LGM Guitars

Thank god you said that, I thought it was some phallic symbol lol guitar looks nice though.

when you're buying a kit for under $200 I think you almost need to expect things won't be quite right or might have the odd small thing missing, to expect perfection is unreasonable IMO. Kinda like hoping a new KIA will perform like the Enzo Ferrari

Having flown with guitars many times, and shipped countless guitars that end up on an airplane, I've never had a problem. 1. If you're taking it as checked baggage, no issues, keep it strung to full pitch, in the case, put it in the overhead bin and you're done. 2. If you are concerned it may need to go as checked baggage, keep the strings at FULL tension, and pack some extra padding around it. You're fine. Lowering the tension is a poor idea, guitars ship on trucks in the winter all the time, they spend weeks in crates on boats coming from overseas. They withstand high humidity, low humidity, cold, hot, etc just fine. Rarely do I see a guitar come into the shop or the music store that has problems from shipping. I've never had a guitar ship out that had problems from being flown overnight, or on a truck for a week. In fact, the only necks that have really required adjusting are those that can't be shipped on a body and strung up. If you feel the need to loosen your strings, be sure and loosen your truss rod as well. Adding humidity or extreme temperature changes to a neck with the rod under tension is a good way to create a backbow that might not come out again. I have never understood why anyone ships with the strings loosened off, I have yet to hear a plausable reason for doing so and have never had an issue in sending them with the strings tight. Anyway, I have never had a problem with taking guitars (electric or acoustic, dreadnought cases, rectangular electric cases etc) as carry on, sometimes you have to do the "if it doesn't fit I'll gate check it" line, but they always fit.

First of all no, I would never bash a company to make my stuff look better, that's not business, that's stupid. Nothing gives you a bad name faster than slandering others. You know who Ed Roman is? That's all he does is bash everything he doesn't sell, hell, he bashes things he does sell. What's his reputation again? Oh that's right, half the musicians in this world want to shoot him, the other half want to stab him. Thanks, I'll leave the bashing to others. If you said my leviathans are nothing more than glorified Ibanez's, I'd say you're right, in the exact same way that an Ibanez is nothing more than a glorified stratocaster in your mind. Frankly I don't care if a few people don't like my guitars, you can't please everyone and that's life, now if everyone started saying they sucked, well I guess I'd try designing something else. As for his ego, fine you build him guitars for an endorsement. Here is the very first email he ever sent me. As for hearing something I've played, you don't have to search hard on this forum to find it, but since you obviously think I'm some wanker talking through my ass, here...... http://pics.lgmguitars.com/pics/Dont_let_go.mp3 It was recorded really quick on a BOSS BR8, the tone sucks, the vocals suck, hell, and I recorded it at like 3am, but either way, like it or hate it, at least it should show you I can play guitar a little. That's true, it's also true that the best teachers don't necessarily have to be able to do it at all. I knew a piano teacher who could barely play mary had a little lamb, but he was an amazing teacher. I think I can say I've never been a cocky guitarist quite honestly. I know where my skills are, and I am proud of what I've accomplished, but I'm not cocky about it. When somebody criticizes my playing I take it in stride and do what I can to do better. As for amount of years playing, that's irrelevant, I know people who've played 30 years and can't shred, so what. I also know people that have played 4 years and can rip with the best of them. Not counting his first 3 years is like saying you JUST learned to ride a bicycle when you rode one for 3 years when you were a kid. Somethings stick around, besides, read some of his previous posts on this particular site, he even says he's played for 8 years in one of them. But since you saw my post as bashing, let me clarify for you, it was not bashing, it was stating some facts, and telling the guy to check his ego. If his skill playing wise stood up close to the way he talks I've had said nothing, I haven't called him a bad player either, I think he's doing ok, but the way he talks, just like when he emailed me about an endorsement, I was expecting Steve Vai skills, not what I heard.

oh goody, more Joey love fest here too, Here's a couple threads for you to look over so you can see what this Joey is really like, I'd ban him just for showing up personally. http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9258 http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35880 http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32777 http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32990 It's not that you're a bad guitar player, your ego just far surpasses your skills Joey. Yngwie is humble in comparrison. You're really not that fast, sorry, hate to tell you that, but man, a dose of reality would do you really good. Oddly enough, I just looked back at some of your first posts on this board where you say you've been playing 8 years, and yet on Jemsite you're saying 4 years, and from the timeline on your website, it looks more like 20 years

as far as I know the minijet is only an HVLP gun, but you can still set the pressure higher and use it as a conventional gun

$100 isn't bad if they lay on a nice coat, when you consider the clear is around $300 a gallon. However, when it's just coats after the car is done, seems a little high, especially when you have to do the final sand and buff. Oh, under NO circumstances should you color sand this stuff, I don't get why people ever color sand anything to start with but do NOT color sand Kameleon paints. Usually most body shops charge $50 when they're doing it along with a car.

geez, this is embaressing now LOL, a thread gets started about my guitar being in GOTM and it's got the least number of votes in here can I forfeit and save face now LMAO!!!!!

Check it out LOL, it's the paint side of the business that got the article done, but still pretty cool. This is an online magazine that is also printed and distributed around central alberta! http://www.thruthewindshield.ca/Archives/a...andgraphix.html edit: link changed on the website, put in correct link.

you can use nitro, but I don't recommend it at all, especially with the chameleon paints, they are developed specifically for use with the 2 part urethane, if you can't clear with that yourself take it to a body shop and have it done. The nitro will mess with it more than it's worth.

I was pretty sure http://www.autopaintersupply.com/Merchant2...ategory_Code=KF

They're a typical base coat paint, you can spray them with a carbon filter mask, it's the clears that are brutal. You can spray with an airbrush, but as with any paint with a metallic particle you'll need a large tip and heavy flow. You are way further ahead to spray it with a touch up gun over an airbrush. I haven't tried the Alsa stuff yet, but I'm almost 100% sure the HOK stuff is well over $100 a pint.

that mirage paint looks crappy compared to the real color shift paint, but the real deal stuff is a couple hundred dollars a pint Honestly, the mirage is ok, but it's nothing as vibrant as chameleon paint is. $17 for a kit of all 3 cans is dirt cheap.

well, that day has come at one point, so has the time where i had to say, "I got to fire someone" LOL I should have said, finances don't allow me to hire somebody who knows what they're doing :S

Well, the time has come where I have to make some changes at the shop. Things have picked up faster than expected and unfortunately this has left me bottlenecked. Regretfully it has left many guitars in a slow process of being completed and very long waits for some of you. I truly apologize for this. Leviathan orders are increasing as is the custom paint side of the shop. I simply cannot keep up with all the orders and hiring somebody is not an option at this time due to finances and shop size. Regretfully this means I have to eliminate some of the services previously offered. This may not be permanent as things can slow down and pick up without explanation, but at this time LGM Guitars will be taking orders only for the following: Leviathan guitars Complete custom guitars (from scratch) High end shell inlay Airbrush Graphics This means for the time being I will not be offering refinish jobs (outside of airbrush graphics), RG to JEM modifications, lower end inlay work (synthetics) etc. The only exceptions will be if the customer is willing to accept that the job will not be top priority and will be completed as time allows, this could be 4 weeks, it could be 12 months. I have made promised deadlines in the past that I was not able to keep. I am falling further behind because the work load is so high. Don't get me wrong, I very much appreciate the work and would rather be to busy than to slow, but I am far enough behind at this point where I've had guitars here as long as 12 months. My goal is to provide the best work possible, I do not want to sacrifice quality for speed. As I say, this may not be a permanent thing, but at this time it's what needs to be done in order to catch up on the current backlog of jobs as well as advance the shop to the next level. Sorry for any inconvenience this may bring, but as I say, if you don't mind waiting, I will still do the smaller jobs. Thank you for your continued support! Jeremy www.lgmguitars.com

click this link http://pics.lgmguitars.com/pics/DC%20and%2...on/IMGP1584.JPG You'll see a PGM I'm doing in a gold glitter finish. Well, not really glitter, it's called metal flake. It's a dry flake that has to be mixed into a high solids clear coat (2 part urethane). It is not cheap to do a heavy metal flake though. The flake itself will cost anywhere from $35 for a small bottle, to $100 for a small bottle depending on the colors and size. House of Kolor makes probably the nicest dry flake on the market. Then you need to mix it into the clear which is expensive. Then last but not least, if you want heavy metal flake, you have to spray it using at the VERY smallest a 1.4mm tip gun, 2.4 is even better. Then, be prepared for your whole shop to be glitter covered LOL, it gets everywhere, it's like cancer, you can never seem to get rid of it all LOL

I'm not sure I would say I've toned down forthright opinions, I've just come many times from the been there done that school. Personally, in thinking about this concept more and more, my biggest concern is in that if you do not use a hardened steel, it will eventually wear, and with no recourse for maintenance, it becomes a disposable piece. Out of curiosity, yesterday I took a carbon rod (autoclaved, used for wing spars in the jets I fly) and started running a couple guitar strings under tension back and forth over the edge, it didn't take long before there was noticable wear. So, my thought even on using a pressure molded carbon probably won't work. There are no nylons that will withstand a sharp pressure point like a string, there are delron's, teflons, nylatrons etc that are very wear resistant for something such as a bushing, but even those wear, and that is with large turning surfaces, not typically a direct pressure from a tiny diameter like a string. As tirapop said, Kevlar is very wear resistant, but again you run into the problem of the epoxy used to impregnate it. What I keep fighting with is, when it does wear how do you maintain it. Frets are dirt cheap, when buying in bulk (for production, which is comparing apples to apples in this case as if you are considering making molds it is only realistically viable for production work) is about $4 per neck. With a radiusing jig it takes all of 5 minutes to radius a fretboard after a 5 minute slotting job. Just like making your mold, it all comes down to having the right jigs and tools for the operation. I personally don't see molding a fretboard with steps to be any faster than using fretwire and a wood board, and I sure don't see it being cheaper, in fact, I would probably estimate that a laid up composite board would be double the cost of wood and wire in the end. (not including the cost of making the molds) Again, for personal experimenting, I'm all for trying new things, but as you said, there was a company who tried this and went under. The concept might be great, but many things are perfect in theory, flawed in reality. I don't say any of this to be negative or be a prick, but I've made many molds, I've used carbon's, kevlar's, and other composite materials many times. To make a proper mold is an expensive and time consuming process. I've worked with the materials extensively and just feel that you will end up with a product in the end that will not hold up to your expectations the way you'd like it to. Is there a better solution than frets in wood? probably, but I don't think it will be found with current composite materials at this point. The only thing I could think of working, is if you did your lay up, and at each "peak" of the steps, you had a piece of hardened steel layed into the composite material where the string will actually hit, but then you're right back to basically the same concept as frets

Not quite, their fretboards on the Fly's are carbon, no wood, the frets are baked into the carbon laminate in an autoclave after being laid up in a mold, this is why they use SS frets, because it's near impossible to replace their frets so they just can't be something that wears out quickly. A thin composite will be strong sure, but will do nothing in the way of wear resistance, Carbon cloth layed up will only be as wear resistant as the epoxy resin it's impregnated with. Most epoxy resins aren't that hard.

I guess I'm still of the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" school. Basically, all these idea's have been around for years, but when it comes right down to it, fretting with regular frets is still probably the fastest and easiest way. Also the easiest to maintain. I've worked with many composites, I've also worked as a machinist for quite a few years. Having done those things, I know that I prefer the idea of frets which can be removed if necessary. Fret heights really need to be within .001" of each other or you'll have major buzzing. Shrinkage in epoxy cures can vary easily by .005" so you would still probably have to level that board. I see no reason to experiment and try something new, but when I hear people asking about it because it might be easier than using regular frets, well, I just can't see that being the case. Once molds were done and the right material is found maybe for production it will be better, but keep in mind, the best material in terms of wearability in a composite will probably be carbon fiber, but not the cloth type, you need the hard injection molded carbon fiber, this is almost like steel in terms of hardness, BUT, you now need an injection mold (expensive) and a autoclave to cure it to reach that hardness (also very expensive) not to mention the carbon itself is not cheap. All good things to experiment with if you have the time and money, but as I've come to learn, usually, things are the way they are for a reason, it's true that without experimenting, trying new things, the world would never evolve, but having said that, guitars have been around for a long time, and with current technologies, if a better solution to fretting was available, I think you'd be seeing it by now. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary

I have no idea what you're talking about, 2 tone on cars refers to 2 colors of paint, like an upper and lower color separated by a masked edge. Pearls have nothing to do with 2 tone (unless it's pearl paints of course)

Why disagree? That is the design of an HVLP, high volume. One of the reasons they put out much less overspray is you can spray a heavier (thicker) finish with them. The way the paint atomizes in an HVLP is also so that more product ends up on the surface. If you thin your paint to much with HVLP you'll still get a lot of overspray plus runs in the finish. HVLP does put out more finish faster, that's why so many like it, you can acheive in 5 coats what would take you 15 coats with a conventional gun, but you have to be spraying a thicker finish to do this without sags and runs. I'm not knocking HVLP, I have a couple of them, one being a minijet 3, the other being a 2000HVLP digital. They're great for their intended purpose, but they suck for clear. If I want to reduce my sanding and buffing time I have to way over reduce my finish, then I'm ended up with overspray and runs anyway so really the HVLP has lost it's value there. The benefit to HVLP is heavy application of product with the lower air pressure to keep it from being blown out of the way, and the ability to spray a much thicker finish to allow more product to be applied at once.

My thoughts on HVLP. First of all, when they were first coming out, I bought a turbine unit, paid $1800 for it, yup, way less overspray, and finishes that I guess were ok for furniture. Hated the system. Todays HVLP guns work just as well with regular compressors. The problem with the turbine systems is you've now limited yourself to that style of gun. If you ever decide you want an airbrush, maybe a different type of gun for other finishes, now you have to buy a compressor again. HVLP is designed to lay more product on the surface vs in the air. This is fine except for a fine finish like a guitar, motorcycle tank etc, it leaves a rougher finish. I don't know a single automotive painter who sprays their clear with HVLP anymore. HVLP has it's place, in furniture where you are typically spraying a protective coating over raw wood it's great. In guitars where you want a dead smooth mirror finish, it will work, but it will leave you with much more sanding to do to acheive the perfect finish. Also, the turbine HVLP guns IMO spray a way bigger pattern than is desirable for guitars. You'll still waste paint due to the size of pattern. Moisture traps are needed, but for the amount you'll be spraying you can buy the in line disposable ones, they're like $7 for one and they'll last a while. If you want to spend some money you can use a moisture trap regulator system. To be honest, I don't have problems very often with water in my lines, I drain my tank after a day of spraying, my hoses are all hung (hoses on the floor will get much more condensation than if they are all hung) and I run air through the lines for a few minutes before I spray just to make sure they're clean, it's rare I ever have water in my trap, but it's still a safety precaution. That's just my 2cents, HVLP's seem to be a love/hate relationship, I don't know anyone in the automotive industry who uses HVLP for anything but primer and base. The furniture industry is the only place I know of using HVLP consistently, and as I say, it's rare you find a piece of furniture with a perfect mirror finish, lets face it, there is no point, tabls, counters, chairs etc all get used and abused enough that really there is no point in having a perfect finish on them.

If you're willing to drop $500, I would get a Sata Minijet gun. They are HVLP but you can run them at a higher pressure for a closer to conventional gun feel. The biggest issue with HVLP is it does not atomize the paint as well so it doesn't flow out well. It will flow if you over reduce, but then you're wasting the purpose of the HVLP being able to put on a lot of product since you'll be very limited on your amount of paint applied without running. The minijet is a great little gun, big enough for guitars. Personally, I wouldn't touch the stew mac gun, or any gun that isn't name brand. If and when you need parts, you will probably have a hell of a time finding them. That to me is worth a lot. As for your compressor, even a 4 or 5 gallon tank is fine AS LONG AS the compressor has the HP to provide you with the CFM the gun requires, otherwise you're waiting for it to catch up in air pressure all the time. One of the smaller pancake compressors will be ok with the minijet, it's pretty low on CFM at I believe 3.7 @ 29psi. I would recommend buying a good gun first and then in the future if you need to upgrade your compressor that's fine. A good gun is most important, when spraying guitars, one coat doesn't take long to spray, even a small compressor will keep up with that for a guitar. Learning the feel of your gun is the biggest trick to nice paint. If you don't want to go with Sata as they can be a little expensive, look at brand name guns, devilbiss, sharpe, binks, etc, stay away from Walcom, Star, and some of the other euro guns if you are in north america as many of them are very hard to get parts for.

Geez, I didn't mean for this to turn into such a big issue. Personally, I have no problem with pictures being linked, works fine for me that way, and then you can have a bigger picture. I just hate having to scroll the screen to read every single post because a picture is to big to be seen in full. Besides, when I open a picture from a link, even if it's a billion pixels wide, IE opens it, and then reduces it automatically to fit in a window. Plus, it can be physically bigger without scrolling the screen since all the member info on the left side of the forum wouldn't be there. Basically, I didn't mean to have the rules debated, I simply thought they should be followed. And having to scroll side to side is annoying, clicking links isn't. I click on links all day long, pictures sure don't bother me in link form. Actually, I find it quite hilarious when people talk about having to click a link being to much of a hassle, oh no, one more click for your poor finger, anyone remember the comodore 64 days, when that was a top of the line computer? I remember waiting for a game to load, turn it on when you come home from school for lunch so it's loaded by the time you get home for the day LOL!!! Or remember before there were digital camera's and if you wanted a picture on the computer you had to scan it after taking it with a film camera and having it developed? Yup, links sure are a hassle

ok, I didn't know that, but at least it allows you to see the whole picture and not have to scroll to read the text. Either way, the only thing I'm good at computer wise is my typing speed, the fact that I can even turn the damn thing on somedays impresses me