What's with guitarists switching from Gibsons to Fenders later in their careers?

[Rick 381]

I think some old blues guys, BB king for one

Never seen B.B. with a strat. Even as a kid playing his gear was always Gibson.

[Willyguitar]

In the case of Jeff Beck and Clapton, I'm pretty sure it was a lot to do with the influence of Hendrix.

For most of the others, they probably don't get as anal about it as people on here. Strats are just very user friendly and flexible.

[JoJo68]

Lose their ear for tone?

[AxAxSxS]

versatility is the name of the game. I can play everything a Gibson player plays with a strat, but I cant do everything a strat can with a gibson. I like em both, but the strat does have a little more to offer variety wise.

[Willyguitar]

versatility is the name of the game. I can play everything a Gibson player plays with a strat, but I cant do everything a strat can with a gibson. I like em both, but the strat does have a little more to offer variety wise.

 

 

Yes - there is something in that... especially when you consider that these old masters have a huge back catalogue of quite varied stuff to (potentially) perform. The strat is probably the middle way through most of it.

[seven58]

Old people are on fixed incomes. Strats are cheaper.

[Yogi_Sizzle]

actually clapton was playing Fenders before he played Gibsons:


back in the Yardbirds days

[Willyguitar]

It's so that they can allow us (slightly) younger people to seem much cooler when we decide to play telecasters instead.

[Tom LP]

Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend are all musicians who helped make the Les Paul and the SG the rock staples they are today, yet they play Strats almost exclusively these days. What gives? Can their old shoulders no longer handle the heft of an LP? Do their deals with Fender preclude them from playing anything else (not counting Townshend)? Can anyone think of a counter-example where musicians started out on Strats and jumped to the Gibson camp?

 

 

I couldn't say for sure why they switched, but I think their tone suffered for it. I'm a huge Clapton fan, but I don't think he has ever got as good as or better tone than in his Gibson days.

[GuitarNoobie]

Old people are on fixed incomes. Strats are cheaper.

[headstash]

Does it really matter who played which type of guitar when? We all have our current preferences and those preferences can change for a variety of reasons. Guitar legends are just people and their preferences can change as well.

[paulisme]

I'm not sure I buy the versatility argument. It makes sense for someone with a budget who can only afford one or two guitars, but a guy like Clapton has pretty much unlimited access to any gear he wants, and could easily switch axes during a set like many people do.

[jbiggs1]

i like playing all of them?? Fender's, Gibson's, Gretsch's...i don't understand why it seems to be one of the other for some people..they all do their thing very well.

[paulisme]

I just read Clapton's Wikipedia page where it says he started playing one because his idols Buddy Holly and Buddy Guy played Strats and because Steve Winwood had started playing a Strat. I guess he chose his guitar the same reason most of us do: because our heroes play them.

[clay sails]

Knopfler was already mentioned as going "the other way".

 

Dave ("The Edge") Evans plays a Less Paul more often than a strat these days...

[Belva]

I started with a strat copy. I had an SG for a short while, but when the neck came loose from the body I went back. Now I play a strat with a 24&3/4" conversion neck. Go figger!

[mightysasquatch]

Roy Buchanan went from a Fender to a Les Paul in the mid 80's until he died.

[Clinically Deaf]

I started with a strat copy. I had an SG for a short while, but when the neck came loose from the body I went back. Now I play a strat with a 24&3/4" conversion neck. Go figger!

 

 

How do you like that? I've often thought of doing that, but the possibility of slight intonation problems deters me.

[Belva]

How do you like that? I've often thought of doing that, but the possibility of slight intonation problems deters me.

 

Warmoth and USACG both make the conversion necks. Yes they intonate fine.

I got one because I had a strat body and my small hands like the shorter scale.

Tommy @ USACG took good care of me. I'll be getting another one as soon as I can afford it (any rich guys out there with a single sister?).

[csm]

 

Dave ("The Edge") Evans plays a Less Paul more often than a strat these days...

 

 

When U2 started out, Edge's main guitar -- hell, in the REALLY early days his ONLY guitar -- was an Explorer. Later on he alternated it with a Strat (late 70s bighead, all black, maple board) and nowadays uses a whole bunch of guitars ... with a slight bias towards Gibsons: Explorer, Les Pauls, Strat and Tele.

[HRM]

When U2 started out, Edge's main guitar -- hell, in the REALLY early days his ONLY guitar -- was an Explorer. Later on he alternated it with a Strat (late 70s bighead, all black, maple board) and nowadays uses a whole bunch of guitars ... with a slight bias towards Gibsons: Explorer, Les Pauls, Strat and Tele.

 

 

Ya, I remember watching that U2 in IMAX thing a few years back; the guy switched guitars, like, every song it seemed. Dude's got some bank.

[Edward]

Ya, I remember watching that U2 in IMAX thing a few years back; the guy switched guitars, like, every song it seemed. Dude's got some bank.

Or maybe he hasn't if he spent that much on guitars!!!

I remember seeing U2 in Belfast on the Popmart Tour - August 1997. He switched guitars every two minutes.... not the only player I've seen do that. The funny thing was by the time he processed the soud so much through all those f/x and so on, each and every guitar sounded exactly the same. Maybe he was using different tunigs, maybe they were going out of tune quickly, maybe he thought it made for a flashier show or, hells, maybe he was thinking "I'm the Edge, biatch..... I can buy and play all teh guitars!"

[MoreGuitars]

I did it for weight. Also, I just don't feel like dragging my very valuable guitar's
out to some of the joints I've played. They are worth more than the bar!

[faberbz]

I remember seeing U2 in Belfast on the Popmart Tour - August 1997. He switched guitars every two minutes.... not the only player I've seen do that. The funny thing was by the time he processed the soud so much through all those f/x and so on, each and every guitar sounded exactly the same. Maybe he was using different tunigs, maybe they were going out of tune quickly, maybe he thought it made for a flashier show or, hells, maybe he was thinking "I'm the Edge, biatch..... I can buy and play all teh guitars!"

 

 

I saw U2 several times in the '80s when I was a kid. The Edge had strats every time.

 

But then the '90s happened and they got big, super big, and so did their shows. All those rapid-fire guitar changes are just part of it, IMO.

 

But he has had that same AC30 the whole time.

[Chairborne]

Older players tend to switch from the Gibsons of their youth to the Fenders of their dotage for the same reason the Viagra market tends toward old geezers.