#147371  by ac4468
 
So I am gearing up to start another build in the next month. The goal is is to build a guitar that takes the best of all of Jerry's guitars and make a hybrid. I've built a Wolf and play it daily but the ADHD in me needs a new project. If you could only play one guitar, what would be the characteristics of Tiger, Wolf and the Cripe guitars that you would incorporate to make a single guitar representative of all of them. I'm starting to source wood so I am looking at what wood selection, electronics / pickup configuration, scale, hardware etc. nothings off the table. What's in your ultimate and ONLY guitar that would make it the most universally suited to all eras of The Dead?
 #147374  by TI4-1009
 
Well, I hear ya, but experience has shown that when you try to combine a number of unique features in one "thing", you end up going to a "lowest common denominator" result and lose or dilute down the features that made each one special. A Swiss Army knife does alot of things, but each feature maybe not as well as the tool it's copying.

The more you go for, the rounder it gets.

Maybe drill down to exactly what you want to end up with and work backwards from there?
 #147375  by ac4468
 
I know for me personally I like my wolf config and want to maintain the 25 1/2" scale while shortening the guitar a bit closer to an SG All that room behind the tailpiece on my Wolf puts the lower frets a little far out for my short arms! I guess I'm more interested in a unique aesthetic than reinventing the wheel. That said I know what you mean about having things end up "round" by the time you've blended all the uniqueness out of of these guitars. Thinking about doing a mockup of a Wolf profile guitar with the contours of Tiger. A Frankenwolf!!!
 #147377  by NorthboundRain
 
I built for a few years and when I did I tried to think about what Jerry might be playing if he were alive today, not what he played historically. To that end I took a lot of inspiration from Cripe's guitars, particularly "Eagle" which would have been Jerry's next guitar. Right away you notice that the different body styling with a high upper horn for better balance the a semi hollow design for reduced weight which I find to be the troubling parts of the Wolf/Tiger/Rosebud style.

IMHO, the most important parts for a Jerry style guitar are the 25.5" scale length and dense hardwoods for the neck that provide a bright sound. Maple Neck/Board in Alligator, Maple/Purpleheart/Ebony combos in Wolf and Tiger, etc. Beyond that you can have fun and wire up electronics for your preferred era.

The other thing I don't like about most Jerry style guitars is they tend to have glossy necks whereas I prefer satin or even lightly oiled or raw finish. Just seems faster to me, less drag for my hands.
 #147378  by williamsaut
 
If I could find the time to build my Beta Tiger, a working man's version of it, I would:

a) Lighten it up as much a possible. I was considering a chambered spruce body core
b) Increase the offset of and mute the "dogear" horn cutaway motif
c) Increase the inset of the neck a few frets and eliminate any space between the pickups between each other and the bridge
d) Put the output and OBEL jacks out the BACK of the instrument
e) Move the access point for the truss rod to the traditional spot on the headstock for easier tweaking
 #147381  by ac4468
 
All great points. Definitely reducing the weight and layout of pots switches and jacks. That OBEL switch needs to move. As much as I like not having a truss rod cover it's really inconvenient having to remove the pickup plate to make any adjustments. Would be great if there was a 90 degree truss rod mechanism that was lite and compact so adjustments could be made through a small hold in the plate without removing the strings or plate. Notching the plate just never looked good to me.