Guitar design elements that make your eye twitch uncomfortably?

ICBM · June 2023

WezV said:

This is my version.... surprisingly ergonomic

I certainly don’t get why the Moderne seems to be so disliked as a shape - it’s no uglier than the other two, and more practical than the V. Your headstock really suits it too.

(For me, the Futura headstock is vastly preferable to the Explorer as well, which is why I like the Dean Z.)

lustycourtier · June 2023

carlos said:

Lots of good ones in this thread already @Nightswan ; @Dontgiveupyourdayjob @Tannin ;
I'll add anything that is bad design but we've always done it this way and it's traditional. For example, those awful vibrato bridges on some of the offset models. It was a bad design to start with, it's been improved and fixed, yet the manufacturers will still ship them. "You can always change it later to Mastery bridge". That's stupid.

Set up correctly, they are brilliant. The offset trem system is leos greatest achievement imo.

Gassage · June 2023

Fingerboard binding on anything else other than high end Gibsons.

James Tyler headstocks

Lacquered fingerboards (including Fender maple!)

F Holes in strats

Black or covered humbuckers on an S type

Teles when you can see the full base of the bridge pup.

DannyP · June 2023

I thought of another one. Foreshortened 3x3 headstocks where the truss rod cover area is too short and there's not enough material at the top end past the D and G machine heads.

It makes budget LP style guitars look kind of Neanderthal.

Foster · June 2023

WezV said:

if only they had put a slim V headstock on the Moderne, things may have gone differently. This is my version.... surprisingly ergonomic

I like that a LOT

Offset · June 2023

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

The Parker Fly - as cool as a cool thing left overnight in a deep freeze.

Fishboy7 · June 2023

I actually quite like little design quirks that differentiate guitars from the predictable mainstream e.g.the James Tyler headstock.

The major turnoffs for me a really, really perfect flamed or quilt maple tops.

Oh, and that plastic cushion they used to rivet on to the back of some Gretsches in the 80s.

Philly_Q · June 2023

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

I think I'd apply that to any of his Wylde Audio guitars, they're all terrible. They took his Gibson designs, some of which were pretty ugly in the first place, and subtly altered them to look much worse.

Offset · June 2023

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

I think I'd apply that to any of his Wylde Audio guitars, they're all terrible. They took his Gibson designs, some of which were pretty ugly in the first place, and subtly altered them to look much worse.

When you think about it, that's no mean achievement.

Philly_Q · June 2023

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

I think I'd apply that to any of his Wylde Audio guitars, they're all terrible. They took his Gibson designs, some of which were pretty ugly in the first place, and subtly altered them to look much worse.

When you think about it, that's no mean achievement.

True, there's something to be admired in maintaining that level of hideousness. One day the designer will come up with something attractive and they'll sack him immediately.

theatreanchor · June 2023

Most headstocks that try and copy G or F.
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And the robot tuners that G lost their minds over.

Philly_Q · June 2023

theatreanchor said:
And the robot tuners that G lost their minds over.

Oh, I'd forgotten robot tuners. Hard to put into words how much I hate them.

maltingsaudio · June 2023

Any guitar where the lower bout extends further than the top bout, or appears to.Mrs M Yamaha for example

axisus · June 2023

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

The Parker Fly - as cool as a cool thing left overnight in a deep freeze.

I read the Zakk comment and Wiz'd. I read the Parker comment and had to un-Wiz. Easy come easy go ...

paganskins · June 2023

maltingsaudio said:

Any guitar where the lower bout extends further than the top bout, or appears to.Mrs M Yamaha for example

I'd give that house room

ICBM · June 2023

maltingsaudio said:

Any guitar where the lower bout extends further than the top bout, or appears to.Mrs M Yamaha for example

It doesn't. But the odd thing is that all guitars with symmetrical double cutaways seem to look like that - it's an optical illusion.

skullfunkerry · June 2023

axisus said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

The Parker Fly - as cool as a cool thing left overnight in a deep freeze.

I read the Zakk comment and Wiz'd. I read the Parker comment and had to un-Wiz. Easy come easy go ...

I'd have double wiz'd it if I could

BigPaulie · June 2023

CarbonCopy said:

BigPaulie said:

CarbonCopy said:

None.

I've read through everything that people don't like and I would be happy to have any of those features on a guitar as long as it played and sounded good.

What? Even the Eastman SB headstock?

I've just had a look at them and am not really sure what's not to like about them. Is it because it doesn't look identical to a Gibson headstock?

It's the fact that it's almost identical to the old Epiphone Headstock that was so reviled.

Offset · June 2023

axisus said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

The Parker Fly - as cool as a cool thing left overnight in a deep freeze.

I read the Zakk comment and Wiz'd. I read the Parker comment and had to un-Wiz. Easy come easy go ...

The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away

OilCityPickups · June 2023

Stupidly complex pickup switching combinations> I used to have an early BC Rich that had more switches than you could shake a stick at ... coil split, internally series or parallel for each pickup yada yada yada. Brilliant till you knocked a switch at a gig and spent a frantic 'half song' trying to work out where the sound you had was at!

Iddy biddy narrow constipated frets blurggggggh rip em out and put nice big ones in!

Nail-on combine harvesters ... sorry Floyd Rose trems

Guitars with no position markers ... coz ize fik innit.

axisus · June 2023

Offset said:

axisus said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

The Parker Fly - as cool as a cool thing left overnight in a deep freeze.

I read the Zakk comment and Wiz'd. I read the Parker comment and had to un-Wiz. Easy come easy go ...

The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away

I stopped using that title once the worship dried up.

Offset · June 2023

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

I think I'd apply that to any of his Wylde Audio guitars, they're all terrible. They took his Gibson designs, some of which were pretty ugly in the first place, and subtly altered them to look much worse.

When you think about it, that's no mean achievement.

True, there's something to be admired in maintaining that level of hideousness. One day the designer will come up with something attractive and they'll sack him immediately.

Just saw this on Reverb. 'Kinell. It's ugly.

Wylde Audio 4551 Heathen Grail Rawtop Bullseye E-Guitar Zakk Wylde Series image 1

mooncat · June 2023

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

I think I'd apply that to any of his Wylde Audio guitars, they're all terrible. They took his Gibson designs, some of which were pretty ugly in the first place, and subtly altered them to look much worse.

When you think about it, that's no mean achievement.

True, there's something to be admired in maintaining that level of hideousness. One day the designer will come up with something attractive and they'll sack him immediately.

Just saw this on Reverb. 'Kinell. It's ugly.

Don't forget Zakk Wylde was a raging alcoholic!

ICBM · June 2023

Offset said:

Just saw this on Reverb. 'Kinell. It's ugly.

I don’t mind that. I would never want to own it or play it, but I think the design elements work well together.

Philly_Q · June 2023

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

Offset said:

The Zakk Wylde SG/V mashup. Hideous. I wouldn't accept one as a present.

I think I'd apply that to any of his Wylde Audio guitars, they're all terrible. They took his Gibson designs, some of which were pretty ugly in the first place, and subtly altered them to look much worse.

When you think about it, that's no mean achievement.

True, there's something to be admired in maintaining that level of hideousness. One day the designer will come up with something attractive and they'll sack him immediately.

Just saw this on Reverb. 'Kinell. It's ugly.

I think it might be slightly less awful than the singlecut version... Chuck some abalone on that, though, and there'd be shades of Minarik about it.

normula1 · June 2023

F holes on a Strat, not a fan of wrap over bridges even if they do (apparently) sound better, batwing scratchplates on an SG, huge scratchplates on Teles, the control layout on an awful lot of PRS mine included, tiny cutaways on Gibson 339s, I'm sure that there's more

Dominic · June 2023

The weird 'Guitar within a guitar ' mixed wood/painted bodies started by Knaggs and now being copied by some others .
Trying to be too clever and just failing .......they look imbalanced and uncomfortable on the eye.