VIP Hollow/Chambered Bodywood. Alder? Walnut? Flying Monkeys?

[dNA]

So let me start off by saying, that I don't REALLY know what i want. In my 7 years of playing guitar, I've owned various electric guitars, mostly H-H style. My first real electric was an Ibanez Artcore that i still own and play more than any other. Every other guitar has come and gone and only told me more of what i don't seem to want.
After just setting up an Ibanez Artist with locking tuners, new pickups, and a differnt wiring, i've decided that even though it sounds good, the whole "beefy" LP kinda sound is't for me. I'm constantly trying to get more clarity and openness in clean sounds. I want to be able to have a decent sound strumming full chords or arpeggiating. The reason I never went to the Fender side of the sound spectrum is that i started out playing metal and couldn't give up humbuckers. Nowadays i'm much more into stuff like Radiohead and Modest Mouse - way more clean and lightly distorted playing.

My Artcore has always been my favorite guitar. it's the one i learned on, so it just feels right. I write so much music on it, mostly unplugged. But it sounds like a cheap guitar.
I've always been in love with hollowbodies. What I'm thinking of is getting a VIP hollowbody with a PAF-style humbucker in the bridge (still wanna get some good distorted riffery) and a single coil in the neck for those nice sparkly cleans. I've also found that if i put the right filter cap on my volume knob, i can roll all of the bass off a humbucker and get a useable sound that i think would blend well with a SC.

First, is it a totally asshat idea? Should i stick to a conventional alder solid body for the sparkly clean tone sound? Am I going to wish I also had a single coil in the bridge for clean sounds?
If the answer is no, then we move on to the question of bodywood.
For something really open and maybe kinda woody. I played the Yamaha Wes Borland sig, which is an all-alder semi-hollow and I thought it fuckin great, but this isn't exactly the same build. Should i go for something brighter like maple or walnut (walnut would be my preference for looks.) Also, how much is the sound going to change from chambered to fully hollow? I'm not much of a "lead" player per say, so a shitload of sustain for soloing isn't my priority.
I also would love a modest finish. like antique brown - non gloss. I thought walnut would look good with a satin or oil finish without the need for a darker stain.

I'm really excited. this will be my first project guitar. And Warmoth sounds pretty fuckin awesome from all the research. I realize not everything i asked was about bodywood, but i needed a starting point. Hope its ok. Thanks for any input!

 

[tfarny]

Hey, welcome to the addiction. You sound like you know what you want but not quite how to get there. I wouldn't advise obsessing over body wood type, it's like trying to find a great vintage strat pickup - there are lots of ways to go right, relatively few ways to go wrong, it's all good. Alder is fine, mahogany is just fine, Korina is fine, Ash is fine.

VIPs are nice, pick whatever body style looks right and seems comfortable to you. If I were in your shoes I might look at a chambered carve top tele, but thats' me. SSH is a versatile combo, there's a good reason so many people build super-strats. You could also go HH and use tricky wiring to split the coils in various combos. It depends on whether you want the 'main' or default sound from the neck to be strat-like or paf-like. As for "sparkly clean sounds" from a bridge single, well people usually don't get any sparkly cleans from bridge pickups in general. The neck and neck / middle combo is where all the sparkly clean strat playing happens. Strat pickups in bridge position are tricky beasts, and in general they don't do sparkly that well.

Let me also suggest that before you build a new guitar, you upgrade the one you love that doesn't sound good. Put on a bone or similar high quality nut, new pickups and electronics, get the frets really perfect.  I'm guessing it won't sound "cheap" with a set of Seymour Duncan 59's or Jazz / Pearly Gates combo or whatever you find.

 

[Mor Paul]

Let me also suggest that before you build a new guitar, you upgrade the one you love that doesn't sound good. Put on a bone or similar high quality nut, new pickups and electronics, get the frets really perfect.  I'm guessing it won't sound "cheap" with a set of Seymour Duncan 59's or Jazz / Pearly Gates combo or whatever you find.

+1

 

[dNA]

Hey, welcome to the addiction. You sound like you know what you want but not quite how to get there. I wouldn't advise obsessing over body wood type, it's like trying to find a great vintage strat pickup - there are lots of ways to go right, relatively few ways to go wrong, it's all good. Alder is fine, mahogany is just fine, Korina is fine, Ash is fine.

VIPs are nice, pick whatever body style looks right and seems comfortable to you. If I were in your shoes I might look at a chambered carve top tele, but thats' me. SSH is a versatile combo, there's a good reason so many people build super-strats. You could also go HH and use tricky wiring to split the coils in various combos. It depends on whether you want the 'main' or default sound from the neck to be strat-like or paf-like. As for "sparkly clean sounds" from a bridge single, well people usually don't get any sparkly cleans from bridge pickups in general. The neck and neck / middle combo is where all the sparkly clean strat playing happens. Strat pickups in bridge position are tricky beasts, and in general they don't do sparkly that well.

Let me also suggest that before you build a new guitar, you upgrade the one you love that doesn't sound good. Put on a bone or similar high quality nut, new pickups and electronics, get the frets really perfect.  I'm guessing it won't sound "cheap" with a set of Seymour Duncan 59's or Jazz / Pearly Gates combo or whatever you find.

thanks for the advice man.
I think i am gonna lean towards the  S S H or S H setup, though i have to get my hands on a strat to see how i feel about all the pickup combinations.
Let me first say that i've been a modding addict for a few years now. Every guitar has gone through at least 1 change of pickups and different wirings, different nuts, different tuners, etc. The artcore has gone through a set of PRS pickups, then two different sets of dimarzios (in various wiring setups) before settling with those PAFs. I found out that i LOVE the the tones i can get out of it w/ a treble filter cap on the volume - i roll out all the bass as the volume goes down and can get clean sounds i never got out of humbuckers before. And i rarely change from the vintage gain channel (on my Mesa Boogie Nomad 45) because i get so much flexibility.
It's just that i've found that electronics only do so much to augment what's there, but if the guitar doesn't have certain tone, no amount of upgrades can fake it. Unplugged, it has no complexity - very little lows, not much sparkle in the highs. It's a unique vibe, and i'll always play it and love it, but you would play it and know it's a cheap laminate guitar. I want something with a richer more complex sound. My carvin 727 sounded amazing unplugged. I just didn't know enough about amps or pickups when i owned it.
I was in love with the satin finish 335 I played in GC a while back. it had a woody quality to it i never heard in an electric. The mix of sustain and growl from an electric, but with certain characteristics of an acoustic as well.

aesthetically for what i want, i would love 335 type semi hollow, but i think from what a Warmoth has to offer, a VIP would suit me best. All walnut, oil finish.. maybe a maple neck? i kinda want it monochrome, so a white neck might not please me .But i know i have to think tone first with the neck.


Thanks. It's been a few years since i've been active on any guitar-related forum and i miss the community you always get. it's awesome