Guitars that play themselves... post the guitars that you have or have played that you find the msot easy to rip leads on. Dont post if you are a beginer who has only ever played a strat and dont know the technicalities behind a fast neck. So what guitar do you find has the most shreddable neck and what are the features that make it so... radius, fret size, scale length, string spacing. Radius has got to be the most important feature of a neck.
Easy Playabilty Guitars
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I find jackson guitars to be the fastest...no wait...I have only played a strat and I dont know the technicalities behind a fast neck.
Radius is not the most important feature. The most important feature is slipperiness...you have to use sow (female pig) fat grease is order to shred man...wipe it all over your guitars neck...then take a wrench and crank your truss rod so tight it has ultimate backbow. then....take your floyd rose and use emu oil on it to make your licks even faster....
finally....realize that shred is not a genre of guitar.
Radius is not the most important feature. The most important feature is slipperiness...you have to use sow (female pig) fat grease is order to shred man...wipe it all over your guitars neck...then take a wrench and crank your truss rod so tight it has ultimate backbow. then....take your floyd rose and use emu oil on it to make your licks even faster....
finally....realize that shred is not a genre of guitar.
^^ what was the point of that post?
Fret size, I like jumbo frets 'cause it makes bending to pitch so easy it makes me want to cry, lol. Simple to get good vibrato too.
Neck, gotta be unfinished maple man!
The original Wizard (I believe that's what it has) is very popular and feels nice... check out the anniversary RG550's or the original if you can find one (go for 'bout $600 used). I ripped on one at Songbird awhile back (this one was ugly as hell), felt really good. It's also the thinnest neck Ibanez has ever made.
But, I ended up buying a RG350 at Steve's. Has a Wizard II neck, which is 2mm thicker then the original and made a huge difference (for the better).
My only beef with this axe is the shitty Edge III trem... it can stay in tune decently and all, but the trem arm doesn't screw in, it just pushes in. So when I'm going crazy with the bar it'll slide out sometimes. Hence why I'm replacing it while an OFR (or something similar).
If you love to shred, you HAVE to try the RG550 out and atleast something with a Wizard II.
All that said, feel and playability is all preference.
Fret size, I like jumbo frets 'cause it makes bending to pitch so easy it makes me want to cry, lol. Simple to get good vibrato too.
Neck, gotta be unfinished maple man!
The original Wizard (I believe that's what it has) is very popular and feels nice... check out the anniversary RG550's or the original if you can find one (go for 'bout $600 used). I ripped on one at Songbird awhile back (this one was ugly as hell), felt really good. It's also the thinnest neck Ibanez has ever made.
But, I ended up buying a RG350 at Steve's. Has a Wizard II neck, which is 2mm thicker then the original and made a huge difference (for the better).
My only beef with this axe is the shitty Edge III trem... it can stay in tune decently and all, but the trem arm doesn't screw in, it just pushes in. So when I'm going crazy with the bar it'll slide out sometimes. Hence why I'm replacing it while an OFR (or something similar).
If you love to shred, you HAVE to try the RG550 out and atleast something with a Wizard II.
All that said, feel and playability is all preference.
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it really depends on the size of your hands too. People with smaller hands prefer different guitars than people who have larger hands with longer fingers.
GuitaristZ, When I say strat I meant fender... sure they sound great and nothing beats them for chording but the purpose of the thread was to talk about real shredders.
I think this thread will help me choose my next guitar
this is what I have got in mind (BTW I'v got the money saved up, just odnt know what for yet)
- Vintage Fender strat modded with humbuckers
- Vintage Gibson flying V
- Ibanez Jem one of the 777 series... so the early ones
- Jackson Soloist
I'v got 2 sides... the ripper, and than I love my vintage guitars with their sweet tone. So im thinking of getting a real shredder next.
I think this thread will help me choose my next guitar
this is what I have got in mind (BTW I'v got the money saved up, just odnt know what for yet)
- Vintage Fender strat modded with humbuckers
- Vintage Gibson flying V
- Ibanez Jem one of the 777 series... so the early ones
- Jackson Soloist
I'v got 2 sides... the ripper, and than I love my vintage guitars with their sweet tone. So im thinking of getting a real shredder next.
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I would put Yngwie in the shred category and he rips it up on a Strat. There were some other early 90's guys who ripped it up on strats. Blues Saraceno comes to mind. And Ritchie Kotzen is sporting a Telecaster these days.Devon8822 said:
It's not the guitar. It's the madman at the wheel.
For my money nothing beats an early JEM or UV for fast and furious. I used to own a UV777GR and the unfinished Wizard neck on that thing was always soft and smooth (albeit a little green from sweat). God I miss that guitar every day. I think the reissue RG550's looks sweet, but is overpriced. I'm always on the look out for a beat-to-hell maple board RG550 that I can refinish. And have you seen the 20th Anniversary JEM? I'm afraid to call The Fret and ask what that costs. It'll sound like ass with that plastic body but you'll like a super hero ripping off The Audience Is Listening on that...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F7m3aIuGlUg Don't knock on strats.
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Especially Schecter strats. That's a nice one there. :wink:noobcake said:
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I've had a few that were too fast. The action was so low that it was too easy to stumble over notes, and it took some getting used to.
The type of guitar that I usually set up to shred usually has a floyd. The drawback of getting the action so low is that when you pull up on the bar it tends to play the note of the highest fret (24th in my case). If you need to pull higher notes this can be a stumbling block.
Shredding is really not my thing anymore, but it is nice to have a guitar that is just ridiculously fast around for when the mood strikes.
The type of guitar that I usually set up to shred usually has a floyd. The drawback of getting the action so low is that when you pull up on the bar it tends to play the note of the highest fret (24th in my case). If you need to pull higher notes this can be a stumbling block.
Shredding is really not my thing anymore, but it is nice to have a guitar that is just ridiculously fast around for when the mood strikes.
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For me, it is the Gibson SG. Playability being the key word here.
Hey, im not ripping on strats, sorry for making you think I was... I am a strat man myself and my favorite guitarist is Yngwie Malmsteen... You can oviously shred it up on a strat, im just sayign that if you have played a guitar designed for lead playability you will noticed hwo much easier it is to play. Strats where designed in the 50s and came out in 54, they were designed for playability of what was being played back then... rythm stuff, and blues. Not 3 note per string shred. Thats why a strat is "the" ideal chording axe, but not so much for shred.
Keep in mind that most of the guys that do shred up the strats have em modded (im not saying you cant shred on a stock strat, clearly you can). Yngwie's got the scalloped board, which alows you to develope lighter touch which really does significantly increase your accuracy. He had larger frets, and I think with his re-fret, the fretwire is a different radius than stock fretwire, therfore changing the radius to probably a flatter radius... that is... if he didn't choose the same radius fretwire his guitar had before (7.5). He also has a replaced not which could vary the radius.
Keep in mind that most of the guys that do shred up the strats have em modded (im not saying you cant shred on a stock strat, clearly you can). Yngwie's got the scalloped board, which alows you to develope lighter touch which really does significantly increase your accuracy. He had larger frets, and I think with his re-fret, the fretwire is a different radius than stock fretwire, therfore changing the radius to probably a flatter radius... that is... if he didn't choose the same radius fretwire his guitar had before (7.5). He also has a replaced not which could vary the radius.
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Yea, personally I'd prefer a Jackson if we're talking about speed.
I've been playing for well over 20 years and have owned well over 20 different guitars.
Best guitars for playability... hmmm
Let's start with radius... not the most important thing in my books but very important. I'm not a fan of a flat radius like 16 inch and I'm not a fan of a round radius such as early Fender or anything under 10 inches. 10 to 12 inches is a good radius for nice feel and bending ease IMHO but thats for me.
Scale lenth... I find that more tension on the strings allows for faster picking in general so tuning must be mentioned here too.
Frets... I like jumbo but I prefer the jumbo height and medium width I forget the fret guage/make number now but for the most part I'll take the traditional Gibson fret size and dress style or jumbo ala ESP. Basically I don't want to feel too much wood resistance when fretting notes and I like the ease these frets offer for bending and legato techniques. I really like the jumbo fret and dress of the Washburn N4 aswell.
Neck width... I'll take the Gibson Les Paul or SG slim taper nut and neck width 1 11/16 at nut 2 3/16 at last fret or the ESP M II nut and neck width 1 5/8 at nut 2 1/4 at last fret in general as a preference but the Music Man Silhouette Special is a great nut and neck width aswell though it is smaller, 1 5/8" at nut and 2 7/32" at last fret.
Neck profile... I'm a fan of D or C profiles I do not like U ( fat C ) or V profiles and I'm not a big fan of really shallow D profiles. I have a PRS CE 22 with the "wide fat" neck profile whichis a C leaning towards a V. It took me a while to like it... put it this way I love the guitar but the neck profile is what I like least about it.
Neck joint... this has allways been my biggest contributing factor to how I rate a guitars playability... for me. I like least of all the traditional Fender Strat 4 bolt box joint... it absolulty sucks IMHO. Bolt on necks of that sort just ruin my playing experience. Music Man, ESP, PRS all have a superb bolt on neck joint IMHO with the Washburn N4 and it's Stephens Extended Cutaway being the pinnacle of bolt on design... go from first to last fret with no hand position change and nothing in the way... nothing. I like bolt on tone but in general over the years I've gravitated towards neck through and set neck designs.
However having said that... When I read or hear that a Les Paul plays flawlessly... I laugh... plays like butta... yeah until the 16th fret then it goes to shit in a hurry. This is one of the main reasons why I'll take a SG over a Les Paul any day. And the biggest reason that the Washburn Idol is a Les Paul killer.
Since this topic revolves around speedy necks and the best qualities for shred style I'll say this. Any neck can be a shred neck it really depends on the player... YJM prefers vintage fender, Paul Gilbert prefers Ibanez, Petrucci - Music Man, Buckethead - Les paul, Lynch - ESP, etc... the list goes on and on.
Khing
Best guitars for playability... hmmm
Let's start with radius... not the most important thing in my books but very important. I'm not a fan of a flat radius like 16 inch and I'm not a fan of a round radius such as early Fender or anything under 10 inches. 10 to 12 inches is a good radius for nice feel and bending ease IMHO but thats for me.
Scale lenth... I find that more tension on the strings allows for faster picking in general so tuning must be mentioned here too.
Frets... I like jumbo but I prefer the jumbo height and medium width I forget the fret guage/make number now but for the most part I'll take the traditional Gibson fret size and dress style or jumbo ala ESP. Basically I don't want to feel too much wood resistance when fretting notes and I like the ease these frets offer for bending and legato techniques. I really like the jumbo fret and dress of the Washburn N4 aswell.
Neck width... I'll take the Gibson Les Paul or SG slim taper nut and neck width 1 11/16 at nut 2 3/16 at last fret or the ESP M II nut and neck width 1 5/8 at nut 2 1/4 at last fret in general as a preference but the Music Man Silhouette Special is a great nut and neck width aswell though it is smaller, 1 5/8" at nut and 2 7/32" at last fret.
Neck profile... I'm a fan of D or C profiles I do not like U ( fat C ) or V profiles and I'm not a big fan of really shallow D profiles. I have a PRS CE 22 with the "wide fat" neck profile whichis a C leaning towards a V. It took me a while to like it... put it this way I love the guitar but the neck profile is what I like least about it.
Neck joint... this has allways been my biggest contributing factor to how I rate a guitars playability... for me. I like least of all the traditional Fender Strat 4 bolt box joint... it absolulty sucks IMHO. Bolt on necks of that sort just ruin my playing experience. Music Man, ESP, PRS all have a superb bolt on neck joint IMHO with the Washburn N4 and it's Stephens Extended Cutaway being the pinnacle of bolt on design... go from first to last fret with no hand position change and nothing in the way... nothing. I like bolt on tone but in general over the years I've gravitated towards neck through and set neck designs.
However having said that... When I read or hear that a Les Paul plays flawlessly... I laugh... plays like butta... yeah until the 16th fret then it goes to shit in a hurry. This is one of the main reasons why I'll take a SG over a Les Paul any day. And the biggest reason that the Washburn Idol is a Les Paul killer.
Since this topic revolves around speedy necks and the best qualities for shred style I'll say this. Any neck can be a shred neck it really depends on the player... YJM prefers vintage fender, Paul Gilbert prefers Ibanez, Petrucci - Music Man, Buckethead - Les paul, Lynch - ESP, etc... the list goes on and on.
Khing
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