Guitars with 24 frets and a phase switch?

Cafe Society
1

I hope I’m not becoming a 1-note chord with my CS postings, because sheesh, I’ve posted a lot of guitar/amp/synth threads lately.

So, I’m thinking about buying a guitar. Maybe. Possibly. When my budget allows, which might be sometime between beach vacation season and winter holiday season. I just bought a Mexican Strat 4 weeks ago today, and that’s cut into rent and utilities mightily.

But I like to plan ahead.

My philosophy is that any serious player should own at least two instruments for a variety of sounds. Yeah, acoustic, classical, hollow body, yada yada. I’ve become a strictly solid body man. For me, there exist only two types of guitars: Single coil and double coil.

I’ve got Old Blue, the Strat.

But what about a humbucking instrument? I’ve owned a Guild S-300D for about 25 years, and it’s a beauty. That is, it has inner beauty. Its outer beauty is a little Aged French Whore.

I love the thing, but the color has gone from white to tobacco-yellow, and most of the hardware has turned to rust. I could refubish it, but I don’t think the parts are made anymore (Guild doesn’t even make electrics anymore). I’d like something new and Ooh Shiny under warrantee.

But I can’t seem to find anything remotely as good. Les Pauls are too heavy, Flying Vs have only three knobs, SGs don’t seem to fit the bill…

And I want something I can afford, maybe $300-600.

Here are the features I want:

Solid body
Dual humbuckers with a 3-way position switch
4 knobs (2 vol, 2 tone)
A phase switch (That is, both pickups in or out-of phase)
24 frets
ETA: One-piece construction

Does such a monster exist?

2

You should check out Carvin Guitars. You can make that guitar online. I have an SC90 that has everything you mentioned except the phase switch (which is an option you can add) and the single piece construction (it is a neck-thru). Plays like butter.

3

Hell, I’ll build you one! :cool:

It’ll cost a bit more than $300-$600 though… :smack:

4

You could just get an Epiphone SG, and mod it to add the phase switch.

I’m not sure what you mean by “one piece construction”. Neck-thru? Neck fixed rather than bolted on? You can’t find a guitar made from one piece of solid wood anywhere that I’ve ever heard of. Certainly not for $300-$600!

5

I have to agree with this guy here. I bought a sc90 (nice red mahogany, neck through, ebony fb, black hardware, and a flying v headstock, which I don’t think they do anymore) on ebay for cheap, within your price range, and I love the thing to death although it’s not with me right now for other reasons.

6

Yep.

I want that sustaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain.

7

Sounds like you want a set-neck construction; not nearly as many neck-through designs out there.

So you want a shredder? You mention 24 frets as important, but you also are looking for a LP-based pickup/control layout. As a rule, LP-type guitars don’t come with 24 frets; the very act of getting those frets into the design moves the neck pickup out of the normal zone for an LP neck pickup, so you get a different tone.

But it is pretty typical to find 24-fret gits, with a variety of p’up layouts including your preferred, in a shredder layout. Schector and Ibanez both have a variety of designs in your price range that you could check out at a GC. As with any guitar, I suspect you’d have to play all the ones in the store to see if any speak to you.

But that implies a couple of things:

  • you are okay with, or want, a locking whammy system on the guitar
  • you are okay with, or want a slimmer, faster, most likely wide-flat neck carve

Both are typical with shredders as I am sure you know…

8

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked out a few Schecters and Ibanezes online, and was a little disappointed. It seems like nobody does phase switches anymore! Such a useful little thing.

I just talked to the guy that repaired my Squier, and he gave me a sort of non-quote quote. The things to look for, he said, are a big enough electronics cavity and 4-conductor pickups. This rules out '57 classic LPs, but most modern guitars should be OK. He says he’d charge maybe $120 for labor, with parts on top of that. Something to think about anyway.

9

Could be that I lack imagination, but why do you want a separate volume for each pickup and a 3-way switch?

10

Its useful for setting two different tone/volume settings up and swapping between them. ETA: I’ve had guitars with two (one volume, one tone), three (two volumes, one tone) or four (two volumes, two tones). I find I like having fewer knobs to accidentally hit when I’m playing. A Strat drives me absolutely nuts.

11

It’s really fun to have the neck pickup set at a lower volume and tone than the bridge pickup. For the solo, hit the switch and instant louder!

Or there’s another fun thing you can do by shutting one pickup all the way down. Hit a note or a chord and plibble the switch back and forth. Instant tremolo effect with really sharp cut off. Very cool if you can move the switch in a different rhythm from your note/chord changes.

I miss my old Ibanez ‘Herb Ellis’ copy…

12

Off-the-wall example, here’s Tom Morello using the pickup selector as Le Ministere describes above, but with an odd & fun spin. Skip to 2:00 through about 3:45.

13

That’s called a “killswitch” - basic flipping between pickups to get a cool effect is a trick that is good to know when to use, like when Eddie Van Halen does it in You Really Got Me right before Diamond Dave does his breathy ooo, ahh part.

**tdn **- back to shredders, to my knowledge, they are likely to have an HSH layout, so you get the two humbuckers and a single-coil in the middle, and many have a variety of tone choices in switches or dials. I have to believe that a decent maker puts out something close to your target format. Perhaps troll eBay periodically, narrowing down what search descriptors seem to do it for you? Or surf the various online stores and see what brands and combos are out there?

Look to the various Asian-made labels - Tokai, ESP, Edwards, Samick. Some are very well made.

14

I made a little trip to GC last night just to see what my options were. When I asked the clerk (who helped me with my Strat) what I was looking for, he looked at me like I was crazy. Not one instrument in the store even came close. The beast I’m looking for is the subject of pure myth. I may as well ask for a unicorn.

After googling arouund a bit, I’ve discovered what a rare and priceless thing I have in my S300. Apparently it’s now considered a collector’s item. Now I wish I’d taken better care of it. I feel like bringing it flowers and chocolate, then putting it under glass. Now that I know what I have, I know I’ll keep it for the rest of my life.

It brings special truthiness to the phrase “They don’t make 'em like that anymore.”

15

GC guys generally know about what they stock in the store (if that) and nothing further. Saying it’s mythical because GC doesn’t carry it is not a solid conclusion.

16

True, though this guy seems a bit more knowledgable than most. And extensive Google searches seem to bear it out. It looks like if I’m going to get what I want, I’m going to have to go the Carvin custom build route.

The thing is, I already have exactly what I want. It just needs some extensive work. I think I’ll start with a paint job and then move on to the hardware.

17

A guitar building project?! Dude, clearly that is what you should do!!

18

Wait, hold the phone. He’s going to repaint a guitar with vintage value? Is this fiducially wise?

19

It is not a high-priced collectible and it is already in “player’s condition” at best. At that point, if it has the combo of features you care about but needs a buff and polish, I say go for it. Just IMHO.

**tdn **- I reread your OP and you said you wanted something new. Well, I do think there are guitars out there, but again, I don’t know my self. I will do a bit of checking to confirm your GC guy’s position that there is nothing out there. If there is not, and you aren’t sold on ordering from Carvin, then doing a build or complete overhaul can be very fun AND very rewarding if you are reasonably handy…

20

Already got one response:

So it has 2 knobs and the phase switch is part of a 5-way blade…but that is pretty good given what you are looking for and your price point…

Musician’s Friend listing here.