Random musings dissecting this thread...
"How much difference would mahogany have been instead of alder?" - As I stated earlier, "not much"... When talking about solid body guitars (hollow bodies or even hollowed chambered bodies are a whole different story), the body wood chosen is in the final analysis not going to make a major contribution to the overall tone of the guitar. The ONLY exception to this rule I've ever observed in 38 years have been thin bodied vintage Gibsons (Melody Maker/double cutaway LP/SG) made from extremely light pieces of mahogany that can resonate like a hollow chambered or semi-hollow bodies.
"How much difference you guys think does the fretboard wood make ?" Again, "not much... Most of my experience has been with maple necks with or without rose wood fretboards, or mahogany necks with different fretboard woods, but the differentiation is very slight to my ear.
The only choice in wood that makes a real noticible difference is neck wood. If you've seen some of the "Fenson" Warmoths I've done, if you put a mahogany neck on a Fender type guitar it is going to sound VERY different. Conversely, I think some of the OP's tonal frustration is due to putting a maple neck on an LP, it's NOT going to sound like a Gibson any more, maybe not at all. It's a radical departure from that norm.
Pickups can make more of a difference than anything else, as several people have noted. You can't argue about it, if you put varying different pickups/electronics in the same guitar it can sound radically different. If you don't have a lot of experience modding guitars and working with different types/brands of pickups the range of current choices can be dizzying; but much like the choices in neck woods and other items it may take some time and experimentation to figure what sounds "right" with what, or what YOU really like. Luckily, we live in the internet/eBay age; if you try something that doesn't work out, hit the bong, have a cocktail or a chill pill before you start smashing stuff; you can probably eBay it and get most or all of your money back, maybe turn a small profit. (Tip: NEVER cut the leads when trying a new/different set of pickups out if you're not sure what they're going to sound like, they're a lot easier to resell if you decide you want to.)
I don't know about the "Sustainiac" pickups, looked them up and besides being butt-ugly most of the verbiage on the website is utter bullshit. Like most distortion/sustain/boost/gain/modeling effect boxes/pedals and a plethora of other devices like the "Black Ice" device in another recent thread, they are trying to EMULATE a saturated tube amp. This NEVER works as well as BUYING A TUBE AMP! I can't really intelligently speak for all "metal" based on knowledge or experience, but 95%+ of all those classic rock/blues sounds you're trying to get were recorded using tube amps of 50 watts or less. CB's posts and my playing around with my Blackheart and EL84 tube adapters in my existing amps and swapping stock tubes out with alternatives in the last few months have really opened my eyes; as the vast majority of playing time is in situations in which it's not feasible (or good for your hearing) to dime out 50 watters to get "that sound", dual EL84 or 6V6 amps of 15-25 watts are the way to go. Spring for decent replacement speakers, as unless you're playing boutique amp pricing (unnecessary) as what comes stock is invariably crap.
"While this forum highlights the great success many of us have had putting guitars and basses together, what isn't so loudly highlighted is the prior planning, engineering and complete stuff ups that happen from time to time. Don't be discouraged from trying again."
I would second that emotion. Some of us may sometimes make it look "too easy" (but if you follow my threads when trying new finishing techniques I sometimes spend as much time sanding back as I do finishing.... :tard
but then some of us have owned dozens/hundreds of guitars and modded/refinished/repaired/played with them over periods of decades. Don't be afraid to experiment/ask questions/start over or eBay/resell.
