Custom Guitar Questions:

R

Robert Herndon

New member
For many years, I played an Ibanez Destroyer DT555. I liked the shape and sound of this instrument, but hated the Ibanez Tremolo. I switched to a hardtail Gibson Explorer and found it to be a great improvement in sound and tuning stability.

I stayed with the Explorer throughout the late 1980s, playing the L.A. club circuit. Ultimately, it was stolen during a gig at The Rainbow just as I was returning to my home in the Central Valley of California in 1989.

I was without a guitar and auditioned for a local band with a borrowed instrument. I got the gig and the band chipped in and bought me a Squire Strat for my work with the band.

It was a nice instrument, but I had a hard time getting enough midrange and bass with the single coil pickups. I ended up playing through a Traynor Bass Stack and using a DOD FX55 Overdrive. Quite honestly, when I listen to some of those old recordings we made, it sounded really good.

Soonafter, I switched to a Hamer Standard (Explorer Style) with Duncan PAF's and played it exclusively for the next two years. In 1991, I abandoned music altogether to pursue a career and the guitars sat untouched until 2 years ago.

When I started giving lessons and playing again, I realized the Explorer wasn't as comfortable as I once felt it was. I played it side-by-side with the Strat and discovered the frets (12th and up) were much easier to reach on the Stratocaster.

The Explorer also seems 'neck heavy' in that the neck starts to rotate toward the floor when it is simply hung from the strap. I never noticed this before, but it seems odd to me now.

perhaps the biggest difference I noticed was the way the necks play and feel. I haven't measure string spacing, neck width or fretboard radius, but I play faster and sound better on the Stratocaster!!!

The tiny Fender frets are lightening quick and I have no tendency to pull my notes sharp, especially with barre chords.

These issues have led me to seek a Strat-Style Hardtail Guitar with a Humbucker-Single-Single pickup configuration. I am yet to find anything worthwhile.

I turned to www.warmoth.com and looked at their 1-7/8" wide Strat Necks (I have huge hands) with a compound radius fingerboard. Has anyone played on one of theses???

The biggest question is how can I come close to capturing the sound of my Hamer with a Strat-Style guitar made of Alder.

I have been thinking of a Carvin M22SD in the bridge with singles in the other two positions. I like the 22 pole pieces, but I have no idea what kind of sound to expect.

Any information would be greatly appreciated...Robert
 
By the way, I play exclusively through a 50 or 100 Watt Marshall, a Boss Noise Supressor and ocassionally use a DOD FX90 Analog Delay. That's it. A very basic combination...Robert
 
There are many companies who make very fine quality parts. Warmoth, however, is the best of them. You can trust the quality of a Warmoth neck, as they are quite consistent. Back when they did dealer sales (they no longer do) we would recommend their necks over Fender necks every time. In the twenty years of dealing Warmoth necks, we sold them ten to one over Fender necks. In twenty years we had a total of maybe two bad necks from Warmoth, and twenty from Fender.

Don't feel you need to restrict yourself to an alder body for a Strat. Warmoth makes Strat bodies in a lot of different woods. I would say what you probably want is a mahogany body, and if it was me, I would get it with a maple top. Not necessarily a figured maple top, but a maple top helps a lot with giving a guitar the kind of attack you probably want. If you are used to using a pair of humbuckers, I would probably keep going that route. The sound you got from your Hammer is largely do to the humbuckers, and I would guess it has a mahogany body.

I would also highly recommend that you have a professional repair person assemble and setup your guitar for you. This will make a big difference in how your guitar plays.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Thanks Light,

I have a guitar tech that does all my setup. I do all the routing and installation, but he sets everything up to specification.

I never use the neck humbucker on the Hamer, except for some studio work with a jazz band. However, I find myself using the middle and neck pickup a lot on the Strat quite often. I thought the H-S-S combo might be a good mix of the two instruments.

And you are correct...the Hamer is solid mahogany and VERY heavy!!!

Last night I played a Schecter Neck-Through Diamond Series (Srat Style) with a Les Paul Style Headstock. I have never liked 3-to-a-side tuning keys, but I have to admit, the Schecter was a great playing guitar.

It had a pair of Seymore-Duncan JB-4's (???) and a 5-way switch that allowed you to have a dual-single-both-single-dual configuration. What I noticed right away was how much the volume dropped when the Duncan's were switched to single coil operation.

However, the huge frets were flattened on top and nicely matched to the curvature of the fingerboard. I didn't notice any tendency to pull my notes sharp and the guitar is very, very light.

I didn't have my Marshall with me but it seemed to sound very bright, almost Strat-like, even in double coil mode. I most liked the string-through-body arrangement and tone-pros locking tune-o-matic bridge.

Although I find a lot of nice instruments, I come home and sound so much clearer and faster on my cheap, 1986 Strat Squire. This guitar has a number of lateral cracks that have opened up on the wooden body, presumably where the laminated sections of the body were glued together, but it still sound good, even though you can stick a playing card in one of them!!!

Enough rambling on for now....The Dual-Radius Fretboard from Warmoth is said to be a mix of both a Gibson and Fender style neck combined into one unit.

Any comment on that???...Robert
 
Something else I noticed about the old Stratocaster that is so unusual....

Back in the very early 1980's, I started using a lot of harmonics made by striking the string and immediately muting it, then adding a rapid finger vibrato.

It creates an almost 'whistling' sound.

I would use this for fills and you never really heard anyone using it until Zakk Wylde came along. He uses the technique quite often and it has become somewhat of his signature sound.

I can get incredible harmonics out of the Strat in a number of positions on the neck, but I can't get the same level of harmonics from my Hamer, even with a higher output double coil pickup.

Since I use this technique quite often in my playing, I would like to have the Strat's greater affinity to produce this sound . Is there anything in particular that I should consider when buying/building my next guitar that will emphasize this???

Thanks for your input...Robert
 
A long scale (25.4 inches) is helpful for that sort of stuff. I am pretty sure your Hammer has a short scale (24.65 inches). I would not call them a mix of Fender and Gibson, as they are not as tight of a radius as the old Fenders, and they get much flatter than Gibson’s. The old Fenders where 7.25" (and were incredibly comfortable to play), and Gibson is, and has always been, 12". I believe the new Fenders are around 10", but I am not sure.

The Warmoth compound radius fingerboard is designed to make chords more comfortable, and to help improve the ability to bend notes above the twelfth fret. It does not really work very well with Tune-o-Matic bridges, as the radius of the bridge does not match the neck. They work best with bridges which individually adjustable saddles.

If you are ordering parts from Warmoth, you can get them with any pickup combination you want. They also do a very good job of finishing their bodies and necks.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light,

You are right. The Hamer is 24-3/4" and according to the Hamer website, the bodies are Alder!!!

The scale and the Stratocaster is 25-1/2" which is why the .011's feel 'loose' on the Strat and 'tight' on the Hamer.

I am embarrassed to say I never really analyzed guitars that closely until recently!!!

I also discovered the Destroyer and Explorer both had a 24-3/4" scale length.

The scale length really does make a huge difference!!!...Robert
 
Schecter Vs. Kramer:

Today I played a Schecter Blackjack C-1 and a Kramer 'Neck Through Body' Baretta. Both are a 25.5" scale length.

Both played quite well. I like the six-on-one-side tuners on the Kramer better but I prefer the rosewood fingerboard of the Schecter.

Have you noticed any difference in sound between a maple and rosewood fingerboard??? The Kramer has a 16" radius and the Schecter a 14" radius fingerboard.

What effect, if any, do these different radi impart to the playability of the instrument???

The Hamer has a 1.625" nut width Vs. the Schecter at 1.670" at the nut. I really noticed the wider nut was greatly easier for me to play. It made the bends much more comfortable.

I also discovered Schecter made the weird Terrence Trent D'Arby and Prince Guitars.

Both the Kramer and Schecter are imported instruments, yet both felt very well made. Any opinions on the two from actual use????

Thanks for your time...Robert
 
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Well, first of all, the short scale length, which is usually referred to as 24.75 is actually 24.625. This is the classic Gibson scale length. I am actually quite fond of short scale guitars, as the notes seem to blend a little smoothly. The guitars I am making these days are usually short scale guitars.

I would very strongly suggest you avoid maple fingerboards. They are finished, and so when it comes time for fret work, they are a huge pain in the ass, so we charge more for them. With Fender necks with maple fingerboards, we almost never do refrets on them. It costs less to get a new neck. Maple fingerboards are one of the worst ideas Leo Fender ever had.

Your finger does not like being straight. It is uncomfortable and can cause injury to hold your finger too straight. The more curve to the fingerboard, the more curved your finger can be when you are playing barre chords. If you play mostly barre chords, you want a smaller radius, which is why so many people find the old 7.25" Fender necks so comfortable.

Conversely, when you bend a note on a fingerboard with a small radius, the string hits the next fret when you bend too far, which is called fretting out. If you spend a lot of time playing leads with lots of bending, you probably want a larger radius, which is why guitars like Jackson’s, Kramer’s, and Ibanez’s all have 16" radius fingerboards. They are aiming for the shredder market. I have even seen a few guitars with 20" fingerboards.

I use a 14" radius on my guitars (one of the reasons I have to make a custom bridge, which I was talking about in another thread). Partially, this is what my father uses on his guitars, buy I also like the feel of it, and it seems like a good compromise to me. Of course, if a customer wants a different radius, they get it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
RattleCat said:
Do yourself a favor:

USA Custom Guitars

Warmoth is ok for bodies and hardware, but don't waste your time with their necks.

http://www.usacustomguitars.com/usacg/
Click to expand...


Warmoth makes the most consistently high quality necks on the market. WE dealt their necks for twenty years before they stopped selling wholesale. Now days, instead of telling people to get other necks through us, we tell them to order a Warmoth themselves, and to bring it to us to do the work. No one is making a better quality neck. We probably see 150 replacement necks a year. Warmoth beats all of the rest.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Have you seen anything from them lately. Its been a few years since I bought anything from Warmoth. I decided it was time for something new and bought a new Warmoth neck. The quality and workmanship is laughable. Nothing like my older necks. When you talk to the quality control guy you'll learn that the advertising on their website is simply not to be believed anymore. A friend warned me about Warmoth and urged me to go to USA Custom. I didn't listen. Joe left Warmoth to build a higher quality product. His necks usually dont even need a fret leveling. Warmoth is hit or miss these days. Believe me, they do not make the best quality anymore. Turtlenecks are out of style.
 
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RattleCat said:
Have you seen anything from them lately. Its been a few years since I bought anything from Warmoth. I decided it was time for something new and bought a new Warmoth neck. The quality and workmanship is laughable. Nothing like my older necks. When you talk to the quality control guy you'll learn that the advertising on their website is simply not to be believed anymore. A friend warned me about Warmoth and urged me to go to USA Custom. I didn't listen. Joe left Warmoth to build a higher quality product. His necks usually dont even need a fret leveling. Warmoth is hit or miss these days. Believe me, they do not make the best quality anymore. Turtlenecks are out of style.
Click to expand...


We see Warmoth necks at least twice a month. We have seen no decline in their quality.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I would love nothing more than to agree with everyone....the only problem I have is this neck staring me in the face that I received from them. All the good words will never speak as loudly as the product in my hands.
 
Light,

Thanks for your replies. I really appreciate your approach and informative detail.

I spent years playing 'by the seat of my pants' and never learned much about theory or the instrument and I now find myself more interested in these aspects of playing.

Funny you should mention the 14" radius as that is what the Schecter has and it is very comfortable.

My hands are so big, I can wrap them easily around the clubby neck of my Hamer with no effort, even after a night of playing hard.

I think the flatter fretboard is very appealing to me and the Schecter felt very, very good.

I see no real reason to build a full custom guitar if I can find all the attributes I need in a good, commercial design.

The thing is, almost every guitar these days, including Jackson and PRS, are imported!!!

The Kramer was nice, but the workmanship of the Schecter was much superior. It had Gotoh Heads and a Tone-Pros Bridge. The nut is black, but I don't know what it is made out of. I usually have bone nuts placed on all my guitars.

What I am discovering about scale length is I like using .011's and they feel nice on a 25.5" scale, but seem too heavy on a 25.65" scale. When I string my 'short scale' with .009's or .010's, the instrument sounds much brighter.

I never realized this before, but string gauge has a tremendous impact on my sound.

I still don't like big frets and almost every new guitar seems to have them. The one nice thing about the Schecter jumbo frets is they are filed very flat on top, which reduces their height somewhat.

I still have some decisions to make, but I now know a lot more about the guitar I need...Robert
 
I have to agree with RattleCat - USA Custom Guitars is the way to go.

I am prejudiced, because I've never ordered anything from Warmoth. A few years ago when I was building my first guitar, I did a lot of research online, and based on what I read and a few people I talked to, I ordered from USA Custom.

It's a big source of debate on the Fender Forum and some other sites, but I have read of many experiences similar to RattleCat's. I also have a pretty good online friend who had been using Warmoth, and after a few shoddy necks, started using USACG products exclusively. His last Warmoth neck had some frets that you could literally slip a thin business card under the edge.

Having said all of this, I repeat, I have personally never ordered anything from Warmoth. I have also read of many good experiences with them, so... (And I DEFINITELY do not doubt that they are higher quality than your average Fender neck.) I also believe that Warmoth offers more variety in terms of exotic woods that are readily available, body sytles, etc.

I CAN say that the service from USACG is absolutely top notch. Tommy Rosamond worked for Warmoth for many years, and decided to branch out on his own. He is a musician and employs many musicians. While the "base price" at Warmoth may be a bit cheaper, many options cost extra through them, which are free at USACG. (Unique profiles, radius, etc.) You can call and talk with Tommy, get feedback and suggestions from one of the most knowledgable guys in the business, etc.

The two necks and one body I've gotten through USACG have been perfect. :)

The Hamer radius is (I believe) a 12", as opposed to a 9 1/2" for a modern Fender. My necks both have a 12", and a nice beefy assymetrical profile.

I am surprised that the Hamer is alder. I would have sworn it was either mahogany or korina.

Most likely you'll be fine with either company, but I love the way USACG treats its customers, and their product is incredible.
 
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