The obsessive compulsive person's guitar spec

[David]

thanks for not being too hard on me.  I realize that much of this is irrational, but I guess that is the point. For some reason guitar building brings that out in me. I can think of no other object that I have such a personal relationship with; that i know with such familiarity. That is why people name them i guess.

I have a "pick your lam top" body coming in the mail today.  The guitar i plan to build won't follow a few of these rules. I'll post pictures...

 

[dbw]

Yeah one piece necks are one piece.  That's why they're called one piece.  :toothy11:

I've seen a one-piece maple bass... neck, fingerboard, body, it was all one piece of maple.  More than anything, it looked and felt cool.

 

[DiMitriR33]

if you want something indestructable get a strait grain exotic wood for the neck, maple needs the finish for insurance but you can finnish some exotics that don't require it. i think some can't be finnished so ask warmoth.

 

[dbw]

There are a couple one-piece quartersawn rosewood Tele necks in the showcase... they'll probably last forever and a day.

 

[T.L.]

Okay, here's My list:

- Start with the obvious.  Stainless steel frets are fine, but I have no need for them. I use Nickle/Iron strings which aren't too hard on frets, and I don't tour the world playing guitar, so my frets will last for many years. I have had necks and fingerboards shrink (more on that later) and filing the ends of SS frets would be a pain in the ass. I like medium-jumbo frets.

- Recessed Floyd Rose vibrato bridge, but NOT FLOATING. I like the feel and the bright tone of the FR, and I like tuning stability and the fine tuners. I set them up for dive-only, so I never have problems with tuning or re-stringing. 

- I like both Ceramic magnet AND AlNiCo magnet pickups. A humbucker at the bridge position is a MUST. I like a single-coil style pickup at the neck position.  By the time my AlNiCo pickups demagnetize, I'll be dead anyway, so it doesn't matter. Some players actually prefer the tone of an aged magnet, as it provides a more mellow tone. I like pickups to be body-mounted, even though the affect on tone is negligible.

- MEDIUM-thickness necks.  I hate fat backs and I hate skinny, flat backs. I like a thin "U" shape (Fender's "C" shape is decent too).  I like a satin finish on the back.

- Rear routed bodies.  I too like to know exactly where every wire is, and agree that wiring everything to the pickguard is like "wondering if the light goes out when you close the refrigerator door".

- No need for angled headstocks WHEN utilizing a Floyd Rose locking nut.  Non-angled headstocks are stronger, especially if they are one-piece.

- I like both maple AND rosewood fret boards (although I lean toward rosewood most of the time).  Maple necks shrink too (I had one that did), not just rosewood & ebony. It's no big deal unless you have SS frets and/or fingerboard binding.

- No binding.  Sure it looks cool, but what if it comes loose? I actually prefer the LOOK of non-bound fingerboards (I know, just the opposite of most players), and as I mentioned before, binding makes re-fretting more tedious and more expensive. I  want to get  a Les Paul Studio because I actually LIKE the lack of a bound fretboard.

-Contoured heel-joint. I think this is self-explanatory. All about comfort.

-Locking tuners.  Even with a locking FR set-up, I like the ease of restringing that locking tuners offer.


I too admit that I don't have a single guitar that fits ALL of these criteria, and I too find myself spending a lot of time thinking about guitar specs and these are the things I think about...

 

[David]

Nice.  I forgot to mention the locking tuners.  All my guitars have those.

On the demagnetized alnico pickups...  I think I read a story about Andy Summers' Telecaster pickups getting completely demagnetized before a concert.  That gave me an irrational fear of demagnetization.  If they had been ceramic, they might have been demagnetized as well.  Who knows.

 

[Orpheo]

pickupmagnets cannot be demagnetized by regular use, not even by smacking them to the ground. the magnets that were used in the old days were militarygrade magnets and were supposed not to demagnetize by heavy use. only when put near to a very, very heavy magnet (like magnets used at CERN!) a pickupmagnet might demagnetize.

that a singlepiece neck is less prone to warping? sorry, thats not true.the fingerboardwood will prevent it from warping 'upwards' and the trussrod from downwards, so to say.

a tune o matic bridge will not fall off the studs under string tension. thats the greatest b.s. i've heard in ages.

that a tremolo will have morse intonation? perhaps. You have to intonate it at its 'rest'position, and if you have a good tremolo, it will come back to its original position. I'm thinking of OFR's,Kahlers, wilkinsons, hipshots, callaham trems... if you have problems with the intonation of a tremguitar when used, I think thats more an issue 'between the ears' in stead of being a real issue. the differences of the saddleposition are so small after whammy use, human hearing can't hear that (Long live pure science. you just cant hear it, our hearing is not sensitive enough!)

I absolutely recommend locking tuners, though normal tuners are equally good when strung properly.

My list:

fat neck!! It fills my hand prefectly, I have big hands...

trem or no trem: non issue, as long as its a hipshot when I get a tremolo

3 humbuckers, I love humbuckers, or prails, but still :humbuckers in its core.

ebony fingerboard: I love the slick feel.

normal frets, not stainless steel. I dont like to be 'fixed' on a set of frets forever and ever though I prefer the fattest frets around

the body should be a pair of very hard wood and a softer wood: koa/walnut, maple/korina, korina/padouk, korina/maple; all are ok, no matter which one is top or back.

I want versatility and good tone all at the same time: big routings for versatility in wiring, but a fatter/bigger (les paul) body to compenstate that.

raw necks! I dont like finished necks

binding in top and/or back and on the fingerboard. otherwise its just a naked face. the idea that it might fall off is imho just a crazy idea. it wont fall off, and if it will, it looks just COOL, rock'n'roll and vintage and 'relic'.

well, thats my list I guess