Guitars, guitars, guitars

[warcabbit]

mmmmmmm she's purdy <3

Not just purdy. Slim. And check that bridge out. Single cast block of aluminum.

[IDMG]

Okay, are we talking F#0 or F#1?

[valley_parade]

I've heard really, really good things about those Voxes. Nice grab, especially at that price!

I've decided to expand my arsenal a little, and have ordered a mandolin. A-style body, with an oval soundhole, ala Rory Gallagher. Have a friend that's gonna teach me the basics, and I'm kinda really pumped on it. Also have a friend that's learning ukulele that wants to start playing/writing with me.

Just gotta wait for it to get here. Few days.

[Jotunheim]

Okay, are we talking F#0 or F#1?

F#1. It's tuned like a regular bass, just with two deeper strings, and one lighter.

[Patrick]

you fuckers made me want a Modern Player Starcaster, and the OSGer in me wants to get 2 so I can mod one into being a 12-string.

god damn it, I have GAS again for the first time in 5 fucking years what the fuck

[Jotunheim]

Give into the GAS! You know you want to.

[Patrick]

I DON'T HAVE MONEY :C

[IDMG]

Here's an easy way to alleviate it:

WRHB reissues are fucking garbage. Why spend that much money on a guitar that needs a pickup swap?

[Patrick]

because the TOM bridge is definitely going to be an upgrade from the string-thru on the original. and a lot of people complain about the way my hollowbody sounds when they play it, but it suits my style of playing just fine. I refuse to believe it's impossible to get one to sound good, sometimes you gotta fuck with pole pieces and other times you gotta fuck with playing styles.

[Lummer]

So, I recently put a Lace Pickups Drop'N'Gain in my Warmoth tele. The entirety of my Grind band's forthcoming album has been recorded with it. I'm really surprised how ball-crushingly brutal this pickup is, while still being very defined and clear. I didn't think it could actually outdo the Bare Knuckle War Pig that used to be in it in terms of sheer fuck-off brutality, but holy shit it actually does. Really tight, percussive and with low end for fucking days. I'm extraordinarily pleased with it. Below: Bad iPhone pic:

[Jotunheim]

I'm debating on getting an ESP LTD D-6 after I get around to selling my Traben Chaos core. Need a new live backup bass.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/esp_ltd_d6_ns.htm

Anyone have any experience with these? I figure I'd probably have to toss some different pickups in it.

[TheCollyWolly]

The music store near my house has the five-string version of that ESP. The finish was very comfy, but I didn't really like the huuuuuge frets ESP likes to use. Personal preference, i guess.

I think I'm gonna build a copy of Tosin Abasi's signature with Deathbars and a full wenge neck.

[KingOfIreland]

I hate the jumbo frets on new gibsons too. Just sayin'. I hate huge frets.

[TheCollyWolly]

Banjo frets all day erry day

[Patrick]

this is just reminding me that I need to have my hollowbody refretted. everything's great about her except the little bit of buzz I get from the 2nd fret.

[valley_parade]

Mandolin update:

Am starting to pick up some stuff, though my giant sausage fingers were not made for such a tiny scaled instrument.

[KingOfIreland]

By god does the mandolin improve your picking speed though, jesus.

[Usurpatore Hominum LXVI]

This is the most recent addition to the family. I'm debating between either a Bill Lawrence L500XL or a DiMarzio X2N in the bridge (the neck I'm still unsure about, anyone have any suggestions?).

[IDMG]

So this happened.

[Patrick]

out of curiosity, how does one go about playing anything on one of those things? that neck looks enormous, I could never wrap my thumb around to walk a bass line like I do on my 6-strings.

[Jotunheim]

It isn't extended range instruments' fault that your hands are puny

[IDMG]

out of curiosity, how does one go about playing anything on one of those things? that neck looks enormous, I could never wrap my thumb around to walk a bass line like I do on my 6-strings.

You basically have to play the guitar classical-style. You know, without letting your thumb wrap over.

Putting the strap high helps.

[Patrick]

It isn't extended range instruments' fault that your hands are puny

THEY ARE NOT! >:C

[KingOfIreland]

I have puny hands, so to prove that your picture tells me nothing about yours, I'll post a similar one!




Also: I very nearly bought an Ashton viper 50H and a peavey 412 for 200 pounds in a pawn shop in England. I'm glad I didn't though because I have to pay my rent in four days but oh god was that a sweet amp. All tube, spring reverb.

Clean channel, mean channel and a filth switch.
clean was good, reverb was not exactly the best, but good enough, mean channel was sweet, creamy valve breakup to AC/DC style stuff. Then came the filth switch. Jesus.

The filth switch made this thing go absolutely insane. I made a baby cry with the sheer level of ridiculous distortion. I loved it.

My birthday is coming up and I've decided that my only wish this year is for people to supply me with more gain.

[Lupercal]

My good friend Jesse asked me for the reasons why I hate Floyd Rose bridges, and here they are for your reading pleasure.

• The tuning system is the 6 twistable pegs on the bridge, and if you want to go from standard tuning to drop D, you have to unscrew the screw that holds that low E string using an allen key, tune it down to drop D, then RETUNE EVERY FUCKING STRING ON THE GUITAR over and over and over and over and over until they're all in tune again (the reason for retuning all the other strings was covered in Reason #2).

Glad you didn't name EVH in your guitar-wankers list. Although I don't really get the hoo-ha about using a Floyd for VH songs because the first 3 albums he recorded he just used a standard Floating tremelo. Just lube up the nut and use a good vibrato system.

Having never played a Floyd-equppied guitar long enough to really defend them properly, I will give one tiny answer to this flaw:



It's called a D-Tuna and it flicks from drop D to E. No unscrewing necessary.*

*doesn't cover any other string, note, or stop any of the above mentioned problems form occurring either.

[Patrick]

Van Halen is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. before band practice on Sunday I annoyed the shit out of Matt by playing his limited edition set-neck 2-HH Tele (I swear they musta teamed with Schecter, judging by the neck heel) and cranking out "Jamie's Cryin" and "Dreams" and "Hot For Teacher" all the way til our drummer showed up.

[Usurpatore Hominum LXVI]

I, for one, love my Floyds. I've got them on two of my guitars; one on my Pro V and the other on my Washburn 332 (my primary guitar has a Wilkinson, which kicks ass and is stable as hell) - I never quite understood the hatred for them. Mine have always worked beautifully, and what issues I have had have been strictly minor. Also, re-stringing Floyds isn't a big deal...really, it's not (though admittedly, busting a string on one during a gig would suck a lot).

BRING ON THE HATE

[aliensporebomb]

The four electrics:



Left to right:
Ibanez Artist AR300 with Duncans
Great for anything from hard rock to jazz

Fender Strat with Roland GK pickup
My hex guitar outer space looping and space rock guitar

Carvin ST300 neckthru
My rock and fusion guitar

Heartfield EX-2 with EMGs and locking trem
My metal, hard rock and hard fusion axe

[Lupercal]

Van Halen is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. before band practice on Sunday I annoyed the shit out of Matt by playing his limited edition set-neck 2-HH Tele (I swear they musta teamed with Schecter, judging by the neck heel) and cranking out "Jamie's Cryin" and "Dreams" and "Hot For Teacher" all the way til our drummer showed up.

1) Why does Van Halen have to be a guilty pleasure? I sure as hell ain't guilty about loving that band.

2) That sounds like an awesome Tele, do us

3) Great song choice. First time I heard 'Dreams' was in the Power Rangers movie, hooked since '97.

[Patrick]

I'll show you when I get the chance. It's 22 frets and a rounded neck heel. It's fucking incredible to play. Might very well become Matt's primary axe at shows, even though he's not much of a shredder he still lays down some musical pipe.

[TheCollyWolly]

I was about to order an RGA8 for $400 off on Sweetwater, but they sold out about an hour before I got off work. Today has been incredibly shitty. At least I have a line on one or two used for about that price.

Update: Got a line on a used one that should get here Wednesday!

[Taekwondoin]

Hello people, new to posting, but been a bit of a lurker before now. Thinking of getting a Hagstrom Viking Baritone, anyone had any experience with them? Pretty sure I'm gonna get it shipped from Sweden to the UK, as for some reason they're £530 in Sweden, and £650 bought through a dealer here.

Or, I could get a Squier Bass VI for much cheaper, but not entirely sure it's the guitar I want, perhaps a bit too bassy?

[KingOfIreland]

My experience with hagstroms have been AMAZING. I tried a viking out that one of my friends owns and it's simply perfect. Oh and the solid bodies aren't bad either

[Taekwondoin]

Yeah the Pat Smear Signature looks and sounds great. Good to hear that people (or 1 person at least) have had some good experiences of Hagstrom's, it's hard to find some real world thoughts on them as they're pretty rarely used.

[KingOfIreland]

Well, I own a swedie and it was the best buy I ever fucking made. The neck is beautiful, setup comes spot on from the factory, the machineheads are classy and work really well. Solid fucking mahogany, beautiful mother of pearl inlays in the headstock and the pickups and pots are great. The only downside on mine was that the switches weren't as perfect as they could be, but they were easily replaced. Total cost for a guitar I think plays better than any gibson I've tried? 350 euros.

[Taekwondoin]

I wouldn't touch a Les Paul with a barge pole, I'd go swede all the way if I was looking for a solid body single cut. Fuck paying £1500 for a gaudy les paul in honeyburst...

[IDMG]

I dunno, the Hagstrom Swede I've played just felt weird. Most bizarre neck profile ever.

[Taekwondoin]

I dunno, the Hagstrom Swede I've played just felt weird. Most bizarre neck profile ever.

How so? Too thick/thin? Weird shape?

[Chad K.]

I have a Hagstrom Viking, and it is one of my favorites guitars.  When i first got it, I also thought the neck was weird, but now I love it.  Hagstroms have a proprietary "H" shaped truss rod that keeps them from twisting and makes it hard for them to bow.  As a result, they can make the neck thinner.  They are not Ibanez wizard neck thin, but they are far more narrow than a Gibson.  They also have very little taper, and a resin fretboard that feels a lot like ebony.  Couple that with medium jumbo frets, and you have a neck that takes a little while to get used to.

Here's the thing for me- the larger frets make it very easy to figure out where I am on the neck without looking down.  Also, once you are used to the thinner neck profile, it's crazy comfortable and easy to get around on, since you could barely fit a credit card between the strings and the frets and still have no buzz. Plus, I haven't had to set the neck in a year and a half. The truss rod is that good.

[KingOfIreland]

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I think about mine. The thing is that it can get slightly hard to play up past the 16th fret, but you know, it's not a neck thru and the cutaway isn't that huge. It also has a perfectly sculpted taper just like a strat, so it's definitely more comfy than a les paul, even if it is as heavy. Something about the stop tail piece gives them absolutely huge sustain as well. They're perspex mounted, so you'd think it'd have the opposite effect, compared to the standard gibson tun-o-matic setup, but I guess it just sends more of those good good vibes through the actual bridge this way.
I also like how mine (although there's different model variations  obviously) doesn't have binding. It's like the les Paul Studio of my dreams. All I want is another but with P90s and a stereo out

[Taekwondoin]

I have a Hagstrom Viking, and it is one of my favorites guitars.  When i first got it, I also thought the neck was weird, but now I love it.  Hagstroms have a proprietary "H" shaped truss rod that keeps them from twisting and makes it hard for them to bow.  As a result, they can make the neck thinner.  They are not Ibanez wizard neck thin, but they are far more narrow than a Gibson.  They also have very little taper, and a resin fretboard that feels a lot like ebony.  Couple that with medium jumbo frets, and you have a neck that takes a little while to get used to.

Here's the thing for me- the larger frets make it very easy to figure out where I am on the neck without looking down.  Also, once you are used to the thinner neck profile, it's crazy comfortable and easy to get around on, since you could barely fit a credit card between the strings and the frets and still have no buzz. Plus, I haven't had to set the neck in a year and a half. The truss rod is that good.

Oh man this is exactly the sort of info I was looking for. You have my thanks!!

An cheers for the info too KingOfIreland, you two are the first people I've ever spoken to with actual experience of owning one.

Now I don't suppose anyone has picked up a Squier Bass IV at all?

[IDMG]

I dunno, the Hagstrom Swede I've played just felt weird. Most bizarre neck profile ever.

How so? Too thick/thin? Weird shape?

The shape felt almost trapezoidal if that makes sense?

I dunno. Great sounding guitar but that would take some getting used to.

[Taekwondoin]

I dunno, the Hagstrom Swede I've played just felt weird. Most bizarre neck profile ever.

How so? Too thick/thin? Weird shape?

The shape felt almost trapezoidal if that makes sense?

I dunno. Great sounding guitar but that would take some getting used to.

Yep that makes sense to me, I guess I just need to wrap my hands around it and see how I feel. The one thing I'd really prefer on it is a satin neck, but painted is fine too I guess. The tone is just too good for me to worry about such a trivial matter.

[Patrick]

guys. I just ordered a Bigsby for my hollowbody. it should be here by Thursday, according to Amazon.

I'M GONNA FUCKING CUM

[IDMG]

I recently picked up an MXR Blue Box. That thing is weird.

[riccostar]

guys. I just ordered a Bigsby for my hollowbody. it should be here by Thursday, according to Amazon.

I'M GONNA FUCKING CUM

Put it down, It's not polite to orgasm in public...

[Taekwondoin]

Anyone here ever tried cobalt strings over nickel? I usually get Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky's and seen that they now do them in cobalt, apparently they should give more clarity and a higher resonance.

[valley_parade]

Things besides (and in addition to) records having been showing up in my mail recently:



Already have a neck, just didn't feel like bolting it on tonight. Also have a black pickguard en route. Am going to make a bastard of an Esquire out of this.

[Thrillho]

So much hatred.

[Jotunheim]

Been playing a german-made warwick 5-string for live shows recently. I always kinda hated on warwicks because I don't much fancy the look (I still don't love it), but shiiiit does it ever sound good. Just a bit of distortion and then through the good ol' Fafner top, and we've got some proper Rawr bass