rdclmn7
New member
You can conceptualize the extremes as being either that of definition that makes your fingers bleed, or extreme sustain that won't let you fingerpick chords because the blending sounds like mush.
Most guitarists will find their ideal guitar somewhere between the two extremes.
If you were to attach piezo electric pickups to different parts of a guitar, and then separate the sound by frquency, you might be surprised.
If you have one stiff guitar that doesn't appear to vibrate along the full spectrum, don't be surprised if sound samples confirm it.
Anyone who has used an equalizer can tell you that maxing out the bands amounts to an extreme jump in volume, creating that big muff Hendrix sound.
If you hook up a decent-sounding guitar to your rig, don't be surprised if the sustain is shown to be a result of both sub-harmonic and harmonic frequencies that carry the tonal frequency.
One extreme example is my 85 LP Studio, it has both sustain and definition, and once in overdrive, the stock bridge pickup sounds like it wants to devour you.
I have to keep this guitar away from the speakers as its prone to feedback.
The Strats I use have powerful(250+ Mv) lead pickups and yet these are not so feedback-prone.
This is then a matter of discerning between wood and hardware as the most important factor in a guitar's sound.
You can place a powerful pickup in a guitar that makes your fingers bleed and it doesn't make a diffference.
You can install a lower powered(225MV) pickup into your stock strat and find that the middle single-coil is louder than your humbucker.
Even after having to raise the rythym pickup for balance, that humbucker sounded as clear as the single-coil.
The easiest and cheapest alternative to costly trem blocks, saddles, and other supposed tone-enhancing hardware, is to buy a neck and swap around.
My 05 Bullet had the old thin laminated body that sounded good, but a strat w/out a trem?...
I then bought a Squier Strat and switched the necks. It sounded better.
About a month ago I decided to swap again, this time it was between one heavy Squier body, a lighter swamp-ash body, the Bullet neck and a CBS neck.
This last switch resulted in two great sounding strats.
The jury is out on whether high-mass hardware can be consistantly proven to work.
The switching of necks, has been pretty consistent resultwise.
The best trem blocks cost more than $150.
Specialized trem saddles will cost you some.
Floyd Rose trems aren't cheap.
Bigsby and alll the other non-fulcrum trems are too expensive.
There are specialized pickups that cost up to $200.
So far thats the view on hardware.
Necks can cost less than $200.
Guitarists have been switching them for years, as an option, its cheaper than buying another guitar or specialized parts that are claimed to do the impossible.
Most guitarists will find their ideal guitar somewhere between the two extremes.
If you were to attach piezo electric pickups to different parts of a guitar, and then separate the sound by frquency, you might be surprised.
If you have one stiff guitar that doesn't appear to vibrate along the full spectrum, don't be surprised if sound samples confirm it.
Anyone who has used an equalizer can tell you that maxing out the bands amounts to an extreme jump in volume, creating that big muff Hendrix sound.
If you hook up a decent-sounding guitar to your rig, don't be surprised if the sustain is shown to be a result of both sub-harmonic and harmonic frequencies that carry the tonal frequency.
One extreme example is my 85 LP Studio, it has both sustain and definition, and once in overdrive, the stock bridge pickup sounds like it wants to devour you.
I have to keep this guitar away from the speakers as its prone to feedback.
The Strats I use have powerful(250+ Mv) lead pickups and yet these are not so feedback-prone.
This is then a matter of discerning between wood and hardware as the most important factor in a guitar's sound.
You can place a powerful pickup in a guitar that makes your fingers bleed and it doesn't make a diffference.
You can install a lower powered(225MV) pickup into your stock strat and find that the middle single-coil is louder than your humbucker.
Even after having to raise the rythym pickup for balance, that humbucker sounded as clear as the single-coil.
The easiest and cheapest alternative to costly trem blocks, saddles, and other supposed tone-enhancing hardware, is to buy a neck and swap around.
My 05 Bullet had the old thin laminated body that sounded good, but a strat w/out a trem?...
I then bought a Squier Strat and switched the necks. It sounded better.
About a month ago I decided to swap again, this time it was between one heavy Squier body, a lighter swamp-ash body, the Bullet neck and a CBS neck.
This last switch resulted in two great sounding strats.
The jury is out on whether high-mass hardware can be consistantly proven to work.
The switching of necks, has been pretty consistent resultwise.
The best trem blocks cost more than $150.
Specialized trem saddles will cost you some.
Floyd Rose trems aren't cheap.
Bigsby and alll the other non-fulcrum trems are too expensive.
There are specialized pickups that cost up to $200.
So far thats the view on hardware.
Necks can cost less than $200.
Guitarists have been switching them for years, as an option, its cheaper than buying another guitar or specialized parts that are claimed to do the impossible.