imported_vangit
02-17-2006, 05:04 AM
I guess itís important to remember that this is a custom guitar; so the neck carve, back thickness etc, can be made to the customers preferences. With that being said, I will give my impressions of the Tour Guitars feel.
Bridge: I prefer a trem to stop tail, which the Tour Guitar has. I donít use the trem often, but I like to know itís there and in most cases prefer the feel of resting my hand on a trem vs a stop tail. I have had a bunch of nice PRS stop tail guitars. My hand never quite felt right, itwould drift a little from resting on the bridge on a PRS. I seem to be planted very well on the Schroeder stop tail. You can see in this pic that the Schroeder has a smaller distance from bridge to strap button. The PRS in this photo is 24 frets and obviously a trem, but when comparing where the strings make contact with the bridge, itís obviously more than a two fret difference. I e-mailed Jason about it and he wrote, ìmy body design is that it doesn't have as big a butt as a PRS. Meaning, it is shorter from the bridge to the butt where the strap button is on the bottom. This also changes the feel of where the bridge is but mostly while standing using a strap.î The Schroeder bridge placement feels just right.
http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL1004/4368191/9223655/129590422.jpg
Neck: ****Let me digress. I have pretty sensitive hands. I have been in martial arts for over 30 years, so my knuckles have been banged, cracked, broken etc. I also broke both wrists from impact wear and tear. If a neck is thin or on the thin side (PRS wide-thin, Strat modern C), I ache pretty quickly from doing bar chords (more so with ìAî form). If a neck is thick with width, (PRS wide-fat, Les Pauls), it bothers me when doing scales and single string playing).
I tend to like necks that are narrow and leaning toward thick. I love a PRS Standard carve (nut width 1.656) and I love Ernie Ball Music Manís (very narrow @ 1.625). Just for reference for you guys, PRS Wide-Fat, Les Pauls and Fender Modern C are 1.6875.*****
OK, with all that being said, I went to tune up the Tour Guitar. When I held the neck I said, ìHoly sh*t this feels like a Classical Guitarî. Not that I have ever held a Classical Guitar, it just felt real wide. The weird thing is almost immediately it felt incredibly comfortable. I know itís sounds corny, but it has the ìold T-shirtî feel to it. Usually when I pick up a guitar I have never played before, my forehead getís all wrinkled up for the ìintroductionî period. This guitar was just grab and go. The neck just felt very familiar, very comfortable right away. I called Jason up immediately and asked, ìWhat the Fu*k did you base this neck onî? His answer was, ìMy Chopperî. I said, ìGenius, what did you base the Chopper on?î. He said ìNothing but my hand. I used no other guitar neck for reference. I just kept putting it in my hand and kept refining it until it felt rightî. Jason said he made it wide to allow more room for bending. Especially since he likes to do downward bends. Doc always told me that was something different about Jason as a builder; he is also a player. I found out the nut width s 1.75. Much wider than I am used to, but the thickness Jason did fits and works with the wdith.
The fretwork is perfect. No overhang, no short fret gaps. Personally I like my frets angled a bit more. Again, the fretwork is flawless, they are just a little squarer than I am used to. You really donít feel it until you slide on the high E string. Jason said itís not a problem to angle them more. Thatís just one of things about having a custom guitar, itís built to our specs.
http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL1004/4368191/9223655/129267957.jpg
Belly Carve: This pic is trying to show the "belly carve" to horn thickness. Look closely and youíll see how the Schroeder has a a deeper, more dramatic belly carve to horn thickness. I think it looks really nice, but it also keeps the guitar in place better when sitting. My PRS tends to slide a bit when I sit if my posture isnít perfect (which it never is), you can see the PRS horn isn't as thick in relation to the carve.
http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL1004/4368191/9223655/129590413.jpg
Feel Conclusion: I think you can tell I love it. If this guitar was a production guitar and I wasnít allowed to pick custom specs, Iíd still buy it in a heartbeat if based on feel. These specs feel very different from what I am used to, but I love them. It gives me even more confidence to trust Jasonís suggestions with my guitar.
Bridge: I prefer a trem to stop tail, which the Tour Guitar has. I donít use the trem often, but I like to know itís there and in most cases prefer the feel of resting my hand on a trem vs a stop tail. I have had a bunch of nice PRS stop tail guitars. My hand never quite felt right, itwould drift a little from resting on the bridge on a PRS. I seem to be planted very well on the Schroeder stop tail. You can see in this pic that the Schroeder has a smaller distance from bridge to strap button. The PRS in this photo is 24 frets and obviously a trem, but when comparing where the strings make contact with the bridge, itís obviously more than a two fret difference. I e-mailed Jason about it and he wrote, ìmy body design is that it doesn't have as big a butt as a PRS. Meaning, it is shorter from the bridge to the butt where the strap button is on the bottom. This also changes the feel of where the bridge is but mostly while standing using a strap.î The Schroeder bridge placement feels just right.
http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL1004/4368191/9223655/129590422.jpg
Neck: ****Let me digress. I have pretty sensitive hands. I have been in martial arts for over 30 years, so my knuckles have been banged, cracked, broken etc. I also broke both wrists from impact wear and tear. If a neck is thin or on the thin side (PRS wide-thin, Strat modern C), I ache pretty quickly from doing bar chords (more so with ìAî form). If a neck is thick with width, (PRS wide-fat, Les Pauls), it bothers me when doing scales and single string playing).
I tend to like necks that are narrow and leaning toward thick. I love a PRS Standard carve (nut width 1.656) and I love Ernie Ball Music Manís (very narrow @ 1.625). Just for reference for you guys, PRS Wide-Fat, Les Pauls and Fender Modern C are 1.6875.*****
OK, with all that being said, I went to tune up the Tour Guitar. When I held the neck I said, ìHoly sh*t this feels like a Classical Guitarî. Not that I have ever held a Classical Guitar, it just felt real wide. The weird thing is almost immediately it felt incredibly comfortable. I know itís sounds corny, but it has the ìold T-shirtî feel to it. Usually when I pick up a guitar I have never played before, my forehead getís all wrinkled up for the ìintroductionî period. This guitar was just grab and go. The neck just felt very familiar, very comfortable right away. I called Jason up immediately and asked, ìWhat the Fu*k did you base this neck onî? His answer was, ìMy Chopperî. I said, ìGenius, what did you base the Chopper on?î. He said ìNothing but my hand. I used no other guitar neck for reference. I just kept putting it in my hand and kept refining it until it felt rightî. Jason said he made it wide to allow more room for bending. Especially since he likes to do downward bends. Doc always told me that was something different about Jason as a builder; he is also a player. I found out the nut width s 1.75. Much wider than I am used to, but the thickness Jason did fits and works with the wdith.
The fretwork is perfect. No overhang, no short fret gaps. Personally I like my frets angled a bit more. Again, the fretwork is flawless, they are just a little squarer than I am used to. You really donít feel it until you slide on the high E string. Jason said itís not a problem to angle them more. Thatís just one of things about having a custom guitar, itís built to our specs.
http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL1004/4368191/9223655/129267957.jpg
Belly Carve: This pic is trying to show the "belly carve" to horn thickness. Look closely and youíll see how the Schroeder has a a deeper, more dramatic belly carve to horn thickness. I think it looks really nice, but it also keeps the guitar in place better when sitting. My PRS tends to slide a bit when I sit if my posture isnít perfect (which it never is), you can see the PRS horn isn't as thick in relation to the carve.
http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL1004/4368191/9223655/129590413.jpg
Feel Conclusion: I think you can tell I love it. If this guitar was a production guitar and I wasnít allowed to pick custom specs, Iíd still buy it in a heartbeat if based on feel. These specs feel very different from what I am used to, but I love them. It gives me even more confidence to trust Jasonís suggestions with my guitar.