Oh, goody ? - a thread with parts guitar building AND piezos. 8) Now we're talkin'...
racman wrote
1) What guitar "style" do I get? (versatility is key)
A Strat with a humbucker in the bridge covers the widest range of territory. Alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. There is always a bit of a trade-off with versatility (Jack-of-all-trades, etc.), but if you have a firm idea of what tones are of primary importance, it's easier to pick and choose which battles to fight to get the best tones from the sounds you will use the most.
A Tele with a neck humbucker is also an awesome, flexible combo. Jazz through pop to country ...but doesn't do rock or metal as well.
While some will tout an H-S-H (humbucker-single-humbucker) pickup combination as having the widest range of tones, the only one it really does convincingly (IMO) is the bridge humbucker.
2) Is it worthwhile getting parts i.e. Warmoth etc rather than buying and hotrodding?
If you know enough (or your builder does) to choose the parts correctly, a partscaster makes most sense. You need to know what you want. The hotrodding route means you start with a guitar you already like the feel of, and "build" from there. My four favourite guitars are (in order) a partscaster, a hotrod, a partscaster and a hotrod. The Warmoth/USACG route is often a more expensive entry level, but done right, you end up with a better guitar for your money.
3) Who in JHB/CT will build up or custom build a guitar for me (including finishing)?
I've decided to do one or two a year to keep my hand in, so if you are serious, PM me. I'm near CT.
4) Would soemthing like a PRS Swamp Ash Special suit my needs (I know not my budget)
Maybe. It's one of those things you'd have to try and see. I like the SAS better than most PRSi, but they still never floated my boat, regardless of how pretty their woods and finishes are (two of my biggest weaknesses).
5) What Piezo bridges are recommended ?
I've used them all and IMO, Graph Tech GHOST saddles on a Callaham or Wilkinson/Gotoh bridge. RMC saddles a close #2.
I also once had a Hamer Daytona USA (what a fine guitar that was) which was retro fitted with a Fishman Piezo bridge - the electric tone seemed to change and was rather "flat" after the installation.
Hamers are really good and very underappreciated guitars. A guess here, but did your Daytona have pressed steel saddles like the vintage (or 2008 US) Strats? Usually changing those for the more modern, solid (especially cast) saddles, kills some of the resonance and something which I like to call "ping". One of those trade-offs I mentioned.
However, the amplified sound of the Fishman piezo saddles is a bit "flatter" than most (and the saddles have an annoying tendency to die with monotonous regularity). To be fair, an electric guitar fitted with piezos will always be flatter sounding than an acoustic with a pickup - it's just the nature of the beast. Hardtail (non-trem) bridges are better than trems in this regard, IMO. There are ways around it using acoustic modelling, which is getting better all the time.
