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Post subject: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:37 am
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Greetings to all you Fender supporters!!

I just joined the forum and wanted to hear what the opinions are regarding "so called guitar perception"

I picked up my first ever Telecaster yesterday, a MIM modern player HH. IMO for my needs, its a great axe, versatile due to its coil tapping and an all around great sounding work horse. A colleague of my sales rep made a remark saying how he has been trying to sell a modern Tele to no avail. This because of the brain dead youth that come into the store and are like "nah...dude.. you can't play metal on a Tele or a Strat."

I'm a fan of all guitar based music, if it sounds good I'm digging it. I play everything from pop, blues, to extreme metal. There have been times I've shown up to jam sessions, pulled out my "Strat" and got weird looks or the remark... "u gonna play metal on that" :shock: The look on peoples faces after I melt it with my "Strat" When was this notion conceived that to play a certain genre of music one must use a particular brand or that a particular brand does not look cool. I love all my Fenders instrument and there is no limit to what I can play on them.....

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:04 pm
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Welcome to the forum!

Stereotypes of any kind are usually counterproductive. If you can make it sound good on a guitar, that is all that matters. Tony Iommi recorded some of the songs on Black Sabbath's first album with a Strat (until a pickup broke), and plenty of people have and still are using Fenders for heavy music.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:17 pm
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[quote="spacewolf"]Welcome to the forum!

Stereotypes of any kind are usually counterproductive.

Thank you for the welcome! I highly agree that Sterotypes are counterproductive and I myself am a pretty mellow, passive individual. I don't entertain these type of scenarios when I find myself in them. I let my Strat do the talking. Was curious if any other Fender user experiences this. Jake E Lee stated in an interview that his original white Charvel is a Fender, a friend of his at the Charvel factory sanded the Fender logo of it and put the Charvel logo on :wink: Thanks for the response!

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:35 pm
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Abrupt, ill-informed, and trendy perceptions don't change the sound one hears.

I would agree that certain guitars lend themselves to certain styles due to the personalities of their design.
(pickups, solid/hollow body, etc.)
But that should not EXCLUDE any one instrument from being deployed in a certain genre.
For example, listen to Alex Lifeson play a Strat in a lot of 1980s Rush work.
It's a pretty versatile axe.

Welcome to the Forum 8)


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:38 pm
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There are some examples where, ya, you got the wrong tool for the job at hand.

but most of the time, boil off all the chafe, and at the end of the day, the simple fact of the mater is...


it's mostly in the hands of the player, not what's IN his hands.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:33 pm
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KidBlast wrote:
There are some examples where, ya, you got the wrong tool for the job at hand.

but most of the time, boil off all the chafe, and at the end of the day, the simple fact of the mater is...


it's mostly in the hands of the player, not what's IN his hands.


+1000

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:00 pm
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Welcome to the Forum I.Ronin. Congratulations, MIM Telecasters sound the sweetest. Have fun here !

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 3:33 am
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I ignore the stereotypes and go with the motto , " If it sounds goods, then stick with it ! "


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 5:49 am
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I play Texas Roadhouse Music...mix varying amounts of Blues, Classic Rock and Outlaw Country, and that's what you'll get...

While it may be easier to get the sounds I like out of my gear, in the right hands, my modified Telecaster with the P-90 in the neck and standard Tele pickup in the bridge could easily veer into heavy rock or even metal territory.
Likewise, if I pick up a pointy-headed shred machine, I'm still going to sound suspiciously like myself (although the sound will not have the exact same qualities/properties, mostly due to the pickups and electronics).

Remember, the Ramones guitarist used a Mosrite guitar for most of their recorded and live output, as did the Ventures.
Billy Gibbons, Les Paul and Alex Lifeson have all used various Les Paul models, and none of them sound alike.
Stevie Ray, Bruce Dickenson and Dick Dale all use Strats.

It's the pilot, not the plane.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 10:41 am
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I'm with everyone else here in that the guitar is less of an impact than your technique, but I will also say I gig with several guitars. Not because I couldn't play all the different styles our band plays on one type of guitar, but because it's less work to get the appropriate tone and feel for specific styles with specific guitars. To me it's just easier to use a Les Paul for throaty, mid-rich sounds than it is to use my Strat. Likewise it's easier to get a full-bodied rich tone out of my hollow-body Gretsch. That's because those guitars give me those tone characteristics naturally.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:47 pm
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One of my best heavy metal guitars is a MIM Tele - after I put a pair of N3s in it.

The "standard" MIM Tele pickups were a bit muddy and weak on the bass side, but that cured it.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 8:41 am
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I remember Quicksand being a fairly heavy/hard group. Slip is still one of my favorite rock albums. Lead singer used a Tele

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 3:41 pm
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How about John 5, he plays a Tele.

I would not consider Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson, "Lite".

8)

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:16 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
KidBlast wrote:
There are some examples where, ya, you got the wrong tool for the job at hand.

but most of the time, boil off all the chafe, and at the end of the day, the simple fact of the mater is...


it's mostly in the hands of the player, not what's IN his hands.


+1000

8)

Arjay



+2000

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Perception
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:13 pm
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Hey Ronin...welcome to the forum! Wondeful topic there to get ya started 8) .

Whenever I talk to people about "how a guitar sounds", or in this case, what guitar is best for which style of music, I'm usually reminded of a story I once read about the great Chet Adkins. One of Adkin's students had made a comment about how great Adkin's guitar sounded. Adkins took the guitar and tossed it on the floor, looked at the student and ask, "How does it sound now?". If there is a single truth about playing guitar, it's that regardless of the make and model of the guitar, your amp, pedals, etc., the single thing that effects "your sound" the most, simply comes from you. Your hands, head and heart will always have a greater affect on your playing then ANY brand or model of guitar ever will. As I've said so very often on this forum, someone like Eric Clapton sounds like Eric Clapton, because he IS Eric Clapton.

That said...yea, preconceptions can be a real pain in the butt. For better or worse, we humans tend to be rather subject to preconceptions and all to often, "belief" takes precedence over facts, logic and good ol' common sense (which isn't always all that common). Certainly this isn't limited guitars (although such sentiments do seem to proliferate in crowds of musicians)...I suspect you'll always have those who believe that Chevys are "better" than Fords (I drive a Plymouth) and certainly some people prefer Hellman's while others prefer Miracle Whip! LOL! I can't fault people for individual personal taste with such things...I certainly have my own preferences and tastes as well, however I do very much feel that it's truly a shame when people allow "belief" to cloud any sense of reason. From my own personal point of view it's one thing for something to say "I prefer (insert object/brand/title here)", however it's unfortunate when someone tries to convince others of something that should be viewed as subjective, if not utter nonsense.

Perhaps this "need to believe" is something that's deeply rooted in human psychology. Maybe it's because that for centuries we humans have been taught to believe or maybe it's something that's a result of our fear of the unknown...poets, philosophers, scientists and theologians have certainly been debating it for a while now and I'm probably not the best person qualified to offer much of an opinion on the grand scheme of things (not that this usually stops me, LOL!). When it comes to music however, more often than not, I can say that those who are remembered are those who typically defy convention and popular belief and blaze their own trail. After all...you wouldn't be playing that MIM Tele had it not of been for a man back in the late 40's who decided to do something "different" (thank you Mr. Fender). Of course, for every trail blazer out there, there will always be droves of others who are either lacking in their own creativity or who are simply content or naive enough to just follow the status quo. Personally I never really understood that myself...on the other hand, in a proverbial crowd of suits and stuffed shirts, I'm usually the guy walking sideways, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, an old pair of comfortable work pants and cheezy checkered tennis shoes! LOL!

When I first started playing guitar in my late teens, the truth is that I played pretty much whatever I could get my hands on....I had a great love of music in general and for the most part, I just wanted to play. I only had a part time job back then and my folks didn't really have much money, so I was REALLY limited in what I could get...which at the time consisted of brands like Memphis, Cort, Lotus, Hondo, Crestline and any of the other "cheap" guitars around back in the mid 80's (and trust me when I say that cheap guitars have come a LONG way since those days). Also, we didn't have things like the internet, let alone chat and forums back then...I just wasn't as influenced by others the way so many people are today. I think this gave me the chance to explore, find my own musical voice and develop my own style and taste. As I grew up, I played a few Les Pauls and a Tele or two (and/or knock offs)...not because that's what others played or because that's what people used for a specific style of music, but because that was what I could get my hands on. Because I wasn't so influenced by others, I simply decided for myself that Strats suited me better. Strats were more comfortable for me to play and I could get A LOT more out of them...which still holds true to this day (of the 25 guitars I currently own, 10 are Strats of various breed/lineage). That said however, I think there's a great many people who started playing because they were influenced by a specific artist (there was actually a rather sizable thread in the Lounge about this a while back). After all, how many people were blown away by the likes of people such as Buddy Holly and later Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, David Gilmore Stevie Ray Vaughn and so on....and if one of those guys was the reason you started playing, of course you HAD to have a Strat! It doesn't matter that most of those guys actually played OTHER guitars at some point...they're icons and they're identified with Strats, so that's what you HAD to have. Likewise, for a person who grew up with country where the "twang's the thing", using a Tele's a no brainer. It doesn't mean that you can't play such music on other instruments, but those early influences do tend to shape a great many people and their perceptions of the instruments they choose to play.

Now all of that aside, when it comes to any style or genre of music, it's been my experience that the moment you say "you should use a 'such and such'", inevitably someone will turn around and prove you wrong. The fact of the matter is that there are great players out there in all genres who've used Teles, Strats, Les Pauls and pretty much anything else you can think of. If you think you get strange looks using a Strat for metal, you should have seen the looks on faces the day I cranked up the distortion and whipped off Ozzy's "Crazy Train" - on an Ovation acoustic/electric! Sounded wicked as hell...and yea...the band freaked. 8)

At the end of the day, my attitude is simply this; the "best" guitar...or in this case, the best guitar for any style or genre of music, is simply the guitar that you enjoy playing the most. It doesn't matter if it's Tele, Strat, LP or SG, etc., or whether it's a $4000 Custom Shop instrument or a $50 canoe paddle or whether you play rock, jazz or country...we use what we have to work with and we simply play the instruments we enjoy! If it makes you happy and it gets you where you need to go, dude...rock on!

These are, as always, just my own personal opinions...again welcome to the forum!


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