What wood choice would the Holy Diver/Cold Sweat combo work in?

[Cammi]

I was originally going to put these in a Basswood guitar, but decided on getting a new guitar. There's plenty I really like, all with different woods. I just wanted to know what you thought was the best combo? I'm playing Progressive/Technical Metal. Think John Petrucci. The wood choices I can pick from are below:

1) Alder Body/Bolt On Maple Neck
2) Basswood Body/Bolt On Maple Neck
3) Alder Wings/Mahogany Neck Thru
4) Mahogany Wings/Maple Neck Thru
5) Mahogany Body/Maple Neck

I'm just curious as to what would be a nice match up combo. I want to keep my lows, tight and defined for the really heavy metal riffs. But also have some nice mids for that Petrucci solo sound that sings, and you can hear every individual note played.

I originally decided on the Holy Diver as I thought the Nailbomb wouldn't have as nice a solo tone, and it also had a bit too many highs for what I want with this guitar. And the Cold Sweat neck as I've heard it's a great Liquifire replacement - perfect for them fast shredding licks like Petrucci as well.

Cheers

[darkbluemurder]

All combinations would work but I would go for the bolt-on route simply because if you don't like it it is rather easy to change necks or bodies. With a neck thru it will invariably mean a new guitar if you don't like it. Of the options given, option 5 seems least attractive to me for what you are trying to achieve - you will need a guitar with a fast attack, so a bolt-on is preferable to a set neck.

Another thought: woods are quite variable, e.g. one alder body will not sound exactly the same as the next one. That is the reason why it is very difficult if not impossible to predict how a yet to be built guitar will sound like.

BTW: will you use a fixed bridge or a trem, and if so which one? If you are going to use a Floyd Rose type trem I would not recommend Option 3. I have two Floyd guitars with mahogany bodies and necks and they seem to be shy in the high midrange, making the overall tone appear "small". You will need some maple to compensate for that.

Cheers Stephan

[Cammi]

I'd be using a trem, but not a Floyd. I'm looking at getting a custom one made by Crimson Guitars.

How would you say the Holy Diver would compare in a Maple Neck Thru with Alder Wings, as to say an Alder Body with a Maple Neck?

[darkbluemurder]

How would you say the Holy Diver would compare in a Maple Neck Thru with Alder Wings, as to say an Alder Body with a Maple Neck?

With the maple neck through the maple should have more influence on the final tone because all elements would couple the string to it. The alder wings would more have a weight balancing effect.

Cheers Stephan