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Why do some big names go from Gibson to Fender (or other)?

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Cletus

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But make boring music that's not a patch on their best work?

Amongst the names:

Eric Clapton
Pete Townsend
Ritchie Blackmore
Jeff Beck
Carlos Santana

Unfortunately Chad Kroeger is still loyal.
 
Is this question real? Tone chasing. You want the sound of a Gibson you play a Gibson. You want the sound of a Fender you play a Fender. As you evolve as a player and an artist different tones and feel of a guitar will inspire you in different ways. Some artists use many brushes and paints while others use one brush and black and white.
 
I think sponsorship deals have a lot to do with it. I've always thought it was 75% financially motiviated and 25% personal preference.
 
To me, I believe it stems from the fact that Gibsons are less individualistic than Fenders. Let's say you have a Les Paul and a Strat next to each other. What can you do on the Les Paul?  Change the humbuckers to other humbuckers, remove the pickguard, paint it, if you wanna be really nuts, put a Bigsby on it and/or modify the electronics. Now, on the Strat, what can you do?  You can replace the neck if its damaged/too thick/too wide/too deep/too narrow (with the new neck, you can decide if you want to keep the tuners on the bass side, or go crazy and have a reverse neck, with the tuners on the treble side), you can switch out the pickups, get a pickguard in many different colors, modify the electronics, take the single coils out, put in humbuckers or other single coil pickups, take all of the electrics out of the guitar via the pickguard by un-soldering two wires, and so on and so forth.

One other thing is that since Fenders are normally made out of lower-end wood (maple, ash, alder) compared to a Gibson (mahogony), you don't feel as remorseful about letting it get some road wear compared to a Gibson.

Those are at least the reasons I can think of--I may be wrong, but that's at least how I see it.
 
I think it has mostly to do with sponsorships. People wanna play what their heros play, and the manufacturer's know it. So, they pay the heros to play their stuff. Gibson's marketing weenies say "We'll agree to give you X amount of money/equipment per year, and you agree to pretend we walk on water and not to be seen or photographed with anything but our product in your hands." Then Fender says "We'll meet Gibson's deal +20%, and throw in some full-color full-page ads in famous publications that feature YOU! (using our gear)." Then PRS says "We'll meet Fender's deal +20%, and throw in some tour expense reimbursement." Fender, not to be outdone, says "We'll meet PRS's deal, and put your name on some instruments along with a cut of the gross." And round and round it goes as contract terms wax and wane.

 
In Clapton's case he got lucky in a music store in the USA in the very early 1970s, bought a lot of Strats and loved the sound of 'em. Then he part swapped the best parts onto Blackie and Brownie, and gave at least two other Strats away..... so it was a tone chase thing for him. Then years later, in recognition of his loyalty to Blackie from then on, Fender approached him about a signature model.

Beck is a chameleon with sounds so he will play whatever can get him the sound he wants to get! In the middle of his endorsement deal with Fender he went off and recorded a tribute album to Cliff Gallup & Gene Vincent and went about promoting that slinging a Gretsch over his shoulder....

Also, I wouldn't cast what one player might play up on stage as anything other than a trusted workhorse they can throw around, while back in the studio they may use any range of guitars.... I am sure that any guitar player worthy of being approached by Fender or Gibson for a signature model would also reserve the right to play any other instrument should the need arise.

Hofner however, owes Paul McCartney a truckload of money each month for his loyalty to thier bass guitar......his unofficial endorsement must have earnt them millions by now. (I'm led to believe he has never signed any endorsement with Hofner for their bass guitar. Yoko stitched up Rickenbacker for a Lennon 325 model and recently the Harrison Estate agreed to terms with Gretsch for Duo Jet in honour of George)
 
Have you guys not been paying attention. Cletus is a real forum member, but this is nothing but a anti Fender troll, pure and simple.
 
swarfrat said:
Have you guys not been paying attention. Cletus is a real forum member, but this is nothing but a anti Fender troll, pure and simple.
Click to expand...

I'm asking reasonable questions about guitars and the musicians who use them. I kindly suggest you take back that troll slur before I bring out my full range of Australian swearing.

Who the fudge trolls a guitar forum?
 
Cletus said:
swarfrat said:
Have you guys not been paying attention. Cletus is a real forum member, but this is nothing but a anti Fender troll, pure and simple.
Click to expand...

I'm asking reasonable questions about guitars and the musicians who use them. I kindly suggest you take back that troll slur before I bring out my full range of Australian swearing.

Who the frick trolls a guitar forum?
Click to expand...

Oh nooooo. Don't nobody want that. I'm Australian, trust me we can swear like troopers. Sounds like a valid question to me, and the is a "discussion forum"
 
pabloman said:
Is this question real? Tone chasing. You want the sound of a Gibson you play a Gibson. You want the sound of a Fender you play a Fender. As you evolve as a player and an artist different tones and feel of a guitar will inspire you in different ways. Some artists use many brushes and paints while others use one brush and black and white.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with the "tone thing."  I can almost always identify a guitar by the way it sounds, mostly between a Fender, Gibson, or B.C. Rich.  Motorhead and Iron Maiden are unmistakably Fender, while Guns N' Roses is unmistakably Gibson, and W.A.S.P. and Slayer are unmistakably B.C. Rich.

Personally, I hate the Hell out of the way Gibsons play, and I've never played one I did like, but damned if the LP doesn't have a great tone!  I guess if I was after that "Gibson tone" for a song, I'd have to borrow one from someone, because I surely wouldn't spend my hard-earned money for one, especially just to get that "tone" in a song or two.

For me, I guess I can always mess with the sound through effects, so I bass my purchase off of feel, comfort, and playability, for the most part.
 
YOU-MUST-BE-TROLLING.jpg
 
At that level, I don't think it had anything to do with sponsorship.

Beck actually played a tele early on, so it wasn't really a simple Gibson/Fender thing. Nowadays he sure likes the trem though.

Townshend played everything over the years. A lot of his changes probably had more to do with the availability of what he was using at the time than anything else - for some reason I can't imagine, he needed to replace his guitars frequently back in the day. :laughing7:  If Gibson hadn't stopped making the SG version he preferred, he might have stuck with them indefinitely. Who knows?

EC changed a lot of things musically in a short period of time back then, not just guitars. He may have been motivated by hearing Hendrix, or the Band, or drugs, or whatever. Maybe he just wanted to change, in general.
 
drewfx said:
, he needed to replace his guitars frequently back in the day. :laughing7:  I
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But Gibsons break way easier!!! you only have to look at the angled head stock and it may break... :tard:

but to answer the question, Strats are obviously way more comfortable to play, especially for long shows.. 
this is why Scott Gorham uses strats live (and he is famous for that ultimate classic rock Les Paul tone!!)
 
I'm neutral on the subject, as I own both LPs and Strats. Comfort-wise the strat shape wins every time. As for the big names chasing tone, I would imagine it's due to the wider tonal palette of the three single coils. Not that an LP can't show some variety... just by nature the Strat has a bit more to offer.
 
Well, I guess for me, it started off with what my guitar heroes played.  I saw Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) playing a Fender Strat when I was about 12 years old, so just assumed since he played one, they were good guitars.  The same went for Dave Mustaine when I saw him in a video playing a B.C. Rich.  I just assumed they were good guitars since he was playing one.

So, naturally, for me, I wanted to be like my guitar heroes, and latched on to Fender and Rich at a young age.  I thought those guys were cool, I thought their guitars looked cool, and I wanted to be cool like them.  :occasion14:

Time went on, and naturally, I wanted either a Fender or a Rich.  I got a Rich, and I like the way it plays while I'm sitting, but when standing, it's another story.  It's quite top-heavy.  I also wound up with a Fender Tele, but I'm really not quite sure why.  I've never been a particularly huge fan of them, and quite honestly, I'm really still not.  :icon_scratch:  I much prefer the Strat to the Tele, but mainly just because of the looks, more-so than for any other reason.

As for Gibson, a buddy of mine had a LP, and I just absolutely hated it from the moment I picked it up, even before I played it.  It was super-heavy, and always felt "slippery" while sitting with it.  There was also something about the feel of the neck that I never quite connected with, yet I couldn't tell you what it is.  The LP's neck just doesn't feel "right" to me.  That's seemed to carry across their line, because I've never played a Gibson I've connected with.  I have an Epiphone acoustic, which my wife purchased for me, and while it holds sentimental value for that very reason, I really just don't like the way it plays at all.  Gorgeous guitar, but just...blah.
 
I've only seen Dave Mustaine with Jacksons & Deans, but I grew up with the tapes, but not cable (therefore no MTV (back when they played videos))
 
I think it's silly that companies don't try to reach out to all people. Why are all Fender's either ash or alder? You know what, I like a hardtail HH strat, but the alder body makes it bleh. I want some mahogany Fender's. Same goes to gibson. It wouldn't kill you to make a guitar without a TOM, or a guitar that people can afford (that still plays well  :icon_tongue:)
 
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