Hey guys, I was wondering if I could get some advice with purchasing a new guitar. I know Fenders work best with EHX (I don’t know why though), but, the other day, me and the other guitarist in my band went to Guitar Center to pick some stuff up, and we decided to check out some guitars. I picked up an SG with P-90’s and I was amazed. The neck, although fat, somehow fit in my hand perfectly, and there was no fret buzz or dead spots whatsoever on the neck. And of course, I love the sound of P-90s.

The other side of this, though, is that I’ve tried things like Squiers and Mexican Strats through my rig, and although, obviously, there were tone and tuning issues, the synergy between the Fender sound and the EHXness of my pedalboard was somehow much more apparent than with my present guitar, which is a PRS SE Soapbar II, made in Korea. It’s not a bad guitar at all, but for some reason with Fenders, EHX effects retain more clarity and it seems like they were made to work with them. With my PRS something seems to be lacking.

Were Fenders used as the guitar of choice in testing out the effects as they were being developed? I know for instance that PRS guitars are made to work with Mesa/Boogie amps. Maybe Mr. Scott Matthews can help me with this?

What are your experiences with Gibson or any other non-Fender brand into Electro-Harmonix?

Thanks

Alkis

If the guitar feels and sounds great to you, there shouldn’t be any other reason to not buy it. I’ve never had problems with my Gibson bass into my pedals. In fact, the awesome Gibson humbuckers kick my fuzz’s ass and make it sound even better. It may just be that Gibsons are typically higher output pickups than Fender’s pickups, and as such clip the pedals? I’m not the wisest when it comes to electronics though so take my ideas as such.

I think with your amps EQ, the pedal knobs, and your guitar, you can be sure to get anything to sound just as good as anything. If you’ve found a guitar that you love, don’t let something like this stop you, IMO

I think it’s mythology…....Les Pauls into big muffs roar!!

When I play my Gibson Les Paul Jr. with my EHX pedals, it sounds amazing. I say get the SG with P-90s.

dude I use fuzz with humbuckers all the time for my stuff
fuzz with p90s sounds wicked
and SGs are awesome

SG with P-90s would be so awesome

You guys have totally killed my fears. SG Classic it is. this is gonna rock so hard! Thanks a lot, and happy new year everyone!

I actually prefer the way my big muff sounds with my Epiphone G-400 more than how it sounds with any of my other guitars. That guitar seems to really bring out something special within that pedal. I think it’s the tonal qualities of the Mahogany body matching the tonal qualities of the big muff better than say, an alder body like a fender. So if you’re getting a gibson, i can only imagine it sounding better than my epiphone

Yeah ... all use is a USA Stratocaster so don’t ever ask me for help unless it is fender

I also use a Gibson SG, but a Special with twin humbuckers. Great sound in EHX pedals, just as I also get a great, but different, sound using a Fender US Stratocaster Standard Plus from ‘92. However, my everyday workhorse with which I develop most of my sounds is the guitar pictured below, and designed by Trevor Wilkinson who also helped design the US Standard Plus Strat.
:rawk:

but then there is the fender tc-90, which has 2 p-90s. it’s set neck feels amazing, and the p-90s sound great through all of my ehx peds.

Sounds like the best of both worlds! The Vintage Les Paul Lemon Drop has the added feature of inverted polarity when both PUs are working which also gives a hybrid-type sound scape on the guitar, no doubt the reason why I use it so much.

Go for it!

electro-melx - 31 December 2008 03:38 PM

I think it’s mythology…....Les Pauls into big muffs roar!!

yes, i have two les pauls both with humbuckers, i get awesome sound on my big muff & english muffn. i had an lp with p90s and it sounded a little better than the humbuckers on my micro synth and octave multiplexer, i think because it was single coil (like most fenders) the tracking was more seamless than humbuckers, aka, not so glitchy (but still kinda glitchy). i suppose it depends on the kinds of effects you use—octave dividers, or fuzz/distortion?

by the way, has anyone else run an octave multiplexer or micro synth through a big muff or english muffin? it sounds AWESOME! the synth thru the big muff zaps crunchy robot sounds and the multiplexer thru eng muffn tears my head off and throws it against the wall, then the stack, then back again. totally boggles my mind!

electro-melx - 31 December 2008 03:38 PM

I think it’s mythology…....Les Pauls into big muffs roar!!

:rawk: So does a Rickenbacker 425, check out Katastrophy Wife to hear this combo.