What Makes A Guitar Great and affordable with Allen Hinds

How to get into a great sounding guitar or make your guitar great without breaking the bank
the songs:
"monkeys and Slides" and "traces" from the
Allen Hinds cd, "monkeys and Slides "
the guitar:
1961 or 62 body refin
Neck is a 1965 fender re fret, replaced tuners
pickups are 1956
re wrapped by the great SAYOKO KUWABARA she is the best in LA by far!!!
Bridge is a 1956
Light weight and awesome

[@RickBeato]

Great looking and sounding Strat Allen!🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@claudiosuriano]

It would be great to see Rick Beato and Allen Hinds together! :D

[@BenFletcherGuitar]

'What makes This Guitar Great' He's stolen your thing, mate! Next video he'll be doing, '10 best bouzouki intros of all time'

[@allenhindsguitar]

@@BenFletcherGuitar of course ..Im riding those coat tails all the way to the bank !! haha.. no, i know rick.. he is cool... and mine has "and affordable", and its guitars!!! so there is a difference

[@phishphan5732]

Holy shit...@Ben Fletcher @Rick Beato and @Allen Hinds in one post ! My mind is blown...three players/artists I really dig.

[@BenFletcherGuitar]

@@phishphan5732 Hey man, great to see we have some of the same taste in music. I've been enjoying Allen's playing for years now, beautiful tone and touch.

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

It is so nice of you to tell us about your guitar setup ! I don’t understand why no other pro player share this on their channels or in interviews. They talk about everything else but not this. Setup has more influence on tone and playability than wood , pickups etc. thank you !

[@KristofGuitar]

Highlight of my day. Very interesting and informative, Allen. Can't wait for the rest of this series.

[@renetecson]

if equal parts of Larry Carlton & Allan Holdsworth were combined you’d get Allen Hinds. A perfect mixture of two of the greatest guitarists of all time. Thanks for this Sensei Allen🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@clydekerlew2252]

I hear some Eric Johnson

[@jonRboy]

At the risk of relegating his guitar playing to secondary status, I have to say that Allen's songwriting/composing skills are really impressive. Yes, his guitar playing is absolutely amazing, but his compositional skills are off the chart (no pun intended). His tunes are evocative and have emotional resonance, the same type of feeling one gets when for example looking at visual art that speaks to you, or interesting architecture...perhaps walking inside a building that is unique. It's kind of difficult to put it into words...I'm trying the best that I can.

[@renetecson]

@@jonRboy absolutely!

[@bluwng]

@@clydekerlew2252 they are the same age it’s not probably that Allen was influenced by Eric early on his development.

[@kengoodman7719]

Awesome Allen, thank you. I will be keeping an eye out for this series. Looking forward to the next one. God Bless!

[@BenScott777]

Loved the video, Allen. Can't wait for the next one!

[@TJauernigElectronics]

Thanks for the tips and insight. You’re one of the best

[@foxyjazzbopper]

Brilliant seeing a top player like Allen putting together his own guitar👍👍👍

[@adrian_V99]

I went from being a legman to a neckman myself as my knowledge of guitars increased. Great video and advice. Thanks!

[@CaptainSexy90]

Great video and awesome guitar!

[@steveg219]

Cool stuff! Great insight as to the neck contributing to the sound!!

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Absolutely great info here. Thanks Allen. It really makes a huge difference to set the guitar up properly like you described here. Especially to adjust the truss rod, bridge posts and nut. As a side note to the tone wood you talk about, I just watched this video from a guy called Jim Lill, (Where Does The Tone Come From In An Electric Guitar) and he really shakes the established truths about this topic. Recommended to watch that video. Cheers, Thor

[@philipbrown2225]

Awesome -please do more of these

[@gregmize01]

I DIDN'T FALL IN LOVE WITH MY STRAT TILL MY FRIEND OFFERED TO STRIP OFF THE POLY AND DO REFIN IN LAQUER. THE NEXT STEP WAS PUTTING A JB Jr IN THE BRIDGE AND HAVING IT REFRETTED WITH 6105's. I LOVE IT!

[@thesaj1110]

So glad to see you are doing well Mr. Hinds

[@stan8]

Nice! Loved the aged white look! Appreciate the setup info...

[@Ri-Ci]

7:38 Spot on with the straight neck working miracles on string tension! I only found this out for myself when setting acoustics for years, the straighter the neck the better the feel -- the bridge radius, nut, and fret dress all have to fall in line as well. But nothing affects feel as much as neck relief which is the most obvious in acoustics during humidity swings. A buttery-smooth playing neck can suddenly feel like playing razor blades in a matter of days. When players search for that elusive "as low as you can go action" they're really looking for "make it effortless to fret" feeling which starts with neck relief. With relief dialed in perfectly, it opens up possibilities to raise action to improve sound, such as bluegrass dreadnought players who are constantly chasing "as high as it can go" action.

[@tomloncaric6189]

That guitar sounds wonderful! It accommodates the dynamics of your playing.

[@allenhindsguitar]

Thanks. Yeah it’s pretty awesome

[@edwardsmith9801]

That's a great looking & sounding guitar.

[@manimusicka2]

Thanks for sharing!

[@beanapalooza6614]

Oh wow, it be awesome to meet you. I'm from Smith's Station. Now in Phenix city. I did not realize you were from here.... you being from here can imagine I bet lol. I'm so glad I saw you on Andertons t.v. keep on rocking Sir!!!

[@rjo8500]

So true what Allen said, “all the best woods and parts, hit or miss, no guarantee.” I’ve had a slew of Strats over the years, some were pretty pricey. All on a journey to find the players. I currently have two assembled by the same luthier. One with a slight “V” profiled maple neck and 12” radius. That one he cut the body from aged Alder. The neck is San Dimas. The other has a heavy rolled edge, Fender maple neck, 7 1/2 radius but is a mishmash of parts. So after it all I ended up with partscasters.

[@xtubemanx]

It sounds so cool!

[@Ragnar-Viking]

That was fun ! Were all do the same stuff. Ty

[@borgan1964]

Wooooow im impressed buy youre playing❤️👍

[@garydmercer]

Very inspiring.

[@selliantuttimusi6735]

Lovely strat!!

[@swede7160]

Great video!I totally agree with the neck being the most important for tone.My fav partocaster uses a Jimmy Vaughan neck and a Clapton body.They make a great couple for my Van Zant pickups.The tremolo I think is also crucial in the strat equation.The fender original trem I think sounds the best but I never get it to work floating.The best one I have found and use is the Wilkinson by gotoh vsvg.For the neck I replaced the nut and and the stringtree with a fender bonenut and an Ultra stringtree.So not a vintage correct strat in any ways but a good workhorse guitar that sounds and work great.

[@jazzcat1056]

Love your new book. Been digging into that.

[@allenhindsguitar]

Thanks much

[@DARKHORSE262]

Phenomenal musicianship

[@freddylopez7536]

Hey Allen great and interesting info here. I love how you show your appreciation and respect for these instruments. That tender soul comes out in your playing. Which by the way I’ve loved for years. You and I have actually met many decades ago at a joint in Sherman Oaks called Prezzo. Ventura Bl near Woodman. I was playing there with the brilliant Ronnie Lee Cunningham. You gave me a great complement regarding my voice which obviously stayed with me for a few minutes. Lol. My guitar playing was always paled next to the brilliance of Ronnie Lee. But I must say I learned so much from him over the years of our playing together. He made all the musicians he played with step it up. Now getting back to you Mr Hinds you’ve always amazed me when ever I’ve had the fortune to be exposed to your music. I saw you in Vegas with Gino and an exceptional band which really played his music perfectly. That can’t be easy. As of late I’ve once again loved your presence on you tube which I salute you for creating and joining forces here on this platform. Obviously it’s been spectacular for many artists who have literally created their audience on this platform. One more very important connection we have is our beautiful Thai Girl Ti. I just had dinner with her in No Ho. and was invited to a movie called “What in the Hell Happened to Blood Sweat &Tears “. She obviously speaks highly of you and turned me on to I Keep Forgettin”. I love it! Incidentally I’m friends with Bobby Watson for like 40 freakin years. I’ve also been friends with Maxayn and have done a few gigs with her over the years. I believe it’s safe to say you and I have many musicians in our rolladex who all know each other. Anyway Allen I’ll stop bendin your ear now and say adios till the next one. I’ll try and get out to the Urban Press and say hey to all of you. All the best Allen. FL

[@skipneumann1]

At gigs, I always have guitarists come up to check out my Strat In the ‘70s I brought a neck and then a body and made a guitar. It has a sound that I love and I guess other guitarist do too. My investment then was almost $1k and now they go for 7-8k

[@dkpitt3912]

Sounds great!

[@3days2retirement]

Wisdom that comes from experience. I've owned a half dozen gibson LPs and SGs. I've also had a ton of mid level guitar throughout the years. The best feeling and sounding guitar I've owned was a korean made slab body with 2 lipsticks, and the neck was perfect! I paid $300 for it!? Go figure. Thanks for the video allen☮

[@sammyrothrock6981]

Your a super player Allen!

[@allenhindsguitar]

thanks much

[@AdamGotheridge]

One thing which came to mind watching this is how you setup the trem. They are such a pain in the ass, and any insight would be more than welcome. I'll hunt around to see if you've covered this before. Thanks, and adore your playing.

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Great video. I like Strats but mine is new style. Classic Players 60s model. Designed by CS but made in Mexico. Sounds great and made well. It has a 12 inch radius which is fine. I think my Mosrites are 12. My Gretsches are but on Strat I can't get used to it. I'd feel better if it was 7.25 or 9.5.

[@jamesgrobertson8024]

Very interesting 👍

[@hughle2579]

Love it ! ❤️❤️❤️🎸🎸🎸

[@christiaandemarezoyens4720]

Lookin' n soundin' good Allen.

[@pattomuso]

Ibanez Artist hanging behind? I have an '82 AR-300 Cherry Sunburst.....love it!

[@moonshot1999]

Fabuloso Allen🥰👌🏽

[@yebdox]

Allen, you are so kind, gifted and thoughtful. Been listening for years, admire everything about your playing, writing, tone savvy, dynamics, adaptability. The intro is fine, the playing jaw droppingly cool, as usual, the gear insights more helpful than most. I’m a subscriber on Patreon and look forward to whatever wisdom you care to share. AAANND… masterful playing aside, what is your signal chain for this and most of your videos? There’s always this kind of low mid compression going on, no matter what guitar, pickups, amp, etc you play through. No one I know can play such a variety of styles using just a bridge pickup. It can’t be just a full time RC booster. I acknowledge your masterful skill, but there must be some secret there besides just your touch. On another note, please keep trying to develop your online presence, I expect there are lots of fans who can lend support, if you can just elevate your visibility. Clickbait headlines are still legal! Look at Rick Beato and others…. They know how to draw in the listener, the gear heads, the riffmeisters, etc. Thanks for sharing, keep it coming!

[@allenhindsguitar]

thanks much... hmmm. i am mic ing my redplate with 2 12 celestials... nothing too fancy.... we can talk anytime

[@TimsGuitarWorldwithTimFeskorn]

You'd make a wood pallet covered in barbed wire sound good. Thanks for another great video sir. Although you still have that raspy short going on in your feed.... Its a Mic short or something.😎

[@ThomasBN4G]

So I have a 2016 American standard , standard alder ash body. Maple neck, not the greatest, but it was my first American Strat. However, that year was the year that Fender replaced all their manufacturing equipment. so the 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th and 17th fret were not placed well enough in the neck and made a hump on the high E side. So I crowned them as best I could so it would not fret out. Since they’re nickel frets they’re pretty hashed. $600 to refret it at some shop in LA. I have no problem with getting a replacement neck but have no idea where to look. Or just refret it. This is a conundrum to me. 🤔 Anyway I dig these videos.

[@trashbirdie]

Love that strat, the tone sounds so sweet and allen sounds great as always Do you have a preference between a vintage 6 screw bridge vs two point one on a strat? I'm thinking about putting together a strat but cannot decide which one to use if I wanna do some subtle tremolo work and stay in tune

[@ronnielawson8276]

I. Started nodding mine a month after I got it. Following eddie of course

[@redstrat1234]

Yeah, I'll just put in some 1950's pickups I have lying around too... lol, and it's hard to chose between all of those 1950's fender necks I have in my shed...different world.

[@amancalledlimey]

Like I said Allen ....show your methodology on how you approach your setup? Would love to know....

[@cmkilcullen8176]

Thank you for a very interesting video! So the neck (thickness and age, fret board?), does truly affect sound? I am very much an amature but I think people and some techs rely to much on neck - truss rod adjustments to fix things that have to do with buzzing an tuning. I think the neck should be as straight as possible with a good set up, height where you like it (low with enough room to dig for bending). The over emphasis on TR adjustments can affect string height along the neck too much, and it annoys me when techs give you back your guitar with such an uneven height along the fretboard. The height should be as even as possible with the neck being as straight as possible; not like its so bowed that you are getting ready to shoot some arrows with it.

[@TeleCaster66]

Don't forget vintage correct trem springs. Pure Vintage sells a set that definately improved my Strat.

[@eljefeguapobarbon]

He's builds 'em just like me! OK, but plays amazing!

[@ronnielawson8276]

Dig your style yeah.

[@illegallystalked3119]

Im 55, been playing forever. Ive had tons of guitars over the years. Best neck ive ever played, and still have is an old 80s series 10 hockey stick headstock. Drives me nuts that it is the hockey stick headstock because i would like to switch to a more conventional vibrato, but doubt it would hold tune without the locking nut because the tuning pegs make the string angle less than ideal in their path through the nut. But the neck insanely straight, i have not adjusted truss rod in over 10 years, weather never affects the neck like all my other guitars. I think partially why is it is varnished, fretboard and neck are all factory varnish, and even though makes it a bit sticky when your hands get sweaty, the cold and hot just cant penetrate to make it bowed or back bowed.

[@CAGED1702]

Thanks, Allen! That was very instructive. But the tone is also in your hands! How much? 😉

[@steffenbrix]

Absolutely wonderful touch and sound! What amp is that? I hear compression? And of course verb and delay... absolutely beautiful :)

[@allenhindsguitar]

Red plate amp. No compressor. Thanks

[@leeclawson5346]

Oh My Goodness!!-Wow!!- Alan what Amp are ya play thru?

[@peterfredrickmeyer]

My what a great sounding guitar! what amp were you playing thru for this session?

[@borjaasensio6564]

How much does the guitar weigh in total? Thanks for your videos!

[@alwyatt1339]

What is the ideal body weight for your guitars? I have played guitars that were very resonate at 7+ pds and have an 8 pd strat that is resonate. Just curious.Great video. Please continue with these insightful vids ! Thanks

[@allenhindsguitar]

honestly I think some strats can be a bit more weighty and sound good.. but generally between 3 and a half to 5 ... makes for a good one

[@jeentz8968]

i wonder why that mystery ibanez on the wall kept disappearing

[@steveg.3022]

Didn’t notice until you mentioned it. Cool. Now I’m looking for it.

[@danpetersson5402]

Thanks for interesting videos. Nice sounding and great looking guitar. What amp and pedals did you use for this take?

[@allenhindsguitar]

thanks besides the Redplate black line amplifier I just use a little delay snd Reverb nothing special

[@Dream-Academy]

4:28 Yes it is Brazilian Rosewood.

[@nuendo2496]

Jeff Beck & Duane Allman…….yep…..me too.

[@pandorski35000]

Hi, what amp do you play when you demo these videos ? i like the sound of it on audio

[@allenhindsguitar]

thanks..thats a Redplate Black line

[@defcrew7435]

Hey, Allen, let's be honest, the crummiest, most poorly set up and appointed guitar on the planet would probably sound pretty good with you playing it! Interesting notion that the tone comes mainly from the neck. It is a combo of everything in sympatico, I guess. Enjoyed the video and always good to see Auburn's favorite guitar son still out there doing his thang.

[@paultedeschini1683]

Thanks very much Allen. This is the 2nd video this week featuring old Strats with gorgeous, enormous tone. I'm curious as to what amp your plugged into. Completely agree that it's guitar first, but without a nice warm tube amp you're not going to get as far. If you're playing through an amp sim or a 1984 Peavy Renown, then I guess I'll juts have to look like a goofball. But..I kinda doubt that will be the case. Very happy to have discovered your music. Fantastic playing. Do you ever listen to Harry Manx and Kevin Breit ?

[@allenhindsguitar]

Not sure I know them. Thanks

[@paultedeschini1683]

@@allenhindsguitar Fair enough. I think you'd enjoy what they do. Excellent players. Any thoughts about amps ?

[@paultedeschini1683]

Just looked at your website. Amp questions answered. Tubes all the way.Here's the other vid I was telling you about . kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3-4qat9hdxmb7M

[@paultedeschini1683]

Vintage style pick ups could also go a long way to help attaining this tone ? Any suggestions for Strat replacement PU's ?

[@paultedeschini1683]

Aside from good hands..because yes, I agree, without them nothing will help :+/

[@frankquinn1296]

Waiting for the story on that Ibanez artist that is hanging up there. I have an old one , but it is dot inlays.

[@allenhindsguitar]

Hey. I did a video on that. Thanks

[@frankquinn1296]

@@allenhindsguitar Thanks Allen, I seen I jumped in to soon, think mine has been modded, it has a duncan jazz in the neck and JB in the bridge. There isnt any switches but both tones are push pull. The machines are gold grovers. I dont know if that version is the original specs. But I think its an 83 based on the serial number. Like I said it has dots and not the block inlays.

[@peejay6930]

Can you imagine how good it would sound if he could actually play it! 😉🎸

[@lager9342]

What string gauges are you using on a Strat Allen?

[@allenhindsguitar]

hey, regular 10s

[@abelfierro465]

Tone!

[@Sanrolino]

Very nice build! I just find very difficult to find old parts (specially fender) and be sure it is original. There are too many fake stuff out there. Congratulations it sounds amazing!

[@georgethompson1535]

bro what is the intro song

[@allenhindsguitar]

monkeys and slides from the same titled cd thnaks

[@permjoback2580]

🎸👍😊🇸🇪🎶

[@kimmolingonheimo]

howabout walkin a mile with a GODIN neck tuned a bit down

[@Babesyann]

Sir Allen are you going to sell it?

[@allenhindsguitar]

Hi. I have a les Paul 69/70 for sale. The strat ? Not sure

[@Babesyann]

@@allenhindsguitar is that the black gibson?

[@allenhindsguitar]

@@Babesyann yes, Are you interested?

[@Babesyann]

@@allenhindsguitar sorry Sir Allen not into gibson....

[@palidiciovermingagurainia1760]

very jeff beck

[@AnodyneHipsterInfluencer]

Sure, maybe a decade or two ago that's an affordable project but go and buy all those similar parts now and you're still easily looking at spending $10k to $15k.

[@joeowl]

Wait for a second! How affordable and '65 neck can fit the same sentence??? Allen is great, but come on! The video title is hilarious...

[@allenhindsguitar]

Compared to what people charge these days. It’s the ONLY way to afford. 1500 compared to 10k is quite a difference. They charge more for custom shop necks

[@kimmolingonheimo]

what makes old men interesting?

[@kimmolingonheimo]

ver sins I was a Kid

[@fordhammie]

Great great topic and a well planned & built frankenstrat! Please find a way to get rid of all the microphone scratching; ugh makes it unbearable to continue watching...Stopped watching!