Thanks to the inventive genius of both Les Paul and Leo Fender in the 1940's, the electric guitar has been the the undeniable symbol of rock and roll for over seventy years. Ever since the electric guitar first worked its way onto the rock and roll scene all those decades ago, guitarists have been debating whether Gibson or Fender makes the higher quality instrument.
Most guitar players have very strong feelings about this debate, and they are firmly entrenched in one camp or the other. For many of these musicians, their loyalties to either Fender or Gibson lie in something deeper than the typical differences in brand you might expectc (e.g., price, durability, or even aesthetics.) For many, their loyalty is based on much more than that; the choice between Fender and Gibson represents a statement about what kind of individual artist you are, or want to be.
This intense subjectivity is the reason, I believe, this debate so difficult to settle. So, in an effort to perhaps shed new light on this classic contest I turned to Guitar World Magazine for inspiration. Some years ago, Guitar World published a now oft-cited ranked list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos. I decided to take this ranked list and examine which songs were played with a Fender, Gibson, or Other brand guitar. After all, the guitarists who pulled off these solos are some of the greatest ever to play, so surely their choice of instrument would tell us something, right?
Putting aside the accuracy and completeness of Guitar World's rankings for the moment, I have reproduced the list below and added the guitar brand used for each solo. Following that list is a brief look at the numbers, and how things break down.
Rank / Song / Band / Guitarist/ Fender, Gibson or Other
1. Stairway to Heaven / Led Zeppelin / Jimmy Page / Gibson
2. Eruption / Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Other
3. Free Bird / Lynyrd Skynyrd / Collins & Rossington / Gibson
4. Comfortably Numb / Pink Floyd / David Gilmour / Fender
5. All Along the Watchtower / Jimi Hendrix / Fender
6. November Rain Guns N’ Roses / Slash / Gibson
7. One / Metallica / Krik Hammett / Other
8. Hotel California / Eagles / Felder & Walsh / Fender & Gibson
9. Crazy Train / Ozzy / Randy Rhoads /Gibson
10. Crossroads / Cream / Eric Clapton / Gibson
11. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) / Jimi Hendrix / Fender
12. Johnny B. Goode / Chuck Berry / Gibson
13. Texas Flood / Stevie Ray Vaughan / Fender
14. Layla / Derek and the Dominos / Clapton & Allman / Fender & Gibson
15. Highway Star / Deep Purple / Richie Blackmore / Fender
16. Heartbreaker / Led Zeppelin / Jimmy Page / Gibson
17. Cliffs of Dover / Eric Johnson / Fender
18. Little Wing / Jimi Hendrix / Fender
19. Floods / Pantera / Dimebag Darrell / Other
20. Bohemian Rhapsody / Queen / Brian May / Other
21. Time / Pink Floyd / David Gilmour / Fender
22. Sultans of Swing / Dire Straits / Mark Knopfler / Fender
23. Bulls on Parade / Rage Against the Machine / Tom Morello / Other
24. Fade to Black / Metallica / Kirk Hammett / Other
25. Aqualung / Jethro Tull / Martin Barre / Gibson
26. Smells Like Teen Spirit / Nirvana / Kurt Cobain / Fender
27. Pride and Joy / Stevie Ray Vaughan / Fender
28. Mr. Crowley / Ozzy / Randy Rhoads / Gibson
29. For the Love of God / Steve Vai /Other
30. Surfing with the Alien / Joe Satriani / Other
31. Stranglehold / Ted Nugent / Gibson
32. Machine Gun / Jimi Hendrix / Fender
33. The Thrill is Gone / B.B. King / Gibson
34. Paranoid Android / Radiohead / Jonny Greenwood / Fender
35. Cemetery Gates / Pantera / Dimebag Darrell / Other
36. Black Star / Yngwie Malmsteen / Fender
37. Sweet Child of Mine / Guns N’ Roses / Slash / Gibson
38. Whole Lotta Love / Led Zeppelin / Jimmy Page /Gibson
39. Cortez the Killer / Neil Young /Gibson
40. Reelin’ in the Years / Steely Dan / Elliot Randall / Fender
41. Brighton Rock / Queen / Brian May / Other
42. While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Beatles / Eric Clapton / Fender
43. Sharp Dressed Man / ZZ Top / Billy Gibbons / Gibson
44. Alive / Pearl Jam / Mike McCready / Fender
45. Light My Fire / Doors / Robby / Krieger Gibson
46. Hot For Teacher / Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Other
47. Jessica / Allman Brothers / Dicky Betts / Gibson
48. Sympathy for the Devil / Rolling Stones / Keith Richards / Fender
49. Europa / Santana / Carlos Santana / Gibson
50. Shock Me / Kiss / Ace Frehley / Gibson
51. Master of Puppets / Metallica / Kirk Hammett / Other
52. Star Spangled Banner / Jimi Hendrix / Fender
53. Since I’ve Been Loving You / Led Zeppelin / Jimmy Page / Gibson
54. Geek USA / Smashing Pumpkins / Billy Corgan / Fender
55. Satch Boogie / Joe Satriani / Other
56. War Pigs / Black Sabbath / Tony Iomi / Gibson
57. Walk / Pantera / Dimebag Darrell / Other
58. Cocaine / Eric Clapton / Fender
59. You Really Got Me / Kinks / Dave Davies / Fender
60. Zoot Allures / Frank Zappa / Gibson
61. No More Tears / Ozzy / Zack Wylde / Gibson
62. Money / Pink Floyd / David Gilmour / Fender
63. Scar Tissue / Red Hot Chili Peppers / John Frusciante / Fender
64. Little Red Corvette / Prince / Dez Dickerson / Fender
65. Blue Sky / Allman Brothers / Dicky Betts / Gibson
66. The Number of the Beast / Iron Maiden / Dave Murray / Fender
67. Beat It / Michael Jackson / Eddie Van Halen / Other
68. Starship Trooper / Yes / Steve Howe / Gibson
69. And Your Bird Can Sing / Beatles / George Harrison / Fender
70. Purple Haze / Jimi Hendrix / Fender
71. Maggot Brain / Funkadelic / Eddie Hazel / Fender
72. Walk This Way / Aerosmith / Joe Perry / Gibson
73. Stash / Phish / Trey Anastasio / Other
74. Lazy / Deep Purple / Ritchie Blackmore / Fender
75. Won’t Get Fooled Again / The Who / Pete Townshend / Gibson
76. Cinnamon Girl / Neil Young / Gibson
77. Man in the Box / Alice in Chains / Jerry Cantrell / Other
78. Truckin’ / Grateful Dead / Jerry Garcia / Fender
79. Mean Street / Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Other
80. You Shook Me All Night Long / AC/DC / Angus Young / Gibson
81. Sweet Jane / Velvet Underground / Lou Reed / Other
82. 21st Century Schizoid Man / King Crimson / Robert Fripp / Gibson
83. Scuttle Buttin’ / Stevie Ray Vaughan / Fender
84. Lights Out / UFO / Michael Schenker / Other
85. Moonage Daydream / David Bowie / Mick Ronson / Gibson
86. Whipping Post / Allman Brothers / Allman & Betts / Gibson
87. Highway 61 Revisited / Johnny Winter / Gibson
88. Kid Charlemagne / Steely Dan / Larry Carlton / Gibson
89. Killing in the Name / Rage Against the Machine / Tom Morello / Other
90. Let it Rain / Eric Clapton / Fender
91. Heard it Through the Grapevine / CCR / John Fogerty / Gibson
92. Stray Cat Strut / Stray Cats / Brian Setzer / Other
93. The End / Doors / Robby Krieger / Gibson
94. Working Man / Rush / Alex Lifeson / Gibson
95. Yellow Ledbetter / Pearl Jam / Mike McCready / Fender
96. Honky Tonk Woman / Rolling Stones / Keith Richards / Fender
97. Beyond the Realms of Death / Judas Priest / Glenn Tipton / Fender
98. Under a Glass Moon / Dream Theater / John Petrucci / Other
99. Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers / Jeff Beck / Fender
100. Wanted Dead or Alive / Bon Jovi / Richie Sambora / Other
Percent overall:
Fender = 39%
Gibson = 37%
Other = 24%
Percent in the top 10:
Fender = 27%
Gibson = 56%
Other = 18%
Percent in the top 25:
Fender = 41%
Gibson = 37%
Other = 22%
Percent in the top 50:
Fender = 38%
Gibson = 41%
Other = 21%
Percent in bottom 10:
Fender = 40%
Gibson = 30%
Other = 30%
Does this analysis bring us any closer to settling the great debate, or is this just a case of simple correlation and no causation? I'll let you decide. Perhaps later I'll reveal which camp I fall into (some of you may already know I, too, have very strong opinions about this question), but for now let's think about what this list can tell us.
Boomer
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So, I am not a musician and can't say anything about what songs should or shouldn't be on this list or which guitar is better. But I was trained as a scientist and I do have comments about the analysis.
ReplyDelete1. The % overall data tells you that Gibson and Fender slightly outperform other guitars but neither one does significantly better than the other.
2. The '% in the top 10' is sort of invalidated by the '% in the top 25' since no one guitar outperforms the other in both categories. Basically another music fan could have made their own top 100 list and would probably have put many of the same songs on the overall list (thus making the '% in overall list' data somewhat reliable) but they easily could have had very different songs or rankings in the top 25 which would change these numbers significantly.
3. Following from this, the '% in the top 50' and the bottom 50 is more evenly spread out like the overall list, again showing that with a larger sample size there is a more even spread
In the end you haven't learned very much from this. Sure, there are slightly more songs played on either a Gibson or a Fender in this list but even why that is is debatable. Does it mean that great guitarists chose to play them or that listeners prefer the sound of these guitars? And which one of these would lend more weight to the argument that a guitar was a 'great' guitar or do you need both?
I think this list and this analysis will only further the debate. And I assume that's half the fun. But if you ask me, there is only one way to really know the answer and that is to do a direct comparison of the top 25 songs on this list with the guitarist and the listener variables taken out of the equation. If it were possible to have the guitarists who originally played these songs to play them twice, once on a Gibson and once on a Fender then you could compare the sound. And you'd need the same group of listeners evaluating all the performances and rating, for each song, which they preferred. This is the only way to definitively know which guitar is 'better' and since it's unlikely to ever happen I assume this debate will live on
Excellent review by an excellent scientist.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a number of interesting questions about what, if anything, this list can tell us. One in particular that I liked was the following question:
"Sure, there are slightly more songs played on either a Gibson or a Fender in this list but even why that is is debatable. Does it mean that great guitarists chose to play them or that listeners prefer the sound of these guitars?"
Perhaps great guitarists select which brand/model of guitar to play with the listener in mind. It could be that a guitarist has his or her own sound they are trying to achieve and they don't care what the listener thinks. But, it's also possible that the great guitarist who notorious "tone seekers" with their guitars are actually looking for the magic sound that makes them stand out to the listener in a good way. I would predict that it's most likely a mix of these two things happeneing.
I also found your last paragraph intriguing. Just the thought of getting Hendrix, Page, Slash, etc. up on stage in their prime, and asking them to rip off their solos once with a Gibson and then once with a Fender is weirdly exciting. The thought of being one of the listening "evaluators" is even more cool.
good experimental design and empiricism do have their attractions....
ReplyDeleteas for your idea that maybe a guitarist buys a guitar with the listener in mind - maybe so. But I'm willing to bet (just based on what I know about human nature) it's a lot more their own ears they are concerned about than those of some kid who scored tickets to their show or some music critic who might choose to write about them.
Well, I gotta make a statement about the instruments themselves. I say and will always say that the guitar you use depends on the music you play. Period. "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers will never be done justice with a Fender and conversely "Sultans of Swing" will never sound right on a Gibson.
ReplyDeleteSame goes for Future Man and the garbage made drumitar, as well as Charlie Hunter's custom made guitar/bass. I think the better argument would be will the song work best with which guitar. I think that is something we can agree on better than which brand is more influential in music.
Look at Bluegrass and flatpicking. No professional flatpicker ever used an Ovation acoustic in a studio or live. At least not one that I would want to listen to.
But, lets not forget Les Paul invented the thing and.... well... Gibson.
GBlatt,
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the Allman Brothers' Jessica probably would not have been the same without the tonal warmth and smoothness that the Les Paul and its humbucker pickups gave them, and while I also agree that Mark Knopfler most likely could not have created the same biting and bright notes in Sultans by fingerpicking a Gibson, that point sort of furthers my orignial question: Does it tell us anything about the guitar brands if more often than not guitar players perfer a Gibson over a Fender, or vice versa?
I am pretty sure that we can all agree that Jimi Hendrix played just as much, if not more, of a variety of music types on his guitar than perhaps any of the other artists previously mentioned herein. Does it tell us anything about the Fender/Gibson debate when we point out that he played his stuff on a Fender probably about 99% of the time? (with a few notable exceptions, such as his Gibson Flying V, see: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/8157/jhgear.html) Maybe, maybe not.
One thing that I find interesting is that some people firmly believe that Fenders and Gibsons (in particular the Fender Strat and the Gibson Les Paul) are actually manufactured with a specific sound in mind, a sound that's intentionally different from their counterpart guitar company; i.e., both companies are fully aware of this classic debate and embrace it by marketing their individual guitars as the only instruments that can give you THIS or THAT iconic sound. Still, others believe that the guitars are built with versatility as the primary goal, and each company hopes that no matter what sound the player wants to produce, he or she can find that sound with their brand of guitar. I would like to get inside the head of these guitar designers and corporate executives and see which one of these scenarios is actually closer to correct. It would probably tell us a lot.
And, to your last point, where you revealed your allegiance to Gibson. Are you sure that Les Paul invented the thing?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_the_electric_guitar
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blguitar.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_guitar
Richie Sambora usually uses Fender, I think in "Wanted dead or alive", too.
ReplyDelete