vlvtrvolvr13 Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Ok so i want a warmer fatter tone out of a fender strat, and since they dont make mahogany bodied strats to my knowledge im gonna build one for the experience. Heres the general idea and if you guys can comment that would be great. Mahogany body blank from Warmoth, routed HSH, going to be a Strat shape Maple neck (clear finish) 25.5 scale, bolt on, Ebony fretboard, pearl dot inlay(warmoth ordered) Pickups from Dimarzio and Lace Sensor Bridge-Tone Zone for modern rock and hard rock type stuff (VLVT and Rage) Middle-Hot Gold single coil Neck-Air Zone for jazz tones and cleans RHCP type stuff Schaller Non-Trem Roller Bridge Kluson tuners (32/11) are the standard for the neck im ordering Standard Strat tone controls -5 way switch -2 Tones 1 Volume Finishing Details -White solid coat body,Black Silver pickguard custom from Warmoth -Ebony dye for neck from StewMac -Hardware Black or Gold (what are your guys opinions) So thats the idea, if you guys see any major flaws please let me know. I tried to keep it simple with the electronic wiring and controls which is why it is so basic becuase this is my first and i want to make it work before i go experimenting too much. Thanks in advance for the ideas if i can get a couple pics up i will! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlvtrvolvr13 Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 the air norton is being replaced by a light blue lace sensor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Sounds like a cool build! So you're going to dye the maple neck black? Trans-black? Only thing I would add is a push-pull pot to the volume knob, wired to switch the neck pup (or bridge pup) in and out of the circuit. This way, you have an option to have neck + bridge (somewhat Tele-ish) and "all 3 on" which can give you a whole variety of tones depending on where you pick the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 I just kind of wonder if the body wood is going to make that much of a difference. I mean, sure, there might be a little bit, but it's hard to believe that it'd be all that audible. It seems to me that the neck wood and fretboard would have more to do with the tone than the body wood, on an electric guitar, at least. A mahogany neck, for example. And the scale length too --part of the Fender brightness is the longer scale (they say), gives more snap. Just that I'm skeptical about building a guitar in order to capture a certain tone...seems that would be near impossible, really, given all the variables involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlvtrvolvr13 Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 I just kind of wonder if the body wood is going to make that much of a difference. I mean, sure, there might be a little bit, but it's hard to believe that it'd be all that audible. It seems to me that the neck wood and fretboard would have more to do with the tone than the body wood, on an electric guitar, at least. A mahogany neck, for example. And the scale length too --part of the Fender brightness is the longer scale (they say), gives more snap. Just that I'm skeptical about building a guitar in order to capture a certain tone...seems that would be near impossible, really, given all the variables involved. ← well i dont know much about the physics involved and the way sound is affected by the wood but heres what i figure... with a warm toned body like mahogany, and warm based pickups like the lace sensors ill be able to get decent warm sounds for jazz and blues. Now the ebony and maple will add a bit of brightness so it doesnt get to muddy and helps articulate the sound. ill be sure to let u guys know how it actually sounds once im done and whether or not it is really warm or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 The most-often compared tone differences are between a Strat and Les Paul, most people know what each one sounds like. Body makes a difference: Alder or Ash (strat) vs Mahogany/maple cap (LP) Neck makes a difference: Maple (strat) vs mahogany (LP) Board makes a difference: in order of brightness/attack, ebony-maple-rosewood Bridge makes a difference: floating metal (strat) vs wood-anchored TOM (LP) Scale length makes a difference: 25.5 (strat) vs 24.75 (LP) Pickups make a difference. Between these two guitars, you can't really isolate any single one thing that contributes most to the tone difference. But you are correct, mahogany will be warmer and have less attack than alder or maple. To me this is one of the fun things about building, you can explore different wood-scale-pup combos and see what works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlvtrvolvr13 Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 The most-often compared tone differences are between a Strat and Les Paul, most people know what each one sounds like. Body makes a difference: Alder or Ash (strat) vs Mahogany/maple cap (LP) Neck makes a difference: Maple (strat) vs mahogany (LP) Board makes a difference: in order of brightness/attack, ebony-maple-rosewood Bridge makes a difference: floating metal (strat) vs wood-anchored TOM (LP) Scale length makes a difference: 25.5 (strat) vs 24.75 (LP) Pickups make a difference. Between these two guitars, you can't really isolate any single one thing that contributes most to the tone difference. But you are correct, mahogany will be warmer and have less attack than alder or maple. To me this is one of the fun things about building, you can explore different wood-scale-pup combos and see what works for you. ← so if i were to get a mahogany/ebony conversion neck from warmoth that might increaser the warm tone of the guitar but how will that effect where the bridge and pickups fall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 "Conversion neck" usually means baritone conversion, i.e. from a regular scale to a long scale. Whatever scale length you choose, that's the distance from the nut to your bridge. Learn about scale lengths and compensation before you actually cut any wood and place the bridge. Mahog/ebony will be warmer than maple/ebony. BTW, some people do not like the feel of an ebony board, it is harder-feeling than rosewood (which is unfinished but oily) or maple (which is finished). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundAt11 Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Warmoth has the 24 3/4" scale conversion neck that is supposed to give you that scale with no other adjustments or mods needed, just make sure your fingers are OK with the shorter scale. That should give you a sound closer to a Gibson, a mahogany neck would give you a little warmer smoother sound compared to the maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlvtrvolvr13 Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Yes i was refering to the Gibson scale length. My fingers arent huge but ill try out some LPs at guitar center beore i commit to the idea, as well as some guitars with ebony boards although i doubt i will have much of a preference to what the board is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opencan Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 it might be just me, but i've always though that Gibsons Les Paul warm tone and overall sound characters comes from its huge body mass. i wonder how a flat 1" Les Paul will sound like. on the other hand, i know that my Schecter C-1 have great warmth as well, and its neck and body are from mahogany, and its not as half as heavy as a LP. I think that if you'll just get a good, dense mahogany blank for the body, and get that neck you mentioned first, from maple, it would be full of sustain, not too thick (but yet pretty heavy) and the maple neck would add a bit of attack to your sound. Just for example, i've tried one guitar from one piece mahogany, and 2 original Seymour Duncan pups, washburns i think (really not sure) that sounds like crap. i bet those pickups and overall specifications would sound great on a good piece of mahogany. And like you've said, just try, you can prove us all wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 it might be just me, but i've always though that Gibsons Les Paul warm tone and overall sound characters comes from its huge body mass. i wonder how a flat 1" Les Paul will sound like. on the other hand, i know that my Schecter C-1 have great warmth as well, and its neck and body are from mahogany, and its not as half as heavy as a LP. ← I have a Les Paul Custom Lite, which they built in the mid 80's, mine is a '87 and it's a very thin body. Yet it has that classic Les Paul sound. I don't know if that would help you determine anything, but an interesting fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlvtrvolvr13 Posted January 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 well we shall see what happends hear. Im not gonna be dissapointed as long as it sounds good. Im not gonna feel like i failed if the guitar doesnt sound like a Les Paul it will be interesting to see how it does turn out. and i hope no one thinks im trying to prove anyone wrong, thats not what i mean by doing this.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 ha.."les paul custom lite" I'm a les paul genuine draft man myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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