Hotrod your guitar

Coming soon: Pimp my Axe

A list of articles featuring advice on everything from tuning methods to buying and building guitars. There are many truly great instruments you can buy, and play as they come “out of the box”, but unless you are very well off, or have a tame guitar tech that can improve your new instrument so you play like the ghost of Hendrix, a few simple modifications will always make your instrument better. Whether it cost $199, or $7999, it was built for the average consumer. You, like every other guitar player, are an individual so no guitar will ever be quite perfect, unless you put the effort into it yourself.

I’ll try to avoid pseudo-voodoo in this article, and others. There’s enough of that in the industry. For example – While aging timber at 7% humidity prior to manufacturing guitars  may well be a good idea, remember that Stevie Ray Vaughan’s vintage strat (SRV#1) had almost none of the finish left on it – I for one, think it an amazing sounding guitar!

Before even considering the purchase of an instrument (especially your first guitar), throw all preconceived ideas about brands and style out the window and talk to someone who has enough knowledge to help you avoid an expensive mistake. Even price is not always a fair indication of how good (or bad) your new guitar can be. It’s true that there are industry standards in not only guitars, but guitar components. It’s equally true that the producers of these “industry standard” artifacts are aware of their reputation and that their prices are reflected in this. Having said that, I own some industry standard gear, and I own some that is not. I can’t really see the extra money in one of my guitars that cost around twice as much as my favourite, and I must confess that I keep it, mainly to sit on a guitar stand, on stage, and play maybe 3 songs on it to satisfy the musically educated punters. Just another note on those “Industry Standard” items… It’s common knowledge that your rock heros have “custom shop” guitars, and quite often signature models. When you see these signature models in the guitar store priced at half as much again as the standard item, remember that part of the extra money you pay is for the name on the headstock. The other part is for the extra work that went into producing the instrument including time, engineering, hardware, and materials.

Here are some of the questions we need to consider when buying a guitar, or making guitar modifications. I can’t overstress the importance of having a plan and a firm set of requirements in place before starting on any guitar modification project.

- What genre of music are we expecting to play on this instrument?
- What sort of guitar amp are we using?
- Who are our heros?
- What is our budget?
- Will any change to this instrument improve our playing?
- Will change in aesthetics have an impact on our performance?
- Is there a real and valid reason to make changes to an instrument?

After considering the above questions, consider ergonomics. You need a guitar that fits you. For example, if you’re a person with small fingers, under 5′, and weigh 80lbs, it is advisable to avoid a heavy, solid mahogany guitar with a thick neck. Go into a music store, and try several different instruments, the first thing we notice is action. For the uninitiated, the word action refers to the height that the strings are above the fretboard.

Action is adjusted in three ways. 1) Truss-rod adjustment, 2) bridge adjustment, and 3) nut adjustment.  I will elaborate on all of these later, but, assuming you have the action exactly as you like it, every guitar still plays differently.

Choice of strings: I use 11-48 strings on my electrics, or 12-52 for playing slide. My son, Lucius uses strings with the high E 9 thousanths of an inch. Neither is righ or wrong, but depending on your playing style, finger strength, etc. you may find a change in string guage to be the cheapest way to hot rod your axe. Heavier strings are harder work but they have stronger tone as well as longer life. Heavier strings vibrate more and normally require slightly higher action as well to avoid fret buzz. Lighter strings are easier on the fingers in some ways, so if speed is an issue, it’s worth giving them a go. Typically, guitars for sale in music stores come with string guages 10-46 or there abouts.

Scale Length is a term used to measure the distance between the nut and the bridge. Typically, electric guitars are either 24 3/4″ (Gibson style) or 25 1/2″ (Fender style). There are some anomalies, such as PRS where the scale length is between these two. Generally, a guitar with single coil pickups and a 25 1/2″ scale length will have a higher action than it’s Gibson style counterpart.

Neck Radius refers to the curvature of the fretboard. If you look at a vintage Fender, then compare it to a modern Ibanez, the first thing you notice is that the Ibanez is nearly flat and the fender is quite rounded. There is no perfect neck radius, it’s a matter of personal preference and how you form chords and play. Generally, if you do big bends, a vintage Strat will require higher action to prevent choking, but will be more user friendly in other ways.

Neck cross-section: Once again, there is so much variety, and so many guitarists, that there is always something that is right for you, even if it’s not right for everyone.

So far, we’ve discussed a variety of variables and haven’t even got to construction, or hardware yet. We are in no way finished with these subjects, this is only the beginning. However, you can see from this that getting your guitar exactly how you want it will require some careful thought and planning.