Balanced?

[SCOTT502]

Forgive a dumb question...I'm trying to decide on replacement pickups but I have a basic question. Would you consider a mahogany/maple cap body with a bolt on maple / rosewood neck to be a balanced sounding guitar? It has a fixed bridge..a wrap around tune-o-matic / stop tail piece all in one type thing.

I know that every guitar will sound different..even with the same woods but I need a point of reference to begin from....an all mahogany body/neck would be on the darker side right? A maple body/neck would be bright? So I assume that my guitar would lie somewhere in the middle? What are the tonal tendencies of a set up like this....so I know which way to go pick-up wise.

Thanks.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Balanced?

Scott-
I'm facing exactly this delima right now and hate to say it depends on the wood- One factor you left out is scale as 25.5 will be brighter.

If you are going 25.5, per warmoth, I am betting that you will have a slightly bright gtr based on the maple cap- My project is all mahognay body, but I have a maple Fboard so I also expect it will end up slightly bright as well-

But at the rate I'm going it will be spring before I can wire up, so let me know what you find out in between
Cheers

 

[SCOTT502]

Re: Balanced?

Thanks for the response zionstrat. Yea I did leave out that it's a 25.5 scale. It looks as though in may be on the bright side overall....I'm assuming that lends itself to better definition? Maybe more attack? If this is so I could afford to go after a pickup with a more pronounced low end.

The only first hand experience I have is with a fixed bridge basswood guitar and a neckthrough floyd /poplar wings guitar...

Anyway...good luck with your project and I'll let you know how this works out.
Any other responces?

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Balanced?

String it up and play it unplugged. It doesn't seem like such good advice, but it will give you a good idea of what to put into your axe.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Balanced?

Right on Benjy- PLanning to string it up before I order pups- And if an axe doesn't sound and feel good unplugged, I can never get it into the ballpark with mods-

Also this is the main reason I'm going with SD- THere's a very good chance I will need to swap out to make this work.

Scott, yep bolts and 25.5 tend to give more of the fast attack thing in my experience- I'm ok with that on my project, but hoping I have enough mahogney mass and dark enough pups to keep the sound balanced-

Looking forward to hearing more-

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Balanced?

Zion, if you find you need more push in the lows and low mids, try a Fat Finger from Groove Tubes. It worked wonders on my Carvin with a 6 in line headstock.

 

[SCOTT502]

Re: Balanced?

Cool guys...thanks for the advise. Good point on playing unplugged..I'll pay attention tonight. I'm sure it will be on the bright side....that's cool though, I like a good attack and I can always find a pickup to match. :beerchug: