gretsch

One to rule them all – which guitar is the best all-rounder?

Guitars & Gear

I an article earlier this year, I weighed-up which two guitars in my collection would be the ultimate top two – the two I could take along to any gig any be comfortable they would cover (almost) any style of music being played. This is especially useful for me at studio dates, where surprise requests can often occur, and I don’t usually have capacity to take my entire guitar collection along to every session!

In the end, after examining different types of guitar (differentiated largely by their pickups), I concluded that – for me – one of my Stratocasters and a p90-type guitar (in my case this Gould Stormbird) made a winning combination in terms of tones and range of genres. With these two, I could cover everything from jazz and funk to classic rock and noisy indie, and everything in-between.

But what if you could only take one guitar out? Which one would it be?

In the original post, I sang the praises of the 335-type guitar, which only just missed out on making it into the ‘top two’. I love my own 335 copy, but I felt more confident taking a Strat to a gig with multiple (or unknown) genres on the go, mainly because the single-pickup solid body cleans up better, is far less prone to feedback onstage (especially when playing heavier styles), and offers more tonal options. Also, I think the fact that I’ve played Strats since I was sixteen likely played a part in my thought process. I sometimes take a job where I don’t know exactly what I’ll be asked to play until I arrive, so familiarity with an instrument I trust is crucial.

However, I might have been a little unfair to the 335, and feel like I’ve changed my opinion in the last few months. I’ve certainly been using one as my main guitar for 80% of my gigs this year so far, and it performed perfectly at my most recent studio bookings – but would I be happy with it as my only guitar for any gig?

Let’s look at the three types of guitar by pickup type again, with a summary of what I use them for, as well as a few examples of where I use them professionally.

Single-coil solid body guitars (Strat, Tele, Danelectro, etc)

Classic guitar tones – bright and clear with lots of twang or spank to their sound
Sound great overdriven, but retain some of their original character
Sit well in a mix with other instruments/guitars
Reliable, solid instruments which are easy to mod
Perfect for: pop, funk, country, blues, rock, indie
Can be noisy, especially in high-gain settings

P90 solid body guitars (Stormbird, Some PRS models, some Teles, etc)

Beefed-up version of a classic single-coil sound
Beautifully warm, yet still clear, distorted sound
Great ‘best of both worlds’ between a single-coil and humbucking pickup
Covers most styles (but volume has to be rolled back slightly for cleaner sounds)
Can be very noisy in certain settings

Humbucker solid body guitars (Les Paul, SG, PRS)

The classic overdriven guitar sound, warm but aggressive
Warm, full sound for jazz (with the volume rolled back a little)
Perfect for: Rock of all types, jazz and blues
Not as good as single-coils for those iconic glassy clean sounds

Humbucker semi-hollow guitars (335, Elderwood, etc)

A humbucking guitar with a slightly airier sound
Lighter than a Les Paul (to save your poor back!)
Capable to playing most styles imaginable
Perfect for: jazz, funk, soul, blues, classic rock
Neck & Bridge pickups together gives a wonderful funk tone
Prone to feedback onstage, especially in higher-gain settings

Picture credit: Music Radar

Final thoughts

Which would I choose? I still couldn’t say for certain. It depends so much on the gig in question, but if I wasn’t sure what I was going to asked to play, I expect it would be the Strat or the 335 I’d be reaching for. I guess it comes down to a choice between a solid body or (semi) hollow bodied guitar; whether I’m seeking the thicker snap of the Strat, or the airier sound of the 335.

And of course, bear in mind that we’ve only been discussing electric guitar options here – if I was really unsure about the requirements for a studio date, I’d have an acoustic packed into the car too!

But what about you? Obviously, what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for everyone, which is why I’d love to hear your thoughts – get in touch!

Great Guitarists #10: Mary Osborne

Great Guitarists

In this, the tenth installment of my Great Guitarists series, I’m a little ashamed to say we have only looked at male guitar players so far. So, to round off my first ‘dectet’ of influential guitar players (and keeping in a jazz theme, like the previous installments), let me introduce to you Mary Osborne…

Picture Credit: Gretsch, 1959

Osborne was born into a musical family in North Dakota, 1921. Both her parents were musicians and her father’s barbershop was a known gathering place for local players. Already playing live by the time she was a teenager, Osborne was influenced by the playing of early jazz pioneers Django Reinhardt and Eddie Lang. However, it was Charlie Christian who first captivated her, and mentored her for a while, fine tuning her great sense of swing.

Osborne’s career ranged from trios (her own, and the Winifred McDonnell Trio near the start of her professional career), as well as some work as a sideman (or sidewoman) for the likes of Buddy Rogers, Joe Venuti (whose act included vocalists Kay Starr and The Andrews Sisters), amog many others. In the first of two spells in New York, she was the guitarist in Minton’s house band, where bebop was invented during the jams the legends of jazz had there. Her career continued throughout her life, and she was still performing live up until her death in 1992, at the age of seventy.

Osborne (R), with Billie Holiday (L), 1958. Picture Credit: Nancy Miller Elliot

Equipment

Osborne purchased the same model of Gibson archtop that Charlie Christian played – the ES-150, an early version of the classic archtop ‘jazz boxes’ we know and love today. It came with a large spruce body and a single-coil pickup near the neck, itself containing a large magnet that helped deliver good definition and attack. She later played other guitars by Gibson, as well as models by Gretsch, such as the White Falcon. In the 1970’s, Osborne founded her own guitar company, Osborne Sound Laboratories, formed from the ashes of the Mosrite Guitar Company (whom her husband had worked for at the end of the 1960’s). Osborne Sound Laboratories made amplifiers personally tested by Mary herself, as well as a selection if interesting instruments (including funky looking solid bodies such as in the picture below). Sadly, they couldn’t penetrate the market due to the dominance of the big manufactures, such as Fender (despite their well-known quality issues in this decade) and the company folded in 1980.

Osborne Sound Laboratories guitars from the 1970’s. Picture Credit: VintageGuitar.com

Recommended listening

Osborne’s 1959 LP A Girl And Her Guitar (Warwick) stands testament to her talents in a golden era for jazz guitar. Her later record Now And Then (Stash, 1981) shows a player who survived longer than most of her contemporaries, and continued to play beautifully.

Also, check out The Mighty Two (1963, Roulette), an LP by the two legendary drummers Louis Bellson and Gene Krupa. Although this was conceived as an instructional album for budding drummers, several tracks feature six musicians accompanying both drummers through nine of the songs on the record. As well as featuring Osborne on guitar, you can hear Milt Hinton (bass), Joe Wilder and Joe Newman (trumpet), Phil Woods (alto sax), Dick Hymen (piano) and Tyree Glenn (trombone) – something of a who’s who in sidemen for the time. The ensemble playing is tight, and the entire LP is a unique artefact of jazz history.