1. T-style with two single coil 2. S-style at least a single coil in the neck and middle 3. Something with P90s 4. Two humbuckers in something 5. A hollow or semi-hollow body Bonus - something different, be it filter trons, gold foils, lipstick, active, or what have you.
I agree with what you’re saying on one level, however there are folks who grew up playing an s style, tele, or les Paul style guitar when they were younger and now work 12 hours a day as a welder. And for them they may just not have the time or patience to get around the learning curb of a different feel and that’s ok too. There shouldn’t be any pressure to practice playing things you’re uncomfortable with and frankly just lack the time to do it. We’re not all working in the guitar industry and gigging musicians.
Tele, Strat, SG/Les Paul/PRS, an acoustic, and something jangly/bright (e.g. Gretsch Jet, Jag/Jazzmaster, Mustang/Duosonic, Rickenbacker). Going further, preferably any of these in different pickup configurations.
My 5? Humbucker guitar Single coil guitar P90 guitar Acoustic guitar Hollowbody archtop (Although a bass is a good idea as well) Definitely agree that a different guitar will make you play at least a bit differently And that’s cool I play my Mustang differently than my Iceman or my Epi LP Special, and so on…. A hollowbody can still give you lots of sustain, but the decay on the sound is different
I hit those all. Some several times over. A 2000 era MIM Strat. A couple of super stats, a bunch of Les Pauls and from a Gibson Studio to a an Epiphone Special repickuped with P-90s, a Epi Junior with a Humbucker. A real SG and a 70s Japanese copy, extensively modded. A couple of acoustics and a couple of Tele style guitars. Evan an Epi 339 semi-hollow. Not to mention about 3 basses. 20 years of collecting mostly inexpensive and medium priced guitars. The most fun is modding and maintaining.
I own 18 guitars. 16 electric, 2 acoustic. Strat types=vibrato, clean tones. The Shadows, Ventures, Chris Isaac Cowboy movie music. Tele types= Chicken, picken, country, Albert Collins blues. Gretsch / 335 Humbuckers = Bee bop, Anything Brian Setzer, Chet Atkins.Jazzy. Steel dan lead work. Les pauls / SG =. Anything heavy, distorted. Or soft like some Peter Frampton songs. Acoustic =. Led zeppelin ballads or early folk. Carly Simon. Tommy Emanuel. Sometimes classical. Yes, different instruments lead you in very different directions.
Having multiple instruments of varying scale length, pup combo’s, fret material, etc, has led to me being far more conscious of my “feel,” and hearing more of what I’m doing, as feel between each of them is different. A bend on a LP and a bend on my 8 string TT Strandberg feels drastically different, and I love’em both.
I don't duplicate guitars: acoustic, single coil, humbucker, P90, and combination of SSH, HSH, P90 H, or P90 S. These 5 will give you all the tonal variations and if you go past that, its sprinkles on a cake I have duplicated HH, but I have drastic variety with them. I only own 6
Had to echo your sentiment. I was a superstrat metal guy in the 80s and a Tele was my least favorite type that I associated with music I didn't care for. Fast forward to I'm in my 50s and because of Ted Greene, Julian Lage, Ed Bickert, Greg Koch and Tim Lerch, I bought a Suhr T antique just to see. Now it's one of my 2 favorites.
My list of 5 guitars: - single coils, Fender-style. (e.g. Tele, Strat, Jazzmaster) - humbuckers (e.g. SG, Les Paul) - something with a vibrato (e.g. Strat, Jazzmaster, bigsby) - a semi-hollow or hollow body (e.g. ES335, Casino, Gretsch) - pickups that are between a Fender style single coil and a Gibson humbucker (e.g. P90s, Filtertron, mini-humbucker)
I had every style guitar and I always play an SG Jr and an Esquire. I ended up going the opposite way due to minimalism. No more pedals and complicated systems, just a 100% focus on playing
My 5: 1 - SSS Strat style. Just so perfect right from the beginning. This is where I started and it's so different from other guitar types, it's a must-have. 2 - HH Solidbody. Sustain. Compression. Power. 'Nuff said. 3 - Acoustic - Puts you in a totally different space. Quick and easy to get ideas down. 4 - Bass - I started down this road for recording purposes and it's co-equal with 6-string for me now. Makes you think about time differently and gets you learning the fretboard linearly instead of laterally., 5 - Mandolin - A real 8-string mando. It's tuned EADG but upside down. It's so rhythm... but all on the upbeat. Mando will get you out of a rut like no body's business. Honorable Mention - 12-String. Another great tool to get you thinking differently. I have a Ric, Fender Electric and Taylor Acoustic 12-strings. It's a texture you can't get any other way. String bends have to be considered and controlled. Certainly builds fretting hand strength and precision.
Learning to be reactive to what your gear does well, or perhaps what it wants to do… is part of getting the most out of the gear you have already available. Every style of guitar, amp or pedal does many things, some better than other. Each has a voice… if you listen they’ll tell you what you can do to help them sing along with you.
I would love an sg junior or double cut Les paul junior with one pickup! I have an epiphone century with one p90 neck pickup thats actually quite versatile after some trial and era adjustments ive made to the circuit. The pickup currently runs through a 500k cts volume pot (i might try 1 meg next) and a fender tbx tone pot. My favorite setting on this guitar is with the tbx trebble boost/bass cut side fully engaged. It works really well with the p90 and adds a great dimension to the sound while cutting those bass heavy frequencies down. That guitar is capable of a lot, but id love a one pickup guitar with just a pickup in the bridge position. Would probably suit my style better.
1) 2x P90 guitar (own an Ibanez JS700) 2) Strat S-S-S (Squier MIJ '88) 3) Tele S-S (Fender American Standard w/ Texas Specials) 4) Les Paul style... Used to own an early 90's American LP Studio, but it had so many defects I sold it off. 5) This is the "other" slot. Maybe a Jazzmaster, Danelectro, baritone, 12-string or acoustic. I've had most of these here & there.
I've been playing for 19 years, and I feel like I have the guitars that I'm going to have for a long time. I need to stop swapping out guitars. I've tried different things, but the guitars that I have, all happen to be strat-style guitars. I didn't plan for it to be this way, this is just what I ended up with. None of said strat-style guitars have a strat configuration. The first is a Schecter Omen 6. 24 frets, 12" radius, double humbucker, 2 volumes with individual coil splits, 3 way switch, and a TOM bridge. After all of the work that's been done on it and the pro set up, it's possibly the best feeling guitar I've ever played. Warmoth Soloist build. 24 frets, 10-16" compound radius, single coil in the neck and humbucker in the bridge, 2 volumes with a coil split for the bridge humbucker, 3 way switch, and Wilkinson vibrato bridge. I don't really like neck humbuckers, so I went with a single coil, and it can do vibrato things. Fender MIM Strat. 22 frets, 9.5" radius, it's just a regular Fender neck, Single humbucker, volume and tone, the vibrato bridge is hardtailed. I have the guitar tuned to dropped C. it's a sleeper chug machine. Similar idea to a Tom Delonge signature, but Fender doesn't make them for lefties so I had to put my own together. This guitar also plays incredibly. All of my guitars do, but this and the Schecter are top tier. Schecter C-8 Deluxe 8 string. 24 frets, 16" radius, 28" scale, same electronic setup as the Schecter Omen 6. It's an 8 string and it does cool metal things. What else is there to say? I have some $300 Fender acoustic that I never play because I don't really listen to much music with acoustic guitar in it and I don't make much music with acoustic guitar in it, but it's there when I do need it. It's never been setup so it could use one. I also have a Squier 70's Jazz bass that I adore, and a classical guitar for a similar reason as the other acoustic. As you can tell from the 3 guitars that have basically the same electronic situation, I've figured out what I like. The Fender strat only has a tone pot because of the single pickup, so some sort of tonal variety wouldn't be a terrible thing. I don't feel like I'm missing out because I don't have a traditional strat, tele, or any other guitar, I get all the sounds I need from my guitars, and they play so well that they've spoiled expensive guitars for me. Just go with what works for you.
1. 335 - Harmonics on solos in a hollow body are magnifique. 2. Schecter Sustainiac Sun Valley Shredder - Solos, solos, solos. 3. Les Paul - great for metal, I got mine in drop C# 4. Telecaster - Sonic Vanilla Cream, used for all rhythm outside of Metal and, 5. Explorer - for metal rhythm.
What I really like about this video is that you focus on the experience of us all as guitar players. Music, like life, is about experience. Explore and adventure on your own musical journey. The one thing I didn't consider before your video is the single pickup electric guitar. I have a Taylor GS Mini with a pickup, but I don't think that's what you're talking about. I also have a dreadnaught acoustic and I like both acoustics, but no solid body single pickup electric guitar. I have 2 two humbucker guitars, one being a Les Paul and the other an ES 335 style semi-hollowbody. I also have a number of Telecasters, and a Stratocaster and I love them all. The one guitar I would add to my toolkit is a true hollowbody Epiphone Casino (preferably a Casino Coupe) with two P-90s. I think that would change the sounds immensely but it gets into slicing and dicing pickup/body style tones. I won't digress into filtertrons and such because I'm pretty sure that's not your point, and maybe the Casino is also a 'sideshow' from the point of this video. Thank you for making this video!
1) Acoustic. I have a bottom-of-the line Martin Road Series. 2) Telly. I have a nice Squier with some upgrades. 3) A packable travel guitar. I have a Traveler Pro. I take this with me any time I leave the house! I can play it in the drivers' seat when parked. 4) Les Paul. I have a semi-hollow Epiphone. 5) A less expensive acoustic for playing outdoors. I have a Yamaha.
A topic everyone can love! Mine are: With models I would or have made. 1. DTT. DAF. AS73 semi hollow 2. DTT Centerpunch (split) LP studio 2. DTT. Smoothie & Super 8. Jackson 3. DTT. P90. Epi Wilshire ( in progress) 4.Texas Special. Tele 5. Lace sensor. Strat 5. PRS. Silver Sky Juuuust a little outside: Baritone. Reverend Descent 12 string. Rickenbacker 320/12 Bass. Short scale Hofner
I’m 70 and I now have a fairly eclectic collection, not a strat anywhere. I kept hitting the pickup switch. I love P-90. I have one of yours but it’s not installed. I gave the guitar away to my brothers grandson. I’m mostly an acoustic or a bass player, I came to electric guitar late to the game, in my mid 40s. I just bought a Gretsch duo jet. I absolutely love it.
I think among the things that are really important about an acoustic guitar is yes of course it inspires you differently, and different music played on it and so on… Yes, all those things are important, but… acoustic guitar helps teach you EVEN ON ELECTRIC GUITAR “ACOUSTICALLY” to learn to find resonance acoustically in every instrument with an amp or WITHOUT. One of the common denominators for many of our favorites- the ability to pull sound out of the instrument. That sensibility can be developed on acoustic guitar, EVEN if you don’t particularly care for “acoustic music” or think you’re an acoustic guitar player.
The 5 I have: 1. Fender telecaster SS 2. Squier Contemporary Jaguar HH 3. Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar SS 4. Seagull Performer Acoustic 5. Squier Bronco Bass Would love to get a semi-hollow body and a baritone - one of which would have P90s
1 have 6 actually. 3 telecasters with different pickup configurations stock, filtertrons, jazzmasters, 2 of them semi-hollow, 1 Roadcaster T style that I built with 3 single coils belly and forearm cut and tremolo system #5 Gibson ES-135 stock, #6 D'Angelico acoustic/electric. Several others I own but these are my favorites. Playing guitar for 65 years I've played just about all the different styles and brands.
Totally agree with the list. My first real Fender was a Tele 20 years ago and I went Tele over Strat because everyone was playing a Strat at the time. It turned out to be a great choice due to it having a simpler setup. 3 way switch, 1 tone and 1 volume. I was able to focus more on trying to sound good playing live and less with fiddling with knobs and switches. Mainly play a HSS Strat these days but agree with having the guitars you mentioned in the arsenal. Playing different guitars makes you approach them differently and will sometimes pull things out of you that you didn't know were there. The 25.5" scale of a fender will fight you at times and playing the same riff on a flatter and more slinky feeling LP style will teach you some things. The more difficult action and string gauge of an acoustic will make you a faster electric player. Its like a hand workout.
I have all 5 of these guitar types and i agree. As for the volume knob on a strat style, thats why I hated them for 20+ years. I bought an ernie ball cutlass and the knob isn't an issue for me.
1. Les Paul with humbuckers 2. 335 hollow body 3. Strat SSS 4. Tele 5. Acoustic ( I have all but the 335, I really need to get one though) It sure is fun to have others too. Les Paul with P90s. Fender Mustang with short scale. Ibanez with flat radius and very light weight. Its nice to try different brands too, Fender, Gibson, PRS, Ibanez.
I've been playing guitar for 33 of my 49 years. I've owned a peavy Trasser single humbucker pickup guitar and a Arbor one humbucker only guitar they were my 1sr and second guitars and your right about it teaches you how your amp and guitar works together. At my 4th year of playing I bought a Japan made Fender Strat and I didn't like anything about it or the clean tones. I like Hendrix SRV and pearl jam and their sound but what I like to play is hard rock and metal and southern metal groove metal. I have nothing against them but not my sound. I've owned all of the types at one time or another but out of 33 years of playing only owned 2 single coils guitar and didn't have them no longer than a year. I would always trade them off for humbuckers guitars I own one acoustic guitar and I still have it for 27 years a Yamaha and if the juices aren't flowing pick up an acoustic your right about that I've discovered the same thing. I like your channel it is good information. Oh speaking acoustic Edger Cruz from Oklahoma city is the best acoustic guitarist of all time TH-cam him hes awesome. My top 5 guitars anything with humbuckers .
My 5 Currently owned guitars in order of how much I play them. Schecter Damien Platinum 6 FR-S Epiphone Les Paul Grey Sunburst 3 pickup Custom - Even more customized with 2 490Rs and 1 490T Ibanez Art Core Semi Hollow with Blue sunburst with 2 Seymour Duncan SH-18 Epiphone SG with 2 Gibson Dirty Fingers Hot Ceramic Humbuckers Gretsch Full Hollow with Bigsby
My 5: HH V guitar with active pickups (SD LiveWires) Single pickup H that can coil split (Sahana guitars Baja passive PU) H and Sustaniac active pickups in a Schecter Super Shredder (EMG) HSH Ibanez with passive pickups from Dylan Yamaha acoustic
In down to two. 1) Es 335 2) Les Paul Junior. I recently sold my Ultra Tele and have been thinking of a SSS or a LP Standard but haven't pulled the trigger just yet.
1 - Tele 2 - Tele w/ 2 humbuckers 3 - a Strat 4 - a TTG Challenger w/ 1 humbucker, 1 SC 5 - a carvetop LP I built at TTG with your P90's 6 - Nylon stringed Acoustic
Volume knob on my first Strat drove me bonkers for sure but had to have one in the arsenal.. So I moved it down a hole, and put both tones on a concentric pot. Now it's my go-to half of the time..
On the electric instruments I find the pickups/electronics the most important part of the electric guitar. I find the strat shape the most comfortable to play but I'm tall with long fingers. I prefer longer scale necks. I do have 5 guitars and I would add that one is a 12 string electric and another is a baritone. I do have a Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster which actually has a Telly body I find comfortable to play. I prefer low noise pickups as I've found that standard single coil pickups are too noisy in front of a video monitor which is where I play guitar the most. I like to have the variation of pickups. I currently have a Strat partscaster, a PRS SE 24 with buckers, a Strat partscaster 12 with Fishman Fluence Classic Humbuckers. I'll soon be adding an offset [Jazzcaster body] with P90s to the collection. I've been a touring bassist for the last couple of decades. I'm the same way with my basses. All are 5 strings, a MM fretless, a P bass, a J bass, an acoustic flat top and a new double soapbar.
I've owned everything on that list except a Tele. Currently I'm down to my 3 favourites though: 1) Yamaha acoustic 2) Squier Strat w/ upgraded pickups. 3) Epiphone Casino hollowbody / p90s That little collection, along with a few drive pedals, gives me nearly everything that I like. That said, like to pick up a Jazzmaster eventually.
Fun video, makes a lot of sense! The 'Top 5' essentials from my own working instruments: 1. 1968 Les Paul Custom. 2. 1992 Roger Sadowsky NYC HSH S Style. 3. 1980 Roland Maple Neck Strat (came with the Roland GR 300 Guitar Synth) 4. 2020 Duesenberg Semi Acoustic Starplayer (P90 Neck / Humbucker Bridge). 5. 2018 Japanese made Gretsch Solid Body Pro series. These pretty much cover all my needs be it TVC or soundtrack work along with album projects I produce.
My list: 1. A Fender: for me this is a strat with the trem decked, it gives me all the fender I want 2. A 335 style: mine is a D’angelico Excel Tour DC, the best 335 copy on the market 3: a P90 guitar to cover all the ground the fender and 335 don’t : mine is a Gibson Tribute 50’s p90 with a bigsby I’ve added. 4. Dreadnaught or OM acoustic: my main acoustic picker 5. Parlor acoustic or resonator: for open tuning blues. With these five I have pretty much everything I could want. I could also see replacing the p90 guitar with a gretsch or something with mini hums
Of my 13 different guitars, most are the same general idea as i'm mainly into metal. majority are super strat + HH. i am surprised to see you didnt mention any extended range guitars such as a baritone, 7, or 8 string. To pick only 5 of mine: 1. Hard tail 24.75 HH 2. Floyd Rose 25.5 HH 3. 7 string (26.5+) Active HH 4. 8 string multi-scale HH 5. Acoustic
I'm an anti tube guy who prefers modeling amps. My 5 are a true single coil strat, a single coil Tele, a LP with humbuckers, a P90 guitar, a super strat with a floating/doubble locking system and a semi hallow body.
I have 9 electric guitars, two acoustics and one acoustic electric. My electric guitars cover the bases you mentioned. I started playing in 1977. I've never sold a guitar but did give one away to my grandson.
My first electric guitar was a Strat and I remember being disappointed because I was really into metal at the time, not realizing you can play whatever genre with whatever guitar you want. With that being said, I am still not a fan of Strats, with the way the horn sits across my chest, how my pick hits the center pup, how I usually hit the selector switch or knock the volume cap off, or even the sounds it makes in 2 and 4 (unpopular opinion, I know). If someone handed me one to play a gig with, I could absolutely make it work. But with that being said, if I had to name my 5 guitars, they'd be: Acoustic (specifically a dreadnought) Tele (my favorite guitar was an American Special) Semi/Hollow body (I have a Sheraton I love) Bass (I learned so much about music and playing 6 string guitar from my time as a bassist in friends' bands) HH guitar
Top 5 guitars for me. 1 A Strat sss or ssh style 2 A super strat dual humbucker 3 A flying v or any different shape guitar to get out of your comfort zone. 4 a 335 semi-hollow 5 a carbon fiber or wooden acoustic. Twelve of six
1: D18/28/35 or similar 2: 335 of some flavor 3: Gretsch Jet/LP or similar with 'buckers 4: Something with P90's 5: Something with skinny single coils: Strat/Tele/Dano.
For decades I have been an acoustics only kinda guy. I play a Lowden G7 basically since the stone ages and electric guitars left me cold. But that changed very recently. Now I am seriously looking for an electric guitar. Which one? Don't have made my final decision yet even though I've watched dozens and dozens of videos about Strats (which is what I'm currently leaning towards), Teles and LP's. So for me it is less about completing the list of electric guitars to own. It is about getting started with a completely new style of playing.
If I had to pick the “big 5”, I’d say; Strat, Tele, LP, 335, acoustic. My honorable mentions would be SG, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, LP (or SG) Jr with P90. I’m not ignoring the Gretsches, jazz-boxes, Flying Vs, Firebirds, Explorers, shredder super-Strats, etc. They just aren’t the big 5.
When I started I wanted a Les Paul thinking it was the only guitar I ever would want, then a friend said, Try my Telecaster and I fell in love with Telecasters, since I have been more open minded about not only guitar selections, but also music genres.
I basically have everything on your list except a traditional Strat. My single pickup guitar is one of the several Super Strats I own, but all of them have humbuckers in the bridges (and most sport a neck single coil) and none of them have blade switches nor 3 knobs on them. The closest thing to a traditional Strat I've ever owned was many years ago I had an Ibanez RG550, but that's HSH. I'm also with you on Teles ... I used to vacillate between hating them and having zero interest in them. But many years ago I came across a '73 Tele Thinline project guitar that I passed up and its always been stuck in the back of my mind as one of those "one that got away" guitars, so I finally broke down a couple months ago and bought a franken-tele-thinline off Reverb (aftermarket body, Squire Strat neck, humbucker in the neck) and it has instantly become one of my favorite guitars. So I'd add to your list "something semi-hollow". Because there's just a real cool vibe you get from a semi-hollow guitar (even with the volume and gain cranked up).
So I also like the idea of one shape with many different pickup styles so mine are 1. Mexi fender tele traditional pickup 2. Shecter PT with dual humbuckers and bigsby 3. Squire Esquire deluxe 4. Martin acoustic 5. HB tele hallow body with p90s
Les Paul Jr., Les Paul standard (or custom) with humbuckers as well as one with P90s (or one of these could be an SG), telecaster, Stratocaster. There.
Great video. I came to the realisation a while ago that my guitar collection now offers me almost everything I’d want with a good variation in neck shape, body style, pick up configuration etc. Do I still want more… erm… of course!
1. heavy metal guitar with odd body: BC Rich Warlock or even just an Ibanez RG w/ EMG 80 series pickups 2. Fender Americano Strat 3. Les Paul Standard 4. Taylor solid body cutaway guitar: 914ce 5. Martin D18,D28,or D35 (or HD)
I have Strats, Teles, Les Paul, SG, Gretsch, Epiphone Emporor, And 6 various acoustics. Unfortunitely way too many. But I love and try to play them all.! Probably a sickness Lol but I have been a guitar player for 60 yrs.. Each guitar has a unique sound and neck feel and it is great practice to go from one to the other and play diiferent styles of music.
My collection: Gibson Les Paul Standard w/ BB Pros, Epiphone Les Paul w/ Classic 57s, Epiphone SG Special w/ Mojotone P90s, G&L Legacy (Strat), Fender Modern Player Telecaster w/ Dimarzio noiseless pups, a Squier Affinity partscaster, PRS Studio, PRS SE Custom 24 with Fluence Classic humbuckers, Suhr Modern (HSH). So a nice mix of USA-made guitars and modded imports. Plus a vintage Martin D-18 acoustic (amazeballs) and an Ibanez SR2605 5-string bass. Like DTT, I'm trying to cover all the classic guitar shapes and pickup combos. The only thing I'm missing is a semi-hollow of some sort. PRS SE Hollowbody II (on sale) might be next.
1960 airline town and country, 1950s true spec Stratocaster surf green, 1960s Pelham blue sg with three humbuckers, my lake placid blue fender Meteora, and a high end PRS acoustic
Ive come to the same conclusion over the years. I have a sss strat, tele, les paul, les paul jr, taylor acoustic and a jazzmaster. Most bases are covered
My 5 guitars:. 1. One of the big three, strat, tele, or LP 2. Hollowbody Gretsch or Gibson 3. Single pup guitar of your choice 4. Quality acoustic of your choice. 5. Nylon string guitar
Well, I have most of the guitars you have said. I have 3 tele’s 1 regular and 2 modified. 2 Les Paul’s, 2 strat’s and 2 acoustics. I did notice you did not say a hollow body electric. I am now intrigued by the whole guitar with 1 pickup idea after your explanation. So now I have to buy another guitar. I thought that if I bought a hollow body guitar my variety of guitars would be complete. Guess not. lol. I think the video is very good and agree that variety is a good thing. Depending on my mood determines what guitar I am going to grab.
I've owned 16 different guitars over the past 55 years. I currently have 4 guitars. (1) 72 Thin Line Telecaster. Ash body, one piece C shape Maple neck 9.5" fretboard radius with 2 PRS Humbucker pickups with push/push coil split in the tone controls. (1) Epiphone Inspired by Gibson ES 339 Semi Hollow Body. The smaller version of the ES 335. (2) Sterling by Music Man Albert Lee AL40HH. The necks profiles in them are different C and D and fret board radius are the same 9.5, finish colors are different, but that's all. All of my Guitars have 2 Humbuckers. However they don't all sound the same plugged into an amp due to the different scale lengths. The Telecaster is the same, typical Fender scale length 25.50, as the Sterling Music Man models. The Epiphone ES 339 is 24.75 Gibson scale length. The placement of the pickups within the scale length changes the sound of the pickups through an amp. My next guitar will probably be a combination of 2 single coils and 1 Humbucker. Like the Sterling Cutlass CT50HSS. What do you think Dylan?🙂
I think this video fits into the video from last week about the "my budget import guitar is better than....". I think people have the idea that thet can only like a particular brand or model for the same reasons they say that their budget guitar is better. They think of it like a competition, they need to make themselves feel better about the guitars that do own by putting down other brands or other types of guitars.
Dylan nailed it, especially because he had a humbucker, single coil (Strat & Tele), and a P90. For me I have all the same style guitars, I would just have to add a PRS. Wanted one for so long, and finally picked up one during the year end promotion, and it is so different and easy to play compared to the others. Found a whole other approach thanks to that guitar. I think a single P90 guitar is absolutely a must for focusing on a volume and tone knob on a single pickup guitar. It is amazing what that pickup can do by itself, with just a volume and tone knob. Luckily I have way too many guitar heroes to play only one style guitar: Jimi, Page, Leslie West, just to name a few - that right there covers the Strat, the Tele/Les Paul/Acoustic, and a Jr. Anybody that thinks you should only play one guitar I urge them to look at Page’s plethora of guitars he used to make classics. He went out and bought a lake placid blue Strat to record several songs on their last few albums. That Guitar God played everything! And he practically still has and plays every guitar he recorded with. Anybody that has a toolbox inevitably has more than one tool in it.
I don't have an acoustic although I really want one times is hard. I got a strat, a jaguar with 2 humbuckers, and a Squier strat. Don't have a tele, but very much want 1
I'd focus less on 5 guitars and more on 10 specific feature types worth testing and exploring, because each of them radically changes your physical rapport to the instrument. In no particular order: (1) a hardtail vs a floating trem; (2) a regular fretboard vs a multiscale one; (3) a single cut with a heel vs a double cut with a profiled neck joint; (4) a very flat fretboard vs a very rounded one; (5) tall frets vs tiny frets; (6) single coils and humbuckers, in any combinations; (7) superlight strings like 8-42 vs heavy strings like 11-52; (8) thin contoured body vs thick body with square edges; (9) light guitars played standing up vs heavy or bulky guitars played sitting down; (10) thin vs thick neck profiles. And all that just for electric. Choices and combinations are endless, and each of them has its own potential to discover.
I literally bought a player tele last week…and now I’m a tele-guy. It’s "middle of the road" and will work for most standard tuning stuff. 100% disagree with the reason for the single pickup guitar, I think 2 p90’s is a better choice for a 5-guitar collection. Imo, the order of importance is: 1) sss 2) semi-hollow or acoustic 3) sh or hh 4) t-style 5) something less typical/popular like: baritone, p90’s (my choice), 7-string, lap steel, whatever you’re into.
1. Strat (3 single coils) 2. Tele (traditional, 2 single coils) 3. Singlecut/Doublecut w/2 humbuckers) 4. Something with 2 P90's 5. ...controversial pick,... a short scale bass guitar. Knowing how to play some type of rhythm bass is valuable for everyone.
great video.totaly agree with you.two years ago I realized I was disabled player,could not handle anything except fender guitar.got a cheap ibanez with 24 frets and gibson sg standard and it made overcome limitations.
To me you should have a quiver that allows you to contrast with and complement the other guitars in your band. So, 1. A Fender style guitar (I love non-maple Strats) 2. A Gibson style guitar (the 335 is the perfection of the Gibson thing to me) 3. Something in between the two extremes (a Firebird is my pick)
A strat style, a LP or SG style, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, and then a cheap electric to mod and learn how to tinker Lol, one of my bass guitars only has one pup. Does that count? My approach was to have gear for home recording and I’ve had most of my gear for about 20 years. When I started I thought I needed a Les Paul and a strat, to get most of the basic electric guitar sounds, and then bought a used acoustic for $100 that is playable and sounds like an acoustic guitar. Needed a bass and found a gem of an Ibanez for $190 that is still rock solid almost 20 years later, but isn’t heavy like rocks. Later on I got another strat and another bass guitar for fun, learning how to mod and repair guitars. Despite Glen, I think that a strat and a LP sound very different, but I don’t play metal
My top five guitars are the ones I own: a Strat, a Tele, a Gibson Les Paul, a good acoustic mine is Gibson j35 faded, a guitar with p 90s, mine is an epiphone casino
I am missing a dual humbucker guitar... perhaps. I have a Gretsch 5420 with filtertron pickups but I think I need (want) a proper two humbucker guitar, maybe a Les Paul or 335. I also have a Casino and a Strat. I seem to have a thing for hollowbpdy guitars as the Strat is a Kenny Wayne Shepard signature model with a the chambered body. I aksi have two acoustics, a Guild dreadnaught and a Tak OM. overall Im pleased with my selection. I have gone over getting a Tele then maybe a 335 style then I think maybe a Les Paul then start the process all over again.
I love this topic and your choices. So I actually don’t own 5 guitars yet but here is what I got. Tele (American) single coils, strat (Squier classic vibe 50’s) sss with Gilmour mod, jazzmaster (Squier classic vibe 60’s) with actual P90’s (not the jazzmaster single coils) an epiphone j200 acoustic/electric. My next guitar will be a humbucker guitar- les Paul, SG, or a PRS HH.
I wanna first run mint Jaguar, AWashburn A-20 stage series, A mid '70's SG, a Telecaster from the late 50's, and a Frankenstein guitar from Tokai in the late 80's. And if a crossroads demon to teach me to play them all then I would set.
5 guitar dream list : Guild Surfliner Deluxe ( I guess this is my strat choice?) Gretsch with Bigsby, any semi-hollow Telecaster Schecter Purple explorer style Adam Jones signature Les Paul Jazzmaster
i have had most of these styles in my life except for a strat. i have strat shape single humbucker guitar. but its not what you mean. its a mental thing but i dont like guitars with middle pickups. so for single coil i go tele. i suppose with a strat i could just deck the middle pickup flush to the pickguard.
I got a variant of everything mentioned, But the single pickup guitar. I’ve been wanting a LP JR for some time. So hopefully soon. I hated tele’s for decades. Then I got one. Now have 3 different versions lol. Oddly I swap between a Tele and an 8string LTD on the regular that’s a neck profile and nut width change that will scramble your brain at first.
For me... 1. Strat because they just melt away and tuck up against you. They're a very comfortable guitar 2. Les Paul because they just make your feel cool and they have a vibe of their own 3. SG with a vibrola, gotta have the vibrola on them and they are different again from the Les Paul 4. A Tele with '50-'67 style wiring so that you have the dark circuit. Try it cranking the gain on your amp with one of them in the neck position 5. A 12 string. Nothing else sounds like a 12 string, whether it's an Electric XII or an acoustic 12 string
Hey, I'm sad to say I started out not wanting a tele at all, I don't even remember why, boy was I wrong, I now have a tele, an lp and a ibanez jem. I'm 100% with you on this, own different guitars, try different guitars if you can, the joy is in the experience, great video man.
Dylan, relatively new to your channel but really trust your judgment already. Looking for some advice This video was very timely for me in a way. I’m new to guitar and got a bad case of the GAS. I own a partscaster Strat, a Les Paul goldtop tribute, and a Reverend Sensei Jr (single bridge p90 guitar). 3 of the guitars mentioned in this video. I like my strat. That’s staying. I recently bought the LP goldtop but have been a little underwhelmed. For whatever reason, those humbuckers sound muddy or harsh unless I spend a decent chunk of time dialing things in. My Sensei on the other hand seems to be an easy button - it usually sounds great without much effort. Here’s the problem and I hope you’ll help me out. I am lusting for a p90 Yamaha Revstar. I think they look and sound great and I like the idea of having the versatility of two pickups. And I can afford to buy one used, but I’m strictly a hobbyist. So one of the following is true: 1) I should buy it and then I can have a “shootout” between it and the sensei and the LP. Keep the one (or maybe two) I like the best and devote the time to really get the most out of them 2) I’m a dope for even considering another guitar. I have more than enough. Don’t buy anything else until I have justifiably outgrown what I have I know this is all subjective / personal preference, but I’d really appreciate an informed opinion. I’m wasting too much time going back and forth like this in my head Thank you
My 5 required electric guitars are as follows: 1. S Style - SSS configuration (Music Man Cutlass and G&L Comanche are my fav’s) 2. T Style - SS configuration (G&L ASAT and something Thinline are what I go for) 3. “Surf” Guitar - 2 p-90’s or similar with a wiggle stick (G&L Doheny is my choice) 4. LP Style - Might be 2-for-1 category because I like having both humbucker option and p-90 option 5. Semi-hollow archtop - I LOVE the Gretsch White Falcon and can work with a 335 or equivalent The most important thing is to have something that makes me want to pick up the guitar and play… every damn day. I’ve owned guitars since I was 10 yo, but didn’t play every day early on because my beginner acoustic did little to get me excited about the idea of playing guitar. My skill level and what it meant for the range of sounds I could make left me in a vicious cycle of not playing because I sucked and sucking because I didn’t want to play. Maybe it is a personality flaw, but I needed to variety and excitement from the variety to make me want to grab that guitar of the day and play something new. Thanks for the topic, Dylan. Everybody take care and be kind to one another. ✌🏼
The only one I don’t have yet is a single-pickup guitar. In recent years, I’ve been exploring shorter scales and different pickups. Also got my first headless a year or two ago. Next up may be a semi-hallow. I’ve never been one to seek a “signature sound”, so I like filling out my toolbox with different options that will fit different situations or inspire me to play something I otherwise might not.
For me, it's kind of always been a T-style, LP-Style (I have a Fender Toronado I really like in this category, in addition to an LP Deluxe), A hollow-body (335 knock-off in my case), acoustic and a bass guitar .. Just like drumming, I think playing bass improves my guitar playing in a way just practicing guitar can't or doesn't
Yamaha Pacifica 611 with a 7 way switch mod (awesome) G& L Tribute asat classic with a 5 way switch mod (I just wanted a better switch) A samick ultramatic with 1 mini humbucker and I've sh4 (probably putting another mini in it soon) Jumbo acoustic, spruce top Dreadnought acoustic, cedar top. I feel like the asat is pretty particular, as I sometimes miss more classic tele sounds that this guitar doesn't do -the MFD pickups are f*cking muscular compared to standard t style pickups and sometimes it bugs me. I don't think I'll change em though.
1. T-style with two single coil
2. S-style at least a single coil in the neck and middle
3. Something with P90s
4. Two humbuckers in something
5. A hollow or semi-hollow body
Bonus - something different, be it filter trons, gold foils, lipstick, active, or what have you.
I agree with what you’re saying on one level, however there are folks who grew up playing an s style, tele, or les Paul style guitar when they were younger and now work 12 hours a day as a welder. And for them they may just not have the time or patience to get around the learning curb of a different feel and that’s ok too. There shouldn’t be any pressure to practice playing things you’re uncomfortable with and frankly just lack the time to do it. We’re not all working in the guitar industry and gigging musicians.
Tele, Strat, SG/Les Paul/PRS, an acoustic, and something jangly/bright (e.g.
Gretsch Jet, Jag/Jazzmaster, Mustang/Duosonic, Rickenbacker). Going further, preferably any of these in different pickup configurations.
My 5?
Humbucker guitar
Single coil guitar
P90 guitar
Acoustic guitar
Hollowbody archtop
(Although a bass is a good idea as well)
Definitely agree that a different guitar will make you play at least a bit differently
And that’s cool
I play my Mustang differently than my Iceman or my Epi LP Special, and so on….
A hollowbody can still give you lots of sustain, but the decay on the sound is different
I hit those all. Some several times over. A 2000 era MIM Strat. A couple of super stats, a bunch of Les Pauls and from a Gibson Studio to a an Epiphone Special repickuped with P-90s, a Epi Junior with a Humbucker. A real SG and a 70s Japanese copy, extensively modded. A couple of acoustics and a couple of Tele style guitars. Evan an Epi 339 semi-hollow. Not to mention about 3 basses. 20 years of collecting mostly inexpensive and medium priced guitars. The most fun is modding and maintaining.
I own 18 guitars. 16 electric, 2 acoustic.
Strat types=vibrato, clean tones. The Shadows, Ventures, Chris Isaac Cowboy movie music.
Tele types= Chicken, picken, country, Albert Collins blues.
Gretsch / 335 Humbuckers = Bee bop, Anything Brian Setzer, Chet Atkins.Jazzy. Steel dan lead work.
Les pauls / SG =. Anything heavy, distorted. Or soft like some Peter Frampton songs.
Acoustic =. Led zeppelin ballads or early folk. Carly Simon. Tommy Emanuel. Sometimes classical.
Yes, different instruments lead you in very different directions.
Having multiple instruments of varying scale length, pup combo’s, fret material, etc, has led to me being far more conscious of my “feel,” and hearing more of what I’m doing, as feel between each of them is different. A bend on a LP and a bend on my 8 string TT Strandberg feels drastically different, and I love’em both.
I don't duplicate guitars: acoustic, single coil, humbucker, P90, and combination of SSH, HSH, P90 H, or P90 S. These 5 will give you all the tonal variations and if you go past that, its sprinkles on a cake I have duplicated HH, but I have drastic variety with them. I only own 6
Had to echo your sentiment. I was a superstrat metal guy in the 80s and a Tele was my least favorite type that I associated with music I didn't care for. Fast forward to I'm in my 50s and because of Ted Greene, Julian Lage, Ed Bickert, Greg Koch and Tim Lerch, I bought a Suhr T antique just to see. Now it's one of my 2 favorites.
My list of 5 guitars:
- single coils, Fender-style. (e.g. Tele, Strat, Jazzmaster)
- humbuckers (e.g. SG, Les Paul)
- something with a vibrato (e.g. Strat, Jazzmaster, bigsby)
- a semi-hollow or hollow body (e.g. ES335, Casino, Gretsch)
- pickups that are between a Fender style single coil and a Gibson humbucker (e.g. P90s, Filtertron, mini-humbucker)
Good list.
I had every style guitar and I always play an SG Jr and an Esquire. I ended up going the opposite way due to minimalism. No more pedals and complicated systems, just a 100% focus on playing
My 5:
1 - SSS Strat style. Just so perfect right from the beginning. This is where I started and it's so different from other guitar types, it's a must-have.
2 - HH Solidbody. Sustain. Compression. Power. 'Nuff said.
3 - Acoustic - Puts you in a totally different space. Quick and easy to get ideas down.
4 - Bass - I started down this road for recording purposes and it's co-equal with 6-string for me now. Makes you think about time differently and gets you learning the fretboard linearly instead of laterally.,
5 - Mandolin - A real 8-string mando. It's tuned EADG but upside down. It's so rhythm... but all on the upbeat. Mando will get you out of a rut like no body's business.
Honorable Mention - 12-String. Another great tool to get you thinking differently. I have a Ric, Fender Electric and Taylor Acoustic 12-strings. It's a texture you can't get any other way. String bends have to be considered and controlled. Certainly builds fretting hand strength and precision.
Learning to be reactive to what your gear does well, or perhaps what it wants to do… is part of getting the most out of the gear you have already available. Every style of guitar, amp or pedal does many things, some better than other. Each has a voice… if you listen they’ll tell you what you can do to help them sing along with you.
I would love an sg junior or double cut Les paul junior with one pickup!
I have an epiphone century with one p90 neck pickup thats actually quite versatile after some trial and era adjustments ive made to the circuit. The pickup currently runs through a 500k cts volume pot (i might try 1 meg next) and a fender tbx tone pot. My favorite setting on this guitar is with the tbx trebble boost/bass cut side fully engaged. It works really well with the p90 and adds a great dimension to the sound while cutting those bass heavy frequencies down. That guitar is capable of a lot, but id love a one pickup guitar with just a pickup in the bridge position. Would probably suit my style better.
1) 2x P90 guitar (own an Ibanez JS700)
2) Strat S-S-S (Squier MIJ '88)
3) Tele S-S (Fender American Standard w/ Texas Specials)
4) Les Paul style... Used to own an early 90's American LP Studio, but it had so many defects I sold it off.
5) This is the "other" slot. Maybe a Jazzmaster, Danelectro, baritone, 12-string or acoustic. I've had most of these here & there.
I have four, one I built a JM with P90s, and a recent acquisition, a PRS SAS , a Taylor GTe, and a P Bass I built as well.
I've been playing for 19 years, and I feel like I have the guitars that I'm going to have for a long time. I need to stop swapping out guitars. I've tried different things, but the guitars that I have, all happen to be strat-style guitars. I didn't plan for it to be this way, this is just what I ended up with. None of said strat-style guitars have a strat configuration.
The first is a Schecter Omen 6. 24 frets, 12" radius, double humbucker, 2 volumes with individual coil splits, 3 way switch, and a TOM bridge. After all of the work that's been done on it and the pro set up, it's possibly the best feeling guitar I've ever played.
Warmoth Soloist build. 24 frets, 10-16" compound radius, single coil in the neck and humbucker in the bridge, 2 volumes with a coil split for the bridge humbucker, 3 way switch, and Wilkinson vibrato bridge. I don't really like neck humbuckers, so I went with a single coil, and it can do vibrato things.
Fender MIM Strat. 22 frets, 9.5" radius, it's just a regular Fender neck, Single humbucker, volume and tone, the vibrato bridge is hardtailed. I have the guitar tuned to dropped C. it's a sleeper chug machine. Similar idea to a Tom Delonge signature, but Fender doesn't make them for lefties so I had to put my own together. This guitar also plays incredibly. All of my guitars do, but this and the Schecter are top tier.
Schecter C-8 Deluxe 8 string. 24 frets, 16" radius, 28" scale, same electronic setup as the Schecter Omen 6. It's an 8 string and it does cool metal things. What else is there to say?
I have some $300 Fender acoustic that I never play because I don't really listen to much music with acoustic guitar in it and I don't make much music with acoustic guitar in it, but it's there when I do need it. It's never been setup so it could use one.
I also have a Squier 70's Jazz bass that I adore, and a classical guitar for a similar reason as the other acoustic.
As you can tell from the 3 guitars that have basically the same electronic situation, I've figured out what I like. The Fender strat only has a tone pot because of the single pickup, so some sort of tonal variety wouldn't be a terrible thing. I don't feel like I'm missing out because I don't have a traditional strat, tele, or any other guitar, I get all the sounds I need from my guitars, and they play so well that they've spoiled expensive guitars for me. Just go with what works for you.
1. 335 - Harmonics on solos in a hollow body are magnifique.
2. Schecter Sustainiac Sun Valley Shredder - Solos, solos, solos.
3. Les Paul - great for metal, I got mine in drop C#
4. Telecaster - Sonic Vanilla Cream, used for all rhythm outside of Metal and,
5. Explorer - for metal rhythm.
What I really like about this video is that you focus on the experience of us all as guitar players. Music, like life, is about experience. Explore and adventure on your own musical journey.
The one thing I didn't consider before your video is the single pickup electric guitar. I have a Taylor GS Mini with a pickup, but I don't think that's what you're talking about. I also have a dreadnaught acoustic and I like both acoustics, but no solid body single pickup electric guitar. I have 2 two humbucker guitars, one being a Les Paul and the other an ES 335 style semi-hollowbody. I also have a number of Telecasters, and a Stratocaster and I love them all.
The one guitar I would add to my toolkit is a true hollowbody Epiphone Casino (preferably a Casino Coupe) with two P-90s. I think that would change the sounds immensely but it gets into slicing and dicing pickup/body style tones. I won't digress into filtertrons and such because I'm pretty sure that's not your point, and maybe the Casino is also a 'sideshow' from the point of this video.
Thank you for making this video!
1) Acoustic. I have a bottom-of-the line Martin Road Series.
2) Telly. I have a nice Squier with some upgrades.
3) A packable travel guitar. I have a Traveler Pro. I take this with me any time I leave the house! I can play it in the drivers' seat when parked.
4) Les Paul. I have a semi-hollow Epiphone.
5) A less expensive acoustic for playing outdoors. I have a Yamaha.
A topic everyone can love! Mine are:
With models I would or have made.
1. DTT. DAF. AS73 semi hollow
2. DTT Centerpunch (split) LP studio
2. DTT. Smoothie & Super 8. Jackson
3. DTT. P90. Epi Wilshire ( in progress)
4.Texas Special. Tele
5. Lace sensor. Strat
5. PRS. Silver Sky
Juuuust a little outside:
Baritone. Reverend Descent
12 string. Rickenbacker 320/12
Bass. Short scale Hofner
I’m 70 and I now have a fairly eclectic collection, not a strat anywhere. I kept hitting the pickup switch. I love P-90. I have one of yours but it’s not installed. I gave the guitar away to my brothers grandson. I’m mostly an acoustic or a bass player, I came to electric guitar late to the game, in my mid 40s. I just bought a Gretsch duo jet. I absolutely love it.
I think among the things that are really important about an acoustic guitar is yes of course it inspires you differently, and different music played on it and so on… Yes, all those things are important, but… acoustic guitar helps teach you EVEN ON ELECTRIC GUITAR “ACOUSTICALLY” to learn to find resonance acoustically in every instrument with an amp or WITHOUT.
One of the common denominators for many of our favorites- the ability to pull sound out of the instrument.
That sensibility can be developed on acoustic guitar, EVEN if you don’t particularly care for “acoustic music” or think you’re an acoustic guitar player.
The 5 I have:
1. Fender telecaster SS
2. Squier Contemporary Jaguar HH
3. Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar SS
4. Seagull Performer Acoustic
5. Squier Bronco Bass
Would love to get a semi-hollow body and a baritone - one of which would have P90s
1. Fat strat hss with locking tuners
2. Tele with g&b palm bender
3. Taylor big baby acoustic electric
4. Yamaha revstar p90 setup for slide
5. P bass
1 have 6 actually. 3 telecasters with different pickup configurations stock, filtertrons, jazzmasters, 2 of them semi-hollow, 1 Roadcaster T style that I built with 3 single coils belly and forearm cut and tremolo system #5 Gibson ES-135 stock, #6 D'Angelico acoustic/electric. Several others I own but these are my favorites. Playing guitar for 65 years I've played just about all the different styles and brands.
Totally agree with the list. My first real Fender was a Tele 20 years ago and I went Tele over Strat because everyone was playing a Strat at the time. It turned out to be a great choice due to it having a simpler setup. 3 way switch, 1 tone and 1 volume. I was able to focus more on trying to sound good playing live and less with fiddling with knobs and switches. Mainly play a HSS Strat these days but agree with having the guitars you mentioned in the arsenal. Playing different guitars makes you approach them differently and will sometimes pull things out of you that you didn't know were there. The 25.5" scale of a fender will fight you at times and playing the same riff on a flatter and more slinky feeling LP style will teach you some things. The more difficult action and string gauge of an acoustic will make you a faster electric player. Its like a hand workout.
I have all 5 of these guitar types and i agree. As for the volume knob on a strat style, thats why I hated them for 20+ years. I bought an ernie ball cutlass and the knob isn't an issue for me.
I also think your list is spot on. For me - a tele, two strats (one fender and the SS), Gibson LP 60s and a AVII Jazzmaster
1. Les Paul with humbuckers 2. 335 hollow body 3. Strat SSS 4. Tele 5. Acoustic ( I have all but the 335, I really need to get one though)
It sure is fun to have others too. Les Paul with P90s. Fender Mustang with short scale. Ibanez with flat radius and very light weight. Its nice to try different brands too, Fender, Gibson, PRS, Ibanez.
I've been playing guitar for 33 of my 49 years. I've owned a peavy Trasser single humbucker pickup guitar and a Arbor one humbucker only guitar they were my 1sr and second guitars and your right about it teaches you how your amp and guitar works together. At my 4th year of playing I bought a Japan made Fender Strat and I didn't like anything about it or the clean tones. I like Hendrix SRV and pearl jam and their sound but what I like to play is hard rock and metal and southern metal groove metal. I have nothing against them but not my sound. I've owned all of the types at one time or another but out of 33 years of playing only owned 2 single coils guitar and didn't have them no longer than a year. I would always trade them off for humbuckers guitars I own one acoustic guitar and I still have it for 27 years a Yamaha and if the juices aren't flowing pick up an acoustic your right about that I've discovered the same thing. I like your channel it is good information. Oh speaking acoustic Edger Cruz from Oklahoma city is the best acoustic guitarist of all time TH-cam him hes awesome. My top 5 guitars anything with humbuckers .
I switch between a lot of guitars! Strat, Tele, SG, LP, Ricks, Gretsches, acoustics. They all play & sound different, which I love.
My 5 Currently owned guitars in order of how much I play them.
Schecter Damien Platinum 6 FR-S
Epiphone Les Paul Grey Sunburst 3 pickup Custom - Even more customized with 2 490Rs and 1 490T
Ibanez Art Core Semi Hollow with Blue sunburst with 2 Seymour Duncan SH-18
Epiphone SG with 2 Gibson Dirty Fingers Hot Ceramic Humbuckers
Gretsch Full Hollow with Bigsby
I like a Gibson SG, strat, a Schecter for metal with 24 frets and Floyd rose, and a hollow body Hagstrom for jazz.
My 5: HH V guitar with active pickups (SD LiveWires)
Single pickup H that can coil split (Sahana guitars Baja passive PU)
H and Sustaniac active pickups in a Schecter Super Shredder (EMG)
HSH Ibanez with passive pickups from Dylan
Yamaha acoustic
Steve Howe cared about the strat volume knob. Had his tech move it. Saw it on rig rundown.
❤Love my Strat tho.
currently telecaster ,hss strat , acoustic , lap steel and 335
In down to two. 1) Es 335 2) Les Paul Junior. I recently sold my Ultra Tele and have been thinking of a SSS or a LP Standard but haven't pulled the trigger just yet.
1 - Tele
2 - Tele w/ 2 humbuckers
3 - a Strat
4 - a TTG Challenger w/ 1 humbucker, 1 SC
5 - a carvetop LP I built at TTG with your P90's
6 - Nylon stringed Acoustic
Volume knob on my first Strat drove me bonkers for sure but had to have one in the arsenal.. So I moved it down a hole, and put both tones on a concentric pot. Now it's my go-to half of the time..
On the electric instruments I find the pickups/electronics the most important part of the electric guitar. I find the strat shape the most comfortable to play but I'm tall with long fingers. I prefer longer scale necks. I do have 5 guitars and I would add that one is a 12 string electric and another is a baritone. I do have a Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster which actually has a Telly body I find comfortable to play.
I prefer low noise pickups as I've found that standard single coil pickups are too noisy in front of a video monitor which is where I play guitar the most.
I like to have the variation of pickups. I currently have a Strat partscaster, a PRS SE 24 with buckers, a Strat partscaster 12 with Fishman Fluence Classic Humbuckers. I'll soon be adding an offset [Jazzcaster body] with P90s to the collection.
I've been a touring bassist for the last couple of decades. I'm the same way with my basses. All are 5 strings, a MM fretless, a P bass, a J bass, an acoustic flat top and a new double soapbar.
I've owned everything on that list except a Tele. Currently I'm down to my 3 favourites though:
1) Yamaha acoustic
2) Squier Strat w/ upgraded pickups.
3) Epiphone Casino hollowbody / p90s
That little collection, along with a few drive pedals, gives me nearly everything that I like. That said, like to pick up a Jazzmaster eventually.
Fun video, makes a lot of sense! The 'Top 5' essentials from my own working instruments:
1. 1968 Les Paul Custom.
2. 1992 Roger Sadowsky NYC HSH S Style.
3. 1980 Roland Maple Neck Strat (came with the Roland GR 300 Guitar Synth)
4. 2020 Duesenberg Semi Acoustic Starplayer (P90 Neck / Humbucker Bridge).
5. 2018 Japanese made Gretsch Solid Body Pro series.
These pretty much cover all my needs be it TVC or soundtrack work along with album projects I produce.
My list:
1. A Fender: for me this is a strat with the trem decked, it gives me all the fender I want
2. A 335 style: mine is a D’angelico Excel Tour DC, the best 335 copy on the market
3: a P90 guitar to cover all the ground the fender and 335 don’t : mine is a Gibson Tribute 50’s p90 with a bigsby I’ve added.
4. Dreadnaught or OM acoustic: my main acoustic picker
5. Parlor acoustic or resonator: for open tuning blues.
With these five I have pretty much everything I could want. I could also see replacing the p90 guitar with a gretsch or something with mini hums
My 5: RG, Wolfgang, Tele, Revstar and a 7 String super strat.
Of my 13 different guitars, most are the same general idea as i'm mainly into metal. majority are super strat + HH. i am surprised to see you didnt mention any extended range guitars such as a baritone, 7, or 8 string. To pick only 5 of mine:
1. Hard tail 24.75 HH
2. Floyd Rose 25.5 HH
3. 7 string (26.5+) Active HH
4. 8 string multi-scale HH
5. Acoustic
no particular order:
1. T style
2. 3- single or HSS (25.5")
3. P-90 guitar
4. something with 24.75" scale
5. baritone
I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio, Fender Tele, Harley Benton DC Junior, PRS Silver Sky SE, and a Cort EVL acoustic. All boxes checked off!😊
I'm an anti tube guy who prefers modeling amps. My 5 are a true single coil strat, a single coil Tele, a LP with humbuckers, a P90 guitar, a super strat with a floating/doubble locking system and a semi hallow body.
I have 9 electric guitars, two acoustics and one acoustic electric. My electric guitars cover the bases you mentioned. I started playing in 1977. I've never sold a guitar but did give one away to my grandson.
My first electric guitar was a Strat and I remember being disappointed because I was really into metal at the time, not realizing you can play whatever genre with whatever guitar you want.
With that being said, I am still not a fan of Strats, with the way the horn sits across my chest, how my pick hits the center pup, how I usually hit the selector switch or knock the volume cap off, or even the sounds it makes in 2 and 4 (unpopular opinion, I know). If someone handed me one to play a gig with, I could absolutely make it work.
But with that being said, if I had to name my 5 guitars, they'd be:
Acoustic (specifically a dreadnought)
Tele (my favorite guitar was an American Special)
Semi/Hollow body (I have a Sheraton I love)
Bass (I learned so much about music and playing 6 string guitar from my time as a bassist in friends' bands)
HH guitar
Top 5 guitars for me.
1 A Strat sss or ssh style
2 A super strat dual humbucker
3 A flying v or any different shape guitar to get out of your comfort zone.
4 a 335 semi-hollow
5 a carbon fiber or wooden acoustic. Twelve of six
1: D18/28/35 or similar
2: 335 of some flavor
3: Gretsch Jet/LP or similar with 'buckers
4: Something with P90's
5: Something with skinny single coils: Strat/Tele/Dano.
For decades I have been an acoustics only kinda guy. I play a Lowden G7 basically since the stone ages and electric guitars left me cold. But that changed very recently. Now I am seriously looking for an electric guitar. Which one? Don't have made my final decision yet even though I've watched dozens and dozens of videos about Strats (which is what I'm currently leaning towards), Teles and LP's.
So for me it is less about completing the list of electric guitars to own. It is about getting started with a completely new style of playing.
If I had to pick the “big 5”, I’d say; Strat, Tele, LP, 335, acoustic. My honorable mentions would be SG, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, LP (or SG) Jr with P90. I’m not ignoring the Gretsches, jazz-boxes, Flying Vs, Firebirds, Explorers, shredder super-Strats, etc. They just aren’t the big 5.
When I started I wanted a Les Paul thinking it was the only guitar I ever would want, then a friend said, Try my Telecaster and I fell in love with Telecasters, since I have been more open minded about not only guitar selections, but also music genres.
I basically have everything on your list except a traditional Strat. My single pickup guitar is one of the several Super Strats I own, but all of them have humbuckers in the bridges (and most sport a neck single coil) and none of them have blade switches nor 3 knobs on them. The closest thing to a traditional Strat I've ever owned was many years ago I had an Ibanez RG550, but that's HSH.
I'm also with you on Teles ... I used to vacillate between hating them and having zero interest in them. But many years ago I came across a '73 Tele Thinline project guitar that I passed up and its always been stuck in the back of my mind as one of those "one that got away" guitars, so I finally broke down a couple months ago and bought a franken-tele-thinline off Reverb (aftermarket body, Squire Strat neck, humbucker in the neck) and it has instantly become one of my favorite guitars. So I'd add to your list "something semi-hollow". Because there's just a real cool vibe you get from a semi-hollow guitar (even with the volume and gain cranked up).
So I also like the idea of one shape with many different pickup styles so mine are
1. Mexi fender tele traditional pickup
2. Shecter PT with dual humbuckers and bigsby
3. Squire Esquire deluxe
4. Martin acoustic
5. HB tele hallow body with p90s
Les Paul Jr., Les Paul standard (or custom) with humbuckers as well as one with P90s (or one of these could be an SG), telecaster, Stratocaster. There.
Great video. I came to the realisation a while ago that my guitar collection now offers me almost everything I’d want with a good variation in neck shape, body style, pick up configuration etc. Do I still want more… erm… of course!
1. heavy metal guitar with odd body: BC Rich Warlock or even just an Ibanez RG w/ EMG 80 series pickups
2. Fender Americano Strat
3. Les Paul Standard
4. Taylor solid body cutaway guitar: 914ce
5. Martin D18,D28,or D35 (or HD)
My 5 - steel string acoustic, nylon string acoustic, humbucker guitar, single coil guitar, semi hollow body guitar
I have Strats, Teles, Les Paul, SG, Gretsch, Epiphone Emporor, And 6 various acoustics. Unfortunitely way too many. But I love and try to play them all.! Probably a sickness Lol
but I have been a guitar player for 60 yrs.. Each guitar has a unique sound and neck feel and it is great practice to go from one to the other and play diiferent styles of music.
I like your list. I would add a modern shred guitar with a double locking trem . ultra thin neck and active pickups
Traditional Tele, single humbucker S ( no tone knob!), acoustic, 7 string, HS tele
My collection: Gibson Les Paul Standard w/ BB Pros, Epiphone Les Paul w/ Classic 57s, Epiphone SG Special w/ Mojotone P90s, G&L Legacy (Strat), Fender Modern Player Telecaster w/ Dimarzio noiseless pups, a Squier Affinity partscaster, PRS Studio, PRS SE Custom 24 with Fluence Classic humbuckers, Suhr Modern (HSH). So a nice mix of USA-made guitars and modded imports. Plus a vintage Martin D-18 acoustic (amazeballs) and an Ibanez SR2605 5-string bass. Like DTT, I'm trying to cover all the classic guitar shapes and pickup combos. The only thing I'm missing is a semi-hollow of some sort. PRS SE Hollowbody II (on sale) might be next.
1960 airline town and country, 1950s true spec Stratocaster surf green, 1960s Pelham blue sg with three humbuckers, my lake placid blue fender Meteora, and a high end PRS acoustic
Ive come to the same conclusion over the years. I have a sss strat, tele, les paul, les paul jr, taylor acoustic and a jazzmaster. Most bases are covered
My 5 guitars:. 1. One of the big three, strat, tele, or LP 2. Hollowbody Gretsch or Gibson 3. Single pup guitar of your choice 4. Quality acoustic of your choice. 5. Nylon string guitar
HSS Strat, LP with PAFs, SS Tele, Gretsch full size hollowbody, ES-330 clone in Gretsch G2622T with P90s.
Well, I have most of the guitars you have said. I have 3 tele’s 1 regular and 2 modified. 2 Les Paul’s, 2 strat’s and 2 acoustics. I did notice you did not say a hollow body electric. I am now intrigued by the whole guitar with 1 pickup idea after your explanation. So now I have to buy another guitar. I thought that if I bought a hollow body guitar my variety of guitars would be complete. Guess not. lol. I think the video is very good and agree that variety is a good thing. Depending on my mood determines what guitar I am going to grab.
I've owned 16 different guitars over the past 55 years. I currently have 4 guitars. (1) 72 Thin Line Telecaster. Ash body, one piece C shape Maple neck 9.5" fretboard radius with 2 PRS Humbucker pickups with push/push coil split in the tone controls. (1) Epiphone Inspired by Gibson ES 339 Semi Hollow Body. The smaller version of the ES 335. (2) Sterling by Music Man Albert Lee AL40HH. The necks profiles in them are different C and D and fret board radius are the same 9.5, finish colors are different, but that's all. All of my Guitars have 2 Humbuckers. However they don't all sound the same plugged into an amp due to the different scale lengths. The Telecaster is the same, typical Fender scale length 25.50, as the Sterling Music Man models. The Epiphone ES 339 is 24.75 Gibson scale length. The placement of the pickups within the scale length changes the sound of the pickups through an amp. My next guitar will probably be a combination of 2 single coils and 1 Humbucker. Like the Sterling Cutlass CT50HSS. What do you think Dylan?🙂
I think this video fits into the video from last week about the "my budget import guitar is better than....". I think people have the idea that thet can only like a particular brand or model for the same reasons they say that their budget guitar is better. They think of it like a competition, they need to make themselves feel better about the guitars that do own by putting down other brands or other types of guitars.
Dylan nailed it, especially because he had a humbucker, single coil (Strat & Tele), and a P90. For me I have all the same style guitars, I would just have to add a PRS. Wanted one for so long, and finally picked up one during the year end promotion, and it is so different and easy to play compared to the others. Found a whole other approach thanks to that guitar. I think a single P90 guitar is absolutely a must for focusing on a volume and tone knob on a single pickup guitar. It is amazing what that pickup can do by itself, with just a volume and tone knob. Luckily I have way too many guitar heroes to play only one style guitar: Jimi, Page, Leslie West, just to name a few - that right there covers the Strat, the Tele/Les Paul/Acoustic, and a Jr. Anybody that thinks you should only play one guitar I urge them to look at Page’s plethora of guitars he used to make classics. He went out and bought a lake placid blue Strat to record several songs on their last few albums. That Guitar God played everything! And he practically still has and plays every guitar he recorded with. Anybody that has a toolbox inevitably has more than one tool in it.
I don't have an acoustic although I really want one times is hard. I got a strat, a jaguar with 2 humbuckers, and a Squier strat. Don't have a tele, but very much want 1
I'd focus less on 5 guitars and more on 10 specific feature types worth testing and exploring, because each of them radically changes your physical rapport to the instrument. In no particular order: (1) a hardtail vs a floating trem; (2) a regular fretboard vs a multiscale one; (3) a single cut with a heel vs a double cut with a profiled neck joint; (4) a very flat fretboard vs a very rounded one; (5) tall frets vs tiny frets; (6) single coils and humbuckers, in any combinations; (7) superlight strings like 8-42 vs heavy strings like 11-52; (8) thin contoured body vs thick body with square edges; (9) light guitars played standing up vs heavy or bulky guitars played sitting down; (10) thin vs thick neck profiles. And all that just for electric. Choices and combinations are endless, and each of them has its own potential to discover.
Stratocaster, Telecaster, Les Paul, Hollow Body (Gretsch) and Acoustic
I literally bought a player tele last week…and now I’m a tele-guy. It’s "middle of the road" and will work for most standard tuning stuff.
100% disagree with the reason for the single pickup guitar, I think 2 p90’s is a better choice for a 5-guitar collection. Imo, the order of importance is:
1) sss
2) semi-hollow or acoustic
3) sh or hh
4) t-style
5) something less typical/popular like: baritone, p90’s (my choice), 7-string, lap steel, whatever you’re into.
Strat, Firebird, Tele, semi hollow, acoustic. The more I play the bird, the more me it feels like than either an LP or an SG.
1. Strat (3 single coils)
2. Tele (traditional, 2 single coils)
3. Singlecut/Doublecut w/2 humbuckers)
4. Something with 2 P90's
5. ...controversial pick,... a short scale bass guitar. Knowing how to play some type of rhythm bass is valuable for everyone.
great video.totaly agree with you.two years ago I realized I was disabled player,could not handle anything except fender guitar.got a cheap ibanez with 24 frets and gibson sg standard and it made overcome limitations.
I like being able to have options. 1. LES paul, 2. Tele, 3. Semi hollow, and 4. Bass, 5. Accustic. 6 Baratone
To me you should have a quiver that allows you to contrast with and complement the other guitars in your band. So,
1. A Fender style guitar (I love non-maple Strats)
2. A Gibson style guitar (the 335 is the perfection of the Gibson thing to me)
3. Something in between the two extremes (a Firebird is my pick)
A strat style, a LP or SG style, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, and then a cheap electric to mod and learn how to tinker
Lol, one of my bass guitars only has one pup. Does that count?
My approach was to have gear for home recording and I’ve had most of my gear for about 20 years. When I started I thought I needed a Les Paul and a strat, to get most of the basic electric guitar sounds, and then bought a used acoustic for $100 that is playable and sounds like an acoustic guitar. Needed a bass and found a gem of an Ibanez for $190 that is still rock solid almost 20 years later, but isn’t heavy like rocks. Later on I got another strat and another bass guitar for fun, learning how to mod and repair guitars. Despite Glen, I think that a strat and a LP sound very different, but I don’t play metal
My top five guitars are the ones I own: a Strat, a Tele, a Gibson Les Paul, a good acoustic mine is Gibson j35 faded, a guitar with p 90s, mine is an epiphone casino
I am missing a dual humbucker guitar... perhaps.
I have a Gretsch 5420 with filtertron pickups but I think I need (want) a proper two humbucker guitar, maybe a Les Paul or 335. I also have a Casino and a Strat. I seem to have a thing for hollowbpdy guitars as the Strat is a Kenny Wayne Shepard signature model with a the chambered body.
I aksi have two acoustics, a Guild dreadnaught and a Tak OM.
overall Im pleased with my selection. I have gone over getting a Tele then maybe a 335 style then I think maybe a Les Paul then start the process all over again.
I love this topic and your choices. So I actually don’t own 5 guitars yet but here is what I got. Tele (American) single coils, strat (Squier classic vibe 50’s) sss with Gilmour mod, jazzmaster (Squier classic vibe 60’s) with actual P90’s (not the jazzmaster single coils) an epiphone j200 acoustic/electric. My next guitar will be a humbucker guitar- les Paul, SG, or a PRS HH.
I have a lp jr, lp special lp studio a strat 2 teles and an Ibanez as73 and a dreadnought acoustic I love all of them
I wanna first run mint Jaguar, AWashburn A-20 stage series, A mid '70's SG, a Telecaster from the late 50's, and a Frankenstein guitar from Tokai in the late 80's. And if a crossroads demon to teach me to play them all then I would set.
5 guitar dream list :
Guild Surfliner Deluxe ( I guess this is my strat choice?)
Gretsch with Bigsby, any semi-hollow
Telecaster
Schecter Purple explorer style
Adam Jones signature Les Paul
Jazzmaster
i have had most of these styles in my life except for a strat. i have strat shape single humbucker guitar. but its not what you mean. its a mental thing but i dont like guitars with middle pickups. so for single coil i go tele. i suppose with a strat i could just deck the middle pickup flush to the pickguard.
1 - Les Paul
2 - Mustang
3 - Gretsch Semi-Hollow
4 - Epi Casino
5 - Acoustic
I got a variant of everything mentioned, But the single pickup guitar. I’ve been wanting a LP JR for some time. So hopefully soon.
I hated tele’s for decades. Then I got one. Now have 3 different versions lol.
Oddly I swap between a Tele and an 8string LTD on the regular that’s a neck profile and nut width change that will scramble your brain at first.
For me...
1. Strat because they just melt away and tuck up against you. They're a very comfortable guitar
2. Les Paul because they just make your feel cool and they have a vibe of their own
3. SG with a vibrola, gotta have the vibrola on them and they are different again from the Les Paul
4. A Tele with '50-'67 style wiring so that you have the dark circuit. Try it cranking the gain on your amp with one of them in the neck position
5. A 12 string. Nothing else sounds like a 12 string, whether it's an Electric XII or an acoustic 12 string
As a wildcard, I'd also add a semi hollow or hollow body of your choice. For me, I gravitate to single cut Gretsch semi hollows for that vibe
Hey, I'm sad to say I started out not wanting a tele at all, I don't even remember why, boy was I wrong, I now have a tele, an lp and a ibanez jem. I'm 100% with you on this, own different guitars, try different guitars if you can, the joy is in the experience, great video man.
Dylan, relatively new to your channel but really trust your judgment already. Looking for some advice
This video was very timely for me in a way. I’m new to guitar and got a bad case of the GAS. I own a partscaster Strat, a Les Paul goldtop tribute, and a Reverend Sensei Jr (single bridge p90 guitar). 3 of the guitars mentioned in this video.
I like my strat. That’s staying. I recently bought the LP goldtop but have been a little underwhelmed. For whatever reason, those humbuckers sound muddy or harsh unless I spend a decent chunk of time dialing things in. My Sensei on the other hand seems to be an easy button - it usually sounds great without much effort.
Here’s the problem and I hope you’ll help me out. I am lusting for a p90 Yamaha Revstar. I think they look and sound great and I like the idea of having the versatility of two pickups. And I can afford to buy one used, but I’m strictly a hobbyist. So one of the following is true:
1) I should buy it and then I can have a “shootout” between it and the sensei and the LP. Keep the one (or maybe two) I like the best and devote the time to really get the most out of them
2) I’m a dope for even considering another guitar. I have more than enough. Don’t buy anything else until I have justifiably outgrown what I have
I know this is all subjective / personal preference, but I’d really appreciate an informed opinion. I’m wasting too much time going back and forth like this in my head
Thank you
My 5 required electric guitars are as follows:
1. S Style - SSS configuration (Music Man Cutlass and G&L Comanche are my fav’s)
2. T Style - SS configuration (G&L ASAT and something Thinline are what I go for)
3. “Surf” Guitar - 2 p-90’s or similar with a wiggle stick (G&L Doheny is my choice)
4. LP Style - Might be 2-for-1 category because I like having both humbucker option and p-90 option
5. Semi-hollow archtop - I LOVE the Gretsch White Falcon and can work with a 335 or equivalent
The most important thing is to have something that makes me want to pick up the guitar and play… every damn day. I’ve owned guitars since I was 10 yo, but didn’t play every day early on because my beginner acoustic did little to get me excited about the idea of playing guitar. My skill level and what it meant for the range of sounds I could make left me in a vicious cycle of not playing because I sucked and sucking because I didn’t want to play. Maybe it is a personality flaw, but I needed to variety and excitement from the variety to make me want to grab that guitar of the day and play something new.
Thanks for the topic, Dylan. Everybody take care and be kind to one another. ✌🏼
The only one I don’t have yet is a single-pickup guitar. In recent years, I’ve been exploring shorter scales and different pickups. Also got my first headless a year or two ago. Next up may be a semi-hallow. I’ve never been one to seek a “signature sound”, so I like filling out my toolbox with different options that will fit different situations or inspire me to play something I otherwise might not.
For me, it's kind of always been a T-style, LP-Style (I have a Fender Toronado I really like in this category, in addition to an LP Deluxe), A hollow-body (335 knock-off in my case), acoustic and a bass guitar .. Just like drumming, I think playing bass improves my guitar playing in a way just practicing guitar can't or doesn't
Yamaha Pacifica 611 with a 7 way switch mod (awesome)
G& L Tribute asat classic with a 5 way switch mod (I just wanted a better switch)
A samick ultramatic with 1 mini humbucker and I've sh4 (probably putting another mini in it soon)
Jumbo acoustic, spruce top
Dreadnought acoustic, cedar top.
I feel like the asat is pretty particular, as I sometimes miss more classic tele sounds that this guitar doesn't do -the MFD pickups are f*cking muscular compared to standard t style pickups and sometimes it bugs me. I don't think I'll change em though.