Best Country Guitar?

Billy Henderson · Post by **Billy Henderson** » 28 Nov 2004 1:21 pm

Which guitar with what set up (electric) do you think is the best all around guitar for country, new and old and Rockabilly too?

John Rosett · Post by **John Rosett** » 28 Nov 2004 2:22 pm

well, i'm using a fender '52 reissue telecaster through a late '70's vibrolux reverb with two 10" speakers. i'm not using any effects. it sounds great for hard core honky tonk, western swing, rockabilly, etc.
i used to play a '67 gretsch tennessean, and was also great for all of the above.
john

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 28 Nov 2004 4:04 pm

well there's really only three types of guitar players out there..

Tele' players
Those that want to be Tele players
and those never will be

this should get things going !

I'm in the 52RI club with a Hot Rod Deville 2x12 60 watt'er

ok, I can take it...let me have it..

t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 28 November 2004 at 04:05 PM.]

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 28 Nov 2004 5:30 pm

Tele by far although a 335 comes close.

Leslie Ehrlich · Post by **Leslie Ehrlich** » 28 Nov 2004 6:21 pm

A Gretsch hollow body electric.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 29 Nov 2004 5:17 am

Well, I like my Gibson ES-175 for classic country, since Grady, Hank, Billy, Harold, and some more guys, were playing hollow-bodied guitars in the late 50's, on all them classic tunes. I have a Telecaster, but I usually play it with delay and compression, so it sounds like a Telecaster, and not like a Jimmy Bryant record. My Strats, and the Les Paul, show up at some gigs, but not as often as they used to be...Guess that's what happens when you're a wannabe has-been.
But I really like my '55 Martin D-28. THAT'S a country guitar!

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 29 Nov 2004 6:12 am

There's a discernible move among the big boys towards Telecasters with a third pickup, like a Strat.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 29 Nov 2004 6:15 am

David, you mean, some guys wanna sound DIFFERENT??? WHADDA they think they're doing, being CREATIVE????

Shaan Shirazi · Post by **Shaan Shirazi** » 29 Nov 2004 6:23 am

I'm from the Telecaster through a late 70's Vibrolux school too. I also add a little BOSS Compression and Analog Delay.

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The Pickin' Paniolo

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 29 Nov 2004 7:06 am

Telecaster, what else? I built mine with three pickups and a 5-way switch – bridge/bridge&middle/bridge&neck/middle&neck or neck pickup.
Classic Tele bite plus some nice Strat flavors.
Always with a little bit of Boss CS-2 compression.
Locking Schaller ebony button tuners, bakelite pickguard, vintage pickups - and the back is also bookmatched curly birdseye maple. Yum!

[This message was edited by Per Berner on 29 November 2004 at 08:14 AM.][This message was edited by Per Berner on 29 November 2004 at 11:21 PM.]

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Nov 2004 7:15 am

Leave it to a Swede to come up with an outstanding guitar!!!
Erv

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 29 Nov 2004 7:36 am

Ya Ho !

indeed Erv, them left handed Norsemen better stick to road buildin'....

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 29 Nov 2004 9:49 am

My favorite guitar for all 'round playing is an '83 top loader Tele with 3 pickups. It has Gibson mini-humbuckers from an old Les Paul Deluxe in the neck and middle slots and a Seymore/Duncan quarter pounder single coil at the bridge position. I like the neck and bridge combination for rock-a-billy and this guitar does it great. I do some gigs with an Elvis impersonator and this guitar is great for the old Scotty Moore Sun record stuff. I don't like 5 way switches so I have 3 mini toggles to turn on/off each pickup. In my Nashville Deluxe Tele I replaced the 5 way switch with a normal 3 way and added a mini-toggle between the volume and tone knobs to turn on/off the middle pickup.......Have a good 'un..JH

Billy Henderson · Post by **Billy Henderson** » 29 Nov 2004 11:31 am

Didn't see anyone mention a b bender. Why not a bender on your tele?

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 29 Nov 2004 11:57 am

I agree. For me it would be a Tele with a bender. Gretch would be also there as a second guitar.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 29 Nov 2004 4:25 pm

Tele.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 29 November 2004 at 07:52 PM.]

Jim Peters · Post by **Jim Peters** » 29 Nov 2004 5:34 pm

I vote Tele, I have 2, one a Nashville Tele, bone stock, the other a Stew Mac Ash body, Warmoth strat neck, Epiphone mini neck pu, Seymore Duncan bridge, and Carvin stacked middle Pu. That mini is a killer neck PU. I play thru a Deluxe or Reverfend Hellhound, but 99% is Nashville tele thru Deluxe, with a little Ts9 for distortion. JP

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 30 Nov 2004 2:55 am

I did buy one of the Fender "Benders" when they came on the market mid 90's or so..It had the Parsons /Green I believe..man it was heavy !

I played it for about 2 years..and just when I was gettin' those B bends down..

I traded it for a Strat ... I should have kept it because I sold the Strat soon after as well. other than being heavy it was a fine playing axe, a bit on the bright side though.

But all in all it worked out fine because at the end of the day with all my Horse trading I ended up with my favorite Tele' of all time, being the 1989/52RI..

I also acquired a 50's classic with Noiseless PUPS which I added a B5 Bigsby to and a mid 80's MIJ Squire which is a real fine player too...where I added a HB'ker in the neck position.

And I also picked up a 1 piece Ash Body which will end the life of probably the 50's classic as it is now...

I guess this stuff never ends..

t[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 30 November 2004 at 03:02 AM.]

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 30 Nov 2004 4:59 am

Hey Billy, as far as B-Benders go I've got a couple of 'em. My main Tele I described before has a HipShot unit which raises the 2nd string to C# and a flip lever which lowers the 5th string A to G. Also the guitar has Keith/Scruggs tuners on strings 1 & 6 to lower them to D. Those along with the flip lever on string 5 gives me an open G chord all the way across. Also I have an old Ibanez Artist solid body which has a Bigsby Palm Pedal to raise the 2nd and 3rd strings a whole tone each. This guitar also has Keith/Scruggs tuners on all 6 strings to lower them a whole tone each except for the 3rd string which only goes a half tone. With this one I can get open G, open D, DADGAD, dropped D, double dropped D, and other nice stuff. I use this guitar a lot for slide so the strings are a little heavier and the action just a tad higher than my main guitar. Have a good 'un..JH

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Don Joslin · Post by **Don Joslin** » 30 Nov 2004 6:18 am

About a year and a half ago I decided to quit trying to be Joe Satriani and go back to playing country and swing. The first thing I did was sell my hot rod Jackson and buy an American Tele.

Don

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Country Music - (kun'tree myoo'zik) n. - Three chords and the
--------- truth.

Howard Tate · Post by **Howard Tate** » 30 Nov 2004 10:23 am

I like teles very much, played one for years, but now I would not trade my '71 Les Paul Recording for anything. The low impedence p.u.s and many controls, including decad control which changes the value of the caps, gives me a lot of different sounds. I've used it since the mid seventies and have never seen another on a bandstand.

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Howard, 'Les Paul Recording, Zum S12U, Vegas 400, Boss ME-5, Boss DM-3
http://Charmedmusic.com

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 30 Nov 2004 10:54 am

The Gibson guitar is a great country guitar. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel

Richard Bass · Post by **Richard Bass** » 30 Nov 2004 12:22 pm

At the start of my career I used a Gibson 335, this was the early to mid 60's. Then I went to a Tele and finally a Tele w/3 pickups. All were great guitars.
Richard

Jesse Harris · Post by **Jesse Harris** » 30 Nov 2004 5:12 pm

come on fellas, I understand your drive to be open minded, but lets keep it real, with few exceptions its all about Teles and Fender amps.

the MIM 50s classic os a great country guitar for around 500, much more of a twangy guitar than the am standards which are twanged-down to appeal to a wider array of players. In my opinion its hard to get good twang without the ashtray bridge and 3 saddles, however it doesnt seem like brent mason has any trouble with his american standard bridge

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 30 Nov 2004 5:25 pm

After being a Strat man for almost 30 years I switched to a Tele half a year ago. Never looked back, and I use it for all my guitar work. It may be a 'simple' guitar but it's more versatile than it pretends to be...

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com