by Philip Brown

Created on: April 16, 2008

The preference between Gibson and Fender is most often dictated by what style of music is being played. A fundamental difference between most Gibson and Fender guitars is that Gibson's use humbucking pickups while Fenders most often have single coil pickups. The single coil pickup tends to sound brighter, more sparkling, and more dynamic when used with a clean tone than the fuller and rounder sounding humbucker pickup (which is essentially two single coils combined). Single coil pickups also give off what is called 60 cycle hum which is essentially noise you hear in the background when amplified. This noise make single coil pickups undesireable for music in which high gain is involved such as heavy metal. Humbucker pickups are named so because the two coils are in reverse polarity and cancel out the hum. Some Fender guitars such as the stratocaster with a 5 way switching system can mimic the sound of a humbucker by activating two single coils simultaneously at the 2 and 4 positions on the pickup selector switch, thereby canceling out the hum.

Fenders are popular for playing blues, surf, and country, while Gibson's are more likely to be seen in hard rock, metal, and jazz. Of course these are just general guidelines and any guitar can be used to play any style of music.

Overall I prefer Gibson guitars mostly because of the way they feel in you hand compared to a Fender. Of the Gibson models, I prefer the SG the most because it is light and has a double cutaway body style that allows easier access to higher frets via a glued in neck joint. The SG has many of the advantages of the classic Les Paul but is lighter and more comfortable to play for long periods of time. Fenders usually have bolt-on necks which are more prone to warping due to climate change but are also easier to replace when broken. I never liked the feel of a fender bolt-on neck joint because it is bulky and square and gets in the way when playing the highest frets.

Playing style and what style guitar you first learned on has a big effect on what you will consider comfortable or uncomfortable. I prefer the smoother more balanced tone of a humbucker pickup in most situations to the single coil which can sound brittle and harsh. My hands also prefer the less bulky set-in neck joint as opposed to a bolt-on neck. Therefore I choose Gibson over Fender in most situations.

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