Form or Function

[1001gear]

Invent quick access backplate. $100 startup, 10,000% return.

[DeepEnd]

Invent quick access backplate. $100 startup, 10,000% return.

Shouldn't be hard. A hinge and a latch of some kind. You'd have to make sure it didn't rattle. Of course, someone would claim the hinge or what-have-you was a tone killer.

[Out of the Past]

i think its hilarious the guy says if you take your bolt-on guitar apart and find a shim you

should throw it away, and after you put it back together it needs a shim you should take it

to a luthier so he can put a shim in it.

 

My advice would be if you find a shim, leave it in there its probably there for a reason.

 

I used to have a AVRI Jaguar that when I took the neck off had 7 shims stacked on top of each other

from the factory. I didnt throw them away, I put them back, bolted the neck back on and sold the guitar.

[1001gear]

Ah yes but you have done extensive studies on wave propagation in articulated surfaces and have designed a special tone enhancing hinge.

Cake.

[gardo]

i think its hilarious the guy says if you take your bolt-on guitar apart and find a shim you

should throw it away, and after you put it back together it needs a shim you should take it

to a luthier so he can put a shim in it.

 

My advice would be if you find a shim, leave it in there its probably there for a reason.

 

I used to have a AVRI Jaguar that when I took the neck off had 7 shims stacked on top of each other

from the factory. I didnt throw them away, I put them back, bolted the neck back on and sold the guitar.

 

Agree .

[wasgtrjones]

Do whatever makes you play the guitar more, regardless of how many other people think it's crazy.

[WRGKMC]

yeah the only reason people leave the back plate off is for easy access.

I dont even think the amount of springs make a difference , but i know others do

(or where they are hooked up (straight across, or diagonal etc)

 

this one offhand remark (taking the plate off drastically changes the tone)

could easily be interpreted as anything you remove will change the tone

but its simply not true

 

I have one guitar I never bothered putting a back plate on. It wasn't a standard Strat shape and never got around to making one for it.

I also had to make my own pickguard. I made it out of thin wood then gave it a poly coating.

 

The guitar wound up being an incredible dive bomber. I have the bridge floating and when I'm standing in front of a high gain amp and stick the guitars rear end out so the spring cavity is exposed to the speakers, the guitar goes into this wonderful self sustaining mode where the strings sustain till I dampen them or block the spring cavity with my body.

 

The springs in essence act like tuning forks when the speakers blast them, sending vibrations back up into the bridge and causing the strings to self sustain. While experimenting I had to swap out several springs and tighten the two screws just right to get the spring tone just right to get the best resonance occurring.

 

I do think many have discovered this is something that actually works when playing at higher volumes. Getting the spring tension just right is the key. One little trick you can use to speed the process, is to get a little speaker you can connect up to an amp, then place it right over the cavity. You can then dial up various tones and get those strings to self sustain at very low volumes.

 

By tweaking the springs and changing the amps EQ you'll discover you can get individual notes and harmonics to self sustain. There are other factors like the wood type, string gauges, pickup height etc, but if you're into finding those sweet spots, it surely works well, and is allot easier using a small speaker like that when setting a guitar up to self resonate well, then it is to crank a 100W Marshall up to 11 to find them. Adding some compression does wonders too.

[gardo]

 

I do think many have discovered this is something that actually works when playing at higher volumes. Getting the spring tension just right is the key. One little trick you can use to speed the process, is to get a little speaker you can connect up to an amp, then place it right over the cavity. You can then dial up various tones and get those strings to self sustain at very low volumes..

 

Or maybe use it like a talk box for the springs.. What kind of craziness will this lead to

 

[gardo]

To you a Tele does look better with out a pickgaurd,this is true

But to you a Tele is ugly to begin with. I think a Tele is almost perfect to begin with.so I like a pickgaurd.

This is a case for relativism

[gardo]

Assuming that all ears are created equal.

[Out of the Past]

thats why i only play teles/esquires: no moving parts. If it doesnt sound right its because you (me) sucks.

[DeepEnd]

''Ah yes but you have done extensive studies on wave propagation in articulated surfaces and have designed a special tone enhancing hinge.''

I have? Seriously, I'm surprised nobody has done it by now but a quick web search for ''Strat hinged back plate'' produced no meaningful results. I guess most folks think it's easier to leave the back plate off.