Suggestions for Guitar Build

Started by gordenmack, September 24, 2020, 10:19:04 PM

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gordenmack

I play in class "Yes" band, so i am laying my hands on an ES-175 to play Steve Howe's most recognized instrument.

I have used the Godin and the Roland Strat guitars, find I prefer the strat cause the Godin piezo pickups pick up every bit of body noise and whammy bar noise, so it limits when I can use the piezo.

That said, I plan to install the GK-KIT to avoid the piezo noise, but I do want a true acoustic sound which lacks on the GK-KIT, so I plan to replace the arch-top bridge with an acoustic archtop bridge and acoustic eq box so i will have the full body sound of an actual acoustic, the options of Gr-55 synth and modeling and then of course the natural tones of the GR-55.

That said, this is a major freaking investment, I have not put this much work into a guitar before, and other than hiring a pro to do the work - does anyone have any advice or dos / don'ts I should follow from personal experience.  I cannot find any guitar with this many options to cull ideas from, which means this will be a truly unique guitar when its done.

All advice appreciated.

Gorden

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: gordenmack on September 24, 2020, 10:19:04 PM
I play in class "Yes" band, so i am laying my hands on an ES-175 to play Steve Howe's most recognized instrument.

I have used the Godin and the Roland Strat guitars, find I prefer the strat cause the Godin piezo pickups pick up every bit of body noise and whammy bar noise, so it limits when I can use the piezo.

That said, I plan to install the GK-KIT to avoid the piezo noise, but I do want a true acoustic sound which lacks on the GK-KIT, so I plan to replace the arch-top bridge with an acoustic archtop bridge and acoustic eq box so i will have the full body sound of an actual acoustic, the options of Gr-55 synth and modeling and then of course the natural tones of the GR-55.

That said, this is a major freaking investment, I have not put this much work into a guitar before, and other than hiring a pro to do the work - does anyone have any advice or dos / don'ts I should follow from personal experience.  I cannot find any guitar with this many options to cull ideas from, which means this will be a truly unique guitar when its done.

All advice appreciated.

Gorden

You just need a guitar tech to hand you the right guitar like Steve Howe has.... ;D ;D
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

arkieboy

(Huge Yes/Howe fan)


A singer friend and I have been kicking around some kind of prog tribute - probably multiple bands to broaden the appeal - and having a Gibson Semi of some kind on stage with me would be pretty much essential.  I do have a Les Paul Signature, but it's pretty rare and it's going no further than a recording studio in the foreseeable ...


Trapeze tail pieces fill me with dread so an ES137 struck me as a good compromise between look and convenience.  It would be easier to string, less likely to feedback and cost quite a lot less.  It would also be less of a handful being half as thick.  Comfort is going to be a thing if you're going to pull off some of the things Steve plays.


If you want to fit a GK kit, you might even consider having the whole guitar built from a kit and use it as a spare to the real thing.  Just a thought ...


Finally if you're doing the whole thing properly you are definitely going to need to budget for a lap steel and I'd seriously consider a telecaster too particularly if you're thinking Awaken/Gates for your big number. 
Main rig: Barden Hexacaster and Brian Moore i2.13 controllers
Boss SY1000/Boss GKC-AD/Boss GM-800/Laney LFR112

Other relevant gear: Line 6 Helix LT, Roland GR-33, Axon AX100 MkII
Oberheim Matrix 6R, Supernova IIR, EMu E5000, Apple Mainstage, Apple Logic, MOTU M4

plexified


Can you define what type of 'acoustic' sounds you are looking to attain and from what. Thx.

gordenmack

I already of a Telecaster with the GK3 on it.  I also have a couple Roland Strats and an ES-135 clone with a GK3.  And I have a lap steel though I need to get better at using it.

I use the GR-55 to enable 6 string steel acoustic, 6-string nylon and 12 string steel acoustic guitar tones. I have been unable to dial in a really acceptable acoustic tone with the GR-55, not horrible but not great either.  I have seen a video of the ES-175 with a piezo acoustic pickup and it sounded beauitiful, being a thick hollow body, it lends itself well to the piezo.  Then I could set the Gr-55 to augment the natural piezo witch the parallel / octive strings.  The real sound with the GR-55 would sound a hell lot better.

But my dream of tapping an available wire in the 13 pin cable is proving to not be an option as their is no real available wire (I thought there was).  So it looks like I'd have to add a 1/4 output for the piezo if I still want it isolated.

I do not want the acoustic on the same signal as the electric as then my amp tone would have to accommodate the acoustic as well as the electric and that is problematic at best.

So still open to ideas to achieve my desires, but I think my 3rd sentence above is the only viable answer.