I Think I'm About to Do Something Stupid

Peen Simmons said:
Plan is working. Gears are spinning...

Current early considerations...

Ric 330 or 620. Reservations are the high gains and general Ric fiddlyness. Pros are sweet tones when it's right and I generally dig the playability.

G&L Custom Shop ASAT special. Reservations are some cosmetic quibbles and insane unimportant knowledge of overal market value. Pros...95% of preferred specs are available and quality will be killer. Don't necessarily trust my ability to manage spec selection.

Looking at boring and sensible stuff like PRS and Godin. Not sure if I can do it.

Will try a couple things from that Fender Pro Series. People are saying good stuff...but might be boring. Have to investigate...the Jaguar option is particularly appealing because I love the feel and sound of Fender short scales but hate the fiddlyness...which looks like Fender has taken steps to resolve.

Kicking around the idea of a Warmoth with all-time, all-time specs. All-rosewood neck. Chunky profile. Little frets. Shell pink or surf green t-format body with some kinda nifty jangle-focused pickup config. Again, investing tons in a vanity guitar with no real understanding of what sort of mess I might talk myself into.

Looking at various boutique DO YOU EVEN RELIC, BRO boner pill guitar options that might be doable. Gotta try some samples before I leave you jerks for greener pastures at TGP.

I think I'm going to have to go to CME and play one of everything before making any decisions.
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My main guitar was a Ric 620 for a few years.
Ric.jpg


I've owned 2 over the years and never saw any of the fiddlyness others mention. I'm not sure if the fiddlyness is just on the 330 and 360s but the 620 was solid. I got it setup by my guy once and never touched it again. I had practice 2 nights a week and gigged with it a few times a month and it was always solid. It was played so much, it was the only guitar I ever owned that I naturally relic'd. The bridge was rusty and I started to wear through the finish where I rested my arm. The pickups do way more than jangle too. Guy Picciotto's main guitar in Fugazi was a 330.
 
Given the options you're considering, I think spec-ing out a build is a good option. I would think you could get everything you want for less than $1K.
I like Ric's enough but I have no desire to own one. The G&L line is a solid choice as well. I know many here don't like PRS but I think they are pretty hot.
 
Tried a couple of the American Pro series instruments...tele and tele deluxe. Atrocious setups because Guitar Center. (I was driving by which is the only reason I stopped.) they were alright, but I'm not smitten. Pickups in both are rad. The necks still feel less than pleasantly chunky.

I suspect if this Ric obsession doesn't go as planned, I'll be custom ordering a G&L or taking Jelloman up on his offer.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Tried a couple of the American Pro series instruments...tele and tele deluxe. Atrocious setups because Guitar Center. (I was driving by which is the only reason I stopped.) they were alright, but I'm not smitten. Pickups in both are rad. The necks still feel less than pleasantly chunky.

I suspect if this Ric obsession doesn't go as planned, I'll be custom ordering a G&L or taking Jelloman up on his offer.
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I'm game...
 
Well, the stupid is over. Sold everything I needed to sell to get the ball rolling.

Now I gotta go shopping. Just got back from Paris...week is jammed...might be able to go do some taste testing at CME Friday night and get a sense of exactly what I want.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Well, the stupid is over. Sold everything I needed to sell to get the ball rolling.

Now I gotta go shopping. Just got back from Paris...week is jammed...might be able to go do some taste testing at CME Friday night and get a sense of exactly what I want.
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I wish we had something even remotely close to CME in the DC area. Have fun storming the castle.
 
Chad said:
I wish we had something even remotely close to CME in the DC area. Have fun storming the castle.
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It's a great place to go to figure out what you're looking for because they have one of everything. That said, a lot of their inventory is lawyer guitars and strats. Which is great if you're a collector or looking to drop big money on a Masterbuilt Relic Closet Shambala Stratomabob. But once you get over the wow factor, it's a guitar shop...their repair shop/techs do a decent enough job.

It can be a bitch to get a room to try something out. If you can't get one of the 5 little booths, then yr just stuck waiting. I've left with cash in hand and intent to buy thwarted because I didn't wanna feed the meter again and I couldn't get a room to quickly a/b two pedals.
 
@jelloman

Let's kick around some specs.

Looks like I'm going to have to go via Warmoth/similar or the G&L shop to get something I like from a playability/specs standpoint.

What would you imagine the damages might be on a shell pink swamp ash tele deluxe style build with two nice gold foils and a maple + rosewood board (vintage radius, vintage frets)? I guess we could compare/contrast stainless vs conventional frets. Hardtail strat type string through bridge.

I'm flexible on hardware in terms of brand...so long as it works and holds tune and looks decent.

Basically, I need to see where this route would line up financially vs. a G&L special order.

Both will be total depreciation machines...which could be good if I'm trying to cure the case of mystix fever I've apparently contracted over the last three years.

Edit: other spec-type preferences...no tummy cut, satin finish neck, 59 Roundback neck profile.
 
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Peen Simmons said:
@jelloman

Let's kick around some specs.

Looks like I'm going to have to go via Warmoth/similar or the G&L shop to get something I like from a playability/specs standpoint.

What would you imagine the damages might be on a shell pink swamp ash tele deluxe style build with two nice gold foils and a maple + rosewood board (vintage radius, vintage frets)? I guess we could compare/contrast stainless vs conventional frets. Hardtail strat type string through bridge.

I'm flexible on hardware in terms of brand...so long as it works and holds tune and looks decent.

Basically, I need to see where this route would line up financially vs. a G&L special order.

Both will be total depreciation machines...which could be good if I'm trying to cure the case of mystix fever I've apparently contracted over the last three years.
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Ok...I will work up some ideas and get back to you, probably saturday...
 
Peen Simmons said:
@jelloman

Let's kick around some specs.

Looks like I'm going to have to go via Warmoth/similar or the G&L shop to get something I like from a playability/specs standpoint.

What would you imagine the damages might be on a shell pink swamp ash tele deluxe style build with two nice gold foils and a maple + rosewood board (vintage radius, vintage frets)? I guess we could compare/contrast stainless vs conventional frets. Hardtail strat type string through bridge.

I'm flexible on hardware in terms of brand...so long as it works and holds tune and looks decent.

Basically, I need to see where this route would line up financially vs. a G&L special order.

Both will be total depreciation machines...which could be good if I'm trying to cure the case of mystix fever I've apparently contracted over the last three years.
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I think as long as you know what you want, Warmoth or a custom builder is the only way to get rid of mystix fever. I know it did it for me. I got my McFeely 3 or 4 years ago and the flipping has stopped. I built my 7/8 Warmoth Tele since then and built a guitar with a Fender Musicmaster body, which I ended up selling the body but am getting a new one for the neck. The body was just too jacked up. I am looking at building another Warmoth, either another 7/8 Tele or a 7/8 Strat with only a mini humbucker in the bridge. I was going to do a P-90 but thanks to @Guitar Heel 's thread with the reverb video, I really want a mini humbucker now.
 
Chad said:
I think as long as you know what you want, Warmoth or a custom builder is the only way to get rid of mystix fever. I know it did it for me. I got my McFeely 3 or 4 years ago and the flipping has stopped. I built my 7/8 Warmoth Tele since then and built a guitar with a Fender Musicmaster body, which I ended up selling the body but am getting a new one for the neck. The body was just too jacked up. I am looking at building another Warmoth, either another 7/8 Tele or a 7/8 Strat with only a mini humbucker in the bridge. I was going to do a P-90 but thanks to @Guitar Heel 's thread with the reverb video, I really want a mini humbucker now.
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I can see that. I am not a particularly picky player except I abhor fret buzz, rattles, needless noises. And from a comfort standpoint, I play a shitload of "rhythm guitar" type things. Sliding chord shapes up and down the neck. Little partial chord arpeggio parts. And play a lot of bass and acoustic so I have strong hands and a tough grip...so tall frets just kind of get in my way and cause intonation problems for me.

The guitar sound in my head is usually a single coil sound.

I've got an LP studio that I dig for big rock tones now that I've got the pickups adjusted to my liking. It's just not an every down player.

Minibuckers and Filtertrons drive me bonkers. They sound good one day and then shit the next. I've had guitars with both and they're just not for me.
 
Peen Simmons said:
I can see that. I am not a particularly picky player except I abhor fret buzz, rattles, needless noises. And from a comfort standpoint, I play a shitload of "rhythm guitar" type things. Sliding chord shapes up and down the neck. Little partial chord arpeggio parts. And play a lot of bass and acoustic so I have strong hands and a tough grip...so tall frets just kind of get in my way and cause intonation problems for me.

The guitar sound in my head is usually a single coil sound.

I've got an LP studio that I dig for big rock tones now that I've got the pickups adjusted to my liking. It's just not an every down player.

Minibuckers and Filtertrons drive me bonkers. They sound good one day and then shit the next. I've had guitars with both and they're just not for me.
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I've never had mini buckers. I tend to use single coils, my McFeely has jaguar pickups, my tele has a tele pickup and my build in process will have a jazzmaster pickup in it. So I will have my 3 favorite pickups already. I love Filtertrons, but if I really need that sound for something, I'll borrow my dad's Gretsch. I was going to go p-90, but I really loved the mini sound in that video. The Duncan antiquity minis mount inside a p-90 ring, so if I don't like the mini, I can pop in a p-90.
 
We all go through the thinning the herd routine. I know for me that is only selling one meanwhile adding 3 :shrug:
 
Peen Simmons said:
Rad
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Also, try and tell me what kind of "feel" you're looking for...what kind of neck profile works best for you, fat thin, or in between? Do you want the body to be comfort contoured? Do you want a warm or a bright tone? Do you like a higher or faster action? What kind of strings do you use, and what guage? Fender scale, or do you want it a bit shorter?
 
I tend to like a vintagey feel. I'm kind of a goldilocks on neck profile. Not thin, but not insane baseball bat stuff. On the chunky side of typical/vanilla. Deep C or a soft V or U. Handsize-wise, I have a big square hand with average size fingers. The MIM Fender Classic Series stuff generally feels good.

No contours. I like my teles. to be slabby.

Looking for a bright, clear tone. Lots of note definition. Clarity. Piano-like. Fast decay or lowish sustain is alright.

I usually play 11s or 12s with a wound G. Standard Roundwounds. Occasionally I'll mix things up and go with an all nickel string or even flats. I tend to like a medium to high medium action with a little bit of resistance. Most of my playing is chordal or partial chord shapes moving around the neck. My single note/lead stuff tends to be slower and very much in a old school vein. I don't shred. Full Fender scale length.
 
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Peen Simmons said:
I tend to like a vintagey feel. I'm kind of a goldilocks on neck profile. Not thin, but not insane baseball bat stuff. On the chunky side of typical/vanilla. Deep C or a soft V or U. Handsize-wise, I have a big square hand with average size fingers. The MIM Fender Classic Series stuff generally feels good.

No contours. I like my teles. to be slabby.

Looking for a bright, clear tone. Lots of note definition. Clarity. Piano-like. Fast decay or lowish sustain is alright.

I usually play 11s or 12s with a wound G. Standard Roundwounds. Occasionally I'll mix things up and go with an all nickel string or even flats. I tend to like a medium to high medium action with a little bit of resistance. Most of my playing is chordal or partial chord shapes moving around the neck. My single note/lead stuff tends to be slower and very much in a old school vein. I don't shred. Full Fender scale length.
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A Warmoth neck with the Clapton profile sounds like a good idea imo. Thicker than the modern C, and with a soft V to it.
 
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