Why are traditional guitar designs so popular?

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Why are traditional guitar designs so popular?

One reason I like older designs is that I can fix almost anything that goes wrong with them fairy easily. If something goes wrong with one of Gibson's new control cavity circuit boards, I would have to gut the entire guitar to fix it. Then again, there are some designs that were poor to begin with, and I wish would go away; Wire ABR bridges, Input jacks on a Tele etc.

:wizard:

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Why are traditional guitar designs so popular?

That's really the main thing, isn't it? Every time you change even a small part of the formula, it can have a major impact on the end result.

There's probably some aesthetic psychology thing happening, too. You could play great jazz on a Parker Fly, but when you hold a big hollow-body jazz box, you feel like you're Wes Montgomery. I have a Lucille, and even though it's basically just a standard-recipe Gibson, I always end up messing around in the "BB box". Fine line between conformity and inspiration when it comes to classic designs.

Definitely. I like to get in character and play to the idiom. For me, it's part of the fun of having multiple instruments. Certain of my guitars do some things better than others, despite some traditional nonidealities. In fact, those are often part of the appeal for me. I like Strats partly because of the klunky neck heel. I like Les Pauls partly because of the ergonomic challenges. Maybe I would feel differently if I played professionally in some capacity, but as a hobbyist my only goal is amusing myself.