Honestly if i hadn't been brainwashed in my youth to the greatness of Gibbo and Fender i would have stopped senselessly trying to save up the huge wads of cash required to get one and would have ordered a Carvin, and life would have taken a whole nother path.
I hear you but I am hopelessly addicted to Gibson Les Paul's as a Custom was my very first electric so long ago and I have both Fenders and Gibson's and together with the Marshall 2555X and a Les Paul it is perfection in tone for me !
I can't think of anything that I'd rather own more than Gibson and Fender. I tried Hamer, but I don't like their thick bodies. The early Dean guitars were cool, but the necks had a nasty habit of separating at the body. Early BC Rich, but the one-piece necks tended to bow. I don't like the thick finish on PRS guitars. Ibanez made some great copies, but they don't sound as good as Gibson. The 80's Charvel San Dimas are great sounding/playing guitars, but I don't like the fretboard radius. Travis Bean guitars are great, but way too heavy. I love Music Man necks, but bodies look a goofy to me. If couldn't play a Gibson, I'd be playing a Heritage. If I couldn't play a Fender, I'd play a G&L.
Gibson is my current favorite for a bunch of years, I actually like them better than my Fenders, but before I had Gibsons and Fenders my favorite was an Ibanez Roadstar II I played for 20 years which is a Strat copy pretty much. I also have a Yamaha F335 acoustic, its my favorite acoustic since its the only acoustic I ever owned LOL (and first guitar I ever owned).
I never really gave PRS much thought before I got a backache. The dentist, doctor, lawyer stereotype and overly pretty appearance, lacklustre demos and played by artists I don't listen to. When I got a bad back I bought a 6.5lb PRS SE Zach Myers (Had no idea who he was, but the guitar had the kind of features I was looking for, something to play instead of a 10lb Les Paul or almost 8lb strat. Price at Daves Guitar shop was excellent for a used one. When I got it I was blown away and 6 months later I got a SE CU24 floyd rose. They are a much better guitar than I had anticipated and very comfortable and easy to play. The only mods I did to either of these was cosmetic. Basically not a fan of clear knobs and the stock SE nuts aren't the best.
Tried a lot of guitars in addition to my LP and Strats. Ibanez, PRS, Charvel....but the only one I've kept is my black USA Jackson Soloist SL-1. It is an incredible playing guitar. Great tone. Floyd never goes out of tune......my son turned me on to the Jackson Soloist when he was 13 years old too.... Here is an original tune I recorded with it a few years back, with my 1987XL Plexi..... DP
ESP for me, hands down: Best guitar I ever laid hands on. Setup and playability were perfect straight out of the box, the finish is stunning, so is attention to detail and I don't know what and how they do it but the back of the neck is fast and not sticky at all despite being finished. I always had em on my radar but never really got into them until I got an amazing deal on this one. If I could get a Gibson Custom with the same feeling and playability that would be my dream guitar. For now this baby beats everything else I have and tried. To me it's they way a modern and updated Les Paul should play and feel.
ESP and Ibanez prestige. Those 2 are made with attention to detail that would embarrass Gibson and fender. The feel and look may not be for everyone but they are perfect every time right out of the box and for my playing style they are effortless.
This is my most interesting old guitar, its my first guitar that Ive had for 40 years and its a '76 Shergold Masquerader. These have very slim hand carved maple necks and the wackiest switching system ever built into a production guitar.
