The one email I answer more than any other has to do with choosing an electric guitar for playing the blues…

To go along with that, I’m often asked why I chose the guitar that I chose for any particular video..

For me it’s all about the tone and the sound and what I’m going for. Whether it’s a lesson video or a recording session for my own music or someone else’s… the tone drives the decision.

However, from that point, obviously a lot of things can change, and your needs are probably different from mine, so I’ll show you how I approach it and how you can use that information to make an informed buying decision if you need to.


    11 replies to "Choosing A Guitar And Why I Use What I Use"

    • Dan

      Excellent comments as I’m looking at another electric guitar besides my Les Paul. The one thing Griff doesn’t mention that I remember, is the fact that for many amps, you’ve got the ability to change your sound far much more than the choice of using single coil vs. humbuckers, choice of strings, or even choice of electric guitar (assuming it works). On the other hand, applying tone controls on your amp has different effects on different guitars, so your range of possible sounds using a single amp varies for the guitar. Then it gets really complicated IMHO when trying to choose both a guitar and amp, and the differences are usually subtle, but not always.

      For me, I just decided that for my electrics, a good quality Les Paul, and a good quality Stratocaster with a humbucker in the bridge position (aka a HSS vs the typical SSS pickups) gives me what I want. Which is great because my wife just told me she bought me the Strat for Xmas!!! I’m stoked.

    • Pete

      Awesome video learning so much with each one thx!!!!!!

    • Kyle

      Great info. Any chance of doing the same type of video focused on acoustic guitars?

    • Tim Moran

      After a couple of decades of playing a Strat, the first electric I ever bought, I decided it sounded kinda thin and brittle – so I bought a hollow body guitar with humbuckers, and got the richness I was looking for. Great post, Griff.

    • Lou Hudson

      My favorite guitar *right now* is my Epiphone Casino. It has a set of P90s in it. Warm like a Gibson, bright like a Fender. But it’s also a true hollowbody, so it has these subtle harmonics going on as well.

      Griff is 100% correct. It is ALL about the tone. Every one of my guitars has a unique sound and each has their place – depending on the song and the tone.

    • Philip

      Hey Griff, thanks for the video. I wondered what are your thoughts on P90´s in general.
      I know your a Freddie King fan an his gold top LP with P90’s had a distinct tone.

    • Benton Howie

      What do you think of the hybrid guitars like the Taylor T5z?

      • Griff

        They’re great and serve their purpose well.

    • Ken Reimer

      I have a G&L Bluesboy, that has a humbucker in the neck and a single coil in the bridge. It also has the “belly cut” cutaway like a Strat and inline tuners and no tremolo and the scale neck I prefer. This guitar has my favorite features and none of my less favorite features. I use D’Addario XL110w nickel wound strings. After dozens of all styles and brands of guitar I settled on this as my main guitar. I play it thru a Fender tube amp, my favorite sounding amp. I have other guitars and amps but those are my go to.

    • Gary Hewitt

      Great job covering all the differences Griff. I wish I would have known all of this when I bought my first guitar. I’m sure your new students will find this very helpful. You might also warn them that there will be many more guitars in their future. It’s hard to stop with just one.😁

    • William Storey

      Damn that was good!! It goes without saying that the sound that comes out has a lot to do with the hands of the player. I believe you could make an old beat-up acoustic Stella guitar sound great!!!

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