As 2018 rolls to a close, this post will attempt to capture what i consider to be the features of my 2018 "perfect guitar".
Tastes change year upon year, and what I consider to be perfect now will change in the future depending on what styles of music and guitar tone that I into at the time. It also changes as technology advances (even though guitar players in general are happy to live in the past). So I thought it would be good to record what I am looking for in a guitar at this point in time.
Control Layout
Volume knob close to picking hand a la Strat
Pickup selector on top (a la Les Paul) - I find that if it is placed Les Paul style it is less in the way of my playing whereas in the Strat it does sometimes get in the way of rhythm playing. I also don't like the placement of the typical PRS one (behind the bridge) - way too far. And definitely no rotary switches.
No preference as to where the tone knob is...as I don't really "ride" the tone pot all that much. I set and forget on the day/song.
Master volume and tone: fewer knobs = better. Yes, it takes away a blend option...so what? Yes, it takes away using your PU selector like a killswitch.....again, so what?
Bridge Join
No real preference here...I guess if i HAD to pick it would be bolt on. The reason would be that the maintenance is just easier. Not that I pop the neck out all the time...but I like having that option if I need to do it.
And to go further with that, if it was bolt on, I would prefer threaded bolts instead of wood screws with a plate...and contoured heels for better access.
Frets
Number of frets: 24 just makes sense. I would accept 22 as well since most guitar music these days is written for at least that in mind. 21 can be troublesome sometimes. I wanna be able to use the guitar I like for most songs...not be forced to swap to another guitar just because it doesn't have enough frets!
Stainless Steel: Just because it lasts longer and I don't really subscribe to the notion that it contributes a lot of difference in tone. I can hear a difference...but the brightness can be dealt with. The transient of the note I THINK changes a little but not enough to bother me. Certainly not enough to tip the scales from all the benefits of not having to maintain frets all the time (it gets old when you have more than 5 guitars).
Tall and skinny: Wide frets that are crowned well obviously serve the same functional purpose...but they do have a different feel to them and I'm sure a different sound. I've just gotten used to the vintage sized frets. I do like them tall though...I don't understand why anyone would get short frets...they'll become short over time anyway :) I guess there is definitely a different feel to shorter frets where you can feel a lot more of the fretboard, but I prefer tall.
Radius
I own a guitars with vintage curved radii, flatter radii and compound radii. Playing wise, I would say I have a preference for a more curved radius on the lower frets, but beyond that it doesn't bother me. That means that the only thing that I don't really like is a flat board all the way from nut to the last fret. Flat for me = anything > 14".
Maintenance and setup-wise, since I do mostly my own maintenance, I prefer a constant radius to a compound radius. I also prefer a slightly flatter radius than 7.25" only because I find that 7.25" guitars need more work to get them to play exceptionally well. 9.5" to 11" would be ideal for me as I think there's less skill involved in making them play well (and keeping them playing well).
Scale length
In an expression: 25.5" > scale length > 24.75"
I prefer the Strat scale length because of the tone it produces...especially in the open strings. Comfort wise I find the Les Paul scale length to be easier...although in the higher frets the inverse is true because it gets too narrow there. So somewhere in between would be good. PRS got it right!
Pickups
I love single coils...but they frustrate me in 2 areas:
Mid to high gain settings
Noise
So it would have to be humbuckers with a split coil function if I were to pick a preference. I must say that I have yet to own many other pickup types (noiseless singles, stacked humbuckers, p90s, filtertrons, active pickups, etc) so I still have a lot to learn in this area and my tastes will most likely change over time. I have played through a lot of the pickup types listed here but I've never owned them - I think there's a difference there. Really spending time in different situations with a pickup is when you get to form a real opinion on them.
Body type
Solidbody of course! Nah in all seriousness, I have yet to own a semi hollowbody so I don't really know if I would prefer that. Maybe something to explore in 2019, fingers crossed!
Body and Neck (and fretboard) Material
This is a hard one as
I don't have enough experience with all the different types of woods out there
My preference would change depending on other things such as pickup type and scale length
BUT given that this is just a silly post to record my opinions/preferences/prejudices...I'll just pick one based on the other preferences listed above...
Alder body
Maple neck
Rosewood fretboard
I own 3 guitars with maple necks so it's not like I don't like them...but I picked rosewood just from a maintenance point of view. If you need a refret, it's not difficult. They're not hard to keep clean and oiled and if you don't do it, you don't pay for it with a feeling of stickiness while playing. They're just simple.
Bridge type
At this point in time...6 point vintage tremolo. Maybe a few years back it would have been the TOM. Maybe by next year it'll be the wraparound...
Tuners and headstock
Locking or vintage strat types (where you feed the string into the centre of the tuner). I think the vintages are as good if not better than the locking ones on a strat style headstock where the headstock is parallel to the fretboard. I would only go locking for no other reason than it saves time when restringing.
I would also prefer guitars with straight string pull...like a Strat/Tele or a Music Man (my personal favourite headstock).
Staggered posts are cool and I would like to try them out but just have not had the chance to.
I prefer the Strat/Tele style headstock where it lies parallel to the neck, rather than angled like a Les Paul. I think it is a little trickier as you have to make sure that your break angle over the nut is correct, however I think having the headstock angled just makes the guitar way more fragile. I am a bit precious about my Les Pauls and I'm a lot more carefree with my tele and strats...that's the way it should be.
Nut
Bone. I've tried Graphtech Tusq now, so I'm allowed to have an opinion on it!
I think a well cut and maintained nut is essential to a good guitar because it very majorly affects:
Open string tone
Playability over the first few frets
Intonation
Tuning stability
I've shaped and cut my own nuts and when I first started out, I was bad at it. I'm still not great at it (luthiers get to practice this every week, you and I might do it once/twice a year? I try not to be too hard on myself) As a result, I got to experience all the issues of a badly cut nut. Believe me, a lot of tuning problems can be down to the nut and similarly a lot of playability/comfort issues also can be caused by that. So, a good nut can actually transform a guitar....not bad for a relatively cheap piece of equipment.
I'll stick with bone because it is relatively easy to work with, aesthetically pleasing (can be buffed to a shine, which I like) and is hard enough to last a while. Graphtech Tusq was really soft, and thus easy to work with however I don't think it will last as long as bone.