Paddy
I have a Vintage AV3 (ES335 clone with offset cutaways). I love the guitar, but every time I come back to playing it after one of my other guitars it sounds plastic(for lack of a better expression).
Is it the nut? Which I think is supposed to be a graph tech type nut.
The bridge? Thought of replacing that. It's the ABR-1 style bridge.
Or the pickups? Which is supposed to have been made by the design given to Trev Wilkinson by the great Seth Lover.
The guitar place like a dream after a great setup. But the tone saps away any inspiration. It also doesn't really get that typical hollow body type sound. But maybe that's because the body is smaller then a ES335 type guitar.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
AlanRatcliffe
I think I know what you are talking about. Short sustain, no character. Dead. How does it sound acoustically?
A better nut can help, but chances are it's a wood thing. Some guitars, the component parts just don't work well together - resonances of neck and body fighting each other. I even had a pair of Fender style guitars once that were both made from quality parts, but both were dead and lacklustre. I swapped the necks between them and both came to life, becoming completely different animals.
singemonkey
Firstly, if it's like a 335, it's not hollow. 335s have a solid block running through the centre of the guitar that the pickups are mounted in. They're a "stick-guitar" with hollow "wings" not a hollow-body guitar. So it shouldn't sound like a hollow body. Gibson made a similar looking thin double cutaway f-hole guitar called an ES 330 that was hollow and sounds very different and has more issues with feedback (though they can be dealt with).
Are the strings rattling against the frets? Raising the action could help. A change in the tailpiece could maybe help. But some guitars are also just duds and don't resonate. Hopefully that's not the case here.
Paddy
Acoustically it's sounds thin and weedy. No projection. I think the first thing I'm going to try us to raise the string height and see what that does. Hope the guitar is not a lemon.
And my apologies. The guitar does have a centre block. But the AV3's centre block ends under the bridge and not at the end of the body. Was hoping that was going to give a more hollow(mid rangey) sound. Without the feedback issues.
Thanks
Paddy
Well I raised the action with no real difference in tone. In the end I was trading off playability for a slight difference in tone. Next stop, new ABR-1 bridge and tail piece. Stew Mac?
selbydoodl
If you want to sound like a 335 then get one.
The price you will pay for all the stuff you want to put on isnt worth it.
Like juicing up a scrap car - all you've got is a fast piece of crap.
