Front Routes vs Rear Routes

[mike570]

Preventing thread derailment....

Sound differences? Preferences? Preferences fir different styles of music?
Discuss.

[ME.]

Hard to stay serieus....but I like them both. Look wise some guitars just need to be rear routed. Like guitars with a nice maple top. So it depends on the guitar.

The only time I really prefer rear routed is when I want to change pickups or pots or something. It's just easier on rear routed guitars.

Colin

[nosi0]

I agree that visually rear routed looks far better.

as for modifying the electronics i find that a strat style guitar is far easier. just disconnect the input jack and the bridge ground and you can take the whole pick-guard to your soldering station.

[70Seven]

I have no clue if this is a correct statement but I read this somewhere, just don't flame me if I'm totaly off on this.

I read that when pickups are rear mounted (to the body) the pickups captures more of the woods tone. When pickups are routed to the pickguard the tone is more dictated from the pickups, yes the guitars woods plays a factor to the tone to, but less.

This true?

[Ayrton]

A guitar with a pickguard, one with pickup rings and one with direct mount will have subtle differences in sound. However, this could be attributed to the three different guitars as much as the different pup mounting.

One is not better than the other, just different. No reason to concern oneself about it over the entire guitar.

[RG1820X]

I prefer rear routes for rewiring purposes and flame maple tops but that is about it. I also love my front routed JEM and UV.

[Clonetool]

Tough call my DY Jem is king but I couldnt do a cool fabric on a front route.

[Lucas Fagundes]

It's personal preference cosmetically speaking. I just don't like mounting rings at all, all rear routed guitars look better without them, IMO. Kinda reminds me of braces somehow.

Also, you could have a RR guitar with a pickguard and even mount the pickups in it. So you can have a RR with the looks of a FR...

Another thing is that all guitars without direct-mounted PUs that I've played get a lot more feedback. Maybe because there's more air around the pickups? Semi-hollow and hollow body guitars do that as well (only in a bad way IMO hehehe...).

I've also heard there is a sound difference concerning pickguard material. Dunno how true is that, since I've never tested it.

[-Rhaab]

If I could make a custom guitar I prefer pickguard, but I would still get it rear routed (like Vai's Flo2).
I prefer rear route just because its more convenient if you wanted to change pickups or electronics. If its front routed you'd have to take off or replace strings because you have to take the whole pickguard out.