Heresy. Input?

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:33 am

Alright! So. I'm constructing a hypothetical guitar. I'm terrible at photoshop. I intend this to be a thrash buzzsaw machine (the traditionalist twangy take is second in line).

For bodywood, for shortscales, how's korina? I like the idea of mahogany with "added mids." If the bottom end gets too loose with a mahogany-type in a shortscale configuration, I'm hoping that the neck (maple with an ebony board) will tighten it up a bit. Also in the running: alder. Maple?

Controls: master volume, master tone, some sort of midboost. Selector switch on the lower horn.

Pickups: Undecided humbucker, either Duncans or EMGs. Probably EMGs on this guitar then Duncan Antiquities on the next one.

Body will be Warmoth. Is it better to get an unfinished body, rout it, then DIY the finish, or to get a finished body, rout it, then re-finish the newly exposed wood?

Neck is gonna be USACG. 10-16 compound radius. Stainless frets. Squared fretboard. Tilted pocket with a Kahler, straight or straighter pocket with a recessed Kahler. Spoke-wheel truss rod nut (I hope).

Pickguard will come from any of the millions of custom pickguard places. There are millions.

I love input. I'm prepared to be ignored. I'm amassing funds, slowly. This will take lots of funds. I am making no attempt to call this thing a Mustang. Any passing resemblance to a Mustang is mostly coincidental. The end for now. I'll turn this into a build thread when it comes time.

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:42 am

CBS got a few things right, one of them was the Super Disco Headstock.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:22 am

i should introduce you to mcconnachiea, i think the two of you would be quite the pair

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:26 am

tele stock would work well, but CBS would be my number one choice.

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:34 am

Haze wrote:i should introduce you to mcconnachiea, i think the two of you would be quite the pair

just by the simple fact he's made mockups and is asking for input makes him much better than mccccconanchononachchiea

r40f · Post by **r40f** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:23 am

i voted for CBS but if it were my hypothetical guitar i would really want a reverse headstock.

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:27 am

The polling is broken. I voted for the bottom option.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:47 am

Hokay, for some serious input:
A lot of people around here will say the whole "wood tone" thing is bullocks and that it is mostly about the bridge. I agree with this to some extent. Different woods can help/hurt a guitar in some ways bit i think it is make-or-break when it comes to the bridge and electronics and over all construction of the instrument.

Why can Taylor make a guitar out of Pallet wood? Because its a well crafted instrument.
Why can early 335s, the "grail" of tone to many, be made out of plywood? Because its a well crafted instrument.

This project will really come down to how well the guitar is crafted and assembled. So take your time and make sure you don't sweat the details and make sure it has a professional once-over.

Korina is a fine wood and is a great choice if you're doing a transparent finish. Warmoth will build the exact body you're looking for but it will be spendy as Korina is a poisonous and rare wood to work with. They will also charge more for some of the routing options you are looking for aswell. If you want to go all out they can even finish it but that'll mean a bigger bill.

I'm not sure if Warmoth or USACG will do a 10-16 radius shortscale neck, you'll have to research that yourself. I did notice your Charvel guitars that you have so you might want to keep that headstock look but i think the CBS headstock looks perfect on a mustang.

If you're at all handy i would make the pickguard yourself. Blanks can be found cheap. Plus if you order one chances are it won't fit properly unless you send them a tracing which, even then, might not fit.

Not a fan of EMGs because i think its pointless to have top notch woods and neck and yada yada just to put out a active signal. They won't have the sound of YOUR guitar, passives will. However if you want that mid circuit EMG makes a drop in kit and you can just be done with it all with a clips.

Last thing, go with a hardtail. Floyd style bridges kill tone. SORRY FRAN! Sure, you loose out on a lot of neat tricks and dive bombs and whammy stuff but, personally, a hardtail will have a better sound.

probably no help at all, but i'm interested and thought i would share a word or two
keep on posting progress as it goes along, i'll be keeping up!

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:34 am

uuhhh, how about a pre-cbs reverse strat headstock.....

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:06 am

In retrospect I should've included teles and stratheads and a reverse CBS. I'm sick and tired of photoshop at this point but I'll take votes for those options (and any others) into consideration for sure.

Haze wrote:Hokay, for some serious input:
A lot of people around here will say the whole "wood tone" thing is bullocks and that it is mostly about the bridge.

I have a plywood strat that sounds fine. I'm less concerned with the potential advantages of the wood vs. the potential pitfalls of a "loose" wood in a shortened scale.

This project will really come down to how well the guitar is crafted and assembled. So take your time and make sure you don't sweat the details and make sure it has a professional once-over.

I have several books to read before I go to my router, and for sure will have a pro take a look once I'm done or if I get stuck.

Korina is a fine wood and is a great choice if you're doing a transparent finish. Warmoth will build the exact body you're looking for but it will be spendy as Korina is a poisonous and rare wood to work with.

Rest assured it'll have a transparent finish. I totally forgot about the poisonous bit, though.

They will also charge more for some of the routing options you are looking for aswell. If you want to go all out they can even finish it but that'll mean a bigger bill.

Is it an upcharge to omit routs? I supposed they'd be the ones to ask about that...

I'm not sure if Warmoth or USACG will do a 10-16 radius shortscale neck

They do. At least, they don't specifically exclude it from their ordering options.

i think the CBS headstock looks perfect on a mustang.

Interesting point: every single non-guitar-player I've asked prefers the looks of the ESP (#3). The overwhelming majority of guitar players prefer the CBS. I'm stuck somewhere between those two groups, so I'm somewhat torn.

Not a fan of EMGs because i think its pointless to have top notch woods and neck and yada yada just to put out a active signal. They won't have the sound of YOUR guitar, passives will. However if you want that mid circuit EMG makes a drop in kit and you can just be done with it all with a clips.

This is going to be a very focused guitar. I expect it to produce sounds ranging from those of an intensely angry badger to those of an intensely angry ferret. EMGs fit that bill rather well. I also have hope for the EMG X series.

Last thing, go with a hardtail.

This guitar is the first of an eventual pair. The second will have a tele, strat, or cbs headstock, vintage-y pickups, a hardtail (strat or TOM string-thru), and a warm tobacco burst. I get the impression that this board would prefer seeing the second guitar first, but, frankly, that's the one I'm more concerned about "getting right." I'd rather practice on this screech machine than on a less forgiving animal.

probably no help at all, but i'm interested and thought i would share a word or two
keep on posting progress as it goes along, i'll be keeping up!

Quite a bit of help, actually.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:58 am

Uploaded the (rather sloppily done) fender shapes. Can't figure out how to modify the poll. I'm really liking the strathead, but will probably end up going with a shredder shape for this first one. Meh.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:19 am

WTF?

WHY ISN'T TELE AN OPTION?

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:24 am

Initial oversight followed by an inability to edit polls. Also I'm prejudiced. I'm prejudiced against tele headstocks. There I said it. Tele with a CBS headstock? I'm all over it. Tele with a Tele headstock? NOPE.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:28 am

hahaha

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:01 am

Sounds good. I'm looking forward to see the result of this.

Some day, I will do a Jagmaster like this. Some day.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:21 am

Okay floyds and tone i agree with - never touched a kahler but would have thought these are better as it's string over rollers (anyone know for sure??)

Also this:

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:27 am

thats damn near what he is going for! great find

EDIT: STRAT JACK YES

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:29 am

Oh, excellent. Yeah that's very close, thanks for that pic. Depending on motivation/funding I may just end up going with the traditional control rout or modifying a pre-existing body.

Black Cat Bone wrote:Okay floyds and tone i agree with - never touched a kahler but would have thought these are better as it's string over rollers (anyone know for sure??)

Well, the Kahlers on my Charvels may or may not have something to do with the lifeless qualities exhibited by the pickups. The pickups themselves are nothing to write home about, so it could just be that. A buddy's Kahler-equipped guitar with a '63 Strat single and a monster dogear P90 seems to do just fine, tonewise. The older Kahlers were all brass; I have hopes for the new aluminum ones with the stainless-steel cams. And the Kahler is only gonna be used with hot or active pickups (which should even out or totally overpower the bridge/wood/everything/etc.).

The hardtail/stringthru is later with the cooler pups f'sho.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:36 am

Haze wrote:thats damn near what he is going for! great find

EDIT: STRAT JACK YES

Kahlers are not a straight match for the Mustang classic stylings but look a damn site better on it than a floyd! I think it could work with a black body / black pickguard kinda thing...like Mustangs updated for the 1980's!

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:38 am

i dont know, pink and black is pretty eightys

Heresy. Input?

Which headstock am best?

Heresy. Input?