help me decide - Gibson SG Faded or Highway One Telecaster

[Thin69]

Wow Drift!! Well Done Congrats!!

As far as amps, go with tubes if you can afford it. A Tele is like a duck in water with a Fender tube amp. They do clean very well. It is a heck of a lot easier to make a clean amp a little dirty if you like than going the other direction. :)

[thinline4fatty]

Two great guitars... I say, you can't go wrong. Sleep on it a couple of nights, and see what you're really craving. Or, flip a coin -- heads SG, tails tele. When the coin's up in the air, you'll know which one you're hoping for. That's my corny advice.

[tdu]

Originally Posted by nadzab

Au contraire! The SG Classic is a great guitar, IMHO, and those P-90s rock!

But the SG and the Tele are really apples and oranges, in almost every respect...the SG has miles of neck without anything to get in the way, and if you like a fat neck profile, most of the new ones have that. I don't have any experience with the faded series, but I have a Classic, and I love it. But you may find the Tele a bit more versatile...

You need to play 'em both, and see which one has the feel and sound that suits you best. Both good choices, but very different guitars.

I think the Faded series is the key thing here. I LOVE SG's as I said. I just have been completely underwhelmed by any Faded series guitars I have tried, especially the SG's. I know a lot of others are in the same vote. The necks/fretwork have been absolutely horrible on the ones I have tried. Plus, the necks are an odd spec with huge, high frets to top that off.

I have personally been more impressed with some of the better Epiphone SG's, or import copies (Dillion etc), and would take one over a Faded series.

[Zillinois]

Get the gibson, it will leave more Teles for the rest of us! :)

[neocaster]

Both are AWESOME guitars. I think the Highway 1 is more guitar for the money, but it will never be an SG. I would base the decision on what kind of music I was looking to play. If it's Jerry's sound you're after, get the SG, then look at what other tools Jerry used to get that sound. I like www.guitargeek.com for that.

Jerry Garcia's stage rig at guitargeek.

Edit: Take a look at Jerry's guitars. He's been playing a long time, had perpetual GAS as badly as anyone else.

[Rolling Estonian]

Drift welcome to the forum! You're going down the path that I just started. I started on acoustic about a year ago. Got my HW1 in July, I love it! Had a cheap practice amp that just wouldn't do, so I bought a Blues Jr. in the tweed last week. It sounds fantastic!

I found the HW1 a very easy transition, with the large frets. I LOVE the neck! The pups are very hot, but I'm no pro yet so they'll just have to do. All in all it's my baby and I made the right choice for me.

Good luck!

M

[Kirfew]

Why not get a baja tele or install a 4way switch, thus giving you tele and pseudo-sg tone? and i think garcia used a tele during the early days of the dead.

[Ortho]

Faded anything, no. I love the SG too much.

Play each guitar almost every day for more than a week...it will hit yiou.

Not a fan of the Hwy 1 neck or pickups. American guitar with a pale neck and headstock that looks cheap, but isn't cheap.

Suggestion for Tele: MIM Standard. Money saved while having a great guitar towards better amp...or a used SG Standard.

[valiant]

Jerry Garcia.....get a Guild Starfire 3.

[Hagbard Celine]

All the people who are singing the praises of the Tele are right.

But...

I went into Guitar Center () wanting to get a cheaper Gibson style guitar. I had reasons... I was thinking Epiphone Les Paul. Then I played a few Faded Special SGs. I hit one that I bonded with. The neck was just right. Try as I might I couldn't see evidence of more than one piece for the body (even after I stripped it down to swap the pickups to Duncan 59's and looked with a magnifying glass).

I love the Faded finish just like I love my Highway One Strat's finish, only the feel extends to the neck as well.

Even tough I love my Tele this SG is my fave. It is just so "alive." It does most of what my Tele does, but, with more aggression and power. Granted I swapped the pups and I think the Duncan '59 set is just about perfect for an SG - Alnico 5 PAFs rock - but I had one on a shelf anyhow.

So my Tele is now number two. For me the SG does what I used a Tele for - basic Rock and Blues - "better." For me. In my opinion. In my mind...

And who cares about the history or mystique or any of that other mumbo jumbo?!?!

Oh, and for those who like to knock the Faded series, ANY line has dogs in it. We all know that. You try it, if it sucks, you move on. Maybe I got lucky after trying about 4 or 5 of them. But Epiphones are better?? Come on. You will surely find isolated Epiphone SGs that feel and play better than specific Gibson Fadeds, though they will still have those miserable Epi pups and wiring. One great thing about the Faded series is that the construction isn't hidden under some opaque hard finish and you don't have to wonder about what it was made out of. Knocking the Faded series is common on forums, and that bit about Epis as well, but, I often wonder why people single them out when you have to do your due diligence when buying any instrument.

One thing, though, no way an SG can take the use and abuse a Tele can.

Go with your gut feeling.

[franchelB]

Sooner or later, you'll want a Telecaster...I'd suggest getting the Telecaster first.

[andrewr]

Yeah, I'd agree with Hagbard - I've played 4 or 5 Faded SG Specials. One was a beauty, and I bought it - looks even better when you've got covered pickups in it. One I was using to try out a Vox AC4TV - that one turned out to be pretty cute as well (I nearly accidentally added it to the purchase!).

The other 2 or 3 I tried when I was buying mine. One was an utter dog (the first I tried, luckily I didn't give up), the others were "OK" but didn't speak to me. These probably all could have been addressed with a decent set-up, but I wasn't interested...

The one I have is lovely - it has a chunky neck, but I kinda like it. At the moment "#1" is fluctuating between whichever tele has decent strings on, the SG, and a Roadworn 60s strat.


Having said all that - I would've recommended "tele", but go with your gut feeling, to the OP for a first electric. Hope you enjoy it when it shows up

[redcurtis]

Originally Posted by drift

i've played both at GC and I like both a lot... I know they are very different but the price is similiar.... my ultimate goal in life would be to play like Jerry Garcia - and he had an SG.

does anyone have both??

I love the LOOK of the SG, and the sound (especially if Angus is playing it). I had one for a few years, and it just wasn't comfortable. The way it hangs is weird. the one I had....hmmm...it was like the neck was heavier than the body, and kept slipping. Drove me crazy.

I now have exactly 0 SGs and 4 teles.

Tele all the way.

[nadzab]

One thing, and this is just a hang-up that I have, is that a Gibson just doesn't feel right to me unless the neck is bound. That might draw me away from the Faded series, but I won't pass judgment without playing one. I picked up this Classic a while ago with a 20%-off coupon from MF, to satisfy an SG craving I've had for 20 years or so. The Classic has the features I wanted (gloss finish, P-90s, bound neck) and the price is still reasonable. I did switch out the white button tuners it came with for Kluson tulips.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by drift

i've played both at GC and I like both a lot... I know they are very different but the price is similiar.... my ultimate goal in life would be to play like Jerry Garcia - and he had an SG.

does anyone have both??

Welcome. I'd have spared about 5-6 guitar purchases if my Martin OM-28 and Telecaster (happens to be Highway One) were first.

I can't explain it but a Tele feels particularly right if you play acoustic (bridge spacing?) and it's a most do it all guitar.

Now to really mess you up... You will learn that an amp is much more important than the first time electric player realizes. So you might as well listen to a Telecaster plugged into a classic blackface right away.



Embedding is disabled, but here's tweed tone and another argument for Telecaster versatility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnQYoRYedF0

Just in case you come across a 1956 model, like the white pick guard and honey blonde Highway One.....



You'll also find this to be one of the nicest music spots on the Internet and you can't feel left out in any way if you have a Telecaster.

Again, welcome.

P.S. I have nothing against the SG, but a Telecaster won't be putting a 1 or 2 trick pony in your hands.

[TxTeleMan]

Originally Posted by imwjl

Welcome. I'd have spared about 5-6 guitar purchases if my Martin OM-28 and Telecaster (happens to be Highway One) were first.

Exactly what I have, and you're right.

A Martin OM-28LE (1985) and a Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster (1998 MiM) that I have modded somewhat.

My Taylor playing friends are embarrassed and hang their heads in shame when they hear my OM; they can only wish that their guitars sounded half as good.

The guys in my band like my Tele tone (played through a Palomino V-16 all tube amp).

Drift, congrats on the Highway One catch.

Photos? Sound clips?

[drift]

hey guys - thanks for the info. i got my highway one today and here are my initial thoughts:

1. frets are WAY too high for me... it's hard to change position... creates a sticky-ness
2. Neck is too skinny - i have long fingers and it's hard to play barre chords and then switch - for me. i'm sure there's a more technical term for that.

i sold an epiphone sheraton to get this tele and i'm thinking that may have been a mistake.

i guess the guitars are personal preference - just like the music itself.

[G McBride]

Drift, Play it a while. I too have a Hwy 1 Telecaster and I owned and played a SG Standard and a LP Studio and a American Standard Strat before I got the Tele. I thought I had made a mistake at first buying the Hwy 1 but now it is one of my favorite guitars to play. You have to learn to only put the pressure needed on the strings. No need to push the strings down against the fretboard when they are on the fret a long time before the board. Play it and play with less pressure and see what you think.

[Staggered Mag]

I would play it a bit. If you find the frets are to high take it to good tech and have the frets cut down and recrowned. I like taller fretwire, I would play it for a while before you decide. The Gibson faded SG's I've played have pretty tall fret wire as well.

[drift]

ok - it's growing on me...