Major Breakthrough with my guitars

[motrock]

... at least I think so! LOL Every once in a while I sit here and try to figure out what it is that I don't like about my guitars. What is it that bugs the hell out of me, and how can I fix it? Well, for a while I have noticed that my Mahogany Strat and my Frankenstein are both not living up to my expectations. Hell, I have the best amps ever, and my guitars don't reflect what my amps are. So, last night I was on the phone with a good friend from Oklahoma and we brainstormed the shit out of all of this stuff. Not just EVH Tone, but great sounding guitar/amps, etc.

Here is the problem with my guitars:

When I play these guitars unplugged they sound like plastic. You heard it right... plastic. Not just plastic; hallow plastic. Now, I have spent a few years trying to rationalize why a guitar would sound like a cheap plastic instrument that you could buy in the toy isle of WalMart! LOL Ok, maybe I am going overboard, but you get the idea! LOL Now hear is where the light bulb went off. I went to a music store thats not to far from where I work. They have been around for 40 years. Well, I tried out many different guitars. 2 of them were the Charvel USA San Dimas series. I played an Ernie Ball Music Man, Paul Reed Smith, Epiphone Les Paul, and a PV something! Anyway, here we go.......

Light bulb number 1
I LOVE the Charvel USA San Dimas necks. They were perfect for me for a strat style guitar. The frets were perfect for me. I mean... awesome fucking perfect! There were short, fat, and smooth. What do they call these? 6100? I think someone told me at the store they are Gibson style frets? I don't really know. They were awesome. My figures were flying all over the neck faster then I have ever played guitar. I was bending notes and doing things that I CAN'T do on my guitars. One thing that I determined is that the strings being closer to the fretboard itself was key for me! It felt right. It felt good. Thats the first time in forever that I have been able to to feel this comfortable with a guitar neck.

Now, here is the next point. When I was jammin on all of these guitars, I noticed that the Ernie Ball resonated better. Same thing with the Paul Reed Smith. It was like I could actually feel the resonance of the whole guitar through my picking hand. Specifically when I was palm mutting. So I studied both of these guitars and I asked the question... why are these guitars so much more different then even the Charvel... as far as the body and resonance. So, last night my buddy Rick and I discussed this at length. I wanted to know why! Why is it that I noticed this much difference between guitars. Excluding the woods, there was a vast difference in engineering for both of these styles of guitars. Some aspect was totally changing everything. It could of been small, by a millimeter for all I knew. So, my PV Wolfgang is the same way. It feels a 1000% better then both my strats. Sure; its cheap ass basswood, but it felt better and resonated better. About 11pm last night I pieced it all together.

Light Bulb Number 2
I noticed that there was a pretty decent difference between the neck pockets on my Strats as compared to my Wolfgang. Meaning, the Strats have a shallow neck pocket, and the Wolfgang has a deeper neck pocket. When I noticed that, I was like... what are the Ernie Balls like? How about the EVH Wolfgangs. I went through many different photo's of the EBMM's and EVH Wolfgangs. Next thing I noticed was the Floyd Rose. On the EVH Wolfgang the Floyd is recessed in the body by a small amount. It occurred to me that the reason why I like the feel of the deeper neck pocket is because the strings are closer to the body. This goes right back to the string vibrations and how it resonates with the body.

My Frankensteins strings are approx 1/2in or more from the body. I measured the string height between the bridge pickup and the neck. My Mahogany Strat is a little less then a 1/2in from the body. The Mahogany Strat resonates better then the Frankenstein. The Wolfgang is much closer. I have not measure it yet. So, the deeper the neck pocket the more the resonance is my theory. The closer the strings are to the body, and the neck(I.E. the Charvel neck) the better the tone. Its almost like with a Shallow neck pocket, the neck and body are not resonating that well with one another. The deeper the neck pocket; it feels like the neck and body are one cohesive unit. Plus, I think the strings need to be closer to the body for maximum tone.

Well... what do you guys think? Is there any basis to what I am saying here? Am I correct about the neck pocket issue? Again, this is my observations and brainstorming. I could be loosing it here! LOL Maybe I am thinking to much and I need to get a good nights sleep! LOL

[dirtycooter]

I dunno man. I personally think the opposite about the whole thing in a way in my experience.
Key is this-find the guitar you get your own rocks off on and just go with it.
The wolf special pv is set up like a regular strat in the neck pocket regard-I like it better than my pv arch top standard wolf.
I like my warmoth super better than either of those.

Love the feel of bare maple necks. Yes.
like the graphite reinforced neck-keeps it from gettin moody with the climate and more consistent. Yes, but not an evh idea.
Certain neck contours-I got small hands. Like narrow nuts and small necks.

Frets?? Tall is all i care about. I find the new wolf really odd and weird feeling due to its micro frets.
Is intonation better on small frets? Yes, you can't get huge differences in just your finger pressure alone so you will be more consistent in that regard.

But the frank replica had 6100's-huge! Ed kicked us in the balls with that guitar.
Ed uses new evh wolf-still kickin us in the balls.

There is only so much you can try to be like Ed. He literally uses everything that he gets off on. Why don't we?? Cause he has used LP's, Explorers, strats, teles, steinbergers, Ebmm's, wolfs, kramers, charvels, flying V's..............its all just about gettin off on what you are using and thats it. Thats how i feel about it.

[motrock]

I dunno man. I personally think the opposite about the whole thing in a way in my experience.
Key is this-find the guitar you get your own rocks off on and just go with it.
The wolf special pv is set up like a regular strat in the neck pocket regard-I like it better than my pv arch top standard wolf.
I like my warmoth super better than either of those.

Love the feel of bare maple necks. Yes.
like the graphite reinforced neck-keeps it from gettin moody with the climate and more consistent. Yes, but not an evh idea.
Certain neck contours-I got small hands. Like narrow nuts and small necks.

Frets?? Tall is all i care about. I find the new wolf really odd and weird feeling due to its micro frets.
Is intonation better on small frets? Yes, you can't get huge differences in just your finger pressure alone so you will be more consistent in that regard.

But the frank replica had 6100's-huge! Ed kicked us in the balls with that guitar.
Ed uses new evh wolf-still kickin us in the balls.

There is only so much you can try to be like Ed. He literally uses everything that he gets off on. Why don't we?? Cause he has used LP's, Explorers, strats, teles, steinbergers, Ebmm's, wolfs, kramers, charvels, flying V's..............its all just about gettin off on what you are using and thats it. Thats how i feel about it.

This doesn't apply to specifically EVH, but in a way it does.. due to my Frank... but its also my purple tiger guitar. Then neck pocket is my issue! Shallow as opposed to deep neck pocket. I personally think the the deeper neck pocket is much better for tone. The distance of the strings from the body. The strings need to be closer to the body. With the strings 5/8in off the body, it sounds like the string are not resonating with the body. It makes the guitar sound hollow and plastic like... to me!

I have big hands and long fingers. I can handle baseball necks just fine! LOL I love frets that are flatter. I don't like them tall. The Charvel has flatter frets that are fatter.

[motrock]

So... did I kill this thread already? LOL

[markstullkc]

I have two charvel san dimas guitars and I gotta say (IMHO) pound for pound, $$$ considered, these are the best reasonably priced guitars out there.

I have owned:

2 different EVH wolfgangs from the late 90s (Do not dig the weird, chattery tone)

PRS swamp ash special. (tone was butter smooth, just did not like the playability. Felt it held me back)

Fender american strats with humbuckers. (pretty decent). The strat I have now is an american start with floyd and I put a lil 59 in the bridge. Sounds excellent with the right amp, not my plexi, more like a jcm2000 or jvm)

The Charvels need a little set up work, they are not good to go out of the case.

1st things first, block that floyd! big brass block upgrade and a tremolo stop, adjust springs, If I break a string, it does not go all screwy like a floating floyd. Light years better sustain. Intonation. I literally spent hours getting it just right, but well worth it. truss rod and bridge height adjusts as needed.

Ditch that shittttty JB in the bridge position. Made a cc/59 hybrid with alnico 5. Sounds really good. Excellent low string note definition. or, I have found the Dimarzio 36th anniversary PAF is nice. Most amps have more gain than you know what to do with. Do you really need a 14K pickup??? maybe yes, maybe no......

final touch, a genuine fender jazzmaster volume knob for excellent fine tuning tactile volume control.

My charvel literally feels like an extension of me. Do I wish the body was made of something better? sure, but the fit and finish is top notch, the tone is workable with the mods and of course a plexi.

[dirtycooter]

Again

Look at the original frank in reference to the neck pocket fit. Look at it. Its fricken horrible!!!

Still made tone for days-so thats not it. Believe it if you want-but there is your proof.

[cary chilton]

Motsie, I owned Beautiful musicman basswood, maple top, dark rosewood neck and acoustically it was the loudest, warmest guitat ever. But for rock, I like a tight bottom end, basswood blows. Cant touch mahogangy as in an SG, Les Paul My F100.or Ibanez JS1600 or maple body or ash

[motrock]

Motsie, I owned Beautiful musicman basswood, maple top, dark rosewood neck and acoustically it was the loudest, warmest guitat ever. But for rock, I like a tight bottom end, basswood blows. Cant touch mahogangy as in an SG, Les Paul My F100.or Ibanez JS1600 or maple body or ash

Well, I totally agree. But guess what..... I bought a Les Paul copy from WCR. Just waiting on my tax money to get here to collect. This will be my first Les Paul style guitar. I can't wait!

Here it is:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h147/ ... /FT271.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[motrock]

Again

Look at the original frank in reference to the neck pocket fit. Look at it. Its fricken horrible!!!

Still made tone for days-so thats not it. Believe it if you want-but there is your proof.

Oh, I totally agree! LOL I just don't like it. I have come to terms with the fact that I don't have to have my guitar just like Eddie's. That won't bother me. I will most likely keep my Frankie since my grandpa and I built it. I want to build something else that I like better!

[motrock]

I have two charvel san dimas guitars and I gotta say (IMHO) pound for pound, $$$ considered, these are the best reasonably priced guitars out there.

I have owned:

2 different EVH wolfgangs from the late 90s (Do not dig the weird, chattery tone)

PRS swamp ash special. (tone was butter smooth, just did not like the playability. Felt it held me back)

Fender american strats with humbuckers. (pretty decent). The strat I have now is an american start with floyd and I put a lil 59 in the bridge. Sounds excellent with the right amp, not my plexi, more like a jcm2000 or jvm)

The Charvels need a little set up work, they are not good to go out of the case.

1st things first, block that floyd! big brass block upgrade and a tremolo stop, adjust springs, If I break a string, it does not go all screwy like a floating floyd. Light years better sustain. Intonation. I literally spent hours getting it just right, but well worth it. truss rod and bridge height adjusts as needed.

Ditch that shittttty JB in the bridge position. Made a cc/59 hybrid with alnico 5. Sounds really good. Excellent low string note definition. or, I have found the Dimarzio 36th anniversary PAF is nice. Most amps have more gain than you know what to do with. Do you really need a 14K pickup??? maybe yes, maybe no......

final touch, a genuine fender jazzmaster volume knob for excellent fine tuning tactile volume control.

My charvel literally feels like an extension of me. Do I wish the body was made of something better? sure, but the fit and finish is top notch, the tone is workable with the mods and of course a plexi.

You know, I have seriously considered this. Excellent idea!

[Ted B]

Well... what do you guys think? Is there any basis to what I am saying here? Am I correct about the neck pocket issue? Again, this is my observations and brainstorming. I could be loosing it here! LOL Maybe I am thinking to much and I need to get a good nights sleep! LOL

I advise not getting too caught up in acoustical resonance. IIRC, in a recent highly cork-sniffed discussion on the Les Paul Forums, it was overwhelmingly agreed that acoustical resonance wasn't a very reliable means of picking a better sounding example when several identical models of guitar (Gibson Historic LPs) were played.

Then again, if there is something that is soaking string energy that shouldn't be, that is another matter. When it comes to those things that anchor the strings, such as the bridge and nut, anything that isn't secured well enough will sap string energy. And as you've guessed, anything in that neck joint that isn't absolutely tightened will dampen sound. And lastly, some modern metal hardware just doesn't sound very good (e.g. Asian-made Floyds vs. the original).

I have two charvel san dimas guitars and I gotta say (IMHO) pound for pound, $$$ considered, these are the best reasonably priced guitars out there.... The Charvels need a little set up work, they are not good to go out of the case.

I tend to agree about the value of current American-made Charvels when bought at street prices. That fact becomes more apparent when one attempts to construct something comparable. When one adds up all the nickels and dimes, cost of tools, etc., there isn't much saved (if any at all).

As for setups, virtually any new guitar could benefit from some extra setup attention. Gibson now uses a Plek to automate that process, and the improvement is noticeable.

[vanhalen5150]

I have a San Dimas. Best neck I've ever had. Yeah, dropkick that JB to the curb thats in them. Just doesnt work.

[motrock]

I have a San Dimas. Best neck I've ever had. Yeah, dropkick that JB to the curb thats in them. Just doesnt work.

Very cool! I need to find one of the San Dimas models used!