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

Death by Uberschall said:
Graffiti62 said:
I'm curious to find out if there's anything you deem "guitar building blasphemy," such as putting a 3+3 headstock on a Strat, putting a Floyd on a carved top guitar, or anything else out there. I'm curious to find out what you think should never be done.

I fail.  :sad:


:icon_jokercolor:
me too, just about anything anyone would mention in this thread, I'd probably do... :laughing7:
 
DangerousR6 said:
Death by Uberschall said:
Graffiti62 said:
I'm curious to find out if there's anything you deem "guitar building blasphemy," such as putting a 3+3 headstock on a Strat, putting a Floyd on a carved top guitar, or anything else out there. I'm curious to find out what you think should never be done.

I fail.  :sad:


:icon_jokercolor:
me too, just about anything anyone would mention in this thread, I'd probably do... :laughing7:

:laughing7:
 
It might even be interesting to take a list of the "tonal truisms" - i.e., "poplar sounds bad", "EMG's make every guitar sound metal",  "string-through-body increases sustain", "Expensive pickups have to be great" - and make the opposite guitar. If you made it well,, with decent, GFS/Ebay stuff, it would probably be quite the torpedo.
 
StubHead said:
It might even be interesting to take a list of the "tonal truisms" - i.e., "poplar sounds bad", "EMG's make every guitar sound metal",  "string-through-body increases sustain", "Expensive pickups have to be great" - and make the opposite guitar. If you made it well,, with decent, GFS/Ebay stuff, it would probably be quite the torpedo.

i used to have a plywood flying v and loved it. screw "tonal truisms" my buddy has a pile of stratocasters that were largely built from no name ebay parts and he sounds good with any of them. i wired a couple up for him..
 
I would never buy a body that has the wiring hole between the pickup and control routs missing. And even if I did, I wouldn't attempt to rectify the situation myself, much less actually drill straight out the back of it. That would never do, no, no, no...
 
Don't be such a sissy. Drill motors and the cutters they chomp down on are fun stuff. Nothing to be afraid of. Just don't stick 'em in your eye. I'm pretty sure it hurts.
 
What's wrong with a contoured heel? I'm not sure it's worth the $45 adder, but I don't think it hurts anything. It's not a very dramatic change, after all. There's still a lot of meat in that joint.
 
Contoured heel is automatic on certain bodies, like Carved top LP & VIP. (those might be the only ones, I only checked a few)
 
Cagey said:
I'm not sure it's worth the $45 adder

You mean $35  :doh:  ..... unless there just charging you more Cagey  :laughing7:

The following bodies come standard with the Contoured Heel at no extra charge:
LP Carved Top, LPS Carved Top, VIP, 7 String Flat Top, 7 String Baritone & 7 String Carved Top.

BTW .... I like a contoured heel, but I have the normal as well.
 
You're right, I mis-spoke myself. It's a $35 adder. Still, I'm not sure it's worth it. It's such a minor thing, I'm surprised they charge for it. I think if it was me, I'd charge to not do it. But, that might get in the way of doing "replacement" bodies, since that's not how Fender makes them.
 
Cagey said:
What's wrong with a contoured heel? I'm not sure it's worth the $45 adder, but I don't think it hurts anything. It's not a very dramatic change, after all. There's still a lot of meat in that joint.

It's what I wouldn't do on a build.  On the carved top LPs, it's standard, which means they don't charge you for it.  Don't know if one could get a standard heel on one though.
 
They do so many things that have nothing to do with Fender, it's hard to see how it applies. I mean, if you make a Stratocaster with a CBS headstock, I would assume Fender gets a piece of the money? But if you make a "SG" with a Warmoth headstock, that's not licensed. Some of the repro companies fly entirely clear of the exact Fender shapes, some buy the license.
 
StubHead said:
They do so many things that have nothing to do with Fender, it's hard to see how it applies. I mean, if you make a Stratocaster with a CBS headstock, I would assume Fender gets a piece of the money? But if you make a "SG" with a Warmoth headstock, that's not licensed. Some of the repro companies fly entirely clear of the exact Fender shapes, some buy the license.

I seriously doubt it's a forced issue at all, it would have more to do with what people expect or think is important. Kinda like the idea that a nitrocellulose finish lets an electric guitar sound better than a polyurethane one. Intensely stupid, but whaddaya gonna do? Baseless beliefs are irrational, so there's no arguing them.
 
Death by Uberschall said:
Does anybody know if the the contoured heel is CNC or hand cut and shaped?

I don't know, but the examples I have here are pretty accurate so that kinda argues against a manual operation.
 
Baseless beliefs are most certainly what other people believe.  Guitars are just wood and metal.  If you add some here, take it away there, put it under stress here, it's ridiculous to think it could change anything.  Right?
 
I think the contoured heels are hand shaped

Watch the video from 1.19 onwards

http://youtu.be/-MqgNcEJx-k
 
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