Members JoshuaLogan Posted August 27, 2008 Members Share Posted August 27, 2008 I'm about to start a custom build with Brent Gutierrez, and I still need to talk to him about it on the phone soon, but I want some opinions from you guys on what woods to go with just to get some ideas for it. I'm trying to cop a similar sound to the Loomis sig guitar, but with 707TW's for coil tapping for versatility and a 25.5" scale because I don't like the extra string tension on extended scale guitars. The Loomis has a maple set neck with a hard ash body... I think it sounds great with the 707's. Clear and bright but still with a good amount of bass. But this custom is going to be a neckthrough, and I don't really like the sound of neckthrough guitars with maple necks. I asked about ash, but it seems like he doesn't want to do it with ash, because he's not sure the neck would be stable enough (although I have seen a Sherman neckthrough with ash neck and body, so who knows...). One idea I had is mahogany neck and body with an ash top, but I'm not sure. Do you guys have any good ideas for a bright and clear sound but still with a lot of bass? Brent seems to like to use Bubinga and Wenge a lot... so one of those might end up being used... but I'd like to use ash and possibly mahogany somehow. Other than that, here's the rest of the specs if anyone is interested: -7 string neckthrough Juggernaut carved top superstrat -25.5" scale -24 Stainless Steel jumbo frets -Ebony fretboard or possibly something with red streaks like Cocobolo or Bloodwood for a unique look -Probably no inlays on fretboard -Original Floyd Rose 7 string tremolo -EMG 707TW's with push-pull pots for coil tapping -Red stained satin matte finish with oiled neck Anyone have any advice on neck and body woods you think would work well for this? I don't really know what to go with now, and trying to get some ideas before I talk with Brent on the phone about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeadNight Warrior Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 To be honest, I think my mahogany RG2127X (maple bolt-on) is a bit too dark sounding for a 7. That said, I'm not a huge fan of maple neck-thrus either I guess.If I was looking at a custom neck-thru 7, I'd probably consider a mahogany neck and body with a nice thick maple cap on it. Mahogany body + maple cap to me just sounds right. Full, but with sweet clarity. Only had experience with it on 6s though... the 7 is still just a dream in my mind. Either way, I'd say the mahogany neck and body would be fine as long as it's capped with something that'll add the clarity and spank you'll miss with just the mahogany.I'm still yet to play a Schecter 7 that I really like. The Loomis' neck was too thick for me (plus, I don't particularly like the EMGs), and other models have either been average construction quality (albeit, the cheaper models), or have things like painted necks, or oddly placed controls, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -Juggernaut- Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 so why not an Ash body wings with Mahogany neck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoshuaLogan Posted August 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 To be honest, I think my mahogany RG2127X (maple bolt-on) is a bit too dark sounding for a 7. That said, I'm not a huge fan of maple neck-thrus either I guess. If I was looking at a custom neck-thru 7, I'd probably consider a mahogany neck and body with a nice thick maple cap on it. Mahogany body + maple cap to me just sounds right. Full, but with sweet clarity. Only had experience with it on 6s though... the 7 is still just a dream in my mind. Either way, I'd say the mahogany neck and body would be fine as long as it's capped with something that'll add the clarity and spank you'll miss with just the mahogany. I'm still yet to play a Schecter 7 that I really like. The Loomis' neck was too thick for me (plus, I don't particularly like the EMGs), and other models have either been average construction quality (albeit, the cheaper models), or have things like painted necks, or oddly placed controls, etc. I'm pretty much over the emg hate bull{censored} so many people have. It's usually just people repeating stuff without having any idea what they're talking about. I'm not a big fan of the 81 or 81-7, but I really like the SA single coils, the 85/89 and the 707/707TW. There's plenty of guys from Jeff Loomis to Steve Lukather who use EMGs and sound great with them. I don't want the Loomis guitar for a few reasons though... not a big fan of schecter guitars in general... don't like the maple fretboard or inlays, would want 707TWs so I could coiltap, but the loomis only has one knob, so I wouldn't be able to have two of the coiltappable 707's because they both need their own push-pull pot, and I don't like the longer scale length, because I like really slinky string tension and it makes certain chords on the lower frets too much of a stretch. BUT I think the 707's sound really good in the all ash body. I've always liked mahogany guitars before, but hard ash seems really nice too... has a lot of deep bass like mahogany, but it's got more treble and clarity... and it just has a lot of sustain. notes are bright and ring out nice and long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoshuaLogan Posted August 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 so why not an Ash body wings with Mahogany neck? I dunno, I might do that, but it doesn't really seem like the body wings affect the tone much, and brent was saying the mahogany neck might need to be 3 piece with wenge or bubinga to be more stable... Do any of the exotic woods like wenge, black limba, cocobolo, padauk, etc. sound similar to hard ash? I'm still going to talk to him on the phone about it whenever he calls, but I just wanted to see if any of you guys had some cool ideas before then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeadNight Warrior Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 I'm pretty much over the emg hate bull{censored} so many people have. It's usually just people repeating stuff without having any idea what they're talking about. I'm not a big fan of the 81 or 81-7, but I really like the SA single coils, the 85/89 and the 707/707TW. There's plenty of guys from Jeff Loomis to Steve Lukather who use EMGs and sound great with them.All I said was I don't like the EMGs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FalseRevRG Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 try a 26.5" or 27" scale length....it really doesn't feel much bigger than 25.5" at all, and it'll help your low end clarity. the loomis sig. is 26.5", too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoshuaLogan Posted August 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 try a 26.5" or 27" scale length....it really doesn't feel much bigger than 25.5" at all, and it'll help your low end clarity. the loomis sig. is 26.5", too. Even if I could deal with the extra stretch on lower frets (which I don't think I can), I don't like stiff strings. It's easy to tell the difference from string tension from a gibson 24.75" to a 25.5" and that's only a 3/4" difference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shask Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 I have teeny fingers, but the 26.5" scale dont bother me. Its not nearly as noticeable as 24.75" to 25.5"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoshuaLogan Posted August 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 I have teeny fingers, but the 26.5" scale dont bother me. Its not nearly as noticeable as 24.75" to 25.5"... That doesn't really make sense, man. 1" is bigger than 3/4"... Either way, I didn't make the thread to talk about scale lengths... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LA-Ü-RA Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 I am going mahogany with a maple neck and ebony fretboard when he is ready to build mine. Most like a nice flamed maple top too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oddone Posted August 28, 2008 Members Share Posted August 28, 2008 I wouldnt go a mahogony neck, it will be really dark sounding. Id get a wenge neck if you dont like the maple. Or maybe bubinga but for some reason I dont think that would work well (just a feeling?) Wenge neck and ash body. I like clarity though. Punchy tone ftw. edit: I've got a custom 8 string in the works. Its got a maple neck through with koa wings. Either a flame koa or quilt maple top, depending on what sorta flamed koa my luthier can get a hold of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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