Newbie questions for first build

[Last Triumph]

Hi everyone - little bit of history before I ask my questions as it might give an insight into what will work best for me.

I play left handed and have played for about 20 years - self taught to a moderate standard.

I'm pretty much trapped in the 80's in terms of the guitar music I like to play but have driffted into the 70's/90's from time to time.

I love to play music similar toearly GNR, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, White Snake etc - not so much the tone, but the style/medody etc.

I play through a Marshall Valvestate S240 which has a wonderful bi-stereo chorus and reverb.

I tend to play either very clean - crystal shimmering chrome plated rich clean without the slightest hint of fuzz, or full on scooped out heavy distortion with harmonics, stinging leads.

I have only ever played / owned 2 guitars, a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Jackson Dinky.

The Les Paul is lovely if a little hard work and heavy and the tone is nice, if a little muddy at times - wood? pickups?

The Jackson is pretty poor to be fair - tone too thin and a little crude and harsh, I'm just not a trem guy in all honesty.

Being a lefty really limits choice on the market and having always wanted to build my own guitar, I researched the Warmoth offerings and it looks to be the way forwards to get just what I want.

On the basis that they no longer offer the Wolfgang any more, I'm leaning towards a a solid arch top tele with a string through TOM bridge and twin humbuckers, 22 fret neck.

Here are my questions - please bare with me as I don't know enough to feel confident in making important decisions.

Woods...  I definately want a dyed quilted maple top, but need some inspiration as to the body wood to give me rich tone and shimmering cleans and decent sustain - I think mahogony might be a bit too muddy? Any suggestions?

Neck... I think I want a maple finger board..... any ideas on the neck wood to give good sustain and not too harsher tone?

Pick ups.... Definately want twin humbuckers, but reading through all the descriptions on the SD and DiM websites, I really don't know how to interpret all the info. I don't know if I want high, medium or low output, what eq to go for etc, etc. I can tell you that I use my amp for all tonal requirements, so when clean, I want it clean with no fuzz or dirt what so ever - proper rich chrome plated crystal, even when played firmly. At the same time, I need a pickup that will give me that full on fat Mick Mars/Steve Clarke rich distortion full of harmonics and definition when the amp is set to shred.

Neck scale.... I prefer the 24.75" Les paul Scale - I trust the Warmoth conversion necks are appropriately shorter with correct intonation to allow this scale without compromise?

There'll be loads of other questions in due course, but in the mean time, I'm all ears to make sure I choose the best body and neck woods and humbuckers to allow me to achieve the rich full tones of both crystal clean and solid distortion via the amp gain and tone settings.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[line6man]

Warmoth only offer Maple fretboards on Maple necks.
However, there are some Maple boards in the unique choice gallery, I don't know if they would let you order one on a non-Maple neck. There have been some Walnut/Maple necks in the showcase, so those two woods will glue up nicely.

The problem with Maple is it needs a finish, so your neckback would also need a finish. That limits you to Maple, Mahogany, Canary, White Korina, Walnut, and some others that finish nicely. Most people prefer raw necks and fretboards however, as they feel a lot better. You should consider a raw neck wood, perhaps with a light colored raw fretboard, like Canary, Goncalo or some of the Pau Ferros.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Many people prefer raw exotics, but I would bet dollars to donuts most of their orders are for maple necks.

 

[juwel1998]

Hello Last Triumph,

first of all  WELCOME to this great forum...... :headbang:

Your Les Paul should be Mahogany body.
As many people are writing here and are convinced that the Pickups make most of the tone.
I quite a newbie myself. 
So try and find out which Pick Ups your LP and the Jackson uses and then ask the more advance guys here which ones they would suggest.

Try to read on the Warmoth page, they have a lot of information about how the woods are supposed to be sounding.

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/NeckWoods.aspx

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Options/BodyWoodOptions.aspx

Or call in and ask some of their representatives, they know a lot, too.


Bye for now
JULIA

 

[Last Triumph]

Thanks - the Les Paul is indeed a mahogony body AND neck with a rosewood fingerboard and uses 490R / 498T Gibson pickups. Nice, but a touch muddy on clean and perhaps lacking a little clarity?

The Jackson has an alder body with a maple cap, maple neck wiith rosewood finger boards and a Seymour Duncan JB TB4 in the bridge which is a bit too harsh and lacking in richness of tone. I won't even bother about the single coils as they're just lifeless and thin.

Re neck woods.... I thought unfinished woods were less stable?

 

[AndyG]

Re neck woods.... I thought unfinished woods were less stable?

Depends ... if you don't finish a maple neck (which is what most manufacturers use), it may very well go spaghetti on you.

There are a variety of woods that require no finish, and feel/sound great.  I had a bass with a wenge neck/fingerboard, and currently have a guitar with a goncolo alves neck/ebony finerboard. 
Goncolo is a very slick-feeling wood.  It's paired to a basswood body, so it is on the midrangy/bright side, but not at all harsh.

 

[line6man]

Re neck woods.... I thought unfinished woods were less stable?

Maple and Mahogany necks are, as well as a few others like Black Walnut and White Korina (According to Warmoth's judgment.) Most others need no finish, however. 

 

[Last Triumph]

I guess I'm after guidance as to what woods and pickups will give the riche tones with best clarity?

In terms of pickups, will hot high output pickups only give a dirty sound even when on a clean channel?

To get near electro-accoustic cleanliness, am I better going for a mid range output?

 

[line6man]

I guess I'm after guidance as to what woods and pickups will give the riche tones with best clarity?

In terms of pickups, will hot high output pickups only give a dirty sound even when on a clean channel?

To get near electro-accoustic cleanliness, am I better going for a mid range output?

When you overwind a coil, you shift it's resonant frequency downward, emphasizing midrange while losing highs.
You want something with a higher resonant frequency, which generally means less wire on the coil.

 

[AutoBat]

You'll probably want to stick to the lower output pickups.
Pretty much a PAF style humbucker will take you where you're going. SD Pearly Gates would probably be nice.

 

[Last Triumph]

Thanks guys.

Been looking and listening to pickups all night and reading as much as I can - a common denominator that comes up time and time again is the DiMarzio combo of a Tone Zone and Air Norton which from what I've read is a fantastic combo as long as they're not burried into a wold of mahogony or rosewood and have something a little brighter to work with?

Anyone used this combo before?

 

[noname]

Thanks guys.

Been looking and listening to pickups all night and reading as much as I can - a common denominator that comes up time and time again is the DiMarzio combo of a Tone Zone and Air Norton which from what I've read is a fantastic combo as long as they're not burried into a wold of mahogony or rosewood and have something a little brighter to work with?
Anyone used this combo before?

I must disagree with the last statement. TZ and AN sound great in mahogany, high end Ibanez have those (and J customs). Especially TZ imo. However, I would recomend for the sound that you are after to look and hear some clips of Suhr Aldrich or Bareknuckle Mule-vintage or Crawler -hotter (or any other Bareknuckle) pups.

 

[swarfrat]

Some of the exotics Warmoth sells are stable enough that they don't require and don't even offer a finish, yet still have the warranty.

There's nothing wrong with maple necks, but the exotics are cool, you are building a custom guitar after all, and a lot of people like playing with no finish.

You can't go very far wrong with Mahogany bodies, Goncalo Alves or Wenge necks.

The JB is a popular but bright pickup. A lot of people like it but given your description it sounds like it may be too bright for your taste. You might want to try PAF neck and a garden variety taco bell hot (labelled as hot but not really all that hot)  humbucker on the bridge.

 

[Last Triumph]

Thanks for the replies so far...

Any input regarding the question about the 24.75" scale necks?

Also, is there a reason why black cherry burst is only an option on flame maple tops? I really like the finish and was wondering if they'd do it on a different wood like a quilt etc?

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

That's probably a hiccup in the builder.  It's my understanding that dyes are best suited for maple tops, quilted/figured and flamed.  I'm not real familiar with that burst option.  If it involved dye, that may explain why it's available on maple and not other tops.

 

[Last Triumph]

That's probably a hiccup in the builder.  It's my understanding that dyes are best suited for maple tops, quilted/figured and flamed.  I'm not real familiar with that burst option.  If it involved dye, that may explain why it's available on maple and not other tops.

It's this one....

Not sure whether it's absolutely gorgeous in a contemporary way, or a nightmare on 80's street?

Eitherway, the builder only allows you to select it on flame, and I'm thinking about quilt...

 

[Red Rocks]

Black Cherry burst is available on both flame and quilt maple. Since it has the black dyed undercolor it is only available on figured maple tops. Hope this helps.

 

[Last Triumph]

Great news!

I really like it - what is the general opinion on a carved top tele body, rear route, twin HB?

Also, another question - Camphor Burl tops - stunning to look at, but what are the sonic qualities? Anyone got one?

 

[line6man]

Great news!

I really like it - what is the general opinion on a carved top tele body, rear route, twin HB?

Also, another question - Camphor Burl tops - stunning to look at, but what are the sonic qualities? Anyone got one?

Warmoth's laminate tops are usually too thin to make any difference, but carved tops are thicker.
I would imagine any Burl wood to sound like crap, since the structure of the wood is not uniform. Burls are basically an overgrowth of deformed wood.

 

[Cagey]

...what is the general opinion on a carved top tele body, rear route, twin HB?

Also, another question - Camphor Burl tops - stunning to look at, but what are the sonic qualities? Anyone got one?

I've dealt with two like that this year, and absolutely loved them both. Fantastic way to set up a Tele.

As for the Camphor Burl, it looks like that's only available for flat-top bodies. Unsurprising, as burls in general are typically very difficult to work. I can imagine wrecking several pieces before you'd get a carved top free of cracks, tear-outs, uneven finished surface, etc.