Things you'd never do on a guitar build...

[SustainerPlayer]

Sun burst finishes, alder bodies, active pickups, non locking tuners, tone controls, ss frets, rosewood fingerboards, finish needing neck woods, bigsby, relic'ed finishes, head stock decals, most pg materials except for w/b/w and b/w/b.   

 

[AutoBat]

And I'd never do a guitar with chrome covered humbuckers. Humbuckers should always have exposed coils.

I got chrome covered EMGs ('cause they only make 'em covered)
Otherwise I would've gotten something open coil, probably zebra.

 

[line6man]

Oh, and Klusons. It's not so much that it's a crappy tuner, I just can't stand the aesthetic! On the other hand, no, it's both. Crappy and ugly; don't see the appeal in that.

Also, you'll never see me order anything with a Rosewood fretboard. I see enough of that at Guitar Center.
I'm not fond of Maple necks, either, but I could end up with one someday. I did recently buy a guitar that had a Maple neck. It has a nice oil finish though, so I can't complain.

Relicing is hilariously stupid. If I want my guitars to look worn out, I'll actually play them. I tend to get upset when people throw my guitars down the stairs and such, but even when that happens, I don't have to pay extra money for it. :dontknow:

 

[rockskate4x]

Non locking tuners, non stainless steel frets, non locking strap buttons, floyds, wizard necks, and worst of all...

NO CLAY DOT INLAYS FOR PITY'S SAKE!

 

[Cagey]

I tend to get upset when people throw my guitars down the stairs and such, but even when that happens, I don't have to pay extra money for it. :dontknow:

Upset? Sounds like grounds to pick the thing back up and use it to test the structural integrity of their skull.

 

[line6man]

Non locking tuners, non stainless steel frets, non locking strap buttons, floyds, wizard necks, and worst of all...

NO CLAY DOT INLAYS FOR PITY'S SAKE!

I love Floyds!

But clay dots are absolutely horrid. I wish Warmoth would stop using ugly cream dots on every dark fretboard in the showcase, as well. :sad:

 

[Cagey]

I don't mind the cream dots. Or, I should say I mind them less than MoP or Abalone. But, I wish I'd noticed a few years back that "no inlays" was an option. I wouldn't have them on most of my fiddles now.

 

[MikeW]

1) Anything other than a Wizard back profile is a no-go, but I might go for a Standard Thin if the construction was truly one-of-a-kind and getting a Wizard profile wasn't an option. I just can't seem to get comfortable with anything else, and everything thicker than the Standard Thin feels like a 2x4.

2) The LP body style is another one that I just can't make work for me. Don't get me wrong, I love the look, but just can't seem to get them to balance properly. It's neck dive hell for me with an LP.

3) Any headstock without straight string pull. Well, maybe if I could throw a locking nut on it, but still, not likely.

4) I'm spoiled now and won't have a body without a contoured heel of some kind. I never knew how much I hated getting jammed in the middle of the palm by the corner of the body until it wasn't happening.

5) I'll either have a Floyd or a Wilky + Locking Schallers on every build I do from now on.

 

[Kostas]

As long as there are other options I would avoid all these:

Non contoured heel
Thin neck
Anything less than 9'' or more than 14'' radius
Nickel frets
6 hole tremolos
Locking tremolos
Black non locking tremolos
Vintage tele bridge
Single coil pickup rings
Strat volume placement
Strat top jack rout

 

[bagman67]

Some thoughts, not all of them necessarily connected to each other.


Traditional Telecaster cup output jack?  Hell no.  Electrosocket is much more handsome and easier to install.


Would never do a Floyd.  Not because of any ideological opposition, but because I just don't need that kind of action out of a guitar. 


I would never put a Fender logo on anything I assembled myself from non-Fender parts.  Why give them the credit?


I would be highly unlikely to install active pickups in a guitar.


I would not install a wraparound bridge without adjustable saddles.


I would not install a three-saddle tele bridge.


I would not put a finish on an open-grained guitar without first filling the grain.

I would not build a neon-colored guitar.

I would never do any kind of religious or affectedly anti-religious fretboard inlays.  I'm not religious, so obviously crosses, stars-of-David, artistic Arabic script of Qur'an verses (you know it would look really cool, even if you don't subscribe to the underlying faith) -- while aesthetically defensible -- would really be hypocritical.  But at the same time, I have no horse in the race.  No need to challenge all the believers with my guitar.  If someone wants a debate, I'll join in - but no need to make my guitar about my theological or political viewpoint.  Although a theology-neutral guitar, I guess, is a theological statement of sorts.  But not an aggerssive one.

 

[bagman67]

Forgot two:  I would never put a Tele headstock on anything but a tele body; and I would never put a CBS-strat headstock on anything.

 

[line6man]

I would never do any kind of religious or affectedly anti-religious fretboard inlays.  I'm not religious, so obviously crosses, stars-of-David, artistic Arabic script of Qur'an verses (you know it would look really cool, even if you don't subscribe to the underlying faith) -- while aesthetically defensible -- would really be hypocritical.  But at the same time, I have no horse in the race.  No need to challenge all the believers with my guitar.  If someone wants a debate, I'll join in - but no need to make my guitar about my theological or political viewpoint.  Although a theology-neutral guitar, I guess, is a theological statement of sorts.  But not an aggerssive one.

That makes no sense to me. Given that guitars are used to express yourself in a musical sense, and sometimes in an aesthetic sense, as well, why not express your religious and political ideologies through the same medium? It is clear that guitars are meant to express individuality -or- conformance in many regards; use them as a canvas to paint whatever picture tells your story.

On the other hand, personally, I'm usually completely against the notion of sharing my beliefs with anyone. I'll drop some hints here and there about my political and religious beliefs, but no one needs to know exactly what I believe in and why. Also, religion and politics brings out the stupid in even the most civilized and intelligent people. The less people know about you, the better.

 

[crash]

I agree with you on that last one Bagman.

Tele headstock on a non-tele is a no-no.  Conversely, I wouldn't put a strat headstock on a tele.

Tele pickup configuration on a non-tele.  Just looks wrong to me.

Anything relic'd, yuck.  Unless done over a 30 year period of playing.

A non-padded strap on a guitar that weighs over 11 pounds.  :sad1:

Strap-loks are a must have!!!!!  Would never build a guitar without these.

I do, however, like the warmoth headstock on a strat. 

 

[MSP]

Oh, something else I forgot.  I like a coloured finish of some kind.  I like to see the wood through the finish, but it's gotta add something more than just a glossy sheen to it.  Highly-figured maple with a clear finish is like a car with no paint.

 

[bagman67]

I would never do any kind of religious or affectedly anti-religious fretboard inlays.  I'm not religious, so obviously crosses, stars-of-David, artistic Arabic script of Qur'an verses (you know it would look really cool, even if you don't subscribe to the underlying faith) -- while aesthetically defensible -- would really be hypocritical.  But at the same time, I have no horse in the race.  No need to challenge all the believers with my guitar.  If someone wants a debate, I'll join in - but no need to make my guitar about my theological or political viewpoint.  Although a theology-neutral guitar, I guess, is a theological statement of sorts.  But not an aggerssive one.

That makes no sense to me. Given that guitars are used to express yourself in a musical sense, and sometimes in an aesthetic sense, as well, why not express your religious and political ideologies through the same medium? It is clear that guitars are meant to express individuality -or- conformance in many regards; use them as a canvas to paint whatever picture tells your story.

On the other hand, personally, I'm usually completely against the notion of sharing my beliefs with anyone. I'll drop some hints here and there about my political and religious beliefs, but no one needs to know exactly what I believe in and why. Also, religion and politics brings out the stupid in even the most civilized and intelligent people. The less people know about you, the better.

Well, my point is that I wouldn't do this with a guitar.  Faith doesn't figure in my worldview, including my relationship with music (although I freely admit a lot of liturgical music is profoundly stirring and beautiful).  Now, where my political leanings run afoul of others' faith, well, I'm open to debate, or even a good ol' fashioned knock-down-drag-out argument.  But musically, mostly I want to do as Frank said and "shut up and play my guitar."

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I like EMGs, but seeing them in a PRS seems sacrilegious.

 

[AprioriMark]

Gold hardware is awful on almost anything but big archtops that are otherwise regal.  There are a few exceptions, but they're rare.  Marko's guitars with gold are very tasteful, for instance.

Anything with 3 humbuckers is annoyingly pointless.  The switching options are bad, it gets in my way, and it looks bad.  I rarely like 3 pickup guitars at all, but 3 humbuckers is "no effing way" on any of my builds.  I recently sold a 70s LP Custom because I played a total of two shows with it over the 12 years I owned it, and I hated that third pickup.  Yes, it was a custom with an added pickup.

I hate bursts with red in them.  A lot. 

Trems... I don't like them.  I don't like all the notes bending pitch when I'm not using the trem and I'm playing multiple notes.  I own one guitar with a trem that's not blocked.

Strat volume knob placement.  If I'm building a guitar, nothing goes there.  It gets in the way.


Incidentally, I LIKE the W headstock on strat-style guitars, and even prefer it due to the tilt-back.  I've built several like that intentionally.  LP headstocks look awful though.  /shrug

-Mark

 

[swarfrat]

Pointy sculpting in lame attempts to appear bad. Only exception is the V, the original V. And even that's only ok because it's kind of like the crazy family member that's not quite right but everyone loves.

Abalone. Three humbuckers. Airbrushed artwork. Jazzmaster/Mustang bridges. Slide switches. Bigsbys. Coil Taps/Phase Reversal, built in distortion. Relic'ing.  Just about anything that was chosen solely due to the owner's contrarian nature. (You know, the guy who reuses  old  calendars when the days of the week line up, has the clock that runs backwards, unlikes his favorite band when they get to 500 likes on facebook because they've gotten too commercial, even though they play an eclectic fusion of polka and Inuit folk music.)

 

[SlartiBartfast]

Pointy sculpting in lame attempts to appear bad. Only exception is the V, the original V. And even that's only ok because it's kind of like the crazy family member that's not quite right but everyone loves.

Hahaha, well said. :laughing7:

 

[hannaugh]

I personally would never build a guitar that:

- is pointy
- is neon colored
- is gold or silver
- has a flake finish
- has a band's graphics all over it... I don't really get that unless you're in a cover band or something.
- has crazy inlays everywhere
- has a huge ugly whammy bar bridge
- has gold hardware (probably not... some builds look good with it, but 95% don't need it)
- has black hardware (metal should look like metal in my opinion)
- has plastic black or cream inlays
- has a shell pickguard on anything but solid paint
- has more than 2 humbuckers (or humbucker size) pickups
- has relic'ing... just wrong.  It's cheating. 
- is a Jagstang or a Mustang
- has a huge baseball bat neck because I can't reach anything on a neck like that
- use a Jazzmaster/Jag trem bridge.  I'd like to build a Jag or a Jazzmaster, but it will not have the traditional bridge.

There are lots and lots of things I would never choose, really.  I don't think they're guitar building blasphemy necessarily, I just wouldn't do them.  Except Jagstangs, those are blasphemous.