Designing My Dream Guitar (any thoughts, suggestions?) -reposted from 'General Forum'

[benjammin420]

I decided for my next guitar, Im going to have one custom built (http://bvwoodworks.com/index.html) This is the list of specs that im considering. If I'm missing something, or if you have any suggestions for improvement, I'd appreciate any input. :BEER

Body:
Les Paul Jr/Special single-cut
Korina wood
Contoured arm rest
Contoured back, stomach rest
Tune-o-matic bridge (don’t know the differences between ABR-1 and
Nashville models)
String thru body

Neck:
Korina or Mahogany
Ebony fingerboard (with Trini Lopez slip-diamond inlays)
Cream fingerboard binding
compound radius (10”-16” or something)
23 frets Gibson style Medium Jumbo
Custom heel shape

Electronics:
3 Humbuckers (PAF style –Neck and Bridge w/ coil taps)
4-way switch ( Neck / Neck and Bridge in series / Neck and Bridge in parallel / Bridge)
1 vol for Bridge, 1 vol for Neck –both pickups wired to 1 tone (both vols with push-pull tap)
1 vol and 1 tone for Middle pickup

Extras:
Grover tuners
Tusq/ bone/ graphite nut




-reposted from 'General Forum'

 

[curtis]

i'd be tempted to go for stainless frets, maybe bareknuckle riff raff's (its an overwound paf - fast becoming my favourite h/b).

why 23 frets? i'd find that wierd personally, 22 is good, 24 if need be but i dont like the neck h/b being moved.
lightweight tuners is important to stop it being neck heavy.
good access up at the neck joint as you mention would be nice.

how's about the finish?

cheers
steve

 

[benjammin420]

Same as you mentioned, 24 frets would be cool, but i dont want to displace the pickup too much. But sometimes when im going off i find myself limited by 22 frets. 23 seems like a compromise, it is abnormal but i saw it on Zappas guitar, so that makes it cool . I have a Epi korina V, i like the grovers on it, and a leather strap keeps it from being too neck heavy ( i guess basically im trying to redesign this guitar to make it more suitable for my personal tastes). Also Im thinking a plain, natural, light finish

Its my understanding that most Gibsons use mahogany for the necks, would that be best for a more 'classic tone' or is there an argument that matching a korina neck w/ korina body would be optimal?

Stainless steel frets were something i was on the fence about. Ive read that they have better tone/sustain and last longer, but also that they dont work will with bound fretboards (i would like a bound fretboard for looks). I dont mind sacrificing style for better parts. Have you noticed SS frets make a noticable difference?

 

[RvChevron]

i'd be tempted to go for stainless frets, maybe bareknuckle riff raff's (its an overwound paf - fast becoming my favourite h/b).

why 23 frets? i'd find that wierd personally, 22 is good, 24 if need be but i dont like the neck h/b being moved.
lightweight tuners is important to stop it being neck heavy.
good access up at the neck joint as you mention would be nice.

how's about the finish?

cheers
steve

Stay away from Grover if you want light weight tuners. Grovers are about the heaviest. Check out Hipshots, they are probably the lightest tuners currently available in the market.

 

[benjammin420]

im not too concerned with the weight of the tuners

 

[Jack Briggs]

Stay away from Grover if you want light weight tuners. Grovers are about the heaviest. Check out Hipshots, they are probably the lightest tuners currently available in the market.

Changing the buttons from metal to ebony or plastic will drop a huge amount of weight. With that in mind, I would choose Grovers over most others for their smooth feel and decent price.



Cheers,

 

[benjammin420]

Does anyone have any advise/opinions about which type of bridge i should use? Abr-1, Nashville, maybe a wraparound?

 

[walterw]

i would avoid the tune-o-matic + string-through combination. this puts a lot of downward force on the bridge, which has a problem with bowing in towards the middle even with a regular stop-bar tailpiece.

i would also expect combining two humbuckers in series to produce a muddy, not very usable tone.

 

[benjammin420]

Would you recommend a different bridge setup entirely? I have a strat w/ tremolo, so i dont require anything like that here. I thought 'string-thru' would be a bit of a boost for vibrations/sustain. I used to have a Lp Jr with the wrap-around bridge, i didnt mind it then, but its been a few years, and i think im more aware of intontation now.

 

[walterw]

wraparounds do sound really good, with lots of sustain. there are several companies making intonated wraparounds that are still one solid piece for maximum tone. (this is yet another thing that paul reed smith seemed to be a little ahead of the curve on). a lightweight wraparound combined with something like tonepros steel locking studs would make for a very toneful combination.

the tune-o-matic + stop bar combo is always nice as well.