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On January 22 2014 01:43 SixStrings wrote:
Fender Mexican SSS Strat.
I'd like to play the guitar parts of Tool, in Flames, Metallica etc. and I prefer crisp, percussive sounds.
If you like the really snappy sounds, that cut off real quick, you should get a noise gate.
As for guitars, if you can find a nice rga121 for a decent price, I recently played one of those and was incredibly impressed. Then I took to the interweb and saw the hype train behind them. Some of the indo ibby's I've played have been fantastic as well.
Do you prefer active or passive pickups? I definitely prefer passive, but the other guitarist in my band loves his actives. Actives will definitely provide a heavier tone, which may be what you're looking for to play that type of music. The more inexpensive ltd's have decent pickups in them, and they're well made guitars.
I'm not too familiar with the jackson dinky's, but those may be a good solution as well. I think ben (I remember him saying he really liked jacksons) is more familiar with those, if he wants to chime in.
Either way though, you should be able to get a variety of guitars and just swap the pickups to get more of a sound you want, it will just cost a little bit more, so you may have to wait a little bit longer. But cheap guitars with pickup swaps make for excellent work horses.
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On January 22 2014 03:46 renoB wrote:
I'm not too familiar with the jackson dinky's, but those may be a good solution as well. I think ben (I remember him saying he really liked jacksons) is more familiar with those, if he wants to chime in.
I have a DK2, which is an older Pro series Dinky. It's great. The neck is nice and thin but rounded so you won't get a cramped hand (I have that issue on Ibanez guitars. The necks are thinner than Jacksons, but they're really flat. I have big hands so ultra thin, flat necks don't really work for me).
I am not too familiar with the new Jackson stuff, but if it is like the stuff they made 5-6 years ago, then it should be pretty good. I have seen a few complaints of some of the newer models having some issues with fretwork, but as long try a guitar before you buy it you should be able to spot any issues. The new cheaper Jacksons are also made in Indonesia from what I remember. Back in the day all of the import Jacksons but the JS series (which is the cheapest series) were all made in Japan (or Korea for a few models). Now it is Indonesia and Mexico for everything.
If you can find a used older (Pre-2012) MIJ Pro series, MG series, or X Series you will be set as far as metal guitars go. At the time they were very well regarded guitars because they were built to a high standard. Both of my MIJ Jacksons are basically flawless as far as workmanship goes. If you check out guitar shops you might be able to find an older one. I've seen some of them go for pretty cheap too, especially the X Series (they were one of the series made in Korea. They were still pretty good though).
Many of the guitars in the Pro series came with Seymour Duncan pickups, and the MG series came with active EMGs. I owned one with the active EMGs for a bit and I quite liked it, though I traded it for a 1992 Jackson Professional series Soloist XL, which is among the best guitars I've ever played.
Here's my Jacksons. The guitar on the left is the newer Pro Series DK2. The guitar on the right is the '92 Soloist XL. The older 90s Professional series Jacksons are getting quite hard to find now.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/n2yscbo.jpg)
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I believe the newer low-end jackson models are made in india. I've read that they're not bad quality, but can be inconsistent. But if you can find an older eerie dess swirl, you should go for it... even if it sounds like crap, you'll be too mesmerized by the looks to care.
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On January 22 2014 05:24 renoB wrote:
I believe the newer low-end jackson models are made in india. I've read that they're not bad quality, but can be inconsistent. But if you can find an older eerie dess swirl, you should go for it... even if it sounds like crap, you'll be too mesmerized by the looks to care.
Oh yes you are right. Old JS series was Indonesia. I always forget.
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Ben, what pickups do you have in the DK2? Are they just Duncan designed or did you install them yourself?
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On January 22 2014 05:57 MtlGuitarist97 wrote:
Ben, what pickups do you have in the DK2? Are they just Duncan designed or did you install them yourself?
They came with Seymour Duncans after 2006, before 2006 they came with Duncan Designed. Mine is a 2006 so those are real Duncans. The bridge is a JB (model name SH4, though this one is actually the TB4, which just means it is spaced for a tremolo. It's like .09 inches wider or something). The single coils are STK-1s. They're quite nice pickups. The bridge pickup is great for 80s metal (unsurprisingly).
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On January 22 2014 03:46 renoB wrote:Show nested quote +On January 22 2014 01:43 SixStrings wrote:
Fender Mexican SSS Strat.
I'd like to play the guitar parts of Tool, in Flames, Metallica etc. and I prefer crisp, percussive sounds. If you like the really snappy sounds, that cut off real quick, you should get a noise gate.
I decided to invest a bit more and build my own guitar.
Here's the framework I had in mind, perhaps those adapt in tone woods can chime in a bit:
- HSS Strat
- bright Maple body (natural finish)
- bright Maple neck and fretboard
- EMG pickups (SA/SA/81)
- matte black tuners (which ones?)
- black three layer pick guard
Do you reckon that would look and sound alright? 
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Italy12247 Posts
I don't think maple strat bodies exist, but yeah that sounds good. I'm a sucker for natural finishes. I'd go for a white pickguard though
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I actually found a maple SSH Strat body on ebay, mayhaps I get lucky.
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On January 22 2014 20:20 SixStrings wrote:Show nested quote +On January 22 2014 03:46 renoB wrote:On January 22 2014 01:43 SixStrings wrote:
Fender Mexican SSS Strat.
I'd like to play the guitar parts of Tool, in Flames, Metallica etc. and I prefer crisp, percussive sounds. If you like the really snappy sounds, that cut off real quick, you should get a noise gate. I decided to invest a bit more and build my own guitar. Here's the framework I had in mind, perhaps those adapt in tone woods can chime in a bit: - HSS Strat - bright Maple body (natural finish) - bright Maple neck and fretboard - EMG pickups (SA/SA/81) - matte black tuners (which ones?) - black three layer pick guard Do you reckon that would look and sound alright?
So as a preface, there are going to be plenty of people who strongly disagree with what I'm about to say with regards to wood choice.
The material your guitar body is made from is irrelevant and does not shape your tone when the guitar is plugged in. When you're playing acoustically you bet it does, but when you have that thing wired up all that matters is your pickups; how they're wound, their height and the pot values.
Maple necks are great because you can clean them properly, unlike Rosewood ones that are almost always unfinished or uncoated.
As a suggestion seeing as you're having this thing custom made, have the nut be made from fret wire so your open strings sound the same as fretted notes.
Color of tuners/hardware is again purely aesthetic so choose what you want.
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On January 22 2014 21:42 Kaos_StarCraft wrote:
The material your guitar body is made from is irrelevant and does not shape your tone when the guitar is plugged in. When you're playing acoustically you bet it does, but when you have that thing wired up all that matters is your pickups; how they're wound, their height and the pot values.
Beg to differ.
I own a few guitars with the same pickups and woods (EMG 81s, mahogany/maple top) and you can still hear the difference between all of them based on the thickness of the maple top and the mahogany body. Body wood makes a huge difference in sound.. on the cheaper end you can't really tell, but when you're playing through a nice guitar with a quality amplifier you certainly can.
Maple will give you a very tight, very loud sound (maple body) but not as much low end as a Mahogany body. It will also be a bit heavier than Alder I think, which is the standard Strat-type guitar wood.
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On January 23 2014 00:15 DinoMight wrote:Show nested quote +On January 22 2014 21:42 Kaos_StarCraft wrote:
The material your guitar body is made from is irrelevant and does not shape your tone when the guitar is plugged in. When you're playing acoustically you bet it does, but when you have that thing wired up all that matters is your pickups; how they're wound, their height and the pot values. Beg to differ. I own a few guitars with the same pickups and woods (EMG 81s, mahogany/maple top) and you can still hear the difference between all of them based on the thickness of the maple top and the mahogany body. Body wood makes a huge difference in sound.. on the cheaper end you can't really tell, but when you're playing through a nice guitar with a quality amplifier you certainly can. Maple will give you a very tight, very loud sound (maple body) but not as much low end as a Mahogany body. It will also be a bit heavier than Alder I think, which is the standard Strat-type guitar wood.
Interesting video:
+ Show Spoiler +
Just trying to be helpful, wood type does nothing to the string that vibrates over the magnetic pickup.
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EDIT: Decided to watch your video before I make a comment.
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Italy12247 Posts
The whole thing has been discussed to death tbh. I personally hear a small ish difference, but i think it also really comes down to personal habit.
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On January 23 2014 00:37 Kaos_StarCraft wrote:Show nested quote +On January 23 2014 00:15 DinoMight wrote:On January 22 2014 21:42 Kaos_StarCraft wrote:
The material your guitar body is made from is irrelevant and does not shape your tone when the guitar is plugged in. When you're playing acoustically you bet it does, but when you have that thing wired up all that matters is your pickups; how they're wound, their height and the pot values. Beg to differ. I own a few guitars with the same pickups and woods (EMG 81s, mahogany/maple top) and you can still hear the difference between all of them based on the thickness of the maple top and the mahogany body. Body wood makes a huge difference in sound.. on the cheaper end you can't really tell, but when you're playing through a nice guitar with a quality amplifier you certainly can. Maple will give you a very tight, very loud sound (maple body) but not as much low end as a Mahogany body. It will also be a bit heavier than Alder I think, which is the standard Strat-type guitar wood. Interesting video: + Show Spoiler +http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mH5hwLkxCI Just trying to be helpful, wood type does nothing to the string that vibrates over the magnetic pickup.
my world is collapsing. thanks for the link.
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Well, the video is extremely long and the presenter is somewhat difficult to follow without cracking a snooze, but I guess his point is that all guitars will generate same-ish frequency responses when played through the same exact setup. So what?
1. His "comparison" wasn't even half scientific. He just strummed both guitars with his hand in a freestyle fashion.
2. He then showed them on top of each other without ever freezing the picture (I skipped around so correct me if I'm wrong).
3. You will probably need a closer look at the graphs to see the actual nuances. Even slight changes can mean noticeable differences in timbre.
You can argue that amplifiers and kinds of pickups (singlecoil vs. humbucker) will have a greater effect on the frequency response, but this doesn't "prove" tonewoods don't have any effect.
In my experience (which is also not scientific), tonewoods WILL shape the character of the sound. I'm willing to bet my strat that an actual lab test can prove this.
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I'm glad I asked, interesting discussion.
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On January 22 2014 20:20 SixStrings wrote:Show nested quote +On January 22 2014 03:46 renoB wrote:On January 22 2014 01:43 SixStrings wrote:
Fender Mexican SSS Strat.
I'd like to play the guitar parts of Tool, in Flames, Metallica etc. and I prefer crisp, percussive sounds. If you like the really snappy sounds, that cut off real quick, you should get a noise gate. I decided to invest a bit more and build my own guitar. Here's the framework I had in mind, perhaps those adapt in tone woods can chime in a bit: - HSS Strat - bright Maple body (natural finish) - bright Maple neck and fretboard - EMG pickups (SA/SA/81) - matte black tuners (which ones?) - black three layer pick guard Do you reckon that would look and sound alright?
Maple on maple makes for a very bright sounding guitar, so you may want to go with something like swamp ash for a little bit deeper tone. You will like the emg 81. I had one in my guitar that was stolen years ago. For tuners, find some locking ones because they're damn awesome.
You should post on SSO even though you don't have a sevenstring. They have a section for people who are building and if you ever needed help they could instruct you.
Edit: As for the tone wood discussion:
Tone wood test (far from scientific but its noticeable)
+ Show Spoiler +
Or it could just be in the hands of the player....
+ Show Spoiler +
I personally think its a lot of combinations of things. And if anything, you can feel a different feel from different woods vibrating. Which is why I disliked my schecter because it felt dull when it vibrated whereas my carvin feels very vibrant. It's also a lot brighter and it sounds like a piano when played acoustically.
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Building a guitar might be the only thing in which I prefer using a German forum, because they are more in tune with the domestic shops for tools, parts etc. But thanks for the suggestion.
What I'm taking away from this discussion is that it's not cut and dry how much of an impact tone woods have, so my time would be better spent improving my technique, rather than fretting (no pun intended) on different woods.
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Italy12247 Posts
Then again discussing stuff on the internet is fun
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EPT
