Help me spend 2000 right - Wood and Pickup choice - Skervesen Raptor 6

FabsTurnsRed · Apr 30, 2015

Hi Folks,

i'm about to order a Raptor6 and i'm not quite sure on what wood and (bareknuckle)-pickups to choose.
i might need some advice.

first of all, i'm a rhytm-guitarist so no fancy soloing guitar needed.
my maingenres are melodic hardcore and metalcore mostly in drop c.
the guitar will be my onstage-and-overallworkhorse. so it should do cleans and distortion both quite good. if i need to decide i'd lean towards distortion than clean. weight should be also considered, the less the better but can be sacrificed for superior tone.
a quite important part for me is having really high gain pickups. they should scream even when not hit that hard because of a disability i'm not able to hold a pick and need to strum with my fingernail.

my current configuration ist: swamp ash, poplar burl top, macassar ebony fretboard and a wenge-bubinga 5ply neck. for pickups i'm going with bare knuckle blackhawks.

for a few song examples what i'm playing, please have a look on my bands youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLoy_GXmoxhBvtK2GDpR4SQ

Thanks for helping!
Fabs

burl · Apr 30, 2015

check some of your video on the youtube
maybe you can try mohagany chamber body with maple top(it really doesn't matter which one, suit your taste), maple-ebony neck rose wood neck(more depth) or maple rosewood neck ebony fretboard(more aggressive)
as a rhythm player, and drop C, i think fanfret is need less(personal opinion....) 24 frets with between 25.5-26.5 should be good(if sometime you still need standard or drop d tuning stll 25.5 should be great)
swamp ash for the body might be a little be too bright for your music style.
if you think mahogany sound too dark , you can try korina(black limba) or koa(more charge i guess?)
i know nothing about the pickups, but if you only choose one from BKP, warpig or cold sweet on the bridge and painkiller on the neck are my style
hoping a nice NGD man!

Discoqueen · Apr 30, 2015

All I can offer I think is that you will want to consider a BKP set that has less bass in its EQ as fingers have a less bright attack then picks.

Possessed · Apr 30, 2015

Sorry to say this, but i think you should try more guitars and have an idea about the exact sound you want before ordering a full custom shop

FabsTurnsRed · May 1, 2015

Thanks for the replies. Well i actually know how i want to sound.. quite bright with a full sound and good string-seperation. But not too harsh, i just dont know which woods/pickups to choose to get that tone.

oracles · May 1, 2015

My advice to you here is simple. You don't yet know what spec's you want, and therefore you shouldn't be ordering a custom guitar. You should be able to go in confidently with your specs, knowing precisely what you're looking for, and what spec's will get you as close to the sound you hear in your head as possible.

Have you heard and/or played a swamp ash bodied guitar with a wenge/bubinga neck before? Are you sure those are the woods that you like the most for achieving the tone you want? Choosing spec's because they look nice/fancy/expensive without having had any experience with them may well lead to you not liking a guitar you just spent a considerable amount of money on. Go out and play as many guitars as you can, as many pickups as you can, and you'll come back with a much better idea of what you do and don't like in a guitar.

GuitarBizarre · May 1, 2015

oracles said:
My advice to you here is simple. You don't yet know what spec's you want, and therefore you shouldn't be ordering a custom guitar. You should be able to go in confidently with your specs, knowing precisely what you're looking for, and what spec's will get you as close to the sound you hear in your head as possible.

Have you heard and/or played a swamp ash bodied guitar with a wenge/bubinga neck before? Are you sure those are the woods that you like the most for achieving the tone you want? Choosing spec's because they look nice/fancy/expensive without having had any experience with them may well lead to you not liking a guitar you just spent a considerable amount of money on. Go out and play as many guitars as you can, as many pickups as you can, and you'll come back with a much better idea of what you do and don't like in a guitar.

I agree completely. Even after playing for 15 years and being a complete gearhead that entire time, I still find out lots of new things about guitar design that affect what my "ideal" would be. I'm sure that if I'd had a custom built 10 years ago, I'd probably like it still today, but it wouldn't reflect at all my ideas on design as of this moment, and would probably be woefully insufficient for the music I write now versus then.

If you're not at the stage you can confidently spec out your own instrument, then I think you can only disappoint yourself by listening to the advice of strangers. Particularly since you have some particularly unique requirements due to your disability - none of us can do anything better than guess blindly at what might help with those requirements, and for a couple large, that's a lot of money to waste on a blind guess.

stevexc · May 1, 2015

I typically agree with what everyone else is saying - if you don't know exactly what you want, custom probably isn't a good idea.

On the other hand, you seem to know what you want, but not how to get it. Asking us is not going to help you. Talk with Skervesen directly. Tell them what you want to get out of the guitar and let them decide the best way to get that. Wood is rarely consistent - we could recommend whatever's supposed to be the brightest wood and you can still wind up with a dark sounding guitar. Let them make the call on that.

It's as simple as saying to them "I want this guitar to sound like x, I don't have any specific preference in wood besides having a poplar burl top".

In terms of pickups you may be best off sending BKP an email and let them know what kind of characteristics the guitar is going to have and what you want to hear and find out what they recommend.

UV7BK4LIFE · May 1, 2015

Discoqueen said:
fingers have a less bright attack then picks.

TL,DR: keep your money in the bank.

This here and Oracle's advice are spot on. I see everyone here concerned about tone, but you also have to be confident about:

the neck radius,
the fingerboard radius,
the fretwire (height and width),
scale,
thickness of the body,
a volute near the headstock or not.
And the distance between the bridge and rear strap pin affects the playing position of your picking hand slightly.

Those are a few things from the top of my head...

If I were you, I'd try every production guitar in the 1500 - 2000 euro price range in music stores. R&D departments of guitar manufacturers generally have a good idea about what is right for most guitarists

If you want a bright guitar, a maple neck with ebony fingerboard is a good starting point. You can combine it with a body of soft maple, mahogany, alder, korina for some additional brightness. Pickups can be replaced if you don't like them, but the Blackhawks seem like a good choice. Well balanced pickup.

electriceye · May 1, 2015

For rhythm, I would go with a walnut body with a nice top. The walnut should give you some really good chunk. In fact, I would go with a CHAMBERED walnut body with a nice top of your choosing. That moo will sing for you even unplugged. Good luck!!! Can't wait to see what you choose and the build.

GuitarBizarre · May 1, 2015

UV7BK4LIFE said:
the neck radius,

the fingerboard radius,

the fretwire (height and width),

scale,

thickness of the body,

a volute near the headstock or not.

And the distance between the bridge and rear strap pin affects the playing position of your picking hand slightly.

And more! Lets say we went full on nuts and bolts custom. From top to bottom of guitar.

There's no need to think about all of this stuff (And realistically most customs are built for people who never think about MOST of this stuff) but it's all out there and it's worth looking at just how much there is you can spec out to get what you REALLY want and not just another guitar that might have come off the shelf built just as well (And yes, there are plenty of production instruments built to custom shop standards, just without the custom shop options...) for half the cost.

There's a looooooooooooooooooooooot out there. You could even pick specific bits of wood and start comparing specific builders if you wanted to get really nuts. For the most part nobody has to unless they WANT to, but there is a point at which being too unaware of the options makes the idea of going to a custom builder a very different proposition - One where you're trusting someone else to interpret your end goal correctly. That's big trust when it's tied to a few thousand pounds.

Tuners - Locking? Non Locking? Staggered post height? Split shaft? If you go for the Gotoh Split Shafts, do you include the carbon fiber composite plates they make to improve those, or go vintage?
Headstock design - Do you even want a headstock, or do you go headless?
Headstock string pull - straight or not?
Headstock break angle - No angle and string trees? Ibanez 13 degree? Vintage Gibson 14 degree?
Nut - Brass? Aluminium? Locking? Earvana Compensated? Toone & Townsend adjustable? Buzz Feiten? Graphtech? Corian? Tusq? Plastic? Bone? Bleached Bone?
Neck construction 1 - Scarf joint? Multipiece laminate? How many pieces?
Neck Construction 2- Do you want strengthening rods?
Neck Construction 3 - Do you want a truss rod, a single action, a dual action, dual truss rods, strengthening strip, all wood like a classical guitar, a steel reinforcement like a Martin?
Neck Construction 4 - Do you want the truss rod to be heel adjust or headstock adjust? What about side adjust?
Neck Construction 5 - What neck profile would you like? Thin, fat, asymmetrical, torzal twist, trapezoidal, Endurneck profile, Rick Toone Aluminium neck profile?
Neck Construction 6 - Do you want neck through, set neck, set through, bolt on, asymmetrical sliding dovetail a-la Rick Toone, Concealed bolt joint like a Maxxas or a Billy Sheehan signature, a Stephens extended cutaway like a Nuno Bettencourt sig?
Neck Construction 7 - How thick do you want the neck? What profile? How wide at the heel? Do you want it to have a thinner middle like a jimmy page model, or constant thickness right the way to the join?
Fretboard - Do you want Rosewood, Ebony, Maple, Cocobolo, any of a hundred other weird woods, phenolic like a steinberger, carbon/graphite like a Status or Moses, or a parker? Steel like an EGC model?
Fretboard 2 - How many frets do you want? This will affect your neck joint position, neck joint strength, neck pickup placement, cutaway design etc.
Fretboard 3 - What radius do you want? Curvy like a vintage strat, great for chords and fast changes, or do you want a flat radius like a Shawn Lane model, or do you even want something in between, or a compound radius, or no radius at all?
Frets - Do you want Stainless Steel frets? Evo Gold? Nickel Silver? Dunlop or Jescar?
Frets 2 - Do you want to use smaller frets further up the neck for better intonation and playability?
Frets 3 - What size frets do you want to start with? Jumbo for that scalloped feel, or vintage so you can feel the wood?
Neck to Body Join - Do you want a super extended cutaway with double cuts on both sides? If so, remember this will support the neck less so sustain and tone will change. Alternatively, extend the joint up the neck to the 12th or even 8th fret on the bass side and you'll get much stronger construction through the whole instrument which should improve sustain and response if you can accept the tradeoff in ergonomics and aesthetics.
Body shape - Do you need to accomodate headless tuners? How thick do you want the body to be? Super lightweight for comfort, or super heavy for sustain? What shape are you aiming for? Where will the shape sit on your leg when sat down? Is that a concern? Do you want a forearm bevel or tummycut? Does the shape balance on a strap? Is this a concern?
Body material - Do you want a body made of wood, metal, plastic, carbon fiber, resin? Are you choosing these materials for strength, looks, availability, cost, weight, or a combination of all of the above? If wood, which wood? Will you be applying a solid or transparent finish to it? If transparent, will the top be figured? If it is, how thick will it be? Will it have a german carve, an archtop, or be flat top? How will that affect the ergonomics?
Hardware - Do you want a tremolo? Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge, ZR, Edge Zero, Edge Pro, Edge LoPro, Double Edge, Strandberg Tremolo, Kahler Killer, Kahler Flyer, Kahler 2800 series, Vintage Strat style, Graphtech LB63, Gotoh GE1996T, Bigsby, Lyre Vibrola, Modern Strat Style, Wilkinson VG style, KGC Brass? Floydupgrades Sustain block or StoneTone, or Tungsten? Full custom made bridge? Technology4Musicians?
Hardware 2- Do you want a fixed bridge? Hipshot, Hipshot single string, Hipshot Baby Grand, Gotoh Tune-o-matic, Schaller Hannes, Warparound Tailpiece, Badass Bridge, ABM fixed bridge, Tuning Fork Bridge, Steel saddles? Modern Saddles? Brass Saddles? Gibson Tune-O-Matic, Gibson ABM, Gotoh Fixed Bridge, String Thru Body or String Through tailpiece? Ibanez Gibraltar? Gibraltar 2? Tight-End Bridge? Tonepros locking? GFS XGP Bridge?
Technology4Musicians?
Hardware 3 - Do you want Bournes pots? CTS? RS Guitarworks Superpot made by CTS? Yngwie signature pot? Do you need 25k, 250K or 500K pots? Do you want to use a 1meg tone pot for extra brightness? Do you want no pots at all and only a switch for maximum output?
Jacks - do you want switchcraft or another brand? Electro socket, recessed jackplate, or side mounted, etc?
Pickups! - Are you worried about magnet pull affecting sustain? If so, use low output pickups or actives. Or an alternative pickup system altogether like some of the optical ones that are around. What about Line6 Variax technology, which uses no magnetic system and instead uses a processed Piezo?
Speaking of Piezo, do you want one? If so your bridge options are limited. Perhaps you could...
Using a MIDI pickup? Which? Roland GK-3, Fishman Tripleplay, Graphtech Ghost? Make sure you've got space between the bridge and pickup to fit it if so!
Aesthetics! What colour? What finish type? Do you believe Poly finish sounds better than nitro? What about oil? Are you worried about finish checking from heat, or do you want the guitar's finish to weather like that?
Speaking of finish, oil finished neck or satin or gloss or solid paint?
Binding! Are you a fan of it? Do you want it? What colour? how many layers?
Hardware again! - Do you want pickup rings or are your pickups pickguard mounted? What about direct mount? Do you think this matters tonally or have you avoided drinking that kool-aid?

GuitarBizarre · May 2, 2015

I'd also like to note one thing - you say you definitely need high output pickups.

You know that low output pickups generally have more high end response than high, right? If they need to scream, low output is a good way to in a lot of cases, especially if you need clarity.

High output pickups hit the front of the amp harder, increasing the amount of distortion - in this way increasing the high frequency content of the resulting sound. Thing is, most amps these days have utterly, utterly obscene levels of gain anyway - far more than you usually need. That makes high output pickups essentially worthless unless you really NEED the voicings that come with that output - a low output pickup that sounds better can always just be boosted by the gain stage of the amp, and you'll retain that better tone.

Something to consider.

Help me spend 2000 right - Wood and Pickup choice - Skervesen Raptor 6

FabsTurnsRed

New Member

burl

Well-Known Member

Discoqueen

Dang tootin

Possessed

Well-Known Member

FabsTurnsRed

New Member

oracles

Well-Known Member

GuitarBizarre

Listen to physics.

stevexc

Well-Known Member

UV7BK4LIFE

Schecter A7 addict

electriceye

Well-Known Member

GuitarBizarre

Listen to physics.

GuitarBizarre

Listen to physics.

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Help me spend 2000 right - Wood and Pickup choice - Skervesen Raptor 6

New Member

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Dang tootin

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New Member

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Listen to physics.

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Schecter A7 addict

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Listen to physics.

Listen to physics.

Help me spend 2000 right - Wood and Pickup choice - Skervesen Raptor 6