Guitar design elements that make your eye twitch uncomfortably?

axisus · June 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Sorry for lateness, am on holibobs.

Has anyone said old-fashioned Tele control plates with the Volume control too near the switch? Im utterly clueless how Fender has never done a single model with an adjusted plate to fix it even in their most modern models.

Good suggestion! that was a most weird design.

Tannin · June 2023

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

stickyfiddle · June 2023

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually use it while playing

Kittyfrisk · June 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually knock it while playing

carlos · June 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually use it while playing

Skill issue

Kittyfrisk · June 2023

carlos said:

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually use it while playing

Skill issue

Fair point

Image: /plugins/EmojiExtender/emoji/fb/3.gif

digitalkettle · July 2023

Found another...

axisus · July 2023

digitalkettle said:

Found another...

Whilst that does look rather lazy, it's a lovely guitar otherwise.

BobHillman · October 2023

Control knobs without numbers, the stepped "fretboard" and volume/tone controls on a Bond Electroglide, and I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this -

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=zoot+suit+sg&atb=v357-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https://www.zikinf.com/_gfx/matos/dyn/large/gibson-sg-zoot-suit_3.jpg

BigPaulie · October 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is stupidly placed and you can't actually avoid it while playing

FTFY

Tannin · October 2023

carlos said:

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually use it while playing

Skill issue

Correct. The designer lacked the playing skill to be aware of where players like to put their fingers so he simply placed the knobs where they would look nice. Basic skill error.

Damn shame, as they are otherwise very well thought out.

TheModiesel · October 2023

This is going to be really niche but I hate the positioning of F-holes on some guitars, it ruins the whole vibe for me. As a classically trained violinist, you learn that the bridge goes roughly where the f-hole flicks are, whereas on like a fender strat thinline, they just slap the f-hole on and it looks really bad to me

See link for my descent to insanity

https://imgur.com/gallery/iUt2EeM

crunchman · October 2023

Tannin said:

carlos said:

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually use it while playing

Skill issue

Correct. The designer lacked the playing skill to be aware of where players like to put their fingers so he simply placed the knobs where they would look nice. Basic skill error.

Damn shame, as they are otherwise very well thought out.

It's a matter of preference. It's good if you like doing volume swells with your little finger when playing. It's in the wrong place for people who don't do that.

Yorkie · October 2023

For me it’s through-body strings. I don’t use vibrato arms and I don’t believe in magic sustain. It just makes my life harder whenever I need to change strings.

ICBM · October 2023

TheModiesel said:

This is going to be really niche but I hate the positioning of F-holes on some guitars, it ruins the whole vibe for me. As a classically trained violinist, you learn that the bridge goes roughly where the f-hole flicks are, whereas on like a fender strat thinline, they just slap the f-hole on and it looks really bad to me

I’m not a violinist, but I know what you mean and it annoys me too, especially on the Gibson ES-335, ES-135 etc. Even the ES-330/Epiphone Casino is wrong, apart from the ones with the ‘vintage incorrect’ 17th-fret neck join. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these also play the best - the overall geometry is just right.

Ozzie744 · October 2023

The only things that really make my stomach turn are those "V" shaped Dean headstocks.
Now, I will preface this next statement by saying first off, I AM LEFT HANDED. I play the guitar righty but for writing, throwing, and whatever else, I am a true blue lefty....but whenever I see a left handed guitar, the whole entire thing just looks off to me. I know it's just my brain being programmed to see "Right Handed" guitars as "The Norm" but I can't help it. Sorry Southpaws.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

The f hole thing is funny. On Strats, they just plain look wrong. I'm ok with them on Thinline Teles and most Gibsons.

The ES-LP is the worst I can remember though. Not only the f-holes (bridge align though - yay!), but something about the cutaway is off and I can't unseemly it.

Image: https://cdn.ecommercedns.uk/files/2/229692/4/14970474/dsc05604.jpg

stickyfiddle · October 2023

Tannin said:

carlos said:

stickyfiddle said:

Tannin said:

^ what makes you think Fender ever got the idea of placing controls in a sensible place? Exhibit A: the Stratocaster volume knob.

The Strat volume is perfectly placed so you can actually use it while playing

Skill issue

Correct. The designer lacked the playing skill to be aware of where players like to put their fingers so he simply placed the knobs where they would look nice. Basic skill error.

Damn shame, as they are otherwise very well thought out.

Unlikely given the Strat was the result of direct feedback from musicians at the time, based on changes they'd like to see to improve the Tele. The thing is they weren't ham-fisted rock players, but those hadn't been invented yet

(full disclosure - I did knock the volume down on my Strat by accident the other day. First time in 23 years...)

Tannin · October 2023

^ OK, being controversial for the sake of the thread aside, the reason this design idiocy is so controversial is that there are essentially two main schools of though re right-hand positioning.

1: Rest your hand or part of your hand somewhere. This is where your precision comes from.
2: Never rest your hand anywhere. This is where your flexibility comes from.

There are many great guitarists who use and recommend (1); there is about an equal number of greats who go for (2).

Players who finger rest (1 above) have huge trouble with Strats. Well actually, they don't. They tend to avoid playing the damn things because they are such a pain in the arse.

(Disclaimer: I use both methods. Most (1) players do. But I'm damned if I'll let a stupid guitar design decision wall me off from half of my playing. Result: I'll never own a Strat. I wouldn't have one as a gift. Really! In fact, my brother has several times offered me his Strat to keep - it's a good one, no idea which model but USA-made and whatever the good stuff is - and I don't want it. He plays it from time to time but prefers his Ibanez.)

(Further disclaimer: a handful of players (way, way fewer than those in (1) or (2)) actually make practical use of the obtrusive Strat volume control. There are others but the all-time master if this was Jeff Beck.)

PPS: I am not a "ham-fisted rock player". I'm a fingerstylist playing somewhere in the space between rock, folk, jazz, and possibly even funk as the fancy takes me, though never really in just one of those directions.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

I definitely rest my fingers some of the time, depending on what I'm playing.

I wonder if it comes down to whatever guitar you play when you first start - mine was a Strat so I naturally adapted to that before anything else,

Tannin · October 2023

^ May well be. My first guitar was a nylon string, then a 12-strink Eko, and for electrics, a horrible Les Paul copy, a Rickenbacker, and finally a real Les Paul before I went back (mostly) to acoustics.

Another pet hate of mine is those stupid damn guards over the saddle, presumably specifically designed to make heel resting impossible (and thus ruling out a whole universe of interesting and useful tonal variations). Presumable they came about in resonator days in the 1930s because with some resonators a surprisingly gentle blow to the bridge can wreck the cone and cost many hundreds to repair, but there is no possible reason for them on any other guitar, let alone a bass.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

Oh god yes covers on everything old-school. And so many bassists (in particular) leave them on!! It's utterly insane. Between tonal variation from picking in different places and the entire concept of palm muting I find it baffling.

ICBM · October 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Unlikely given the Strat was the result of direct feedback from musicians at the time, based on changes they'd like to see to improve the Tele. The thing is they weren't ham-fisted rock players, but those hadn't been invented yet

It actually makes more sense if you wear the guitar high “like a shirt” as it was described, for playing country & western - that puts you hand further forward and at more of a right angle to the strings, so you don’t hit the volume knob.

Tannin said:

Players who finger rest (1 above) have huge trouble with Strats. Well actually, they don't. They tend to avoid playing the damn things because they are such a pain in the arse.

I would say it’s the exact opposite - ‘anchoring’ players (eg Knopfler) find it fine, even useful. ‘Flailing’ players (eg me

) constantly hit it.

I *can* play a standard Strat - I get used to it, although it’s fairly certain that I will hit the knob at some point even after a while - but the simpler solution is one with only one tone knob and the volume a bit further down.

inewham · October 2023

The usual fix is trivial. Just put a felt washer under the volume knob so it has a little resistance to turning.

Tannin · October 2023

^ Doesn't work. It is still exactly where your little finger rests and gets in the way even if you glue it up.

pt22 · October 2023

BobHillman said:

…, and I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this -

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=zoot+suit+sg&atb=v357-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https://www.zikinf.com/_gfx/matos/dyn/large/gibson-sg-zoot-suit_3.jpg

I low-key love that.

viz · October 2023

Anything with a partner’s / spouse’s name chizzled Into the wood.

digitalkettle · October 2023

viz said:

Anything with a partner’s / spouse’s name chizzled Into the wood.

I do have "Guthrie Govan" laser-etched into one of mine...it's a one-way relationship though

Paul_C · October 2023

I don't like F holes on just about any guitar, especially if they are just plonked on without any thought as to whether they suit the shape or design.

Philly_Q · October 2023

Paul_C said:
I don't like F holes on just about any guitar, especially if they are just plonked on without any thought as to whether they suit the shape or design.

F-holes look fine on a 335-type, and fine on a Tele Thinline, where the scratchplate shape was elegantly designed to accommodate the f-hole. On other guitars, I'm not sure why they tend to always go for the standard f-shape without apparently giving it much thought.

I've got a PRS S2 Mira Semi-Hollow and I've always though the f-hole looks weird and doesn't really suit the body shape. It doesn't make much practical difference either, the hollow cavity is tiny and the guitar sounds pretty much identical to the solidbody version. But still, the f-hole doesn't get in the way, and I just forget it's there really.

S2 Mira Semi-Hollow - PRS S2 Mira Semi-Hollow - Audiofanzine

S2 Mira Semi-Hollow - PRS S2 Mira Semi-Hollow - Audiofanzine

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Guitar design elements that make your eye twitch uncomfortably?

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