[darreldo]

going to start doing abit of recording with my mate and try det a covers album and record some of my own songs over the next few months.
i play an epiphone riviera nick valensi, my mate is going to buy a new guitar saturday and has his heart set on a riviera but with p-90 pickups. mine are p-94.
im usually a lead player and play alot of arpeggios.
we are into the la's, beatles, 60's beat groups. it the sound we want. is suggested ha buy a telecaster or o strat. he is more of a rythrm man. he has decent epiphone acoustics, 12 and 5 string to back the sound up with abit extra jangle. its why im suggesting a solid body guitar.
any ideas, i've waffled on in this message but im not the greatest at putting a point across!!

[Ramshackles]

For beatles'/60's sound you need a Rickenbacker or a Gibson ES-335, or one of those gretsch models like a G6128T.

Now, Im gonna guess that you don't have 1000's to spend so you could go with something like an Epiphone ES-335 (In fact, I think john lennon's es-335 was an epiphone).

That very jangly sound (e.g. riff on ticket to ride or byrds songs) was achieved by using a 12-string guitar aswell.

A fender type guitar (tele/strat) will be very hard to get a beatles-type sound out of. In the 60's, people using them were more the 'shredders' of the day: Clapton, Hendrix, Keith Richards. The more bluesy-type rocknroll bands, not beatles-type beat bands.

[tone]

Don't forget that the right amp is as important as the right guitar if you're after a very specific sound. I'm not an expert, but I would say that with the right amp, a telecaster shouldn't be out of the question.

[Ramshackles]

Don't forget that the right amp is as important as the right guitar if you're after a very specific sound. I'm not an expert, but I would say that with the right amp, a telecaster shouldn't be out of the question.

Yes, a fender super reverb is very that era. Or something with tubes in it.

[darreldo]

Cheers for the feedback, i suggested a tele because lee mavers played one with the la's.
we want that clean sound. Amps aren't an issue as we play vox ac30s. going to have a play with both a tele and riviera tomorow when we go. His budget is about £550 so easily enough cash. its more for the recording side of things than playing live gigs. i'l keep people posted as to what he buys and the overall sound.

[Songsmith]

The Beatles only used Rickenbackers & Gretches up until Revolver really. George Harrison is paying an sg with P90's all through Revolver after that they went over to Fenders mostly so it depends what era of sound you are looking for, John Lennon used an Epiphone Casino alot too.

[estreet]

In my opinion, guitar sounds are a whole lot less about gear that a lot of people think they are. If you are a good player, then the sound you create is 80% in your hands and 20% in the gear you are using (assuming that it's at least decent of course). This can be seen in hundreds of people who buy whatever stuff their favourite player uses and yet sound nothing like them at all.

Speaking as someone who does admittedly own over twenty guitars, I have to admit that I'd be hard pressed to tell you what type I'm playing on a lot of my old recordings, unless it's one of the really distinctive sounds like the in-between pickup sound on a Strat or back pickup on a Tele clean. It's more about how the guitar makes you feel than about how it sounds to the listener. At a gig, I doubt that there's a single person in the audience who could tell with their eyes shut whether I was playing my 1966 Telecaster or the Chinese Lag I bought on a whim for 120 quid.

However, if both guitarists are using the same AC30s then I will admit that it's helpful to have two different types of guitar texture-wise. Mostly though, I think he should buy whatever makes him feel good.

[tone]

Totally agree. How you sound is largely down to how you play! Choosing the right settings on your guitar and amp always helps, and having half decent gear to start with. It is amazing how many guitarists overlook the fact that tone production is largely a matter of fingers with a little bit of pickup/ amp combo.

[Schavuitje]

I'm with estreet here. Again 

Because I am a songwriter and thus poor, I have a 55 quid Bass my missus bought me off ebay as a birthday present.
I have a phoenix (I know  ) Electric guitar which was the cheapest guitar I could find in the whole shop. And from the same
shop (in Delft) I also bought the shops cheapest full sized accoustic.

I almost never use the accoustic but I use the guitar and bass in every one of my songs. I get whatever sound I want out of it.
Granted I have to tune my bottom E slightly flat so that it stays in tune for longer the fursther I travel up the neck, but it's good enough for jazz