A guitar question... for a change to the Mark V players

I am looking to get back into a guitar with a tremolo (whammy bar). So far I have looked at Suhr and Tom Anderson. Keeping it 6 string (l have an Ibanez 7string too dark sounding and a1983 Kramer but I wore it out) so any suggestions?

A guitar that is not too dark, can handle lots of use, full floating trem. all wood (no carbon fiber). Suggestions. ....

Absolutely...get a Suhr or a Tom Anderson.

Full floating trem, so basically what you're looking for is a 'super-Strat' style guitar. But you could narrow it down a bit more, there are still a number of variables...

- How many frets do you think you will need? 21, 22, 24?
- Favored pickup configuration? HH, SSH, HSH, other? Actives, passives?
- Fretboard radius, fretboard width? Scale?
- Used, new, vintage?
- Price range?
- Last but not least, what should the guitar look like? Traditional guitar design, like a Strat or a Les Paul? Or a pointy metal axe? Or maybe a glossy pink or neon-green 1980s hair metal axe, with tiger stripes?

Jackson

LesPaul70 said:

Full floating trem, so basically what you're looking for is a 'super-Strat' style guitar. But you could narrow it down a bit more, there are still a number of variables...

- How many frets do you think you will need? 21, 22, 24?
- Favored pickup configuration? HH, SSH, HSH, other? Actives, passives?
- Fretboard radius, fretboard width? Scale?
- Used, new, vintage?
- Price range?
- Last but not least, what should the guitar look like? Traditional guitar design, like a Strat or a Les Paul? Or a pointy metal axe? Or maybe a glossy pink or neon-green 1980s hair metal axe, with tiger stripes?

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Interesting questions/thoughts. I have many guitars that I pull out depending on my mood and the tone I'm looking for. I actually never thought about any of those things you mentioned... well except for price. The price always comes to, do I really like the guitar and do I feel ok parting with the amount of money it will take to purchase it? My thought has always been each guitar has a personality, a feel and a tone. How it reacts to the volume pot, new or used, round neck or flat is it a one trick pony or can I use it all night are the things I look at.

So in my question I am looking for maybe a guitar that I have never hear of or just never gave the time of day so it is more looking for recomendations. Each company makes many different guitars, maybe I have never had the opportunity to play a specific one from a company. I'm no longer someone that buys a guitar just because a guitarist I respect plays one although that may prompt me to check one out.

The deal is I mainly played a Kramer and then an Ibanez 7string in the 80s and early 90s. Then in the 2000s I needed a change and I wanted to pay more attention to my picking technique so I got into Telecasters. Knowing what I know now playing with a full floating trem (Whammy bar) years ago playing with a Bar is like speaking another language. If done poorly it just sounds like garbage. I was fluent in speaking "whammy" and I'm looking at getting back into it. My Kramer is pretty worn out, on it's second set of frets, replacement parts for a 1983 Floyd are getting pricey if you can even find the direct screw in type bar Floyd bridge. The wood on the body where the poles go in is pulling forward so it's basically retired.

If someone has gone through the expense of buying a Mark V they probably know something and may have a suggestion worth checking into.

BTW, what do you think of the Mark V Twenty-Five... well what do you think so far?

Petaluma said:

Jackson

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What flavor (model) of Jackson are you thinking?

OldTelecasterMan said:

Petaluma said:

Jackson

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What flavor (model) of Jackson are you thinking?

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Depends on your taste but really you can't go wrong with any of the SL1 or SL2 soloists. I particularly like the arch tops.
If you can, the best bet is a pre-fender (2002 or earlier) model, it is easy to tell by serial #. There were some issues after fender bought them with post holes being misaligned so if you do look at one make sure the high E string runs true down the fret board.

I've owned 2 Suhrs, a Guthrie modern (24 frets, HsH, mahog+ maple cap with mahog neck) and a currency play a classic S SSH strat, vintage voice but I oth modern appointments like the compound fretboard radius. none a floyd but iirc the Modern had a 2 point Gotoh trem.
both guitars have been brilliant. I cannot recommend anything particular that will inspire you but if you find anything you like in Suhrs I'm confident it will be a great guitar.

Re the mini V, if only there were a way to offer the big one in that small enclosure, sans ch.2 probably..
only because I find older Mk short-heads sexy as hell.. I'm sure MB did a great job and the demo sounds good.

Suhr modern pro, you can do all with this one. In my case two humbuckers, Floyd rose.

I really like the Music Man JP guitars, they have an awesome floating trem, much easier to change strings compared to a Floyd.

I just got a EBMM JP6 BFR. Amazing Guitar.

Regarding my earlier post on guitar specs, if you haven't given it much thought, maybe all that doesn't even matter much to you. For me, a lot of it is relevant and important but that's mainly because I'm very picky about what I like and what works for me. For one thing, I'm so used to relatively flat Gibson-style (12" radius) fretboards that I probably couldn't even play a rounder Fender fretboard comfortably anymore.

As for recommendations, I'm not really up to speed on what is available today. In my youth, if you wanted a 'super-Strat' guitar, the models to look for were the U.S. built Kramers and Jacksons. Today, there's a whole lot more quality builders to choose from, including Suhr and Tom Anderson guitars you mentioned. And if you don't mind a used guitar, old Kramers and Jacksons are also an option. But I agree, old pre-Fender Jacksons (and American-built in general) are superior.

I do have one tip, though. If you are worried about your guitar sounding too dark, choose your tonewoods wisely. Of course the pickups will also be a factor, but they are easier to change afterwards if you are not happy with them. (Not so with your tonewood, obviously.) I actually suspect that the pickups on your Ibanez may have been at least contributing factor to the perceived 'dark' sound, and a pickup change might have helped. Well that, and getting rid of the lowest, 7th string. :lol:
Alder, a classic Fender tonewood, is famous for its bright, spanky sound. I don't think you'll go wrong with that. Mahogany, on the other hand, while warm and full-sounding, also can sound dark and muddy when it is your only tonewood. Which is why Gibson likes to put maple tops on their Les Pauls, to add some top-end sparkle and brightness. I don't know what to make of basswood (found in many Ibanez builds, among others). Many people have experienced it is a dark tonewood; OTOH, I currently have two basswood guitars, and neither of them is particularly dark. One of them, a Japanese Jackson, is in fact the brightest and shrillest sounding guitar I have owned in a long while, even after pickup upgrade. I will agree, though, that basswood is a resonant tonewood.

Also, longer scale (Fender style) tends to sound brighter than a shorter scale (Gibson). Maple and ebony fretboards tend to sound brighter than rosewood fretboards. Pickups tend to sound brighter if they are single-coil, lowish output, and/or ceramic (although 'low-output ceramic pickup' could be something of an oxymoron). These are obviously gross generalizations and there are lots of counterexamples, but when all other variables are the same, these tend to work as rules-of-thumb.

My favorite guitar for all styles of playing, Carvin Bolt C with Lace Sensor Hot gold pups, Original Floyd Rose, Black Limba body with a Flamed maple cap. This axe is incredible. Sustain is unmatched by my other guitars (neck through and set necks). Black Limba has a similar tone to walnut but not as bright. Has a nice bottom end growl and sweet tones on the upper end. The Maple cap also enhances tone somewhat. Sure that is subjective when it comes to woods. This is my 2nd guitar with a maple fretboard, 14" radius with medium jumbo stainless frets. I have gotten praise and perhaps envy from my friends when I bring it over for our jam sessions. I will definitely get another one of these. The other Bolt C is an SSH arrangement with the same type of pups. Alder body, curly maple cap and the rest is about the same. Has a different character on its own. All I can say is if you are in the market for something different there are many guitars to choose from. I too have long forgotten the bolt on necks and went to neck though guitars back in 2000. A friend of mine stated that I should have at least one bolt on neck guitar. I did for a long time but retired it as it was worn out beyond refurbishing (Charvel Model 4 but had a Kahler bridge). After that point, I did not want to bother with another bolt on neck instrument. I am glad I changed my mind since now having two I am very pleased I made the change. Many praise Tom Anderson and Suhr as well as others out there. Most important, it has to feel good in your hands, comfortable to play, etc....

Here is a teaser for you on my Carvin guitars.

LesPaul70 said:

I do have one tip, though. If you are worried about your guitar sounding too dark, choose your tonewoods wisely. Of course the pickups will also be a factor, but they are easier to change afterwards if you are not happy with them. (Not so with your tonewood, obviously.) I actually suspect that the pickups on your Ibanez may have been at least contributing factor to the perceived 'dark' sound, and a pickup change might have helped. Well that, and getting rid of the lowest, 7th string. :lol:
Alder, a classic Fender tonewood, is famous for its bright, spanky sound. I don't think you'll go wrong with that. Mahogany, on the other hand, while warm and full-sounding, also can sound dark and muddy when it is your only tonewood. Which is why Gibson likes to put maple tops on their Les Pauls, to add some top-end sparkle and brightness. I don't know what to make of basswood (found in many Ibanez builds, among others). Many people have experienced it is a dark tonewood; OTOH, I currently have two basswood guitars, and neither of them is particularly dark. One of them, a Japanese Jackson, is in fact the brightest and shrillest sounding guitar I have owned in a long while, even after pickup upgrade. I will agree, though, that basswood is a resonant tonewood.

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Very, very interesting I hate to say that I never correlated most of what you mentioned about wood types. That choosing one wood type over another was possibly the reason I liked one and not another. I'm feeling rather shallow at this point. I tend to try everything I can find and make my decision on what I liked not really paying attention as to why. I do change pickups if I like the way a guitar plays but feel there is something just not quite right. And they all have their own voice and I can pick out the guitar that would sound best doing a specific task. I don't mean to sound harsh but to me they are tools to be used for work. Most all of them are quite worn, missing paint here and there, varnish worn off the necks and fret boards. Some have rust where the finish is worn off most all of them have had parts replaced due to wear or trying to get them to sound like what I hear in my head. I don't get really attached to guitars, I keep them all but I also use the good ones usually until they are beat to hell. Playing in bars is very hard on guitars, luckily Tequila and sweat cleans up easily. LOL But strings freakin hate it...

I have been leaning towards the Suhr for quite some time. I am also just beginning to experiment pedals again. I went through the rack mount digital nausea for quite a while. Then I quit cold and went quite a while with no pedals. I now have a Crybaby, Chorus and two Delay pedals.

Musicman Axis with Floyd also a great choice. It was the guitar Eddie Van Halen was using in the 90s and is the foundation for his new Wolfgang models.

Its a floyd yet it sits on top of the body. You can do downward drives just not upwards, but you can change all the strings at once and not have to worry about the system going out of whack with alternate tuning or string breaks. I love it, its great for rock but its pretty versatile. Plenty of Youtube demos and reviews on it. Way cheaper then Suhr.

PS Nice Carvins dude - esp the one on the left....wowzers very nice!

You're gonna laugh... Peavey / Fender Wolfgang guitars are all amazing guitars.