Things you'd ALWAYS do on a guitar build

[tfarny]

Thick-ish neck. 1 11/16 nut (on electric). 6130s - wish they made em in SS. Light overall weight. Simple controls - they can have some push-pull type options, but it's got to be simple to use mid-song or nuh-uh. .022 or smaller caps, .047 is a silly value for guitars - removes all your good mid along with the treble. Dunlop strap-locks, I only have one strap anymore so it's got to fit all my guits. Alnico or anyhow, vintage-output pickups that have some clarity to them.

 

[Tempest]

And call me crazy but I've played a neck with SS frets, and its not that much better to me...I barely notice any difference.  Also I like finished and raw necks about equally...haha

You have got to be kidding. Are you sure what you played were actually SS frets? To me, the difference is like used cat litter vs. cheesecake. I mean, it's not subtle, it's dramatic.

Yeah, I don't know man, just not that dramatic to me I guess.  I guess it could have to do with perspective

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

String thru bridges on basses.  String thru, T-O-M, or some variation of a wraparound on guitars, and no more trems.

Not a deal breaker, but I like 1 1/2" nut widths on basses and 1 11/16" on guitars.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Stainless do feel different to me, but it isn't a dramatic thing for me either.  I tend to dig in, so the friction is there regardless of what I play.  The wear on stainless is dramatically less for my playing style, and that is a very good thing.  Raw necks are a must for me now days.  Just can't live without them any more.  Also, Mojo of some sort is required in the guitar.  It is an odd thing but you know when it is missing.
Patrick

 

[Alfang]

And call me crazy but I've played a neck with SS frets, and its not that much better to me...I barely notice any difference.  Also I like finished and raw necks about equally...haha

You have got to be kidding. Are you sure what you played were actually SS frets? To me, the difference is like used cat litter vs. cheesecake. I mean, it's not subtle, it's dramatic.

Yeah, I don't know man, just not that dramatic to me I guess.  I guess it could have to do with perspective

Perspective? how many perspectives are there to how frets feel? two? bend string vs don't bend strings?

 

[MikeW]

1. Standard Thin or Wizard profiles
2. SS frets
3. Straight string pull or as close as I can get if it's going to be a 3+3
4. For hardtails - the standard Strat bridge; for floating bridges - the Wilkinson
5. I'm a convert to raw woods on the neck; Canary/Ebony or Afra/Ebony being my favorites

Other than that, it's about the concept. As was said earlier, each guitar in the stable has a purpose.

 

[Tempest]

And call me crazy but I've played a neck with SS frets, and its not that much better to me...I barely notice any difference.  Also I like finished and raw necks about equally...haha

You have got to be kidding. Are you sure what you played were actually SS frets? To me, the difference is like used cat litter vs. cheesecake. I mean, it's not subtle, it's dramatic.

Yeah, I don't know man, just not that dramatic to me I guess.  I guess it could have to do with perspective

Perspective? how many perspectives are there to how frets feel? two? bend string vs don't bend strings?

Hahaha, no, more like the guitars that I've played before maybe had better than average normal frets or something.  :dontknow:  Beats me, it's just not that dramatic to me.  I agree with Patrick, I dig in a lot, so that might have something to do with it!

 

[stubhead]

Maybe if you were to design an experiment, where the patients/victims/subjects had to pursue the following activities:

A) playing a guitar with stainless steel frets
B) getting a haircut - in a woodchipper
C) playing a guitar with nickel-silver frets
D) making love to an alligator/alligatress

and then you asked them to group the activities by similarity; yeah, I could see how the kind of frets might not matter.
Damn, I wish I was a college perfesser....