h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is true that since the invention of the electrical guitar popular music has been through many changes.
Nowadays there are many types of electrical guitars available and there must be a model for every style of music played and for every style of playing.
Some of the biggest names in guitars are : Fender (models like the Telecaster and Stratocaster), Gibson (Les Paul, es335, Firebird, Nighthawks). Many other manufacturers have made models which are copies or improvements of the models from Gibson and Fender.
There are many players who buy a guitar just like the one their favourite player uses. That can be a good thing but remember: you may have the same guitar, strings, amplifier and effects as your hero but there is one thing remaining. You are still not the same person as your hero. Most people tend to forget that. It is possible however that your sound can improve by imitating your hero but an own style and attitude towards guitar playing is appreciated by most of the famous guitar players (They like to be imitated but that is another story).
While performing on a stage it can be a good thing to develop a showy style of playing so that when you miss a note it won't be noticed because the audience is watching your show and enjoying it. Don't go to far with that to avoid the risk of comments like 'the guitarist is better in showing of then in making music and this makes it a little annoying to sit out the whole performance'.
Always remember that the best performances are those in which both the artists and the audience are enjoying themselves as much as possible.

I completely agree.
This trend towards slavish copying that is stifling neworiginal bands in favour of so called "Tribute" bands is quite annoying. This has of course long been spotted by manufacturers who produce many Signature model guitars. You can buy a guitar supposedly exactly like the one your hero plays. This is great for the manufacturer who gets a top name endorsing their products as a whole, great for the top name, who gets a royalty for every guitar sold, but not so good for the poor consumer, who pays a lot of extra money for something that may well not suit them personally. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with the actual guitars, it's just you can often pay a lot less for something that will suit you better.

Then again, there's occasionally the matter of sound for its own sake. After 38 years of wanton coveting - ever sinvce "A Hard Day's Night" - I just got a new Rickenbacker 12-string and it confirms something I've believed for a while: some sounds require specific equipment. There's nothing else I've ever heard, in anyone's hands, that produces this particular tonal quality.

The fact that I'm far from any good at working this machine has little to do with anything. It's just a joy to get that sound.

I fully agree with what you've said about equipment...it seems silly to buy someone's signature guitar to try to get their sound if you don't also have their amps, effects, and soundman .

Worst rip-off currently being sold: Tom Delonge (of blink-182) signature Stratocaster. 600 US dollars for a guitar with 21 frets, one pickup, and a volume knob. And Tom Delonge's signature and colors. All that for a guitar that can only make one possible sound seems a bit pricey and marketed to take advantage of new players who like power chords, simplicity, and don't have a clue about what they're doing.

This entry is in desperate need of an update.