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Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
I see your a big mahogany fan! I've built guitar necks, bodies, and high end furniture from everything from 300 year old Cuban. Brazilian, Honduras and then what a lot of companies now use in our guitar industry! Utile and Sapele. Saying this, a slow grown, quarter sawn Utile blank, is a very stable product to work with, and like you were saying earlier, would probably lend itself to a metal player tonally far more than Cuban would!
I tend to take a laid back view to it all, I understand and respect all the qualities of the tonewoods that I like to build with, but I'm equally as happy to add a beautiful top to a build which doesn't have a track record. I like my guitars to look timeless, and beautiful, designs that appeal to a larger audience and also ones that will suit different timber combos well. Those who are hell bent on exact specs and exact timbers, probably need to put that passion and determination into their playing, then the end product will sound beautiful anyway.
I strive to build guitars that are stable, and strong, as well as lookers, and they have had some intense field testing and withstood the onslaught! this is what real life guitarists seem to want, something that stays in tune, and one that can take a drop or two, and will bed in and mature as they play it. If taken care of properly, a naturally finished guitar will just keep getting better and better the more it's played, and fed.
Very interesting hearing your thoughts
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Thanks fella, that guitar wasnt overly heavy, but a nice weight. The neck was superb, Cuban that old is unrivalled by anything plantation grown, its wonderful to work with too, as you can imagine. I agree totally with all your other points. The neck profile and width play a huge part in comfort, and therefore overall enjoyably of the guitar.
And yes, the tone woods have far less influence on a solid body electric, compared to acoustics. It's as much the setup/rig, pups, strings, playing style ect that influence tone. I made a super strat for a chap a year ago, with two single coils. It was a sycamore/maple body, with flamed maple cap, flamed maple scalloped fretboard , and rock maple neck with carbon support. Most people would hate this, but the thing sounds rediculous. The diversity of tone that he gets from it, really does stick two fingers up to what a lot of people think.
So this is why I keep an open mind, and build what people want, rather than constantly feed them my opinion.
Regards
HCG
I totally get the flame being scrap thing- isn't falming caused by some form of structural defect or something? Is it wind stress? Can't recall.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
But.....I have use all kinds of rippled, figured, curly, tiger striped (call it what you will) timbers ranging from tulip/poplar all the way up to the most incredible pieces of flamed macassar ebony, and I've never had any issues with their structure or stability. Providing timbers you use are down to the correct moisture content, for where they will spend their life (within reason), and they are free from checks, cracks, splits, shakes ect and they are suitable for your application I.e quarter sawn for necks......you shouldn't have an issue. Saying this, all timbers are different, and different pieces react in different ways.
For a true test you need to use a freshly sharpened, finely set up surfacer, and skim both faces lightly, then allow the timber to stabilise in a suitable environment, with correct moisture levels, then re surface it once it has done all of its initial moving. Flatness and trueness can then be check with straight edges and winding sticks ect
And to the other guy, I'm sorry, I can't remember where I purchased that little saw, I remember it was a small independent UK luthier supplier though.
Regards
HCG
But if you took two equal sized bits of maple with equal density and comparable grain direction the flamed one would always be weaker and less stable.
Heavy quilt is totally unsuitable for necks for a reason... But that's the extreme end of this discussion and most flame is strucurally closer to straight grain than quilt
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HCG
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
companies, and their tolerances are very small, they get my vote.
Regards
HCG
On the beautiful timber front, here's a solid ripple sycamore abraxis 6, charcoal stain, polyester finish.
And a fine example of macassar ebony, with figuring, on an abraxis 6 again, and a mix of oils to finish. Casting back to the preferred materials for a metal guitarist, if natural beauty, high attack, and big sustain are on your list, a body compromising of these two, (limba body, could use a rich mahogany), really will take some beating.
Enjoy
HCG
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
Hand scalloped frets, using microplanes. These things produce an unrivaled finish prior to fine sanding.
HCG
As I said previously, we will be looking in the direction of designing and building our own custom multiscale at some stage this year, if there is the demand.
There are a few I've had to hand of late, that command upwards of £3000, and they just do not hit the spot when it comes to quality and level of detail/finish.
Whats your thoughts, positive or negative
HCG
A Harris multiscale would be high end, as all our instruments are, I will design a modern, tasteful body and then as with all our range, the customers will decide their build specs.
HCG