Most versatile guitar?

[dull siren]

What is the most versatile guitar one can get nowadays? I was thinking the charvel dk24, but does anyone have any other suggestions?

[rain vault]

Tbf it has two humbuckers but 5 way switch

Overall I think that there is no such thing as the most versatile guitar

But jags are known to have many options of sound

And you can mod it to get HS

[rain vault]

So it is able to do many stuff

Honestly Ill go with squier start because most begginers use it and they llay on it everything lmao

[placid roost]

a 8 string guitar with a floyd rose and 2 fishman fluence pickups

almost complete guitar tonal range with the extra 2 strings, the trem, and the fishmans

[fierce dawn]

Any HSS strat with coil splits ... Ibanez AZ standard for instance ... Yamaha Pacifica 112V

[dull siren]

i like how you think

[fierce dawn]

Actually... I'm not not even mad...that makes kinda sense

[placid roost]

im not even wrong

fishmans = active+passive+single coils
floyd rose = big dive big pulls
8 string = more low sounds

would have said 9 string with trem and more than 24 frets but those are "not really normal guitar" territory

[fierce dawn]

Technically correct is the best correct

My suggestion was a bit more accessible though

[placid roost]

very true

a lot more accessible

[placid roost]

considering those start at like 1.5k usd min

[dull siren]

blimey

This is the guitar

fuck yes

[fierce dawn]

Neh... Most versatile would be HSS ... With coil split ... HH isn't

But nonetheless a nice guitar

[rain vault]

Yeah

Plus 2 tone knobs would be nicer

[fierce dawn]

I literally never ...ever ... Use my tone knob

[onyx moss]

PRS DGT SE

[fierce dawn]

dual humbucker is not 'most versatile' imho

[vapid inlet]

fishman moderns are the most versatile pickups in theory

single coil and passive and active hb sounds all in one

any ibanez with the alter switch would be pretty good too

although how versatile does a guitar really need to be. HSS with a coil split bridge would be enough for most. I rarely ever see neck humbuckers used

[main tundra]

went down a similar path of comparing guitars HSS with coil split gives flexibility

[tough sedge]

i see neck humbuckers used plenty

[vapid inlet]

I listen to almost exclusively metal

so I'm biased

[tough sedge]

the whole “whats most versatile” thing is pretty easy to figure out if you yourself know what you like

and thats the main hurdle

a lot of people like the idea of versatility, literally who doesnt, but they either don’t know what they like or don’t play that many things to have to warrant being so picky with what they thinks the most versatile universally

i own both hss and hsh, problem solved. if it has to be one guitar i’d probably do hsh just cus of the hum cancelling aspect, thas all. if someone really likes neck single coil tones then they know their answer

[vapid inlet]

yeah, I was thinking the neck single coil is very important to some people

[tough sedge]

nah

now that you edited it to “some” then yeah

[vapid inlet]

mistype yeah

[tough sedge]

but for others its alright, for me i like it a lot, but if i had to have one guitar id want it to hum cancel across all situations and sounds for recording

again just goes down to how much you actually need it and how much you care

99% of people when given either won’t mind

[vapid inlet]

true. I've never had split coil humbuckers, but if those are any good, that's an option too

or like I said, fishman fluence moderns

[tough sedge]

ive had fishmans

they arent the end all be all

they have their own sounds

[vapid inlet]

they do 2 separate humbucker voicings and single coil sounds

they're more versatile than any pickup I've seen

[tough sedge]

i know, the thing is

thats not special

its not a special wiring

you can turn any passive humbucker into the same 3 voice thing

[vapid inlet]

yeah but most people probably don't want to. as far as just stock guitar, I've never seem that option with any other pickups. it probably exists I just haven't seen jt

but if your down to mess with wiring, then doing that would be sick

[tough sedge]

because fishman guitars HAVE to be sold with that

a lot of fishmans marketing revolves around that 3 voice system

[vapid inlet]

I mean I just like how they sound in general too, but yeah

[tough sedge]

which in reality is just

1. coil split
2. series wiring
3. parallel wiring

the guy who designed that for fishman use to work for duncan

and did the same thing for duncan

[vapid inlet]

a lot of the marketing is just that, marketing, but I think they're pretty good pickups regardless

[tough sedge]

they are, i just always clarify that their 3 voice thing isnt special whenever i get the chance when someone brings it up as something special that only fishman does

cus its a big part of their appeal for a lot of people without them knowing it's a very easy modification you can do to any pickup

[vapid inlet]

yeah that's fair

[tough sedge]

their "passive" sound isn't actually passive

it's just their active sound wired in parallel which is less thick and a little duller

but it plays on the assumption that passive pickups sound quieter, so a lot of people hear it, being less thick and duller, and say "hey look passive"

you'll notice all of their 3 voice pickup descriptions follow the same idea, with different words used

one voice is the split single coil sound
one is the full humbucker thick sound
one is the quieter, cleaner, or "passive" sound

because the wiring for all of them just follow the same split, series, parallel pattern

[vapid inlet]

mmm, ok that makes sense

not rocket science but still cool to have none the less

lots of "voicing" stuff can probably be replaced with eq and effects anyways i imagine

assuming you have decent enough pickups

cant eq frequencies that arent there

(easier to just pull up on a pot than eq your whole shit tho)

[heady abyss]

@tough sedge What hsh do you recc, I see charvel has some qc issues so i was probs gonna get a jackson sl3 which is hss... but am looking for a hsh modell

[faint pendant]

imo most versatile is a guild M-80
but when it comes to easy to get, stratocaster

[tame swift]

I think it's generally hard to say what's the most versatile because it always depends on what exactly you want of the guitar

I feel like if you just want a guitar that covers literally everything a tele with humbucker/hotrail in bridge probably does the trick

[faint pendant]

thats what versatile means
it can do anything at least well

[tame swift]

I mean i guess any guitar with a humbucker in bridge and single coil in neck would fit that description i guess

[faint pendant]

well, HH too

any strat is good for most genres

[slender willow]

From experience it’s 100% based on preference. These are all the ones I’ve owned

If single coil tones are a top priority:
Ibanez ichi10
3 single coils, 5 way + mini toggle
Capable of running neck + mid or bridge + mid in series
Which gives a “humbucker” sound but way more loose and muddy, since the pickups are so far apart.

Ibanez AZ2402 prestige (or premium, both use the same seymour duncan hyperion pups)
2 hums, 5 way + mini toggle
These get you like somewhat all the way to “all” the tones
You can do all your regular hum modes, but then you get quite a bit of split options.
The split tones ofc arent going to sound exactly like true single coils but theyre also not bad

If hum canceling is a priority:
Strandberg boden fusion 6 (year dependent after 2020)
HSH, 5 way + push pull tone
This one has literally all the tones I could want
Can do all normal hum positions then it can do the split in any position (just neck, neck + mid, tele mid, mid + bridge, bridge)

(Havent owned) but worthy mention
James tyler Japan studio elite deluxe
These probably have the most versatility from factory

HSS, 5 way, 4 mini toggle, mid boost pot, mini button straight to bridge i think

The 3 inline mini toggles let you control if you want series or parallel for any of the pickups

Hard to explain this one though and honestly just easier to watch a demo vid on one to see how many tones it can produce

[tough sedge]

so most guitars ever

[faint pendant]

yes

[tough sedge]

is versatile to you more toggle options

[slender willow]

Not really, just sonically what the guitar is capable of doing i think is versatility. So that could be toggles, a freeway 10pos switch, or the seymour duncan hyperswitch, or even things like “tremol-no”s that allow easier functionality of the instrument. Diff pickup arrangements too like the new fender Jack White triplecaster or the other features it has id also consider to be a def of “versatile”

Also ergonomics could be considered “versatile” as well. Like not having to change posture if you play in classical position or regular

[fierce dawn]

So the 8 string headless with fishmans and a whammy wasn't even that far fetched ?

But even if you have the most versatile guitar ... If you only play the same 5 AC/DC songs over and over, it's not much more useful than a 90 dollar Harley Benton strat

[tough sedge]

thats what ive been saying

if it boils down to “literally does everything” just put more strings on it

now your notes range is boomer rock to weird extended classical to downtuned djent

[fierce dawn]

Or Djazz

[willow orchid]

Has nobody mentioned an hh tele?

or a tele at all?

[fierce dawn]

because they are only popular with mathrock dweebs 😛

[willow orchid]

Disagree 100%

[faint pendant]

any HH guitar lol

[willow orchid]

I've got an HS tele, 5 way switch with a coil split. I think it'll do about anything

The bridge humbucker is single coil sized too

[fierce dawn]

i was joking of course

this whole thread is pointless and OP doesn't even respond or join in

[faint pendant]

agreed

you can play anything on any guitar

[willow orchid]

Yup

[fierce dawn]

kinda happens a lot on this server that the people asking question don't seem to stick around for answers ...

[willow orchid]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0juvYSY5s3w

[faint pendant]

lets be real here: all that matters to most people is looks

[willow orchid]

I'm just biased on teles XD

[faint pendant]

Im planning on getting a tele thinline with a bigsby some day
100% will be playing metal on it

[fierce dawn]

I would play anything... except SG's ...

[willow orchid]

I have 4 teles

[faint pendant]

I would play anything except every fender model but the tele, les pauls, SGs, and those ugly fuckin headless shitboxes

[fierce dawn]

go wash your mouth ... my headlesssessses are beautiful

[faint pendant]

no

[slender willow]

I was gonna mention that before. Like technically you can literally play ANYTHING with a tele, or just in general a guitar as simple as a tele.
Just takes more work to get a specific sound, but again with all the diff pedals or even software out there anything is possible

[vapid inlet]

not a huge fan of that sentiment

true yes

but telling people, for example, "go ahead and buy single coils for metal, people play metal on strats all the time" is kind of misleading because most people don't have the knowhow and/or equipment to get those sounds out of stuff like that

it makes way more sense to buy a guitar with decently high output humbuckers, not because you need them, but it makes life a lot simpler

[placid roost]

the beginners do not need those "very advanced and/or niche tips"

like sure landmvrks and loathe tone is cool but are you getting that without extensive knowledge/gear?

[slender willow]

Exactly why I said before, that having a stupidly featured specd guitar like the james tyler one with 4 mini toggles and stuff slims down the work someone would have to do in order to get a certain tone

But again it’s kinda a back and forth thing.

1 side, you could say: you can buy a SS tele. Then just buy a quad cortex and download other peoples presets and boom you can play any genre.

Other side: you could have a james tyler type of guitar with a billion mini toggles and switches with minimal equipment and boom you can play any genre.

[fierce dawn]

or you buy a Mooer GTRS smart guitar with built in effects and cloud and BOOM ... you can play any genre

[slender willow]

Yeah yeah true. Or even one of those midi guitars lol

[random barn]

I would argue the most versatile guitar is a HSS strat, maybe with a Floyd (but don't mistake having a Floyd for adding versatility, that rules out swithing from standard to drop d in a live setting for example)

[tough sedge]

that last reason is why i'd argue it wouldn't be the most versatile

[random barn]

yup that's why I say a HSS strat

[vapid inlet]

someone who wants to play a variety of genres will want to play a variety of tunings

and past some metal, do any other genres even need a floyd?

[faint pendant]

no

and even in metal

[vapid inlet]

you can do trem vibrato on a normal trem if you even care about that

[faint pendant]

you dont need a floyd

[vapid inlet]

yeah hence why i said some

some songs need it, very few tho

even in the songs its used in, its sparingly

[faint pendant]

i have a vibrola trem on my guitar, i play a lot of metal on it

it has plenty enough play to use it, just a little stiff tho

[vapid inlet]

i wouldnt do dives on a non locking trem for the most part

like a strat bridge

pulls shit out of tune really quick

[faint pendant]

oh for sure

my guitar seems to be ok with it for the most part

i wanna get one of those locking things that goes behind the nut tho

[vapid inlet]

you mean a locking nut? cus otherwise i have zero idea what goes behind the nut on a guitar

[faint pendant]

well yeah, but i like the brass nut i already have

[vapid inlet]

graph tech or nada

[faint pendant]

nah i cant find anything that would work

[mild moss]

Tele with a humbuker coil split

[sullen lantern]

hss strat with a d tuna floyd

[dull siren]

charvel dk24 is the most versatile

[faint pendant]

answering yourself i see

[rain vault]

But yeah this one is really versatile

I would just see floyd rose rail tail replace this tremolo

[faint pendant]

Floyd's are extremely overrated

[tough sedge]

why would it need a floyd rail tail

those charvels come with gotoh 510s, its excellent as is

[rain vault]

rail tails are prob easiest in use and most eficient tunewise

Ive seen theres a gotoh alternative but idk the name

[rain vault]

fair enoug

[dull siren]

yeah

didnt realise this was my thread lol

forgot about it

[thin cloak]

Suhr Classic S / Modern Series or Ibanez AZ Series

[orchid aurora]

i was just about to say

im surprised Ibanez az isnt being heavily cocnsiderd