HOT LINKS
BY IAN MCCLINTOCK AND REBECCA DIRKS
contour, radius, inlays, binding and scalloping. An option when choosing fingerboard
wood to view actual images of the slabs and
pick your exact fingerboard is a really cool
addition. My birdseye maple/pau ferro neck
with mother-of-pearl inlays and a satin finish
came out to $338—more than I’d expected,
but if I were spending the money to order
the guitar, I would be willing to pay it to get
that perfect neck that feels just right.
make the service more useful. For example, there
are only four Seymour Duncan models represented, two EMGs, two DiMarzios and no Lollars.
Warmoth Custom Body
& Neck Builder
Anyone who has even considered building their
own guitar has undoubtedly heard of Warmoth,
one of the leading suppliers of custom and
replacement guitar parts. The Warmoth website
now offers a Custom Body Builder and Custom
Neck Builder, which allow a wide variety of
choices in customizing the parts just so. I spent
some time with each to find out just how in-depth their customization system really is.
For the ambitious hobbyist who wants to build
their own instrument, Warmoth has made it
easy to pick all the options you need from the
comfort of your keyboard. The options are
impressively deep and the presentation is slick
and attractive. If hand-finishing your own body
and neck are not an appealing prospect, this is
the way to go.—IM
We appreciate that the guys at Atlantic
Quality Design provided ample description
of their methods to accompany the tool; the
context is helpful for understanding the uses
and limitations of the site. There are also
a few “goodies” on the page, such as an
interactive application that demonstrates the
relationship between capacitance and pot
resistance, and a calculator for pickup load
resistance and pot value.
warmoth.com/pages/custombody.aspx and
warmoth.com/Pages/CustomNeck.aspx
The Guitar Pickup Tone Database is certainly
something to watch as it develops and more
samples are added. The site could be a helpful tool when researching pickup replacements, though it won’t be able to perfectly
represent a pickup’s eventual tone in your
guitar with your hands.—RD
The Body Builder
The Body Builder offers many different body
shapes, including pretty much all the main-line
Fender and Gibson styles. There’s also the
option of a routed body blank for those who
want to go nuts with their own designs without worrying about chambering or routing. I
chose to build a Mustang. Once I picked the
shape, I was confronted by a dizzying array
of options—solid or hollowbody, wood type,
pickup routes (top or bottom), f-holes, bridge
type, body contours, binding, to name a handful. Not all options are available on all bodies;
a few times I clicked a dropdown menu only to
find a single option available.
aqdi.com/cgi-bin/database.cgi
I was pleased to see an option to have no
bridge routing on the Mustang, since I would
personally prefer to install a hardtail bridge
rather than deal with the Mustang’s trem. In
some categories, like the bridge rout, special needs can be met by hand—for a fee, of
course. Clicking the “More Info” button on any
category describes in detail each option in the
category, and is quite helpful in clarifying any
minutia that might be unfamiliar. At the end of
the day, my blue-burst swamp ash body cost
about $425—not bad for a custom job.
Guitar Pickup Tone Database
The Guitar Pickup Tone Database is a new
and still-developing resource from Atlantic
Quality Design. The database allows you
to compare sound samples and frequency
charts for two pickups at a time. There are
161 pickups online at press time, but the
site says that the list is growing.
After you choose the pickups you wish to
compare, you select one of eight cable
options and click a “Get Pickup Info!” button.
The page refreshes with photos and information on the guitar the pickups are played
through, and your comparison chart.
Electric Guitar Trends
Ever wonder what the top-selling guitars are at
any given time? Electric Guitar Trends aims to
answer that question. Part blog, part Billboard
charts, EGT compiles Musician’s Friend’s top-selling items each week and posts them in one
place. The site also posts about pricing trends
over time and most popular guitars in specific
categories. Lists are categorized as Budget, Mid-Range and High-End, as well as by company.
The Neck Builder
The Neck Builder is laid out in a similar manner. After picking the style of neck (pre-CBS
Mustang/Jaguar, in my case), I was presented
with a similarly wide range of details, including neck and fingerboard wood, nut width,
Because the pickups are played through
different guitars, and the demo’s picking
dynamics don’t necessarily mimic your own,
the chart and samples won’t be spot-on to
your needs. However, it’s a nice jumping off
point when considering changing pickups.
The site’s design is stylish but a little rough,
and since the numbers come from Musician’s
Friend, they’re not indicative of the entire
industry. The archives only go back to May
’09, so the site is pretty young. Perhaps as
they grow, they’ll make an effort to represent
a wider section of retailers. However, if you’re
looking for some trends and don’t feel like
doing the research yourself, Electric Guitar
Trends is not a bad stop on the web.—RD
Though 161 pickups seems like a lot, there are
notable absences that we’d love to see added to
