Do You Prefer Guitarists With a Fender/Gibson or a Boutique?

[john nam]

This might be a little off-topic, but would you rather see a good ol' Fender/Gibson or a boutique guitar in your bandmate's hands? This might in turn, help explain what our bandmates want to see in our hands.

Personally, I like it when the guitarist has either a vintage Strat/Gibson or even a crazy looking Tyler or something. Why? Because I can't help, but to think that Suhrs and Anderson's are Fender clones (even though they are not) whereas Tylers are completely original to me. I'm basing it purely on looks, since I'm a bassist and I know little about guitars, other than they're usually too loud

[4001]

I like it when the guitarist has a guitar that is set up properly, intonated and in tune.

[thorplaysbass]

As long as it doesn't look like he could stab me with it, it's cool

[Darkstrike]

Don't care, long as he can play it.

[tangentmusic]

I'm an old school/traditional guy. The classic Strat, LP or SG guitar in the hands of a good player is a thing of beauty...

[mellowgerman]

Beyond the obvious "he's a good guitarist" stipulation, I'd say neither. Idealistically they'd be slinging a vintage Guild Starfire III

[Phalex]

I like single coil bass pickups and humbucker guitar pickups. I really do like the sound of a Gibson, but there's nothing wrong with a start or a tele either.

I'm not a big fan of the super hot Steve Vai sounding über crunchy pickups however.

[DiabolusInMusic]

I'm just happy with a guitarist that doesn't suck....

[fkh006]

Originally Posted by 4001

I like it when the guitarist has a guitar that is set up properly, intonated and in tune.

What he said^^^^^ ;<)

Actually,
As long as they are awesome players I really don't care what what they are holding.

[BassBob1]

I've played with guitarist who have played gibson SG's and Les Paul's of different verities, fender strat's and tele's. I was in a band for though highschool where the guitarist played a fender jazzmaster and PRS. I've gotta say I could really care less what's in there hands. I'm more concerned about how they sound but I'll generally only make suggestions when they ask. Except in the case of the one guitarist from my old band. Always used way too much reverb to the point that his solos sounded like high-pitched mush. But the whole band felt that way. That said, I'm a sucker for a nice playing/sounding strat or tele, be it a fender, squier, G&L, or boutique.

[TolerancEJ]

Looks aren't important. As long as the guitarist has good chops, sense of time and proper tuning/intonation, he/she can play whatever instrument they wish. That is, as long as they don't force any opinions on my bass.

[spade2you]

As long as it sounds good and is reliable, I don't care what they use. I only care what I use.

[john nam]

I have to add that when I see a boutique guitar, I have a preconceived notion that they will overplay and when I see a black guitar of any kind, I expect to hear a lot of distortion. I will say though that the best players that I've personally played with have used Tylers, Suhrs, and Andersons.

[NGJBeaner]

Originally Posted by thorplaysbass

As long as it doesn't look like he could stab me with it, it's cool

Bahahha!

[Nev375]

I don't care if they play a 2x4 with one string held up with 2 rusty nails, a wedge for a tuner and a bottlecap piezo pickup. If they can make it sound cool, I'm down with that.

[Hamerguy]

I don't really care what the others use. As long as it fits well in the overall sound they should use what they feel comfortable with. I am also a guitar player in another band. I use the same brands of guitars (Gibson, Fender, Hamer - from a time when Hamer was as big as Fender and Gibson) as I do on bass. Amps are also popular brands, Marshall and Fender for guitar, Ampeg for bass. in the band I play guitar, the singer also plays a bit of guitar. He likes vintage equipment, as he uses an early 80's Fender Twin and various Rickenbacker guitars. Nothing against that, but I don't like when he tries to get that overdriven sound I use on some songs. While the Hamer (with EMG's and Floyd Rose) and Marshall (30th Anniversary) can do this sound well, he fails with his hollowbody Ricky, Fender Twin and a Boss ME-6 having lots of feedback problems. He sometimes uses a Squier Tele with bad noisy pickups. But he's always short on money and would never use a Strat, or a Gibson (because he just wants the look of Rickenbackers). Before, he was the bass player in the band and used a 4001 and an SVT. That sounded great, but his problem was playing bass alongside singing. So, we had him switch to guitar (when the other guitar player left) and get another bass player.

[tojge]

Originally Posted by john nam

I have to add that when I see a boutique guitar, I have a preconceived notion that they will overplay...

Funnily enough, I have the same notion when I see bassists with boutique instruments... sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm not. Goes to show, you never can tell.

To answer the original question, as much as I... ahem, dislike, Gibson basses, Gibson guitars are something else... Les Paul in the right hands is worth its weight in gold.

[lowfreq33]

When someone walks in with a Paul Reed Smith I know they're either going to be really good, or really bad. No in between.

[GM60466]

it doesn't matter

[MD]

I prefer hollow body jazz guitars; Joe Pass/George Benson style.