shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

[BennyD]

First off, where the hell do you buy Jackson USA series guitars? I can't find them anywhere.

Second, which type of body wood is more standard on a shredder guitar, mahogany or alder? What are the tonal differences (i know mahagony will be a little deeper and alder a little brighter, but can anyone elaborate on that?)

Sorry about the stupid questions but I've searched everywhere

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Not stupid questions, Benny!
There is no common wood, really, to shredders. I think that if you look @ the 'golden age' of shred, the mid 80's, most guys were playing either Charvel guitars (alder bodies) or Kramer (mahagony).
Nowadays, you have more diversity. I have guitars with a little bit of everything: maple, alder, ash, and basswood. I don't like mahagony due to the weight and it's a little to dark and damp for my tastes.
With alder you get the nice snap of ash with the warmth of mahagony. I think alder is great because you also get this insane midrange growl for old school riffing ...

Hope you find this helpful!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

http://www.jacksonguitars.com/resources/

You can find a dealer here for Jackson. Just call 'em and ask if they carry USA models.

 

[wixomwhat]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Not stupid questions, Benny!
There is no common wood, really, to shredders. I think that if you look @ the 'golden age' of shred, the mid 80's, most guys were playing either Charvel guitars (alder bodies) or Kramer (mahagony).
Nowadays, you have more diversity. I have guitars with a little bit of everything: maple, alder, ash, and basswood. I don't like mahagony due to the weight and it's a little to dark and damp for my tastes.
With alder you get the nice snap of ash with the warmth of mahagony. I think alder is great because you also get this insane midrange growl for old school riffing ...

Hope you find this helpful!

Kramers are alder not mahagony.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Kramers are alder not mahagony.

You're right!! Sorry about that, Benny! :blackeye:

http://vintagekramer.com/baretta2.htm

 

[Zerberus]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Places to Get ´em:

www.eastonguitars.com (Kevin Easton used to work for Jackson. He rocks. ´Nuff said? )
www.vwallguitars.com
www.guitarasylum.com

Most "shred" axes are either alder or basswood (which I hate, tonally). Alder is a very balanced wood, even response through the tonal spectrum. An ideal wood to build an axe "around" the other main factors (Pickups, Floyd, Neck-thru). Alder is my prime choice for general purpose axes, particularly for heavier styles with a hot pickup (so more or less what I do as well ).

The older Charvels and Jacksons, the ones that started it all, were for the most part poplar, which is tonally almost identical but a bit heavier (with more "ugly" grain as well), most of the others were alder, some were of course ash, mohogany or .....

 

[BennyD]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Sweet thanks guys. How hard do you think it would be to find the following:

Jackson USA SL2H, black alder body, OILED neck (I HATE FINISHED NECKS), black headstock, ebony fretboard.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Give Kevin a call. If he doesn´t have it, he can get it quick. Count on an average of 90 days wait for most USA Production models (I´ve seen 8 months before), because they´re finished to order. You may have to strip the neck yourself, though

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: shred guitar questions (stupid questions)

Kramers are alder not mahagony.

well, most 80s Kramers were. the nightswan was made from mahogany with a gibson scale, and there are reputedly several pacers and barettas out there with extremely heavy solid maple bodies. This was a result of someone using the wrong stock to make body blanks at one point.

As for 80s Charvels, there was a wide variety of woods used. A lot of charvels were made from basswood. Grover Jackson got into using basswood after building a bunch of bodies for Allan Holdsworth to try out.

Ibanez were also major proponents of the use of basswood.

I'd suggest trying basswood if you find you need more bottom end than alder. Personal tastes aside, don't buy any crap anyone spins about basswood being bad because it's used on cheaper imports. Basswood is also used by top end makers like Suhr, Tom Anderson and Musicman.

don't rule out mahogany. One of the ballsiest sounding shred guitars I've played was a mid-level Ibanez Reb Beach model, which had a mahogany body.