! this was the guitar that Jimmy Page actually used to record Stairway to Heaven not the double necked SG used for all the live versions, if you have ever have a chance to play one then you will hear that instantaneously recognizable natural chorus and harpsichord like 12 string sound, I like the Rickenbacker 12’s too but I think the Fender XII has a slightly grungier sound and is easier to get some vibrato on the strings. Tuning as with any 12 is a bit of a mission but you get better over time and actually I like a slightly out 12 string over a perfectly tuned one as it adds to the natural chorus effect.
9. Gibson Explorer
This innovatively designed guitar from Gibson first saw the light of the day in 1958 and was way ahead of its time, so it is kind of strange it gets pegged as a heavy metal axe, this is actually due to the fact that Hamer copied the design in the 70’s, which in turn prompted a reissue of the explorer and it became popular among heavy metal players at the time. These days, the edge from U2 has dusted off his explorer and has used it religiously the last couple of albums. I like anything that looks like real wood so this was a hit with me, sound wise the Gibson Explorer
is a bit brighter than a SG but not as warm a Les Paul, kind of like the Telecaster/Stratocaster deal. I have owned one sold it then bought it back! while never my favorite axe, it has it’s own tonal qualities that you just can’t get out of a Les Paul.
8. PRS Custom
I suppose it kind of bugs me to put this in here, I am a vintage guy at heart and while a PRS Custom
is undeniably a pretty guitar it doesn’t IMHO have the character of some of the other axes in this list. That said it does things (like staying in tune) and makes sounds that no other guitar in the list can do, so while not first on the shopping list, I have long ago realized that as recording artist you really can’t go wrong with a PRS, of course you wouldn’t see me dead with a dragon inlayed gothic looking one unless I was trying to start a bonfire with it!
7. Rickenbacker 360/6 or 12
Hard Day’s Night, Mr Tambourine Man, Anywhere Anyway Anyhow, some of the best songs of our time have been picked out on the old Ricky, as I like to call them. Out of the box they ooze quality and are built like a brick ….house, kind of like the volvo of the guitar world. Certainly not a sound for every guitarist and not at all easy to get different sounds out of them, but all that doesn’t really matter, the sound they make is sweet and it doesn’t take long to fall in love with it. Add to that the classic art deco look and there can be no doubt the Rickenbacker is a quality instrument which has a place in the arsenal of any serious guitarist. Personally, I love the sound the edge got out of one with a slide in Even Better Than the Real Thing on Achtung Baby.
6. Danelectro DC3
Cheap as chips and made out of Bakelite, the DC3 is as legendary for it’s bargain basement price tag as it unique down and dirty blues sound. It’s a nightmare to tune, the action sucks but for some reason I can’t help but love this guitar. If you want to get that White Summer Black Mountain side tone or the dirty rattling slide sound off of In my time of dying, plug this into an even cheaper amp and there it is, the sound people pay thousands of dollars for, good old fashioned low tech blues rattle and hum. Luckily Danelectro reissued the DC3
a couple of years back and you can easily pick one up off eBay for half nothing. You will hate it for the first couple of days, curse the intonation and fret buzzes, then it dawns on you… It is not supposed to be an angelic guitar, its what you drag through the mud, throw in a gig van, cover with beer and then play it as low down and dirty as you can… I call mine Lolita.
5. Gibson SG
The Gibson SG (Solid Guitar)
is the bastard son of the Les Paul and was originally designed as the next incarnation of the Les Paul itself. Legend has it that Les Paul saw the beast in a shop window (advertised as a Les Paul), Les, having had no idea that it had even been manufactured, disliked it so much that he promptly refused to have his picture taken with it, despite the conditions of his deal with Gibson. I have to agree with Les, I find it a rather ugly guitar, but that said, it sounds superb and is lighter than its Daddy the Les Paul, curiously I find that they sound quite similar despite the SG being a lot lighter and also easier to fret the higher notes because of the larger cutaway. This is probably my favorite gigging guitar and because of its utilitarian design it seems to avoid scratches, dents and dings better that any other guitar I have ever owned.
4. Gibson ES335
For me the Gibson Custom ES335
is the best looking guitar ever made, it’s no wonder that BB King calls his Lucille, check out those curves! This is also one of the mellowest guitars of the bunch, so if you are looking for some bite there are better choices out there. The 355 is also the only hollow body in the list, I just fall for those F holes every time. Don’t be mislead though, the unplugged sound, while moderately louder than a solid body, this is definitely not an electro acoustic with electric pickups, I am sure my neighbors are made up when I choose this over the martin to strum in wee hours! This is the Frank Sinatra of guitars, all lounges and velvet. Add a bit of overdrive and you have the sweetest mid range guitar in the world. If the brat pack had a signature guitar it would be the ES 335!
3. Fender Stratocaster
Personally, I have never liked the look of the Strat. I really don’t know why, but I think it looks a bit cheesy. It is, however, one of the most versatile guitars in the list and probably the easiest to play after the PRS. Secretly, my favorite model is the Eric Clapton signature, though I wouldn’t be seen dead playing it live! First up it is red and white… need I say more! This model sounds unbelievable, despite looking like an extra in the 80’s TV series Miami Vice. The second tone pot is a boost which works great, so you can go overdrive with a twist of the knob. For recording you can get so many sounds out of a Strat, but my personal favorite is still the mid setting (3 on the pickup selector) for that out of phase Hendrix sound. It used to be the case that you could get hold of a decent Japanese Strat but these days I would go USA. They are made better, weigh more and there is no comparison in my book.
2. Fender Telecaster
People complain that the Tele is a buzzy guitar that lacks the depth of the Strat, it is exactly these tonal qualities which makes it my number 2. It is no accident that again and again I find myself recording Rhythm on my ES 335 and laying down punchy twangy lead with the Tele. My personal favorite is the 60th anniversary edition (if you can handle the silly diamond they inlayed in the headstock, dude this is a guitar not an engagement ring doh!) there are some unique features with this one which IMHO make it more playable, most importantly is the bridge, which is missing the sides of the typical Telecaster biscuit tin, this means its easier or rather possible to damp and it also has Strat-like string saddles, which make it stay in tune longer than the standard Tele bridge. I am not a maple fret board guy and happily the 60th anniversary comes with the rosewood and a maple satin finish neck (best of both worlds IMHO, though the satin is not quite as pretty as the regular). I left the plastic cover on the finger board and it is yellowed, blistered and peeled like vintage lacquer (I am sure this is completely unintended, but I often get people asking me how old it is).
1. Gibson Les Paul
The obvious winner, not really, actually I did some serious soul searching before making Gibson Les Paul
my number one. Surprisingly, I have had a love hate relationship with this guitar over the years. It is not at all a forgiving guitar and mistakes seem to ring out for all to hear. Jimmy Page is testament to this and I think that Jeff Becks seemingly indestructible playing could be less indestructible if the Les Paul was his weapon of choice. Personally, I would site the Les Paul as being the instrument which pushed my envelope in terms of learning and I suppose this is why I have the love hate relationship with it. Simply put this guitar will bite you in the ass if you don’t give it the respect it deserves. If you do, and in those sublime moments that your hands just do what your imagination is willing them to do, there is real art to be found in the sounds it is capable of creating. If you have to have one then you have to get a Gold Top! There can be only 1!
I hope you have enjoyed my top 10 and remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, this is my own two cents, for what it’s worth, and has been a long time cooking, the list would have looked totally different even 2 years ago and I am sure in a couple more years it could be very different again. Tune in soon for my acoustic list.
New Start!
When I write new songs there is very often some real world trigger that gets me in the mood, very often that is a new guitar (go figure) but sometimes it can be learning a new technique. I am VERY familiar with those head slapping moments, you know the ones where you say, ahhhhhhhh so that’s how you do that then. This week I was once again humbled by a bit of technique which has again opened the creative pipes for me.
First off let me thank the source of the technical wisdom which started this, for those of you familiar with you tube and good quality guitar tutorials I am sure you must have already heard of the now legendary Justin Sandercoe. If not, I highly recommend you check out his site: http://www.justinguitar.com this guy rocks in terms of the quality of the lessons and the fact that he is an all round decent geezer from the UK who doesn’t suffer from delusions of Grandeur. I have been meaning to sort out one of my weak spots on the guitar for a long time, which is finger picking. I have always been method guitarist and have never had a lesson in my life, this can be useful in that you don’t sound like every other guitarist but there are moments when you really wish that you had had at least a couple of lessons to get the basics.
Recently, I started listening to a bit of Bob Dylan and got really attached to a song called Don’t think twice, the picking style can be found in a bunch of country songs and I had always thought that my fingers just wouldn’t go fast enough to do that. Justin Guitar to the rescue! within about 40 minutes I had the style going and while I did not have all the parts of the song worked out I was well on the way. The following day I applied the technique to some of my favourite alternative tunings and found a really interesting progression or two and today it developed into a new song.
That’s what I love most about the guitar, there is always something new even after 20 years playing!
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