Design Flaws, and why guitarists generally fear change

[Eagle]

Best trem I've ever had was on a Japanese made Ibanez RG550 I bought new around 1990. Was 100% into all of the craziest whammy stuff happening around then and that guitar took it all and always wanted more. Stayed in tune like crazy and spoiled me against ever other double locker since.

The Gotoh made Ibanez Edge. Excellent unit.

 

[DrewJD82]

I'm writing a solo today on the Orville, before I got too far into it, I stood up while recording takes. Hahahaha I have to keep the thing on either side of me or lean over it. I can't keep it jacked up above my waist, getting where I'm wanting to go in the solo is a physical performance in itself!

I'm realizing now 95% of these dudes aren't making cool rock poses, they're just trying to reach the fucking frets.

Growing up with the JEM and even the SZ which is considerably lighter and MUCH more ergonomic, there's a reckless kinda way I can approach playing them, like the in-between stuff, pick slides, divebombs, sliding your hand down the frets, stuff I improvise live because it's not the notes themselves, I can't come close to approaching that the same way with a Les Paul. Maybe after I gig with one for a while, but wow....that was an eye opener for sure.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I'm realizing now 95% of these dudes aren't making cool rock poses, they're just trying to reach the fucking frets.

And their guitar faces aren't expressing joy, extasy or intensity, either. They're just reflecting the painful experience of reaching those very frets.

 

[Achilles]

Growing up with the JEM and even the SZ which is considerably lighter and MUCH more ergonomic, there's a reckless kinda way I can approach playing them, like the in-between stuff, pick slides, divebombs, sliding your hand down the frets, stuff I improvise live because it's not the notes themselves, I can't come close to approaching that the same way with a Les Paul. Maybe after I gig with one for a while, but wow....that was an eye opener for sure.

Funny, completely opposite here. I spent the last few years almost exclusively with multi-scale extra string modern prog/metal shred machines. Having the Knaggs for a couple weeks now is like putting on an old pair of jeans I haven't worn in ages. First thing that happened was I lengthened my strap and got the guitar well down below my rib cage. All the classic LP riffs started naturally coming back and I keep finding myself now completely lost in noodling with my eyes closed, head back, and feeling great about the extra pounds hanging on my shoulder.

I've sworn off everything else. Don't know how many more years I got playing but I'm gonna do it in the old jeans from now on!

 

[la szum]

I totally get what @metropolis_4 was saying about not perceiving these things as issues. I knew what I was getting into when I got mine and I think if anything, things like the weight and fret access were enticing to me because I knew they’d lend a hand in me approaching it differently. I don’t perceive them as issues, they’re just different.

Or maybe, the things I enjoy about playing them make up for anything I’d perceive as an issue. I just love the balls of them, I love the way they physically feel when playing them….just like my Strats or Ibanez stuff!

Yup. The most idealized instrument with perfect ergonomics (as if that could ever be
a thing, since each player has a different body) would be the most boring fucking instrument
in the world.

Just as our quirks are what make us unique and interesting, I think each guitar style
has its plusses and minuses. And if we love a specific type of guitar the minuses matter
exactly Zero, or actual plusses to us.

 

[Achilles]

(as if that could ever be a thing, since each player has a different body)

And playing style! At one point my two favorite players were Page and Howe.
They couldn't be more opposites even though they're both playing Gibsons.

 

[DrewJD82]

Funny, completely opposite here. I spent the last few years almost exclusively with multi-scale extra string modern prog/metal shred machines. Having the Knaggs for a couple weeks now is like putting on an old pair of jeans I haven't worn in ages. First thing that happened was I lengthened my strap and got the guitar well down below my rib cage. All the classic LP riffs started naturally coming back and I keep finding myself now completely lost in noodling with my eyes closed, head back, and feeling great about the extra pounds hanging on my shoulder.

I've sworn off everything else. Don't know how many more years I got playing but I'm gonna do it in the old jeans from now on!

RIB CAGE?!

We need an official TGF strap length requirement, I'm sensing.

 

[la szum]

One man's ribcage is another man's nutsack.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Guitar under Adam's apple or gtfo

 

[HotRats]

My issue with these Gibson threads is the use of the words "design flaws".

I mean there's a design flaw when you make a mistake designing your product and the result is something that doesn't meet your intentions.

But this is not the case.

Gibson (and Les Paul) made the guitar the way they intended to. There are no flaws in the design.

There are only design characteristics that someone might not appreciate for whatever reasons.

 

[TSJMajesty]

One reason Zeppelin was way cooler than The Beatles, and took over their mantel in the 70s.

Uhhh..., maybe a Beatles pic with long hair...