R4 Florian Jaeger

fakejake said:

From my experience, the makeover process is foremost about the appearance of the guitar, as well how it feels haptically. If you have a guitar that does all the things you want sonically, you might just want it to look and feel a bit more like a well-used vintage one, without really affecting the sound.

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goldtop0 said:

Like that darkback too:2cool

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Pellman73 said:

that was very nicely said and well put\

ah jeeze but now I can't help myself. can you also argue though that doing all this work to the guitar including adding black grain filler stuff will change the sound?

who knows. I know I enjoy watching these vids

I have a set of Gil Yaron PAFs that are just screaming at me to put them in something. But the two things I have are an SG 61 RI (limited w ABR bridge) which sounds PERFECT with the 57 classics and a Warren Haynes 335 which also sounds perfect. I"m having to tell myself to leave well enough alone!

I think I saw something with Bonamassa (maybe) where he feels that if the guitar is good and he loves it then he just doesn't mess w it.

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El Gringo said:

I have at times thought to myself about how a refinish affects the tone of the guitar ? It is a fine line when a guitar has the tone that you love but it's appearance leaves something to be desired . I totally get it when you have a nice Gibson and it has been beat to smithereens and has dents, dings, gouges etc. To have a functioning and working guitar and then to have a massive project done like this makes me wonder about the tone and if there is a sacrifice in tone when sanding the finish off and any additional wood . You are truly messing around with the guitars chemistry. A long time a go (26 years a go by some one in my local mom and pop music store) that if you did not like the finish or grain in the guitar to just buy another guitar and he was right . At the same time I respect anyone who wants to enhance there musical instrument to do what makes them happy because it's all about creating art !

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BlueFin said:

To be perfectly honest, and with all due respect to the many great players here. I'm not a great player. I'm not going on tour and I'm not getting ready to go into the studio for my 12th album. I was shown by a real pro years ago that most of what I call "tone" is in your hands. Like it or not I believe that to be true. When it comes to guitars, I'm a lot more shallow than the perfect tone. I love guitars. I love the way they look and the way they feel when I'm holding them. I sometimes play them. I played in a band ages ago when I couldn't afford great gear. It didn't stop me. I loved it. I'm past that. I do record a little now and then for my own amusement. Mostly I play my guitars quietly in my shop in the morning or evening before I open or close for the day. I sometimes play for an hour without paying through an entire song. At this point in my life, I can afford to buy a good instrument. I can also afford to have the instrument altered by a craftsman to the way I would like it to look. I don't want to spend 20k on a 54 Les Paul. I'm not trying to improve the tone of my guitar by having it re-built. I know that Florian will not do anything to hurt the sound of my guitar. The work he does is a combination period correct assembly and pure art. He is really good at what he does and very passionate about delivering what his customers want. That's where I'm coming from. Don't want to step on anyone's toes. Just wanted to share.

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BlueFin said:

To be perfectly honest, and with all due respect to the many great players here. I'm not a great player. I'm not going on tour and I'm not getting ready to go into the studio for my 12th album. I was shown by a real pro years ago that most of what I call "tone" is in your hands. Like it or not I believe that to be true. When it comes to guitars, I'm a lot more shallow than the perfect tone. I love guitars. I love the way they look and the way they feel when I'm holding them. I sometimes play them. I played in a band ages ago when I couldn't afford great gear. It didn't stop me. I loved it. I'm past that. I do record a little now and then for my own amusement. Mostly I play my guitars quietly in my shop in the morning or evening before I open or close for the day. I sometimes play for an hour without paying through an entire song. At this point in my life, I can afford to buy a good instrument. I can also afford to have the instrument altered by a craftsman to the way I would like it to look. I don't want to spend 20k on a 54 Les Paul. I'm not trying to improve the tone of my guitar by having it re-built. I know that Florian will not do anything to hurt the sound of my guitar. The work he does is a combination period correct assembly and pure art. He is really good at what he does and very passionate about delivering what his customers want. That's where I'm coming from. Don't want to step on anyone's toes. Just wanted to share.

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RocknRollShakeUp said:

Thanks for sharing, and please keep doing it. Seeing how these guitars are deconstructed and reconstructed, and how a good craftsmen goes about doing these makeovers is very fascinating and educational. I've thought about getting it done myself based on the reasons you descrbe but ultimately have wanted other stuff for that money.

Insofar as mere refinishing affecting electric guitar tone goes, and especially using the same basic process, I just don't think it does. I've had two guitars refinished and in both cases absolutely nothing about the tone changed, whatsoever. I find that there is so much superstition and mystical thinking about what affects guitar tone sometimes though, and some attempt at rationality to cut through some of the bull'oney is sometimes needed. I say refinish the crap out of a guitar if it makes you like it better and resale value is not an issue.

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El Gringo said:

It's all fine and dandy if you plan on keeping the refinished guitar ,but if you go to sell it the value takes a hit . Same as if you remove the stock pickups that it came with and ditto for the solder joints , it's not my policy , I am just stating the value side .

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RocknRollShakeUp said:

I agree. I should have been more specific and say "if resale value isnt an issue for you as an individual, as in you just don't care about the devaluation hit you'll take."

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BlueFin said:

To be perfectly honest, and with all due respect to the many great players here. I'm not a great player. I'm not going on tour and I'm not getting ready to go into the studio for my 12th album. I was shown by a real pro years ago that most of what I call "tone" is in your hands. Like it or not I believe that to be true. When it comes to guitars, I'm a lot more shallow than the perfect tone. I love guitars. I love the way they look and the way they feel when I'm holding them. I sometimes play them. I played in a band ages ago when I couldn't afford great gear. It didn't stop me. I loved it. I'm past that. I do record a little now and then for my own amusement. Mostly I play my guitars quietly in my shop in the morning or evening before I open or close for the day. I sometimes play for an hour without paying through an entire song. At this point in my life, I can afford to buy a good instrument. I can also afford to have the instrument altered by a craftsman to the way I would like it to look. I don't want to spend 20k on a 54 Les Paul. I'm not trying to improve the tone of my guitar by having it re-built. I know that Florian will not do anything to hurt the sound of my guitar. The work he does is a combination period correct assembly and pure art. He is really good at what he does and very passionate about delivering what his customers want. That's where I'm coming from. Don't want to step on anyone's toes. Just wanted to share.

Click to expand...