Well known players moving from Fender to Gibson

Blazer · September 6th, 2005, 07:16 PM

Okay it's a well known fact that many high profile guitarist moved from playing Gibsons to playing Fenders.

There's Eric Clapton who abandoned his Gibsons he used in his cream and Blind Faith years for his strats.

Then you have Jeff Beck who abandoned his Les Pauls for a Fender telecaster with Humbuckers re-wired by Seymour Duncan before stepping up to use Strats only.

Then there's Ritchie Blackmore who packed away his Gibson ES 335 and started to play Stratocasters.

and finally David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson replaced his trusty stripped Les Paul with a Sunburst Telecaster in the last years of his life.

Those are very well known and much talked about cases of well known guitarists switching brands. But it also happens the other way round and that's something that you don't hear a lot of people talking about.

Michael Bloomfield abandoned his Fender tele for a Les Paul.

One of the best known Telecaster Players, the late great Roy Buchanan abandoned Nancy in favor of a Sunburst Les Paul.

Although he has a signature model Strat with Fender, Mark Knopfler is currently seen wielding a Les Paul on stage more often.

Former Blink 182 guitarist Tom Delonge dropped his Fender Signature Strats for a Signature Gibson 335

Those are things rarely discussed, it's always "why the step from Gibson to Fender." Never "Why the step from Fender to Gibson?"

moonshiner · September 6th, 2005, 07:18 PM

Don't forget Page went from Teles to Les Pauls.. Then back to teles during the Presence days... finally, back to Pauls...

geddins · September 6th, 2005, 07:49 PM

I love 'em both....they are the only 2 guitars that I am really passionate about (with the Tele coming into my life only lately). I like them for different reasons, each have their own points that draw me to them, and seem to draw the best out of me.....not that my best is worth drawing out :D

cvansickle · September 6th, 2005, 07:55 PM

I've been playing for almost 30 years. My first good guitar was a Les Paul Custom, bought new in 1980 and still with me today. Throughout the 80s and early 90s, I was content to switch off between the LP and a Kramer, or Ibanez, or some other super-Strat flavor of the month instrument.

In the late 90s, I started to really analyze guitar sounds, especially since I was getting into blues, country, roots rock, and other things besides heavy metal. I started to learn how different guitars have innate sonic qualities, and where the strengths, weaknesses and uses for those qualities are. In short, I think a well-rounded sonic assortment for a guitarist would be a collection containing:

A dual humbucker solid body with a fixed bridge (Les Paul, SG, Explorer)
A P90 pickup solid body (Les Paul Junior, Special)
A Strat type with three single coil pickups and vibrato bar
A Tele type with barrel saddled bridge
Something jangly, maybe even a 12 string electric (Dano, Rick)
A super-Strat, with humbuckers (at least one) and a Floyd type bridge
A hollow body arch top that benefits from a wound third string
Acoustics, steel and nylon string, 12 string
A bass
A baritone or seven string (although personally I would not use one)

Am I missing anything?

teledude66 · September 7th, 2005, 11:27 AM

he flipped flopped ... he went from fender to gibson on the bounce cd and supposedly had a signature in the works but now i see on the new video he's playing fender again, not that that proves anything but still it happened...also Bon Jovi is going to be on Crossroads with Sugarland and i saw him playing a dbl neck tele that should be interesting ....

i have been and still am a gibson fan, i think nothing beats the balls of an LP thru a big ol marshall, but for "playing" nothing beats the rawness of the sweet little creation of a tele thru a cranked tube amp, ripping a bent note and letting it scream, then of course there's the twang

Bob Mc · September 7th, 2005, 11:54 AM

Went from a Tele (maybe an Esquire?) to the jumbo Gibsons; he said it felt better, more like holding a woman then a plank I believe.

Oster · September 7th, 2005, 12:02 PM

I know what you're saying.

Despite being a Fender fanatic, I must admit my disappointment when a Gibson (or other) player switches over to Fender.

It does go both ways, though not as much. I don't like seeing Jimi Hendrix pictured with a Gibson, for instance. I can't imagine Rory Gallagher with a Les Paul. Or Clarence White with a 335.

My theory as to why the balance is off is that most big guitarists of rock's classic period were not Fender players. My older brother tells me that when he was in school in the mid '70s, Fenders were thought of as kind of nerdy. Les Pauls ruled the day if not the imaginations of most aspiring teenage guitarists.

When Fender's popularity suddenly skyrocketed in the '80s with Strats (and by association Superstrats), the music changed to more New Wavey, synthy type sounds. With Gibson largely out of the picture for that era, it became more novel that an unprocessed Gibson or Gretsch be the first choice of someone while so many were playing that inbetweeny Strat-tone.

To this day it's Fender's lasting, overwhelming, popularity that makes a Gibson or Gretsch or other seem almost exotic by comparison. So when some Fender slinger switches to another brand, it's almost somewhat of a relief & not so much a shock.

Off-topic here but it can still be quite unfashionable in certain circles to play certain Fender instruments. A stratocaster in the right band, for example, can be quite a defiant statement.

As long as there are players who follow their own hearts and ears, we'll always have sonic (and visual) variety.

Mark Davis · September 7th, 2005, 12:02 PM

Roy Buchanan world famous for his Tele tone played Les Pauls and Strats. Danny Gatton played a Les Paul before he went to the Tele.

Roy Nichols went from Tele to Les Paul.

J-man · September 7th, 2005, 12:48 PM

To be honest I'm kind of glad Jimmy Page switched to Les Pauls. While his tele was very cool, the Les Paul's tone suited his playing much more IMHO and he just looked a lot cooler wielding an LP than the Tele.

TB72 · September 7th, 2005, 03:12 PM

A.R. Duchossoir's Telecaster book has a picture of a young B.B. King playing a tele or an Esquire (can't remember which).

Tony Iommi was a Strat player in the early days of Black Sabbath. They were about half-way done recording their first album when his strat's electronics went to Fender Heaven. He reached for his backup...a Gibson SG. The rest is history.

Later...

T Prior · September 7th, 2005, 03:45 PM

the almighty dollar being involved..

Gibson has a very deliberate focused endorsement plan to put Gibsons in the hands of top players, especially with video's and TV presence..

"Hey Eric, we have a plan to pay you $xxx,xxxx.xx and all you have to do is show up at a few gigs with this here Les Paul, just like he old days"...

and Eric says " Sure ..show me the money"...

then EC walks away laughs and says to himself " I was gonna play the Les Paul anyway "....

11 Gauge · September 7th, 2005, 03:53 PM

...one of 'Rock Star: INXS's sponsors is Gibson. lotsa shots of the house band playing gibbies, there's at least 1 pictured at the intro of the show, they gave 'em away to the contestants...

...yet there are numbers played where only a Fender will work - kinda funny...

and i never thought of INXS as a Gibson guitar band anyway - sounds like most of their stuff was cut with Fenders...

Blazer · September 7th, 2005, 04:12 PM

Do you guys remember that eighties cartoon Kidd Video? About a Band who got themselves lost in a cartoon world consisting of worlds where Music was everything.

The Actual Band

And their cartoon version.

That show was sponsored by Gibson and the band were seen playing Gibson guitars and basses and playing Moog Keyboards and Slingerland drums which were Gibson owned Brands.

Honga Man · September 7th, 2005, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oster

A stratocaster in the right band, for example, can be quite a defiant statement.

I'm not disagreeing here...just curious...

Could you give an example of playing a Strat being a defiant statement in a band?

(I don't own, like, or defend Strats; I'm just interested in your point of view)

OutlawSteph · September 7th, 2005, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blazer

Do you guys remember that eighties cartoon Kidd Video? About a Band who got themselves lost in a cartoon world consisting of worlds where Music was everything.

OMG.. that jogged my memories. I used to watch that. But the Gibby brainwashing didn't work anyway. Gibsons weren't cool then.

Did anyone see the commercial that was on around Father's Day where the Dad is teaching the cute little music-wiz girl to make sure Mommy buys Daddy a new Gibson? That was funny.

I've also noticed a lot of product placement.. Gibsons are hanging on the walls of the VJ studios on CMT. I don't blame a company for marketing their products, but is it worth it?

TG · September 7th, 2005, 05:45 PM

I think Andy Summers plays an ES335 now. He does jazzy stuff, apparently.

David Barnett · September 7th, 2005, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonshiner

Don't forget Page went from Teles to Les Pauls.. Then back to teles during the Presence days... finally, back to Pauls...

I think there's more Strat than Tele on Presence, and about 50-50 on In Through The Out Door. He sure made good use of the B-bender on the latter, though.

DougieLove · September 7th, 2005, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blazer

Then you have Jeff Beck who abandoned his Les Pauls for a Fender telecaster with Humbuckers re-wired by Seymour Duncan before stepping up to use Strats only.

I always though Beck started on an Esquire, switched to a Les Paul, then a Strat?

I'm at work, so I can't check right now, but isn't he pictured with that "Ox Blood" colored Les Paul on the Blow by Blow album?

DougieLove · September 7th, 2005, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blazer

Those are things rarely discussed, it's always "why the step from Gibson to Fender." Never "Why the step from Fender to Gibson?"

Maybe because this is a pro-Fender website? I'd venture to say that folks on a Gibson board say the polar opposite: "How come nobody talks about why guys go from Gibson to Fender? It's always why the step from Fender to Gibson!"

Oster · September 7th, 2005, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Oster wrote:
A stratocaster in the right band, for example, can be quite a defiant statement.

I'm not disagreeing here...just curious...

Could you give an example of playing a Strat being a defiant statement in a band?

(I don't own, like, or defend Strats; I'm just interested in your point of view)

I think that maybe to a certain stripe of player, the stratocaster represents flash and perhaps the bad old '80s (despite being a '50s invention). Most indie rockers, for example, eschew the strat (at least the ones I've met). Same for the brit-pop crowd.

It's down to subtleties with a lot of these modern fragmented styles and in some of these bands a strat is maybe too rock and roll or too mainstream a symbol.

I played a black strat for years in or alongside many indie bands and had all sorts of the basic same type of people tell me how much they hated strats.

Interestingly, I have also seen the opposite snobbery in action with a quite different kind of crowd. My best friend's '68 Les Paul Goldtop with creme soapbars got no love from the suburban mainstream covers-band crowd he ran with as late as '93. They were always telling him to sel it and get a LACE equipped Strat. So there you go.

genelovesjez · September 7th, 2005, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oster

I played a black strat for years in or alongside many indie bands and had all sorts of the basic same type of people tell me how much they hated strats.

I've had similar experiences.

Pickalittle · December 6th, 2007, 08:00 PM

In my early years, when we did mostly surf and in another band Stones covers, I played a Jazzmaster, and the other guitarist, a Strat.

We were the clean cut kids in jeans, a t-shirt and desert boots.

The other band had the "bad boys" in it, who also played Stones. The lead there played a LP. To be honest, I always associated the Les Paul with a more raunchy, bad boy image and the Strat players with a "nice guy" image because of that history. Of course, it's a meaningless comparison, but seemed to make sense to me.

I don't see Mark Knopfler as faithful to one guitar as much as he uses any particular guitar that gives him the sound he's looking for for a certain song.

JohnSS · December 6th, 2007, 09:40 PM

Here's a few:

Lee Roy Parnell - Long time Strat player, now using gold topped Les Pauls
Doyle Bramhall II - from Strat (w/ArcAngels) to Les Paul Special w/P-90's (w/Clapton band)
Johnny Hiland - from Tele to PRS (not a Gibson but a Gibson style)

emu! · December 6th, 2007, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T Prior

the almighty dollar being involved..

Gibson has a very deliberate focused endorsement plan to put Gibsons in the hands of top players, especially with video's and TV presence..

"Hey Eric, we have a plan to pay you $xxx,xxxx.xx and all you have to do is show up at a few gigs with this here Les Paul, just like he old days"...

and Eric says " Sure ..show me the money"...

then EC walks away laughs and says to himself " I was gonna play the Les Paul anyway "....

Yeah, it's all about endorsement money, IMO. I'll bet the most p

September 6th, 2005, 07:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,147	Well known players moving from Fender to Gibson Okay it's a well known fact that many high profile guitarist moved from playing Gibsons to playing Fenders. There's Eric Clapton who abandoned his Gibsons he used in his cream and Blind Faith years for his strats. Then you have Jeff Beck who abandoned his Les Pauls for a Fender telecaster with Humbuckers re-wired by Seymour Duncan before stepping up to use Strats only. Then there's Ritchie Blackmore who packed away his Gibson ES 335 and started to play Stratocasters. and finally David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson replaced his trusty stripped Les Paul with a Sunburst Telecaster in the last years of his life. Those are very well known and much talked about cases of well known guitarists switching brands. But it also happens the other way round and that's something that you don't hear a lot of people talking about. Michael Bloomfield abandoned his Fender tele for a Les Paul. One of the best known Telecaster Players, the late great Roy Buchanan abandoned Nancy in favor of a Sunburst Les Paul. Although he has a signature model Strat with Fender, Mark Knopfler is currently seen wielding a Les Paul on stage more often. Former Blink 182 guitarist Tom Delonge dropped his Fender Signature Strats for a Signature Gibson 335 Those are things rarely discussed, it's always "why the step from Gibson to Fender." Never "Why the step from Fender to Gibson?" __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

September 6th, 2005, 07:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
moonshiner Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Milyucky, Whiskonsin Posts: 2,145	Don't forget Page went from Teles to Les Pauls.. Then back to teles during the Presence days... finally, back to Pauls... __________________ "Everyone's got to be something... Me? I'm stupid... It's all I ever wanted to be... Shock me again!"

September 6th, 2005, 07:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
cvansickle Tele-Holic Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA USA Posts: 741 5 Photos	I've been playing for almost 30 years. My first good guitar was a Les Paul Custom, bought new in 1980 and still with me today. Throughout the 80s and early 90s, I was content to switch off between the LP and a Kramer, or Ibanez, or some other super-Strat flavor of the month instrument. In the late 90s, I started to really analyze guitar sounds, especially since I was getting into blues, country, roots rock, and other things besides heavy metal. I started to learn how different guitars have innate sonic qualities, and where the strengths, weaknesses and uses for those qualities are. In short, I think a well-rounded sonic assortment for a guitarist would be a collection containing: A dual humbucker solid body with a fixed bridge (Les Paul, SG, Explorer) A P90 pickup solid body (Les Paul Junior, Special) A Strat type with three single coil pickups and vibrato bar A Tele type with barrel saddled bridge Something jangly, maybe even a 12 string electric (Dano, Rick) A super-Strat, with humbuckers (at least one) and a Floyd type bridge A hollow body arch top that benefits from a wound third string Acoustics, steel and nylon string, 12 string A bass A baritone or seven string (although personally I would not use one) Am I missing anything? __________________ Death Or Glory - Who Dares Wins!

September 7th, 2005, 11:27 AM	#5 (permalink)
teledude66 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lawndale,N.C. Age: 41 Posts: 2,722 20 Photos	Ritchie Sambora... he flipped flopped ... he went from fender to gibson on the bounce cd and supposedly had a signature in the works but now i see on the new video he's playing fender again, not that that proves anything but still it happened...also Bon Jovi is going to be on Crossroads with Sugarland and i saw him playing a dbl neck tele that should be interesting .... i have been and still am a gibson fan, i think nothing beats the balls of an LP thru a big ol marshall, but for "playing" nothing beats the rawness of the sweet little creation of a tele thru a cranked tube amp, ripping a bent note and letting it scream, then of course there's the twang __________________ The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.

September 7th, 2005, 11:54 AM	#6 (permalink)
Bob Mc Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Mo'town NJ Posts: 1,574	Scotty Moore Went from a Tele (maybe an Esquire?) to the jumbo Gibsons; he said it felt better, more like holding a woman then a plank I believe. __________________ All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out. Mark Twain

September 6th, 2005, 07:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
geddins Tele-Afflicted Join Date: May 2005 Location: Texas Age: 45 Posts: 1,624	I love 'em both....they are the only 2 guitars that I am really passionate about (with the Tele coming into my life only lately). I like them for different reasons, each have their own points that draw me to them, and seem to draw the best out of me.....not that my best is worth drawing out :D

September 7th, 2005, 12:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
Oster Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melonville, Ontario Age: 38 Posts: 2,491	I know what you're saying. Despite being a Fender fanatic, I must admit my disappointment when a Gibson (or other) player switches over to Fender. It does go both ways, though not as much. I don't like seeing Jimi Hendrix pictured with a Gibson, for instance. I can't imagine Rory Gallagher with a Les Paul. Or Clarence White with a 335. My theory as to why the balance is off is that most big guitarists of rock's classic period were not Fender players. My older brother tells me that when he was in school in the mid '70s, Fenders were thought of as kind of nerdy. Les Pauls ruled the day if not the imaginations of most aspiring teenage guitarists. When Fender's popularity suddenly skyrocketed in the '80s with Strats (and by association Superstrats), the music changed to more New Wavey, synthy type sounds. With Gibson largely out of the picture for that era, it became more novel that an unprocessed Gibson or Gretsch be the first choice of someone while so many were playing that inbetweeny Strat-tone. To this day it's Fender's lasting, overwhelming, popularity that makes a Gibson or Gretsch or other seem almost exotic by comparison. So when some Fender slinger switches to another brand, it's almost somewhat of a relief & not so much a shock. Off-topic here but it can still be quite unfashionable in certain circles to play certain Fender instruments. A stratocaster in the right band, for example, can be quite a defiant statement. As long as there are players who follow their own hearts and ears, we'll always have sonic (and visual) variety. __________________ "The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made." - Groucho Marx Songbuktu!

September 7th, 2005, 12:02 PM	#8 (permalink)
Mark Davis Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bakersfield Ca. Age: 57 Posts: 12,187	Roy Buchanan world famous for his Tele tone played Les Pauls and Strats. Danny Gatton played a Les Paul before he went to the Tele. Roy Nichols went from Tele to Les Paul.

September 7th, 2005, 12:48 PM	#9 (permalink)
J-man Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Wales/Scarborough Age: 19 Posts: 6,081 9 Photos	To be honest I'm kind of glad Jimmy Page switched to Les Pauls. While his tele was very cool, the Les Paul's tone suited his playing much more IMHO and he just looked a lot cooler wielding an LP than the Tele. __________________ Write a wise saying and your name will live forever. - Unknown When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Hunter S Thompson

September 7th, 2005, 03:12 PM	#10 (permalink)
TB72 Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Ottawa Canada Posts: 470	A.R. Duchossoir's Telecaster book has a picture of a young B.B. King playing a tele or an Esquire (can't remember which). Tony Iommi was a Strat player in the early days of Black Sabbath. They were about half-way done recording their first album when his strat's electronics went to Fender Heaven. He reached for his backup...a Gibson SG. The rest is history. Later... __________________ Why is easy-listening music so hard to listen to?

September 7th, 2005, 03:45 PM	#11 (permalink)
T Prior Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 871	don't rule out the almighty dollar being involved.. Gibson has a very deliberate focused endorsement plan to put Gibsons in the hands of top players, especially with video's and TV presence.. "Hey Eric, we have a plan to pay you $xxx,xxxx.xx and all you have to do is show up at a few gigs with this here Les Paul, just like he old days"... and Eric says " Sure ..show me the money"... then EC walks away laughs and says to himself " I was gonna play the Les Paul anyway "....

September 7th, 2005, 03:53 PM	#12 (permalink)
11 Gauge Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: The East Coast Posts: 2,761 10 Photos	kinda gets me thinkin... ...one of 'Rock Star: INXS's sponsors is Gibson. lotsa shots of the house band playing gibbies, there's at least 1 pictured at the intro of the show, they gave 'em away to the contestants... ...yet there are numbers played where only a Fender will work - kinda funny... and i never thought of INXS as a Gibson guitar band anyway - sounds like most of their stuff was cut with Fenders... __________________

September 7th, 2005, 04:12 PM	#13 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,147	Do you guys remember that eighties cartoon Kidd Video? About a Band who got themselves lost in a cartoon world consisting of worlds where Music was everything. The Actual Band And their cartoon version. That show was sponsored by Gibson and the band were seen playing Gibson guitars and basses and playing Moog Keyboards and Slingerland drums which were Gibson owned Brands. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

September 7th, 2005, 05:45 PM	#16 (permalink)
TG Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Beside a bog in the west of Ireland Age: 46 Posts: 4,401 7 Photos	I think Andy Summers plays an ES335 now. He does jazzy stuff, apparently.

December 6th, 2007, 08:00 PM	#22 (permalink)
Pickalittle Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: USA Age: 56 Posts: 237	In my early years, when we did mostly surf and in another band Stones covers, I played a Jazzmaster, and the other guitarist, a Strat. We were the clean cut kids in jeans, a t-shirt and desert boots. The other band had the "bad boys" in it, who also played Stones. The lead there played a LP. To be honest, I always associated the Les Paul with a more raunchy, bad boy image and the Strat players with a "nice guy" image because of that history. Of course, it's a meaningless comparison, but seemed to make sense to me. I don't see Mark Knopfler as faithful to one guitar as much as he uses any particular guitar that gives him the sound he's looking for for a certain song. __________________ Don't die with the music still in you! Psalm 150

December 6th, 2007, 09:40 PM	#23 (permalink)
JohnSS Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 205	Here's a few: Lee Roy Parnell - Long time Strat player, now using gold topped Les Pauls Doyle Bramhall II - from Strat (w/ArcAngels) to Les Paul Special w/P-90's (w/Clapton band) Johnny Hiland - from Tele to PRS (not a Gibson but a Gibson style)