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Bad at Life
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2021 8:47 pm
Posts: 52
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2022 2:12 pm 
 

I have been playing guitar and bass for 20+ years and am still searching for the perfect shape. I know a lot of it is preference, but I would still like some input and ideas. Right now I have several strat shapes, a Gibson SG, a Gibson Les Paul, and a Dean ML. I've owned several B.C. Rich styles, various explorers and even a flying v in the past and was just curious as to what other people prefer. I primarily play black metal, but enjoy a little bit of shred every now and again. My SG is my primary at the moment. It's an oddball, a 2017 HP with 24 frets, titanium hardware etc. It's a hell of a guitar, but it has a very wide neck and considerable neck dive. The ML, which was loaned to me for a pack of smokes, has incredible balance either standing or sitting, but I'm not excited on the looks of it. I'm thinking about a Gibson Explorer or another Ibanez Destroyer next, but damn, I really like a triple octave guitar and they're all 22 fret instruments. I like the balance of a v, but I don't enjoy playing them sitting down. Feels like I'm playing a broom. I love Les Pauls, but damn, they are heavy after a while. Anyways, I guess my question is this - What guitars have anti neck dive?

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coupdebleus
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:11 pm
Posts: 275
PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:00 am 
 

Neck dive is the headstock’s fault, headless guitars will never have that problem. Have you considered giving them a try?

Love me some short-scales. I’m currently without a guitar (moving and all that stuff), but as soon as I’m able I’ll get myself a Jaguar.
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~Guest 1452000
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:28 am
Posts: 260
PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:51 pm 
 

If you find the Les Paul to be too heavy you can do some research and find one that has the 'ultra-modern' weight reduction, those will be the lightest ones. The models and model years are pretty confusing, though, which is why I suggest doing the research :lol:

And yeah, to answer the question, that's definitely my favorite guitar shape. I used to play Fender Stratocasters exclusively, I even bought a Charvel Stratocaster for playing metal but ever since switching to Gibsons I can't go back. I sold all the Fenders, bought an SG, then sold that for a Les Paul. It has much better weight balance than the SG and it's just a nicer guitar imo. Never going back.

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Bad at Life
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2021 8:47 pm
Posts: 52
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:47 pm 
 

The only thing that sold me on this particular SG was the 24 fret access. There are a few other SGs with 24 frets, but it's not a common thing with Gibson and unfortunately I stab at the 23rd and 24th fret a lot for leads, and even a riff here and there. I don't mind the weight of a Les Paul, I actually like them quite a bit. I'm honestly going to look into an older Ibanez RG550. A classic shred machine and I have always wanted one.

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Zerberus
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:29 pm
Posts: 2308
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 3:32 pm 
 

I'm definitely not a good enough guitar player for the shape to have any real effect on my playing, but I definitely prefer a classic Flying V.
Les Pauls look dumb to me, and the body's too thick.
I've owned two SGs, but I've always hated the neck dive. The body also tends to look a little small on me for some reason.

I've been kinda interested in getting a Jaguar, I think they look really sick. Strats are a little boring imo.
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Hexenmacht46290
Has a GED in Gamercide

Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:30 pm
Posts: 772
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 1:45 pm 
 

The Fender jazz bass neck is is narrower, closer to the nut, about the same width as a Stratocaster neck. I like that, for playing melodies with a bunch of semitones, or chromatic notes, on a bass. I don’t like really wide necks on bass or guitar, I never had much dexterity.

As far as looks, SG looks good, because it has horns, and therefore, it’s infernal.
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Zerberus
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:29 pm
Posts: 2308
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2022 2:50 am 
 

Hexenmacht46290 wrote:
The Fender jazz bass neck is is narrower, closer to the nut, about the same width as a Stratocaster neck. I like that, for playing melodies with a bunch of semitones, or chromatic notes, on a bass. I don’t like really wide necks on bass or guitar, I never had much dexterity.



Definitely agree on that. I've got a five string Ibanez bass that is of course a way better bass than my shitty Squire P-bass, but that P-bass plays like a dream.
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Hexenmacht46290
Has a GED in Gamercide

Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:30 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 1:44 pm 
 

Is it the jazz bass, or the P bass, that has that thinner neck? Maybe I got it wrong. I have a dean, with a P bass neck pickup, and a single coil bridge pickup. That’s what I was talking about. It was the first bass I bought, because it was the cheapest in the store.
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I smoke and smoke, stoned as a fuck
Weed is my life, weed is my love…
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Mango_Sauce
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:46 pm
Posts: 114
PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:21 am 
 

I spent all my youth worshipping marty friedman's RiP era kelly (which is essentially an "altered" explorer). I can pretty safely say aesthetically that is my favorite guitar. I finally got one (one of the cheaper ones unfortunately, not a pro level made in america one, which start at like 4000 USD) and it's pretty surprisingly comfortable *except* the top spike at the neck stabs my chest when I'm sitting down! what a pain. it kinda encourages better posture because it happens when I'm slouching into it, but if I'm hunching over to get a good look at the fretboard it will stab me.

Classical position is really awkward with that huge swoop too, I never do that.

Also major neckdive lol. I mostly practice standing up, and it happens to not bother me, but yeah it's a bummer when I notice it.

I'm not sure how much these points transfer to an explorer, but I imagine they do at least a bit.

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Wrldeatr
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:13 pm
Posts: 377
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 11:56 pm 
 

X shape is my favorite and most comfortable shape for playing when sitting. The BC Rich Warlock tends too be too heavy and the rear cutout too low. The Jackson Warrior tends to be well balanced and doesn't suffer from neck dive.

V's are great for playing standing because you can control the position of the guitar with your right knee. So the ideal guitar for me would be one that doesn't exist as far as I know: an X shape but with two equally long rear horns, a combination of a Warrior and a King V.

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Bad at Life
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2021 8:47 pm
Posts: 52
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 6:14 am 
 

I have been playing a Dean ML(x shape) all day today and love the balance. Plays nice sitting down and well as standing up.

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Nocturnal_Evil
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:00 am
Posts: 668
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 11:50 pm 
 

Jackson Kelly with a fixed bridge and no strap connectors on the back. Dream guitar material.
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pyratebastard
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:05 pm
Posts: 396
Location: Pacific Northwest US
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 7:17 pm 
 

I've always been a fan of the King V shape.

I also like the V style for bass, but there aren't many of those out there. So, I had one custom-made.

http://www.monsonguitars.com/bass/vkb.html

(It aesthetically matches a guitar I previously got from him, #4 on this page - http://www.monsonguitars.com/guitars/scourge.html)

Perhaps one day I will custom order a 'V' from him.
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Eternal Unity
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:29 am
Posts: 275
Location: Israel
PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2023 7:27 am 
 

Jackson Red, 24 frets, Mapel.
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Jasper92
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:39 am
Posts: 877
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:44 am 
 

I have a Jackson RR24 which I really like but lately I am into X-shaped guitars. But availability is insane lately. Hoping the next batch of LTD SD-2's is coming soon. And those MK1 Ironbirds were announced to be arriving a year ago but nothing on them yet...
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Eternal Unity
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:29 am
Posts: 275
Location: Israel
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2023 8:53 am 
 

Black Gibson Les Paul is awesome. That's the guitar my teacher uses.
Early Petrucci Music Man models (2000 - 2008)
Fender Strat - Dave Murray
ESP (Opeth)
Stephan Forte - That one is simply badass!! 27 frets, super cool. They dont sell them in my country. Ibanez, I think...
Explorer - Hetfield
X-Guitar - Orpheus Blade, Dimebag
Flying V - Kirk Hammet - The one on Kill 'em All. The thin, small one - He plays live. The Boris Carloff guitar rocks, as well.
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pentalarc22
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2023 8:28 pm
Posts: 63
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 4:08 pm 
 

Zerberus wrote:
Hexenmacht46290 wrote:
The Fender jazz bass neck is is narrower, closer to the nut, about the same width as a Stratocaster neck. I like that, for playing melodies with a bunch of semitones, or chromatic notes, on a bass. I don’t like really wide necks on bass or guitar, I never had much dexterity.



Definitely agree on that. I've got a five string Ibanez bass that is of course a way better bass than my shitty Squire P-bass, but that P-bass plays like a dream.


Was looking through the threads and saw this. I'm going to be making my current bass fretless, and thinking about getting an entirely new neck rather than just stripping them, because the neck is a bit narrow for me. I'm wondering if there is a company that does ebonol or type lined fretless necks that are wider/flatter than the standard P/J style neck.

To chime in on the actual question, I've never been the "have to get hte pointiest matte-blackest instrument I can. I like strat-style stuff, and I'm a sucker for tobacco sunburst. Most of my guitars have been Peavey stat-styles (Predator AX) most of my basses have been whatever I can get a split coil and humbucker on. Will probably eventually get another Predator and maybe a jaguar at some point (the dual humbcker version)

Funny story, in one of the many things a prospective lead guitarist in my old band did to get quickly kicked out was demand that everyone switch to black instruments, (except for him, he had to have a white guitar instead so "everyone would know [he was] the lead guitarist.) He especially hated that my guitar was light blue with a white pickguard. (And also yelled "You don't *deserve* a humbucker" at one point for some reason.)

THe other guitarist in the band (we were three guitars at the time, before we switched to two guitars and two basses), laughed at him, put away his black Jackson soloist, and took out his backup, a metalflake red strat covered in smiley face stickers.

New guitarist got really mad at that. He didn't last long . . . let's just say he didn't fit in with the rest of the band. :-)
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Bird Bard
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:01 pm
Posts: 5
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 1:57 pm 
 

It's not too specific, but I'm in love with the Paul Reed Smith semi-hollowbodies, especially the SE custom ones. The Special PRS models are a bit too rounded for my liking, though. The neck shapes aren't usually perfect but I find that that body shape is pretty ergonomic and also generally looks good. This is really a pretty personal thing.

Also, these models are usually significantly lighter than they look, so there's that.

Hope you find something that works for you as I plan on sticking with shapes in this style for quite a while.

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Dsharpdim
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:45 am
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 4:44 pm 
 

I am now going to go around yelling "You don't deserve a humbucker" at random people.

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pentalarc22
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2023 8:28 pm
Posts: 63
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2023 4:27 pm 
 

Wrldeatr wrote:
X shape is my favorite and most comfortable shape for playing when sitting. The BC Rich Warlock tends too be too heavy and the rear cutout too low. The Jackson Warrior tends to be well balanced and doesn't suffer from neck dive.

V's are great for playing standing because you can control the position of the guitar with your right knee. So the ideal guitar for me would be one that doesn't exist as far as I know: an X shape but with two equally long rear horns, a combination of a Warrior and a King V.


I know the feeling. My dream bass would be if someone jagstang'd a Thunderbird and a Precision. A Birdcision if you will. (The split coil and back to the neck on the Precision, and the humbucker and forward on the Thunderbird. . . .amd fretless.

Of couse that will never happen because it's two different companies. . .
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coupdebleus
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:11 pm
Posts: 275
PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:05 pm 
 

There’s no reason why it should remain a dream, you could ask a luthier to cut the body to your specs and then put the neck and electronics yourself to save some money on the build. Voilà, Birdcision come to life !
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pentalarc22
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2023 8:28 pm
Posts: 63
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2023 4:44 pm 
 

coupdebleus wrote:
There’s no reason why it should remain a dream, you could ask a luthier to cut the body to your specs and then put the neck and electronics yourself to save some money on the build. Voilà, Birdcision come to life !


Definitely an idea for when I can afford to go custom. I've realized that the stuff I like on a bass makes for an otherwise unmarketable instrument. Even if I was famous/successful enough to have a signature series, I don't see anyone else buying one. :-)

I figure a split coil/humbucker combo seems like an obvious thing, so since it is pratically impossible to find, (a Squier with bad reviews, a Harley Benton which people hate because it's a Harley Benton, and a Californian no one can afford) no one really wants it but me.

And a lined fretless neck? 99.9% of people want frets, and those who don't 99% don't want lines.

Yeah, so when/if I can go full custom, I've got the design in my head. Until then, I'll get a new neck for my HB, which, except for the shape which doesn't matter that much to me, it will essentially be it.
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deadtome
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2023 10:48 am
Posts: 575
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2023 5:38 pm 
 

Big fan of the V shape although I don't have one.....I have Jackson 'regular' body, PRS 'classic' body and Gibson Epiphone (first electric).

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ShaolinLambKiller
King Asshole

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:10 pm
Posts: 13320
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2023 2:20 pm 
 

since you pulled this from the depths
a parallelogram cut away.

easiest way to say like James from Metallica's Explorer design with the standard downwards neck.
but to me that includes that model, the BC Rich Mockingbird, Jackson Kelly and modified versions of that.
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Waltz_of_Ghouls
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:24 am
Posts: 855
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2023 10:06 pm 
 

Big fan of the Gibson Firebird and Thunderbird. Owned one of each, tho they were Epiphone and not Gibson. Sold both when I was short on cash in 2019. I miss them. My bass was a Thunderbird IV, vintage sunburst. Neck dive was a big problem, had to attach the strap behind the base of the neck to fix that.

My Firebird was the '63 Firebird VII red and gold.
https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--qjTc64Ks--/f_auto,t_supersize/v1625857160/iacm70mt8xub4qsz80lj.jpg

I'm also as big fan of the Explorer shape.
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duwan
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:16 pm
Posts: 87
Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 9:47 am 
 

I adore the Warlock, mainly the one used by Chuck Schuldiner
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Zerberus
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:29 pm
Posts: 2308
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 1:34 pm 
 

duwan wrote:
I adore the Warlock, mainly the one used by Chuck Schuldiner


I don't recall having seen Schuldiner using a Warlock... Are you thinking of the BC Rich Stealth?
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duwan
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:16 pm
Posts: 87
Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 2:54 pm 
 

Zerberus wrote:
duwan wrote:
I adore the Warlock, mainly the one used by Chuck Schuldiner


I don't recall having seen Schuldiner using a Warlock... Are you thinking of the BC Rich Stealth?


Yes

I'm very dumb, sorry for the confusing
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hakarl
Metel fraek

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
Posts: 8816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 1:13 pm 
 

Les Paul is my favourite shape aesthetically, and favourite guitar to play. Besides just the cool body shape, the top carve and the backwards neck angle give it a certain classical vibe that I just really like, and they also make it a comfortable guitar to play.
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