Cherryburst

I realize there's a sticky pinned to the top for trem dimensions, but I just wanted to focus on the specific issue of Warmoth vs Floyd dimensions.

The Warmoth pdf:

http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges/pd...ose_Diagram.pdf

The Floyd pdf:

http://floydrose.com/pdf/Floyd%20Rose%20Or...p%20view)MM.pdf

As an example, Warmoth has the centers of post pivots as 74.3mm wide, while Floyd has the posts as 73.9mm wide. Now I realize .4mm isn't really a whole lot, but I would think these would have EXACTLY the same dimensions as each other... what's up?

(and I guess, when in doubt, go by what the Floyd pdf says?)

On this page at StewMacs:

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-1110.html

the distance for a line that goes thru the screw holes for a trad Fender (or Wilky) trem to the nut is supposed to be 25.25"

(for a 25.5" Fender scale)

Could it be assumed that for a 25" scale (PRS) that distance from post line to nut would be 24.75" ?

(using the same trem that is)

And for a 24.75" scale (Gibson) that distance would become 24.5" ?

(in each case 1/4" less than the overall scale?)

Is it a straight reduction, or does it change with the scale?

(even though the movable saddles give lotsa play room)

It would seem that Gibson did the chambering on the BFG mainly as a weight reduction thing - so in order to not change the sound as much from what we expect from a LP, they probably should have done it Warmoth style? (but I guess that's more expensive on a large production level)

then you have the issue of wearing through the dyed maple to show lighter wood underneath.

Thanks, but would an oil-based stain penetrate deeper into Maple to help prevent this?

Does anyone have any thoughts on chambering a solidbody... the Gibson BFG uses a full route style:

(x-ray pic that's been floating around)

http://www.bostream.nu/homepage/LP%20BFG.jpg

whereas Warmoth uses a series of routes:

Does anyone see any advantages of either method?

They laquer Maple boards to protect them from moisture.

Nah, as WesV says, it's more of a need to keep the light-colored wood clean from fingermarks, a problem which dark colored woods don't really have. AFAIK, ebony is VERY touchy about moisture changes, but it doesn't usually get laquered.

If you want to keep maple unfinished by giving it a dark color that wouldn't show fingermarks, would the same dark dyes used for "charcoal" quilt maple tops also work with a maple fingerboard?

edit: like this stuff: http://www.warmoth.com/paint/paint.cfm?fuseaction=dye_black

Thanks guys - very informative. Here I thought heavier/denser = brighter, and thats it. (Even though I've read that Oak is very heavy & dense, yet makes a bad tonewood)

Can anyone suggest a good webpage regarding weights & densities as they apply to tonewoods? (or a book on Amazon?)

Also.. can I bring Northern (hard) Ash into this discussion? Would it be about half-way between Walnut and Hard Maple for weight & density? (and maybe ot maybe not brighter tone?)

To confuse things more... here's a wood description page on the Warmoth site:

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/options_bodywoods.cfm

It has a little "tone-o-meter" rating scale for several woods.

Maple is obviously is the most on the "bright" side, followed by...

Walnut and Bubinga are tied (still on the bright side of the scale)

Swamp Ash just slightly on the bright side

Lacewood, Paduak, Wenge, & Poplar in the center

Basswood & Koa just slightly on the "warm" (dark) side

Korina next (mid warm)

Mahogany & Rosewood as the most warm/dark

I dunno, but this chart seems to be telling me that Walnut is the second brightest (closest) to Maple.

Also under the Walnut description: Walnut is in the heavy weight category but it's not quite as heavy as hard maple. It has a similar sound to hard maple but it tends not to be as bright.

Any other opinions?

Drak - do you think Walnut is at least *close* to hard maple in brightness, or not? I would think hard/heavy wood = bright.

Although its been years, I remember walnut feeling about virtually the same weight as the hard-maple (mahogany seemed much lighter)

Just asking... aside from the obvious "dark vs blond" difference in visual appearance, could it be said that Walnut is very, very similar to hard maple in terms of hardness, weight, and tone? (bright)

In other words, an all-walnut Strat neck would probably feel and sound very close to a typical all hard-maple neck?

IIRC, ebony is actually a fairly "dead" wood compared to most....

Really? Never heard that one. So given a choice between hard maple vs ebony for a fretboard (forget rosewood for a second) might maple be the better choice? (over ebony)

If sustain is most important, you want the wood along the path of the strings to be as dense as possible - that means hard maple.

A maple neck through with a maple or ebony fretboard (regardless of whatever wood is used for the sides) will probably give you more sustain than all-Korina or all-mahogany. (anyone else agree or disagree?)

Thanks, I found it here: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/f...3/fplgtr113.htm

Lotsa stuff. Does anyone else have any other practical advice to pass along about those 4 woods I mentioned related to humidity? (IE: does Mahogany hold up better to humidity than rock Maple, or vice versa, etc?)

I know there are sites which list the density of various hardwoods, but is there anyplace to find out about how they compare for sensitivity to humidity? (what terms to search on in Google)

For instance, I've found that Ebony seems to be very sensitive to changes, but I'm particularly interested in Hard maple, Alder, Ash, and Mahogany (probably the 4 most common electric guitar woods). Which of those 4 is probably least variable to changes in humidity?

And is there anyway to treat hardwood to make it less changeable? (Sealers, hardeners, etc?)

Yea, I noticed that a while back.. he raves about how "his" trems are so great when its obviously a Hipshot. Whats THAT all about?

BTW - was is the general opinion of the Hipshot trems? It claims "ball bearing" but it just looks like a variation of the old knife-edge system?

Thanks Southpa - that's certainly a lot of good reading which I'll get through.

BTW - something that may be confusing - Mary Kaye (with an "e" ay the end) was a guitarist who was famous in the early Las Vegas scene, and was known for playing a Strat with this white finish. Mary Kay (without the "e") is a cosmetics company known for giving Pink Cadillacs to their top sales people.

Here's Mary Kaye, and the Fender re-issue Strat below:

You can see that Fender does a slight solid-white "burstover" around the edges.

But just getting back to the original questions - is this finish considered a "transparent finish" or a dye? Has anyone worked with it? Who else supplies something similar?

Warmoth has a finish called "Mary Kay White" (Fender has "Mary Kaye") which they call a "transparent" finish. Doing a Google image search, you can find a few like this: (its not a Warmoth)

Here's a color chart from another company that sells finsishes (found on Google)

http://www.sgcrafts.co.jp/color.html

The point is that it's a finish which makes light-beige wood look white while still allowing the grain to be seen. But what is this stuff considered exactly? Is it a tint? A dye? Pigmented? What?

And what other brands sold are an equivalent to this? Has anyone reading this finsihed a guitar like this? (to have a white finish, but still see grain)

(I have another question related to A/B wood bleaching but I'll save that for later)

And the ability to "fine-tune" the amount of bowing that a truss-rod gives is probably just as important as the added strength.

12 5/8" is also the width on a Strat too (or at least on the one I've got)

I'd say go with the hardtail for the Tele, and save the the trem for the Superstrat later (just my humble opinion)

It did have a carved top, but the carve was somewhat more subtle compared to a regular LP, and the carve seemed to mostly go down at the edges (perpendicular to the string path) rather than the entire body.

That would make sense, since a regular LP carve would require the bridge to be raised up to compensate for being at the bottom of the carve.

Thanks garehanman- Nice project!

But just to be clear, the grain filler goes on FIRST before the stain?

BTW, here's the Gibson Voodoo mentioned earlier:

http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/voodoo/fvoodoo05.jpg

What wood might be good for lighter-weight that's NOT basswood or polar?

thegarehanman, would you be so kind as to post a link to the thread with that purple guitar w the grain fill? (I'm having trouble finding it - Thanks)

How does basswood compare to alder in terms of weight? Is it MUCH lighter? Or not a not very noticeable difference?