Question: Do you play Fender-style guitars in a very different way from Gibson-style guitars?

I kind of do. I’m still me, but I do lean towards what I hear the instruments strengths and colors are.
 
Some guitars are good for country, and some guitars are made for Jazz. Only Kramer guitars were made to play rock and rock hard.
 
DdBob said:
here's john on the Gibson
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Listening to that I'd say he is playing differently than I'd normally expect, but am I just confused by it being a different tone?

I don't think I am. I think I'd normally expect more Hendrix-y doublestops and choppy chords. The playing in the clip seems more '70s hard rock'.

I'm watching it again. I dunno, is it just the tone? What do you think?
 
Motorik said:
Listening to that I'd say he is playing differently than I'd normally expect, but am I just confused by it being a different tone?

I don't think I am. I think I'd normally expect more Hendrix-y doublestops and choppy chords. The playing in the clip seems more '70s hard rock'.

I'm watching it again. I dunno, is it just the tone? What do you think?
Click to expand...

He does sound different than how I remember him playing as a Strat player. More 70s arena rock energy. More long sustainy lines and boomer bends and wheedling.

Here’s a very dull, low quality video in which dude plays a vintage strat and demonstrates what he does putting together a song strat wise.



But maybe our boy just likes playing a load of meandering nonsense during a jam.

 
Jaguars are short scale aren’t they? White Falcons? He plays those too.

Dave Navarro gave him a Les Paul at one point which he sold for drugs.
 
IDK, I’m sure I make some adjustments guitar to guitar but it’s not usually a conscious thing.
I pretty much sound like me on anything. I don’t pick up an archtop and suddenly become Wes Montgomery, or pick up the SG and transform into an Angus clone.
My Tele doesn’t automatically turn me into a chicken pickin country boy.
But, trying out Smufcos Strat did cause me to ditch the pick and revert to fingers cause it sounded good. But then I’m prone to do that with any guitar from time to time.
 
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Yes, but I don’t know how much it has to do with the guitars themselves or what I was trying to do with them when I got them. Probably some combination of both.

First electric was a strat. Played a lot of blues. Hendrix style chord inversions.
Then got a Les Paul jr and really started rocking out.
Then I got a hollow body with a bigsby and started picking up gigs as a sideman. Lots of chord work and reverby stuff.
Then I got a badass tele. Country leads but also good for rocking out and blues.
 
I don't try to but probably do. The sound and tone is different along with the feel so certain passages that sound great on an LP will sound shrill on a Strat and vice versa.
 
Yes, they are both just guitars, but I've never felt particularly comfortable on Gibson solidbody electrics.
- The bridge and related height,
- the playing position dictated by how the bridge is laid out (exacerbated in the sitting position)
- the control layout/access

I'd have to spend some serious time to get comfortable on Gibsons and I might end up approach them differently during that attempt. That said, they are the instruments used to create and/or that inspired some of my favorite music.

I have played some great Gibson acoustics. I had a Gospel for a decade that I should've held on to. I also love the J-15, but they stopped making them and I'm not comfortable buying used solid wood acoustics. But I digress...

This is pretty obvious hyperbole from John. These different takes on the electric guitar are inspiring him to approach music creation and playing differently. This thread essentially corroborates this perspective.
 
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An observation: To me Fenders generally seem to have better intonation than Gibsons. Therefore I prefer playing chords above the 12th on the Strat rather than on the LP.
 
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