features & brands...what is liked?

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

Just wondering wht we like. I dont like most major brands because we all can and do build better than them, because we are not just a dollar to somone. But that's corporate america anyway. I dig deep set necks, neck thrus, thru body or stop/T.O.M., flush original Floyds, and angled headstocks, I also like HH config with a coil tap, phase, and seris/parallel switching (Gibson Jimmy Page LP).

The guitars I build have VVTT HH 3 way with the above switching, a set thru neck (a piece of purpleheart goes all the way thru, then I laminate usually maple or occasionally mahogany and set them in deep)I use purpleheart for my fingerboards, and 25" scale. Double expanding trussrods, too. However, Custom wood options are available.

Any comments?

[krazyderek]

!!!!! a fellow purpleheartian!!!! take a look at my site dude i love purple heart!!

my preferences HH, sunk floyd or strat style hardtail with string thru body, rear routing angled input jack, no gut cut, good access to the upper frets, bolt in(set neck without the glue) and neck thru's

**EDIT**

forgot brand names....

fender & ibanez i wish they would colaberate on a guitar... that would be sweet..

original floyd rose pro (mmmmmm)

dimarzio

d'addario strings (cause they're the cheapest ones in my area)

ebay (i know that one is kind of a stretch

Edited October 8, 2003 by krazyderek

[canuckguitarist]

preferences...

lo-pro/pro-edge II/original floyd bridges (all recessed)

24 fret necks

HH or HSH p-up configuration

rear routing

angled headstocks

ebony fingerboards

dimarzio p-ups

neck thrus

24.75" scale

10-46 strings (boomers or slinky's)

uh....am I forgetting anything?

[tsl602000]

hard tail bridge

three Van Zandt/John Suhr single coil pups

Alder body

Bolt on maple neck

Brazilian rosewood fingerboard

Tusq nut

6100 frets

25.5" scale

12-54 strings

[antique_dream]

preferences (I have a few odd ones, atleast, I think so..):

recessed locking trem bridge- not picky about this

maple neck and fretboard

locking tuners

HH configuration with coil tapping in a 5-way switch (no mini-switching/push pull knobs...yuck!)

single volume knob- no tone

7 strings!!!

24 frets

side input jack

chrome knobs

11-70 strings- nickel (usually GHS)

Curly input cords (not sure why, maybe 'cause it's funky!)

[guitar_ed]

More preferences:

Either Bigsby or hardtail/string thru.

Nice body wood, rear routed.

Rosewood fretboards. Wide necks, & thin.

No pickguards where possible.

Access to ALL PUP configurations.

[canuckguitarist]

hard tail bridge

three Van Zandt/John Suhr single coil pups

Alder body

Bolt on maple neck

Brazilian rosewood fingerboard

Tusq nut

6100 frets

25.5" scale

12-54 strings

12-54!?!?!? WOWZERS! Those are heavy!

Oh yea, and I forgot about neck-profiles...I hate the 'santana' wide-fat profile. I'm more or a wizard, wizardII sorta guy.

[PaulNeeds]

I've yet to find the perfect instrument, although I tend to go for the more traditional main features. I don't like pointy strat shapes, like LP DC shape a lot, and adore the 335 type semis.

[mullmuzzler]

bolt in(set neck without the glue)

What's a BOLT-IN neck? How is it mounted? Any special techniques, mods...?

Is it hard to do this neck type?

mullmuzzler | OSSMT

[tsl602000]

12-54!?!?!?  WOWZERS! Those are heavy!

yeah, but I tune down half a step and occasionally use 11-49.

I also prefer boat necks.. 1" at 12th fret, 0.910" at 1st fret....

[krazyderek]

bolt in(set neck without the glue)

What's a BOLT-IN neck? How is it mounted? Any special techniques, mods...?

Is it hard to do this neck type?

mullmuzzler | OSSMT

take a look at some of the PRS bolt neck designs, i think edroman has some pictues on his website, it's basicly the same thing as a bolt on only the neck pocket runs under the neck pickup so that you don't need a hudge heel sticking out of the guitar, just makes it more comfortable if you ask me

http://www.edroman.com/tech/prs_heel.htm

look at the second guitar from the top i think

and here's pic i drew up in paint

http://www.accesswave.ca/~derekn/dreamland/designs.htm

[Guitarfrenzy]

Yeah totally agree with KrazyDerek.. the bolt in style that PRS first did was totally awesome, and is much better than a bolt-on in my opinion. Did I hear someone say Wizard II neck.. lol.. I also rather have a thinner neck than a jumbo one....

[Drak]

Actually, the guitar school in Arizona (I think Roberto-Venn?) teaches an actual 'bolt-in' neck, that is very much like a set-neck w/ mortise and tenon, but is bolted in, so the neck can be removed for adjustment. They 'say' it is superior to anything else out there...

I believe Ed 'opted' (hehehe) that idea from one of his custom-builders (McNaught I believe) and I think 'HE' lifted the idea from (Queen) Brain May's original hand-built Oak guitar, so proper credit for all that 'long-tongued' foresight goes to Brain May and his dad who built his guitar together. Probably moreso to his dad than Brain who was but a teen at the time!

His dad was a mathematician I believe, who wanted to extoll to Brian that rock-n-roll wasn't all chicks and glory, but involved mathamatics also, primarily in building the neck and frets and scale length...

That guitar sports a very long tongue which is glued into the body, it is not a 'bolt-in', or 'bolt-on'...FWIW...

I seem to be the 'odd-man-out' here, as I build exclusively 'bolt-on', 'store-bought' necked, usually Floyd-equipped guitars. Oh well, they make me verrry happy

Then again, I am a believer that only so much technology need go into a good guitar, vastly more effect is in the hands that handle it

I have been able to tweak and modify and twist my guitars to the point where I am really digging all of them, and they all are bolt-ons...

But good on ya who believe in those neck-thrus, love ya all the same

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

Forgot...strings: 11-52...d-tunas on Floyds....24 frets, Duncans, 3+3 pegheads.

Check Here for more about my giutars

[Roli]

12-54!?!?!?  WOWZERS! Those are heavy!

yeah, but I tune down half a step and occasionally use 11-49.

I also prefer boat necks.. 1" at 12th fret, 0.910" at 1st fret....

I use this gauge without tuning down.

[Guitarfrenzy]

Wow this sounds like some people want to be Stevie Ray... lol.. We'll oh yeah.. I use barb wire when I play.. nahhh.. so top that.. lol And did I mention my frets are made of Razor Blade? humm? lol... just kidding guys.. can't we all take a joke?

[daveq]

Then again, I am a believer that only so much technology need go into a good guitar, vastly more effect is in the hands that handle it

I agree. I've actually had two buyers (my first two) tell me to stick to bolt-on necks and that they wouldn't buy anything else. I am building a deep tennon neck just for the fun of it but this is the first non bolt-on that I have built. I really don't see why the deep tennon is supposed to be a revolutionary idea - it seems like common sense that someone would want to extend the neck further into the body. What I mean by that is I think 100's of builders would have come up with the same idea somewhere along the way.

Anyway, it does appear that guitar builders enjoy attempting to employ as many tricks/techniques as they can to obtain the ultimate sound/feel. This is a good thing but from a players point of view probably not worth the effort most of the time. I know I'm guilty of adding in a few things here and there that probably don't add up to much when playing it.

I'm surprised to see so many people playing the heavy guage strings. I use the hybrid Ernie Ball strings (heavier lower strings) but am thinking of switching back to a normal set.

[Roli]

Wow this sounds like some people want to be Stevie Ray... lol.. We'll oh yeah.. I use barb wire when I play.. nahhh.. so top that.. lol And did I mention my frets are made of Razor Blade? humm? lol... just kidding guys.. can't we all take a joke?

LOL!

[erikbojerik]

Then again, I am a believer that only so much technology need go into a good guitar, vastly more effect is in the hands that handle it.

True enough...."better" is often the enemy of "good"...

[Speedy McFeely]

i am easy.

maple neck/ fretboard.

solid body, alder, basswood, or mahogany.

humbuckers, Dimarzio's, or EMG's.

ORIGINAL floyd rose trem w/ d-tuna flat mounted to the body(not recessed).

and a 100w tube amp.

[StratDudeDan]

simple stuff for me.

gimme a strat. just about any kind, but preferrably:

maple/ash body

transparent finish of some kind

rosewood fretboard

some type of custom headstock

silicon oiled neck (a little trick i figured out how to do and i'll

let others in on my secret, too...)

SSS pickups w/ 5-way selecter

fixed (no-trem) bridge

bolt-on

strap-locks (though bulky, they're on all my axe's)

material finish on the pickgaurd (the cloth just feels nice for palm-muting)

gold hardware (i hate the way the other stuff looks)

***EDIT***

and then i'm a fender guy, though i'm building a gibson styled guitar. i'm actually a bass player, and i hate all that is fender bass, amps, axes, everything, but for guitars, gimme a strat or tele and i'm happy.

for basses, i only go with high, powerful, expensive names. warwick. i said names but i meant name. warwick. they are purely amazing.

amp-wise, anything that was made between 1975 and 1981, i like, typically. i have a fender vibratone 50W 2x8 that sounds great, and my bass amp is an AIMS by Randall BASSO amp made in '77, 185W, Peavey black widow 15", and i would never play out of anything other than that. it is my baby. period.

[Ford]

I like guitars with some sort of odd or unique flavor in their tone, Tele's, Danelectros, etc...

Aside from that,

Different body shapes (ie, Jaguars)

Non solid color finishes

Rosewood fretboard

Flamed Maple

I usually like Alinco styled pickups

I use 10's for strings

Definately straplocks. I'm clumsy.

Skull volume knobs.

I have a hipshot detuner (low E to D tuneing peg) on my Tele, but I dont use it as much as I use to. I think those massive B-benders look cool though.

Um, I love that Fender Twin clean tone. I have a 100w Twin Amp, and its great. Not the worlds best distortion, but the gain boost on the clean channel... Its so wonderfull...

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

Tone pros bridges and Grover standars or auto locking.

[wilkinsonguitars]

My likes. My favorite body syles are the SG and the PRS

I like 24 frets (even though I don't use the extras)

25" Scale Length

Floyd Rose is the only tremelo I like

Schaller Roller Bridge Hard Tail

Locking Tuners (I like the new grovers ones)

HH, 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 3 way switch

Bound Fretboard

Abalone lots of it

Angled headstock 3X3

Quilted Maple Tops

Mahogany Bottoms

Mahogany neck

Rose wood fretboard, headstock veneer

Medium Frets

Fauxe binding.

I love stained maple and Poly finishes.

I like the SG slim taper neck (that is my favorite)

Strap locks are a must .

I am building 2 guitars now that meet all my wants

The first one I almost done with. I have pics of the progress on my Website.