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It seems that people in the guitar world are very uncomfortable with change, expecially with guitar shapes. Theres the strat,tele, les paul, sg, the hollow body variations of the 335, and prs style of guitars and outside of that most people find other guitar styles( expecially parker and BC Rich) childish or extreme. Has the general public given up on new guitar shapes?

Is it that guitar companies have ran out of good idea's or is it the guitar buyer are stuburn

Maybe these shapes just look unique cool and this is why people like them... I'm strat owner too and It's just THE electric guiatar shape for me... when I think of an e-guitar, the Strat is the first to come to mind.

I would imagine that it's for the same reason people like cars to look fairly similar.

i like some of the more extreme shapes.. like the jackson warrior for example

I too just like most of the regular shapes. Infact Strat shape or a offset doublecut away) is the first thing that come to my mind when I think of electric. I do like the Parker tooo

I like Fender Showmasters (which will probably stop being produced in a couple years because not many people buy them, why? Because they aren't a stratocaster or a telecaster). I also like Explorers and V's (Gibson Variations).

I think it could be kind of a quot;proven formulaquot; sort of thing. To sound like this, get a Telecaster, to sound like this get a Strat, and to sound like this get a Paul etc. Everything has already been put into categories.

But soon I'll create my own form of Lawn Gnome music where a Fender Showmaster with an Explorer Headstock will hold supreme!!!!!!

Sorry it's early and I'm dreading going to work lol

I've been trying to dream up a new shape for ages.... but i still think the strat is great...... 50 some odd years later and it is still real comfortable.... Lovethe chunky Tele and the Les Paul is great.. SG's i love as well but they seem a bit thin and light for me... My Exployer is very cool looking but i find it hard to sit down with and play....

Both Parker and Fernandes have been doing very well with thier shapes.

Besides the Ravelle, which is thier #1 seller, Fernandes has the Vertigo and Raven odd shapes as well.

You find the Japan companies seem more willing to mess around with odd shapes.
If you check out ESPs Japan site they have some very interesting shapes.
I like the Forest and the PotBelly.
Thier Artist series have some very interesting shapes.
has the Talbo series.
from : localhost/www2.wbs.ne.jp/~tokai/talbo.htm

Maybe it's just us in the U.S. that are stuck on traditional shapes.

I love the look of some of the weirdos, but they typically don't work as well. As soon as somebody makes an quot;extremequot; shape that's as comfortable to play as the more traditional ones, I'll become a bigger fan.

Having said that, I played a Parker Nitefly at GC awhile back, and it was THE most comfortable guitar I've ever picked up.

I'm pretty traditional....I like most of the Gibsons (paula, SG, ES, Explorer, V, Firebird) as well as Strats and Teles...PRS, Hamers, etc.

Jackson makes a couple I like...RRs, Kelly...soloists...Ibanez Destroyer and Destroyer II...I even like the MockingBirds and Bi$%es.

It really depends..to me an Explorer is quot;radicalquot;...and as radical as I really like. Stuff like the Parkers and the Fernandes in the above pic, as well as alot of other BC rich's, Jackson Warriors, etc...just don't appeal to me.

I see no need for any quot;newquot; shapes (tho I understand there may be a want)...

IMO , Gibson and Fender got it right 50 years ago...and very few others have since...

A lot of times the wierd shapes just feel odd and aren't ergonomic. I once picked up a Dimebag model Washburn and it was the weirdest feeling thing I can imagine, points going in every direction. That and I'm sure it didn't quite look right on me to be holding that radical of a guitar.
There's several new guitars out there that I like: Heatley guitars make some variations on the LP and PRS theme, as does J.E.T. I also like the body style on Ed Roman's Quicksilver guitars, but it's basically just a better looking PRS shape. Ibanez's S-series is nice, the same style as Mike Mushok from Staind using, kind of a beefier super-strat shape with a 3 3 peghead.

I don't know if Fender and Gibson got it right with the Paul/Tele/Strat, etc... or if we've seen them so many times that we think of those shapes as quot;rightquot; and others as quot;wrongquot;. I think variations on some guitars are hideous (Those offset SGs are gross, ESP... Agile...). All the curves on the classic designs are smooth and flowing, there are no portions where the radii go from to large to too small. I think most of them (Tele, LP, ES) are based on acoustic shapes that were designed for good sound.


Originally Posted by khermanBoth Parker and Fernandes have been doing very well with thier shapes.

Besides the Ravelle, which is thier #1 seller, Fernandes has the Vertigo and Raven odd shapes as well.

You find the Japan companies seem more willing to mess around with odd shapes.
If you check out ESPs Japan site they have some very interesting shapes.
I like the Forest and the PotBelly.
Thier Artist series have some very interesting shapes.
has the Talbo series.
from : localhost/www2.wbs.ne.jp/~tokai/talbo.htm

Maybe it's just us in the U.S. that are stuck on traditional shapes.

I'm not sure if this is just me but the first pic looks like a maimed Strat and the second one a maimed Les Paul...even though they look maimed they are pretty cool looking.

But really the best designs were the Strat, Tele, and Paul. Why mess with perfection really when the designs of these were perfect from the start. I've tried B.C. Rich guitars and a lot of the other weird shaped ones, they all looked cool but were really uncomfortable while playing, standing or sitting (especially sitting!). The weird shaped guitars are really supposed to be eyecatchers, and thats what they do, you'll notice someone with a creepy shaped B.C. Rich guitar faster then you'd notice a guy with a Strat.

The main problem with these guitars is that a lot of them don't sound as good as the classic designs, another reason I thought the odd-shaped guitars weren't as good when I tried them. But the Explorer and Flying Vs sounded great, those are about as radically shaped as I'd want to go.

Part of it is probably just what we're accustomed to. There's three quot;otherquot; designs that I like a lot: Cyclone/Mustang, Fender Toronado/Ibanez Jetking. The Jetking and Toronado are slightly different flavors of the same basic design. They're different, and yet, familiar and comfortable.

The problem is that some of the quot;weirderquot; shapes just aren't as comfortable. Gibsons Firebirds, RDs and Vs drove me up a wall because I just couldn't get used to the shape of the guitar (even though I think they look great). Parker guitars feel great and they're super lightweight (probably a dream guitar to use live), but I've yet to play one that actually sounds really good (so I guess there are drawbacks to everything). One of my favorite guitars that I can't find anymore were the Andreas Sharks. Those were pretty radical, but they felt *right* and looked awesome.

I certainly haven't, but I won't play uncomfortable guitars.Parker Fly's are one of my favorite guitar shapes; I just wish they came with another string.

Well i think there are a limited number of truely 'aesthetically pleasing' shapes. Theres the basic strat idea, off set double-cut. This includes superstrats, PRSs. Then the single cut type, Les Paul, tele etc. The type offset the other way, to the extreme... explorers, warriors, kellys, mockingbirds etc. Symmetrical ones like SGs Vs etc. There arent many other ways to spread out shape that looks 'good' to my eyes IMO.

I do like odd shapes, some look tacky but they generally follow one of the themes i mentioned above. Alot of shapes just end up looking wrong to me, not proportioned right. I think Fender n Gibson etc got it right from the start, and most ideas stem from that.

they do make guitars with some extreme shapes.

from : localhost/store1.yimg.com/I/musiclandcentral_1869_38848223

from : localhost/these guitars would only be appealing to a few people. to most, all of the traditional shapes for guitar are all they need. although i would love to have one of the bo diddley guitars



Besides the Ravelle, which is thier #1 seller, Fernandes has the Vertigo and Raven odd shapes as well.



That Fernandes looks nice. Kinda retro, with a Jetson's flair. I could see that body style done in some of the wilder Gretsch finishes, like the chunky metalflake 1960's skiboat/dragboats.

To play that guitar...you gotta complete quot;the lookquot; with a pair of sunglasses, and slickdown hair!

I really like the Fernandes Vertigo, but can't stand the Ravelle. Jazzmasters (ONLY the body shape) are pretty cool, too.