Strange inlay

[Nolly]

See, to me it seems like the guitar isn't being considered as a whole here. I'm all for people pushing the envelope , but this feels like it has lots of great ideas that don't really work together just thrown at it. The bar inlays I could live with (though they are going to be confusing as hell when you're playing it) but they just don't fit in with the 12th-fret inlay (as an aside, will your guitar have the perpendicular fret at the 12th? If so, then chords at the nut end will require a big twist of the wrist, and if not, you'll have to decide whether to have the inlay parallel with the surrounding frets, or perpendicular to the neck - a compromise that will look bad either way). Isn't the bright pink body and purpleheart fretboard combination going to stand out enough as it is?
Successful designs (and I don't mean just guitars here) have a focal point that the eye is drawn to, and an underlying theme or purpose. If you want to create something eye-catching then perhaps it's worth seeking a contrast to emphasise a particular area - if everything is competing for attention the impact will be lost.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you're getting a guitar built to your exact specs, as that is the whole purpose of a custom shop after all. To me though, this is analogous to designing a supercar with a jacuzzi and helicopter pad on the back, just because you can. For your own sake, I hope you don't end up with 4 grand's worth of bawdy mess.

[Philly Q]

this is a good example  -
http://www.ormsbyguitars.com/galleries/gallerypics/multiscale.html

who would have thought the neck pickup would look good at an opposite angle? personally i think it really works well although i doubt i would have said that if i had seen it on paper

I think that looks great - but I'd prefer a white headstock.

Ignoring that cheesy 12th-fret inlay (which almost turns it into the "bawdy mess" Nolly mentioned), I think dots along the top edge work really well  for a fanned-fret guitar like this.  They're subtle and they fit neatly in the "extra space" which is there because of the longer scale on that side.

[Nolly]

I think dots along the top edge work really well  for a fanned-fret guitar like this.  They're subtle and they fit neatly in the "extra space" which is there because of the longer scale on that side.

Just remember that on a fanned guitar, if you put dots on one side of the fretboard they could be completely out of position once you get to the other side of the neck.

[Philly Q]

I think dots along the top edge work really well  for a fanned-fret guitar like this.  They're subtle and they fit neatly in the "extra space" which is there because of the longer scale on that side.

Just remember that on a fanned guitar, if you put dots on one side of the fretboard they could be completely out of position once you get to the other side of the neck.

You mean in the sense of actually providing a useful guide to where you are on the neck?  I guess it would be the same if you had no markers on the board and relied on the top-side markers.

Maybe markers on both sides then.

[Nolly]

You mean in the sense of actually providing a useful guide to where you are on the neck?  I guess it would be the same if you had no markers on the board and relied on the top-side markers.

Maybe markers on both sides then.

Yeah exactly, the side dots are great help when you're around the area where the fret angles are at their mildest, but they don't offer much assistance when you're playing high up the neck, though one does learn to adjust to an extent. If I were to have markers, I'd probably put them in the middle of the neck's width - at the average position as it were. I think markers on both sides could possibly just double the confusion.  :?

[Roobubba]

I don't find it difficult to know where I am on the fretboard with just markers on the side of the neck. And with the perpendicular fret at the 7th on my guitar, the fanning is most pronounced high up (more so than on a 12th-perp multiscale), and I still don't find it an issue!
Your mind just adapts.

In fact, I only just twigged when opening this thread up again today that the picture in the first post has on parallel frets - it kind of seems natural to me, now! Guitars with parallel frets just don't do it for me any more!

Agreed about the potential issue of parallel inlay vs non parallel frets - could be a bit strange aesthetically!

Roo

[WezV]

i put the dots down the top edge on my first fanned fret and i dont think it is a confusing position at all - it probably helps that you are looking down at the guitar but as roo says - the mind adapts quite easily... actually a lot better if you dont look too much :)

[Nolly]

I don't find it difficult to know where I am on the fretboard with just markers on the side of the neck. And with the perpendicular fret at the 7th on my guitar, the fanning is most pronounced high up (more so than on a 12th-perp multiscale), and I still don't find it an issue!
Your mind just adapts.

In fact, I only just twigged when opening this thread up again today that the picture in the first post has on parallel frets - it kind of seems natural to me, now! Guitars with parallel frets just don't do it for me any more!

Agreed about the potential issue of parallel inlay vs non parallel frets - could be a bit strange aesthetically!

Roo

I'm just going on my experiences - I've been borrowing a Blackmachine F8 for the last fortnight.
The point about having the perpendicular fret nearer the nut is that that way it matches the way one's hand naturally arcs as you move up and down the fretboard. The frets will get more severe at the top end, but will match the natural angle of your wrist so are completely comfortable. Your perpendicular 7th fret will be exactly like this I'm sure.
With the 12th fret perpendicular, for most comfort, the ergonomics will require that your elbow's natural position is directly behind the 12th fret, so that your forearm meets the neck at a perpendicular angle. That isn't natural to me, and would optimise an area I use for chording less often than lower on the fretboard.
Just my tuppence though  :)

[Nolly]

the mind adapts quite easily... actually a lot better if you dont look too much :)

Absolutely agreed  :)

[Philosoful]

people are confused by what they see anyway so why not throw some more angles in there!!

Hahahaaa :lol: well it's got side dots still...

See, to me it seems like the guitar isn't being considered as a whole here. I'm all for people pushing the envelope , but this feels like it has lots of great ideas that don't really work together just thrown at it. The bar inlays I could live with (though they are going to be confusing as hell when you're playing it) but they just don't fit in with the 12th-fret inlay (as an aside, will your guitar have the perpendicular fret at the 12th? If so, then chords at the nut end will require a big twist of the wrist, and if not, you'll have to decide whether to have the inlay parallel with the surrounding frets, or perpendicular to the neck - a compromise that will look bad either way). Isn't the bright pink body and purpleheart fretboard combination going to stand out enough as it is?
Successful designs (and I don't mean just guitars here) have a focal point that the eye is drawn to, and an underlying theme or purpose. If you want to create something eye-catching then perhaps it's worth seeking a contrast to emphasise a particular area - if everything is competing for attention the impact will be lost.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you're getting a guitar built to your exact specs, as that is the whole purpose of a custom shop after all. To me though, this is analogous to designing a supercar with a jacuzzi and helicopter pad on the back, just because you can. For your own sake, I hope you don't end up with 4 grand's worth of bawdy mess.

You're opinion is just that - an opinion, but you've judged quite abit of my 'frame of mind' whilst making this guitar - it is being considered as a whole - I've had friends photoshop pickup colours for me, drawn fret designs to see what they look like, researched what materials would look best/ask Conklin for their opinion for inlays etc. As if I would spend this much money on a guitar without thinking through every fine detail.

For the 'confusing' bar inlays - playing a fretless is confusing - getting an 8 string shall be confusing - you learn. I'm not going to compromise something that I think will look cool because it'll be harder. Simularly, I don't compromise my guitars string sizes by taking whatever is the easiest to play, I use what I think sounds best to my ear.

The 12th fret is vertical, I don't know if it's perfectly so but I have looked at the other guitars he's done of the same scale length and they are fine - again, I've already considered that problem.

Stand out enough? It's cool for a guitar to stand out but is that what you think I'm thinking when I'm planning my design? I'm getting the inlay because I like it. Simple as.

Successful designs? Again, I'm not having this guitar made please anyone other than myself. Simularly you're philosophy on what constitutes a 'successful design' is, once more, an opinion and thus could be something completely different for someone else.

In reference to helipad/jacuzziness. As much as I'm getting alot done to this guitar - it's only stuff that appeals to me and nothing is 'for the sake of it'.

Mike edited the pic so the moons curve more and so the thing that 'hangs' the circle on the 12th fret = thinner and thus:

[Perandor]

I like the picture idea, just not the altered idea.  I haven't played any fanned fret guitars, so I have no experience in that regards, otherwise, it's cool, and will get you into the Freemasons, ha!

[Philosoful]

You like the Nostradamus picture but not the 'altered' one? - as in my adaptation to apply it to the fretboard?

[Nolly]

You're opinion is just that - an opinion, but you've judged quite abit of my 'frame of mind' whilst making this guitar - it is being considered as a whole - I've had friends photoshop pickup colours for me, drawn fret designs to see what they look like, researched what materials would look best/ask Conklin for their opinion for inlays etc. As if I would spend this much money on a guitar without thinking through every fine detail.

For the 'confusing' bar inlays - playing a fretless is confusing - getting an 8 string shall be confusing - you learn. I'm not going to compromise something that I think will look cool because it'll be harder. Simularly, I don't compromise my guitars string sizes by taking whatever is the easiest to play, I use what I think sounds best to my ear.

The 12th fret is vertical, I don't know if it's perfectly so but I have looked at the other guitars he's done of the same scale length and they are fine - again, I've already considered that problem.

Stand out enough? It's cool for a guitar to stand out but is that what you think I'm thinking when I'm planning my design? I'm getting the inlay because I like it. Simple as.

Successful designs? Again, I'm not having this guitar made please anyone other than myself. Simularly you're philosophy on what constitutes a 'successful design' is, once more, an opinion and thus could be something completely different for someone else.

In reference to helipad/jacuzziness. As much as I'm getting alot done to this guitar - it's only stuff that appeals to me and nothing is 'for the sake of it'.

Cool, we're obviously both quite opinionated, and clearly you've thought things through, I'll hold my tongue over it in future.
Though saying "Simularly, I don't compromise my guitars string sizes by taking whatever is the easiest to play, I use what I think sounds best to my ear" made me chuckle, if you're referring to what I think you are. Ironically, I actually prefer the feel of heavier strings, but it's listening that convinced me to go lighter.

[Philosoful]

Haha, how funny. I love the resonance that huge strings give, or the tightness of them I think it what makes it. You get a more 'percusive' sound on lighter strings in my opinion.

I don't really state my opinion much - I don't think this is an opinion but I dislike people saying opinions as though they are facts and if you're stating you're opinion on something you dislike I think abit of tact is polite - if you love a band for example, who's ever cared to read of anyone saying something like 'I really don't like them, they're this and that, they are utterly boring'? I guess that's what I've asked for to a degree by putting it up on here but I guess the size of you're argument against something which is indeed nothing more than an opinion seemed abit silly.

[broken cord]

Sorry,  but not my cup of tea.  Too elaborate and the balance towards the top of the fretboard looks wrong somehow.  I like markers ( however big, small or variable ) to be either :

 B) The guitar will get you into the Freemasons.   

Too funny and yet sad at the same time.

The inlays just seems wrong to me.