Best guitar to play U2

[SWlondnr]

Gibson/epiphone Les Paul
I would use a humbucker guitar because the sound is warmer and it has a better effect when you use distortion. And the solid body helps aswell. It's a good all round rock guitar to be honest.

 

[mr mc sarcasm]

YEP!!!!...I use a Epiphone Les Paul black beauty!!!
The only problem is that is has 3 humbuckers...so sometimes the sound is a bit to warm....but, you are right!!...this is the best guitar to play U2 music....I'm loving it

 

[SWlondnr]

I use a fender squier....I think i bought it especially to play Streets i kind of regret not buying an epiphone. I think I have a problem....never stop buying instruments....i've all to myself, a keyboard, 4 guitars and a drum kit and a harmonica and a tin whistle...hopefully a piano at xmas ??$% *see what i mean!*

 

[discothequeLP]

SWlondnr, i'll buy one of those guitars if you give me a good price!



i have a squier strat too, and it sounds great on some songs, but on other songs it's not warm enough for me

 

[mr mc sarcasm]

Yeah....A epiphone isn't that usefull sometimes either......
Playing streets in a good way is difficult on a les paul if you don't have a good effectgenerator....and some other songs like:
Pride, IN God's country etc etc....are all very hard to play on an epihpone!!

I guess the best you can do is buy two guitars the moment you start playing guitar:
1- Les Paul
2- Stratocaster

MAN!! WILL YOU BE HAPPY!!!!

 

[SWlondnr]

yeah if your starting out....when i have a bit more money...i will have a guitar collection as big as edge's i'm starting already i have 4

 

[discothequeLP]

damn! what guitars are they?

 

[speedracer]

www.u2sound.com

Everything you never wanted to know about U2's equipment.

IMHO, if you're just starting out, here's the equipment you want:

1. A Stratocaster with single coils. Preferably Mexican or American made.

2. Herdim guitar picks. The blue ones with the dimpled grip. Go buy them on the web. Hold the pick sideways or upside-down so that you're hitting the strings with the dimples. (If you can't find Herdims, any other dimpled guitar pick will probably do, but these are the ones the Edge uses. And hey, they're guitar picks. They're cheap.)

3. Some kind of tube amp. It doesn't need to be big.

4. Some delay pedal. You can go for the $1000 rack-mounted delay unit once you're raking in the dough on tour.

5. Some overdrive pedal. Edge uses the Ibanez TS-9 most of the time nowadays, but you can use a different one if you like.

If you have enough money for another guitar, then get a Les Paul or some other humbucker-equipped guitar. I say go with the Strat first because it's more versatile. For example, Edge has played songs like "Pride" and "The Fly" with both Les Pauls and Strats, whereas songs like "Streets" and "Bad" and "All I Want Is You" just don't work with a Les Paul.

 

[discothequeLP]

i'm not sure if you would rather get a Mexican strat instead of a Japanese or Indonesian strat...the wood is way better




btw, this question may be very nubish, but, whats the difference between a tube amp and a "regular" amp?

 

[mr mc sarcasm]

A Tube amp has a warmer sound.......and just sounds better than regular amps....And when you put the volume up you get a kind of natural distortion that's impossible to get with a normal amp....
Only problem with tube amps is that they can't take a lot!!....other words: don't go carrying a tube-amp around and just throw it down in a corner....you're tube's won't be thanking you for that!!
But I've had a tube amp for about 2 months now, and it sounds GREAT!!!

 

[DiscoJokeX]

On The Fly from Zoo TV Sydney, does Edge use a strat?
It seems like a strat, with 3 single coil picukps and the body, but i can`t see the fender logo.

 

[SWlondnr]

SWlondnr, i'll buy one of those guitars if you give me a good price!

I have some pictures of them if you want me to send them to you
and then offer me a price and I'll work on that

 

[mr mc sarcasm]

SWlondlr.....since I'm curently broke I'm willing to pay 10 euro's for one of your guitars...
haha.....

 

[speedracer]

On The Fly from Zoo TV Sydney, does Edge use a strat?
It seems like a strat, with 3 single coil picukps and the body, but i can`t see the fender logo.

I think it's an Eric Clapton strat. The Clapton strats have a mid-boost circuit built in, so you can make them sound a bit beefier. There's a really interesting contrast between the Zoo TV-era version of "The Fly" and the Elevation-era version (which is played on a Les Paul).

 

[speedracer]

i'm not sure if you would rather get a Mexican strat instead of a Japanese or Indonesian strat...the wood is way better

Never seen an Indonesian strat. I've heard good things about Japanese strats, but the Mexican and American strats are probably the easiest ones to get (at least in the US). My strat is Mexican-made, and I'm quite happy with it.

btw, this question may be very nubish, but, whats the difference between a tube amp and a "regular" amp? [/B]

To expand upon what mr mc sarcasm has said, a non-tube amp uses transistors and other solid-state circuitry to achieve distortion. Solid-state is okay for weak signals (that's why they're used in the vast majority of overdrive pedals), but at amp levels they'll sound harsher and less smooth than tubes. Test out a tube amp at a music store and see what you think.

 

[SWlondnr]

SWlondlr.....since I'm curently broke I'm willing to pay 10 euro's for one of your guitars...
haha.....

well i have one that would be worth about that price you can play it it's still playable and great sound, but the cover covering the streings at the back is missing and the volume knob is broke, but it still works!
give me your email and i'll send it to you

 

[DiscoJokeX]

Im thinking of buying a Strat, but I might get a Les Paul instead. The isue here is the distortion. When listening to Desire and Streets, the distortion seems quite weak.

Can anyone provide me with examples of quite "heavy" distortion on a strat?

 

[speedracer]

Im thinking of buying a Strat, but I might get a Les Paul instead. The isue here is the distortion. When listening to Desire and Streets, the distortion seems quite weak.

Can anyone provide me with examples of quite "heavy" distortion on a strat?

Bullet The Blue Sky is played on a Strat, but the distortion is more a function of the Big Muff distortion pedal, I think.

 

[SWlondnr]

Les paul is a quite a partner for distortion it's warm tone is best for distortion because it sustians it.
I have a coil pick up and it's crap with distortion but you have fx units which can convert pick coils virtually to a humbucking pickup.

 

[mr mc sarcasm]

well i have one that would be worth about that price you can play it it's still playable and great sound, but the cover covering the streings at the back is missing and the volume knob is broke, but it still works!
give me your email and i'll send it to you

MAN!!.....Just kidding, I don't need a crapy guitar...
but thanx for the offer....!!...!!....

 

[SWlondnr]

don't call it a crap guitar!!!! It's a perfect working guitar! and plus I DO want to sell it! maybe some cheapskate on ebay might buy it

 

[discothequeLP]

swlondnr, i'll totally buy it from you! email me the pics!



jezigster@msn.com

 

[mr mc sarcasm]

don't call it a crap guitar!!!! It's a perfect working guitar! and plus I DO want to sell it! maybe some cheapskate on ebay might buy it

Cool down....was just a joke....but,I don't need an extra guitar.......

 

[SWlondnr]

Sorry... i'm very attached to them....yes I know I have a compulsive problem with guitars but hey I love em!

 

[AndyUF]

Im thinking of buying a Strat, but I might get a Les Paul instead. The isue here is the distortion. When listening to Desire and Streets, the distortion seems quite weak.

Can anyone provide me with examples of quite "heavy" distortion on a strat?

I dunno...I'd use a LP for heavy distortion and leave the Strat to cleanish/mildly overdriven tones. Each guitar does different things well, which is why it pays to have a bunch O' them.

P.S. Having said that...the best example I can think of a player using a heavily overdriven/distorted strat has to be Richard Lloyd.

 

[bugo]

i er use a... yamaha pacifica 112! cos well.. its cheap! and I guess I have an ok sound for sunday bloody sunday and i will follow and er... *runs

 

[Tomer]

i didnt know *runs was a song

 

[liamcool]

I use a Gibson Explorer. Yes, a Gibson Explorer.

 

[pondo sinatra]

I realize that he has rarely played them but I firmly believe that if you were to have one guitar to cover edge stuff it would be a tele with a bigsby.

here me out.

It's a great guitar for crunch and fuzz. The've been used by punk bands for years. It also has all of the rich overtones that we associate with U2. Most importantly, it has a great neck, similar to a strat. It would sound WONDERFULL for "streets"

I have a ric 330 and althought it has a lot of the tone we associate with U2, the neck just isn't made for the 12th fret riffing that Edge has made signature.

Also, I had a les paul and it had terrible clean tone. I always wanted to play overdriven power chord riffing.

 

[mkdominatr]

epiphone les paul 56 goldtop is my main guitar