What guitar(s) do you own?

[North East Goon]

And the age old question should I go Fender or Gibson?

[Dirty Mr. Clean]

I assume you are going Eletric?

[Hoj]

What type of music are you going to be playing?

[J pold]

None at the moment, but a part of me is rather compelled to get guitar lessons

[enthused]

I used to own a Fender Jazz bass that I really liked... but I sold it for beer money in my first year of university. That about sums up my commitment to music.

[North East Goon]

Rock music strictly. I currently have a Hagstrom Deluxe F, which is a pretty good guitar in it's own right.

[MarchHare]

How long have you been playing and how much are you willing to spend?

[North East Goon]

I havent been playing long. Maybe up to the $1200 dollar level.

[Deelow]

I bought a Fender Jag-Stang when they initially came out in 95 or 96. Haven't touched it in about two years though.

[EN FUEGO]

I've got a Fireburst Les Paul Studio, a Japanese Fender strat with a floyd rose, and an A and L dreadnaught acoustic. I plug them into a Mesa Boogie Mark IV 100W head through a 2/12 vintage Mesa cab with 2 Celestion 30 12 inch speakers. (I got excited to see a guitar thread on CP )

To answer the question....(Fender or Gibson)........I'd say anything other than really heavy rhythym guitar go with the strat.

Some Pros and Cons

-Strats can get noisy with lots of distortion due to their "hot" single coil pickups.
-Les Pauls go out of tune much easier IMO.
-Nice bright tone with a strat.
-NIce full low-end with a Les Paul.
-Strats are MUCH MUCH lighter in almost all cases. The lighter Les Pauls sound like garbage most of the time. (At the end of a show, it feels like my les paul has drilled a hole in my shoulder)
-You can do volume swells with the volume control on a strat.
-You can do cool toggle switch-tremelo stuff on a Les Paul.

It's best to have both I suppose, but again.....other than high gain, low end rhythym stuff, a strat is preferable.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by North East Goon

I havent been playing long. Maybe up to the $1200 dollar level.

Head to a well-stocked guitar store and spend an hour or two playing as many different models as you can get your hands on (a salesman will hook you up with an amp and anything else you'll need). Buy the one that feels the best to you while still fitting in your budget.

As for the Gibson vs. Fender debate, it really is a matter of personal preference. I own this Les Paul, but you might find you prefer the feel of a Stratocaster or an SG or whatever. Also be sure to give a few Ibanez guitars a shot; I've never played one, but from what I've heard, they really are excellent guitars with outstanding action.

You won't be able to get a Les Paul for $1200, though. IIRC, they start around $1500 and go up to over $3k. I'm unsure of the pricing of comparable Fender models, but it's likely similar. You could try Gibson or Fender's affiliated "budget" brands, Epiphone and Squire, respectively, but the quality isn't the same. They are perfectly suitable for novice guitar players, though, so if you want to spend around $500 on one of those now and then buy a better guitar in a few years once you're a much better guitarist, they're a good option.

[albertGQ]

All I have is my air guitar! It is kick ass!!!

[icarus]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

As for the Gibson vs. Fender debate, it really is a matter of personal preference. I own this Les Paul, but you might find you prefer the feel of a Stratocaster or an SG or whatever. Also be sure to give a few Ibanez guitars a shot; I've never played one, but from what I've heard, they really are excellent guitars with outstanding action.

I have an Ibanez EX370 (2 Humbuckers + 1 single coil; Floyd Rose tremolo), and it has been very good to me. Great action as you say, really fun with some lighter gauge strings.

[Flames0910]

i own a g & l legacy (george fullerton & leo fender) and a takamine g series classical guitar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G&L

[sclitheroe]

Samick Strat knockoff... It's sweet, the action is designed to help build finger strength, while the marine-quality ply construction ensures you develop a tone and sustain that are truly unique in the world of guitars. Don't forget to wiggle the pickup selector a few times before playing, to clear the oxidation off the contacts.

In all fairness, it's lasted me since University, and it's the player, not the axe, because I've had other people make it sound pretty good.

-Scott

[EN FUEGO]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Samick Strat knockoff... It's sweet, the action is designed to help build finger strength, while the marine-quality ply construction ensures you develop a tone and sustain that are truly unique in the world of guitars. Don't forget to wiggle the pickup selector a few times before playing, to clear the oxidation off the contacts.

In all fairness, it's lasted me since University, and it's the player, not the axe, because I've had other people make it sound pretty good.

-Scott

Ahhh......the good old Samick strats. I know the early 90s ones played pretty good, I heard they outsourced some factories or something over the years though. Then again.......you can't believe everything you hear from the orange julius guy, can you? (or the wikipedia guy if anyone's ambitious enough to look that up.........)

[Dope-AS-Fack]

Old Old Fender Telecaster

Just got a ESP AX-50



Played on a Line 6 Spider 2 Amp, 75 Watt


And id go Fender

[kermitology]

Since you're just starting out, I would buy a dirt cheap guitar to start out and then upgrade once you've decided that you want to keep playing. I don't see any point in buying a high end thing that you can't do s**t with.

But if I was choosing. I love heavy tones because I'm a rhythm guitarist, so I love Gibson's. Les Paul all the way for me.

[troutman]

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ghlight=guitar

[Biff]

i bought my 2nd daughter a Jackson with a locking Floyd and authentic Seymour Duncan pickups. She seems pretty happy with it and her teen-age friends guitar-playing friends all say it's pretty kick-ass. I dunno....I just paid for it.