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Neck Joint Tightness
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The most important thing to pay attention to is how
tight the neck joint on a guitar is. If you read this whole page and
follow every link and only get one thing out of it. I hope it's the fact
that your neck joint is the heart and soul of your guitar. Understand that
the stability and tone are hugely affected by the neck joint. I believe
there should never be anything on a guitar that can dampen the tone
between the neck and body. Much tone comes off the neck & fingerboard &
much tone comes from the body. Don't fall victim to a poor sounding guitar
simply because you didn't check to see how tight your neck fit was.
I firmly believe that the neck joint should be so tight that you should be
able to insert the neck into the pocket and be able to lift the entire
guitar by the neck with nothing but the pressure of the wood against the
wood to hold it. There should never be any paint or glue in the neck
joint. If a shim has to be used it must be of the same type of wood and
cannot be glued in. Direct Coupling has to be
achieved in 3 places and the neck is essential. Always check any Fender or
other Bolt On Neck for a tight neck before you buy it. It will save you
hours of playing every one in the store. You will be able to pick out the
good sounding one's just by checking the neck fit. It's easy to
check see if you can force a thin pick into the neck joint. If you can try
a different one. |
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Neck Joint
Fastening
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Machine screws with
brass or steel inserts in the neck is the best way to affix a bolted neck
to a guitar. Sadly very few companies do this. It is costlier than
simply using wood screws and it takes a lot more time to sink the brass or
steel inserts into the butt of the neck. There is also an added bonus, The
extra mass of the inserts assists in cancelling out dead spots on the
neck.
I avoid glued in necks (set neck guitars) Corporate high production
guitars for example usually slather in the glue thickly in the joint and
clamp it down and forget about it. You lose 75% of your high end frequency
response. In my shop we use a steam needle system. When we sweat or
steam the neck out of an old Gibson it sometimes takes less than 20
minutes for the glue to heat up and break down. This is because they used
very little glue then. On new models we have to sweat them for hours and
drill several more steam needle holes. Some companies make up for poor
tolerances by using way too much glue in the neck joint. |
Fingerboards
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There are many types of fingerboard woods. I myself use
Ebony, Snakewood, Morado, Pau Ferro, Macassar Ebony, Maple, Wenge, & I
have experimented with Purple Heart, Pink Ivory, Koa and others I can't
think of at this time.
Most companies offer East Indian Rosewood as their principal fingerboard
wood. It works Ok but it is dry & coarse. I personally prefer, Madagascar
Rosewood or Brazilian Rosewood because it is slightly more resonant and it
feels much better on your fingers. It's not as dry as East Indian
Rosewood. it's darker & it exudes a slight Oil.
Rosewood is by far the least expensive of woods suitable for fingerboards.
Just make sure if you are buying an expensive premium guitar that you
aren't getting cheap Rosewood. Personally I almost never use Rosewood.
Ebony is the choice of most pro players. The Eddie Van Halen contingent
prefer Maple fingerboards. The sound of Maple & Ebony are very similar.
They are both percussive, bright & smooth and easy on your fingers.
Ebonies are cosmetically &
tonally my favorite. They show great contrast with inlays & the
black Ebony goes with any color. I see many guitars with black paint jobs,
black hardware, black pickups, Ruined by a light brown East Indian
Rosewood fingerboard. Urghhh !!!
Wood selection is important if you read this whole page a couple of times
and follow most of the links you will come to realize that woods need to
be married together for a good sound. Maple and Ebony are both very hard.
It would be imprudent to make a solid maple body & neck and then put an
Ebony fingerboard on it. I believe that a great guitar will have a
combination of warm woods (Soft) and cold woods (Hard) |
Body
Woods
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Most common body woods are alder, ash, poplar, mahogany
& basswood. These are all good with the possible of exception of basswood.
maple tops are usually the norm. Fine & dandy, as long as you aren't
spending higher dollars. Then you should be looking for korina, koa and
heavily figured maples or other exotic tops like spalted or burled maple.
consider macassar ebony, cocobolo, redwood's like paduak and beautiful
rosewoods.
Stay away from plywood's and multi laminates on the lower cost models. On
the expensive guitars make sure the company is using tuned tonewoods.
Click here for a primer on
tonewoods. You can read all about different woods!!! |
Body
Shapes
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Make sure the guitar is comfortable to play standing or
sitting. make sure the lower bout or horn doesn't block your left hand.
Make sure none of pointy edges sticks into a part of you that will make
you uncomfortable. look for a comfortable forearm rest for your right
hand. You don't want a crease in your forearm from resting on a sharp
edge. Body binding will cause that problem. |
Neck
Volutes
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A neck volute will usually prevent a guitar from
breaking at that weak area by the nut. If the guitar has no neck volute
and and has a tilt back headstock and the body is heavy. It will be prone
to breakage. ( A Volute is a carved built up area usually behind the
first fret.) |
Tuning
Pegs
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Be careful of cheap lower cost tuning pegs. Don't think
you can replace them later. If you do you can ruin the value of your
guitar. It's extremely hard to find a good set of tuning pegs, that will
retrofit correctly on your guitar. Most will not use the same screw holes
as the original.
My shop has replaced more than 100 Gibson necks on old vintage models
where the tuning pegs had extra holes which ruined the value and the
originality of the guitar. If you have a $60,000.00 1959 Gibson Les Paul
that someone redrilled the tuning pegs on. You can always bring it to me.
$3,000.00 later you will have a new neck with an original set of tuners a
matching finish and a signed non disclosure statement that I will never
reveal to anyone that I modified or repaired your guitar!!! |
Bridges
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Stay away from wrap around bridges, There are some very
expensive guitars out there that only come with wrap around style
bridges. A Tun A Matic 2 piece bridge system will usually work much
better. A flat sustainer style bridge also works well. Breaking a
string on a wraparound is a pain and very few of of the wraparound style
models will intonate. Some of the ones that do like the BC Rich Quadmatic
is very uncomfortable to deal with. |
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Spring Mounted Pickups
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I am very much down on spring mounted pickups, I
believe a pickup should be directly coupled to either the body or the neck
or better yet one to each. This presents problems for the large companies
because it requires a lot more factory set up. If you spring mount the
pickups as most companies do, You won't get a direct couple on your
guitar. Sadly very few companies offer this so you may have to settle.
It can be done later by a competent shop. |
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Tilted Headstocks
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Be careful of radically tilted headstocks, they can
break easily especially if there is no volute on the back of the neck just
below the headstock to help prevent
breakage.
Fender style guitars almost never break because there is no tilt-back on
the headstock. |
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Reach
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Make sure you can easily reach the top frets, Today's
music unlike music from the 50's, requires that you can reach the high
notes. Watch out for big heels, Watch out for fat neck joints, watch out
for fretboards that are 1/4 on the body. Look for a long neck with a good
reach to your top frets. |
Scales
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There are numerous scales (lengths) of necks. I am not
going to get in deep here. A longer scale like Fender will usually deliver
clearer sound, A shorter scale like a Gibson will usually deliver a fatter
of sound. I recommend that you look for an in between scale that
will give you the most versatility. |
How Many
Frets
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Personally I like a minimum of 24 frets. Even if I
wasn't going to play up to the top registers. All the new progressive
companies have been using 24 frets. I offer 22, 24
and even 27 frets on many of the guitars I build.
Consider this, most of today's exceptional quality instruments are 24
frets. 24 frets are a full double octave. It just makes more sense based
on mapping out a fingerboard. PRS made their entire reputation on 24 fret
25" scale guitars. When they went to 22 frets it was a giant step
backwards. It probably sounded their death knell. They still build awesome
guitars but it's very hard to get hold of a 24 fret model. Their
popularity has been steadily waning since they opted for the older market
in 1995 and began pushing their 22 fret guitars. I believe it was an
incredible mistake. They opened the door for countless boutique brands to
spring up out of nowhere. My reason for developing the
Quicksilver Guitar line was
because for a while it looked like PRS was going to discontinue all their
24 fret guitars.
Today's most influential builders Rick Turner, Ned Steinberger, Bernie
Rico, Ron Wickersham, Jerry Auerswald & Ken Parker all employ a minimum of
24 frets. All the new generation of great players use 24 frets Steve
Vai, John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Reb Beach, Mark Hitt, Paul Crook and
many of the older generation are using them Carlos Santana, Brian May,
Leslie West, Lindsey Buckingham. I would bet anything that Innovative
players like Jimi Hendrix & Randy Rhoads would be using 24 fret guitars if
they were still alive. Rickenbacker the company credited with
inventing the electric guitar has been offering 24 fret guitars on most of
their models for 40 or more years. |
What
Scale
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Very Important Articles To Read
Regarding Scale
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| Controls |
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Pickguards |
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| Pickups |
There are numerous combinations of pickups, There are
numerous brands |
| Preamps |
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| Shielding |
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Floyd
Rose
Tremolos
&
Other Secret
Tremolo Info
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There are many tremolos on the market some excellent
and some pretty crappy. While not being the sleekest or most beautiful. It
is a generally accepted fact that the Floyd Rose Original Tremolo is the
one that works the best. It is also legendary for holding tune. The reason
is simple, It is built well, designed well and it utilizes hardened steel
construction. The steel is hardened 60 Degrees Rockwell. If it is
installed correctly there is nothing that will perform as well.
Most people today are aware that you should not buy a licensed Floyd Rose
because Floyd doesn't license all the technology and they are usually made
cheaply from soft metal. They never work as well.
What most people don't know is that the original Floyd Rose tremolo is
also available in a Chinese made model that looks identical to the real
one. You have to look very carefully. While it may be the second
best thing on the market it is definitely not as good as the original
German made one. Worse yet they both say Original Floyd Rose on them,
making them hard to differentiate from. At this time all the corporate
guitar manufacturers have switched over to the Chinese model because the
cost is less than half of the German one.
Beware ESP, BC Rich USA, Charvel,
Jackson, Washburn, Dean, Hamer
Beware
The small builders can't even
get access to the Chinese models because they have to order them by the
hundreds and most of them cannot afford to do so. By the end of 2008 they
will be available too everyone because I'm sure there will be a
distribution system in place by that time.
If you are sharp and try the tuners and look closely at the finish you may
be able to tell one from another.
IMPORTANT
Tremolos of any kind will sap some of your tone even the Floyd Rose is not
directly coupled to the guitar. It is spring loaded therefore it is
impossible to hard mount like a Tune A Matic for example. |
Fret
Alloys
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For years I have been a proponent of German nickel
silver as the absolute best sounding best
feeling fret wire. Recently there has been controversy over whether
stainless steel frets are better.
Currently Rick Turner & myself are experimenting with a happy medium.
Something that will sound as good as nickel silver and
last almost as long as stainless steel. We are currently building some
guitars with the new material. We have not named it yet but there is some
Titanium in the mix so we are contemplating something along that nature. |
Weight
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Stay away from heavy guitars, They are not as resonant
because there is a high moisture content in the wood (That's what makes
wood heavy) The lighter the wood the more overtones the guitar will
emanate. Ask any vintage freak, The lighter the Les Paul The better they
sound. Those old finishes let the moisture escape and over the years the
guitars probably got a little lighter. This leaves more anaerobic chambers
in the wood which act as millions of tiny escape chambers for overtones.
Heavy guitars are OK for metal and other music where the pickups do all
the work. But a real purist will always try to get the guitar to sound
great un-amplified.
Heavy guitars will put a dent in your shoulder, make you tired & old
before your time. Besides being uncomfortable, they are a pain to work on.
Usually they are balanced very poorly also. A heavy guitar will
break easier in shipping or if
it gets dropped even at 6 inches from the ground. |
Balance
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A poorly balanced guitar or bass is unwieldy
uncomfortable and a nightmare to play. Make sure you are buying the guitar
from a builder that is concerned with such trivialities. My old
beloved BC Rich Mockingbird bass is a nose diver. The neck is too long for
the body and the tuning pegs are heavy all adding to the problem. I have
had the guitar since 1978 and even though I love that Bass (I have a
matching guitar) I play it very rarely. Bernie redesigned the Mockingbird
in 1979 but the design wasn't as graceful so esthetically it was a loser
and did not sell. He soon went back to the original shape due to pressure
from the buying public. The redesigned models were called shorthorns (More
about this later)
Be careful of thick heavy bodies with short stubby necks, you will find
yourself unconsciously holding the neck of the guitar up to prevent it
from diving to the floor. |
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Loose Strings |
Whenever buying a guitar from Fee Bay or mailorder.
make sure it is shipped to you with the strings in tune. Many dealers will
loosen the strings to avoid having to do a set up on the guitar before
they ship it. This forces many people to spend money on it and get a
professional set up done. This subconsciously motivates you to keep the
guitar even if it isn't exactly what you expected. |
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Neck Size |
Carpal Tunnel |
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Service
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Never ever buy a guitar from a store that cannot do
full service right on the premises. If you are crazy enough to buy a
guitar from a store that does not do service. You deserve what you get. I
must stress this. |
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CNC Machined
Guitars
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There is a lot of Brouhaha about CNC'd Guitars. CNC
means Computer Numerically
Controlled construction. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with CNC construction. As long as you
don't pay a huge price for the guitar. For example
Baker guitars were originally
advertised & touted as a hand made guitar. They sold for $3,000.00 to
$5,000.00. The original owners of the company must have been making a lot
of money because I found out later that they were actually CNC'd.
Today that I have control of the company we are hand building a Neck Thru
Body model that sells for $4,000.00 or so. The CNC versions start at
$1,000.00 we will even have some imported models for well under the
$800.00 mark with all the bells & whistles.
Many people think I am against CNC Machines, That is wrong, I am against
CNC Guitars that sell for high dollars like Gibson, PRS, Lakland, ESP etc
etc.
There are $400.00 CNC'd guitars out there that are great. A CNC may take a
lot of soul from the guitar, because it eliminates the human component.
However a beginner can benefit from the precision of a lower cost CNC'd
Guitar like a Fender, Jackson, Ibanez, OLP, Baker, Hagstrom, Michael
Kelly, Hamer etc etc. My lower cost Quicksilvers and Pearlcaster, Scorpion
and LSR guitars are all CNC'd |
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Resale Value
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Not as important as getting
yourself the right guitar. Resale value is still important. Stay
away from expensive guitars with tremolos they never seem to bring the
resale value a non trem guitar will. Look for clear or translucent
finishes where you can see the actual wood used. This helps resale value a
lot.
Brand names are also important, however people are starting to realize
that most brand names today are not real. When a big corporation comes
along and buys a well known brand name it usually signals the beginning of
the end for that company. I can think of only several exceptions to that
rule. People are waking up to this fact, The evidence is overwhelming.
Don't make the mistake of buying a guitar for the person who will
eventually buy the guitar from you. If you do that, you will never
be happy. I believe that if you get the right thing you will keep it for
life. It will become part of your permanent psyche. I could no more sell
my bike than sell my arm. Buying the right guitar will define you to
yourself. You must be diligent and spend whatever time it takes to make
sure you are happy with whatever your budget will allow. |
| Starter Packs |
Very unwise purchase. I know they come in a box and
they are easy to wrap as a gift, This is a major mistake that most parents
make at Christmas. Smart parents should give their children the
option to choose their guitar. Surprises are nice and the look on their
faces is priceless I know, But that's not a good enough reason to
burn money.
A guitar is a tremendously personal thing, You hold it close to you, You
lose yourself in it's intricacies & complexities. You make your music with
it, It is a definite extension of your personality. If the guitar is
substandard you will never establish a bond with it. Once you have this
bond established there is no force in the universe that is stronger.
And your guitar will never get mad at you for looking at another
guitar. |
| Bent Tops |
Be careful of bent top
guitars, I know of very few that actually sound good. |
Misguided
Brand Loyalty |
Don't fall for
Brand Loyalty. You can never trust a big corporation. They spend
millions on hyping their brand loyalty.
Big Corporations are why this country is in trouble economically.
Boycott them when ever you can. Shop independent merchants,
Don't eat at fast food chains, Buy USA when you can !!!!!!! |
