Custom build help!

[Subdivisions_709]

Hi, everybody! This is my first post on the forum, and I need some help. I am about to order my first custom guitar  and I`m having some difficulty deciding what body wood to get. Its going to have a 5 piece rosewood/ebony neck, a flamed Koa top, and an ebony fretboard. I really want a Black Limba body (love the look)  but I'm not sure if I should go with a swap ash body instead to brighten it up a bit (where the rosewood and Koa are warmer woods).... do you think that it will be too dark/ muddy with the Black Limba body? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

[Nadz1lla]

If it were me, as much as I love Black Limba as a tonewood, the amount of "warm" sounding woods you have already will give you a really warm sounding guitar with Limba. I would choose Swamp Ash, but then again, that's just me. It depends also on what kind of music you will predominantly be playing on it. If you were going for a Stoner / Desert Rock / Sludge sound then the Limba. If you were going for a more biting rock guitar, maybe for playing technical metal where you need that bite and definition, then Swamp Ash.

I have a feeling, though, that if you wanted to play Doom / Sludge / Stoner, you wouldn't be getting a custom made just for that. A beasting (and much cheaper than getting a custom) SG would be more towards that kind of sound.  :D

Tell us a bit more about what you want out of the guitar, and some of the proper techies will give you a hand. The above is just my personal opinion.


*Reading back*
Although you do have a fair amount of Ebony going on in there... how thick are you having the Ebony stringers on the neck?

[Edit] Actually, tell us also more about the build, is it Neck-Thru or Bolt on or other, how thick is the Koa top going to be, what scale length, what kind of trem or are you going for fixed bridge, is it going to be string-thru-body etc etc etc. All this adds up and can greatly affect the opinions you'll be getting. 

[Subdivisions_709]

Thanks for the Feedback! I am getting a custom Siggery Heresy. I play progressive metal (mostly dream theater-esque stuff). It is a six string, bolt on construction, 25.5" scale, a hipshot contour trem, the neck is approx 19mm thick (so I'm assuming that the ebony is close to that?), and I'm not really sure how thick the top is going to be. I really want it sound aggressive with a tight bass response, with lots of clarity, a singing solo voice (very fluid) and a nice clean tone ( I know that's a lot to ask but it's worth a shot).    So will the swamp ash body do the trick? also what pickups would you suggest? I was thinking a C-bomb (bridge) and a coldsweat neck? Thanks for the help!

[Kiichi]

For Petrucci esque tones and style the CS neck and C-bomb bridge is pretty spot on. Will get you nice cleans in the neck too.
Alternatively you could go with the Holydiver bridge, which is also said to do very good Petrucci esque stuff. More on the warmer and natural side of his tones. If you want early Petrucci lead tones get an aftermath neck. Also I have heard the Emerald neck being quoted as a CS neck with more character.

Wood wise I am not sure. The ebony board will give you some nice bite and attack, so that should help with the agression, just as the bolt on does (though if its a good construction, which a custom should be, the neck joint method should not matter much).
I think personally I would go with a brighter body wood with the top and rosewood in the neck. But then again I like my guitars on the bright side rather than the dark side. Just feels like you can get more out of it.
Something like maple would be too much I think, but swamp ash could be nice.
Chambering is also something that could be considered.

[Subdivisions_709]

Thanks for the Advice! the emerald neck sounds very tempting.... I've never played a chambered guitar, how does chambering the guitar effect the tone?

[Nadz1lla]

Given the additional info, I would probably go Swamp Ash. But there are far more knowledgeable folk on here than me, so I'd wait for people like Feline and Wez to reply, and Nolly too if he's around at the moment.

[Telerocker]

Swampash is a great tonewood and it's light! I have an swampash MXG Custom strat (made by Patrick Eggle) loaded with a Crawler and it kills. You might want to consider the Holy Diver. That one will fit swampash.

[ToneMonkey]

Swampash is a great tonewood and it's light! I have an swampash MXG Custom strat (made by Patrick Eggle) loaded with a Crawler and it kills. You might want to consider the Holy Diver. That one will fit swampash.

I've got an Eggle Berlin that I think was made by the man himself. The guitar is so good it's on a three year loan with someone that can do it justice.