Hello everyone,
I'm not entirely sure if this should go on the pickups forum or the guitar forum, but here goes..
I recently ordered a set of P-Rails and Triple Shot pickgup rings and I'm looking to build the ultra-versatile guitar of my dreams.
Only thing is, I still haven't quite decided what guitar to put the P-Rails in. So while I wait for my order to arrive, I wanted to tap into the collective wisdom here to help me choose a suitable guitar to mod.
I suppose I should give a little background to explain what I'm after. (Feel free to skip to the end of the post if you don't want to read a wall of text)
***
I'm not a professional musician, but I do small gigs from time to time, as a solo troubadour and sometimes as a part of a duo, very seldom with a full band. I sing, play the guitar and blues harmonicas. Most of the time when I perform, I play Bob Dylan, Neil Young and that sort of classic vibe... simple, mostly chord-based, occasionally unplugged. But I do like to play pretty much anything, really. From classical music to grunge, punk, metal, blues.. you name it. I've been playing guitar for 25+ years and I have a very broad taste in music.
My current active lineup of guitars that I use for gigs is the following:
My main guitar is a quite non-traditional Tele that is a highly versatile instrument: a MII Fender custom Telecaster FMT HH with mahogany body, flame maple top, set nato neck, flat rosewood fretboard, Pearly Gates at the bridge and SD '59 at the neck, with a coil split option in the tone pot.
I also have a dedicated acoustic instrument (a Yamaha dreadnought with a Piezo). I own several acoustic 6- and 12-strings.
My backup is my very first electric guitar, which I've modded into a dedicated metal instrument: an '85 MIJ Fender superstrat with FR-equivalent bridge, maple neck with flat RW fretboard, that I've refitted with a pair of SD Hot Rails and a JB Jr. in the middle.
Now, with the P-Rails my question is, how to pick a guitar to build that Swiss-army-knife-type tone machine?
I suppose I could fit the P-Rails to my FMT Tele, but I feel that it is already an amazing instrument with wonderful pickups and versatility in its own right. I don't want to fix something that isn't broken!
So I'm looking for a suitable good quality HH-routed guitar with nice woods, feel and features, but not necessarily great stock pickups, since those will be coming off at any case. I believe it won't make sense to spend more than 600€/$700 at most.
The most important factors are the sound of the woods and the way the guitar handles of course. Most of the sound will be coming from the new pickups, but I'd like to pick something that feels good to play, with a construction and tone woods that complement the pups.
General usability features I prefer:
- comfortable ergonomics
- rosewood or ebony fretboard
- flat fretboard radius (12" and up or compound)
- not too thin neck
- hardtail bridge
- as clean and stripped-down control layout as possible
Aesthetics are a secondary concern, but if possible, I like a "less-is-more" approach. Black, white, wood colours, something clean and simple. Preferably without a pickguard.
After doing extensive research these past weeks online and at the local music stores, during which I looked at and played wildly different options ranging from Jackson Soloists and Gibson Explorers to Les Pauls, Telecasters, hollowbodies and whatnot, I've narrowed my options down to the following two, that are very different from one another:
1) Charvel Joe Duplantier Signature Model
http://www.charvel.com/guitars/arti...mas-style-2-hh-ebony-fingerboard-satin-white/
A made-for-metal guitar, but with such great features that I believe it could serve as a great basis for a more versatile instrument. Amazing specs at this price, although not exactly cheap.
What I like:
- really solid construction with nice woods, quality bridge and tuners
- compound radius ebony fretboard
- handy truss rod adjustment
- killer looks with classic Tele shape, beautiful finish and really simple control layout
What I'm apprehensive about:
- no tone control at all. This is actually a great feature, and given the multitude of combinations the pickups give, this might even be a blessing.. but what if it turns out the sound could use some adjustment after all? If it's too dark or something in all positions and I can't change it?
2) Ibanez Artcore AS-73
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...3-semi-hollow-electric-guitar/h91403000001000
A hollowbody guitar with incredible value for money at this price point.
What I like:
- great construction, finish and overall quality
- the semiacoustic tone has a lot of potential uses for me (unplugged playing at home, small scale gigs where construction isn't necessarily a problem)
- Gibson-style controls that make the tonal options for the pickups practically unlimited
What I'm apprehensive about:
- the hollowbody construction itself. How would it function in conjunction with the P-rails? Will it add nice harmonics to the sound or will it muddy it all up? How about feedback, noise and such considerations? Would all the options be usable in this kind of guitar?
- will the individual volume/tone controls for each pickup together with all the P-rail options potentially make the guitar too complex to be practical in a live situation? Is there such a thing as "too much versatility"?
Basically, the Charvel Tele would make a somewhat similar guitar to my current #1, but with a lot more versatility. Not bad. The Ibanez Artcore would be quite different from anything I currently own, but could be very useful. (It's also so cheap that I might end up buying one of those in any case, regardless of whether I'll put the P-rails in it or not)
One thing I also might consider is buying the Artcore, putting the P-rails in the Tele FMT HH after all and then putting the Pearly Gates and '59 from that one in the Artcore. Making the Tele ultra-versatile and the giving the hollowbody a set of awesome vintage-sounding pickups. But I would still feel bad for messing with an instrument that is already great. And I would also need to put a coil-split in the Artcore to make the most out of the pickups.
I would love to hear your insights on any and all of these options and how you think they might work with the P-rails. I'm also open to ideas for other guitars that might work great with P-rails. Thanks a lot!
***
TL;DR:
Does anyone have any experience/insight on P-Rails in:
A) a mahogany-construction Telecaster-type guitar without any tone control? Is tone control a must with P-Rails?
B) a semihollow/hollowbody guitar and how will it affect the overall sound? Are P-Rails a good match for this type of guitar?
Thanks!
I'm not entirely sure if this should go on the pickups forum or the guitar forum, but here goes..
I recently ordered a set of P-Rails and Triple Shot pickgup rings and I'm looking to build the ultra-versatile guitar of my dreams.
Only thing is, I still haven't quite decided what guitar to put the P-Rails in. So while I wait for my order to arrive, I wanted to tap into the collective wisdom here to help me choose a suitable guitar to mod.
I suppose I should give a little background to explain what I'm after. (Feel free to skip to the end of the post if you don't want to read a wall of text)
***
I'm not a professional musician, but I do small gigs from time to time, as a solo troubadour and sometimes as a part of a duo, very seldom with a full band. I sing, play the guitar and blues harmonicas. Most of the time when I perform, I play Bob Dylan, Neil Young and that sort of classic vibe... simple, mostly chord-based, occasionally unplugged. But I do like to play pretty much anything, really. From classical music to grunge, punk, metal, blues.. you name it. I've been playing guitar for 25+ years and I have a very broad taste in music.
My current active lineup of guitars that I use for gigs is the following:
My main guitar is a quite non-traditional Tele that is a highly versatile instrument: a MII Fender custom Telecaster FMT HH with mahogany body, flame maple top, set nato neck, flat rosewood fretboard, Pearly Gates at the bridge and SD '59 at the neck, with a coil split option in the tone pot.
I also have a dedicated acoustic instrument (a Yamaha dreadnought with a Piezo). I own several acoustic 6- and 12-strings.
My backup is my very first electric guitar, which I've modded into a dedicated metal instrument: an '85 MIJ Fender superstrat with FR-equivalent bridge, maple neck with flat RW fretboard, that I've refitted with a pair of SD Hot Rails and a JB Jr. in the middle.
Now, with the P-Rails my question is, how to pick a guitar to build that Swiss-army-knife-type tone machine?
I suppose I could fit the P-Rails to my FMT Tele, but I feel that it is already an amazing instrument with wonderful pickups and versatility in its own right. I don't want to fix something that isn't broken!
So I'm looking for a suitable good quality HH-routed guitar with nice woods, feel and features, but not necessarily great stock pickups, since those will be coming off at any case. I believe it won't make sense to spend more than 600€/$700 at most.
The most important factors are the sound of the woods and the way the guitar handles of course. Most of the sound will be coming from the new pickups, but I'd like to pick something that feels good to play, with a construction and tone woods that complement the pups.
General usability features I prefer:
- comfortable ergonomics
- rosewood or ebony fretboard
- flat fretboard radius (12" and up or compound)
- not too thin neck
- hardtail bridge
- as clean and stripped-down control layout as possible
Aesthetics are a secondary concern, but if possible, I like a "less-is-more" approach. Black, white, wood colours, something clean and simple. Preferably without a pickguard.
After doing extensive research these past weeks online and at the local music stores, during which I looked at and played wildly different options ranging from Jackson Soloists and Gibson Explorers to Les Pauls, Telecasters, hollowbodies and whatnot, I've narrowed my options down to the following two, that are very different from one another:
1) Charvel Joe Duplantier Signature Model
http://www.charvel.com/guitars/arti...mas-style-2-hh-ebony-fingerboard-satin-white/
A made-for-metal guitar, but with such great features that I believe it could serve as a great basis for a more versatile instrument. Amazing specs at this price, although not exactly cheap.
What I like:
- really solid construction with nice woods, quality bridge and tuners
- compound radius ebony fretboard
- handy truss rod adjustment
- killer looks with classic Tele shape, beautiful finish and really simple control layout
What I'm apprehensive about:
- no tone control at all. This is actually a great feature, and given the multitude of combinations the pickups give, this might even be a blessing.. but what if it turns out the sound could use some adjustment after all? If it's too dark or something in all positions and I can't change it?
2) Ibanez Artcore AS-73
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...3-semi-hollow-electric-guitar/h91403000001000
A hollowbody guitar with incredible value for money at this price point.
What I like:
- great construction, finish and overall quality
- the semiacoustic tone has a lot of potential uses for me (unplugged playing at home, small scale gigs where construction isn't necessarily a problem)
- Gibson-style controls that make the tonal options for the pickups practically unlimited
What I'm apprehensive about:
- the hollowbody construction itself. How would it function in conjunction with the P-rails? Will it add nice harmonics to the sound or will it muddy it all up? How about feedback, noise and such considerations? Would all the options be usable in this kind of guitar?
- will the individual volume/tone controls for each pickup together with all the P-rail options potentially make the guitar too complex to be practical in a live situation? Is there such a thing as "too much versatility"?
Basically, the Charvel Tele would make a somewhat similar guitar to my current #1, but with a lot more versatility. Not bad. The Ibanez Artcore would be quite different from anything I currently own, but could be very useful. (It's also so cheap that I might end up buying one of those in any case, regardless of whether I'll put the P-rails in it or not)
One thing I also might consider is buying the Artcore, putting the P-rails in the Tele FMT HH after all and then putting the Pearly Gates and '59 from that one in the Artcore. Making the Tele ultra-versatile and the giving the hollowbody a set of awesome vintage-sounding pickups. But I would still feel bad for messing with an instrument that is already great. And I would also need to put a coil-split in the Artcore to make the most out of the pickups.
I would love to hear your insights on any and all of these options and how you think they might work with the P-rails. I'm also open to ideas for other guitars that might work great with P-rails. Thanks a lot!
***
TL;DR:
Does anyone have any experience/insight on P-Rails in:
A) a mahogany-construction Telecaster-type guitar without any tone control? Is tone control a must with P-Rails?
B) a semihollow/hollowbody guitar and how will it affect the overall sound? Are P-Rails a good match for this type of guitar?
Thanks!
