“There are a million different ways to play these silly things,” Vince Gill says of electric guitar, “and I enjoy finding subtle ways of being different on any instrument I play.”
For Gill, those subtle differences often begin with his hands. His fretting and picking fingers allow him to make the guitar speak with a fluency and nuance that can change dramatically from one instrument to the next. And while he is perfectly comfortable with a pick, he often prefers to let his fingers do the talking.
He notices the difference particularly when he plays a Telecaster.
“What’s interesting about a Telecaster is the way you pull with the meat of your finger sounds different than with a pick,” he explains. “Those subtle differences are important to how the note blooms.”
When he plays a Stratocaster, fingerstyle is Gill’s preferred approach.
Keith Urban said, ‘Vince, come over here and play through this.’ I plugged in, played, and he goes, ‘You just sound like you.’”
— VInce Gill
“When I play a Strat, most of the time, I play it with my fingers. I learned that from Mark Knopfler, who plays everything with the meat of his fingers,” Gill says. “It is shocking how different it sounds. With a pick, it’s very precise, but with fingers, it’s three times rounder and sweeter.”
Gill finds it remarkable that so many guitarists immediately reach for a pick rather than take the time to develop their technique with their fingers. To him, the hands are one of the most important parts of a player’s sound — far more important than simply owning the right gear.
“Most people don’t understand how much your hands have to do with it,” he notes. “I did a show with Keith Urban where we were the resident guitar players. He had his rig set up, and he said, ‘Vince, come over here and play through this.’ I plugged in, played, and he goes, ‘You just sound like you.’
“It’s funny. You can buy a Marshall and a ’59 Les Paul, but you’re not going to sound like Jimmy Page. You may want to, but the reason we all sound like we do is because of our hands, as much as anything.”
The Telecaster, of course, has long been a central part of Gill’s sizable guitar arsenal. He says he first became interested in the instrument after he “stumbled upon Albert Lee.”
“Albert Lee was such a huge inspiration as far as me wanting a Telecaster.”
I was in the store just hanging out. Bob had taken in all these guitars, including that white ’53 Telecaster. I played it and said, ‘Oh my God, this one suits me right here.”
— Vince Gill
Gill’s first Telecaster was a white 1953 model he purchased in 1978. He has owned plenty of Telecasters since then, but none has come close to matching that first one.
“I have had probably 20 or 30 since, and none can hold a candle to it,” Gill says.
He bought the guitar from an Oklahoma City guitar shop owned by Bob Woods.
“He and Larry Briggs, who is huge in the vintage world, had gotten together for a big guitar trade. I was in the store just hanging out. Bob had taken in all these guitars, including that white ’53 Telecaster. I played it and said, ‘Oh my God, this one suits me right here. What will you take for it?’ He said, ‘$450.’ I said, ‘Okay, sold.’ It became the iconic guitar of my life.”
The guitar’s finish is original, as is nearly everything else, with the exception of the front pickup and a couple of pots.
“The front pickup wore out, but the back pickup is original,” he says. “The whole point of that guitar is the back pickup.”
Gill’s fluid string bends have occasionally led people to assume that his Telecaster is equipped with a B-Bender. Nothing could be further from the truth. He recalls a session with Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash’s band, the Cherry Bombs, when Hank DeVito was the steel player.
“Hank said, ‘Can I play your guitar?’” Gill recalls. “He strapped it on and started jerking and pulling on the neck. He goes, ‘Where’s the B-Bender?’ I said, ‘There isn’t one.’ He says, ‘Yeah, there is. I hear it every night.’ I said, ‘No, it’s just my fingers.’ I didn’t even know that there was such a thing.”
For Gill, that story gets to the heart of what makes a guitarist’s voice distinctive. The instrument matters, of course. So do the amplifier, pickups and technique. But ultimately, the sound comes from the player—and from the countless small decisions made by the hands holding the guitar.
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