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Sixstring

Sixstring

Legend!
A thread in this section has inspired me to start a topic that probably has been discussed by many of us in the past. I have recently switched guitars and it didn't really work out for me. Though it was a really nice guitar I just couldn't bond with it after 4 months. I wondered why so I looked a little deeper at specs and found that there were a few things that stood out as to why I might be having an issue with playing this guitar. The Guitar in question was the Suhr Rasmus GG, I really wanted to like this guitar but for some reason I felt clunky with it, I just didn't feel as slippery and felt like I was having to relearn how play.

I then realized that I had been so used to a PRS that I had been playing for close to 8 years that even the slightest difference in the way the guitar was built were noticeable. Things like neck radius, carve and string spacing that I never really paid too much attention to in the past. The Rasmus was a huge departure from what I was used to playing with respect to these specs. I personally thought I could deal with it and just settel in with the guitar and all is good. This didn't happen, I was so frustrated playing this guitar I was beside my self and for the most part quit playing it.

Today is another question mark as I'm awaiting a new to me guitar. A Carvin CT324 that is 2 months old. I know most of you are thinking why did he just go buy another PRS? Well because I can't afford the one I want right now but it will come eventually that and the fact that I'm also saving for a couple of CLR's :mrgreen. So a buddy of mine had the Carvin and made me a deal that was too good to pass up. The specs on the Carvin and not too far off from the PRS so I'm hoping that I can bond with this guitar and get back to playing. The guitar is all classic white with black hardware, string through, 12" Radius fret board and SS standard frets with the standard C22B and J pups. I won't be home when she arrives today so I won't know until this afternoon if I have something I can live with.

This brings the question... what specs do you pay attention to when your looking for a new Axe, do you care or are you very specific when it comes to your next guitar? Let the posting commence...
 
I don't look for any specs in particular.

Pick up the guitar, play it through a similar amp I have, and if it "speaks" to me, I beg my wife for a new toy!

I started playing guitar because of SRV so I saved up and got a Strat and still have it. Over the years, I've looked for a guitar with humbuckers (had Les Pauls and Washburns and got rid of all of them) and finally found my holy grail in the EBMM JP6. Don't need any other guitars, ever. Those two do everything I need them to do.
 
It really depends on what I'm using the guitar for. I have a few "because they were cool" purchases and then I have my workhorses. On my main guitars, first and foremost it's comfort. I have to be able to play it 4 hours at a gig and don't want to be fighting the neck shape, dragging my fingers across the fretboard because the frets are too low, or constantly be holding the neck up because it's unbalanced when standing. In these regards, I like a compound radius neck or a 12 radius. Jumbo frets are a must and the neck shape should be somewhere between a strat and a bc rich mockingbird (esp's "thin u" is my fav). Knob location is next because I have a tendency to bang my pinky on the knobs if they are too close to the bridge pickup like ibanez RG's.

After that, it's price. Virtually no guitar comes with pickups I like, so I almost always have to replace those. Also, these are the guitars I'm taking to shady bars all over the tri-state area, so they need to be replaceable should they be broke or stolen.

Looks and tone are last for me because I have a magic black box that can make it sound anyway I want.
 
I went through this also. Used to my Guild Aviators. Feel clunky also with other's. I've started looking at my specs. Found I am comfortable with 25 1/2 scale, 12 radius and 1 5/8 nut width. Neck shape varies a little but not much on 12 of the Aviators I own. Still trying to learn about documenting neck shape. I also prefer Kahlers to Floyds mainly on the way i rest my palm.
I've got a Jackson that is very nice w/ sustainiac that I just cannot like, nut too wide, neck too flat.
I am trying to bond with my custom strat,,, getting there. Makes my fingers hurt lol.
I have thought about a Carvin, that way I could get exactly what i like,,, mmm except my Kahler....
 
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The first I do when trying out a new guitar is just play the typical chords I would play, along with some riffs and solo stuff. If the guitar in any way feels uncomfortable (being a hobbyist player, I typically play at home sitting or sometimes band jams), including the body shape, the string spacing, control positioning, neck length (although I've found i'm comfortable with 24 3/4 and 25 1/2, again dependent on previous factors), tuner positioning, then I would drop it. I think this is more of an ergonomical approach, but I do care about how it looks to :p i don't like certain shapes and what not. Electronics typically don't bother me because I can swap them. Bridges I like any style, I really like FR... BUT I hate tuning FR, and typically I use a trem stopper as I don't do dive bombs, just flutters.

Personally I find the strat shape VERY comfortable to play, but find it lacks the neck pocket angle that a Les Paul has, this has lead me to use warmoth built guitars... because I simply like a certain body wood, color, bridge, neck wood / fretboard wood, string spacing, and fret height. I have a Gibson LP standard from 07, american strat and Ibanez prestige RG, and individually, they are all awesome and great at specific tasks, and I took the plunge with warmoth like with fractal, and got a nice red stained quilted maple on ash body with maple neck / ebody fretboard with stainless steel super jumbo frets and trem locked FR, and I love it... (after i got it properly set up ;) ).

my point being - find whats most comfortable to play, and change the electronics if need be, but again, personally I think paying $2500 + for a guitar should yield you exactly the specs you want, so unfortunately/fortunately it seems like any other guitar I would purchase would be a warmoth, even though I love the PRS shapes and LP shapes, I'd rather spend my $ on something I put together to my liking.

I'm not trying to advertise warmoth (although convincingly sounds like it... sorry guys), but but what feels comfortable, i love LPs, Fender Strats and PRS, and Suhrs just as much as the next guy, but definitely don't have the $ for them :(
 
I gave up looking for the "right" guitar... been thru them all and, as nice as they were, they weren't perfect for me... there was always a couple of things I just didn't like... now I build my own.
 
For me, it's primarily based on the woods. I've learned that I just can't bond with any guitar that has a maple neck and/or fingerboard. It's only mahogany for me from here on out.

I greatly prefer very dark, smooth fingerboards, especially ebony, but I can tolerate a dark rosewood as long as it's not too dry feeling (strictly a psychological thing...not sure why I prefer dark fingerboards). I also don't like boards that are flatter than about a 14" radius. I prefer 12".

I've also learned that I prefer 24.5 or 24.75" scales. They're just easier for me to play.

I can't stand trems. I prefer a TOM bridge.

That being said, you could probably guess that I gravitate toward PRS and Gibson guitars.
 
In the past 5 years I have owned Suhr, PRS Carvin EJ strat, Am Stand strat, Charvel, Jackson EVH wolfie, Ibanez Andy Timmons model (All gone now except for the EVH wolfie) 2 Les Pauls and a Blackie Clapton Strat fill all my needs. Face it all guitars are trying to sound like a LP or a Strat or a mixture of both.
Just me, though. As I get a little older my ear is slowly learning vintage rock tones. And when re visiting the classic metal I grew up listening to in the early 80's I hear the clarity and power therein that is not attained via monster scooped tones that used to taint my ability to discern good tone.
Just my 2 cents!
 
I can't play well enough to matter. I clam licks on every radius, wood, etc. I do like nice guitars though and I can kinda adapt to just about anything. They all have a different thing going on. I wouldn't want my nylon string to have the same string spacing as my strat. About the only thing I don't like is ultra thin shredder necks.
 
Some may think I'm out to lunch on this one but has been discussed in many guitar mag article and forums alike. I think part of it as well is that there are two basic schools or standards when choosing a guitar for yourself. The school of Gibson or Fender. I only say this because these guys started it all and most company's model after one or the other... some with tight adherence and some loosely to one or the other of their respective design(s).

ex: PRS (Gibson flavor) Suhr: (Fender Strat flavor)

Players are drawn to one school or another I believe. I've played Strats and or Strat style guitars for most of my life. A couple years back I bought a Les Paul Standard and a Custom. Love(d) the guitars. Played and sounded great. But always found myself going back to home to the Strats. Some guys it don't bother to go back and forth between the style of guitar. It didn't bother me too much but always grabbed my Strats. In some ways I felt like I was cheating on my Strats when I did play the Les Pauls... but never felt like I was cheating on the Les Pauls when I grabbed my Strat. Sound silly but it was what it was for me. :lol
 
Well yes there are the 2 major schools, Gibson and Fender.
But the ones I like seem to be a blend of both. 25 1/2 scale (Fender), 12 radius (Gibson), Neck through, Nice heel, Jumbo frets, HSS pickups.
Nice that we have so many choices now. But the trip down to the local music store (NOT GC!!!), where the owner cared about their stock is getting harder to find!
I managed and taught in a store in St. Louis in the 80's. Played em all, I couldnt put the Guild Aviators down. Hid one till i could buy it, lol.
If i didnt like neck through so much i would build my own, instead I customize to taste.
 
I find different guitars easier for different things, harder for others. They all seem to inspire different types of playing. All of my axes were gibson/danelectro scale, so when I got my strt, it was really hard to get used to. Now, I find some things easier on the strat, others almost impossible. A guitar tech snowed me a steinberg, which had the longer strat scale length, but the closer gibson string spacing, and I find it almost as 'easy' as my gibson scale guitars - so, apparently, scale length doesn't affect me as much as I thought, and string spacing, more than I thought. But I have given up on having one guitar for everything, Whenever possible, I gig with 2, even 3 guitars. When I can only take one, I take the strat, since it now haz a Zexcoil juicybucker in the bridge position (and a coil tap) - so now I have SSS and HSS, and that 'H' has really increased my flexibility...
 
Originally Posted by cragginshred :
Face it all guitars are trying to sound like a LP or a Strat or a mixture of both.
Click to expand...

Manning said:
Hmmm... really? Telecaster, Telecaster slimline, Steinberger GL/GM/GR series, Rickenbacker 325/330/425/360 series , Parker Fly Mojo, Gibson SG, 335, ES175, Travis Bean, Kramer aluminium...
Click to expand...

+1000 - My Danny's sound like NOTHING except Dannys!, Ditto Gretches, Dan armstrongs, and about a billion others bely the first quote's veracity. Hell even a Gibson SG doesn't really sound close to an LP at ALL! Much gnarlier sound, more honky midrange attitude.
 
I find that different guitars affect my attitude...

my Strat feels refined.. sure I can shred on it, but I tend to go for a little more style

RG's just want you to rip the neck to splinters all the time.. no class, no style..
they make me want to go for it all the time..

my Morgan's are one of a kind
great performance and pure class
kinda like a refined Duchess but she goes like a trailer park whore
 
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I used to be very particular about the neck size and shape and the overall weight but I've got a fairly large stable now and over time I've become more flexibly. Some guitars are just better for different types of playing.

For me the most important think is setting up the guitar the way I want it. I adjust the neck relief, string height and intonation. I may change strings, bridge height or the trem springs to change tension. However, sometimes I just don't bond. Maybe the tone doesn't suit me or the guitar doesn't resonate in a way I like. Or I just need to free up some space. :)

Hope you enjoy the Carvin.
 
I have a Mexican Strat and while I love the way it sounds I've just never been able to deal with a 12" radius, and I've had it for years. I learned to play on a '68 Tele (thin neck) and didn't even own another guitar for more than 10 years after that, when I bought my first PRS. The combination of a 10" radius, 25" scale, and their wide/thin neck has been heaven fr me ever since. I finally ordered a Warmouth 10" radius neck which is on the way, which will hopefully solve the problem with the Strat.
 
Well it's here, and first impression is that it's not to bad. Probably should have started another thread on this but seeing how I already mentioned it in this one I figured what the heck, after all it's just a little ole Carvin :lol.

Right off the bat I was able to play this guitar much easer and was much more comfortable then the Rasmus GG. Clean lines and pretty basic looks not one scratch or ding on it any were :D. The order date was 4/2/12, I had thought that te guitar was only 2 months old this was a misunderstanding on my part I called him up and asked he said that he had owned it only 2 months. The fact that it looks and smells like it's brand new who cares, the guitar is clean period. I like the familiar layout of one volume one tone and a three way switch with a coil tap, uncluttered and simple to use. The neck is smooth and fast and the carve is comfortable not quite as round as a PRS standard carve but close. The regular SS are ok though I would have preferred Med Jumbo SS frets a minor detail and I knew about this going in to the deal and was ok with it. The pups are not to bad a little on the bright side but nothing I can't deal with on the tone knob or the Axe. The Case is great same G&G case that Suhr and other high end guitar manufacturers use.

Now for the not so good.

This is something that I already knew about Carvin and that's the electronics. I can't understand why they use pots that feel like they have a gorilla glue inside of them. All three of the PRS guitars I have owned you could flick the volume knob with your middle finger and slam the volume door shut that fast same with the tone pot. The push/pull tone pot is a littler easer to turn but it is sluggish as well. Coil taps, I like them and they are an ok alternative to running single coils if you do a lot of different combinations of tones. I can't stand a push/pull style pot, push/push for me. It's much easer for me anyway to slap the tone knob on the fly inorder to get a hum bucker or single coil tone no chance of my fingers slipping off. Lastly the head stock color is not as black as it should be. Don't know what the deal is with that as I didn't order it that way :roll. All in all I think I can deal with the short comings of the electronics as they are minor and fixable and should not cost that much to do.

Here are a few pic's

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