A thoughtful discussion on outdated guitar designs?

[the_gunslinger]

The other cool thing about dual volumes is if you have a dual humbucker guitar and a three way switch, you can turn one knob all the way down and flick the switch on and off a bunch of times and get a stuttering/tremolo effect.

[Spike Li]

The other cool thing about dual volumes is if you have a dual humbucker guitar and a three way switch, you can turn one knob all the way down and flick the switch on and off a bunch of times and get a stuttering/tremolo effect.

 

Yeah, like a killswitch (you beat me to this)

[trashedlostfdup]

Has no-one mentioned Buzz Feiten? http://www.buzzfeiten.com/ I had this on 2 Washburns and it works a treat. Buying a Washburn would probably be the way to go cos they work out pretty expensive as a retro fit. The stuff you want is out there, but most people aren't interested.

 

thats the best thing going for washburn.

 

IIRC ESP has a similar system too.

[Surfdude]

Tone control for the bridge pickup? Never use it. I like the tone control set at about 7 for the neck pickup but the bridge tone has always been unnecessary for me.

 

Also hate the two volume controls. I like the sounds but never can remember which one to turn up or down depending which pickup I have switched on. Why doesn't someone put a master volume as well as the two seperate volumes?

 

Yeah, I would say the two volume and two tone controls are outdated.

 

Another outdated guitar design is the placement of the strap button on a LP. The reason so many LP's have broken necks is the angle that the strap button is put on. It should point straight out and not on an upward angle.

 

Don't even get me started on the placement of the selector switch on a tele or necks without tilt back headstocks.

 

Surfy

[Engl Kramer]

 

thats the best thing going for washburn. IIRC ESP has a similar system too.

 

 

:confused:I never get the lack of love for em.

 

I've had 3, all of which were made in the far east and they were all fantastic guitars with quality hardware, pickups and excellent necks.

 

Great value as well which puts some people off.

[Engl Kramer]

Sorry I was talking about Washburns in my previous post :rolleyes:and just realised I've had 4.

 

Chicago series

N2

Idol WI65pro

DD60

[Metalrulez]

Yes, we all know things made in the mold of your shallow mind are the way they should be for everyone.

[Elias Graves]

 

Tone control for the bridge pickup? Never use it. I like the tone control set at about 7 for the neck pickup but the bridge tone has always been unnecessary for me. Also hate the two volume controls. I like the sounds but never can remember which one to turn up or down depending which pickup I have switched on. Why doesn't someone put a master volume as well as the two seperate volumes? Yeah, I would say the two volume and two tone controls are outdated. Another outdated guitar design is the placement of the strap button on a LP. The reason so many LP's have broken necks is the angle that the strap button is put on. It should point straight out and not on an upward angle. Don't even get me started on the placement of the selector switch on a tele or necks without tilt back headstocks. Surfy

 

 

The Epi Kat series uses a master and two individual volumes as do many Gretsch models. I'm very fond of it though I think my next rig will use a master and a pan pot.

 

EG

[jak83]

I'll go along with the frets/intonation issue, but most of us seem to have gotten around it well enough for a few decades now.

 

As for 2 volume knobs, I'm reluctant to purchase guitars that don't have them. Blending pickups in the middle position, extra variability in immediate switching from low to high gain on your guitar instantly, and having a built in killswitch of sorts are all good uses.

 

Why do we as a community not accept change? Because when it comes, it looks like this...

...which may compensate in some small way for other imperfections in the classics, but at the end of the day, these...

...not only get the job done effectively, but they're tits to look at as well!

[Angry Tele]

funny all the modern guitars posted are from the 1980s

 

I use my tone control on my tele all the time. ALl you have to do is replace the .047 cap with a .022 and BAM! its usable

 

Check out Roy Buchanon for good use of a bridge pickuip and tone control

[caveman]

It seems to me that a lot of folks might resisit the added cost of fixing what they don't consider broken.

[mrbrown49]

 

Tone control for the bridge pickup? Never use it. I like the tone control set at about 7 for the neck pickup but the bridge tone has always been unnecessary for me. Also hate the two volume controls. I like the sounds but never can remember which one to turn up or down depending which pickup I have switched on. Why doesn't someone put a master volume as well as the two seperate volumes? Yeah, I would say the two volume and two tone controls are outdated. Another outdated guitar design is the placement of the strap button on a LP. The reason so many LP's have broken necks is the angle that the strap button is put on. It should point straight out and not on an upward angle. Don't even get me started on the placement of the selector switch on a tele or necks without tilt back headstocks. Surfy

 

 

 

Gretsch has been using 2V2T plus MV harnesses for years. My '79 guild is wired that way as well. I like having a MV, but it's no substitute for the 2v controls. Mixing pups in the middle position opens up the tonal options so much, especially if you fiddle with the tones too. Once you get in the habit of doing it you won't have the think about what knob does what. It'll just happen. It's part of 'playing the instrument as a whole' IMO.

[aliensporebomb]

 

And nothing costs like a Parker either:

 

Of the ones I'm interested in:

 

Midifly - $4199

Vernon Reid Model - $5999

Adrian Belew model - $9000.

 

We're talking seriously out of touch with todays economy except for the most well heeled professionals out there. Forget it.

[Ferdinandstrat]

 

 

This stupid neck heel, why isnt it removed yet?

[paulskirocks]

Yes, we all know things made in the mold of your shallow mind are the way they should be for everyone.

 

And your signature is:

 

Theres only two kinds of music HEAVY and METAL!!!!!

 

[aliensporebomb]

 

That's actually one of the most criminally overlooked aspects of the traditional Gibson dual-pickup design. A lot of smart LP guitarists, such as Jimmy Page, Warren Haynes and Joe Bonamassa, slap the selector switch in the middle position and use the volume controls to blend in their pickups (Bonamassa even revealed in a Guitar Player interview that his sound comes from the bridge volume on 75% and the neck on 25%). David Grissom requested dual volumes on his signature PRS because he watched a Led Zeppelin DVD and noticed how many tones Jimmy Page was getting just by manipulating his tone and volume controls.

 

 

And on my Ibanez Artist I have standard Les Paul switching in addition to each pickup having a "trisound" switch which allows dual coil, single coil or parallel reverse phase operation.

 

So I could theoretically have the neck pickup on 75% in humbucking mode with the bridge pickup on 25% in single coil mode so I'd get that tubular neck pickup sound with a little of the single coil attack - kind of the best of both worlds if you will.

 

You can also mix and match - neck pickup single coil, bridge humbucking, both dual coil, both single. Phase switch for funky sounds - It's great.

 

So yeah, dual volume controls might seem to be silly at first but I realize there's a way to get a universe of tones out of that setup.

[aliensporebomb]

This stupid neck heel, why isnt it removed yet?

 

No heel necessary.

[guitarcapo]

Frets/Intonation : As far as I can tell, the current guitar design makes it physically impossible to get a guitar in tune. Bolt-ons with vibratos and straight headstocks, and set necks with angled headstocks and fixed bridges: The main advantage to the bolt-on (excluding cost) is that the neck is easy to replace should it be damaged. Ironically, Strats and Teles have one-piece necks (pretty much) with straight headstocks which are nigh IMPOSSIBLE to break. This causes the need for string trees which are hell for guitars with non-locking vibratos. Suprise, suprise, STRATS. Meanwhile, set necks, which are a pain in the ass to repair, have angled headstocks, no tremolo, and break all the time. Anyway, I hope somebody can get into this as it interests me a lot.

 

The reason Gibson headstocks break all the time is because they have very little wood at the break angle due to the truss rod having to surface there.

The answer is to use a volute there...but vintage fans demand older designs.

Floyd Rose already addressed a lot of issues you have with tremelos staying in tune. At the end of the day, the guitar buying public demands old designs instead of improvements. What are you going to do?

[tlbonehead]

I'm a tinkerer by nature. I've recently begun noticing numerous design features which simply do not make logical sense. I've also begun considering building a guitar completely from scratch. Some designs make economic sense, but from a performance standpoint, they're lacking. I'd like to see if we can discuss any other designs which are sub-par given today's technology. Some I've toiled over: Pickups with polepieces : If you're only using one TYPE of magnet, why not just use one magnet to avoid misaligned strings, and dropouts on bends? I just bought one of DiMarzio's brightest single coils to find that it's dark as hell because the high E rests between two polepieces. Dual volume knobs : Unless one refuses to use pedals or dual channel amps, dual volume knobs don't make a lot of sense. Even when using a single-channel amp, a middle pickup position dictates itself according to how you set each pickup individually. This makes a guitar with only three pickup combos even less useful. Frets/Intonation : As far as I can tell, the current guitar design makes it physically impossible to get a guitar in tune. Bolt-ons with vibratos and straight headstocks, and set necks with angled headstocks and fixed bridges: The main advantage to the bolt-on (excluding cost) is that the neck is easy to replace should it be damaged. Ironically, Strats and Teles have one-piece necks (pretty much) with straight headstocks which are nigh IMPOSSIBLE to break. This causes the need for string trees which are hell for guitars with non-locking vibratos. Suprise, suprise, STRATS. Meanwhile, set necks, which are a pain in the ass to repair, have angled headstocks, no tremolo, and break all the time. Anyway, I hope somebody can get into this as it interests me a lot.

I really can't find a single thing here that I can agree with, especially in an "obsolete" context.