software

I've been looking at some guitars lately, and several things jump out at me, besides the AAAA tops, and super sunburst finishes.

Who thought of where all those knobs and buttons, and jacks and stuff go ? I love my Tele for example, but when the switch is down, it's hard to get at the volume. The Les Paul is OK, but the SG is all cramped up, and the jack comes right out next to the knobs.

Eddie Van Halen had it right when he built his FrankenStrat : one knob - volume, one pickup - lead. Turn it on, and leave it on.

I like it when guitars are well designed. I changed the switch my Tele from a L-R slide to an up/down toggle- because I'm more used to that. If I'm in the bridge position and want to switch pickups quickly, it's difficult to get your finger between the switch and the volume knob- an up/down toggle just makes more sense. Les Pauls are good that way, but the toggle can get bumped pretty easily, so I rotate the switch just a touch counter clockwise so the switch is out of the arc of my arm swing- if I do bump the switch, it's less likely to change positions. The double cut LP Specials are among my favorite, it's very difficult to accidentally change anything while playing but really easy to intentionally change your settings. Strats are my least favorite as far as how the controls are laid out- I always hit the volume knob.

I like the control layout on a Strat, ergonomically-wise, except the volume knob always seems too close. I prefer a 2 knob Strat, with the volume knob about a half inch down from its usual spot.

The position of the Tele volume knob is about right, maybe a little far away for me. Sometimes on a Tele, I bend the switch ala Danny Gatton, or use a really big Top-Hat style knob to make it easier to grip. I flipped the control plate on my current Tele clone so the switch is toward the rear, dunno if I really like it yet.

My Benedict has the controls very far away, so I never bang into them, but volume swells are difficult.

My Guild is wired like a Les Paul with a phase switch, I’ve been trying to get used to the technique of leaving the pickup switch in the middle and just using the 2 volume controls. I can set them both at 6, amp; get a pretty cool chunky rhythm sound, amp; then turn up one or the other for leads. Switch the phase, amp; the rhythm sound gets all funky.