software

The tele thread got me thinking... why are some guitars harder to play, that they reveal a persons poor technique, etc.?

Great question. Not really sure I know the answer, but when I think of a Tele I don't exactly think of a guitar designed with a lot of comfort in mind. Fairly thick body with no body/arm cuts, a pretty round radius (when talking vintage anyways, at 7.25quot;), a longer scale length that makes you work, and just a raw clear tone that's very expressive.

I think brighter guitars in general make everything more distinct, even your flaws.

You got a great point there FF, quot;a raw clear tone that's very expressivequot;.
I'm also wondering why playing a harder guitar reveals poor technique without regard to how its constructed. Or maybe the answer has to take into regard the notion that tele's reveal poor technique simply because they're not the most comfortable guitars, due to their construction. Wow, reading that, my post doesn't make any sense - lol.

Keep 'em coming.

For me, a thicker body and longer scale are more difficult. 25.5quot; scale is fine, as long as I can get really low action on it and the body is fairly thin. That is why I chose the Nighthawk. An SG is perfect for me because of the thin body, shorter scale, and the placement of the strap button at the neck joint. I have not found a more comfortable guitar.

I think there are lots of factors that play a role here. If we're just talking about the guitar itself, I think along the lines that pickups with less output and brighter tone are the ones that will show your mistakes (just like a tele). I think that this is so, for example, b/c you don't have a high output pickup masking the fact that the player may not be great at dynamics or even picking technique (masking due to compression) and the treble really brings out the mistakes (string noise,etc). These are just two factors. Now, with different amps, the whole thing changes. This is just my .02 cents worth, YMMV.

Mark

Clearsounding guitars, well they makes things clear
That is why alot of players drown them in Tubescreamers and other effects like it, it can be almost like playing an acoustic, and on a such instrument you cannot hide, makes you have to dig into it before you get comfy with the clearness.

The answer has been given above: bright clear guitars like Tele and Strats reveal evry nuance of your playing...especially a lack of good technque! If your two hands are not coordinated so that your picking hand and fretting hand are not working together to shape your tone in a beautiful way, then a bright clear guitar like a Strat or Tele is going to reveal that.

When I was a beginner I couldn't play a Tele and sound good. It was because I lacked the technique and maturity to hear the tone in my head and shape it with my hands. So I played Les Pauls which have a much fulller and fatter tone that hid some of my sloppy playing technique.

These days I feel the opposite: fat sounding humbucking guitars hide the subtlety of my playing and I rarely play them.

Lew

All I know is that my Strat's are much harder to play well than my Les Paul. I've always assumed it was a combination of the Les Paul's lower string tension and muddy sound.

i notice that playing strats harder than 24.75 scale guitars but are noticeably easier when thinner strings are used.

i'm still playing my yamaha pacifica (strat copy) , planning to go 24.75 real soon for playability reasons.

The Tele is unforgiving for lots of reasons...the 25.5 scale is harder to play (Strats are 25.5 as well...but the tremolo makes them a tad softer to play), thte 3 saddle bridge makes them play a tad out of tune no matter what you do, they are bright as hell, the bodies are not very comfortable, vintage Fenders have that damn 7.25 radius and wire frets which makes bending near impossible...all these things put together making playing a Tele almost a fight


Originally Posted by LewguitarIf your two hands are not coordinated so that your picking hand and fretting hand are not working together to shape your tone in a beautiful way, then a bright clear guitar like a Strat or Tele is going to reveal that.

No wonder I prefer humbucker guitars!!!