Does the type/brand of guitar matter?

I'm a sorta intermediate player, I've been playing for about 3 years, teaching myself along the way (i can't afford lessons, lol) i was just wondering if the type/brand of your guitar makes a difference in sound or style? Should you use a certain type for rock and a different type for blues, etc.?

Originally Posted by: ibanezMan90I'm a sorta intermediate player, I've been playing for about 3 years, teaching myself along the way (i can't afford lessons, lol) i was just wondering if the type/brand of your guitar makes a difference in sound or style? Should you use a certain type for rock and a different type for blues, etc.?

There are a number of things that affect the sound of your guitar. Even within a brand, different models sound quite different, like Fender Telecaster & Fender Stratocaster. Then there is the type of pickups, type of material the guitar is made from and even the shape of it, what effects you apply, what amp you use and on and on. I personally find the Strats ubiquitous, so I would never purchase one heheh (*puts on Flame Retardant Underwear*). JK JK JK! :)

Hi ibanezMan90,

Generally speaking, an overdriven rock guitar uses humbucker pickups while blues guitars use single coils like Stevie Ray Vaughn or humbuckers like B.B. King.
For a rock sound you're gonna crank the gain and lower the master while blues is the opposite, lower the gain and crank the master for just a little bite and adjust the tone to your liking and for a bluesier tone try using the neck pickup. You're gonna hear more of the guitar's natural tone with a blues setting and I've noticed that the strat shaped Ibenez's I've played are really fast and a little thin sounding, getting more of the tone out of the electronics, so if you're looking for a bluesier tone and you're using one of these Ibanez's you might want to add a little more bass and mid to your tone setting.
Everyone will have different opinions on this but this is a good place to start.

Neal
=:D

This is interesting and made me pull out my Hag for some play today. When I picked up the guitar again a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get a Gibson L6, which happens to have Humbuckers. So that is what I've been playing the past month.

After reading Neal's reply, I decided to pull out the Hagstrom and I was profoundly reminded of the amazing difference between single coils (or single pick ups? I'm not sure the correct way to say it.) and humbuckers. Amazingly bright, and aggressive sound. Just bites right thru me. In my novice mind I thought it would be just a matter of cranking the EQ, but not so.

Now I'm torn which I want to play. :)

There's so many tone possibilities, glad I could inspire some experimentation.

:)

What's important is whether you are happy with the instrument you are playing. Any style of guitar can be used for any style of music its really up to you. You also don't have to settle with just a single guitar. Guitar sounds are like textures, you can experiment in using them in different ways to create whatever style you want.

If you want a really versatile guitar, try the H-S-S (Bridge:Humbucker; Middle and Neck: Single-Coil) pickup configuration or the shredder favorite, H-S-H (Bridge and Neck: Humbucker; Middle: Single-Coil). You could also add coil-tapping to the humbuckers to allow for single-coil sounds from the humbucker positions.

Originally Posted by: ibanezMan90i was just wondering if the type/brand of your guitar makes a difference in sound or style? Should you use a certain type for rock and a different type for blues, etc.?

The type/brand of your guitar (and where it's made) probably matters most for resale value!

But seriously, as others have pointed out, certain basic guitar configurations are often identified with certain styles of music. If you know what style you'll be playing for let's say, the next 5-10 years, your choice of instrument may be very easy and specific.

On the other hand, if you're still learning & vacillating between styles, you might want to choose a guitar that's pretty versatile. For rock & blues, you have your basic 2 models that most are based off of - Fender stratocaster types & the Gibson dual humbucker types.

That said, you don't have to buy a Fender or Gibson, since most electric guitar manufacturers make models quite similar to both that can serve you well for a fraction of the cost.