Have your guitar/bass tastes changed?

[Brian Krashpad]

I'll admit, I stole this idea from another board.

We see it a lot-- someone starts out wanting flash and/or pointy guitars and later gravitates to the classics. Or maybe even vice-versa. Or goes from acoustic to electric, or vice-versa.

How about you?

My tastes haven't really changed. Never been into blingy or overly pointy. I like an unusual shape if it's not too weird. Have been able to pick up a few "nicer" guitars than I once had. But I still buy cheapies when they play well and add something to the "collection." Last couple years have been concentrating a little more on guitars with pickups besides Fender-style singles and standard humbuckers, and some semi-hollows for the first time rather than just solidbodies. I stated out on acoustic as a kid (early 70's) and played acoustics almost exclusively for the better part of a decade, then made the jump to electrics and don't play much acoustic anymore (though may play a bit more now that I'm getting back into church playing).

2001:

2002:

2007:

2009:

Have your tastes in guitars and bass changed? Have you finally gotten round to getting a different type of guitar or bass after sticking with something else for a long time?

Do tell.

 

[marnold]

Both of my guitars are rather boring takes on the basic Strat shape. My Fender has a carved top and a set neck which are really the only things that differentiate it from any other Strat from a body standpoint. My bass has a flat (i.e. non-carved top) version of the NS body shape which at least is not the ubiquitous Jazz/Precision style. I would prefer something with a more radical body shape but haven't found anything I could afford. Either that or I'd be sacrificing tone and playability for body shape which seems a bit silly.

I personally find most guitarists to be profoundly boring when it comes to guitar shapes. If Leo or Les didn't come up with it, it's not worth having. For a group of people whose general attitude seems to be quite left-of-center, guitarists are remarkably reactionary when it comes to their instruments. In the 80s lots of guys had wild guitar shapes in colors that I could never imagine wanting myself, but at least it was different and interesting, as opposed to the constant parade of sunburst Les Pauls or blonde Teles (not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, but come ON).

In the new Premier Guitar there's an interesting and refreshing interview with Adrian Belew (Frank Zappa, King Crimson) who really seems to have embraced new technology, including his signature Parker Fly.

 

[Robert]

I started out wanting a Les Paul, because of KISS.

Later, I got into heavy metal, and then it was all pointy guitars with Floyd Rose.

I had a period of high tech guitars too, like my Steinberger, when I was playing pop.

Then, I found my niche in blues and jazz, and from there on, I like strats, teles and vintage type of instruments.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

My bass has a flat (i.e. non-carved top) version of the NS body shape which at least is not the ubiquitous Jazz/Precision style.

NS? Sorry, you lost me.

I'm a little slow sometimes.

 

[marnold]

NS? Sorry, you lost me.

I'm a little slow sometimes.

NS is short for Ned Steinberger who designed the distinctive Spector body shape. They have other body shapes too but the NS is most commonly associated with Spector. See this page for some examples.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

NS is short for Ned Steinberger who designed the distinctive Spector body shape. They have other body shapes too but the NS is most commonly associated with Spector. See this page for some examples.

Thanks Rev.

I don't know zip about those high-end basses like Spector, Alembic, Lakland, etc.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

My tastes in amps has certainly changed, but I remain steadfast with the guitars.

 

[thearabianmage]

When I started out, it was all about BC Riches - Warlocks, Beasts, and Ironbirds.

Then I got my Jackson Dinky to have an easy guitar to travel around with, and over the course of a couple years, came to prefer it in many ways to the deceptively clever design of the Warlock. Then I got a Randy Rhoads Vee.

So I got into Spanish/Latin music and eventually got a decent nylon string.

Then, out of nowhere, comes an ES-335 copy.

Now, I want full-bodied jazz guitar, a steel-string acoustic, a 7-string, and - despite my initial strong dislike of the guitar - a tele.

I think I just like guitars. . . (but I've never liked 'funky' shaped guitars like Jags and Jazzmasters, even though I really want a Steinberger headless. . . go figure. . .)

 

[markb]

1978-1982: Jacobacci Js2 (SG-like)
1982-1990: Strats (various but all stock
1990-1992: Tele
1992-1995: Strat again
1995-1999: Les Paul
1999-2003:Strat again
2003-date: Mostly teles with occasional strat but that's turning the other way round again.

Basically Fender, then

 

[Spudman]

My tastes haven't changed except that I finally accepted the Telecaster style into my flock. I have no idea why I was resistant for so long unless it was because growing up all the country players had them and I was on the other end of the musical spectrum. Now I realize how good they are for rock too.

I guess somewhere along the way I accepted hard tails into the flock as well. I used to love to wiggle my tremolo and still do. I guess I've gotten a bit better about saying what I want without the wiggle.

 

[just strum]

My first desire was a Strat style and started with a Squier. I had two Squiers, but when I purchased the American Deluxe from Plank, the Squiers were gone. I've never been an LP fan, I think weight was my biggest reason for that, but very few really have ever caught my eye. My flirtation with LP came in the form of the Ibanez ARC300 and when I tried both at the stores, the Ibanez always won out. The closest I've come since then to an LP is the Washburn Idol.

One guitar that never really interested me was the Dot (335 style body guitar) and from the time I got the Dot, I was hooked. Since the moment I got the Dot, the 335 style became my #1 desire.

I like the style of the Wildkat.

I am actually happy with the guitars I have. A nice addition would be a Gretsch - one of the 6120's or to be more realistic in the cost department, a 5120.

If I would find a Tele that just "captured" my attention I would probably GAS for it, but to be honest, one Fender is enough for me.

So to answer the question, yes my tastes have changed, but always remained traditional.

 

[Fab4]

...at least it was different and interesting, as opposed to the constant parade of sunburst Les Pauls or blonde Teles (not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, but come ON).

I'm with you on the sunburst Les Paul thing. That's why I stretched my finances to get a custom Les Paul in this color:

My tastes haven't really changed but they have become more refined as I've learned more about what I actually like and what it takes to achieve the sounds I'm after. That's why I've made investments in custom and boutique instruments, as well as learning how to tech and modify my own instruments. I routinely change pickups in my guitars (those are Fralin P-92s in the blue Les Paul) and speakers in my amps to get to my "evolved" sound...and I may very well change them again as my tastes continue to evolve.

 

[marnold]

I'm with you on the sunburst Les Paul thing. That's why I stretched my finances to get a custom Les Paul in this color:

Oooooh, sparkly. I like that a lot. I like Muddy's green one too.

 

[kiteman]

My taste changed from cheap guitars to good guitars.

Seriously I was nuts about Gibsons and the clones, both LPs and SGs.

Now I like strats and super strats like my Carvins. :AOK:

 

[Fab4]

My taste changed from cheap guitars to good guitars.

Nicely put, Kiteman. Ironically, my blue sparkle Les Paul (Brunswick Blue is the official color name) was my attempt to recapture the look of my first pretty good guitar - a '75ish Les Paul Deluxe - on a REALLY good guitar.

I sold my old Deluxe after I realized there was nothing I could do to it to make it sound and perform like I (now) wanted it to. It had dead spots, very little acoustic resonance and, without routing it, minimal pickup options. Only mini humbuckers and P-90s would fit and those pickups don't work for me, although others get great sounds out of them.

The new one has terrific tone wood, is actually hollow (it weighs exactly 7 lbs.), has a nitro finish and absolutely sings with the Fralin P-92s. If I one day start selling off my gear, this guitar will be the last to go...unless, of course my tastes change.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Not really. Though I do admit that compared to when I tried to start several years ago with a cheap dreadnought acoustic, I spend way more time playing and much more often with my electric gear. I still like to go back to my acoustic (still the cheap dreadnought) but my electric stuff takes much more of my time now.

 

[Jimi75]

That's a nice thread even if it's stolen ! Krash, I think almost every guitarist runs through different periods. I started out as a pure Metal player, so I had all these fancy Metal guitars with Floyd Rose Systems (I still like the FR Sytem!), had some Jacksons and Charvels among them the newer Randy R. Model. After that RR Model phase I bought my first custom shop guitar from ESP, a Mirage Deluxe, a total Metal guitar with a thunder and lightning airbrush on it, man how I love this guitar, still own it and it is the best craftmanship on all of my guitars, but I can not play this dream on stage with a Blues band, this would be blasphemia. When I got into more adult oriented rock and Blues stuff I bought my first Fender Strat and from there on I was buying a lot of Strats, until one day I was called back by my old Metal band and so I bought a 7-string Squier, strange experience which wasn't meant to last for long, then fell into a Les Paul phase that lasted for two Les Paul Models (and one Line6 Variax in between), one Paul by LTD and one Paul by ESP which I still own and play a lot. So, if you ask if my taste has changed then I have to say yes it changed a lot when I was younger (there were times where I even liked a BC Rich Warlock), but now I feel kind of home with any type of Strat guitar.

:AOK:

 

[red]

Oh, definitely. After starting up typically a teenage metalhead know-it-all who wanted one guitar that could sound like any of the others on the flip of a switch, and have everything installed on it just in case I would need it, I've started subsequently to refine my tone - because of my changing taste in music, but mostly because I've come to terms with my limitations. I'm old enough and my playing time is limited enough that I'd rather build up my few strengths than try to conquer my infinite number of weaknesses. That's just my strategy, YMMV.

I do have an acoustic guitar, I couldn't handle being without one. They're just so warm and great, and you can play one even on the rare occasions when there's an electricity issue. If it was good enough for Robert Johnson... I've always had one, and God forbid if I only had to have one guitar it would be a good quality acoustic for what seems to me to be obvious reasons.

These days, I want simplicity above all, because I can't really handle a vibrato bar properly, and I don't ever need lots of distortion - so I make due with simple Fender Champion tweed-type amps with just a touch of reverb/delay and perhaps a tube screamer pedal in front. And cables.

I guess it's a bit like dating - you go out with enough people to find someone you can respect and trust and enjoy, and you stick with them after that - except polygamy is legal with guitars so you can have a couple of them. You don't know much when you start out, about yourself as a player, or the guitars as tools for expressing what you're about, but ideally you converge into the situation where you know what you really want.

My favourite types of electric guitars right now are Telecasters and Les Paul Juniors - single-coil bluesy twangy guitars. My choice is not based on looks (though I think they're pretty enough) - but on the wood used in the guitar, which is really it's tone (ash in a Tele and the mahogany of a Jr), on the type of pickups they use (I prefer the sparkle of single coils), and on sturdiness and simplicity (I don't ever want to buy another non-hardtail guitar again unless it's a total tone monster). I don't care much about looks at all actually, unless it is in some way obviously kitschy.

I'm a minimalist.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

My tastes haven't changed except that I finally accepted the Telecaster style into my flock. I have no idea why I was resistant for so long unless it was because growing up all the country players had them and I was on the other end of the musical spectrum. Now I realize how good they are for rock too.

I think that's true of a lot of rock players.

For a long time my main/only electric was something weird, an Ovation Breadwinner, but when I finally got around to something more traditional (besides a Ric 430 I had for a short period of time and foolishly sold), I went Strat rather than Tele. It took a couple years on Strat before I finally got a Tele, and now I prefer Teles to Strats.

 

[hubberjub]

I've become more traditional. My first guitar was a Gibson Flying V and my third guitar was a Shocking Pink Ibanez Jem. That was back when I had long hair and wore black metal shirts. I just can't pull off the agressive looking guitars with my current clean cut social worker looks.

 

[Fab4]

That was back when I had long hair and wore black metal shirts.

Cool. Were your shirts chain mail or more like plate armor? And didn't that black metal scratch the back of your pink JEM? :dude:

(Sorry. I'll try to control these impulses in the future...)

 

[hubberjub]

Cool. Were your shirts chain mail or more like plate armor? And didn't that black metal scratch the back of your pink JEM? :dude:

(Sorry. I'll try to control these impulses in the future...)

It was just spray painted aluminum foil. I wrapped myself in it to keep the government from reading my thoughts. They lost interest when they discovered how useless I was.

 

[kiteman]

I've become more traditional. My first guitar was a Gibson Flying V and my third guitar was a Shocking Pink Ibanez Jem. That was back when I had long hair and wore black metal shirts. I just can't pull off the agressive looking guitars with my current clean cut social worker looks.

Got a pic of that pink jem? :dude:

 

[hubberjub]

I don't think I have any pictures of mine. It was just like this but someone had swapped out the pink Dimarzios for EMGs. It had an outstanding neck.

 

[Robert]

hubberjub, I had one of those too, a lime green one. JEM777. I shoulda kept it!

One just like this one http://cgi.ebay.com.my/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270350891700

Which sold for 3,250 Euro... I think I sold mine for 800 bucks.... :thwap:

I didn't know this - http://www.vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/guitar019.html

 

[kiteman]

Whew, dayglo.

 

[hubberjub]

hubberjub, I had one of those too, a lime green one. JEM777. I shoulda kept it!

One just like this one http://cgi.ebay.com.my/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270350891700

Which sold for 3,250 Euro... I think I sold mine for 800 bucks.... :thwap:

I didn't know this - http://www.vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/guitar019.html

The green Jems were Loch Ness Green I think. That's a very rare color. I sold my Shocking Pink 777 in 1996 for $500. I wish I still had mine. I wouldn't be "man" enough to play it out but it was a conversation piece.

 

[Robert]

Hubberjub, those guitars are collectibles now. Dang, I should have kept mine. It was in good shape too.

 

[hubberjub]

Hubberjub, those guitars are collectibles now. Dang, I should have kept mine. It was in good shape too.

Oh, I know. C'est la vie.

 

[Spudman]

Hubberjub, those guitars are collectibles now. Dang, I should have kept mine. It was in good shape too.

And that is one reason why I still have so many guitars.