elgravos
Senior Member
- Messages
- 331
I may have mentioned a couple of times in passing that I really had no interest in building a Les Paul based W simply on the basis that only a set neck will do where an LP is concerned.
I'm sticking with that. However, now that we have the carved top tele, it seems to me there is nothing that will prevent me from building an LP disguised as a tele. That way, I can pat myself on the back for not making a bolt on LP while still having the full benefit of the LP sound and W quality. Win-win all around in other words. I'm guessing this is a pretty popular project right about now...
Been working away at Kisekea with our friends next door and have put together the basic design. I will readily admit to some deathbyubershall influence on that front. Since Blue showed up, my interest in building a tele has suddenly peaked. God knows why... In any event, just a couple of things I want to run by the group:
From a playing standpoint it should be full on LP. Going for conversion neck etc however I'm not bent on reproducing the electronics. I'm going to go the 1 volume 1 tone route. First question therefore, and you can see it on the picture below that I'm still flaky on this one, is which toggle to go for: traditional tele using a 5 position blade switch or the gibson 3 way toggle on the upper horn?
Next one:
I strongly feel this should be an all mahogany job. Amongst other things, it will allow me to settle all the stuff I’m hearing on the forum about how Ws are so far superior to LPs. Don’t get me wrong, I love my warmoth guitars, but I’m just as impressed with my LP standard (sometimes more so I have to confess). On that basis I could go the mahogany neck route and get a satin finish which would be quite pleasant and do away with the nitro which I absolutely hate on a neck.
The other option is to go for Wenge. I kind of feel I’m missing out on the raw neck thing and I really dig what everyone is saying about that wood. Strangely enough, I’m not so thrilled about rosewood. The only drawback there is that it will divert me from my A/B - Gibson/Warmoth test. It will no longer be like for like which will not quite be the same trip. But maybe it’s worth the trade off.
Thing is, I still want it to sound pretty much like a not overly adulterated LP. Question: will a mahogany / wenge sound significantly different than a mahogany / mahogany combo? Not sure what the pickups will be yet but assume PAF based (ideally bare knuckle rebel yells) playing with full on JCM800 type gain. Fretboard is going to be ebony – going the LP custom route.
Like everyone, I keep hearing the catechism that is popular on the forum as far as sonic order of precedence goes: pickups first, then neck etc. Thing is, I can very easily tell what wood is making what sound so I’m not entirely sold on that. I can tell the difference between body woods and neck woods pretty easily, regardless of pickups and even at reasonable gain. It also helps that all my guitars are dual HBs with PAF based electronics and have significantly different woods - if I couldn’t tell them apart that would be pretty embarrassing and I couldn’t justify owning more than one of them… I realize that everyone can have their own opinion on that front but I find this forum somewhat biased on the subject which is odd given that if it were true we’d all be buying poplar bodies with nice laminates and maple necks.
In fact here’s a good quote from Crimson guitars which is quite popular on the forum these days and goes a little against the received conventional wisdom we are seeing on this side of the web:
Maple:
The most common electric guitar neck wood, Maple has a uniform grain, it's strong and stable, and it has less reaction from environmental changes than other hardwoods. Its tone is highly reflective, and focuses more energy onto the body wood. All things being equal, bolt-on Maple necks are less of a factor on the guitar's tone and emphasize the body wood.
Not typically what you would hear on this forum.
Anyway, I digress, I confess that it’s because it’s Friday night and I’ve had a drink. Rest assured, I am over 21.
In the meantime, here’s the mugshot:
I'm sticking with that. However, now that we have the carved top tele, it seems to me there is nothing that will prevent me from building an LP disguised as a tele. That way, I can pat myself on the back for not making a bolt on LP while still having the full benefit of the LP sound and W quality. Win-win all around in other words. I'm guessing this is a pretty popular project right about now...
Been working away at Kisekea with our friends next door and have put together the basic design. I will readily admit to some deathbyubershall influence on that front. Since Blue showed up, my interest in building a tele has suddenly peaked. God knows why... In any event, just a couple of things I want to run by the group:
From a playing standpoint it should be full on LP. Going for conversion neck etc however I'm not bent on reproducing the electronics. I'm going to go the 1 volume 1 tone route. First question therefore, and you can see it on the picture below that I'm still flaky on this one, is which toggle to go for: traditional tele using a 5 position blade switch or the gibson 3 way toggle on the upper horn?
Next one:
I strongly feel this should be an all mahogany job. Amongst other things, it will allow me to settle all the stuff I’m hearing on the forum about how Ws are so far superior to LPs. Don’t get me wrong, I love my warmoth guitars, but I’m just as impressed with my LP standard (sometimes more so I have to confess). On that basis I could go the mahogany neck route and get a satin finish which would be quite pleasant and do away with the nitro which I absolutely hate on a neck.
The other option is to go for Wenge. I kind of feel I’m missing out on the raw neck thing and I really dig what everyone is saying about that wood. Strangely enough, I’m not so thrilled about rosewood. The only drawback there is that it will divert me from my A/B - Gibson/Warmoth test. It will no longer be like for like which will not quite be the same trip. But maybe it’s worth the trade off.
Thing is, I still want it to sound pretty much like a not overly adulterated LP. Question: will a mahogany / wenge sound significantly different than a mahogany / mahogany combo? Not sure what the pickups will be yet but assume PAF based (ideally bare knuckle rebel yells) playing with full on JCM800 type gain. Fretboard is going to be ebony – going the LP custom route.
Like everyone, I keep hearing the catechism that is popular on the forum as far as sonic order of precedence goes: pickups first, then neck etc. Thing is, I can very easily tell what wood is making what sound so I’m not entirely sold on that. I can tell the difference between body woods and neck woods pretty easily, regardless of pickups and even at reasonable gain. It also helps that all my guitars are dual HBs with PAF based electronics and have significantly different woods - if I couldn’t tell them apart that would be pretty embarrassing and I couldn’t justify owning more than one of them… I realize that everyone can have their own opinion on that front but I find this forum somewhat biased on the subject which is odd given that if it were true we’d all be buying poplar bodies with nice laminates and maple necks.
In fact here’s a good quote from Crimson guitars which is quite popular on the forum these days and goes a little against the received conventional wisdom we are seeing on this side of the web:
Maple:
The most common electric guitar neck wood, Maple has a uniform grain, it's strong and stable, and it has less reaction from environmental changes than other hardwoods. Its tone is highly reflective, and focuses more energy onto the body wood. All things being equal, bolt-on Maple necks are less of a factor on the guitar's tone and emphasize the body wood.
Not typically what you would hear on this forum.
Anyway, I digress, I confess that it’s because it’s Friday night and I’ve had a drink. Rest assured, I am over 21.
In the meantime, here’s the mugshot: