Do you have any guitar-building regrets?

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Superior open chording tone.

 

[Orpheo]

several regrets, some bigger than others.

drilling holes in some guitars in order to get some toggles for coiltap in them. plugged them afterwards, but still. nah. not a good idea.

routing 2 guitars for kahlers. locked the kahlers down, so they're fixed bridges now, but it was a useless exercise

asking for a rosewood fretboard on my first build.

I regret that I HAD to recess the pickupring on one guitar, but it had to be done cause every ring I used was too high for the guitar/pickups. I'll change the rings out for (home made?) maple rings to cover up the routing mistakes I made

buying Rivera amps. Those amps are just not my cup 'o tea. My m100 is a great amp on the first channel, the second isn't really that great for me. At least, not for that 'marshall crunch fender clean' thing. it just doesn't work that way. the rivera is all 'rivera'. smooth, sparkly clean and thick leads. nowhere near the marshall-grind...

I regret not having bought the pearly gates sooner, nor having bought a korina/korina LP body + rosewood shaft + alnico2pro pickups sooner. I regret never having given the duncan jazz a chance in the bridge position. I regret using superhot pickups for years and years, where I now prefer lower output pickups. those pickups are so much more toneful.

I regret having oil-finished 2 guitars. in hindsight, nitro or acrylic is easier, faster, and better looking. Maybe I'll refinish them.

 

[Cagey]

buying Rivera amps. Those amps are just not my cup 'o tea. My m100 is a great amp on the first channel, the second isn't really that great for me. At least, not for that 'marshall crunch fender clean' thing. it just doesn't work that way. the rivera is all 'rivera'. smooth, sparkly clean and thick leads. nowhere near the marshall-grind...

One of my brothers recently bought a Rivera Fandango and already wants to move it out, too. Very high-quality amp, excellent tones, lotta control, etc. but same complaint: no "Marshall Crunch". He keeps looking for that "holy grail" amp that does everything from Fender cleans to Boogie voice to Marshall crunch, and it doesn't really exist in a single amp unless you wanna do the Axe Fx thing, which he doesn't. While he's no dummy by any stretch, he's more of a "Mac" than a "PC" guy, so anything that requires more than rotating a couple knobs or flipping a couple switches is just too intense.

 

[Orpheo]

buying Rivera amps. Those amps are just not my cup 'o tea. My m100 is a great amp on the first channel, the second isn't really that great for me. At least, not for that 'marshall crunch fender clean' thing. it just doesn't work that way. the rivera is all 'rivera'. smooth, sparkly clean and thick leads. nowhere near the marshall-grind...

One of my brothers recently bought a Rivera Fandango and already wants to move it out, too. Very high-quality amp, excellent tones, lotta control, etc. but same complaint: no "Marshall Crunch". He keeps looking for that "holy grail" amp that does everything from Fender cleans to Boogie voice to Marshall crunch, and it doesn't really exist in a single amp unless you wanna do the Axe Fx thing, which he doesn't. While he's no dummy by any stretch, he's more of a "Mac" than a "PC" guy, so anything that requires more than rotating a couple knobs or flipping a couple switches is just too intense.

Thats indeed my grip too. the rivera excels at cleans, but thats IT. and if I wanted something great clean, I'd get me a fender tweed, or something like that. but for now, its ok. I'm going to buy a mesa mark 3 to cover my clean and fat-lead-needs. I have a great marshall and also an awesome 5150, and with these 3 amps, I can do anything and everything. My uninhabited-island-rig.

 

[mayfly]

buying Rivera amps. Those amps are just not my cup 'o tea. My m100 is a great amp on the first channel, the second isn't really that great for me. At least, not for that 'marshall crunch fender clean' thing. it just doesn't work that way. the rivera is all 'rivera'. smooth, sparkly clean and thick leads. nowhere near the marshall-grind...

One of my brothers recently bought a Rivera Fandango and already wants to move it out, too. Very high-quality amp, excellent tones, lotta control, etc. but same complaint: no "Marshall Crunch". He keeps looking for that "holy grail" amp that does everything from Fender cleans to Boogie voice to Marshall crunch, and it doesn't really exist in a single amp unless you wanna do the Axe Fx thing, which he doesn't. While he's no dummy by any stretch, he's more of a "Mac" than a "PC" guy, so anything that requires more than rotating a couple knobs or flipping a couple switches is just too intense.

Thats indeed my grip too. the rivera excels at cleans, but thats IT. and if I wanted something great clean, I'd get me a fender tweed, or something like that. but for now, its ok. I'm going to buy a mesa mark 3 to cover my clean and fat-lead-needs. I have a great marshall and also an awesome 5150, and with these 3 amps, I can do anything and everything. My uninhabited-island-rig.

I did the Rivera thing as well - and had the same experience.  Just could not bond with it.  It was one of the things that got me into making my own amps.  Amazing that a old-school AC30 type amp would sound much better and be more flexible than a multi-switching monster with gain knobs everywhere.  Actually, maybe that's not a big surprise at all...

BTW - still loving the AxeFx.  :headbang: