[Dsjeckers]

Looking for a new guitar and love jerry's tone. I'm just torn between a gibson sg or strat. I know he used both I'm just not sure which way to go
Any advice?

[flyingheelhook]

I would think Strat but I defer to the more knowledgeable folks here.

[cripeowner]

Strat! More versatile.

[hippieguy1954]

Strat, no question.

Maple fretboard. Fender custom shop '69's or David Allen VooDoo 69'. Block the tremolo and there ya go.

You can add OBEL and buffer at anytime if you so desire.

[Smolder]

Depends on the era you like. Jerry played both an SG and an SG like early 60's Les Paul... If you listening to those classic 'gather years, the scale on a Strat will sound different. I'm a lot more comfortable playing an SG, and that comfort matters more to me. My LP Deluxe with minihumbuckers (strat on steroids) is another cool option, but again, not the same string length of a strat.

[TI4-1009]

Yup, if you want the 69-71 "Live Dead" era, an SG will be closer. Anything after that is more into Strat territory.

[lovetoboogie]

The irony is a bolt-on with single-coil pickups(ie; Strat type) is the least used and least played guitar in the scope of years and gigs Jerry did. Set Neck, Neck-through and humbuckers were the mainstay...

I personally favor Alligator and and the Strats from 69', 70' & 72'... but it can be argued that for Garcia tone an SG that is set up right, and with some flexible pickup options/wiring, will get you more Garcia bang for the buck.

[jackaroo]

Great topic!

I think the main question is what period tone you're after. Most people will hear the mid pickup strat tone and think "that's a Garcia sound" but that's just one of his tones. The SG isn't the sound most hear in their heads when they think of Garcia's sound. Typically I think folks associate him with tiger and the McIntosh.

I love that early, hopped up tone he had before things got all squeaky clean quite a bit. I think the next guitar I buy with be an SG rather than a tiger/wolf clone. Sounds perfect on St. Stephen and some other tunes from 68-70.

I currently gig my tribute band with a strat and it does the period I like the most (72-74) really well. I'm not sure about when the super 2 and dual sounds started being his go to pickup (78?), but I believe he was running singles for a while in the wolf...I like that sound a lot too, though it's tone (and tiger) pretty sterile especially the overdriven tones. I attribute that to the Mc being used over the vacuum tubes in the twin heads.

The amp is a huge part of the tone choice...not the pre, but the power section. Early Garcia had the power section worked up pretty hard. That and the humbuckers going into the front end of the amp give it that heft and singing overdrive. When you shift to lower output single coils...like on E72, you get a little dirt, but mostly clean.

The strat, using the power section of the amp is my favorite tone. It's not the super clean, heavy, thick tone of tiger into the Mc with dirt pedals for overdrive, that's for sure. I never have gotten along with the hippie sandwich guitars all that well. The Travis Bean had a cool sound too, but I'm at a loss of how to describe the tone...plus there's a boogie during that era so there's les of elements to chase down. I just own a strat and a few blackface amps and like that nails the tone from the period and lineup I like the best...so I went with that.

The SG, unless you go with a three pickup model, will not do the latter years Jerry thing very well IME. But it'll rip up that early stuff perfectly.

I only gig with the strat...if I had to have only one, I like the strat the best.

Now I'll go on eBay and see about a nice SG!

J

[hippieguy1954]

All of Jerry's guitars after Aligator were mostly Strat based; 25 1/2 scale length, the pickups, selector switch and wiring. A Strat sounds very close to Tiger with the Super 2's split. The Dimarzio Super 2's in Tiger were mostly used in single coil mode (which sound exceptionally like Strat single coils), but have the flexibility he wanted.
You will not get that middle single coil tone from an SG.
Get both! Ya can never have too many guitars

[Smolder]

Depends on the era you like. Jerry played both an SG and an SG like early 60's Les Paul... If you listening to those classic 'gather years, the scale on a Strat will sound different. I'm a lot more comfortable playing an SG, and that comfort matters more to me. My LP Deluxe with minihumbuckers (strat on steroids) is another cool option, but again, not the same string length of a strat.

I should add that my SG is a pound lighter than what they typically are... And I have split coil '57 classis. All of that ads some bright and some versatility for other stuff.

[Diggey]

Funny, I struggled with this also. I have a wolf and a tiger replica of sorts already. And I never liked strats for what I do. But Jerry in the 72 era dead was amazing of course.

See the SG link below. Though it's for sale now, I bought it to have an SG but also have the single coil splitting options for more tone choices.

You could buy mine and Have what you need!


http://rukind.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=334&t=16431

[Ebearius]

The original poster did not mention what he was currently playing. To me, scale length is the foremost variable. Regardless of setup, string gauge, or pickup selection, I have never been able to get a Gibson scale length to work for me. The strings always feel floppy and uninspiring. I think Les Pauls and SG's are tremendously cool. They are just not for me.

[Dsjeckers]

Thanks for input. Maybe leaning more towards strat. I haveven a semi hollow and g& l. Theyou both have great
Tone but not that close to jerry. Would I be better off
Getting a mim strat and swapping out pickups

[hippieguy1954]

A mim Strat with proper pickups would be fine, but you want a maple fretboard. Very important.

[lovetoboogie]

but you want a maple fretboard. Very important.

...taking into account that Garcia only played a guitar with a maple neck for 2 years(Alligator 71'-73'). All of his other guitars have been either Rosewood or Ebony fretboards.