Customized Guitars: WHY?

[30secondstoluigi]

So here's the question:

Why do you want to get a Custom Guitar instead of buying the real deal?


- Is it because of the wood you want to use?
- Is it because you want to make your own design?
- Is it because you can't get the sound you want from a branded guitar?


Please post your reasons. I'm really confused. Thank you!

[analog.matt]

Custom Guitars = Real Deal 

when you want or need something that popular brands do not offer in all of their product lines?

or if you have something that's not in the market yet? (invention/innovation)

or if you want, say a Max Baranet Les Paul because you find that Gibson's '59 LPs RI/ Replicas are not 100% true to vintage specs?

[30secondstoluigi]

You haven't answered my question. You can say all you want but I want answers. You just asked three more questions there. It's like you just rephrased my thread.


C'mon, I want your answers.

[bryanarzaga]

So here's the question:

Why do you want to get a Custom Guitar instead of buying the real deal?
-experiment

- Is it because of the wood you want to use? yes combination of this and that
- Is it because you want to make your own design? augment, and no its not for profit
- Is it because you can't get the sound you want from a branded guitar? "what is a sound of a branded guitar?" so if your blind folded and i were to play something will you be able to say "hey thats a ____ guitar"

-talking to my brain..is it because of colors (Definitely YES!)

Please post your reasons. I'm really confused. Thank you!
 -more likely curious

[dudeofdude]

branded guitars, even with how good it can be from the factory, we all still have personal tastes and we all want to achieve that "TONE", by changing the pups etc, hence the term GAS. with custom guitars, we could be closer to that specific tone by choosing our own wood combination, bridge system, hardware design/material, neck scale and other specs.

[30secondstoluigi]

branded guitars, even with how good it can be from the factory, we all still have personal tastes and we all want to achieve that "TONE", by changing the pups etc, hence the term GAS. with custom guitars, we could be closer to that specific tone by choosing our own wood combination, bridge system, hardware design/material, neck scale and other specs.

Thank you bro! You're very helpful.

[inkslingerx]

the word itself answers the question.. customized... you have one made for your specific need/want/taste because you just couldnt find what your looking for on mass produced guitars.. it is a reflection of your playing IMO.

[turiguiliano]

preference....observe...(no, i am not an endorser of elegee, that's just my friend's bass on the right near completion)



and this (no, I have no idea who owns the one in the middle):

[fzeppelin]

Branded guitars are good but not perfect. They have design flaws that go uncorrected and if you know what those are you would want to make your own design based on the original and eliminating all those design flaws. Im a fan of a Les Paul but it needs a lot of improvement so had one custom made after i made my own design:
1. The set neck construction and craftsmanship of a Les Paul is many times inferior to a bolted construction but manufacturing-wise it is cheaper for them to produce. So in my custom guitar its gonna be bolted or a neck through body.
2. Les Pauls are 22 frets yet many of your favorite rock leads go 2 more frets than that so you will want it 24 frets. Besides scientific data show that the neck pickup is right smack on the dead spot on a factory LP making the rhythm muddy. By having the scale to 25" and 24 frets all these problems will be totally eliminated (listen to a PRS).
3. Although branded guitars are expensive most of their installed hardwares or finishings are not, like plastic inlays and nut, cheap fret wires, China made electronics etc. In a custom you can buy all the high quality parts that you can afford and you can be sure that theres no cheap plastic on your guitar whats more the nut and the saddles can be graphite.
4. You are actually paying 70 percent of your money to the brand name the 30 percent is the real price of the guitar ( I may be wrong but there is truth to this) If you go for custom you get 100 satisfaction. Money well spent besides you can put your name on the headstock instead of a name of somebody who doesnt give a damn on you.
5. Brian May made his own guitar literally, Page and Slash dont use factory Gibsons their LPs are custom ghost-made by other people. You may want to read that on their websites.
Note: To all fans of LPs Im with you so pls dont be offended. My message is clear "Mistakes can be corrected" so thats why I'll go for a custom guitar

[blackdogg]

dont be confused bro
its really down to personal preference.and a whole lot of other reasons..
most (including me) plainly dont like or got bored with their current guitars that they want to customize it( repaint, pups/electronics..etc)
some more experienced players would have a guitar built accdg to their specs and what-not so the guitar would "fit" them..
..some just want to restore old guitars, and customize to their liking

[bryanarzaga]

1. The set neck construction and craftsmanship of a Les Paul is many times inferior to a bolted construction but manufacturing-wise it is cheaper for them to produce. So in my custom guitar its gonna be bolted or a neck through body.(just les pauls or is this implying all set necks?)


2. Les Pauls are 22 frets yet many of your favorite rock leads go 2 more frets than that so you will want it 24 frets. Besides scientific data show that the neck pickup is right smack on the dead spot on a factory LP making the rhythm muddy. By having the scale to 25" and 24 frets all these problems will be totally eliminated (listen to a PRS).(how about the Custom 22, those are 22 frets)


3. Although branded guitars are expensive most of their installed hardwares or finishings are not, like plastic inlays and nut, cheap fret wires, China made electronics etc. In a custom you can buy all the high quality parts that you can afford and you can be sure that theres no cheap plastic on your guitar whats more the nut and the saddles can be graphite.(PRS thats branded..must have cheap parts from china? , china made electronics.. ) 


4. You are actually paying 70 percent of your money to the brand name the 30 percent is the real price of the guitar ( I may be wrong but there is truth to this) If you go for custom you get 100 satisfaction. Money well spent besides you can put your name on the headstock instead of a name of somebody who doesnt give a damn on you. (strong words)


5. Brian May made his own guitar literally, Page and Slash dont use factory Gibsons their LPs are custom ghost-made by other people. You may want to read that on their websites.
Note: To all fans of LPs Im with you so pls dont be offended. My message is clear "Mistakes can be corrected" so thats why I'll go for a custom guitar(targeted to LP users )

[skrumian]

i hate the placement of volume knob in the strat. the vol knob is directly below the bridge pups so most of the time, i accidentally tap it. i would prefer the volume know to be somewhere below the bridge itself.

[bryanarzaga]

i hate the placement of volume knob in the strat. the vol knob is directly below the bridge pups so most of the time, i accidentally tap it. i would prefer the volume know to be somewhere below the bridge itself.

happens to me too, 

[am i clear?]

Trend.

Everyone wants to have their signature Strat.

[bryanarzaga]

Trend.

Everyone wants to have their signature Strat.

and a fixed one too, no pun intended

hows yours?

[vhunter]

First off sorry for the caps.. i dunno how to do the multiple quote boxes. Im not shouting. Just trying to differentiate my response.

Branded guitars are good but not perfect. They have design flaws that go uncorrected and if you know what those are you would want to make your own design based on the original and eliminating all those design flaws. Im a fan of a Les Paul but it needs a lot of improvement so had one custom made after i made my own design:
1. The set neck construction and craftsmanship of a Les Paul is many times inferior to a bolted construction but manufacturing-wise it is cheaper for them to produce. So in my custom guitar its gonna be bolted or a neck through body.

THATS YOUR OPINION... AND OPINIONS ARE LIKE....

ALSO THERE ARE MANY TONAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SET NECK, BOLTED AND NECK THRU. YOU CAN LIKE RED OR BLUE, BUT NEITHER COLOR IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER

2. Les Pauls are 22 frets yet many of your favorite rock leads go 2 more frets than that so you will want it 24 frets. Besides scientific data show that the neck pickup is right smack on the dead spot on a factory LP making the rhythm muddy. By having the scale to 25" and 24 frets all these problems will be totally eliminated (listen to a PRS).

PRS HAS 22 FRETS. SHOW ME THE SCIENTIFIC DATA. AGAIN ITS BACK TO YOU CAN LIKE RED OR BLUE, NEITHER IS BETTER.

3. Although branded guitars are expensive most of their installed hardwares or finishings are not, like plastic inlays and nut, cheap fret wires, China made electronics etc. In a custom you can buy all the high quality parts that you can afford and you can be sure that theres no cheap plastic on your guitar whats more the nut and the saddles can be graphite.

PLASTIC OK I AGREE WITH YOU SOMETIMES, BUT FENDER HAS SOME VERY HIGH END PLASTIC REPOS ESPECIALLY IN THEIR RELIC SERIES. NOT CHEAP CHINA STUFF. ELECTRONICS, IT DEPENDS. SOME BRANDED GUITARS HAVE CTS POTS AND BUMBLEBEE CAPS, VITAMIN Q CAPS LIKE THE FENDER AND GIBSON HIGH END STUFF.

4. You are actually paying 70 percent of your money to the brand name the 30 percent is the real price of the guitar ( I may be wrong but there is truth to this) If you go for custom you get 100 satisfaction. Money well spent besides you can put your name on the headstock instead of a name of somebody who doesnt give a damn on you.

YOUR STATMENT ASSUMES A CUSTOM GUITAR IS CHEAPER THAN A BRANDED ONE. I BUY GUITARS MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN LES PAULS AND THEY ARE NOT BRANDED (THEY ARE CUSTOMS). ITS ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU VALUE SOMEONES CRAFTSMANSHIP. ITS NOT THE BRAND - SO ILL JUST SAY.. YOU HAVE A POINT BUT ITS NOT 100% TRUE. HASTY GENERALIZATION.

5. Brian May made his own guitar literally, Page and Slash dont use factory Gibsons their LPs are custom ghost-made by other people. You may want to read that on their websites.
Note: To all fans of LPs Im with you so pls dont be offended. My message is clear "Mistakes can be corrected" so thats why I'll go for a custom guitar

PAGE USES A FACTORY MADE GIBSON. ONE THAT WAS MADE IN 1959 SO YOUR WRONG ON THAT.

SLASH'S PAULS WERE NOT CUSTOM MADE FOR HIM. HE PURCHASED THEM AND THEY HAPPEND TO BE REPLICAS BECAUSE GIBSON WERENT PRODUCING LES PAULS THOSE YEARS. RECENTLY A  SLASH SIGNATURE INSPIRED BY WAS PRODUCED BY THE GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP AND IT IS A REPLICA OF A 1988 LES PAUL STANDARD. YES A NORMAL ONE NOTHING CUSTOM ABOUT IT OTHER THAN HE CHANGED THE PICKUPS TO SD ALNICO II. NOTHING CUSTOM ABOUT HIS STUFF.

Hahah.. you are lost bro. But I understand what your saying. Basically, you dont want a les paul. Nothing wrong with that.. but the les paul was perfect for les paul and other People. Youre not better nor is your specs. Its just what suits you. Im not saying your lesser than me.. just that were different and you cant say i suck. Hahaha

I think your design is not something i would want to play .. . so its imperfect to me.

[PRSMan]

In general, people have stuff custom built because they are looking for specifications they can't get with production guitars.

In developing economies, people have stuff custom built in an attempt to get something for less.

IMO -- majority of PM member are getting caught up in the custom "craze".  I see a lot of designs and specs that I am not sure are well thought of.  Parang bara-bara na lang or trip-trip lang.  The builders may be good, but kung pilitin niyong gumawa ng kung ano-anong specs, eh talo kayo.  Listen to the builder.  That's what they're there for.

[skrumian]

Branded guitars are good but not perfect. They have design flaws that go uncorrected and if you know what those are you would want to make your own design based on the original and eliminating all those design flaws. Im a fan of a Les Paul but it needs a lot of improvement so had one custom made after i made my own design:
1. The set neck construction and craftsmanship of a Les Paul is many times inferior to a bolted construction but manufacturing-wise it is cheaper for them to produce. So in my custom guitar its gonna be bolted or a neck through body.
2. Les Pauls are 22 frets yet many of your favorite rock leads go 2 more frets than that so you will want it 24 frets. Besides scientific data show that the neck pickup is right smack on the dead spot on a factory LP making the rhythm muddy. By having the scale to 25" and 24 frets all these problems will be totally eliminated (listen to a PRS).
3. Although branded guitars are expensive most of their installed hardwares or finishings are not, like plastic inlays and nut, cheap fret wires, China made electronics etc. In a custom you can buy all the high quality parts that you can afford and you can be sure that theres no cheap plastic on your guitar whats more the nut and the saddles can be graphite.
4. You are actually paying 70 percent of your money to the brand name the 30 percent is the real price of the guitar ( I may be wrong but there is truth to this) If you go for custom you get 100 satisfaction. Money well spent besides you can put your name on the headstock instead of a name of somebody who doesnt give a damn on you.
5. Brian May made his own guitar literally, Page and Slash dont use factory Gibsons their LPs are custom ghost-made by other people. You may want to read that on their websites.
Note: To all fans of LPs Im with you so pls dont be offended. My message is clear "Mistakes can be corrected" so thats why I'll go for a custom guitar

Ed Roman, kaw ba yan? hehehehe. But seriously, totoo ba yung claim number 2 about dead spots? I have very less experience sa les paul type guitars. I'm a 25.5 guy.

[icemuzic]

sometimes you can see the personality of the person through his guitar..others focus on the creativity and designs, others prefer the tone..

stock guitars have good stuffs in it but not all,it is designed to be just in the middle..
every guitarist have their our type of tones, and it depends on the genre.. thats why we are able to upgrade things on our own to suit our desires..

as for me probably i'll get a custom guitar that suits my tone, my guitar would be different from others..the quality and also its design..(my opinion)

[skrumian]

Branded guitars are good but not perfect. They have design flaws that go uncorrected and if you know what those are you would want to make your own design based on the original and eliminating all those design flaws. Im a fan of a Les Paul but it needs a lot of improvement so had one custom made after i made my own design:
1. The set neck construction and craftsmanship of a Les Paul is many times inferior to a bolted construction but manufacturing-wise it is cheaper for them to produce. So in my custom guitar its gonna be bolted or a neck through body.
2. Les Pauls are 22 frets yet many of your favorite rock leads go 2 more frets than that so you will want it 24 frets. Besides scientific data show that the neck pickup is right smack on the dead spot on a factory LP making the rhythm muddy. By having the scale to 25" and 24 frets all these problems will be totally eliminated (listen to a PRS).
3. Although branded guitars are expensive most of their installed hardwares or finishings are not, like plastic inlays and nut, cheap fret wires, China made electronics etc. In a custom you can buy all the high quality parts that you can afford and you can be sure that theres no cheap plastic on your guitar whats more the nut and the saddles can be graphite.
4. You are actually paying 70 percent of your money to the brand name the 30 percent is the real price of the guitar ( I may be wrong but there is truth to this) If you go for custom you get 100 satisfaction. Money well spent besides you can put your name on the headstock instead of a name of somebody who doesnt give a damn on you.
5. Brian May made his own guitar literally, Page and Slash dont use factory Gibsons their LPs are custom ghost-made by other people. You may want to read that on their websites.
Note: To all fans of LPs Im with you so pls dont be offended. My message is clear "Mistakes can be corrected" so thats why I'll go for a custom guitar

Ed Roman, kaw ba yan? hehehehe. But seriously, totoo ba yung claim number 2 about dead spots? I have very less experience sa les paul type guitars. I'm a 25.5 guy.

PS: Weird, post ko to kanina pero nawala.

[vhunter]

Ed Roman, kaw ba yan? hehehehe. But seriously, totoo ba yung claim number 2 about dead spots? I have very less experience sa les paul type guitars. I'm a 25.5 guy.

PS: Weird, post ko to kanina pero nawala.

Not at all. The guy probably's never played a real les paul.

[bryanarzaga]

Not at all. The guy probably's never played a real les paul.

how did he based the claim? i played lp's and its not a deadspot....

[arkeetar]

pang customized guitars lang talaga dito...
not perfect based sa personal preference.

Branded guitars are good but not perfect. They have design flaws that go uncorrected and if you know what those are you would want to make your own design based on the original and eliminating all those design flaws.

[skrumian]

how did he based the claim? i played lp's and its not a deadspot....

i wonder too. deadspot on harmonics, acoustic sound when unplug, thin sound on the upper fret etc?

for me, once a guitar has a sterile sound, then it's all dead. haha!

[vhunter]

Hes just repeating what he reads on other forums. The real problem with les pauls is how the neck pickup becomes muddy on the Low e string on frets 2-6. Thats about it. Parang bumabayo.. di kaya ng speaker. So the ways around that are to play through a fender or old type marshall amp thats naturally bright. Its also the reason why Marshall Super Bass amps became popular in the 60's when alot of our heroes used Pauls.

But now at days, its because the pickups are too high output. If you put a 7.9k pickup on the neck.. youll get a  nice and snappy response from that low e string on those frets. I personally use this to determine a good LP. If the Low e frets 2-6 are nice and snappy but still have that LP sound... you got a good one.

There is no deadspot.. there is no lack of harmonics.. as for the sound being sterile.. each his own really. I may hear something that someone else things is not.