What guitar do you wish existed, but currently does not?

[odibrom]

Do you mean spec out a production model, or alter it?

I would like a reissue of the 1997 UV777P but with
- double edge LR baggs lo pro edge
- maple fretboard with blue pyramid inlay
- paduak body in a stained finish
- bubinfa stripe and binding all around
- either lundgren m7 set or tone zone /air Norton
- I would put all the active boosts available (Rpc, spc,xpc, ab2 and the other emg add on
- neck thru LACS style
- reverse headstock with mirror headstock

scsllop 18-24

I think that’s about it

The piezo part can be achieved in the 2003 to 2010 models, those with the Edge Pro trem. This trem has some "metal inserts" at the saddles that can be removed and replaced with LR Baggs' piezo elements... I think you can figure out the rest. There are a bunch of these guitars at Reverb.com...

 

[Anquished]

Production 7 String Core or S2 PRS Custom 24.

8 String PRS SE Custom 24.

 

[Jeries]

The piezo part can be achieved in the 2003 to 2010 models, those with the Edge Pro trem. This trem has some "metal inserts" at the saddles that can be removed and replaced with LR Baggs' piezo elements... I think you can figure out the rest. There are a bunch of these guitars at Reverb.com...

Actually odi that is news to me. Are you saying there are LR Baggs inserts made for a Ibanez Lo Pro EDGE, and then essentially you can have that piezo like the 2027xvv??

If so, do you have any references to someone doing it or video to do it? I mean, you would need a pre amp? Or some kind of “converter?”

I’m not a tech so it’s not as simple to me as it is for you or others more knowledgeable

also if you have a link to the product (like LR Baggs piezo system for Ibanez , I’d like to see it because I can’t find it myself and I’m only finding graph tech .... )

BTW odi, is graphtech ghost hex piezo system as good as LR?

 

[odibrom]

Actually odi that is news to me. Are you saying there are LR Baggs inserts made for a Ibanez Lo Pro EDGE, and then essentially you can have that piezo like the 2027xvv??

If so, do you have any references to someone doing it or video to do it? I mean, you would need a pre amp? Or some kind of “converter?”

I’m not a tech so it’s not as simple to me as it is for you or others more knowledgeable

also if you have a link to the product (like LR Baggs piezo system for Ibanez , I’d like to see it because I can’t find it myself and I’m only finding graph tech .... )

BTW odi, is graphtech ghost hex piezo system as good as LR?

I'll get to this tomorrow, please wait until then...

 

[Jeries]

Sure thing odi, take your time and thanks for the consideration

very kind of you to reply

 

[odibrom]

Sure thing odi, take your time and thanks for the consideration

very kind of you to reply

Hey, back again, sorry, I was on my phone and ready to close my eyes for the night and this reply needs a PC to gather all the info. The previous one was just to aknowledge you that I'd seen your post.

WARNING, LONG POST AHEAD!

Let's start at the trem I'm talking about, this is the Edge Pro trem:

Those "white" things are the metal inserts that should get replaced with piezo elements from LR Baggs. Ibanez had a few models in mid 2000's with these trems and piezos, some focused on MIDI output, others on the piezo sound by itself. I know that our forumite @Webmaestro have made this mod into one of his guitars, LR Baggs piezos with a Graphtech preamp if I'm not mistaken. @c7spheres also has a mutant with LR Baggs piezos and I think Fishmann preamp. However, I think he has canibalized an RG2027XVV trem...

LR Baggs doesn't have these piezo elements available on their site, but if you contact them directly via EMAIL/PHONE they'll sell you a bunch. I know I bought them about 14 for my 2x RG2027XVV guitars as spare parts a couple years ago.

These piezos are supposed to work with a preamp, but could eventually work passively. In that situation (passive) you should contact LR Baggs directly and ask for guidance. As for active use of the piezos, Ibanez had 2 series, the first from 1999 to 2002 and the second from 2002 and until they had piezo loaded guitars for sale. The first batch used the LR Baggs Control-X preamp and the second one a "Double Edge" preamp. The first, the Control-X one, is LR Baggs branded and is still for sale. The second was specifically made for Ibanez and is no longer being produced. They had a few differences:

• Control-X
  • No buffer for the mags
  • Includes a push/push button to select output (more on this later)
  • Tries to the max to keep the mags' signal out of the preamp's path
  • Still in production
• Double Edge Preamp
  • Includes a buffer for the mags' signal WHEN mixed with piezos
  • Supposedly identifies which outputs are being used and routs piezo and mags signal accordingly
  • Has the mags' signal passing through it even when piezos are off
  • Had an active Treble/Bass cut/boost EQ on some models.
  • No longer in production

The reason (my guess) for this change of hart for the preamp was that the first batch had alternated phase piezo elements and when combined with mags' signal, they'd get an awful out-of-phase per string sound, meaning the strings were alternated strong/weak sounding. This is why the first batch of piezo loaded guitars from Ibanez only had mags or piezo options, not both at the same time. There was some one called Kevin (?)... that put out a mod for replacing the piezo/mag switch for an ON/ON/ON one that would allow piezo and mags mix... and that's when one would get that out-of-phase alternated string issue if one was to have the piezo volume (working as a blend in mix position) in any position except Zero.

The Ibanez's second batch had a different approach, they had separated high and low strings piezo phase that are loaded independently at the preamp. By having the mags buffered, the out-of-phase issue was no longer and this second batch already came with the mags/piezo mix option on board.

I've been told by the good folks at LR Baggs that the first batch had the alternated phase piezos because of some sort of sound "humpf" or "quack" or something like that, something I've never noticed in my guitars. I got my first RG2027XVV way back in January 2002 and the second one in 2016. Since they came with complementary alternate phase piezos, I did some saddle swapping from one to the other and got both of them with the piezos all in the same phase. The out-of-phase issue disapered completely and I'm now able to use the piezo volume to blend in more or less signal into the mix when mixing piezos and mags and it's beautiful. I've made a sort of musically awful audio clip of this experimentation at the time that shows perfectly the issue and the end result: http://www.lynximage.com/tmo/guitarra/RG2027x/RG2027XVV_A.mp3. The sound samples are ordered as follows:

Parts 1 to 4 were recorded before the saddle swapping and parts 5 and 6 afterwards.

• Part 1 - Blaze Neck in serial mode (full humbucker)
• Part 2 - Blaze Neck in serial mode mix with piezos: piezo volume all the way down - almost no phase issues
• Part 3 - Piezo only
• Part 4 - Blaze Neck in serial mode mix with piezos: piezo volume half way up (before saddle swap) - noticeable phase issues, the motif for this saddle swapping experiment
• Part 5 - Blaze Neck in serial mode mix with piezos: piezo volume half way up (after saddle swap) - no more phase issues, experiment is a success!
• Part 6 - Piezo only - no sound issues after saddle swapping

So, if you're into getting in this mod train, I'd suggest you to get the piezos all in the same phase. You can ID them by their wire color being black or white.

Regarding which sounds best, Graphtech's or LR Baggs, I guess that's a matter of personal taste. I think the piezo sound is better with the Gracphtech stuff, but since they have their piezos covered with teflon (?), their mags' tone will change slightly, becoming a bit darker. It's a compromise, but since I don't use piezos all the time, I think I prefer the LR Baggs approach. Also, Graphtech's Ghost system is pretty good IMO and for 6 string it can deliver MIDI guitar output (hexaphonic system). The graphtech stuff is modular, which means that you can add features besides the basic preamp. They also have schematics for passive use of the piezos. I have modded all my fixed bridge guitars with Graphtech Ghost stuff (piezo only, because they're 7 and 8 stringers). Only my UV777P is not loaded with piezos (it's a LoPro Edge version). I'm not sure if Graphtech can supply piezo elements only to replace those "metal Inserts" on the Edge Pro trem, their Floyd Rose Ghost loaded bridges feature piezo elements that are way too similar with these "Metal inserts". So I'd suggest you to give them a call and find out.

Regarding the LoPro Double Edge (piezo loaded) trem versus the regular LoPro, the front of their saddles is different and unfortunately no longer in production. One could eventually mod the original LoPro's saddles to fit them with these piezo elements, but that would require some speciallized machinery work. This to say that one cannot simply mod a LoPro bridge to have piezos. All the bridge's stuff is exactly the same, I can swap saddles around, but the saddles themselves need to support the piezo elements.

Here are a few photos for comparison between the regular LoPro Edge and the piezo loaded LoPro Double Edge:

The regular LoPro Edge, from an Ibanez S540

The LoPro Double Edge, from one of mine RG2027XVV guitars

You can clearly see where the string sit on both trems' saddles. On the regular LoPro, the strings sit at the second/back half of the saddle, but on the piezo version, they sit on the front half of it.

I hope that is all. As far as contacts go, I've had great experience and email communication with either LR Baggs' and Graphtech's tech support teams and have bought stuff from both of them directly as well. I think I did a full data dump here, but if there is anything else, feel free to ask... maybe via private message so not to derail any further this thread?

 

[Jeries]

Hey, back again, sorry, I was on my phone and ready to close my eyes for the night and this reply needs a PC to gather all the info. The previous one was just to aknowledge you that I'd seen your post.

WARNING, LONG POST AHEAD!

Let's start at the trem I'm talking about, this is the Edge Pro trem:

Those "white" things are the metal inserts that should get replaced with piezo elements from LR Baggs. Ibanez had a few models in mid 2000's with these trems and piezos, some focused on MIDI output, others on the piezo sound by itself. I know that our forumite @Webmaestro have made this mod into one of his guitars, LR Baggs piezos with a Graphtech preamp if I'm not mistaken. @c7spheres also has a mutant with LR Baggs piezos and I think Fishmann preamp. However, I think he has canibalized an RG2027XVV trem...

LR Baggs doesn't have these piezo elements available on their site, but if you contact them directly via EMAIL/PHONE they'll sell you a bunch. I know I bought them about 14 for my 2x RG2027XVV guitars as spare parts a couple years ago.

These piezos are supposed to work with a preamp, but could eventually work passively. In that situation (passive) you should contact LR Baggs directly and ask for guidance. As for active use of the piezos, Ibanez had 2 series, the first from 1999 to 2002 and the second from 2002 and until they had piezo loaded guitars for sale. The first batch used the LR Baggs Control-X preamp and the second one a "Double Edge" preamp. The first, the Control-X one, is LR Baggs branded and is still for sale. The second was specifically made for Ibanez and is no longer being produced. They had a few differences:

• Control-X
  • No buffer for the mags
  • Includes a push/push button to select output (more on this later)
  • Tries to the max to keep the mags' signal out of the preamp's path
  • Still in production
• Double Edge Preamp
  • Includes a buffer for the mags' signal WHEN mixed with piezos
  • Supposedly identifies which outputs are being used and routs piezo and mags signal accordingly
  • Has the mags' signal passing through it even when piezos are off
  • Had an active Treble/Bass cut/boost EQ on some models.
  • No longer in production

The reason (my guess) for this change of hart for the preamp was that the first batch had alternated phase piezo elements and when combined with mags' signal, they'd get an awful out-of-phase per string sound, meaning the strings were alternated strong/weak sounding. This is why the first batch of piezo loaded guitars from Ibanez only had mags or piezo options, not both at the same time. There was some one called Kevin (?)... that put out a mod for replacing the piezo/mag switch for an ON/ON/ON one that would allow piezo and mags mix... and that's when one would get that out-of-phase alternated string issue if one was to have the piezo volume (working as a blend in mix position) in any position except Zero.

The Ibanez's second batch had a different approach, they had separated high and low strings piezo phase that are loaded independently at the preamp. By having the mags buffered, the out-of-phase issue was no longer and this second batch already came with the mags/piezo mix option on board.

I've been told by the good folks at LR Baggs that the first batch had the alternated phase piezos because of some sort of sound "humpf" or "quack" or something like that, something I've never noticed in my guitars. I got my first RG2027XVV way back in January 2002 and the second one in 2016. Since they came with complementary alternate phase piezos, I did some saddle swapping from one to the other and got both of them with the piezos all in the same phase. The out-of-phase issue disapered completely and I'm now able to use the piezo volume to blend in more or less signal into the mix when mixing piezos and mags and it's beautiful. I've made a sort of musically awful audio clip of this experimentation at the time that shows perfectly the issue and the end result: http://www.lynximage.com/tmo/guitarra/RG2027x/RG2027XVV_A.mp3. The sound samples are ordered as follows:

Parts 1 to 4 were recorded before the saddle swapping and parts 5 and 6 afterwards.

• Part 1 - Blaze Neck in serial mode (full humbucker)
• Part 2 - Blaze Neck in serial mode mix with piezos: piezo volume all the way down - almost no phase issues
• Part 3 - Piezo only
• Part 4 - Blaze Neck in serial mode mix with piezos: piezo volume half way up (before saddle swap) - noticeable phase issues, the motif for this saddle swapping experiment
• Part 5 - Blaze Neck in serial mode mix with piezos: piezo volume half way up (after saddle swap) - no more phase issues, experiment is a success!
• Part 6 - Piezo only - no sound issues after saddle swapping

So, if you're into getting in this mod train, I'd suggest you to get the piezos all in the same phase. You can ID them by their wire color being black or white.

Regarding which sounds best, Graphtech's or LR Baggs, I guess that's a matter of personal taste. I think the piezo sound is better with the Gracphtech stuff, but since they have their piezos covered with teflon (?), their mags' tone will change slightly, becoming a bit darker. It's a compromise, but since I don't use piezos all the time, I think I prefer the LR Baggs approach. Also, Graphtech's Ghost system is pretty good IMO and for 6 string it can deliver MIDI guitar output (hexaphonic system). The graphtech stuff is modular, which means that you can add features besides the basic preamp. They also have schematics for passive use of the piezos. I have modded all my fixed bridge guitars with Graphtech Ghost stuff (piezo only, because they're 7 and 8 stringers). Only my UV777P is not loaded with piezos (it's a LoPro Edge version). I'm not sure if Graphtech can supply piezo elements only to replace those "metal Inserts" on the Edge Pro trem, their Floyd Rose Ghost loaded bridges feature piezo elements that are way too similar with these "Metal inserts". So I'd suggest you to give them a call and find out.

Regarding the LoPro Double Edge (piezo loaded) trem versus the regular LoPro, the front of their saddles is different and unfortunately no longer in production. One could eventually mod the original LoPro's saddles to fit them with these piezo elements, but that would require some speciallized machinery work. This to say that one cannot simply mod a LoPro bridge to have piezos. All the bridge's stuff is exactly the same, I can swap saddles around, but the saddles themselves need to support the piezo elements.

Here are a few photos for comparison between the regular LoPro Edge and the piezo loaded LoPro Double Edge:

The regular LoPro Edge, from an Ibanez S540

The LoPro Double Edge, from one of mine RG2027XVV guitars

You can clearly see where the string sit on both trems' saddles. On the regular LoPro, the strings sit at the second/back half of the saddle, but on the piezo version, they sit on the front half of it.

I hope that is all. As far as contacts go, I've had great experience and email communication with either LR Baggs' and Graphtech's tech support teams and have bought stuff from both of them directly as well. I think I did a full data dump here, but if there is anything else, feel free to ask... maybe via private message so not to derail any further this thread?

Woah man! Thank you so much - I’ll keep it at this to keep the topic covered - that’s amazing

Amazing work! Thanks again

 

[John]

I like the arium (non-wood) thing Aristides is going for, but it leaves a lot to be desired as far as variety goes.
Apart from diversifying in LP, Eclipse, and Explorer shapes for example, a more affordable/budget version of a guitar of that sort wouldn't hurt either.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

H-S-H Floyd-loaded Strat from Jackson, Charvel, or ESP with a reverse pointy headstock.

You know, I just remembered that the beauty of Strats is that they're like the guitar version of Legos. Get a Strat body, a left-handed 22-fret Jackson/Charvel neck (or a reverse righty), get a H(S)H pickguard, drill 2 holes for a Floyd. Boom.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

You know, I just remembered that the beauty of Strats is that they're like the guitar version of Legos. Get a Strat body, a left-handed 22-fret Jackson/Charvel neck (or a reverse righty), get a H(S)H pickguard, drill 2 holes for a Floyd. Boom.

I mean, it's probably a little more involved than that, but if you choose the right stuff, it'll simplify it.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I mean, it's probably a little more involved than that, but if you choose the right stuff, it'll simplify it.

Yeah I talked about it, but you can find gutted parts online for cheap from guys like STRATosphere.

 

[Jeries]

ESP just made a Pink satin Floyd Rose B8 custom for Stef ! I wish they made that into a signature

https://www.espguitars.com/videos/2040799

 

[John]

-ESP's E-II and USA line are severely lacking on Eclipses with both trems and not being limited to 22 frets. Having at least 24 is/has been/will be the based and chad-pilled way to go, after all.

-Same for PRS singlecut offerings among their core, bolt-on, and S2 line. On a broader scale, they're missing out on ERG stuff among their core, bolt-on, and S2 line. On that note, hopefully they can start using stainless steel/ebony boards way more often. Additionally, it would be nice to see a their take on a production model baritone acoustic.

-Ibanez could've done more with the ARZ and even Destroyer lines. A baritone for either one would be cool.

-Charvel used to make LP style guitars that looked decent, as opposed to those more recent Desolation models that instead looked awful. On that note, if they can combine aspects from those and with other things like the nova or the pro-mod, that would be a nice change of pace, too.

-As for basses, it would be interesting to see anything else incorporating the really long scale offered in the Kalium Quake. ie- a Grabber or a Jazz bass just because



-If money is a non-issue, I'd like to make Halo Guitars actually build from any one of those ridiculous design mockups, solely for the sake of humor. ie:

 

[benfan]

PRS CU24 with the neck heel from the Torero. Why is this not offered? They discontinued the Torero, so the least they could do is offer it up as option on their flagship. Along with 25.5 scale and the pattern thin neck.

Think a Dustie signature without the old school heel and the longer scale.

Is that too much to ask?

 

[kreepyteach]

Can we please get a modern era hollow body 7?

I always see some Gretsch 7580 Van Eps, but even as a vintage 7, they are way too expensive or maybe a little fragile? But I would love a modern
one!

 

[Ji Sung]

A production line PRS (Ideally S2) 7 string with a trem. An 8-string version would be cool too.

 

[InfinityCollision]

Can we please get a modern era hollow body 7?

I always see some Gretsch 7580 Van Eps, but even as a vintage 7, they are way too expensive or maybe a little fragile? But I would love a modern
one!

Eastman offers (offered? unsure if they still do) 7 string versions of a bunch of their models. Think they're special order only, but a quick search online suggests you can find them in stock on a few storefronts.

 

[kreepyteach]

Eastman offers (offered? unsure if they still do) 7 string versions of a bunch of their models. Think they're special order only, but a quick search online suggests you can find them in stock on a few storefronts.

Yeah man, I just saw Halo got some, definitely expensive but definitely way better Pups installed. Now all I need is a 7 string Bigsby Vibrato system

 

[Paul Gilbert]

Seriously I just want Ibanez 7/8 string with trems and a basic/normal finish that doesn’t look like the bottom of a portapotty septic tank blue.

 

[bigcupholder]

Ibanez prestige hardtail S series with dual humbuckers and a finish that's not insanely ugly. That's it. They still haven't done it.