Getting ready to order, looking for feedback on build

fishbucket

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Hi, I'm getting ready to order my first warmoth build and I was wondering if I could get some feedback before I pull the trigger. I'm trying to build something that is somewhat versatile, but I will mainly be using it for post-rock, indy-rock, and stoner-rock type stuff.

So here's what I'm trying to do:
delux.jpg


Body:
Mahogany Tele Deluxe.
Seymour Duncan SH-2N Jazz neck pickup, no bridge pickup.
One Volume, one tone, and a bass cut switch (fender jaguar style).
TOM Bridge w/ stop tailpiece.

Neck:
Maple w/ rosewood fretboard.
No inlays.
Fatback contour.
Gotoh SG38 tuners.
6105 frets.
Corian Nut.


Is there anything inherently flawed with my build? I purposely chose to leave the bridge pickup off, since I never use it. I think the thing I've had the most trouble deciding is the bridge type. I've been looking at string through, wrap around, and stop tailpiece TOM bridges, but I'm still not decisive on which one I should go for. Any Ideas?
 
Except for the fact that you have NO BRIDGE PICKUP, it looks fine. Seriously? No bridge pup on a 'versatile' rock guitar? A tele? Look, a good tele bridge pickup is a great thing to have, my guess is you just have never had a really good bridge pup. It's certainly better than a 'bass cut switch'!

Don't get me wrong, it's your vision, and if you do make it please post pics, and all that. But I would not get a rock guitar, a tele, without a bridge pup.

Oh, and between those three bridge choices, it's mostly aesthetic - they all do pretty much the same thing. TELE bridges, on the other hand, impart character.
 
Haha, I appreciate your enthusiasm about teles and bridge pickups. I guess you could say this guitar would be more of a gibson in tele form.

The reason I don't like bridge pickups is the "twang" factor, I've never found a use for it in anything I play. I come from a jazz background, but I'm starting to get into indy and post rock.

I will be getting the bridge pickup routed, so if I feel the need to, I can just cut the pick guard and put in a bridge pickup.

Do the bridge choices I listed play or sound any different? I've been readying a lot about string tension, bridge material, etc. and it's effects on tone and playability. Am I reading into this too much?
 
fishbucket said:
Hi, I'm getting ready to order my first warmoth build and I was wondering if I could get some feedback before I pull the trigger. I'm trying to build something that is somewhat versatile, but I will mainly be using it for post-rock, indy-rock, and stoner-rock type stuff.

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...

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Listen to Tim, he's a wise man.  It's silly not to get a bridge pickup.  In fact I'd recommend HSS for you.
 
I have to agree. Not having a bridge pickup seems to run counter to your vision for a "somewhat versatile" rock guitar. Seems pretty limiting actually. As for bridges, which do you like best, aesthetically? They are all pretty similar. I've heard string-through goves the most sustain, but I'm by no means an expert on that subject (I've actually never owned a string-through guitar). I do, however, own a guitar with a TOM bridge and it'll sustain for days...
 
Look, I don't even know what "post rock" is (not rock, I guess?). Nothing wrong with two humbuckers and a TOM either. I'm not saying you have to get a tele bridge pup, but they certainly do more than just 'twang'. All of the Clash? All early Zep? All of the Police? Seriously, if you think that tele sounds begin and end with Carl Perkins and the Tennessee two, well.... BTW, I saw Bill Frisell a couple months ago, speaking of jazz and teles - he played a simple butterscotch blonde tele all night long. Made it sound like anything you could ever think of.
More seriously, though, you come from a jazz background so it makes sense you want a moderate output neck bucker and see that as your main thing. But don't you want the ability to explore new sounds? A tele bridge and a 5-way switch (both series, both parallel, both series out of phase) give you a lot of sounds to play with, and they are not necessarily country.
Check out these clips:
http://www.lollarguitars.com/telecaster-pickups/SpecialT/SPTLYVOLEDIT2.mp3
http://www.lollarguitars.com/telecaster-pickups/SpecialT/SpecialTBridgeNeck_TimLerch.mp3
 
A single pickup guitar and versatile do not belong in the same sentence. You are looking at an absolute one-trick-pony tonewise with a guitar like that.
Even if you don't use the bridge pickup, whats the harm in having it there just in case?
There are any number of different pickup choices out there. It doesn't have to sound twangy if you don't want it to.

If you are absolutely firm on having only a neck pickup, at least put in a series/parallel/single coil switch or get a pickup with coil tapping options or something.

I know that i sound hypocritical saying this because i have 2 single-pickup basses, but i intended both of those basses to pretty much cover one sound.
If you want a specific sound, do whatever you want, but if you have any intention of versatility, you need at least 2 pickups on your instrument.

 
Nice looking guitar.  But versatile it's not.  Get a nice bridge pickup as other folks have said.  The combined bridge/neck tone is very nice.

IMHO of course.
 
Hey, man. I can vouch from experience that a tele bridge and a smooth humbucker works wonderfully together. I've got one two feet away from me. It's really versatile, and that's with the simple 3 way switch, volume, and tone.
 
I'm sure it would be an awesome guitar - just don't expect it to cover a lot of ground tonally. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that - provided you're sure that it's EXACTLY what you want...cause it's not like you'll have many choices after the fact.

As for bridge choice, I own two faux-Jazzmasters. One, a Warmoth with a vintage strat hardtail bridge, and the other, a Korean-made Schecter (Hellcat) with a TOM string-through. Although I haven't done any scientific analysis...their sustain capabilities are about the same. Just now I held each guitar's headstock to my desk and played the B string. Both guitars' vibration died out around seven seconds.

Now, does that mean that the Warmoth is so good that it sustains for as long as a cheaply made Schecter with a string-through body? Or does it mean that no matter what, there's no REAL difference? I don't know.


EDIT - I just tried the same thing on my wife's Schecter LPS copy with a TOM/Stop piece (Bada Bling), and the vibration lasted to about 7.5~8 seconds. Of course, the Bada Bling is mahogany, and the Warmoth and Hellcat are alder.  :dontknow:
 
Well, you could keep the options of having... options. Get the swimming pool (universal) route, and you can change pickups with nothing more than a new pickguard.

Do tele bridge pickups fit in the pool?

Oh, tele's don't twang unless you play it that way  :icon_thumright:
 
fishbucket said:
Haha, I appreciate your enthusiasm about teles and bridge pickups. I guess you could say this guitar would be more of a gibson in tele form.

The reason I don't like bridge pickups is the "twang" factor, I've never found a use for it in anything I play. I come from a jazz background, but I'm starting to get into indy and post rock.

I will be getting the bridge pickup routed, so if I feel the need to, I can just cut the pick guard and put in a bridge pickup.

Do the bridge choices I listed play or sound any different? I've been readying a lot about string tension, bridge material, etc. and it's effects on tone and playability. Am I reading into this too much?

when you talk about twang, are you worried that just because its a tele your going to get twang? because thats not always true, if you put a ceramic pickup in the bridge of a tele, its going to sound like a ceramic pickup, not some twang machine. twang is from the twangy pickup, if you dont like twang, pick a pickup that works for what you want. if you want a versatile rock guitar, get at least 2 pickups, seriously, it might be something you regret in the future.
 
IMHO There aint no versatility in a single pickup guitar!  Unless you use a 4 position toggle on that one pickup, but still...  That aint a lot.

I see where your going.  Tele with a strong Gibson angle. 

I have that concept in my build in the pic below.  Two P-90s, dialed in right and with the tone knob, I can get great fat round tones and go great jazz directions, a P-90 in the bridge get some fat "stoner rock" approved tones, not a tele twang at all, though I can manage twang to a degree, but not tele-esque.  Basicly this guitar can go from 50/50 Fender-Gibson tones to almost totally gibson sounding, but stringier due to the scale.

I like your concept, but I'd suggest at least a P-90 in the bridge spot, or a mini-bucker, or strat sized single.  Or hey, an acoustic bridge pickup and add a blend knob.  A friend of mine has a Godin with an acoustic pickup and blending the neck and acoustic pickups gets some really great tones.

3242525680_6352a2a315.jpg
 
i'm not going to rag on you for only having 1 pickup, i love that design idea. but  just a couple ideas of my own...

why not get a string through? i think they're supposed to resonate a bit better

think about a p-rails pickup by seymour duncan. it's a humbucker / p-90 / singlecoil all in one. you'd just need a switch there somewhere... maybe the top horn, like a classic telecaster deluxe
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/progressive/prails_shpr1/

OR route it for a middle pickup too, maybe a single middle and a humbucker neck. would be really cool and i don't think i've seen anything like it myself...

VERY cool design. i'm a sucker for anything telecaster deluxe, and that thing is awesome!  :icon_biggrin:
 
Thanks for all of the responses.

I guess versatile was the wrong word to use. I'm trying to create something that will let me shape its tone via pedals and amps to get new sounds. I had a Fender Jaguar HH that I really liked, but it was just too bright all the time, I could shape the tone somewhat, but it still had the overall brightness. I've also had a Carvin which was REALLY versatile in the sense that it could take on a lot of different sounds depending on what its going through. One thing that was common with all of the guitars that I've owned, is that I never used the bridge pickup, the timber of the strings that it picks up was never pleasing to me.

I guess another question I have now is, can any warmoth body shape get the swimming pool rout? Or is it just the strats? I wouldn't mind experimenting with more pickup options down the line, once I get better income. How do middle pickups sound? That's something I've never used before.
 
My guess is that they would sound very close to a neck position, but I've never had quality time with one.
 
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