# Played out guitar aesthetics/features



## Hollowway (Sep 11, 2022)

What guitar thing were you super excited to see the first time, but now are absolutely sick of, due to its over presence in the market? I got the idea for the thread from the “I hate poplar burl burst finishes” thread. And I’ll lead off with that being mine, lol. 

I’m also totally done with big ass bevels revealing natural body wood.


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 11, 2022)

Headless. Strandberg didn’t come up with the idea but they really pushed its purpose as a light weight instrument that was designed around weight relief and good posture to a modern audience. So many companies missing the point but wanting in on the action just cut the heads off superstrats, stretched the body in odd places, came up with weird neck shapes and some even made the guitar not possible to play in classical position. It happened with multiscale, 7 strings, pointy metal guitars etc but I think headless was the worst offender.


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## Empryrean (Sep 11, 2022)

sandblasted multicolor neon looking finishes and ESPECIALLY don't like them when the top coat is thin satin and pores are unfilled. They appear to be only good to look at cause you'll start to buff the satin finish as you wipe your sweat and grime out of the open pores. reminds me of coffee mugs with designs that are such a pita to clean you can tell the designer has never had to wash something difficult in their lives.


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## wheresthefbomb (Sep 11, 2022)

I don't like "telecasters" that are just 8 string djentsticks with EMGs and a tele body shape. They've always got some goofy bookmatched purple burst birdseye pumpkin maple spice burl going on too. You can't tell me that's a telecaster, that thing couldn't twang if you deep fried it in corn batter at the county fair.


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## possumkiller (Sep 11, 2022)

Slapping evertunes and fishmans on everything that isn't a headless. Figured, spalted, burl veneers. Headless guitars. Disgusting combinations of transparent colors. After the last decade of looking at the trendy bullshit all the guitar companies have been churning out, I miss the days when the cringiest shit to look at was an abalone covered hot topic schecter. 

People are hating on those new Jackson USA standard soloists but I think they're fucking refreshing. Understated and classy but still a bit flashy in the blue or green.


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## 14Fishes (Sep 11, 2022)

Not an aesthetic or feature, but signature guitars for online influencers/YouTube guitarists. I’m sure it’s the dream of every guitarist who makes a living as a musician to have a signature guitar, but if your claim to fame is having e.g. a “20 cool fusion licks” video on YouTube from March 2018 with 154,176 views, and not an album like Passion & Warfare or Surfing With The Alien, I question whether you deserve it. I guess it’s more the fault of the guitar companies spotting these opportunities, but do models for people most known for being on YouTube sell well? Are people lining up for a Rick Beato signature Gibson? What sets Rick Graham’s Charvel apart from all the other pastel coloured Charvels? Who would pay £2k for a Tom Quayle model?


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## _MonSTeR_ (Sep 11, 2022)

Gentlemen. Thank you.

I agree with everything so far. Great therapy session. Same time next week?


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## spudmunkey (Sep 11, 2022)

99.44% of the customized BKP covers.


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## lurè (Sep 11, 2022)

Burled maple tops, fade finishes.


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## LordCashew (Sep 11, 2022)

I'm also in for burl tops especially with weird neon or natural-center bursts. Those are just not going to age well IMHO. I know companies are just making what's popular right now but give me a white or silver guitar over that any time.


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## Metaldestroyerdennis (Sep 11, 2022)

Please no more fade finishes. They look good on like 1% of guitars, and none of them are production models.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 11, 2022)

-badly figured burl

-leaving said poorly figured burl natural or covering it in stupid burst finishes that have zero blending (looking at you ibanez, kiesel and mayones)

-block inlays (they look awful on basically every guitar)

-poorly done fades (ibanez, schecter) - it's not that hard to do a fade ffs, especially a fire fade. If you can't consistently do it then don't make em.

-chrome hardware - makes everything look cheap

-gold hardware with guitars that aren't white or black - it looks tacky as fuck

-people that get shitty custom inlays on a guitar and then try to sell it - No I don't want a fucking harry potter themed guitar, or one with a fractal butthole inlay, just fuck off

-that godawful carbon fiber binding schecter does - it never comes out right and looks like shit with all the fibers protruding.

-roasted maple fretboards - oh look another brown fretboard option that makes me want to barf

-the resurgence of pointy guitars that focus so hard on being "EXTREEMEE" that they forget to make them comfortable to play (most of the jackson pointys, bc rich, moser, monson and 95% of the dipshits copying their aesthetic)

-satin finishes - just fuck right off with these. I hate satin finishes with a passion, they never hold up and end up looking grimier and shittier than any good gloss finish.

-epoxy/burl monstrosities - I hated this trend with furniture and knife handles, I especially hate it with guitar tops. They always mix the dumbest neon colors with a small chunk of bookmatched burl to make a clown bukakke charcuterie board top. 

unecessary bevels- stop it, get help.


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## oracles (Sep 11, 2022)

Burl anything 

Pale moon ebony

Shitty fades 

Gold hardware 

Fishmans and evertunes on everything 

Tacky/gaudy 12th fret or whole board inlays 

Neutral fret on the 12th on multiscales 

Kiesel style bevels


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## TheInvisibleHand (Sep 11, 2022)

Stainless steel frets. I mean, it was interesting when they first came out. But now that they're EVERYWHERE I am so sick of it. Give me a good ol' classic nickel fret over some overdesigned SS anyday.


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## budda (Sep 11, 2022)

All of it.


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## Stiman (Sep 11, 2022)

KnightBrolaire said:


> -gold hardware with guitars that aren't white or black - it looks tacky as fuck





oracles said:


> Gold hardware



Historically, I’ve always agreed with this sentiment. But I have an Ibanez RGA42HP that looks fucking awesome with the gold hardware. At least in person. In pictures not so much.

My beef with the gold hardware is the price, getting locking tuners and gold covered DiMarzio pickups cost so much more that black/chrome/uncovered.


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## Stiman (Sep 11, 2022)

TheInvisibleHand said:


> Stainless steel frets. I mean, it was interesting when they first came out. But now that they're EVERYWHERE I am so sick of it. Give me a good ol' classic nickel fret over some overdesigned SS anyday.



So many people make SS frets a deal breaker. If you rotate through even 3-4 guitars (or more!), does it really matter?

Admittedly, I’ve never owned or played a guitar with SS frets. So maybe I’m missing out on something great.


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## soul_lip_mike (Sep 11, 2022)

Sorry but gold hardware goes amazing with purple finishes.


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## LordCashew (Sep 11, 2022)

KnightBrolaire said:


> fractal butthole inlay


Great band name.


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## mmr007 (Sep 11, 2022)

Nothing. I could list a whole bunch of shit I don't like about many guitars but then I was never excited to see it in the first place


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## MFB (Sep 11, 2022)

soul_lip_mike said:


> Sorry but gold hardware goes amazing with purple finishes.



I mean, fuck, looking at basic color theory there's a rhyme to putting it with almost any color if you think of it as yellow:

Red/orange with gold? Red is a primary colors from natural materials/textiles, it's basic R/Y/B. Orange and yellow (gold) are shades of red so pairing them together also gives an analogous look.

Blue/purple and gold? Blue is a primary as part of R/Y/B, and it also doubles as a complimentary color based on the color wheel. Purple would be a tertiary to blue so it's a secondary compliment in this case.

Green and gold? Tertiary color on the wheel, so some might see it as the "weakest" pairing but it works on a darker green for sure.

Black/white with gold? Universal accent colors that work with anything, no question here.

Typically gold hardware needs a mid/dark tone to work with in my opinion, on something like a pastel I think that's where it can risk coming across as cheap.


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## nickgray (Sep 11, 2022)

Djent/modern aesthetics (you know exactly what I mean)

Satin finishes can fuck right off

Shitty Schecter inlays

Fishmans


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## Hollowway (Sep 11, 2022)

I agree with the PME. Only I think we're catching that as an early diagnosis. It's everywhere in the customs market now, but I have a feeling it's about to be in a number of production models. 10 years ago it blew my mind. Now it's being overdone with gaudy, over-the-top customs. IMO, PME is so busy it HAS to be the focal point. Do it on a matte raw black finish and it looks decent. Do it on a reverse toiletbowl blue burst poplar burl guitar with zebra pickups, gold hardware, and a natural wood bevel and we've jumped the shark.


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## Hollowway (Sep 11, 2022)

IDK what I like more in here - the actual concepts you guys are presenting, or the color commentary about them.


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## CapinCripes (Sep 11, 2022)

Over-bevilization. Throwing as many exotic woods as possible at a guitar whether they look good together or not. Space guitars.


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## Stiman (Sep 11, 2022)

CapinCripes said:


> Space guitars.



Define space guitar


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## Lemonbaby (Sep 11, 2022)

TheInvisibleHand said:


> Stainless steel frets. I mean, it was interesting when they first came out. But now that they're EVERYWHERE I am so sick of it. Give me a good ol' classic nickel fret over some overdesigned SS anyday.


Like... TOTALLY! Where can I even find a guitar with nickel frets these days? They're just gone.


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## thraxil (Sep 11, 2022)

Reverse headstocks.

OK. Not exactly new, but I went there.


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## thraxil (Sep 11, 2022)

Stiman said:


> So many people make SS frets a deal breaker. If you rotate through even 3-4 guitars (or more!), does it really matter?
> 
> Admittedly, I’ve never owned or played a guitar with SS frets. So maybe I’m missing out on something great.



People get hung up on the whole "SS frets don't wear out so you never need to refret them" argument and kind of stop there if they don't feel like they've ever been burdened by refreting non-SS guitars.

Here's why *I* still really like SS frets (though it's not quite a deal breaker for me): Have you ever mirror polished your frets? Not just polished, but really, really polished them to the point where bends are so effortless that you almost have to relearn some basic technique because there's zero friction between the string and fret and you find that you can push certain chords slightly out of tune if you're not careful? If you haven't, it's worth getting some 10,000 grit and doing it sometime. Just be prepared to spend some real time and elbow grease on it. If you get used to that feeling, it's really addictive. With non-SS frets though, it will only last for maybe an hour of playing before it's back to merely "really smooth". Even overnight in a humid client and there's enough oxidation of the frets that the feeling goes away. With good SS frets, you put the work into mirror polishing the frets once and it just stays that way. I have Parkers from the 90's with SS frets that have that glassy zero friction feel all the time every time I take them out of the case and it never requires any more maintenance than wiping the frets down with a damp cloth when I change the strings.

I bought a Harley Benton with SS frets recently and it came with them basically unpolished and gritty feeling. If that's what other people experience with SS frets, I don't blame them for not understanding. But at least I was able to polish them myself *once* and now I know that it will continue to play like that from now on.


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## Stiman (Sep 11, 2022)

Cool, thanks for the detailed explanation.

To be clear, I’m not against them. I’ve just never tried a guitar with them on it. Maybe if I ever refret a guitar I’ll go SS.


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## Mathemagician (Sep 11, 2022)

Silver hardware on guitars that should clearly have gold hardware. 

Any variation on black hardware that isn’t just black. Find a way to make actual black in ya paint process. 

“Toilet burl bursts” I’m sure it’s like Schecter’s abalone everything market research from the 00’s. They found that no matter what internet nerds claim, it sells a ton out in the real world. I know it will pass. 

But a crazy good spalted maple top with a natural gloss finish on a high end custom? Art. 

“Signature models” are just off the shelf models with tweaked specs. Get them if the specs interest you otherwise ignore them. 

And sometimes a guy like Kieth Merrow was so on the money it affected a brand’s whole lineup for years.


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## John (Sep 11, 2022)

Not particularly thrilled to see any of the following for the first time, but they can afford to be swept under the rug just the same:

Headless guitars have been overhyped, especially since Gibson has been the authentic OG of that aesthetic for many years. Even when it wasn't on purpose.

Speaking of those, the 22 fret and Tune-o-matic combo has been stale and boring for quite some time now.
_inb4 another weird caveman riff stan comes out of the woodwork just to defend those even when it's far removed from their small niche to begin with._

Spamming offsets on guitar bodies. A lot of those designs over the last several years look terrible, at best.

Excess abalone binding and/or inlays.

Color combinations that clash and look awful in tandem. Examples include way too many option 50 Kiesel orders.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 11, 2022)

The influencer signature guitar thing is so strange. Like Davie504 has a signature model of bass apparently, but he never plays it. Just sticks to his Sterling Stingray. And why wouldn't you? It's a perfect bass.


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## soul_lip_mike (Sep 11, 2022)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> The influencer signature guitar thing is so strange. Like Davie504 has a signature model of bass apparently, but he never plays it. Just sticks to his Sterling Stingray. And why wouldn't you? It's a perfect bass.


I was gonna ask when I saw in the Suhr thread that Pete Thorn has a Suhr guitar. Is he just known for YouTube?


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## LordCashew (Sep 11, 2022)

CapinCripes said:


> Over-bevilization



Great band name



Stiman said:


> Define space guitar



Great band name



Hollowway said:


> reverse toiletbowl



Great sex position name


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## tedtan (Sep 11, 2022)

soul_lip_mike said:


> I was gonna ask when I saw in the Suhr thread that Pete Thorn has a Suhr guitar. Is he just known for YouTube?


No, Pete does studio work and tours with a lot of big name acts like Alicia Keys, Pink, Chris Cornell, Mellisa Ethridge, Don Henley, etc.


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## CapinCripes (Sep 11, 2022)

Stiman said:


> Define space guitar


Whatever the headless composite multiscale ergonomic thing is the new hotness.


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## rokket2005 (Sep 11, 2022)

Never been a fan of the expensive pawn shop style guitars that brands like Novo/Fano, Echo Park, BilT to a lesser extent make. Like, we know you want to just make Jazzmasters but legally can't, but the whole pine body grain in the finish always looked crappy to me.


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## syzygy (Sep 11, 2022)

Honestly, like 99% of bursts altogether. When a burst is done really, really well, they can look good. But so often they just don't. Denimburst, toilet-burl-burst, that really unfortunate white burst that definitely looks like something else...and even a lot of well-done bursts just aren't my thing.

Also, never really understood the hate for chrome hardware. I think on the right guitar (a nice dark satin blue or candy apple red, for example), chrome can look really classy. Obviously it doesn't go with everything, but the same could be said of gold hardware too. Just needs the right color to go with it.


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## /wrists (Sep 11, 2022)

sunburst red isn't something i'm a huge fan of


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## LordCashew (Sep 11, 2022)

Metaldestroyerdennis said:


> Please no more fade finishes. They look good on like 1% of guitars, and none of them are production models.


My pet peeve with fade finishes is that usually the "matching" headstock is the entire fade repeated in miniature. Shouldn't the fade continue to the headstock and resume as the color at the neck joint?

We're solving the world's problems here guys. Most important thread on the internet.


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## owlexifry (Sep 11, 2022)

guitars with more than one pickup. 

lets be real. how often do we really use a neck pickup? 

it's getting better, but single (bridge) pickup guitars need to be done more


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## John (Sep 11, 2022)

evade said:


> sunburst red isn't something i'm a huge fan of



Gross. The clownburst nickname it's been dubbed is definitely deserved:


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## Hollowway (Sep 12, 2022)

syzygy said:


> Also, never really understood the hate for chrome hardware. I think on the right guitar (a nice dark satin blue or candy apple red, for example), chrome can look really classy. Obviously it doesn't go with everything, but the same could be said of gold hardware too. Just needs the right color to go with it.


100% agree. I think gold, chrome, nickel, black, black chrome all have a place, depending on the finish and overall aesthetic of the body. That's why it kind of bugs me that certain hardware isn't available in multiple colors. It kind of limits what you can do. Like, Kiesel only offers 8 string hipshot headless bridges in black. Which kind of limits the color choices that, IMO, look good with it.


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## wheresthefbomb (Sep 12, 2022)

John said:


> Gross. The clownburst nickname it's been dubbed is definitely deserved:



Yikes. I remember thinking this+gold hardware looked good when I was 16. It's a good thing I didn't have money.


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## lurè (Sep 12, 2022)

Tobacco sunburst imho is the worst. Make a shitty burled maple top with that finish plus the name of your band as inlay and you have the perfect guitar that I would never buy.


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## Naxxpipe (Sep 12, 2022)

I hate the trend of making every guitar body stupid light. I feel like most guitars I try today is neck-dive central.


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## HoneyNut (Sep 12, 2022)

Satin finishes can go to hell. These are rip offs. 

Baked maple fretboards, just overdone. Ruined its 15 minutes of fame. 

Non-locking trems. Really useless. Just make hardtails and make lives simpler.

SS frets are a must with certain price ranges.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 12, 2022)

HoneyNut said:


> Satin finishes can go to hell. These are rip offs.
> 
> Baked maple fretboards, just overdone. Ruined its 15 minutes of fame.
> 
> ...


+1 on non locking trems.


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## Crungy (Sep 12, 2022)

lurè said:


> Tobacco sunburst imho is the worst. Make a shitty burled maple top with that finish plus the name of your band as inlay and you have the perfect guitar that I would never buy.


I mostly agree on this. Sometimes I like it on an old Strat or Les Paul but very rarely. They just look kind of crappy.

To those saying they dislike satin finishes, do you mean matte finishes that do this:



Or these shitty plasticy ones:




I say fuck both of them because they both end up looking like shit, but I am curious what people mean by satin.


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## tedtan (Sep 12, 2022)

^ Both.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 12, 2022)

Crungy said:


> I mostly agree on this. Sometimes I like it on an old Strat or Les Paul but very rarely. They just look kind of crappy.
> 
> To those saying they dislike satin finishes, do you mean matte finishes that do this:
> View attachment 114112
> ...


both of those are disgusting.
The only satin finish I like is the one on my Aristides, or on my jazzmaster I built, where it's not matte enough to show fingerprints easily.


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## Crungy (Sep 12, 2022)

I have no experience with aristides l, but I could so that holding up okay. Does your Jag have a little texture on the finish?


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## bostjan (Sep 12, 2022)

I'm going to go against the grain here and say anything that was designed to look "retro." I thought that stuff looked cool as a teenager, and now it just looks extra tacky.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 12, 2022)

Crungy said:


> I have no experience with aristides l, but I could so that holding up okay. Does your Jag have a little texture on the finish?


it's from the paint I used, not the finish. Don't ever use rustoleum paints.


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## Crungy (Sep 12, 2022)

I see, and I do think the right kind of light texture for a finish could be really good.

The jag looks good in the photo, did the end result just not turn out how you had hoped?


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## tekbow (Sep 12, 2022)

Weird contrasting bursts for the sake of it, like grey into purple with not much transition.

the weird thing where the top is carved away at the forearm contour to show the body wood.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 12, 2022)

Crungy said:


> I see, and I do think the right kind of light texture for a finish could be really good.
> 
> The jag looks good in the photo, did the end result just not turn out how you had hoped?


There was some minor gas bubbling from the paint which left some very small pitting on the top side (nowhere else lol). It's not a huge deal tbh, but I've never had this problem with krylon paints, just rustoleum.


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## /wrists (Sep 12, 2022)

HoneyNut said:


> Satin finishes can go to hell. These are rip offs.
> 
> Baked maple fretboards, just overdone. Ruined its 15 minutes of fame.
> 
> ...


how do you mean with non-lock trems? you mean like EVERTUNES? 

I also am not the biggest fan of the natural color where they just don't paint the guitar


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## bostjan (Sep 12, 2022)

I generally think of nonlocking trems as being anything other than a floyd-rose or kahler derivative. For example, the "vintage fender" trem, the bigsby (or it's close relatives), or even the modern wilkinson trem.

They are great for people who never use their trems, and maybe arguably okay-ish for people who rarely use their trems. Whereas a hard-tail bridge is much more stable when you don't do trems stuff and a fully locking trem (like a floyd or edge or whatever most people would look at an d call a "floyd") is much more stable when you do trem stuff. It leaves the nonlocking trem with sort of the worst of both worlds. 

But I think where they actually shine is in the cost department. You can get a $150 guitar with a non-locking trem, but even a cheap knockoff locking trem probably costs at least that much on its own. So, when little evade junior wants to start playing guitar, and wants to do some sick dive-bombs and horse squeals, but doesn't yet know the difference between in-tune and out-of-tune, that's when you get the Squier or Ibanez GIO or whatever budget model with a non-locking trem.

BUT - a lot of boutique builders also build high-end guitars with high-end non-locking trems, for the vintage vibes or whatever (who actually knows?), usually paired with locking tuners. I imagine those guitars often end up in the hands of doctors and lawyers who want a guitar that looks like a much more expensive version of what Clapton played, or something, but don't really care about the details of how trems work or how to achieve good tuning stability. Some respectable players rock the non-locking trems, too - maybe they are either masochists, or have their own guitar techs who want to show off their guitar-techiness.


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## Stiman (Sep 12, 2022)

Wut??

I think you’re taking it too far. The one Floyd rose guitar I’ve had stayed in tune really well, and I loved the micro tuners. But my DK24 stays in tune just as well, and better than my 3 fixed bridge guitars (for whatever reason, I don’t know, but it does).


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## bostjan (Sep 12, 2022)

Stiman said:


> Wut??
> 
> I think you’re taking it too far. The one Floyd rose guitar I’ve had stayed in tune really well, and I loved the micro tuners. But my DK24 stays in tune just as well, and better than my 3 fixed bridge guitars (for whatever reason, I don’t know, but it does).


Eh? Who said FR didn't stay in tune? I was saying that nonlocking (i.e. "not FR") trems don't stay in tune.


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## spudmunkey (Sep 12, 2022)

He


bostjan said:


> Eh? Who said FR didn't stay in tune? I was saying that nonlocking (i.e. "not FR") trems don't stay in tune.


He didn't say that. He agreed that his FR stays in tune, but disagrees with the "non-locking" trems don't stay in tune by saying his DK24 (with a "not FR" trem) stayed in tune just as well, and better than fixed bridges.


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## Lemonbaby (Sep 12, 2022)

Abalone and whatever those similar plagues are called, basically pearl anything. God, how I hate that shit.


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## bostjan (Sep 12, 2022)

spudmunkey said:


> He
> 
> He didn't say that. He agreed that his FR stays in tune, but disagrees with the "non-locking" trems don't stay in tune by saying his DK24 (with a "not FR" trem) stayed in tune just as well, and better than fixed bridges.


Gotcha.

Well, I tend to disagree, based on my own experience with vintage-style trems. You hit the bar just a little too aggressively and everything will go out. If you block the trem and don't use it, it'll stay in tune just as well as a hardtail, but there's no scientific rationale as to why an unblocked non-locking trem should stay in tune better than a hardtail, and I think the bulk of people's experience (at least what has been anecdotally reported) tends to generally back that.


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## Stiman (Sep 12, 2022)

Looking at how John Petrucci designed his signature guitars (there’s a recent documentary on it), John’s #1 focus is function and ergonomics. If he felt he would get more stability from a locking system over the floating trem that he’s been using all along, he probably would have made that change long ago.

Having said that, maybe piezo pickups can’t be installed on Floyd rose type bridge? I don’t know.


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## Drew (Sep 12, 2022)

I mean, I don't know if any of these I was ever THAT excited about, and many of them I was outright hostile towards from day 1. 

Natural finish sides and backs on guitars with finished fronts. 
Stained fretboards
burl
fanned fretboards
headless guitars
Anything that says Kiesel
super thin necks 
Everyone wanting a "custom" guitar


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## ThomasUV777 (Sep 12, 2022)

Dot inlays. I can tolerate them like on the old Ibanez JPM's at the top of the fretboard, but a standard Fender neck looks like a training guitar and I just find them aesthetically horrendous. Blank fretboards are gorgeous. Sharkfin inlays get a pass too.


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## bostjan (Sep 12, 2022)

Stiman said:


> Looking at how John Petrucci designed his signature guitars (there’s a recent documentary on it), John’s #1 focus is function and ergonomics. If he felt he would get more stability from a locking system over the floating trem that he’s been using all along, he probably would have made that change long ago.
> 
> Having said that, maybe piezo pickups can’t be installed on Floyd rose type bridge? I don’t know.


Those are single locking bridges with locking tuners, essentially a fully locking setup, no?


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## Metaldestroyerdennis (Sep 12, 2022)

bostjan said:


> Gotcha.
> 
> Well, I tend to disagree, based on my own experience with vintage-style trems. You hit the bar just a little too aggressively and everything will go out. If you block the trem and don't use it, it'll stay in tune just as well as a hardtail, but there's no scientific rationale as to why an unblocked non-locking trem should stay in tune better than a hardtail, and I think the bulk of people's experience (at least what has been anecdotally reported) tends to generally back that.


This has not been my experience, at least so long as the trem is good quality and floating. Between Gotoh 510, PRS USA, EBMM Petrucci (old), EBMM vintage floating and Sterling floating, only the Sterling had tuning stability issues.


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## Stiman (Sep 12, 2022)

bostjan said:


> Those are single locking bridges with locking tuners, essentially a fully locking setup, no?



So you draw the line in the sand at locking tuners?
Floating trem with normal tuners = bad
Floating trem with locking tuners = good

I don’t know if I’d call that fully locked. You’re equating locking nut with locking tuners.

We’re too far down the rabbit hole at this point. Let’s just drop it.


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## ElRay (Sep 13, 2022)

Lorcan Ward said:


> ... even made the guitar not possible to play in classical position. ...


 QFT


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## HoneyNut (Sep 13, 2022)

evade said:


> how do you mean with non-lock trems? you mean like EVERTUNES?
> 
> I also am not the biggest fan of the natural color where they just don't paint the guitar


Yes, that thing too!


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## p0ke (Sep 13, 2022)

String through body bridges. I just don't like the look of those. 

Also, inlays. They're kinda useless in general, the side dots are what you actually look at anyway. And especially on cheap guitars the dot inlays tend to be what makes the instrument look cheap, IMO. For example on the Jackson JS series guitars (which otherwise look pretty good considering the price IMO) they're somehow extra big and bulky looking, the guitars would look much better without any inlays at all.


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## CanserDYI (Sep 13, 2022)

This has turned into my "What screams cheap to you thread" so I will reiterate:

Anything that's got pickup rings that's not a Les Paul.


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## possumkiller (Sep 13, 2022)

Drew said:


> Everyone wanting a "custom" guitar


This. Jfc. So many group runs that nobody can agree on that wind up some hideous monstrosity. After all the shit show that is the dealers and group buys section, I've really stopped lusting after a personalized guitar.


----------



## CanserDYI (Sep 13, 2022)

possumkiller said:


> This. Jfc. So many group runs that nobody can agree on that wind up some hideous monstrosity. After all the shit show that is the dealers and group buys section, I've really stopped lusting after a personalized guitar.


I like when people take production guitars and customize the fuck out of them way more than I like blindly spec'd monstrosities.


----------



## Metaldestroyerdennis (Sep 13, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> I like when people take production guitars and customize the fuck out of them way more than I like blindly spec'd monstrosities.


Don't you own a kiesel though lmao


----------



## CanserDYI (Sep 13, 2022)

Metaldestroyerdennis said:


> Don't you own a kiesel though lmao


I'll concede to that point lol


----------



## Choop (Sep 13, 2022)

Stiman said:


> So you draw the line in the sand at locking tuners?
> Floating trem with normal tuners = bad
> Floating trem with locking tuners = good
> 
> ...



Yeah you're right, locking tuners don't really do the same thing that a locking nut does.

I'm also anti-satin finishes haha, at least on guitar bodies. They can look ok, but I never find them as nice looking as gloss alternatives. Also they can get those glossy patches on them from play wear and it just looks kind of greasy. Pretty much every used RGD that came out in that matte black have big greasy semi-glossy spots.


----------



## gunch (Sep 13, 2022)

get a strat, tele, sg, or lp

return to monke


----------



## mastapimp (Sep 13, 2022)

headless necks and headless hardware
pick guard on a back-routed guitar
non-recessed control cavities where the cover isn't flush
colored fingerboards (Kiesel, PRS)
obnoxiously bright solid paints (solar's neon pink and neon green comes to mind)
Aristides and Schecter wet saran-wrap paintjob
Caparison sponge paint
Suhr's gloss finish over heavily relic


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 13, 2022)

They should just stop making BAD trems.

My USA Strat trem doesn't hold tune. Sure I can set it up so I can dive bomb, but if I do that then I can't pitchbend. IDK what EBMM does with theirs, but I wouldn't mind some of that.

But I like my floyds.


----------



## Thesius (Sep 13, 2022)

Pickup rings on super strats. The amount of ESPs. Edwards. and E-IIs I have passed on because of those ugly ass rings is too high


----------



## Alberto7 (Sep 13, 2022)

Relic'd nitro finishes on modern guitars and/or comet vomit discoball sparkle finishes. Like, I fucking know that Larada isn't 40 years old, who are we kidding. That shit only works on Strats and Les Pauls.

Stained fretboards. Never liked them and the color wears out. Very few guitars out there with stained fretboards that I've ever liked.

Kiesel bevels in general are the main thing keeping me away from truly liking their designs.



thraxil said:


> People get hung up on the whole "SS frets don't wear out so you never need to refret them" argument and kind of stop there if they don't feel like they've ever been burdened by refreting non-SS guitars.
> 
> Here's why *I* still really like SS frets (though it's not quite a deal breaker for me): Have you ever mirror polished your frets? Not just polished, but really, really polished them to the point where bends are so effortless that you almost have to relearn some basic technique because there's zero friction between the string and fret and you find that you can push certain chords slightly out of tune if you're not careful? If you haven't, it's worth getting some 10,000 grit and doing it sometime. Just be prepared to spend some real time and elbow grease on it. If you get used to that feeling, it's really addictive. With non-SS frets though, it will only last for maybe an hour of playing before it's back to merely "really smooth". Even overnight in a humid client and there's enough oxidation of the frets that the feeling goes away. With good SS frets, you put the work into mirror polishing the frets once and it just stays that way. I have Parkers from the 90's with SS frets that have that glassy zero friction feel all the time every time I take them out of the case and it never requires any more maintenance than wiping the frets down with a damp cloth when I change the strings.
> 
> I bought a Harley Benton with SS frets recently and it came with them basically unpolished and gritty feeling. If that's what other people experience with SS frets, I don't blame them for not understanding. But at least I was able to polish them myself *once* and now I know that it will continue to play like that from now on.


My Strandberg Boden Original 8 with shitty fretwork felt like bending on sandpaper until I finally decided to have it fret-leveled and polished. It's basically a different guitar now, and a very good one, too.


----------



## Grindspine (Sep 14, 2022)

Just, "wow", at this list...



possumkiller said:


> I miss the days when the cringiest shit to look at was an abalone covered hot topic schecter.


What was it, the Charvel Desolation series that came out of the same factory a season before Schecter did it? Those were gaudy af.


14Fishes said:


> Not an aesthetic or feature, but signature guitars for online influencers/YouTube guitarists. I’m sure it’s the dream of every guitarist who makes a living as a musician to have a signature guitar, but if your claim to fame is having e.g. a “20 cool fusion licks” video on YouTube from March 2018 with 154,176 views, and not an album like Passion & Warfare or Surfing With The Alien, I question whether you deserve it.


Do record labels still exist in the size they were in 1990 though?


KnightBrolaire said:


> -block inlays (they look awful on basically every guitar)
> 
> -poorly done fades (ibanez, schecter) - it's not that hard to do a fade ffs, especially a fire fade. If you can't consistently do it then don't make em.
> 
> ...


Chrome pisses me off whether it is on a guitar or a car.


CanserDYI said:


> I like when people take production guitars and customize the fuck out of them way more than I like blindly spec'd monstrosities.


Customized af!


----------



## Grindspine (Sep 14, 2022)

I thought of one that I hate on any and all guitars... scalloped fretboards... I have never been a fan of the tightrope feel.

The kicker was when this one-of-a-kind koa Mockingbird was up on ebay, sold, then popped back up a few months later with the fretboard massacred. Scalloping is just.. yich.


----------



## thraxil (Sep 14, 2022)

I just thought of another one that seems to be a trend lately that's already starting to feel played out to me: mint green pickguards. I don't know what happened recently, but all over the place I see what looks like a white pickguard that's maybe lit a little oddly and it turns out to be "mint green". As a rare, unique thing I guess that's cool. It just seems to be *everywhere* now.


----------



## possumkiller (Sep 14, 2022)

thraxil said:


> I just thought of another one that seems to be a trend lately that's already starting to feel played out to me: mint green pickguards. I don't know what happened recently, but all over the place I see what looks like a white pickguard that's maybe lit a little oddly and it turns out to be "mint green". As a rare, unique thing I guess that's cool. It just seems to be *everywhere* now.


The cringiest part is that mint green pickguards weren't even real. The original plastic was supposed to be white but was slightly transparent and had a milky look with the black middle layer being a bit more visible. The actual mint green opaque plastic wasn't a thing until the reissues in the 80s and 90s trying to mimic a similar look with different materials.


----------



## Einhander (Sep 14, 2022)

Man a lot of these are on point...
-Bevels are a bit out of hand
-Odd burl fades
-Cheap hardware
-Coil taps on both volume and tone knobs( just experienced this for first time on some local E-II's in Shibuya, hated it)
-Custom inlays that do not compliment the guitar are odd
- Ridiculous price demands for n axe just because it's made in the US ( back up the QC and then maybe I'll bend)

But other than that just my opinion, to each their own and you like what you like at the end of the day


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 14, 2022)

I like mint pickguards because white pickguards automatically associate with a cheap starter strat knockoff for me. The off-white look adds a little subtle interest.


----------



## Choop (Sep 14, 2022)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> I like mint pickguards because white pickguards automatically associate with a cheap starter strat knockoff for me. The off-white look adds a little subtle interest.



Ye -- I'm a fan of the aged pearloid look, where it's just a little cream-colored or yellowed. Looks nice! I have a bass with one, but I can't tell if it was purchased that way or is actually aged to some degree.



LiveOVErdrive said:


> They should just stop making BAD trems.
> 
> My USA Strat trem doesn't hold tune. Sure I can set it up so I can dive bomb, but if I do that then I can't pitchbend. IDK what EBMM does with theirs, but I wouldn't mind some of that.
> 
> But I like my floyds.



I dunno if this would 100% solve it, but a lot of tuning stability issues in general are due to strings having friction at the nut. Having some nice high gear ratio tuners and lubing the nut with graphite or nutsauce, etc, helps a whole lot. I probably wouldn't depend on a non-locking trem to stay in tune like it would with a floyd for a whole set of bending though.


----------



## CanserDYI (Sep 14, 2022)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> I like mint pickguards because white pickguards automatically associate with a cheap starter strat knockoff for me. The off-white look adds a little subtle interest.


I like the mint look on WHITE.

I've seen them put on tobacco bursts and it looks fucking dreadful.


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 14, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> I like the mint look on WHITE.
> 
> I've seen them put on tobacco bursts and it looks fucking dreadful.


Mint on white is GORGEOUS. I like it on black with white pickup covers for that little bit of contrast. And I LOVE it on a red sienna sunburst.


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 14, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> What was it, the Charvel Desolation series that came out of the same factory a season before Schecter did it? Those were gaudy af.



Earlier this summer I was GASing hard over an older wine red LTD EC1000 with abalone fucking everything, even abalone trim inside the binding because what could be better than trim for your trim?

I didn't end up buying it for a lot of reasons, but I had to laugh at myself because I used to shit talk Schecter for exactly the same thing, but now somehow I'm all "wOoOoOoOoWwWw"



CanserDYI said:


> I've seen them put on tobacco bursts



I said it before I'll say it again, posts like this are why we need a cry react.

Many modern guitar designers seem to have a very poor grasp on color theory and aesthetics in general. Most of the builds I see are too focused on being a br00tal metal guitar or being as insanely eye-catching as possible, or worse, both at the same time.


----------



## Grindspine (Sep 14, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> I like the mint look on WHITE.
> 
> I've seen them put on tobacco bursts and it looks fucking dreadful.


I was looking for a puke emoticon to display my opinion of a mint pick guard on a tobacco burst guitar. It sounds as dreadful as drinking a cocktail with tobacco bitters in it.


wheresthefbomb said:


> Earlier this summer I was GASing hard over an older wine red LTD EC1000 with abalone fucking everything, even abalone trim inside the binding because what could be better than trim for your trim?
> 
> I didn't end up buying it for a lot of reasons, but I had to laugh at myself because I used to shit talk Schecter for exactly the same thing, but now somehow I'm all "wOoOoOoOoWwWw"
> 
> ...


I remember some guitars in the nineties, PRS Dragon, B.C. Rich Goddess, etc. with all of the hand-inlayed paua shell abalone inlays. Then, after NAMM 2002 or so, every import from Korea had abalone trim. I can see where it was appealing once, then got totally oversaturated.

Can we add a puke react with the cry react?


----------



## Hollowway (Sep 14, 2022)

wheresthefbomb said:


> Many modern guitar designers seem to have a very poor grasp on color theory and aesthetics in general. Most of the builds I see are too focused on being a br00tal metal guitar or being as insanely eye-catching as possible, or worse, both at the same time.


I soooo totally agree. The good lord does not magically bestow a strong sense of style or design on someone just because they start building guitars. Nearly all luthiers would do better to hire an actual designer. There are exceptions, but they’re not the norm.


----------



## Nlelith (Sep 15, 2022)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> The off-white look adds a little subtle interest.


----------



## thraxil (Sep 15, 2022)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> I like mint pickguards because white pickguards automatically associate with a cheap starter strat knockoff for me. The off-white look adds a little subtle interest.



That's why I brought it up in the "Played out guitar aesthetics" thread. I don't necessarily think it's a bad look. The first time I saw one, I probably thought it was a nice, unique subtle touch that could look pretty nice. It's just that now it's on like every other guitar I see and has just become a lame trend.

It's kind of like how I still think silverburst les pauls are gorgeous but I will never, ever own one because it's now just become synonymous with "Adam Jones fanboi".


----------



## ixlramp (Sep 15, 2022)

Headless guitars with a Strandberg-Boden-like body shape.
Even though that extra cutout is a good idea (if well designed), and even though i generally love headless guitars.


----------



## 7stringDemon (Sep 18, 2022)

Personally, I could go the rest of my life without ever seeing another swirled guitar. Especially if its a Jem. I used to be really into them, as well as Jackson Iridescent styled stuff, but now i just see tasteless nonsense. 

In fact, I am just sick of the whole "Jem clone" market. Like fuck man, all those 550s and 570s sacrificed to Steve Vais image.... What did they do to you? 

And while we're here, i used to really like the Mayo denim bursts and stuff. That is, until it became the biggest thing in guitar finishes since terrible trash can swirls...


----------



## Grindspine (Sep 23, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> I thought of one that I hate on any and all guitars... scalloped fretboards... I have never been a fan of the tightrope feel.
> 
> The kicker was when this one-of-a-kind koa Mockingbird was up on ebay, sold, then popped back up a few months later with the fretboard massacred. Scalloping is just.. yich.


Ohhhhhh no.. It is back up for sale again!









B.C. Rich USA Custom Shop Koa Mochingbird | Reverb


2009 USA Custom Shop BC Rich KOA Mockingbird.24 fret neck - Scalloped frets from 7th fret to 24th fret.Collector guitar in mint condition - Not a blemish or scratch on this piece!Thank you for looking and your interest.Best of luck!




reverb.com





THAT is the guitar that made me absolutely despise scalloping of fretboards. The bastard who butchered that rosewood didn't even bother oiling it after. It looks like it has been through several owners over the past few years. I bet they all realize how the fretboard scalloping absolutely dove the value of the guitar after they bought it.







It was such a gorgeous cut of koa and such a great rosewood fingerboard with mother of pearl diamond inlays... all ruined... 






Ah well, that is my contribution to the thread and a dire warning of how NOT to treat irreplaceable custom-made guitars.

Ugh.. repulsive hack job.


----------



## Mprinsje (Sep 23, 2022)

Reverse headstocks on otherwise cool guitars

Any burst other than classic Gibson/fender style sunbursts (also silverbursts but only on a LP Custom) and reverse bursts in particular.

Honestly, most whacky colours just make a guitar look like a toy.

also headless guitars.


----------



## LordCashew (Sep 23, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> Ohhhhhh no.. It is back up for sale again!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Kind of cool that the fretboard looks like 3 different pieces of wood now...


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 23, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> Ohhhhhh no.. It is back up for sale again!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



i cri evry tiem :'(


----------



## Hollowway (Sep 23, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> Ohhhhhh no.. It is back up for sale again!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


"Mint condition - not a blemish or scratch on this piece!" The term "mint condition" really has no meaning anymore. Apparently after-market shitty modifications are completely fine.


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 23, 2022)

Hollowway said:


> "Mint condition - not a blemish or scratch on this piece!" The term "mint condition" really has no meaning anymore. Apparently after-market shitty modifications are completely fine.



more like peppermint schnapps condition


----------



## Alberto7 (Sep 24, 2022)

Did the scalloping work take out all the inlays along with the wood? Cause if so, fucken' yikes.


----------



## Winspear (Sep 24, 2022)

Wood


----------



## Blytheryn (Sep 24, 2022)

Whatever the fuck it is that Dunable and Balaguer do. Something about the design language.


----------



## Isaiah04 (Sep 27, 2022)

In my opinion, EMG 81/85 set on guitars, we get it, its one of the most iconic pair of pickups, but would it kill to at least give some pickup variety?


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 27, 2022)

reverb tanks in combos, they sound nice but are so often the source of irritating vibration when cranked 

give me tremolo, or digital reverb, but I'd prefer trem, not enough amps have that


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 27, 2022)

Winspear said:


> Wood



richlite fretboards are great


----------



## odibrom (Sep 27, 2022)

... have anyone already spoke of ABALONE...? if so, sorry, please add +1 on it...


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 27, 2022)

odibrom said:


> ... have anyone already spoke of ABALONE...? if so, sorry, please add +1 on it...



ahhhh, baloney!


----------



## BornToLooze (Sep 27, 2022)

Mprinsje said:


> Any burst other than classic Gibson/fender style sunbursts (also silverbursts but only on a LP Custom) and reverse bursts in particular.



I don't get why people love silverbursts. To me, it's the same as gold tops, only the beat up ones look cool.

I mean this



Or this


----------



## Grindspine (Sep 28, 2022)

Alberto7 said:


> Did the scalloping work take out all the inlays along with the wood? Cause if so, fucken' yikes.


Yeah, hand inlayed mother of pearl inlays all gouged for that scallop job.. 


Isaiah04 said:


> In my opinion, EMG 81/85 set on guitars, we get it, its one of the most iconic pair of pickups, but would it kill to at least give some pickup variety?


I mean, I get EMG 81s are iconic. I still have no idea why 85s were so big as neck pickups. They always sounded flubby to me, especially in the neck of a 22 fret guitar.


wheresthefbomb said:


> reverb tanks in combos, they sound nice but are so often the source of irritating vibration when cranked
> 
> give me tremolo, or digital reverb, but I'd prefer trem, not enough amps have that


So much yea, no, spring reverb tanks and that giant clang sound. Tremolo a bit more represented would be a nice change.


----------



## Mprinsje (Sep 28, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> I mean, I get EMG 81s are iconic. I still have no idea why 85s were so big as neck pickups. They always sounded flubby to me, especially in the neck of a 22 fret guitar.



Use that 85 as a bridge pickup. It's much better as a bridge pickup than as a neck pickup, and for a lot of applications I'd argue it's better than an 81 in bridge as well. The 60 is the neck pickup from emg I like best (from their "classic" pickups, haven't tried the newer stuff)

Still, for some uses an 81 can't really be beat.


----------



## RevDrucifer (Sep 28, 2022)

7stringDemon said:


> Personally, I could go the rest of my life without ever seeing another swirled guitar. Especially if its a Jem. I used to be really into them, as well as Jackson Iridescent styled stuff, but now i just see tasteless nonsense.
> 
> In fact, I am just sick of the whole "Jem clone" market. Like fuck man, all those 550s and 570s sacrificed to Steve Vais image.... What did they do to you?
> 
> And while we're here, i used to really like the Mayo denim bursts and stuff. That is, until it became the biggest thing in guitar finishes since terrible trash can swirls...



NEXT!


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 28, 2022)

Mprinsje said:


> Use that 85 as a bridge pickup. It's much better as a bridge pickup than as a neck pickup, and for a lot of applications I'd argue it's better than an 81 in bridge as well. The 60 is the neck pickup from emg I like best (from their "classic" pickups, haven't tried the newer stuff)
> 
> Still, for some uses an 81 can't really be beat.


I mostly agree, but nothing makes the little zakk wylde squealies fly off the fretboard quite like an 81 in the bridge. 

Honestly I think I might prefer an 81/81 combo.


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Sep 28, 2022)

Grindspine said:


> So much yea, no, spring reverb tanks and that giant clang sound. Tremolo a bit more represented would be a nice change.



I really love the earth-shattering sound of the reverb tank getting bonked just right, but only when I want it to happen hahahaha.

My Lab Series L7 has a gorgeous-sounding spring reverb that makes very apparent god-awful sympathetic vibrations, it's so bad I thought my brand new Jensen speakers were defective for a while until I tried pushing down on the tank and presto, no more gross noise.


----------



## StevenC (Sep 30, 2022)

Bright yellow in 3/10 condition


----------



## MFB (Sep 30, 2022)

StevenC said:


> Bright yellow in 3/10 condition



Did they nuke that thread, it's suspiciously absent from list of popular theeads


----------



## StevenC (Sep 30, 2022)

MFB said:


> Did they nuke that thread, it's suspiciously absent from list of popular theeads


They did. Not sure what happened, but it definitely wasn't my fault.


----------



## John (Oct 4, 2022)

Blytheryn said:


> Whatever the fuck it is that Dunable and Balaguer do. Something about the design language.


----------



## Hollowway (Oct 4, 2022)

Blytheryn said:


> Whatever the fuck it is that Dunable and Balaguer do. Something about the design language.


Interesting. I'm still fully in the Balaguer and Dunable design language phase of my life.


----------



## BurningRome (Oct 4, 2022)

Relic.


----------



## Hollowway (Oct 4, 2022)

BurningRome said:


> Relic.


I have never, at any time, liked relics. For me they were played out the minute I saw one. Idk why, and I know it’s just me. It’s just weird to me that I’d pay for something to be made really nice, and then pay extra to make it not nice anymore.


----------



## soliloquy (Oct 4, 2022)

1) glossy shiny finishes that don't age, wear or tear
2) consistent perfection that makes instruments feel dead (but consistent)
3) crazy figured tops
4) basically anything that isn't a Les Paul Custom Black, or a 1955s goldtop


----------



## Alberto7 (Oct 5, 2022)

Hollowway said:


> I have never, at any time, liked relics. For me they were played out the minute I saw one. Idk why, and I know it’s just me. It’s just weird to me that I’d pay for something to be made really nice, and then pay extra to make it not nice anymore.


I said it before in this thread but I'll say it again: Relic'd metallic crazy finishes on modern guitars. Bet they also wish their brand new McLaren was also relic'd. *cough* Larada *cough*

Looks silly.


----------



## Adieu (Oct 5, 2022)

Isaiah04 said:


> In my opinion, EMG 81/85 set on guitars, we get it, its one of the most iconic pair of pickups, but would it kill to at least give some pickup variety?



That's what the 85/81 "set" is for. Reverse and enjoy.


----------



## Adieu (Oct 5, 2022)

Einhander said:


> -Coil taps on both volume and tone knobs( just experienced this for first time on some local E-II's in Shibuya, hated it)



Dude, no way, dual individual coil taps are AWESOME.

It gives you additional HS and SH options in middle position on a 3-way.


----------



## Adieu (Oct 5, 2022)

UNscooped horns and rectangular bolt-on heels.


----------



## Einhander (Oct 5, 2022)

Adieu said:


> Dude, no way, dual individual coil taps are AWESOME.
> 
> It gives you additional HS and SH options in middle position on a 3-way.


It just wasn't for me. But also for the style of my play it's not needed. It was just a bummer for the model of guitar I was looking at and didn't want to switch components around. Again to each their own and cool to see somebody has some experience with them that enjoys it.


----------



## Adieu (Oct 5, 2022)

Einhander said:


> It just wasn't for me. But also for the style of my play it's not needed. It was just a bummer for the model of guitar I was looking at and didn't want to switch components around. Again to each their own and cool to see somebody has some experience with them that enjoys it.



Wdym? Isn't it pull/push? What's the diff if you don't use it?


----------



## works0fheart (Oct 5, 2022)

thraxil said:


> Reverse headstocks.
> 
> OK. Not exactly new, but I went there.



Thank goodness someone said it. Can't help but notice this got like no traction here though because this shit is still all the craze. On some guitars I don't mind it but for the love of god, keep it off of the fucking Jackson's. It's the musical instrument equivalent of a broken bone jutting out whenever I see it and it usually ruins whatever interest I have in what would be an otherwise good looking guitar. Can it be trendy to hate this trend now? Can we move on to that era already?



ixlramp said:


> Headless guitars with a Strandberg-Boden-like body shape.
> Even though that extra cutout is a good idea (if well designed), and even though i generally love headless guitars.



Was just thinking this the other day. Like damn man, I liked the Boden when it first came out and it felt like they were trying to be innovative, but there's been so many companies that have tried to hop on this train with similar shapes or blatant knock-offs that it's just ridiculous (Ormsby, GOC, etc). Can we get back to trying to innovate the instrument and not just ripping each other off? I may not be an Aristides fan boy but at least they're trying to do something original.


Shit man, maybe it's time to just hang up the guitar. The era of the prog-metal banjo bands needs to begin.


----------



## STRHelvete (Oct 5, 2022)

Everything...I'm sick of all of it.

Fishmans
SS Frets
Evertunes
BKPs
Extended scales
Burled tops
Ash tops with the sandblast
Headless 
Those retarded bevels that show the woodgrain
The SUPER fucking ugly ergo looking guitars that look like a ditto having a stroke
Tremolos


----------



## Naxxpipe (Oct 5, 2022)

works0fheart said:


> Thank goodness someone said it. Can't help but notice this got like no traction here though because this shit is still all the craze. On some guitars I don't mind it but for the love of god, *keep it off of the fucking Jackson's*. It's the musical instrument equivalent of a broken bone jutting out whenever I see it and it usually ruins whatever interest I have in what would be an otherwise good looking guitar. Can it be trendy to hate this trend now? Can we move on to that era already?



Boooooooooooooooo 

I yearn for a future where all Jacksons have ONLY correct, i.e. reversed, headstocks!


----------



## wheresthefbomb (Oct 5, 2022)

Hollowway said:


> I have never, at any time, liked relics. For me they were played out the minute I saw one. Idk why, and I know it’s just me. It’s just weird to me that I’d pay for something to be made really nice, and then pay extra to make it not nice anymore.



The only good relic is the one that comes from hundreds of hours of blood, sweat, and tears. So, so many tears.



STRHelvete said:


> Everything...I'm sick of all of it.
> 
> Fishmans
> SS Frets
> ...



Was just wondering about you the other day, glad to see you still kickin' around. Great list.


----------



## MFB (Oct 5, 2022)

Nah, sandblasted ash tops like the Loomis models look rad, and as long as you mean vintage tremolos and not Floyds then you're fine; 2-point trems are this shitty middle ground of not being a Floyd and also not being a hardtail.


----------



## Adieu (Oct 5, 2022)

Hmm.

That's a thought.

Sell a Blues Lawyer Special: "relic'ed with pints of genuine millenial tears".


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## Emperoff (Oct 5, 2022)

possumkiller said:


> Slapping evertunes and fishmans on everything that isn't a headless. Figured, spalted, burl veneers. Headless guitars. Disgusting combinations of transparent colors. After the last decade of looking at the trendy bullshit all the guitar companies have been churning out, I miss the days when the cringiest shit to look at was an abalone covered hot topic schecter.
> 
> People are hating on those new Jackson USA standard soloists but I think they're fucking refreshing. Understated and classy but still a bit flashy in the blue or green.


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## Crungy (Oct 5, 2022)

STRHelvete said:


> The SUPER fucking ugly ergo looking guitars that look like a ditto having a stroke


I assumed Pokémon and couldn't remember what it looked like, was not disappointed. 

11/00 agree


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## LordCashew (Oct 5, 2022)

Frets


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## tedtan (Oct 5, 2022)

Adieu said:


> Hmm.
> 
> That's a thought.
> 
> Sell a Blues Lawyer Special: "relic'ed with pints of genuine millenial tears".


The problem with this is that millennial tears are far too common to be of any value.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Oct 5, 2022)

Man ive got some heavy nostalgia for my old hot topic schecter.


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## John (Oct 5, 2022)

Adieu said:


> Sell a Blues Lawyer Special: "relic'ed with



"Relic'ed with this content, hoss"


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## Einhander (Oct 6, 2022)

Adieu said:


> UNscooped horns and rectangular bolt-on heels





Adieu said:


> Wdym? Isn't it pull/push? What's the diff if you don't use it?


So I'm used to only having it on one knob and having a five way switch. I didn't like it on both knobs, not the end of the world just saying Its not for me, didn't like the feel, and I'm moving on.


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## odibrom (Oct 7, 2022)

... I've seen a few finishes that aim to faux / fake relics, but are completely smooth to touch, it's the paint job that simulates the guitar degradation / abuse. Even the deep relic jobs are lame. Just play the guitars and let them age naturally... or just buy a used guitar there are plenty on the wild needing some true love.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Oct 7, 2022)

I want more maple fretboards dammit!


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## odibrom (Oct 8, 2022)

... Oh I know of a finish trend that feels awful as well: super figured wood all over, top and fingerboard and neck... there's so much visual info that there's nowhere to rest one's eyes...


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