"Custom" guitars

[RAI6]

Hello, y'all!

I was wondering what you guys think....
If you were to order a custom guitar, what would the basic features be?

What type of woods (body and neck/fretboard), hardtail or "Floyd", front or rear routed, what brand pickups, and Buzz Feiten: Yes or no...

I'm just trying to establish the most common "features" that everybody is looking for....the foundation for your extravagant inlays and swirl paintjobs!!!!!!!!

So, let me know what you always look for....

RAI

(Moderators: move this to where it should be, if not here.....)

[Rich2004]

My Custom guitar would have to be a AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA flamed top(the best i could find ) in a trans black burst finish with either gold or black hardware and itd have at least 7 necks (imagine the piece of wood id have to get for this if it was a one piece lol itd have to be a giant redwood lol)
1-6 string down tuned to d
2-6 string kahler
3-12 string
4-6 string with floyd
5-4 string bass
6-7 string hardtail bridge
7-6 string hardtail bridge
id have various pick up configs on the dif necks
one would be a h-h-h and one a h-s-h w/ coil taps
prod a dif inlay on each neck maybe a tribal design on the floyd neck and a dragon inlay on the down tuned neck flames inlayed on the kahler neck ETC
and id have a bunch of features on it

Rich

[Max Payne]

You know what it's like when you save up all month and sidle over to the nearby store only to find that they don't stock your favourite skateboard anymore ? Well that's the same way I felt when Ibanez stopped producing those heavenly John Petrucci models and the second hand ones were way beyond my price range. Ah but that's where custom guitars come in ! I love the sound John used to get on the early Dream theater records so I'd stick with the Air Norton and Steve's Special for the neck and bridge positions. Basswood for the body is fine and a maple fretboard would do. I'd have them scoop some wood out from behind the bridge so that I could use an Edge to weave some Steve Vai magic ! Lastly I saw a really fascinating Caparison guitar with 27 frets once and I'd like the same number for my axe, to make shredding easier and to give me a little bit more range than with the regular 24 fret models. Of course I'm still daydreaming about all this and the setup might change drastically but for now, this custom guitar would be a dream come true !

[Bogus]

My dream guitar is probably not going to be very desirable to others.

Body: Fender Duo Sonic/Musicmaster style made of alder.
Neck: Strat neck, full scale, big headstock..... maple fret board/locking tuners.
Bridge: Chrome Bigsby/tune-o-matic.
Bridge pup:undecided... most likely a S.D Hum of some sort.
Neck pup: Pre CBS Strat.
Body colorlympic white
Pickgaurd: red tortoise shell.
I would have two toggel switches on the guitar.
a 3 way switch for the hum... and a 1 way switch for the Single.

[mecca777]

I think if I was going to order a custom guitar, I'd go for the JamMaster that I threw together in Photoshop yesterday:

Alder Jazzmaster body
Maple neck-through with 22-fret ebony fretboard
"Five dot" inlay at 12th fret
25.5" scale length
Reversed headstock
Fixed-intonation stop tailpiece (PRS style)
Custom-ordered "Jazzbucker" pickups x3
Master volume, master tone, five-way switch, series/parallel/split toggle
Metallic Purple finish with "Adidas" stripe in tribute to Jam-Master Jay

The pickups are twin-coil high-output Jazzmaster units; the three-way switch selects between series mode for traditional humbucker sounds, parallel mode for a hum-free P90-meets-Jazzmaster tone, or coil-split for traditional Jazzmaster sounds.

Or perhaps this Funxplorer:

Mahogany "Twisted Explorer" body
Mahogany set-neck with 22-fret rosewood fretboard
Trapezoid inlays
24.75" scale length
Reversed headstock
Tune-o-Matic bridge
Covered humbuckers x2
Individual volumes, master tone, three-way switch
Stone Wash Blue finish with cream binding

Bogus, I like the sound of your custom, especially the Olympic White/Tortoiseshell colour scheme, but what's a "one-way" switch?

[Bogus]

whoops.... I meant 2 way switch.

[guitarkatana]

Here it go:
7 string
RG style Alder body(more contoured and sexy looking)
Maple neck through body
Prs style headstock
25.5 inch scale
24 jumbo frets
Ebony fretboard
No inlays except for a Katana at the 12th fret
Black finish for body and neck
Black or gold hardware
Lo Profile locking trem bridge and nut
Piezo Pickup
Duncan JB7 pickup in bridge(No neck PU)
single volume and tone knobs (moved away for picking hand area

[Two hands31]

Here goes, try to follow along:

7-string
Transperformance Self-Tuning Bridge (yes, I know they don't exist in 7-string format...yet )
H-S-H setup (not sure what pickups yet)
Basswood or Mahogony body
Maple XL neck (like my Schecter's neck, but XL, feels great)
Rosewood fretboard
24-frets
RG-body style
Trans-black/blue burst to my design

Wiring:
3-way for neck and bridge
on/off for middle
on/off for neck/bridge
coil taps for neck
coil taps for bridge
overall volume
neck tone

[guitarkatana]

Another creation of my mind.
7 string maple neck through Flamed Maple body
24 fret, 25.5 scale
RG style body(more contoured and sexy looking etc.)
PRS style headstock
Ebony Board
Duncan JB7 bridge and Jazz7 neck
3-way switch
single volume and tone knobs
clear finish on body and neck
no inlays except dragons head at 12th fret
black hardware
locking trem bridge without fine tuners
graphite nut with zero fret

[Two hands31]

Originally Posted by guitarkatana

locking trem bridge without fine tuners
graphite nut with zero fret

What's the point of a locking bridge without fine tuners or a locking nut?

[Toolhead]

Seven string 27" scale
Body: Mahogany
Body shape: Like a Schecter Tempest, with a bigger cutaway, for 24 frets, perhaps more elongated. I don't know how it would work... Definitely carved top though.
Neck: Maple, a little thicker than a wizard, 24 Frets
Fretboard: Ebony
Construction: Neck-Thru, no heel
Finish: (Deep) grey black flamed maple top, black finish on back.
Bridge: Not sure, floyd would probably take from finish.
Pickups: Not sure, maybe Duncan Custom or JB with a '59, and a piezo, since this is a dream guitar.
Not sure if this would work out but I might want to get some of those "roller" knobs like on Maverick guitars, and I'd want a five way switch..
For inlays, I'd want an eye at the twelfth fret.

[DoctorCrunch]

Mine would be a long-scale 7-string. Here'goes:

Body
similar to an ESP Hybrid - Tele with an upper horn cut out, wider, with a contoured back and arm-rest, rear-routed, creme binding on top.
Wood
swamp ash
Finish
blood-stain-burst (it's in my head, but I can't describe it.) thin satin finish.
Neck
like Wizard XL 7-string, but mahogany, set-neck construction, satin finish, black 4+3 headstock.
Fretboard
ebony, medium-jumbo frets, creme binding, square end, trapezoid MOP inlays.
Bridge
Lo-Pro Edge
Hardware
pewter
Electronics
zebra Evolution 7 bridge and Air Norton 7 neck, directly mounted, creme coils facing each other. single master-volume, 3-way pickup selector (selects 2 coils at a time: 2 bridge; 1 bridge, 1 neck; 2 neck) and Jaguar-style switch plate wired to allow series/parallel connection, a preset tone control, and "lead" switch for all coils in series.

[Ving]

My custom guitar was ordered a few months ago...it should be with me in the next week or so. I'll post pics / spec when I get it

[Globbits]

mahogany bass body wing
Alder treble body wing
spruce thru neck
Bridge Bill Lawrence XL-900,
Neck SD 59,
volume blender knobs for each,
no pickup selector,
24 fret,
scalloped 10-24,
locking tuners
graphite nut,
string thru body,
split headstock- both E's longest length behind nut.
Rawk!

[guitarkatana]

Very interesting guitar there Globbits. That would be neat to see/hear.

Twohands-I don't know. I like both old style trems and modern locking systems. Just to combine the both. Some people argue that guitars sound better without locking nuts. That's one of the reasons John Petrucci moved to a non-floyd system. Other people don't give a darn. I can hear the differences, but it doesn't bother me.