Guitar Mojo?

[Johnny Rigs]

Guitars have 3 things: a feel, a sound, and a look. Each player has a built-in formula of their ideal combination of each element. But it’s not written down anywhere for convenience and people have varying success of actually figuring it out. So many just stumble into finding a close match.

Since we humans love naming things we don’t fully understand so it feels like we understand it more, we call it mojo. And since projection is easier than introspection, we put it on the guitar instead of finding it within.

Ok, that’s our session for today. That’ll be $200 please.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Guitars have 3 things: a feel, a sound, and a look. Each player has a built-in formula of their ideal combination of each element. But it’s not written down anywhere for convenience and people have varying success of actually figuring it out. So many just stumble into finding a close match.

Since we humans love naming things we don’t fully understand so it feels like we understand it more, we call it mojo. And since projection is easier than introspection, we put it on the guitar instead of finding it within.

Ok, that’s our session for today. That’ll be $200 please.

I think I’d like a $1000 hourly rate!

 

[Johnny Rigs]

I think I’d like a $1000 hourly rate!

Hey stop doing the math! You’re gonna ruin it for us!

 

[gush]

Don't mess with a guitar that has MOJO. Just don't do it.

I have two guitars that sound really good and they will stay that way because I won't mess with them,

 

[andy474x]

I have a SE Frederick Akesson, (SE 245) which I could tell just was excellent playing it at the guitar Center one weekend, it was a special $100 off every purchase weekend at guitar Center, I got it for 399, back in 2012, I went ahead and dropped a Seymour Duncan alnico II Pro Slash, in the bridge.
talk about Mojo, really like the guitar, how can a $400 guitar sounds so freaking amazing. once my son started getting an interest in learning about music, I saw an opportunity, to buy another guitar, so I gave him that guitar, but he can see how important I think the guitar is. I said if you ever stop playing it and if you ever don't want it, you have to give it back to me. I actually believe that the guitar has an extremely unreasonable amount of mojo. just not exactly sure why. I keep asking him if he wants to send it back. not yet he says. he just told me he plans to take it to college this year as a freshman. he's never got past the beginner stage, so he only plays it once every three months. so it's not being utilized to its full potential. but it creates a very strong interest in music for him. and it really is a beautiful piece of art if nothing else. so I agree certain PRS SE models are able to find the mojo. I'm just about ready to try and pick up another akesson off of eBay, before they're gone. since it looks like I'm not getting my back. I think Bernie Marsden models are also high on the Mojo list.
I'm agreement with Andy, a pickup swap is a low risk high-value payoff.

Those Akessons are under the radar, but over the top cool!!!

 

[Lee B.]

My '90 EG smokes my '08 SC 250 in the mojo department, squirrelly neck joint be damned. I think that mojo difference is mostly due to an extra 18 years of wood aging myself, and I'll also credit the aftermarket Rio Grande single coil pickups. The nitro finished neck rings and resonates amazingly, and I think that special piece of maple helps give it superb note clarity, no matter how much dirt I throw at it. But if I grab a guitar to practice unplugged, I like the SC better. It has a great natural tone, a very comfortable neck, and it resonates for days like a good singlecut should. I think a pickup swap would probably help it plugged in. The neck pup sounds good to sometimes even great but I just can't seem to get my treble pup dialed in how I want. It's too dark even with the tone full on. It does the 80s dirt-boosted Marshall thing with aplomb, but everything else is just murky to my ear.

 

[Matte82]

Okay so imo there’s the sound of a guitar, and then there’s it’s mojo. Often time they correlate but not always. And both can be very player dependent and change over time.

So I think mojo has a lot to do with the woods and the build. Some guitars acoustically/ mechanically do something special. Maybe it’s the age of the wood, how the grain runs down the guitar. But some guitars just naturally sing. If they don’t, that really can’t be fixed my pickups. Unless they’re too close and causing the problem. Sometimes upgraded hardware can help. Sometimes a lot. Sometimes not. If it’s a bolt on neck, barely loosening the neck screws with some string tention, can get a tighter joint and wake up a guitar. But a guitar that resonates and has vibe is a good place to start.

Next is the neck. This is the operator interface for the instrument. This is where one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. First you need to figure out what kind of necks you like. And you can like them all. But most people gravitate toward a certain kind. I’ve come to find I like big chunky necks. I want something to grab a hold of. While I personally feel a chunky neck can help improve the vibe of a guitar, it being comfortable is more important than anything. No matter how good a guitar is, if you can get along with the neck, it won’t matter. You won’t want to play it.

Next is the pickups and hardware. I’ve alrwady mentioned them a bit. But imo they’re more like the icing on the cake. The nut and bridge are probably the most important pieces of hardware, as far as mojo goes. They need to be tip top to make everything else fall together.

Then once you have all of that, the pickups really do matter a lot in the sound. Which can greatly affect the mojo when plugged in and turned up. But they can’t fix a guitar that’s lacking elsewhere. That said, if you are already really digging a guitar, but it just doesn’t nail the sound you’re going for, pickup swap might help. Worst case you swap back. Or to another set. Because once you find the right pickups, on a guitar thats already working for you.... Audio nirvana.

Anyway just my overly long .02.

 

[11top]

 

[László]

It should be obvious that mojo is the product of alien technology.

Aliens wearing cloaking devices visit all the instruments produced on Earth. They have visited Earth for a long time, in fact, their tools are depicted on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs.

This alien technology is so refined that when they find instruments they particurly like, they use a special tool called a ‘Jo’ that warps gamma rays to imbue the instruments with qualities that appear to be magical.

When the aliens want an instrument to be extra-special, they simply say, “We need a little mo’ Jo on this guitar.”

Rumor has it that their Earth base is located somewhere in Maryland.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

It should be obvious that mojo is the product of alien technology.

Aliens wearing cloaking devices visit all the instruments produced on Earth. They have visited Earth for a long time, in fact, their tools are depicted on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs.

This alien technology is so refined that when they find instruments they particurly like, they use a special tool called a ‘Jo’ that warps gamma rays to imbue the instruments with qualities that appear to be magical.

When the aliens want an instrument to be extra-special, they simply say, “We need a little mo’ Jo on this guitar.”

Rumor has it that their Earth base is located somewhere in Maryland.

Wow Les, have you upped your meds?

 

[László]

Wow Les, have you upped your meds?

Get with the program, dude. It’s always aliens.