Gibson vs Fender

Lets start a guitar feud. I believe that Gibsons have surpassed Fender purely in Humbuckers,Guitar videogames, and High Prices. I wonder why SRV, Hendrix,and Clapton chose Strats over Gibsons?(not being Sarcastic)

Fender has my vote!

well i guess in my case it would be a battle of EPI's vs Squires ... lmao

i say the EPI's have it ! but i still love my for fun custom mini dimeocaster.

i used to be a Gibson guy (ok Gibson knock off guy) then i got a mim Tele. oh the sweet tones i was able to pull off of those single coil's. yes it does not have the balls that buckers got but in tone it had so much more. i have since gotten a strat. one of the most verstile guitars every made, and it is so comfortable to play. but still i get more tone out of the tele. Now my gibby knock offs sit in a corner collecting dust.

Fender gets my vote

The guitars are so different. I can't choose. And maybe those artists felt strats were right for their music?

definitly depends on ur style of music, blues (normally) would use a SG or any double humbuckers, metal definitly works best with double humbuckers(LP SG)
BUT!!!!
Gibson gets my vote...
( i almost gave to fender just cuase thats what Yngwie uses..)

I have an Epi Les Paul and a Fender Squir Strat, I don't even touch the Fender. I gave over 600 dollars for the les paul and only 180 dollars for the Fender. My vote goes for gibson (Epiphone) but that might change if I had a nice Strat.

Videogames? lol

My first guitar was a Squire Fender Strat. I have never owned a Gibson but I am not keen on the Les Pauls or the SGs, it seems to me that everyone is playing Les Pauls, and I just don't like the look of the SGs, especially that double cutaway.

ye guitar hero lol.

i personally like gibsons sound more, fuller, deeper, not as much static on distortion, but thts just me.

i belive the reason tht those ppl played those guitars is because they were very early, 60s, and gibson was behind fender, and fender was considered a beter guitar at tht time, i may be wrong tho.(hendrix definalty wouldnt have played a gibson because of the whammy, and the style of them. he made all those noises tht dragonforce is famous for, all with whammy, look:



what a hellofa guitar solo, and a guy, he spoke through his music. the man played with his TEETH HIS TEETH, and tounge i heard, man thtll give u a hellofa blister lol.

I'm kind of in the middle on this. I'm not really experienced with either brand, so I can't say how they sound. I like the looks of Gibson Explorer and Flying V more than most Fenders, but most Gibsons that I have seen are expensive.



I agree that Epiphone is much, much better than Squire though. I heard Squire makes guitars out of plywood...

fender strats suck...id take any gibson over a strat any day. but fender tele's on the other hand... lets just say i was very surprised when i first played one. i was expecting it to be identical to the strat...i cant tell you how wrong i was. telecasters are incredible. every model ive played has rocked. they play amazingly fast, have great versatile tone and just feel nice to hold. so if the only guitar fender made was a Telecaster...it wouldnt even be close, fender would destroy gibson....but then they went and made the strat...bummer dude hehe...so overall, i have to give my vote to gibson, even though id take a tele over any gibosn. gibson just makes more, better all-around gutiars than fender does. (and yes i know fender makes more models than the tele and the strat.)

teles play suprisingly well but i still like gibson.

Yeah I know, doesn't make them a better brand though

true dat lol in my book, it makes them worse lol

Yes, give it up for the Telecaster. let all not forget some of the other models these companies made. I have a Gibson Maurader, what about the melody maker, thunderbird. Gibson made some great acoustic models too.

oh yeah and Fender had the Mustang and Jaguar, i'm sure there more but i'm at a loss.

Isn't the melody maker just a cheap beginners guitar?

melody makers can be a little expensive because they are vintage. but whoever came up with the idea to put a single P-90 in a miniature les paul wanna-be is a moron. so to be more direct- Melody makers are as mcuh for a beginner as a les paul. however, they dont hold high and mighty with most guitarists who've played them.

there are so many different model strats that you would need both hands...and possibly feet...to list them all. the only closest i ever came to buying a "strat" was the Fender Show Master. its pretty much a fat strat on steroids. two humbuckers, 24 frets(if i remember correct), a thinner body, sweet paint job and much smoother fret board. played very nice.

oh yea....you forgot...Gibson L5 and ES-335. Amazing gutiars.

My point is it seemed form this thread; fender made a Strat and Gibson made a SG and Les Paul, that was it. Fender did make other models of guitars besides the endless list of different Strats. Yes the Melody maker were crap, but they were Gibson's at an affordable price. same could be said about the maurader (less crappy).

How could i forget the ES-335 the old Dot....I'm a fool

what about the robot guitar?

ag! you should be ashamed hehe...only kidding...the ES-335 is a great guitar...havent played the robot one yet...i dont really dig the idea. kinda takes a little fun out of playing. i love tuning my instrument myself, makes me feel that much more attached. i try to make the instrument as much a part of me as i can...having a guitar that tunes itself, is like when your girlfriend gets a you-know-what and sticks it in you-know-where and leaves you out of all the fun. (i tried to make that pg-13)

I've had both and I think Gibsons are a bit easier to play than Fenders.Fenders seem a little hard on the fingertips (you seem to have to apply a little more pressure for a clean note). I think the "big boys" only prefer Fenders cause they are 'sexier' looking!

Ah right. I just wondered because I saw them at quite a low cost, and they looked pretty basic.

Just an afterthought, the question, why some of the more famous guitarists choose Fender over Gibson has, I believe, something to do with sponsorship IE who's giving away the most perks.

I never liked the way Fender anything plays dont know why Gibson are okay I liked the SG I was playing in Calf.,and I did have a Les paul I would def choose Gibson tho

I totally agree with Blackholesun. Too many people play LPs nowadays. I used to think LPs would smoke Strats in a Metal competition but then I discovered Dave Murray.LPs do not look like Heavy Metal guitars.LPs are good for Jazz, because of aesthetics and tone. To Blackholesun: Not just Videogames, but also cartoons (Metalocalypse)

@league: great players will sound great no matter what guitar they play.

@GuitarSlinger: and they'll sound even better with the right gear. :D

tru dat

(Off Topic)

But still if you play a whole lot of different tunings it's quite a big improvement since you wont have to use like 5 different guitars for one gig ;)

But I agree that it's really a waste buying the robot guitar if you just use it to tune the guitar regular tuning once or twice during a gig.

(On Topic)

Myself choose Gibson above Fender anyday, acoustic and electric, no doubt. I don't dislike Fender though.



tAUG

I've never played a Gibson that felt right, I've played a few Fenders that did. Something about them, both mentally and physically I love so much, although, I'd pick C. F. Martin over anything else, that's not what this is about. Last time I played either of their acoustics I wasn't feeling it.

As for those who play "metal," Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen... As it has been mentioned before, Guitars don't necessarily define the music, it's the artists that take that tool and do their thing.
I'll probably fall in love with some no-name electric, the mainstream ones seem too pricey for even half of its quality.

You're not wrong there Kickn, I played a Schecter the other day that knocked the spots off my LP Studio. I think big names are just for big egos nowerdays.

I would say Fender's Strat wins because of it's versatility. Plus, I've never heard of a case where Fender's neck-dived like Gibson's (from what I've heard).

Ah, yes Deefa, it's true to a degree. It's all in our mind as to what we like and what we see is worth while, but I find a lot not up to par with how they talk of it. C. F. Martins are amazing guitars, but only a few I've really enjoyed, and those where the higher end models. WHich would show the flaw in saying everything is hyped... it's not everything, just most of it.

The problem as I see it is they ( the big names like Gibson and Fender)are trying to get the best of both worlds.They are making top standard guitars costing thousands of pounds/dollars for the few who can afford them (top guitarists,pop stars and rich posers), then they make the cheaper range of questionable quality to attract the wannabes and people like myself who swallow the con that they'll be getting the best value for their money 'cause of the name (and reputation) it carries.It's a short term policy 'cause all they'll end up doing is ruining their reputation!

Deefa got it right. But on the last point - it's hard to destroy a *massive* reputation, so they can keep at it... and after all, they'll still have their top quality instruments.

Doz said:-

"it's hard to destroy a *massive* reputation, so they can keep at it... and after all, they'll still have their top quality instruments."

A few years ago I'd have agreed with you Doz, but to-day there's an incredible amount of 'quality ' competition on the market, something the 'big' boys have never had to face before. We all know what happened to British industry when it started resting on its laurels!

I agree deffa

Although I do agree with you on their being massive competition... but you've got to remember there's going to be new guitarists all the time who's dads have been into bands that used these massive brans like Marshall for amps, Gibson guitars etc.

I think that will always effect guitar newbies judgements. But yeah, anyone with a bit of experience can make better decisions.

As an artist I would not be against using both brands (or others). The companies' main models are tone opposites, which makes for a healthy, even if pointless, debate. Gibsons give you that ballsier (nice word) tone while a Fender will give you the bell-like single coil tone. PRS's on the other hand, GREAT guitars that can give you both tones, if not quite as ballsy as a les paul.

I'm a Gibson man through and through. Even with there over pricing I still want one, If I ever start playing with a gigging band I will have one.