www.shortscale.org

[Chorlton]

I'm asking this out of curiosity as my brother and I are building a guitar and I'm wondering what everyone considers a total must have in their axe. Switch in a certain position, bridge type, type of finish whatever. I think I need a flat radius and medium frets as I started playing classical way back when and it seems natural to me. Lemme know yours, I'd be interested.

[Nick]

Finish - thin is preferred. I like being able to wear something in.
Frets- anything smaller than medium jumbo.
Knobs and switches - easy to reach but not in the way.

Also prefer necks to have a unique feel-hence the reason everything from China feels like an epiphone.
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[Noirie.]

Bridge pickup, hardtail, kluson tuners. Mustang shaped with shortscale neck. Give a fuck about frets or radius.
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[laterallateral]

As much as I love the look of a bound guitar, I really have a hard time playing them without injuring my wrists.
Same with some thicker bodied slab designs. I need curves and shit.
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Last edited by laterallateral on Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:05 pm; edited 115,726 times in total

[speedfish]

[StevePirates]

Contours. I understand the history and appeal of the slab body, but man I gotta have some cut-outs.
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[Thomas]

Vintage slot tuners, contours, big headstock and controls out of the way of my strumming arc.

[71Smallbox]

[Thomas]

Shit, yeah. Vintage radius. How the hell could I forget that.

[robroe]

vintage radius, skinny frets, slot head tuners and a single coil.

im not picky
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[Protagonist]

Sadly I haven't played enough guitars to determine this.

I have pretty small hands though, which is why I really want a Mustang right now, but I've managed with a Jazzmaster for a while now.

[Dillon]

I've owned and enjoyed so many guitars over the years that I don't have many preferences anymore. Although, I haven't been a fan of the 7.25" radius and small frets for a long time. Also, in general, not many knobs / switches. On my Jag I never use the upper controls, though they don't look proper without them. Generally I prefer not to have more than one volume, one tone, though the typical Gibson setup is alright.

Of the guitars I own now, the two most played are a 2012 SG Standard with coil splits on both pickups, and a parts Jaguar. All of the ones that get played the most have the following:

- 9.5" or 12" radius
- Two pickups, single 3-way switch
- Humbucker in the bridge
- Body contours (tummy and shoulder cut, or in the case of the SG, beveled edges)
- Medium / medium thick necks, generally with a soft C profile, like not U shaped
- Medium (not jumbo) frets

In other words I like combining what I consider to be the best features of both Fender and Gibson. I used to think that I prefer the slightly wider nut width of Gibson / PRS necks...but my Jag has one of the most comfy necks of any guitar I've owned. And that one is an MIC Modern Player neck.

Oh and the less that a neck heel extends out past the joint, the better.

[NickD]

Fairly big neck, no particular preference when it comes to radius, I rest my hand on the bridge a lot so no floating trems/locking trems and no controls too close to the bridge (I'm looking at you Fender Strat)

I hardly have any guitars now, so its mainly R9 Les Paul or 64 Jazzmaster (both have fairly chunky necks) or occasionally the Coronado.

[paul_]

If it's a Fender, 7.25" radius, glossy neck. No preference on profile but nothing '80s-present specific if I can help it, the old Fenders nailed 'em all as nicely as anyone needs whereas some of those MIM Standards are like public school sports equipment.

If it's an SG I'd prefer a wraparound bridge and a neck position single coil involved. Ok I don't PREFER a wraparound, but all my coolest vintage Gibbos (and homemade Jrs) have them and I have a go-to replacement hardware set with locking studs and all that geeky shit.
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[Mad-Mike]

The hardest thing is for me to pinpoint one single thing I like across all guitars save for maybe a skinny neck (we're talking late 60's/early 70's A-width Fender skinny, or early 1980's Hondo/Odyssey Paul Dean skinny - the second is exactly 1" nut width!).

The best off the rack for me is the as-vintage Jaguar, it has lots of tonal variety, it plays well with distortion, it can get very distorted without getting too muddy, only takes a small amount of tweaks for me to set it up for my most aggressive playing needs, and the second runner up is the Jag-Stang with some wiring mods.

I'm a total pickup whore, I love variety, I love cheap stuff like the DiMarzio rip-offs from 80's Memphis guitars like the A-2TR and the 302HB fat strat, I love the Harmony H-802 pickups in the neck (cut-rate goldfoil-ish things if you get my drift), but I also love P-90's anywhere, strat pickups anywhere, Jag pickups anywhere, and I like active and passive pickups and see plusses and minuses in both types.

My favorite vibrato is a tie between the Jag/Jazzmaster unit and the Fender Dynamic found on the Mustang/Jag-Stang/Maverick/Custom/Maurauder/ and I think maybe the Coronado. I like the Dynamic more for the more extreme Floyd Rosey stuff, but I like the Jag/Jazzy for the more so-called "alternative" eccentric stuff. I like the feel of both of them, very smooth, and I don't need a bloody hex key to tune the darned thing.

as for paint and trim, I have color combos I like best, like pretty much any variant of Turquoise (Sonic Blue, Daphne Blue, Ocean Breeze, Robin's Egg, Sea Foam Green, Surf Green, Medical Green for examples) with black or pearloid or black pearloid, mixed with black or chrome hardware and black plastic, I love that mid 60's Mustang look. I also like natural and sunburst - they wear well since my stuff gets pretty beat up if I gig it a lot. I also love the blackguard butterscotch tele look on almost anything a lot.
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