High end custom guitars...what are your experiences???

[dubkitty]

it seems to me that you could find a guitar which was good for you in every way but the neck profile and then have a luthier re-contour it to your liking, which would be much simpler than a full custom build.

[DarkAxel]

i know it might be a weird thing to hear...

but necks are weird. If you're accustomed to a certain profile and thickness, every other neck can feel weird for you if you're so unlucky that you're like that

if I loved a guitar but the neck seemed different to what I am accustomed to, i'd probably just buy it and play it as much as I could. If there is not a real physical obstacle, I'd really consider letting your hand to adapt. Since I've been working in a guitar shop for a few years now, I know that there is just a HUGE variety of necks and sometimes they feel a bit different but you get used to them pretty quickly

one thing I won't ever get though are the super-slim necks on PRS SE Customs... since i have a pretty big hand, these are physically really, really uncomfortable for me. That's a real dealbreaker... but let's say... a U or a V neck on some vintage-styled tele wouldn't be a problem for me even though I'm pretty much used to the "mediocre" standard widespread C shape... I know there's something different going on with the neck and it doesn't feel like home, but after a while, I just don't even notice anymore

[dubkitty]

the necks on my guitars range from SG and Les Paul baseball bats to v-shaped and c-shaped Fenders to the odd slim necks and flat-ish fingerboards on the European and Japanese stuff i'm intrigued with nowadays. i just adapt from one to another. that may not be applicable to everyone...i know there are folks out there who can only be comfortable on a certain kind of neck. but for me the differences in the various specs of guitars are what i WANT...i adapt my playing to the instrument rather than expecting the instrument to perfectly reproduce my pre-formed concept for the next line. i don't mind battling the guitar a little.

[AxAxSxS]

I hear that. I go for sound and I like to be able to get at the upper frets. Other than that I work with what the guitar gives me. My dillion 12 is my main and I recently had one of the guys form a seattle band who I really respect as a player come by and he tried it out and could not get it to cooperate with him at all. It took me a bit to get used to and has a ton of flaws, neck dive, body to wide, thick neck, IT'S A 12 STRING, but holy shit the sound of that thing. It was worth learning to deal with the issues it has to get the sounds I want.

[DarkAxel]

Yeah, i mean... the way different guitars make you play usually makes you come out of your comfort zone, it inspires you and makes you explore different possibilities

[magiclawnchair]

I also have a bunch of guitars with rather different necks. I would say my 89 lp custom is the most comfortable but it's very different from the 07 classic and the 11 50s tribute. The 10 string bich as a different neck from my 6 string bich that is also different from my mocking bird... Then there is the EGC...

A few hours on each at first and they feel like gloves when I go back and forth!

[Holy Schnikes]

I'm not super picky about necks either unless they're way too slim. All of mine are on the fat side, nothing like a 50's Gibson baseball bat, but thick-ish nonetheless. I even bumped my EGC specs up to get away from their thin neck profiles as they're uncomfortable for me to play.

[Chankgeez]

...

A few hours on each at first and they feel like gloves when I go back and forth!

TWSS

[magiclawnchair]

[hollowhero]

I'm not really that picky about necks either. The only things that bug me are small radii (like 7.25")

[fishtankdork]

im not understanding if you love white falcons why not pull the trigger. as said in earlier posts some of my favorite guitars have been non-customs. hell if i had 5 grand id spring for a wildwood strat over a custom job any day. but i guess im easy to please. all my favorite features are pretty much a standard strat so there is lots of companies that make me happy. another thing to consider, alot of my pricer standard guitars held thier value better than my customs. i have owned 2 white falcons, and i didnt lose any money when flipping them. its easier to sell the higher end standard stuff than the custom jobs. i never made money selling custom bought gear, i was lucky to break even.

[gunslinger_burrito]

I'm gonna say it again. G&L. G&L. G&L.

I realize they don't have any awesome innovative body shapes or anything like that, but....I think I said this somewhere else..... I've had people offer me cash on the spot for my G&L after they've messed around with it at my house. Like, "This kicks ass, I'll give you $1000 bucks for it." I think I paid around $1200, but Iv'e changed the pickups a couple times. The neck seems to be just right in the middle, between thin and baseball bat, and the action has always been superb. It came with all the allen wrenches needed to adjust everything on it, and it's been really easy to do so. I can't repeat enough how it makes everything else feel like a toy. The only it doesn't do that to is the baritone I built, and that's because that thing is a tank, and I built it with all the parts I wanted. Which is basically what I got with the G&L.

My rules for music and musical instruments across the board, in order of importance, are:

1: SOUND. Sound is why you play music in the first place. It should be priority number one. Find whatever makes the clean sound you like best. You can fuzz it up later as much as you'd like.

2: Playability. Once sound is taken care of, you should be able to play it reasonably easily, unless, like many have said here and elsewhere, the sound is so good that fighting the guitar a bit is acceptable. It's also very "bluesy" and punk rock, if you get my drift. Edit: I should say "the sound you want."

3:Affordability. Once 1&2 are taken care of, worry about the price. OR, if you found something that meets the requirements of 1&2 at a garage sale or something, don't worry about it.


Lastly, as I'm sure everyone here is well aware of with all the "buy a cheap squire and mod it up" talk, don't forget that many famous, influential musicians have become famous and toured the world with cheaper guitars. Sometimes, downright beat-to-shit guitars.

[THEBEERHAMMER]

I dont understand why guitar makers no longer grasp the concept of small necks. When you tell someone youre looking for a small neck they immediately think you want a thin shredder neck. The problem with this is that thin shredder necks usually have wide nuts and fretboards...i cant fuck with that. I cant have my hand at complete 90 degree angles from my arm because my carpal tunnel will ride me hard if i do. What im looking for is a genuinely SMALL neck. That meaning one thats neither wide nor thick. Alot of guitar companies used to make these for what they called "student guitars". Hagstrom patterned their fendery stuff on this and to this day those are the best necks ive played.


I was flirting with G&l for a while and went to the local dealer to play some. They are all fantastic but i just cant get along with their necks. They were either absolutely gigantic bat necks, standard V types, and they had one thin carve but it was just shreddery and lacked definition. I think unless i find a gretsch that blows my skirt up for a price that i think is reasonable, the order will still go to motorave. Im not terribly stoked on them being really expensive or taking so long to finish but it may be worth it to have the maker close enough that i can drive up to the shop and inspect the neck while its still being built.

Theres no real reason for me to buy a cheap squier and mod it other than just to have another guitar lying around. There will still be shit about it i dont like and it would be nowhere near as good as my gibson.

[AxAxSxS]

Try a rick? they have small necks right?

[cheesecats]

Try a rick? they have small necks right?

people don't actually play rics, they obsess over them