why guitars are built differently?

Question

I have Ibanez guitars and they seem hard to adapt and play specially chords. So I went today to a music store and I found that fender guitars are really easy for me to play! I was even picking better and sounded good!

I just feel bad because it's hard to play my Ibanez guitars but they look really cool: the looks, their metal style. I wish Fender had 24 frets and a way to reach the higher frets! But I don't have money for a custom guitar :( for the first time I felt music with the Fender guitars.

Should I continue and practice on my Ibanez guitars? So my hand can adapt to their necks? How do you guys do it to play multiple guitar brands? Why are guitars built differently? What if you're in a gig and you forget your Strat and somebody will let you borrow their Gibson with tom bridge what will you do?

I tried all the Fenders in the store and some Ibanez and the guy said that everybody's hand is different and that my hand likes the shape of the Fender necks. They are setup pretty good with low action.

Answer 1

There are subtle variations on most sorts of guitars. The scale length, as mentioned by the good doctor. But also the radius of the fingerboard, the radius/profile of the back of the neck, the sort of fretwire, the width of the neck, as it changes from nut to body, the balance of the whole guitar, are the main ones.

Then we get onto the actual set up of each guitar. A well set up cheapo can and will be far better to play than a badly set up 2 grand boutique. And set up is such a personal thing. One person's perfect action, etc. can feel just not right to another player. Consider the simple string gauge - if you like .009s, you're not going to enjoy playing even a well set up Les Paul with .012s - and vice versa.

All this partly because we are all different - in our physical make up and our sound preferences. When Leo made his first guitars, he was very much guided by his guitar playing mates.(He was not a guitarist - a tv/radio repairer). Had they been a different set of mates, his Strat would have been rather different. It sort of set the benchmark for solid bodied guitars, but other manufacturers have tweaked things, to maybe cater for players who have slightly different preferences.

As you appear to like Ibanez, your first priority is to get it set up, after a chat with someone who knows what they're doing, and 'customise' the guitar to your liking.

Answer 2

All guitars are different because all humans are different.

I prefer Ibanez necks to most others, but have Gibsons, Fenders, BC Rich and many others. And the reason I have them is that they are all slightly different. But they aren't that different. (Let's exclude things like Strandberg necks, fanned frets and guitars with more than the normal number of strings) During gigs with my main band I typically play two Ibanez guitars (a 6 and a 7 string), a 7 string BC Rich Warlock, and sometimes a Jackson. With other bands I play a Fender Telecaster, a twin neck Gibson SG, or various acoustics. It's not an issue.

Once you have learned how to play it really makes little difference what guitar you pick up but you will find your preference.

Slash, for example, loves his Gibsons, but I guarantee you could give him any guitar and he would still sound exactly like Slash.

Most Ibanez necks are actually very similar to Fender necks - possibly a wee bit slimmer - but they have the same scale length, whereas Gibsons are shorter, so you shouldn't find anything on an Ibanez that is harder to play than a Fender.

Perhaps it is just not set up well currently. I'd suggest getting your local music shop to set it up and see what you think. And while there, try a few other guitars and see if any really seem better for you.

At the end of the day it's what you feel happy with that counts.