Do you play your favorite guitarist's guitar?

[Mozzi]

I have never owned a 'signature' guitar although I do like the Ibanez Jem and I do have a Washburn EA20 (acoustic) that was exactly the same as the Nuno Bettencourt model - just better electronics, Mahogany top and Wine Red sunburst - but it was the same 'model'.

I have owned Les Pauls so I have played the same model as the majority of my guitar heroes but I can't see Slash playing a McCarty 594 anytime soon. I would love a Custom 24-08 (probably my next Guitar) so I could be playing the same model as players like Orianthi I guess...

 

[ESPImperium]

Yup, i play a Tremonti.

But i feel Im playing my S2 Vela more these days for the oddball.

 

[László]

It occurs to me that I play guitars with Paul Reed Smith’s signature. So I guess I do play signature guitars after all!

 

[ScottR]

In the end, our tone, the subtle nuances of our playing, and the note choices we make, are uniquely our own. We really can’t help being ourselves, no matter what instruments we choose to play.

So I figure it’s more interesting/satisfying/fun to take that tone journey, and discover our own sounds (and with any luck, develop our artistic sense) along the way.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not in any hurry to reach a destination.

 

[Mole351]

Trey Anastasio - plays a Languedoc, where my main axe is a CU24 (followed by LP Traditional and now PRS HB - which is getting close to the ‘Doc). Different because:

- He plays a very unique guitar and I don’t just want to be a number one fanboy

- It’s well over what I can afford or would be comfortable actually playing if I could afford it

- It’s almost impossible to get one even if I could afford it

Photo courtesy of the NY Times

 

[jxe]

i like the long-duc but i like the prs hb better, esp if i don’t get a guitar tech with it.

Trey Anastasio - plays a Languedoc, where my main axe is a CU24 (followed by LP Traditional and now PRS HB - which is getting close to the ‘Doc). Different because:

- He plays a very unique guitar and I don’t just want to be a number one fanboy

- It’s well over what I can afford or would be comfortable actually playing if I could afford it

- It’s almost impossible to get one even if I could afford it

 

[Mole351]

i like the long-duc but i like the prs hb better, esp if i don’t get a guitar tech with it.

I dunno - I certainly dig the HB but have only heard incredible things about the doc from those lucky enough to play one. Of course could be biased because most who strive to play one are typicallly pretty big phish fans in the first place

 

[jxe]

definitely stylish, i especially like the tailpiece, pickups, wiring, body, and headstock.

 

[JJJ]

I bought my first strat because when I was younger I really looked up to John Frusciante. Just starting out, that dude was like god. Not just the chili peppers like you're probably thinking, I mean his solo work.

So when I was shopping for my second guitar, I found a Japanese lawsuit 62 strat replica, sunburst, rosewood slab board, white guard etc just like Fru's main axe. It's a different guitar these days as it turned into a workhorse and a mod-pig but yeah that's the story. These were the days before I was into metal.

And more recently I had done the whole les paul thing with Lace humbuckers because I was a huge Mastodon fan, especially with the record Crack The Skye. I love that tone. Also bands like Neurosis using the same combination for the heaviest riffs in the universe ever.

And these days I own a Starla and have a set of Lace humbuckers waiting to drop in precisely because I love Mastodon still, and Brent Hinds used to use a black starla on stage.

Now I think about it, my main bass is a fender assemble-caster out of Jap parts and american hardware etc, I built it to resemble Flea from the chili peppers' 62 jazz bass. White, red shell guard etc.

All of my axes have something about them I have unconsciously pinched from someone I admire or enjoy, and I never really thought about it until I wrote this. They all have my own touches on them though, like the LPs always had the controls wired the way I like. The strat of course is a zombie with switching mods and stuff and looks like a 70s black guard model these days. The bass has a one piece maple neck and a high mass bridge, and the later wiring style.

 

[jxe]

frusciante is a great player and his burst strat-o-caster is the tits. good choices.

 

[jcolmn]

My favorite guitarist is Joe Satriani. i cant play like him but I do have his signature pickups in my PRS Studio

 

[Smitty1517]

He played a strat in the early days (not REALLY early days, but early '70s, pre-Irwin) and it seemed like he mostly had his Irwin's set up for a very strat-like tone. Maybe with a few more options and a synth built into later ones, but still basically a strat tone. For me, about '70-74 was peak Dead and he was mostly playing strats during that stretch, so I still consider him a strat player. And to the extent I can come even remotely close to his sound (which I can't), I get closest with a strat...

And, if you have any boutique guitar money left over after buying all the PRS's you want, Doug Irwin isn't still making guitars, but Tom Leiber is. He was Irwin's right hand man and is making a couple of models that STRONGLY resemble the stuff Irwin was making. Really nice work too. At prices you might expect... I don't know if it's kosher to post a link here to another maker, but you can search for Lieber guitars. I'll never buy one but it's fun to look...

-Ray

Jerry also played a SG and Les Paul in the early 70's. Don't think he stuck with the Nash Strat (Alligator) until 72.

 

[Smitty1517]

Trey Anastasio - plays a Languedoc, where my main axe is a CU24 (followed by LP Traditional and now PRS HB - which is getting close to the ‘Doc). Different because:

- He plays a very unique guitar and I don’t just want to be a number one fanboy

- It’s well over what I can afford or would be comfortable actually playing if I could afford it

- It’s almost impossible to get one even if I could afford it

Photo courtesy of the NY Times

How does the HBII cover Trey tones? I'm in the market and not sure between HBII, 594, and 513... stuck between Jerry and Trey

 

[Mole351]

How does the HBII cover Trey tones? I'm in the market and not sure between HBII, 594, and 513... stuck between Jerry and Trey

Honestly it does a really good job, IMO. Especially this one I just got - but I want to change the neck pick-up out as it’s too dark/flat for my tastes (archtop PU’s). I had an HBII that I sold last year - was a 2009 with 57/08’s, playing through a Fender DRRI with tubescreamer and Ross style compressor - and couldn’t get as close as I thought I should. Was probably just me though - had the right equipment. Seemed to be lacking in dynamics and harmonics.

My new one (HBI) I’m playing through the same amp but using Line6 HX FX with tubescreamer and compressor effects selected and has been almost spot on for a little home rig - surprisingly so. I would have thought the first setup would have been closer. Given the HBII should have been brighter and had the more dynamic pickups I’ve been surprised. A lot of folks change out the Archtops from what I can tell.

YMMV

 

[Outlier22]

I had a Jimmy Vaughan signature strat, but don't really listen to him - I got a good deal on it, and the JV had the vintage features I was looking for. My favorite players play Strats, Les Pauls, and SGs mostly - yet I only play a PRS now.

 

[WA Paul]

I went through a number of LPs first, then started adding PRS first with a McCarty in 2000. I wasn’t looking to copy a direct tone, but rather the general ‘tone space’ of the bands I liked. One exception was the Alex Lifeson Axcess model. I really liked the playability and tones out of it, especially blending in the piezo. Hated the Floyd Rose. Two years later I got Miss Pernie (P22) and I sold the AL LP soon afterward. Much better clarity and definition.

That said, the AL really turned me on to SCT guitars and I’ve been on a quest to get a one with a piezo and trem (PS only option), which now is being built by the fine artisans in MD and hopefully will be ready in another couple of months!

 

[Zack Matzanias]

Most of my favorite players use Stratocasters. My 594 is my #1 guitar.