Tone opinions please?

[Cagey]

I've seen 24.75" tilt-head Goncalo Alves necks in The Showcase fairly recently - almost bought one, but they all got snatched up pretty quick. So, while it's not a choice in the builder, but they will build them. You just need to call and find out if they're in the mood to do it.

Also, with the Ziricote, I think that's an on-again/off-again wood. That is, they don't keep huge supplies of it. So, it may not show up in The Builder as a regular choice. So, again, you need to call. You may be able to get your dream neck. Don't forget stainless frets.

 

[Orpheo]

ofcourse pau ferro, but please get it through: pau ferro is not doable for anything that needs/requires an angled headstock.

 

[B3Guy]

ah, yes. I forgot that an angled headstock was wanted.

BTW, I'd be willing to bet that Warmoth could do an angled Warhead for you. They do that headstock AFAIK by trimming down a strat headstock, and strat 'stocks come angled. IMO, it is the best looking headstock on a soloist, hands down. everything else is too big in relation to that slimmed down body.

 

[Orpheo]

ah, yes. I forgot that an angled headstock was wanted.

BTW, I'd be willing to bet that Warmoth could do an angled Warhead for you. They do that headstock AFAIK by trimming down a strat headstock, and strat 'stocks come angled. IMO, it is the best looking headstock on a soloist, hands down. everything else is too big in relation to that slimmed down body.

nop, they won't. they really, really won't. the scarf joint just won't hold, and they don't wanna do a 3x3 non-tilted neck. Already asked them like a million times. they really won't do it.

 

[B3Guy]

ah, yes. I forgot that an angled headstock was wanted.

BTW, I'd be willing to bet that Warmoth could do an angled Warhead for you. They do that headstock AFAIK by trimming down a strat headstock, and strat 'stocks come angled. IMO, it is the best looking headstock on a soloist, hands down. everything else is too big in relation to that slimmed down body.

nop, they won't. they really, really won't. the scarf joint just won't hold, and they don't wanna do a 3x3 non-tilted neck. Already asked them like a million times. they really won't do it.

sorry, not talking pau-ferro specific anymore. I know they won't scarf joint the pa, and therefore will not angle a PAU neck. But I'd bet they WOULD angle a Warhead headstock.

 

[Last Triumph]

Sorry guys, struggling to keep up with the lingo....

What is an arrow head? Is that the one on the flying V's?

Pau Fero is only for the finger board - it is the main neck wood I'm concerned with.

I'll almost certainly go with the Variax 3x3 head, 24.75" conversion and need to find a suitable wood.

What would be a good raw neck wood to go under the Pau Fero for the above application?

Out of interest, I've only ever played a Gibson (and a Jackson briefly) both with finished necks - what is the big deal with playing a raw neck?

 

[B3Guy]

you seem to be keeping up just fine  ccasion14:

yes, an arrow head is often used on a "V", its just exactly that: a 6-in-line pointed headstock.

the being deal with playing raw is, it offers a far better neck back surface. I was wary of raw necks initially (as were MANY people on here, I'm sure) . . . but I  bought an all-pau-ferro neck a couple months back and I'll never buy another finished neck again, it is that much better. There is a raw wood for every taste, just as some prefer glossy finnish and some prefer a satin, so it is with raw necks. My pau-ferro neck is simply the "fastest" (low friction) neck I've ever used. very hard, very smooth, very like an ebony.

Gloss finishes for me at least (I sweat, what can I say) tend to gunk up. they inevitably get sticky. compared at least to my raw neck, satin finish feels very rough and gritty.

It is difficult to explain specifically the joys of a raw neck. The best we here on the forum can do does not really capture it, so we eventually resort to "just trust us, you'll love it".

 

[Patrick from Davis]

My way of describing why I like a raw neck is the Gym floor analogy.  A finished neck is smooth and nonporous, like a gym floor.  But if you try to slide on a gym floor, at some point you stick and get burned.  This doesn't happen on a raw neck, although I doubt I'd try to do a baseball slide on a raw wood floor.  Anyways, the sticking part to the floor is what I see as the drawback to the finished neck.  A lot of folks around here are of more or less of the same opinion.

I have a Bocote neck on a strat.  Bocote is Mexican Rosewood.  It is still a Strat in sound, very, very Strat in sound.  I would go with the Rosewood neck, it looks right, it is very comfortable, and can be used to make the neck style you were interested in.  The price is quite close to a finished neck as well, so for those of us that are raw neck aficionados, it is a no brainer.
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

Out of interest, I've only ever played a Gibson (and a Jackson briefly) both with finished necks - what is the big deal with playing a raw neck?

I have no issue with finished necks, but of all the necks I have here (Koa, Rosewood, Maple, Bubinga, Mahogany, Canary, and Pau Ferro), the raw Pau is the hands-down winner. Mine has an Ebony board on it with stainless steel frets, and as has been said here many times, it's just sex on a stick. Everybody should have at least one of them.

They won't do the tilt-back 3x3 head with it, but that's not the only head extant. You don't have to do a Strat head - check out the Warhead.

It's not the limp-dick design of the Tele headstock, and not so loopy as the Strat headstock, and not so ridiculous as the CBS headstock, and you can get it made from good woods. It's easy to see that working out with a wide variety of body styles.

Raw Pau. Just trust us. You'll love it.

 

[B3Guy]

He wants angled 3x3, and seems to be pretty set on the variax (vhivh is BOTH of the aforementioned things). considering that, he cannot do a pau-ferro neck, as Warmoth cannot scarf joint the pau ferro for the angle. surely there is an angle-friendly raw wood that would suit his tonal desires.

 

[Last Triumph]

Hey guys, I'm loving this place and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the friendly and helpful advice.

I'm not so stuck in my ways not to listen to the voice of experience. I've been playing 20 years, but only on one guitar so have very limited experience of other solutions.

The way I see it is that there will be compromises with every decision, the important bit is making the best compromise.

I've pretty much decided now that this guitar is all about feeling and sounding great - the looks are now secondary, but obviously still important.

If this means compromising on my desired head stock 'LOOK' for improved tonal and playing 'FEEL', then so be it.

If a Pau Fero raw neck with stainless frets and an ebody or Kingwood fret board is a jewel in the crown, then I;ll choose a head stock that works with this wood.

I really want this to be a luxury instrument.

I'm confident and have read more than enough reviews that the combo of DiMarzio Norton/Air Norton pickups with give me great rich and full tone from that department, so it;s just the final details now.

Thanks again.

Hope that the 24.75" scale isn't a problem, as this IS important to me.

 

[B3Guy]

hey, pau-ferro isn't the only raw wood. Just because I prefer it over others does not make it the right one for you.

Consider both:

a. generally what "tone" of wood you want (bright/warm etc.)

b. what you want the texture to FEEL like (smooth? textured? hard? closed grain? open grain? soft?)


there are raw woods that run the range in both of these categories, some of which absolutely CAN be done with the variax angled headstock. It just depends. For example, if you are after the more "dead" (not in a bad way) and warm sound often associated with a Les Paul's mahogany neck, pau-ferro would not really be similar.

 

[Last Triumph]

Might have an issue here....

Arrow head isn't available as a 24.75" scale, and other than the Fender head stocks, everything else in this short scale is 13 degree angled which rules out Pau.

Tone wise, I like to play anything from 'Slash' tones all the way to Def Lepard Steve Clark / Phil Collen clean sounds and appreciate that the latter is chrome plated & processed beyond recognition thanks to Mr Lange.

I don't like harsh tones, but I do like shimmering almost electro-accoustic tones when clean, and a Mick Mars - Motley Crue fat distortion sound when playing dirty.

I kind of got close with the Les Paul, but always felt that the lean tones where perhaps a little 'narrow minded' and I ended up using lots of reverb and stereo chorus through the Marshall to get closer to what I wanted.

I guess something a little brighter than the Gibson, but without losing the warm low end.


As for feel - I'd imagine something smooth, buttery, fast, low friction and luxurious feeling. Although a massively  open grain like Wenge doesn't really appeal. Rosewood sounds nice, but my ears are open...

 

[Cagey]

Hearing all that, you might want to consider a Kingwood over Canary neck. You could do that with the 3x3 tilt-back headstock styles. I have one of those (Strat style) on my Tele (hollow carved top, Maple over Alder) and it's pretty sweet. I have a lot of articulation without going overboard, and a good low end the same way. The Kingwood is dense, hard and smooth like Ebony while having some visual character, and the Canary is hard and vibrant like Maple. I put a Seymour Duncan JB at the bridge and a GFS "True Coil" at the neck, and this one has taken a place as my favorite fiddle now. No authentic Tele sounds out of it, but selecting the bridge makes it sound like a Les Paul with an attitude, while selecting the neck sounds like something SRV could get next to. Combining the two sounds weird, and that's all I can say about that. I haven't decided whether I can use that tone yet. But, the other two? Magical. Highly recommended.

 

[crash]

I've seen 24.75" tilt-head Goncalo Alves necks in The Showcase fairly recently - almost bought one, but they all got snatched up pretty quick. So, while it's not a choice in the builder, but they will build them. You just need to call and find out if they're in the mood to do it.

Here it is

 

[Cagey]

There you go. It's not impossible.

 

[m4rk0]

I don't like harsh tones

then don't buy an all pau ferro neck

 

[Orpheo]

wow, it would've been sweet to have a goncalo neck. but I've been told on numerous occasions that the necks I've mentioned earlier wont' be done as a tilted headstock-neck.

 

[mullyman]

The guitar pictured in my sig below is a black korina body, chambered, with a black korina top. To be honest, I was a little worried that I would have feedback problems with that chambered body. Nothing could be further from the truth. This guitar is warm and flowing and then it can be a screaming banshee if need be. It has a flame maple neck, ebony fingerboard and stainless frets. This thing is the tits.
MULLY

 

[mullyman]

Slash, Steve Clark, Phil Collen and Mick Mars.

One thing I'd like to throw into this discussion, which is the way I usually think about things like this, guys like that have about a kajillion dollars worth of the best gear on the planet, not to mention studio magic is on their side. In my opinion, it's pretty much impossible to come up with the tones the pros use because we don't have the gear that they have. The sounds you hear from someone like Slash isn't him taking a Les Paul and a guitar chord and plugging directly into his Marshall. Those guys run through so much equipment that, in my opinion, the guitar itself doesn't have much say in the matter.
MULLY