help with a few decisions

[Hexer]

ok, I'm planning to buy a custom guitar and there are a few things I'm unsure about:

1. PUs. most interesting are Seymour Duncan and EMG (thats what the company usually has in their guitars, but I think I could get different brands, too)
I'm going for a 2-humbucker setup. what I want as a neck-PU is mainly something that sounds good clean (very clear and "full" if that helps).
the bridge-PU should be something really heavy. I want something that has a really heavy but tight low end (so I can play those fast rythm-riffs with some "kick in the ass" but without sounding muddy) and really screams for solos. basicly a very clear but heavy sound.
I have a Dimarzio X2N in one of my other guitars and like it very much, but I dont really want the same PU in this guitar.

2. body-material. options are mahogany, alder, basswood and ash. can someone give me a short description of the characteristics of the different woods? especially sound-wise. if possible the wood should be something that fits with my ideas of a good sound (see 1.) any suggestions?
also: what effect will neck-material have? (options are mahogany and maple)

3. fret size. what exactly are the differences between "standard", "medium" and "extra jumbo"??? what effects will different fret-sizes have?

oh, and the company is RAN-guitars btw.

thanks in advance for any help

btw: i dont want to get that guitar NOW (no money for such things at the moment), I just want to have everything decided when I order later.

 

[Kenneth R.]

first off: fret size usually refers to width. a wider fret is stronger and wears down slower, but narrower frets are more accurately in tune since there's less contact with the strings. the majority of guitars made these days use extra jumbo, with classical and some vintage style models using standard and medium.

body materials and all materials really are effective in this way: they are transfer mediums. specifically, they conduct vibrations that the strings induce so that the whole guitar vibrates a little bit when the strings are hit. this helps the "sustain" or duration a note will ring for. if the whole thing vibrates, it reinforces the string's vibration and keeps it going. this vibration is transmitted by density. compression and rarifaction (expansion) of the material lets the wave flow through it. any loose joints can hinder this (dampen) the vibrations and lessen sustain and tone depth. you can affect this with-
neck joint style: a bolt on neck is easily replaced if it breaks, but gives the worst dampening due to the looseness of the bolts. a set neck gives better transmission, but the glue still dampens. finally, a neck-through setup gives the max sustain, but at the cost of if the neck breaks, its not replaceable.
body/neck materials: if the material is too open (not dense enough) there won't be enough material for the waves to push, so the transmission of the waves will weaken quickly and fade fast. conversely, if the material is too dense it can't be compressed easily and again, it will be dampened and fade away fast.
-thus, you're looking for a middle ground of dense wood but not too dense. also, when you play for a long period of time, weight can be a factor. don't want to break your back. for reference, maple is lighter than mahogany. basswood, alder, and ash are lighter still.

as for pickup advice, its VERY subjective. i'd advise going to those companies websites and listening to their soundclips, or go to a store and try a guitar using them. EMGs are active so they should sound roughly the same in any similar guitar, but duncans are passive, so take mind which wood and neck joint those guitars are using.

 

[Metal is Religion]

as for your bridge pickup, id recommend the Duncan Dimebucker. its got everything you described you wanted.

 

[Hexer]

as for neck joint style: its gonna be neck through.

Silent Song: thanks for all the info!
any recommendations for which wood would be best for me? and what neck-wood would you recommend? maple or mahogany?

Metal is Religion: that was what I thought too, the 2 PUs that seemed most interesting to me (from a first closer look at the hp) were the Dimebucker and the Invader (both for bridge-position). gotta listen to a few soundclips I think (I dont really have the possibility to test those PUs personally....)
the Invader is one of the PUs RAN usually offers in their guitars (TB-4, SH-8, TB-14, APH-1 as far as Duncan in bridge-position goes). I think I can get the Dimebucker, too (probably a little more expensive since its not in the "standard"-list)

any suggestions for a good neck-PU?? I dont really use my neck-PUs often, but I want to have the option to use it (especially for clean-stuff). "standard"-options for Duncan PUs in neck-position are: SH-1, SH-2, SH-8, APH-1


oh and heres another little question: as Tuning-Machines, they offer M6 Schaller or M6 Locking Schaller. the guitar will have a Floyd Rose, which type would be better?

and another thing (I know, theres much to learn for me ): as nut-width they offer 1 5/8" and 1 11/16" for 6-strings. as 1 5/8 is more than 1 11/16 I figured that 1 11/16 is the strat-type thing (where the neck gets narrower on the lower frets) and 1 5/8 are those where the neck more or less has the same width on all frets (I know, it still gets narrower on the lower frets, but not that much). is this correct?

 

[Hexer]

hmmm, no sound-files of the Dimebucker on the duncan-hp, its not even in the tone-chart.........
is there any other place where I can get more info about it?

 

[Kenneth R.]

with a tremolo you'd definitely want locking tuners, it'll help the guitar stay in tune more.

i like the duncan jazz neck hum, but thats my opinion.

for wood, my guitars are made of mahogany with maple necks, but thats a little on the heavy side. i like it this way though, because of the deep warm resonance.

again, i'd say its all up to you. i know this stuff because i too wanted a custom guitar, however i took the 'do it yourself' approach and built it from scratch materials and books. cost me about $1500.

 

[Hexer]

I know that its all about personal opinion, I just dont have the possibility to test the different stuff. what I wanted to know is: what do you think would fit with what I want?

what kind of sound does the duncan jazz have btw?

 

[Kenneth R.]

its a clean pickup, they have pretty good descriptions on their site.

SH-2 -- This pickup is for players who need an accurate, clear tone for fast jazz runs. The brighter sound has slightly less output and is a good match with most pickups.-official site

http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/products/humbuckersdescr.shtml#Jazz153Model

 

[Indiooo]

If you do get a Floyd in that guitar, you don't need the locking tuners. A Floyd without the locking nut is not of much use, if you ask me. So having the Floyd with the locking nut + locking tuners is redundant, as the strings are already locked at the nut.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i recommended it without the knowledge that he'd automatically get the nut with it. you're absolutely right, one or the other will do, but having a Floyd Rose with neither is asking for trouble

 

[Hexer]

thats what I thought, too but I wasnt shure. I'll take the locking nut then

about the PUs again: today I thought about it and tried to remember when was the last time I used my neck-PU. I came to the conclusion, that I hardly use it at all. so I thought maybe a single-humbucker setup with something like a Dimebucker would be just right for me...
I DO play a bit of clean-stuff, but so far I have played more or less all of it without switching to a different PU. most clean-parts I play are rather short song-sections that are in most cases followed by or in between distortion-parts and I think as long as the pickup is good enough to handle a bit of clean-playing I probably wont need a second one.
what do you think about that? I mean if i want to play songs with a lot of clean-stuff, I still can switch guitars for that songs, right?

 

[Indiooo]

It won't hurt having the neck pickup anyway, just in case. I sure couldn't get along with just the bridge pickup.

 

[Kenneth R.]

yeah, and a pickup designed to shred won't get quite the clarity that a seperate one would

 

[Hexer]

I found a page that explains A LITTLE about characteristics of different woods as guitar-body material.
Ash is described as mid-heavy and hard and providing a clean sustain with lots of attack
sounds pretty promising, do you think Ash would be a good choice for a metal-guitar?

 

[Kenneth R.]

ash works fine, in fact most hardwoods do. i'm just cautioning against something incredibly thick like plastic, or thin like balsa and some kinds of basswood/plywood

 

[Ironbird666]

Another thing I would like to point out is your style of playing may change over time as well. I used to disconnect the tone controls on my guitars because i never used them. I've now re-connected them all and I use it to help color my sound. You may not want a neck pickup at this time, but 2 or 3 years down the road you may change your mind. HAving the neck pickup won't make a difference in your sound anyway, even if you don't use the pickup its not a bad thing having it available. I find the neck pickup can be useful for solos that need to be more melodic and slow. It has a nice, fat, thick sound thats real nice and warm to contrast the aggressive, screaming bridge pickup. Just my opinion.

 

[Hexer]

thats right. I've decided to get a neck-PU anyway. when you think about it, it's better to have more options even if you dont need them all (as Ironbird666 said: maybe I WILL need them in the future)

about the wood again: I've had problems with screws loosening and coming out on one of my guitars that I blame the relatively soft wood for, so I think I should rather choose something relatively hard for this guitar as I want it to last a long time (this was another reason why Ash looked interesting to me). is this idea correct?

 

[Ironbird666]

Ash is a good tone wood, definitely a good choice. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe ash was the standard wood of vintage strats, but I may be wrong. The other guitar player in my band has a guitar made out of ash and it's a pretty solid instrument. Good luck with the final product man, should be pretty nice.

 

[Kenneth R.]

thats true. Ash is the original strat material.

 

[Indiooo]

I always thought it was alder... Maybe you're right. But yeah ash is one of the most common strat woods and it sounds pretty good, very balanced tone. Plus it looks great with a nice burst.