Anyone not like the feel of playing flat-top guitars?

[dNA]

I was wondering if anyone else used to playing carved-top or arched top guitars finds playing a flat-top guitar with a pickguard-mounted pickups to be really awkward or uncomfortable. It just totally throws off my right-hand having the strings so close to the body and having the actual guitar just be so flat and closer to my body. I've been playing an archtop and an LP-style ibanez forever and only owned a Warmoth tele for a few months. The tele was the first guitar I noticed the problem with, but a few days ago I met with Ken from Roadhouse Pickups to demo his humbuckers in a Warmoth strat that he's got, and I found it uncomfortable to play. Palm-muting was really awkward for me too.

just wanted to know if i'm crazy or not. Aesthetically I really had my heart on makin a Jazzmaster some time in the next year, but playin that strat the other day made me feel kinda skeptical. anyone else feel the same?

 

[Disco Scottie]

As long as it has a forearm contour and tummy cut, I much prefer a flat-top. I've played PRS for years, and my favorite model is the original EG, which is a flat-top with the proper cuts and carves.

 

[jackthehack]

"just wanted to know if i'm crazy or not."

Yes are you, don't know how you can have an issue palm muting, neither Jeff Beck, Mark Knopfller or I have any issues...

You just need to get a Strat/Tele/Jazzmaster and get used to it.

 

[dNA]

don't know how you can have an issue palm muting.

I'm not saying that it's unnatural or uncomfortable for anyone to do it. I'm just saying it feels very different than any of my guitars that I'm comfortable with. It's a significant difference between the 2 centimeters a tune-o-matic style bridge is above the body vs a strat or tele hardtail that's less than a centimeter tall.

 

[line6man]

don't know how you can have an issue palm muting.

I'm not saying that it's unnatural or uncomfortable for anyone to do it. I'm just saying it feels very different than any of my guitars that I'm comfortable with. It's a significant difference between the 2 centimeters a tune-o-matic style bridge is above the body vs a strat or tele hardtail that's less than a centimeter tall.

The bridge type is irrelevant to whether the top is flat or carved.

 

[Ace Flibble]

I definitely have a problem with playing with flat top guitars, and since it's been mentioned I do find it harder to palm mute and also do gallop picking with any bridge that isn't a tune-o-matic. I assume it's just a question of what you're used to, what you developed your technique on. I started out using Les Pauls, I'd already been playing for three years before I so much as touched a Strat or Tele. I dabbled with an SG, couldn't get on with it and I never really knew why. Even despite the terrible fret access, the LP always ended up being the guitar I could play best on. Still is, in fact. My Warmoth carved Tele is kind of changing that, although that's pretty much a LP in spirit anyway. Now I've tried every kind of bridge and every top, even the rarely seen radiused tops, and I still don't find anything anywhere nears as comfortable to play on as a carved top with a tuneo-matic and stopbar bridge. Even carved tops with a tune-o and string-through aren't as good, to me.

So yeah. Stick to what you're used to. You're not the only one who finds flat tops inferiorr, nor finds it easier to play on a given type of bridge. As far as I'm concerned it's like nut width, neck contour and weight, once you've found what works for you stick to it and nobody should tell you you're wrong.

That said, the majority of people on here are Strat and Tele users so it may be smart to be a bit more tactful

 

[Cagey]

just wanted to know if i'm crazy or not.

Yes, you're absolutely batshit insane <grin>

Seriously, though. You read this board and have to ask that question? You've got dingbats like me who have a hard time playing instruments just because they aren't made of the "right" wood or have the "right" frets. Nothing even moved and the dimensions are the same! Then you wonder if changing the physical design of an instrument causes any strife? LOL!

Moving things around or changing dimensions even a few thousandths of an inch make a difference. Flailing away on a guitar requires a great deal of muscle memory, and if something moves, yer fukt. All that memory is useless.

So, no, you're not insane, and yes, a carved top vs. flat top has an impact on playability. Not that one is better than the other, they're just different. But, you will find that a skilled player won't have any trouble adjusting. Happens pretty fast.

 

[Firebird211]

I can kind of understand what you are talking about, but I have never had a problem with it personally.  It would be a matter of your strumming hand control, and everybody digs the pick in a little different.  My pick depth is pretty shallow compared to others that I have played around, and you can tell just by looking at the wear on their picks.  I am a strat guy, but my Schecter is a carved top with pickup rings, which is very similar to a PRS.  It depends on where I am strumming, but my pick will occasionally collide with those rings if I am not carefull to strum in a different spot.(between the bridge and neck) On the strat, it doesn't matter because the pickups are well out of my way anywhere I chose to play, and the pickguard is there to protect the guitar if I go a little nuts, and stop playing so controlled.  After playing the Schecter for a year, then getting the strat back it did feel as if the entire face of the body was closer to my pick, but the muscle memory kicked in, and now the strat feels more natural to me.  Which ever guitar you have spent the most time on will be the one that feels the most natural to you.

 

[dNA]

That said, the majority of people on here are Strat and Tele users so it may be smart to be a bit more tactful Wink

Tact my a$$. I didn't say anything to bag on flat-top guitars. just said it didn't feel good to me.
but seriously, thanks for the feedback guys. I was really just looking for "Don't worry. That's common, but you get used to it."




I know I could go for something like a TOM or similar elevated bridge design on a flatmount body anywho. i just imagine it would look a little funny. anyone know how tall the Gotoh 510 is?

 

[Cagey]

anyone know how tall the Gotoh 510 is?

I just happen to have one sitting out here right now on a VIP body, and at its lowest setting the highest point is .625" (5/8") tall.

 

[Disco Scottie]

I should have mentioned the thing that most causes me trouble... middle pickups. They always get in the way of my picking, unless they're low enough not too - and that often means to low to function correctly.

 

[kboman]

I've pretty much never liked flat tops (this is not news to the board btw...) and the neck angle on str*ts and teles are way off. So... I don't play them, problem solved! :icon_biggrin:

 

[AGWAN]

I adore flat top guitars... I wonder if this will change as my skills improve.

 

[Jeremiah]

I spent a long time playing an LP-style guitar, and when I first picked up a Strat, it was like being let out of jail... suddenly I was no longer having to fight with a bulky, heavy body with a sharp edge that dug into my forearm and a neck that felt like climbing a telegraph pole to get from one fret to the next.

I soon realised that a Strat is a jail of a different kind (volume knob too close to the strings, saddle adjustment screws stick into my hand...)

But flat tops (with forearm contour) all the way.  :toothy12:

 

[Steve_Karl]

As long as it has a forearm contour and tummy cut, I much prefer a flat-top. I've played PRS for years, and my favorite model is the original EG, which is a flat-top with the proper cuts and carves.

What he said!

 

[swarfrat]

Count me in the camp of 'I like to drool over pretty carved tops but would rather play a flat top'

 

[Firebird211]

I spent a long time playing an LP-style guitar, and when I first picked up a Strat, it was like being let out of jail... suddenly I was no longer having to fight with a bulky, heavy body with a sharp edge that dug into my forearm and a neck that felt like climbing a telegraph pole to get from one fret to the next.

I soon realised that a Strat is a jail of a different kind (volume knob too close to the strings, saddle adjustment screws stick into my hand...)

But flat tops (with forearm contour) all the way.  :toothy12:

Ouch, I used to play on a bridge that felt like palm muting on a spike strip, but then I put in shorter screws.  It depends on the saddle, since the standard only have a small portion toward the top that are threaded, but the saddles I have now are threaded deep, and none of the screws stick out.  I think I must strum too high to hit the volume knob, since I have never encountered that problem. :icon_scratch:  The Strat does feel like someone cut the ball and chain off, though. :icon_thumright:

 

[dNA]

I just happen to have one sitting out here right now on a VIP body, and at its lowest setting the highest point is .625" (5/8") tall.

gracias señor

I should have mentioned the thing that most causes me trouble... middle pickups. They always get in the way of my picking, unless they're low enough not too - and that often means to low to function correctly.

i feel you on this one. it's a shame, because I've always loved the sound of a strat pickup in the middle position. I was playing my drummer's G&L strat at practice the other day cuz my guitar's wiring was on the fritz, and i did get used to playing it pretty quick. his pickups were mounted way low, the sound was kind of unresponsive and weak.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I guess I've never paid any attention to it, other than looks.  Personally, I don't like the way a flat-top B.C. Rich Warlock looks, but I like the way one with the beveled edges looks.

As for the playability of one vs. another, I guess I've never given it any thought.  Maybe the next time I find an arch-top, I'll pick it up and play it for a few...

 

[AGWAN]

I actually prefer the looks of the flat top Warlock so much more. but I can tell you those bevels are sorely needed on that guitar.