Before I start, I know it comes down to what feels best in my hands, but given the circumstances I’m in, it’s difficult to sit down with the guitars that I’ll be naming to actually feel and relate to one guitar over another. With that being said, I’m stuck between a tele with bigsby, strat, JM or Jaguar, and last and least, a gretsch with bigsby. Projet or hollow body I hear the feedback is ridiculous but no music store around me carries a gretsch hollow body with bigsby,JM/Jaguar or even a tele with bigsby. The sound I’m going for is drip, naturally, and I know that also comes down to a spring reverb unit along with whatever else you feel like plugging in. But when it comes to the guitar itself, I want twang but not JM/jaguar twang. And my best reference is the song jazzhound by the Buttertones, even though I can name you 1,000 songs with the exact sound I’m looking for. the lead singer plays a Jaguar while the lead guitar plays a tele, but it’s without tremolo.... I’m conflicted and over thinking but if you listen to the song I’d appreciate an opinion on how to achieve that dark, vintage, haunting tone from either of these guitars... and like I said I’m well aware of the reverb unit I would need whether it’s a pedal or a tank. Along with a number of other effects. Your text to link here...

Last edited: Mar 18, 2020 20:07:19

Why don't you list a few other songs for us to get a better feel for the sound you are looking for?

Bango_Rilla wrote:

I can vote for a Gretsch with a Bigsby. It's not what your normally think of when you think surf, but Gretsch has the goods and can do the tele/bigsby type thing. Are you okay with switching scale lengths? Every guitar you listed has a different scale length, with the exception of two I think.

I use a Gretsch for Surf and find that it works quite well. The sound is a little bit thicker than the average single coil sound, but it’s still very bright.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Surf_Skater wrote:

The YouTube clip sounds like single coils into an amp with the onboard reverb cranked. It's a little darker than a stand alone into the front sounds. What is your guitar budget? And what are you playing now? I think a strat or tele will get what you're looking for.
If you don't have much of a budget, strat is the way to go. Easy to find, plenty of price points to choose from. A tele with a bigsby is not as common.

My budget is between $400-$700, and I know I couldn’t go wrong with a strat or tele but something in me wants to stray away from the poster child of guitars and I mean that with the most respect... like I said I’m over thinking this but I fell in love with reverb and the classic drip sound and figured I’d come here to get opinions which I can’t thank you guys enough for

AndrewTesta wrote:

synchro wrote:

Bango_Rilla wrote:

I can vote for a Gretsch with a Bigsby. It's not what your normally think of when you think surf, but Gretsch has the goods and can do the tele/bigsby type thing. Are you okay with switching scale lengths? Every guitar you listed has a different scale length, with the exception of two I think.

I use a Gretsch for Surf and find that it works quite well. The sound is a little bit thicker than the average single coil sound, but it’s still very bright.

I’m not too concerned about scale length I’m aware about the difference in size unfortunately there aren’t many ways for me to get my hands on one to see how they feel :/ did you play a hollow body gretsch? I heard about putting dynasonics in a project but listening to the hollow body’s I’m thinking they are twangy and dark enough for surf
Pro jet*

Fever by the Cramps is a song I'm quite familiar with, and I have messed around quite a bit trying to get close to Poison Ivy's sound from the early records.

There are two guitar parts in that song - the repeating low riff would have been Bryan Gregory, and I can't say what guitar he used, but it was possibly the flying V he often played, so a humbucker equipped guitar. The higher pitched lead parts would have been Poison Ivy's Bill Lewis guitar (rather than the Gretsch she got later) - I've found I can get quite close to her sound with my Fender Jaguar with both pickups on a lots of reverb (and also tremolo for many songs). So that would be my highly biased recommendation.

But I expect you could get where you want with either a Jazzmaster or Gretsch, which would get you a bit more thicker and darker tone. Of course, you can make any guitar sound darker by playing with tone controls, but it's much harder to make them brighter.

Personally, I would avoid a Tele as they bring more country than surf and i find them uncomfortable to play live. My personal experience.

Have you considered a Mosrite, or a Mosrite clone like a Hallmark or Eastwood? They bring a slightly different sound than a JM/Jag.

http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/