Telecaster88
Friend of Leo's
I used a Duo-Sonic II in my old surf band and it worked just fine!
Best guitar to play surf music
- Thread starter ScareDe2
- Start date
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surf_jimi
Tele-Meister
Jazzmaster with a strat a close second. You need single coils with a reverb tank to do classic surf.
Engine Swap
Poster Extraordinaire
I have a Hagstrom II that does some great surf tones. Gets the Ventures sound really well.
guitar_paul1
Tele-Afflicted
A friend picked up my Epi ES-175 strung with .012 flatwounds playing with a flatpick.
DRRI with lots of reverb. Out came the archetypical surf guitar sound. Blew my mind.
DRRI with lots of reverb. Out came the archetypical surf guitar sound. Blew my mind.
The pickups it has are the ones Fender put in Stratocasters in the late 1950swhen the guitar was made. My brother switched from using a Rickenbacker as the "rhythm" player in the group to that Strat back in our day and it was a huge improvement for our 60s british-garage style.
He also bought a 60s (not 50s) A/O earlier this year. But he then moved so I never really had a chance to try it out. It seemed heavier than my 1959 or 1971 Strats. I will add that my 71 Strat is a good surf guitar but I came pretty close to Hendrix sound (not playing ever of course) with it. It is a bit different of a guitar than the hardtail strat.
Matt Sarad
Friend of Leo's
I've been using my Jazzmaster. My Stat us a hardtail.
I switch amps from Tweed Deluxe to Deluxe Reverb to PRS H 50 watt head.
I switch amps from Tweed Deluxe to Deluxe Reverb to PRS H 50 watt head.
My second favorite would be a Mosrite Ventures. I have a Mosrite pick up from that era and I put it in the bridge position of an old Gretsch Anniversary and it was a fine surf guitar. The early 60s P90 from the neck of an ES-125 someone gave us in the 80s from a dumpster dive is a great contrast.
I think at the start of this show we played covers and opened with surf and it got this Gretsch and my 71 Strat. Then again at 7:00 Hawaii Five-O and Surfrider.
I can't play surf from front to back and the Gretsch is more versatile for the other parts of the set. Old reverb units and early 60s Fender amps help as well.
I think at the start of this show we played covers and opened with surf and it got this Gretsch and my 71 Strat. Then again at 7:00 Hawaii Five-O and Surfrider.
I can't play surf from front to back and the Gretsch is more versatile for the other parts of the set. Old reverb units and early 60s Fender amps help as well.
northernguitar
Poster Extraordinaire
Yes!Mosrite would be my first choice, but a strat, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, tele, Gretsch, or Danelectro all work fine. It depends on if you are a purist or are playing for purists.
sloppychops
Friend of Leo's
1. Jaguar or Jazzmaster (It's a tie)
2. Stratocaster
3. Mosrite
2. Stratocaster
3. Mosrite
I found only two renditions of misirlou on youtube that get a little closer to the tone of Dick Dale, one was achieved with a Jaguar and the other a Jazzmaster. Although far from perfection from a tone purist perspective, it is at least decent :
eddiewagner
Poster Extraordinaire
I vote for tele. Cause the record that turned me on to surf called „pray for surf“ was played on a telecaster. We still play mr. Moto and all that stuff. A bigsby helps.
Mr_Martin
Tele-Afflicted
You can play Surf with any guitar
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Yes but can you record surf with any guitar? These two here will not sell platinum with their sound, IMO.
Mr_Martin
Tele-Afflicted
Yes.. are every guitars the exact same prolific tone monster to play/record surf? What do you think "best" means?
Mr_Martin
Tele-Afflicted
Best means what sounds best to my (or your) ears.
It's subjective.
Ask 10 People and you get 10 different answers.
I like the Supro and the Gretsch more than the standard boring Fender surf sound.
Hence the Wilkinson vibrato on this custom Jazzmaster build:
Which I used to record this tune:
https://soundclick.com/r/s8f9wu
