TELL ME ABOUT THE COCOBOLO NECK.

[László]

Everyone's different, with different tastes, needs, and so on and so forth. I get that.

My own experience with quite a number of electric guitars over the years has taught me what works - for me - and what doesn't. I gravitate toward humbucker tones that are PRS' version of the warm, "classic humucker tones" many of us grew up with. The difference is the added clarity of tone that I think PRS guitars bring to the table.

I've found that on such electric guitars, the neck wood I'm happy with, that gives me these kinds of tones, is mahogany. I've tried most of the others. I've also found, after much experimentation, that I like the mahogany body with maple top.

One might think my CU24 30th PS would be further from those classic tones than a 22 fret McCarty with maple neck. Owning one proved it wasn't. The 22 fret maple neck McCarty took me further away from what I like than a 24 fret guitar with 'hog neck. My Rosewood neck McCartys took me further away from that as well. But when I switched back to a mahogany neck McCarty a few weeks ago, there it was: the tone I prefer.

As a result, all of my electric guitars currently have mahogany necks, rosewood fingerboards of one kind or another, and maple tops. I love every tone I get with all of them. Not one makes me wish for something else.

I know everyone's tastes are different, but here's a question:

If you know what you like, and hear a certain family of tone in your head, do you enjoy departing from it, or would you rather have that tone, perhaps with some subtle variations, such as pickups or scale length?

It's obvious which side of the coin I came down with. What's everyone else's feeling? And if you were ordering a PS guitar, would you want to get the ultimate version of the tone you like, or experiment because you like the looks of certain species of wood, or want to experiment with different kinds of tone?

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

Everyone's different, with different tastes, needs, and so on and so forth. I get that.

My own experience with quite a number of electric guitars over the years has taught me what works - for me - and what doesn't. I gravitate toward humbucker tones that are PRS' version of the warm, "classic humucker tones" many of us grew up with. The difference is the added clarity of tone that I think PRS guitars bring to the table.

I've found that on such electric guitars, the neck wood I'm happy with, that gives me these kinds of tones, is mahogany. I've tried most of the others. I've also found, after much experimentation, that I like the mahogany body with maple top.

One might think my CU24 30th PS would be further from those classic tones than a 22 fret McCarty with maple neck. Owning one proved it wasn't. The 22 fret maple neck McCarty took me further away from what I like than a 24 fret guitar with 'hog neck. My Rosewood neck McCartys took me further away from that as well. But when I switched back to a mahogany neck McCarty a few weeks ago, there it was: the tone I prefer.

As a result, all of my electric guitars currently have mahogany necks, rosewood fingerboards of one kind or another, and maple tops. I love every tone I get with all of them. Not one makes me wish for something else.

I know everyone's tastes are different, but here's a question:

If you know what you like, and hear a certain family of tone in your head, do you enjoy departing from it, or would you rather have that tone, perhaps with some subtle variations, such as pickups or scale length?

It's obvious which side of the coin I came down with. What's everyone else's feeling? And if you were ordering a PS guitar, would you want to get the ultimate version of the tone you like, or experiment because you like the looks of certain species of wood, or want to experiment with different kinds of tone?

Les,
Your statements ring true for me. I've had rosewood neck guitars, maple necks, mahogany necks, and after all the trial, the basics are what the tone I like brings forth. While I have heard videos of PRS guitars with necks of wood other then mahogany that sounded good on the video, I am not sure I would be totally happy with a given tone until I played it live first.

Since I am flying blind anyway, it's best to stick to the radar scope and not vary off course.

 

[django49]

I can be very happy with the "traditional" package, esp when the "added clarity of tone" (as Les said) of more recent pickups (PRS and some others) are included. That said, any time I pick up a "comparable" guitar with a "good" rosewood neck, I seem to smile a bit more. One of my favorites has a mahogany body (chambered) with a redwood top and Brazilian neck and board. It just seems to have a bit more of some "special sauce" in terms of both sound and touch.

 

[veinbuster]

If you know what you like, and hear a certain family of tone in your head, do you enjoy departing from it, or would you rather have that tone, perhaps with some subtle variations, such as pickups or scale length?

I very much enjoy departing from it. I get bored easily and like variety. And there is a bit of psychology in that if I don't try something else once in a while I can't be entirely sure the world hasn't moved on and there is something more satisfying than what I decided I liked best some time ago.

For acoustics, I'm not likely to deviate much from mahogany neck with an ebony board.

For electrics, mahogany neck is still my baseline, but I really like rosewood (I'll bundle cocobolo in there) and would be a bit less satisfied if I didn't have one in the house. I've found a place for a maple neck. I could probably let it go, but I don't expect to have to for some time.

Now, if I thought I was going to get 1 private stock, I would bias it towards my home tone.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I know everyone's tastes are different, but here's a question:

If you know what you like, and hear a certain family of tone in your head, do you enjoy departing from it, or would you rather have that tone, perhaps with some subtle variations, such as pickups or scale length?

I think there are two types of people. Those who have that one tone -- Knopfler, Clapton, AC/DC, Black Sabbath -- and those that don't -- Steven Wilson, Adrian Belew, Warren Cuccurullo, Steve Howe, any number of famous session guitarists. I know I'm playing mostly clean tones lately, but for exercise, my guitar teacher has been having me practice some nice old school heavy metal riffs -- Crazy Train, Iron Man, etc. -- and just for kicks, he turns on the distortion, and even though it's a cheesy little Fender solid state amp, it still makes me smile every time.

So yeah, I do enjoy departing from my current favourite family of tone. Quite a bit, actually.

 

[László]

I wonder if some of the choices we make in a guitar come down to the kinds of parts we play on the guitar?

I'll use myself as an example; when I create a piece of music, being first and foremost a keyboard player, I mainly write on keys. Generally I'll lay out a tune with drums and keyboards before I get to the bass and guitar parts. Next comes the bass line. By the time I get to the guitar parts, I've got a pretty well-developed tune going, that usually doesn't need much in the way of rhythm guitar. So my non-solo parts will often be arpeggiated chords, or simply played chords following the structure of the tune, and then I'll do a solo line on top.

The piano/keys have already taken up the space where in an all-guitar band, one might have a really good rhythm guitar player. I think if I played more rhythm parts, I might be more inclined to add a guitar that leaned more toward the classic single coil tones, the maple bolt-on neck, etc., to give more snap and clarity those parts. Possibly?

However, on most of my tracks, the guitar is used to add a little emphasis and oomph to the chord structure, and then melody. Hence, my taste in woods, construction, etc.