Classic Guitar Design Flaws (WHINING ALERT!!)

[RoyBGood]

imho, 6-a-side Fender and Fender-style headstocks are the wrong way round. The tension of the high E and B would be reduced - and the floppy low E and A tightened-up if they were reversed. You probably wouldn't need string trees either.

The spacing / relationship of the selector, volume and tone knobs on a Tele drives me nuts. Why is the volume so close to the selector? There's enough space between the volume and tone knobs to easily fit another one... which is what Fret-King actually do. (Yes I know it looks a bit odd.) How much tooling cost would be involved to shunt the volume pot back a bit?

Three-way only on a Tele? with the switch travel available, it should be a five-way. Jerry Donahue selections come to mind. Cost again, innit?

 

[BigDaddyLH]

imho, 6-a-side Fender and Fender-style headstocks are the wrong way round. The tension of the high E and B would be reduced - and the floppy low E and A tightened-up if they were reversed. You probably wouldn't need string trees either.

Then the tuner keys would point the wrong way and turning them would be awkward, unless Leo also invented the Steinberger gearless tuner.

 

[beyer160]

Well; you gotta adjust the pickup, and know where (& how) to pick. See the masters of the bridge pickup tone; like Magic Sam, Duke Robillard or Ronnie Earl... Sometimes they even pick further behind the pickup, for that unmistakable tone.

Blues on a on an unadulterated stratocaster bridge pickup is an art.

Listen to them, you'll see what I mean

I really don't have any interest in sounding like these guys, though.

In my personal paradigm, having a tone control on the bridge pickup makes the guitar a LOT more useful.

As for guitar design flaws, I consider the Fender Jazzmaster, and to a lesser extent the Jaguar, to be one massive design flaw. A dreadful tremolo and bridge unit, and awkwardly shaped body, overly complex wiring schemes and weak quacky pickups. Great for surf music, or grunge rock where you're using a bunch of distortion, but otherwise a weirdly unmusical creation with very limited purpose or sonic usefulness.

You may not like the Jazzmaster or understand how to use it, but I consider it the perfect electric guitar- stock bridge and all. It's by far my favorite trem system, and I think the "weak, quacky pickups" sound gorgeous clean or dirty.

If we all played the same way though, there'd only need to be one type of guitar.

 

[beyer160]

2.) You have to completely slack the strings and pull out the bridge in order to adjust the height. Then, hoping for the best, reassemble and tune up. If you got it wrong, go back to the first step. Honestly, who thought that was a good idea?

?

You know you can just stick an allen wrench in the holes and raise/lower the bridge, right? It's easier than a tune-o-matic.

 

[Minimalist518]

?

You know you can just stick an allen wrench in the holes and raise/lower the bridge, right? It's easier than a tune-o-matic.

Really? Not that I have the slightest reason to doubt it, but is that true of the old ones or is it a new innovation?
Years ago I had a '65 Mustang and there were holes on the post tops as you describe, but they were round. If there was an Allen wrench head just inside it wasn't obvious to my admittedly undereducated teenage eyes, while the pointed fulcrum tips that sat inside the bushings had a flathead slot. I just always assumed that this was the only means of height adjustment.
Huh. If they've always been top adjustable, I guess I can retract my complaint with all due thanks to you!

 

[grooveiron]

The position of the pick up selector switch on useLes Pauls has always driven me nuts. I'm constantly knocking it one way or the other while strumming. Also, seriously guys! Can you really not get your head around two volume and two tone controls?!? How do you go from a rhythm sound with low-volume on the neck pick up to rocking max-volume solo position on the bridge pick up? With two volumes and two tone controls, that's how!

 

[homesick345]

I really don't have any interest in sounding like these guys, though.

In my personal paradigm, having a tone control on the bridge pickup makes the guitar a LOT more useful.

No problem at all with preferences. Fender actually put the tone on both bridge & middle on almost all their guitars except some vintage RI

Many including me feel the no-load is perfect for the rather weak strat bridge. It helps cut through the mix like a champ. You just have to adjust your attack. In a searing clean amp drenched with reverb, it's unmistakable strat glory

 

[papa32203]

The super low end Epiphone LP Specials have bolt necks. I'd love it if they put out a quality Gibson LP Special or Junior with a bolt neck.

"They" do. It's called a Fano SP6.

 

[Mike Simpson]

What about the Gibson / Epiphone headstock breakage syndrome?
Why don't they improve this design and bolt on a replaceable neck that is known not break at the headstock?

Replace the word ship or "tanker" with "guitar" and replace the word "front" with "headstock"

 

[TeleAndSG]

Are we so conservative when it comes to guitars that we still want to suffer from them instead having it done the right way. Some of the things are a matter of preference but many are just flaws. Why has it taken so long to get strat of the shelf with a tone pot on the bridge pickup? That's were you need it. And why are there still so many guitars that are neck heavy? What about the Telecaster? Is there really a need for a three piece saddle?

There are a lot of things like this. What are some of your favorite design flaws to hate? No offense meant, just needed to get it out.

This is one of the reasons I like my ESP LTD guitar a lot. It features a handful of twists on the classic Les Paul design (e.g. they are "improvements"). It may not be your thing, but that guitar is so comfortable

 

[SweetClyde99]

Is there really a need for a three piece saddle?.

I was actually thinking the other day that if the three saddle bridge is so great at transferring string vibrations, why is no one making a one saddle bridge. But then, that probably wouldn't intonate very well. So I thought, why not add six little saddles on top of that one long saddle... Long story short, I invented the tune-o-matic bridge.

 

[RoyBGood]

Then the tuner keys would point the wrong way and turning them would be awkward, unless Leo also invented the Steinberger gearless tuner.

...No different to the plain strings on a 3-a-side headstock. I cope with my Hamer Sunburst, Yamaha SG and acoustic ok. I agree that the Firebird style is the way to go. For looks, too.

 

[tele12]

The super low end Epiphone LP Specials have bolt necks. I'd love it if they put out a quality Gibson LP Special or Junior with a bolt neck.

There are plenty of 70s Japanese Gibson copies that have a bolt on neck. Ventura is one of the brands. Matsumoko? factory, not sure if that is exactly right. They are more than decent quality.

 

[Dismalhead]

There are plenty of 70s Japanese Gibson copies that have a bolt on neck. Ventura is one of the brands. Matsumoko? factory, not sure if that is exactly right. They are more than decent quality.

My first steel string acoustic was a Ventura.

 

[Sjnoring]

Didn't Fender take care of this when the American Standard came out in the mid '80s (30+ years ago)?

When I have the bridge pickup on on my 2016 Squier Strat, and I turn the bottom knob, the sound changes. So I too thought bridge tone knobs were off the shelf.

 

[grooveiron]

Replace the word ship or "tanker" with "guitar" and replace the word "front" with "headstock"

That's hilarious!