Controversial guitar opinions you have.

tekbow · August 2023

Bellycaster said:

I don't like Flame Maple tops anymore. This is awkward as one of my best Guitars is a EVH Wolfgang with flame maple top. I guess the fact that it's purple tones down the flame a little.

I'd much rather have a Plain Top Les Paul as well, or a solid colour one.

I appreciate that it is nice figuring and that some people like Flame and Quilt tops, but I would never go for one now.

I think figured tops in general have been done to death, especially with weird contrasting bursts (like purple into grey).

But yeah figured tops. You used to only see them on something special, or higher end, which sounds a bit snobby saying it, but I stand by it.

They're on nigh in everything these days since everyone figured out how to do veneers well.

Grumpyrocker · August 2023

Teyeplayer said:

stickyfiddle said:

Drop tunings don't make your riffs sound heavier or more menacing, they just make you sound more like a 15 year old in his bedroom.

…which is where the term fret-wanking originated (for obvious reasons). It has of course developed to mean all mindless plinky plonk, widdly wee, wooo wooo, fiddle dee dum, guitar solos (thank you fireman Sam for that description). If anyone wants to hear these two extremes in their fullness, book into your local rehearsal rooms of an evening and then pop into the jam night on the way home.

Tony Iommi in C# sounds like hell itself opening. So he gets a pass. I think dropped tunings work great for slower metal, but can totally lose definition with faster music. There's a reason the big thrash bands didn't stray far from E or Eb.

NelsonP · August 2023

Amp drive is almost always better than a pedal.

Boutique pedals are rarely much better than their Boss equivalent.

Marshall DSLs are great amps.

A £400 Squier can be made to be as good as a £2k guitar, to all intents and purposes.

guitars4you · August 2023

ICBM said:

guitars4you said:

Chris Rea

Chris Rea can sing though . OK, the Middlesbrough accent probably doesn’t help .’.

misread it - I thought it said slide players who can sing - my error

Grumpyrocker · August 2023

A nice well-done veneer is just as valid as a thick flamed top, and a better use of resources. But horrible cheap poly finishes can often make otherwise great tops look like 99p photo-flame stickers.

PRS SE finished, especially bursts, are horrible and look cheap and nasty. Most companies making guitars in Indonesia make much more attractive finishes. The company manages to make nice pieces of veneer look gash.

Much as I like a nice flame, flaming on everything has become boring. It's annoying how hard it is to find a Les Paul with a plain top. "Plain" tops are anything but and are often beautiful. I wish I'd kept the Epiphone I had that had a truly gorgeous plain maple cap.

roberty · August 2023

90% of guitar tone is EQ, timing and muting. If you can't get those three things perfect no gear in the world will save you

stickyfiddle · August 2023

munckee said:

stickyfiddle said:

Strats have to be the right shape and SSS or they ain't Strats.

Teles can be almost any config and they're still Teles, even the Jazzmaster-shaped ones - SS, SH, HH, thinline, custom, deluxe, etc etc

SGs and 335s are way better than Les Pauls

Locking trems are stupid. Strat style trems are also fairly stupid

Clapton in 2014 was honestly one of the least exciting gigs I've ever been to

Jeff Beck was very clever and also incredibly boring to listen to

99.9% of instrumental guitar music is dreadful

Good pop music is better than 95% of rock

Heavy strings are for masochists and idiots

Drop tunings don't make your riffs sound heavier or more menacing, they just make you sound more like a 15 year old in his bedroom

The only music that matters is the stuff that makes you want to sing, dance, punch the air, or cry.

Heavy relics are stupid. Shiny new plastic-coated guitars are worse.

Right we’re all just here having a laugh and saying stupid shit to sound edgy but you shut your dirty fucking mouth about telecasters. There’s a line man!

Of course to be a "Proper Tele" you need a single coil mounted in the bridge plate, with 3 saddles. Like this!

Image: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UZO42LfGlA8/TnOeZanwlVI/AAAAAAAAGPc/a8Sa7AcyFuo/s1600/underwood+dag+body.JPG

Moe_Zambeek · August 2023

I believe the Korina used by many Korean builders (for example whoever makes Reverends) is actually ‘Korina’.

stickyfiddle · August 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

Teyeplayer said:

stickyfiddle said:

Drop tunings don't make your riffs sound heavier or more menacing, they just make you sound more like a 15 year old in his bedroom.

…which is where the term fret-wanking originated (for obvious reasons). It has of course developed to mean all mindless plinky plonk, widdly wee, wooo wooo, fiddle dee dum, guitar solos (thank you fireman Sam for that description). If anyone wants to hear these two extremes in their fullness, book into your local rehearsal rooms of an evening and then pop into the jam night on the way home.

Tony Iommi in C# sounds like hell itself opening. So he gets a pass. I think dropped tunings work great for slower metal, but can totally lose definition with faster music. There's a reason the big thrash bands didn't stray far from E or Eb.

Of course, but that's 99% because he wrote great doomy riifs, not because he was tuned low.

Grumpyrocker · August 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Grumpyrocker said:

Teyeplayer said:

stickyfiddle said:

Drop tunings don't make your riffs sound heavier or more menacing, they just make you sound more like a 15 year old in his bedroom.

…which is where the term fret-wanking originated (for obvious reasons). It has of course developed to mean all mindless plinky plonk, widdly wee, wooo wooo, fiddle dee dum, guitar solos (thank you fireman Sam for that description). If anyone wants to hear these two extremes in their fullness, book into your local rehearsal rooms of an evening and then pop into the jam night on the way home.

Tony Iommi in C# sounds like hell itself opening. So he gets a pass. I think dropped tunings work great for slower metal, but can totally lose definition with faster music. There's a reason the big thrash bands didn't stray far from E or Eb.

Of course, but that's 99% because he wrote great doomy riifs, not because he was tuned low.

True, but doom downtuned does sound great.

Grumpyrocker · August 2023

Tele bridges with three saddles are ugly as sin. Modern bridges with six saddles look so much better.

Offset · August 2023

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Clapton ISN'T God.

I'd go further. I consider him a decidedly average guitarist whose playing is fairly bland. He has made some fantastic music over the years (although none recently) and has a good set of lungs - but as a guitarist, he's hugely overrated.

Discuss!

Offset · August 2023

NelsonP said:

Amp drive is almost always better than a pedal.

Boutique pedals are rarely much better than their Boss equivalent.

Marshall DSLs are great amps.

Three statements with which I completely agree. Most of my pedals are Boss - bullet-proof build and some classic sounds to be had. I have a Marshal TSL - it's versatile; the clean channel in particular is surprisingly good and a Strat with some compression/sustain is great for blooze. The crunch and lead channels are fantastic for yer classic rock.

Tannin · August 2023

munckee said:

Controversial opinions like this one are nearly always wrong.

^ FTFY

flying_pie · August 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

stickyfiddle said:

Grumpyrocker said:

Teyeplayer said:

stickyfiddle said:

Drop tunings don't make your riffs sound heavier or more menacing, they just make you sound more like a 15 year old in his bedroom.

…which is where the term fret-wanking originated (for obvious reasons). It has of course developed to mean all mindless plinky plonk, widdly wee, wooo wooo, fiddle dee dum, guitar solos (thank you fireman Sam for that description). If anyone wants to hear these two extremes in their fullness, book into your local rehearsal rooms of an evening and then pop into the jam night on the way home.

Tony Iommi in C# sounds like hell itself opening. So he gets a pass. I think dropped tunings work great for slower metal, but can totally lose definition with faster music. There's a reason the big thrash bands didn't stray far from E or Eb.

Of course, but that's 99% because he wrote great doomy riifs, not because he was tuned low.

True, but doom downtuned does sound great.

Downtuned beyond a point does kill riffs (except for doom metal). And if you think your riff will sound better a further full step down then it won't and it's a shit riff.

FFS Number of the Beast is still a heavy riff and it's all the way up in D - more than an octave above most modern metal bands. And it's in a major key.

But don't confuse downtuning with drop tuning. Drop tuning can open up a world of creativity. So many good drop D riffs out there - Killing In The Name, Dam That River, Spoonman, Moby Dick, Sonne.... not to mention all the DADGAD acoustic stuff

Anyway back to the OP...

Gear won't make you sound heavy. It's all down to technique, attitude and writing.

flying_pie · August 2023

Kirk Hammett is a better guitar player than everyone on this forum. Every single one of you.

Yes. I know. But you didn't write Enter Sandman or the countless other riffs and solos that have made him millions and paid for a certain guitar

Bigsby · August 2023

Philly_Q said:

That bloke who did a bit of work on your guitar is not "your tech".

And yet that bloke you know who owns a PRS is "your dentist". No wonder English challenging as a second language.

Opinion: The correct minimum and maximum number of cutaways on all electric guitars is two.

Bigsby · August 2023

stickyfiddle said:

munckee said:

stickyfiddle said:

Strats have to be the right shape and SSS or they ain't Strats.

Teles can be almost any config and they're still Teles, even the Jazzmaster-shaped ones - SS, SH, HH, thinline, custom, deluxe, etc etc

SGs and 335s are way better than Les Pauls

Locking trems are stupid. Strat style trems are also fairly stupid

Clapton in 2014 was honestly one of the least exciting gigs I've ever been to

Jeff Beck was very clever and also incredibly boring to listen to

99.9% of instrumental guitar music is dreadful

Good pop music is better than 95% of rock

Heavy strings are for masochists and idiots

Drop tunings don't make your riffs sound heavier or more menacing, they just make you sound more like a 15 year old in his bedroom

The only music that matters is the stuff that makes you want to sing, dance, punch the air, or cry.

Heavy relics are stupid. Shiny new plastic-coated guitars are worse.

Right we’re all just here having a laugh and saying stupid shit to sound edgy but you shut your dirty fucking mouth about telecasters. There’s a line man!

Of course to be a "Proper Tele" you need a single coil mounted in the bridge plate, with 3 saddles. Like this!

At last... a Tele with the correct number of cut aways.

imalrightjack · August 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

Guitar is a terrible instrument for someone with neurodivergent and obsessive tendencies. Spent 30+ years learning that.

@Grumpyrocker ;I don’t think that’s controversial. I’d just tweak it to say ‘can be’ a terrible instrument…I imagine it’s very healthy for some.

I’d also add that money combined with neurodivergent/obsessive tendencies exacerbates the problem. I wasn’t half as bad when I couldn’t afford to change guitars!

Grumpyrocker · August 2023

imalrightjack said:

Grumpyrocker said:

Guitar is a terrible instrument for someone with neurodivergent and obsessive tendencies. Spent 30+ years learning that.

@Grumpyrocker ;I don’t think that’s controversial. I’d just tweak it to say ‘can be’ a terrible instrument…I imagine it’s very healthy for some.

I’d also add that money combined with neurodivergent/obsessive tendencies exacerbates the problem. I wasn’t half as bad when I couldn’t afford to change guitars!

Very true. I had one electric guitar from 1989 to 2008. I also didn't know anything about gear, so was happy playing live with a Line 6 Spider.

Then I found the Music Radar forum.

Now I have ten guitars, none of which I'm 100% in love with, lots of amps, lots of guitar related tat. And I don't think I'm any happier. More frustrated.

roberty · August 2023

Guitar music is essentially dead and being in a band is cosplaying the 20th century

RocknRollDave · August 2023

Offset said:

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Clapton ISN'T God.

I'd go further. I consider him a decidedly average guitarist whose playing is fairly bland. He has made some fantastic music over the years (although none recently) and has a good set of lungs - but as a guitarist, he's hugely overrated.

Discuss!

Nothing to discuss; everything you say is true.

His note choice in solos shows a shocking lack of harmonic sensibility.

Reverend · August 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Genuine PAFs all sound very different and as such there are dozens of 'REAL' PAF tones .... and not effing one of them sounds like a fricking Telecaster ... right?

Guitarists who play a power chord then don't raise an arm to the audience in triumph ... should be taken from the stage to a lawful place of punishment, there have the offending limb removed by the most painful means - probably being nibbled off by a toothless goat. (unless of course it's Nigel Tufnel - he gets a free pass).

Michael Schenker is one of the most ludicrously under rated guitarists in the last fifty years.

The last thing you should worry about when playing a particular a guitar is what you look like playing it. If you are worrying about that - then the chances are you playing isn't good enough to hold an audience's attention anyway.

Most guitarists polish their guitars too much and practise too little.

Sadly one can't learn to be talented. Many that come to realise that wind up as guitar teachers - teaching those who will never realise it.

Bedroom players who can't be arsed to gig or even jam with mates have no room to criticise players who do. To play alone is to see the world devoid of colour. Don't be frightened - just do it!

FTFY

AndyGT75 · August 2023

Being technically proficient around the fretboard at home doesn’t necessarily mean that you understand how music works, or even your place in a band. My band had to get rid of our bassist earlier in the year after he constantly changed the bass lines to very famous songs, as he felt that what he did sounded better. Nothing he did worked with the drums, timing used to go astray all over the place and he thought that it was clever
to create bass lines that followed the vocals! We had to drop numerous songs as they just became a clunky mess. A real example of a delusional ‘more is more’ approach. It was ‘Kin stressful playing gigs and trying to keep everything together.

RocknRollDave · August 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

Tele bridges with three saddles are ugly as sin. Modern bridges with six saddles look so much better.

See, I’m totally the other way: Tele bridges look much better as a three-saddle effort…but for intonation, 6 is, of course, quite superior.

viz · August 2023

A guitar isn't a guitar unless it has a handle carved into the wood near the top of the body.

viz · August 2023

flying_pie said:

Playing chords is only for talentless wankers

haha I laughed at this one!

rossi · August 2023

Only my opinions count .I just wish i knew what they were .......

Offset · August 2023

Bigsby said:

Of course to be a "Proper Tele" you need a single coil mounted in the bridge plate, with 3 saddles. Like this!

At last... a Tele with the correct number of cut aways.

Put a six-saddle bridge on that and I'd have one in a flash :-)

viz · August 2023

Not all telecasters sound shit. Some sound even shitter.

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