Would this balance, tonally?

[jhumber]

Hey all,

I currently have a hollow strat (alder/flame maple, with maple neck) that has a set of BKP Apache single coils in it. For clean to medium rock, it's a world-beater. Definitely a keeper.

I'm now after something for the heavier rock side of things (think EVH, Nuno, Randy Rhoads etc...) and am contemplating this spec:

Body:
Telecaster hollow mahogany
Flame maple top (rear-routed)
H-x-H pickup config (BKP VHII pickups)

Neck:
Indian rosewood
Ebony fingerboard

Does that combination of woods seem like it would work well for the sounds I'm after?

Also - I'd like the vintage strat hardtail bridge on the telecaster (the same as I have on the strat) - I assume this can be done by Warmoth?

Cheers
J

 

[jhumber]

Nobody? Just checking if those wood combinations won't be overly dark/bright.

 

[nathan a]

Sounds it'll be warmer than you want, the players you mentioned have a real edgy cutting sound, and I think you'll want a neck wood more towards the side of maple. I wouldn't go hard left with your woods, if that makes sense.

 

[DiMitriR33]

hollow mahogany should sound amazing but the rosewood neck will sound more carlos santana than EVH. i'd go maple, satine(bloodwood), pauduk, or canary for what you want. 

 

[Orpheo]

it would sound warm. oh yeah. especially with those VHII pics. I'd use painkillers or mules, or miracle mans in this guitar.



but you can also use a padouk neck, satine/bloodwood, purperheart, wenge, or just full ebony. but imo, rosewood feels the best, and I'd use brighter pickups in stead of another neck. I LOVE rosewood nekcs. oh wel... wenge's cool too haha.

 

[jtroska]

I'm no expert but that does sound too dark for Van Halen or Randy Rhodes.  I used to have the Randy Rhodes Jackson V when I was a kid (it seems like everybody did in my area!).  That thing was made from poplar wood.  I think now the Jacksons are made from alder and maple. 

I have a hollow mahogany guitar and it sounds great but pretty much the opposite of Van Halen and Randy Rhodes.

 

[T.L.]

A hollow body is totally wrong for the styles you mentioned...

 

[ildar]

A hollow body is totally wrong for the styles you mentioned...

+1
Remember that Rhoads used a LP for most of his studio work.

 

[m4rk0]

If you really think of it, Randy's tone wasn't that nice at all.. but it suits really well with the songs! as a matter of fact, Diary of a Madman and the Blizzard are still 2 of my most favorite albums ever!! I like most work of Jake e lee too, but again, not a great tone.. very muddy, grainy with too much too much chorus or flange. I don't like zakk all that much.. nice fat tone though.

on topic, I don't see why you couldn't get some nice warm heavy rock tones out of a hollow strat body.

 

[ildar]

If you really think of it, Randy's tone wasn't that nice at all.. but it suits really well with the songs! as a matter of fact, Diary of a Madman and the Blizzard are still 2 of my most favorite albums ever!! I like most work of Jake e lee too, but again, not a great tone.. very muddy, grainy with too much too much chorus or flange. I don't like zakk all that much.. nice fat tone though.

one topic, I don't see why you couldn't get some nice warm heavy rock tones out of a hollow strat body.

You can, and I do, my #1 is a W hollow Strat, which is beautifully warm and full, and rocks till the break of dawn.
jhumber, what pickups are you using, and what's your rig like?

 

[T.L.]

If you really think of it, Randy's tone wasn't that nice at all.. but it suits really well with the songs! as a matter of fact, Diary of a Madman and the Blizzard are still 2 of my most favorite albums ever!! I like most work of Jake e lee too, but again, not a great tone.. very muddy, grainy with too much too much chorus or flange. I don't like zakk all that much.. nice fat tone though.

+1
Those guys were going for a "metallic" tone (which they achieved), not a rich warm  "brown sound" like EVH...

 

[T.L.]

I like hollow-bodies for Jazz and Blues, but not for anything else. When used for hard Rock with high-gain overdrive, they have more microphonic feedback, and they have a nasally tone. For example; Ted Nugent is a kick-ass guitar player, but I have always hated his tone from those Byrdland hollow-body guitars. His tone was so much better (to my ears) from the PRS guitars he used with Damn Yankees...

 

[dbw]

I like hollow-bodies for Jazz and Blues, but not for anything else. When used for hard Rock with high-gain overdrive, they have more microphonic feedback, and they have a nasally tone. For example; Ted Nugent is a kick-ass guitar player, but I have always hated his tone from those Byrdland hollow-body guitars. His tone was so much better (to my ears) from the PRS guitars he used with Damn Yankees...

Yeah but there's a big difference between a hollow body like a ES three thirty something and a Warmoth chambered body... no feedback on those.

 

[jhumber]

Yeah, OK, maybe Randy Rhoades wasn't the best example of tone...

To clarify, I already have a hollow alder strat loaded with BKP Apache pickups. These are VERY low output single coils (around 5.6k), but they drive my rig great for clean and medium rock tones. (My amp is a Rivera R55 that I run clean, and my pedalboard gain stages come from BJF Pine Green Compressor, MI Audio Crunchbox, Xotic RC and Xotic BB. I have most bases covered tonally).

So, I'm after a guitar that will cover the opposite end of the tonal spectrum from my strat. Something heavier sounding, which obviously humbuckers would give. I'm totally sold on the hollow warmoth bodies - my strat is the most resonant strat I've played, and the weight loss is a big selling point.

I've not decided on pickups for the new build yet, but having researched it a bit I think the hollow mahogany/flame maple body is what I'm after, and I like the feel of rosewood necks (and the look of ebony fingerboards).

 

[rightintheface]

i have just finished my first W build, hollow b.korina, wenge neck/ebony board. it has a SD JB bridge and phat cat neck. it is easily the ballsiest, toughest, most awesome sounding guitar in my collection, which includes explorers, sg's etc etc. i'll always go hollow body from now on, sustains for almost triple the time my explorer does, and without ANY added feedback at all.

the wenge neck is awesome. it would give a brighter tone than rosewood. has a LOT of punch. and it feels beautiful (can be left raw, like mine and many others)