You're asking us what kind of frets and fretboard radius you would like? That is all very personal, and you also need to consider the neck dimensions and nut size.

I love the feel of a 9.5" fretboard. My Tele has a 9.5" radius fretboard with narrow tall frets (6105), and a 1.65" nut. The neck shape is what the custom shop calls a 60's oval C. It is one of the most comfortable necks I have ever played on, and one of the main reasons I bought that extremely expensive guitar. To this day, I marvel at the feel. Granted, it is a custom shop guitar and the fretwork/fretboard work was obviously given the attention one should expect from a custom shop guitar.

My Lester has a 12" fretboard, medium jumbo frets, and about a 1.69" nut. It is an '02 LP 50's Standard Plus. I generally don't like "50's" necks, but this one is slightly thinner than any other 50's neck I have played. It fits so comfortably in my hand and is also one of the best feeling necks I have ever played. If I had just read it was a "50's" spec Les Paul online, I would have never bought it. However, I found it used at a Guitar Center, and fell in love with it.

Point is, only you know if the neck is perfect for you.

From what I have read, small radius fretboards can start to fret out, if they are not properly built or setup.

Thanks. I still need to make a day of driving to different shops and trying various neck shapes, different fingerboard radii (radiuses?), and fingerboard material. Schedule has not allowed for that.

So far I have liked the feel of thinner necks with a flatter radius. But that is based on very limited variation in stock at my local GC.

Somebody went all Batman on a Private Stock. I like it.





Edit: So has a automatically flagged image ever been reviewed and showed up later?

I had one of some electronics earlier in this thread get approved later, it seems.

Also, I guess to each their own. Don't know why someone would want to do that to an expensive guitar.

Yes, to the question about the stupid image filter.

I like it, but when I do either a Private Stock or a Wood Library that won't be what I do.

I went and played that pink PRS SE that I linked earlier.

It felt really good and played easily enough but it fretted out on string bends up on the higher frets (19-24), and I don't know if that's common up there.

The biggest issue was the low E string. I got fret buzz on pretty much every fret up and down the neck on that low E string. I would suspect the nut slot is too deep but it doesn't buzz on the open string.

Either way, probably just a setup issue and I'm not looking to buy it, I just wanted to feel the neck and frets. I wouldn't be opposed to buying a pink PRS SE if the price was right because it's not like I'm about to be playing in front of people.

Did you check the neck relief?

Fretting on the higher frets is generally an issue due to too much bow in the neck. Need to tighten the truss rod to fix.

You could always request the guitar shop make the adjustment for you, if you are actually interested in the guitar.

This is one of the many problems on my ES335, when I bought it. It had horrible fret buzz on the higher frets. I don't know why people put so much relief in the neck. It should have as small a bow as possible, to not fret out on the lower notes.

DallasTeleAg said:

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Did you check the neck relief?

Fretting on the higher frets is generally an issue due to too much bow in the neck. Need to tighten the truss rod to fix.

You could always request the guitar shop make the adjustment for you, if you are actually interested in the guitar.

This is one of the many problems on my ES335, when I bought it. It had horrible fret buzz on the higher frets. I don't know why people put so much relief in the neck. It should have as small a bow as possible, to not fret out on the lower notes.

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Here's the thing:

This GC has been without a luthier or actual guitar tech for months. Or had been. I haven't asked recently.

They had some management changeover and I know their tech had left. When I wanted a setup done on one of my acoustics they recommended a local shop I had been to in the past.

Not really a good look to have a hundred guitars on the wall and nobody that can tweak them.

Have you done anything with the whole Gibson quick connect deals for pickups? I'm trying to decide if it would be worthwhile to try and do a new pickup that way as opposed to just straight soldering.

Quincey P. Morris said:

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Have you done anything with the whole Gibson quick connect deals for pickups? I'm trying to decide if it would be worthwhile to try and do a new pickup that way as opposed to just straight soldering.

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I believe my my Classic had that, but I ended up putting new pickups and a whole new Emerson electronics kit in there. I'm a soldering guy, so I would always choose that over connectors.

So, I was going to go ahead and finally put my antiquities in my ES-335, but now i'm starting to think I also want to install a Bigsby B5.

Anyone here have experience with ES-335's with and without a Bigsby? I know the B5 kit from vibribate is not a permanent change, but would love some feedback before even trying it.

I do know my ES-330 with the Bigsby just had a sound I loved, versus the one I had without the Bigsby. It just sounded more articulate and punchier.

Any tips for moving from acoustic to electric.

Played acoustic for about 3 yrs bought a tele a few months ago and the transition is tougher than I thought.

Not much information there. What has been tough about the transition? Generally, electrics play easier than acoustics.

Tips? Tips for what? Maintenance? Hardware? Electronics? Amps? Pedals? Strings? Setup? Tonewoods? Manufacturers?

This is relevant to my interests.

Most of my acoustic has been banging out chords and rhythm.

Electric is more melodic and lead based.

Just feels like I am starting back at square one or 1.5

I don't find that to be true, at all. You probably need to learn to be more dynamic in your playstyle, because there's no need to hit the strings hard, unless you are doing so to drive your tubes for accent in your playing.

I would ask what style of music you are playing? Who are you trying to emulate? Who are your favorite guitar players?

There are many mistakes I see with new electric players, but it would be hard for me to give my two cents without really understanding the issues you are having. With rhythm playing, I would throw out to turn the distortion down on your amp. People love turning that up, and you just don't want it. You lose dynamics in your playing of chords and arpeggios when you are just masking it behind distortion.

This also goes for the pickups in your guitar. If you buy a cheap guitar with ceramic pickups, or just get high output pickups because it sounds like what you need, it can also mask your guitar playing and make it hard to truly learn to play dynamically.

I love low output pickups with a tube amp set to edge of breakup. This allows me to really play with my picking dynamics and my volume/tone controls (which many guitarists seem to forget exist).

I would also say, learn your chord voicings. Just playing full cowboy chords or full bar chords can get muddy sounding, especially with higher gain. This is why people play power chords. Removing the 3rd from a chord really helps it punch through the mix. Anytime the 3rd is in the middle of the triad, it can possibly muddy up the triad.

I'm going to say something that I think will be controversial. I don't believe in spending a ton of money on guitars for new players - and a ton of money to me is spending more than $300-$400. In fact - there is a ton more quality today in the $150 to $200 range than you would expect. Firefly, Harvey Benton, and Indio (by Monoprice)

Couple of points here...

• CNC technology has gotten cheap and reproducing parts for guitars is really cheap. A good wood, a good CNC, a good finish is shockingly cheap.
• Some of the issues with these guitars aren't noticeable to the beginning player. Quality of setup has been an issue in the past - less and less now. Worst case scenario, take to a luthier and get it set up properly for $50-$75.
• Some cheap parts. Some of these are easy fixes. Plastic nut that won't hold strings in tune - replace with bone nut for $10 (shape it yourself with sandpaper or pre-shaped for guitar dimensions). Cheap tuners - if you don't want locking tuners you can get name brand tuners for $60-$100 that are great and can be installed with a screwdriver and socket.
• Pickups are the big question. My personal opinion - 90% of the tone of the guitar is determined by pickups in a solid body guitar. A really crappy set of pickups is horrible - but you are more likely to have crappy pickups in a pawnstore guitar than cheap Amazon guitar from recognized brand that sells them. My personal opinion is spend money on the amp to get the best tone because different amps have more influence on tone (when comparing like for like - humbuckers, single coil, P90s, etc). You can always replace the pickups - couple hundred bucks gets you some of the best on Amazon. Probably a bit to get installed by local luthier.

Ok - here's the real reason I suggest this. Buy a $150 brand new guitar and find out what you need in a guitar. You may like the look of the guitar and decide to mod it to get it where you want. You may hate things that are really difficult to change (ie love the guitar so much, but it's so heavy it makes playing really uncomfortable, or hate how it feels in my hands after playing for 30 minutes.) Search for what you like and don't like.

Go back and feel other guitars to feel the difference and hear the difference between your cheap guitar and other more expensive guitars, other styles of guitars (solid body, semi and hollow body), different pickups. Understand what the difference is in your setup including amps and effects.

Then decide what to do. Spend $3k. Spend $1k. Go buy four different versions of cheap guitars to have variety. Use your first as a backup, mod it to your liking, or just put it onstage just to look like a pro with all sorts of guitars.

I definitely agree with not spending too much on a guitar for beginners; even more so when said beginner is a kid. I still can't get in with a $150 price point. I get what you're saying and you're almost certainly correct that the quality of those instruments is leaps and bounds above what they used to be. I still think you're more likely to end up with an instrument that makes playing suck at that level though. Personally, I'd rather spend a few more dollars and get something from a more established brand. Hell, you get just north of $200 and your getting into Epiphone LP Specials that come with some extra items.

The poster asking the question about electric seems to already own one, and has some problems going from acoustic to electric.

Has anybody ever switched bobbin colors on pickups? Looking at probably getting a Gibson 500T for the bridge of the LP I got but would like to keep the same aesthetic as what's on there now and the bobbins are backwards color wise on everything I'm finding.

Why the 500T? No judgement here, just always curious why people like high output pickups.

Quincey P. Morris said:

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I definitely agree with not spending too much on a guitar for beginners; even more so when said beginner is a kid. I still can't get in with a $150 price point. I get what you're saying and you're almost certainly correct that the quality of those instruments is leaps and bounds above what they used to be. I still think you're more likely to end up with an instrument that makes playing suck at that level though. Personally, I'd rather spend a few more dollars and get something from a more established brand. Hell, you get just north of $200 and your getting into Epiphone LP Specials that come with some extra items.

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Main guitar that I have had since 2000 was a Epiphone LP Standard, so I hear you. But what really is going to make it suck? Playability really isn't the issue that I've come across with these guitars. Setups have been pretty good. I've heard stories of cosmetic issues…but didn't have in mine. Electronics and specifically pickups are really the biggest thing and don't know if a new player could tell the difference due to skill level. I think they are as good as lower end brand names.

Again…my opinion so feel free to disagree.

My concern would be quality control. CNC helps get quality up, but it isn't perfect.

There was an article I read several years ago that basically came to the conclusion that the big thing price got you was a smaller chance of getting a shi**y instrument. You can get a great instrument for $150 and you can get a terrible instrument for $3k. The likelihood of either happening is probably about the same.

Prepare yourself for the answer to this question.


I'm gonna build an LP in the vein of what Mark Tremonti was playing before he moved to PRS. I'm aware it's nerdy AF, but it's what I'm gonna do.

Quincey P. Morris said:

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My concern would be quality control. CNC helps get quality up, but it isn't perfect.

There was an article I read several years ago that basically came to the conclusion that the big thing price got you was a smaller chance of getting a shi**y instrument. You can get a great instrument for $150 and you can get a terrible instrument for $3k. The likelihood of either happening is probably about the same.

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Taking a lot of time to choose my first electric, I've picked up a lot guitars under $1000. Some were crap and some surprised me.

The Fender Player Strats didn't feel good to me. I played a $500 Les Paul copy (can't remember if it was a Gretsch or an ESP). It played much more easily than the $800+ Fender Player Strat.

Overall i agree that price makes a difference in what level of guitar you get.

A Sterling by Music Man John Petrucci model was very affordable. Under $500. Might have been under $400.

Fingerboard felt like nails on a chalkboard when doing a bend. Just awful. I'm sure the expensive Petrucci models don't feel that way.

"You get what you pay for" is a cliche for a reason.

That's all why you should play everything, before you purchase, if possible. However, I can almost guarantee you the hit rate on an American Fender Professional guitar will be much higher than on a guitar less than $500.

Now, I do think there are some great guitars in that $600-$1,000 range. A lot of made in Korea models are in that range, and the QC on many of those is pretty good. You can get a lot of Diamond Series Schecters in that range, and you can't really go wrong, there.

At the end of the day, it's all relative. Why would I buy a $500 guitar? I have a great career and make great money. Could I play a $500 guitar and have fun? Sure. But spending an extra $600 on a guitar has little to no affect on my finances, it's still a great investment, and it reduces the amount of mods I would need to do on the guitar.

I just find it funny how many guitar "anti-snobs" exist on forums and videos I visit. I completely understand someone who does not think any guitar is worth spending over $3,000. But I see many responses to those "overpriced" guitars with, "just go buy one for $300, they are basically the same guitar". I just don't agree with that, at all.

I guess some people also buy houses and install cheap floors, buy pleather furniture, and bottom of the line appliances. If that's all you can afford, then go for it. No judgement here. But if you have the ability to purchase something nicer, I just don't know why you wouldn't.

When looking for a new car, I can assure you I don't just google: "cheapest car that won't break down on me". I determine my budget, then look for the nicest thing I can buy at that price range, and try everything I can around that range.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I just find it funny how many guitar "anti-snobs" exist on forums and videos I visit. I completely understand someone who does not think any guitar is worth spending over $3,000. But I see many responses to those "overpriced" guitars with, "just go buy one for $300, they are basically the same guitar". I just don't agree with that, at all.

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100%

A good friend of mine, and long time band mate and collaborator, used to believe a 600 dollar instrument was basically as good as it gets and that everything else was just "name" and "overpriced". He's a great musician, graphic designer and all around artist. The kind of guy who spends $$$$$ on design software regularly but can't un-ass it for a guitar.

Last year I decided to spend a few bucks on 2 guitars on my bucket list. I bought a D28 and a Gibson Songwriter. He is a changed man, to the extent he believes the Gibson to be the most complete sonically and playability wise he has ever played. He raves about it.

I'm in the same boat you are, I have never played a cheap instrument that I felt was in the same league as an expensive one.

If anybody wants a Telecaster, there has been a bump of the thread on Classifieds where one is for sale.

https://texags.com/forums/50/topics/3236506/last#last

Disregard.

Disregard.

Now that i'm thinking about it... I could always buy a Warmoth neck with a better profile, throw a bigsby on the tele, and have an awesome guitar at a great price.

DallasTeleAg said:

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Now that i'm thinking about it... I could always buy a Warmoth neck with a better profile, throw a bigsby on the tele, and have an awesome guitar at a great price.

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Wait a minute!!!

My instructor even recommended a Tele to me as a first electric. As did my big brother. It's not anything I had considered but this thread has made me think about them more.

Then this Classifieds post comes back around and you comment this morning and I'm thinking "how does it play and sound?"