What is the greatest rock guitar ever?

Gibson SG and Les Paul Junior just scream Rock Music to me.
Angus Young, Leslie West and my favourite Keith guitar is his Junior.

 

I've always been (mostly) a Fender guy, and the Stratocaster is the greatest electric guitar ever made, but as a "rock guitar", I have to vote Les Paul. I mean come on.

 

Glad to see Les Paul closing the gap. Justice will be served.

I mean, c’mon. The Strat is like the ultimate “dad rock” guitar. The Les Paul is the ultimate rock guitar. It has unfettered gravitas.

And if we’re talking Fenders, the Telly is better at the rock thing than the Strat. It’s a much grittier sounding guitar.

 

There’s truth to what you say. My Telecaster has the alnico 3 pickups and being a 52 reissue is of course made to emulate the early ones. It gets quite rude run with distortion.

I have a LP as well. I have never owned a Strat although I did buy my kid one. They’re all 3 great guitars. It’ll be interesting to see how it comes out. I assumed the Strat would win when I made the poll. I’m surprised to see the LP finally take the lead.

 

I I could play like Pete Townshend it would be a Gibson SG, like Jimmy Page a Les Paul or Eric Clapton it would be a Strat

 

SG. Why? Back cover of Love It to Death.

 

Clapton's guitar tone jumped the shark when he switched from Gibsons to Fenders.

 

For me, a LP Custom RI 1959 Black Beauty {3-pickups}.

Though, I can see the votes for a Fender Strat or Tele.

But for a classic rock guitar - an early Gibson Les Paul Junior (one P90) is a rock beast.

 

I voted for the Tele because if there's anything close to a Swiss Army Knife guitar, it's a Tele (Page didn't play a Les Paul on "Stairway to Heaven," you know).

My personal favorite rock guitar sounds, however, originate ... no, jangle their way ... from 3895 South Main St. in Santa Ana, California.

 

I realize there are exceptions to the rule, but when I think about the Strat I automatically have visions of middle aged Eric Clapton playing lame ass “dad rock” in the 1980’s, with the requisite wimpy tone.

The Tele is a really cool rock guitar IMO, along with many others. It has a kind of raunchy tone perfect for rock.

But the king of all rock guitars is the Les Paul.

 

Well my heart is with the Les Paul and that’s how I voted. I could make an argument for any of the 3.
The LPs weakness is it lacks the versatility of the Fenders. At least mine does but I do have a DiMarzio super distortion in the bridge and a PAF in the neck. Not a huge range of sounds there but plugged into my Marshall half stack it is a hard rock beast. Better than the Fenders. I have pedals and almost never use them with the Gibson. No need to.

 

"Exceptions"?

Just a few oddball outliers like Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Adrian Belew, Dick Dale, Lowell George, Buddy Guy, Richard Thompson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, otherwise, yeah, just a guitar for boring old guys...

 

In the good old days, both Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul were the finest guitars

Nowadays there're brands that make way better Strats and Les Paul than Fender and Gibson

 

It depends on what price point. The market is fragmented now. Fenders custom shop makes guitars as fine as any boutique make.
I think the greater story though is Squier. They make amazing stuff for the price point and there are several levels there also. Kids typically don’t have a lot of money to put into guitars and they have never been better at the entry level than now.
What a great time to be a beginning player! Way better stuff now than in the mid -70s when I started. I remember Christmas of 76’ I wanted a Gibson Les Paul but what I got was a Univox Hi-Flier strung up left handed. Almost enough to make me quit....lol. Of course Cobain played that and gave it some cachet years later. I saved a bought a Tele later on. It was my first good guitar and a revelation.

 

It was obvious that the most voted models would be the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul.
My vote is for the "Fender Telecaster", for me this is the most representative piece of the whole Rocl & Roll history, this old but elementary wooden table with microphones, the first electric guitar made by Leo Fender, in the hands of impressive musicians of country and blues, then rockers in the 60's, garage bands and punk rockers during the 70's to our days.
Simple design, solid and versatile as a jeep ... for me they are the "classic" archetype of rock & roll guitar.
Comfortable, incredible sound, easy to calibrate and maintain, economical and resistant as an oak!

So simple

My second option? A Gibson Sg! the best thing after a Telecaster

 

There is no question the consistency of many budget guitars today are far superior than that of the 60's and 70's.

Though, I got lucky and was given (by my older brother) a wonderful Harmony Hollowbody in the late 1960's to learn to play, with the Mel Bay book. I still own a 1969 Harmony Sovereign acoustic that's got a nice warm tone!

 

I love Gibson, but the stock 3 pickup single coil Stratocaster is the greatest electric guitar ever made... More comfortable,durable, serviceable and versatile, not really close. That said, Gibson had it right for the Les Paul in the late 50s with the long tenon neck joint and PAF pickups.

Another thing about the strat was the floating bridge whammy bar system, a great invention that was way better than a bigsby and set a new standard players still roll with today....

 

Stratocaster
Jimi played them. Nuff said.

 

Honestly...is there anything cooler than Ace, Pete, Jimmy or Slash with a Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul in their hands??? I’ve never seen it.

 

I personally like a Les Paul, but Strats are by far the most versatile guitar.

 

Again, this is the right answer.

 

Flying V's lack the MASS for a sustained rock attack...{killer for a short stint}.

 

I wish I loved Les Pauls

But to me the deal breaker is that they do not have clean tone all the way

The moment you turn up the volume ...

So they aren't versatile instruments at all

 

Voted Les Paul but agree that the Strat is the better design.

However, maybe there should be a special distinction for the Gibson ES-350T. Chuck Berry cut most of his 50's classics on a 350...and Chuck "is" Rock'n'Roll.

 

Mark Knopfler and his current collection of effects pedals gets close. Saw some recent concert video, and his sound was just as expected.