blues guitar

hi everyone,
i am wanting to build a blues guitar and i wanted some input on what to start with for body,neck,and pickups and what size strings. i have been told to use large strings and huge fret wire . is this true or what.

any help would be great.
thanks, ron :confused:

Find the specs for SRV's strat and go with those, I guess.

There really is no BEST configuration for a blues guitar. Solid body guitars work well, as do semi-hollow and hollow body guitars. Single coil pickups work well, as do humbuckers. It really depends on your own style, and what you like. Fretwire is also a personal thing, and it's size won't change your tone. Use whatever is most comfortable for you. I would, however, suggest using the thickest strings you can comfortably use. When it comes to strings, thinner strings sound thinner and thicker strings sound thicker. Use whatever sounds good to you. I would also suggest listening to different guitarists in the style you're going for, and pay attention to their tone and what equipment they use. This will not give you a definitive answer on what to use, but it will help you understand how the different tones are created.

Good luck on your quest for tone... it's a never ending one. ;)

Yeah, I would basically just go with heavy strings and single coil pickups. That usually nails an awesome blues tone. Think of the blues players that use strats, and use those as a guide. If you're daring, buy 13 guage strings and tune down to Db or something ridiculous (I think John Mayer did so at one point in time). Holy fat tone batman!!! :eek:

The best choices when designing a guitar are often those that allow the most versatility.

My advice on the subjects mentioned
-------------------------------------
Neck: Whatever shape you find comfortable in whatever material you like the sound of. I've heard that thicker necks have better tone, but to be honest my own ears have never been able to convince me of this. If there really any such difference it has to be so subtle you would have to A/B hundreds of guitars to identify it.
Fret wire: Buy high quality. You want to buy fret wire that you know is hard and will last. I think that it's better to install fret wire that is too tall than too short.
Body: Whatever you like that isn't too heavy.
Pickups: Bare Knuckle hand wound pickups.
Strings: Whatever you find comfortable. There isn't any advantage to using strings that sound great but murder your fingers.