Any cork-sniffing beliefs and practices?

zorrow · May 18, 2012

I:

1- Apply the Steve Vai's test to every guitar -knocking the neck and the body must produce a consonant interval, or I discard it.

2- Do believe string-through-body improves sustain.

3- Do believe sustainblock and hardtail bridges give more "snap".

4- Believe big or irregular inlays alter the waveflow all along the fretboard, thus spoiling the guitar's tone -BTW, I heard about this one around here and tried to resist to it, but I've ended really believing so.

Yours?

diablo175 · May 18, 2012

Probably not quite cork sniffing, more like quirky & ill-conceived:

1) won't gig anything that's not USA production, custom shop or heavily modded w/ USA components.

2) nothing but OFR or Schaller lic'd version locking trems.

3) Nato & basswood are for beginners and tone deaf hacks

4) Truly "stock" guitars are only valuable as collector's items.

kizanski · May 18, 2012

1. The creme PAFs sound better.

2. The flamey-er the top, the more sustain.

3. Intonnation is for pussies.

4. "Fenders are hard to break." (Townshend).

crunchee · May 18, 2012

1. I like straight grained wood. Hate knots of any type, even the little ones from twigs.

2. I hate 'neck creak' from the neck/body join of a bolt-on neck. Especially when the bolts are as tight as they'll go.

3. Sound is more important than eye candy of ANY kind. If I have a choice in eye candy, let it be nice looking wood.

4. Just because nobody else likes it doesn't mean it's no good.

burningyen · May 18, 2012

Things I think really do make a difference:

1) Whether an electric guitar sustains unplugged.

2) Tuners

3) Wood type and quality in terms of ash vs. alder, maple vs. rosewood, new vs. old/sinker/recovered

4) Neck stiffness in terms of truss rod type, whether and how much the truss is under tension, neck grain orientation, 1-piece vs. laminated

5) 2- vs. 6-post trem

I'm sure there's more, but those were off the top of my head.

Feynman · May 18, 2012

Honestly, I don't think so. I do like "nice" stuff, but I don't think it makes much difference in any realistic sense.

I mostly go for looks.

I do acknowledge that everything has an effect - everything matters - yet, it doesn't.

I have Squier skills and Custom Shop tastes, but not for any good reason.

blackfbiv · May 18, 2012

^{Tons of glass in bass amps... solid state/mosfet and all that is for poppers and slappers, not real bass players....}

DaveH · May 18, 2012

Everyone is different, but these are my quirks and what works for me:

1) Guitars constructed from a single species of wood sound/respond better than ones built from two or more species. This applies to neck and body only, not the fretboard. Caps are ok. Also see #2.

2) Guitars constructed from any species other than mahogany or korina don't have 'it'. YMMV.

3) Any bridge other than a TOM or wrap style suck tone away. YMMV.

4) Set-necks are superior in feel and response to bolt-ons or neck-throughs. YMMV.

5) P90 type pups are the only single coil worth using, and I still always go for a HB it seems....predominatly an SH6. YMMV.

6) I will not buy a guitar unless I play it 'dry' (un-amplified). I can tell more about it this way than plugged in. (I WILL buy a Hamer sight-unseen though).

veatch · May 18, 2012

6) I will not buy a guitar unless I play it 'dry' (un-amplified). I can tell more about it this way than plugged in. (I WILL buy a Hamer sight-unseen though).

This would be in my list.

Only other one would be:

Less moving parts, the better.

Turdus · May 18, 2012

"No Peavey.. only name brands"

I've owned very few Peavey products since the 70's. The line above was given to me, as a young man, inquiring about Peavey at a local store.

shredmeister · May 18, 2012

Well I know what I personally like and what feels the best to my hands all the way down to the neck specs.

But in terms of sound I have found you can't tell. Every guitar is so different even from the same manufacturer with the same or similar parts and woods.

It is really bizarre.

And I have found sustain has nothing to do with construction like many people think. I use to think so also. Weight of the guitar, bridge etc...

It has to do with string tension and connection of the string to the guitar and how these factors let the string resonate.

Read a huge article with forumlas and all that crap. I have a bolt on that I can tell you has just as much sustain as any neck through you will find.

1)That being said I have found maple necks with maple fret boards are snappy which I really like.

2) Don't like painted necks as I find them sticky.

3) Gotta have an OFR or Gotoh or Kahler Spyder

4) I usually always get custom pick ups - and never ever any Dimarzios

5) To my horror I have found guitars that sound great when plugged in and like shit when not - I don't get it

6) Nothing imported - gotta be USA

7) No spalted maple - it is rotting wood that does not transfer sound well

8) Always get mahogany with a maple top preferable a carved top

9) Because carved tops have more punch

10) Most important aspect to me is the neck and I prefer D shaped, 1-11/16", 25.5" , 24 fret with a combination radius and jumbo frets preferably 2.25 to 2.5" across at the 12th fret and 85 to 87mm at the 12th fret

11) Gotta have a bolt on - I find them snappier with more growl and my hand cramps on the upper frets if there is no girth to grab like on a neck through

12) S style body

13) 2 Hums with coil splitter usually

14) The only stock I have is my Hamer TLE - everything else has been modified or is fully custom

hardheartedbill · May 18, 2012

Anti corksniff on guitars. I spend as little as possible on solidbodies. Been down the custom route and high end builders and feel like its all wasted money. Amps are my corksniff

DaveH · May 18, 2012

Anti corksniff on guitars. I spend as little as possible on solidbodies. Been down the custom route and high end builders and feel like its all wasted money. Amps are my corksniff

Too many people don't pay enough attention to this for sure. I found myself wanting to elaborate on amps, but remembered this was supposed to be about guitars so I refrained. It was hard though.

polara · May 18, 2012

Not really. I won't spend more than $600 on a guitar so that puts me into the "decent table wine" category, not cork-sniffin.'

Steve Haynie · May 18, 2012

Trying a Danelectro before they were reissued or expensive changed my mind on quality versus tone. They have something special about them.

ib2010 · May 18, 2012

Either it's happnin, or it's not happnin, $$$'s irrelevant, s

tomteriffic · May 18, 2012

Schlabotnicks are the ultimate P-90's, particularly the Engine #42's. Everything else is just "pretty good".

atquinn · May 18, 2012

No cork-sniffing beliefs here. I've played enough guitars to know that my general hackiness will overcome any subleties of construction anyway. I am picky about what I want on my guitars, but there's nothing mystical or cork-sniffery about it.