VanKirk

I found learning 'box pattern' scales were easier to grasp at first. The minor pentatonic 'blues scale' is a cool, fairly easy one to remember. You can do all kinds of cool things with it like double stops and learn 'turn arounds' when soloing in blues progressions. I found that learning all the 'box patterns' and root notes in a particular scale and key was fun but started sounding the same in all my solos so I found ways to slide, bend or just jump to another box pattern. This also got me outta the box, so too speak, and helped my solos alot. Passing tones are cool notes that can allow you to move between scales or box patterns and spice things up a little. These notes aren't always what's found in the box pattern but make for cool transitions when soloing or playing licks. Just remember that theory is a valuable tool but they are only guidelines, not rules that can't be broken.

Stevie Ray Vaughan in '89 during his 'In Step' tour. That's why I play today. I could not believe that anyone could translate that much feeling and emotion into any form let alone a guitar. I'm one of the many, many SRV wannabes. I've only recently began finding my own style from mixing players like: SRV, Clapton, Mclaughlin and a dash of BB & Albert King. Clapton was cool in Seattle as well. He always has such a great band too. I never thought I'd be a famous player but I always thought it would be cool to be that player that all the great, famous players looked for when they were recording or touring. As for slide players...deffinately Duane Allman or Paul Barrere, he's ok too. Satriani is cool to me because while he can be flashy and fast as hell, he is still able to keep soul and emotion in his music.

I was just told that someone is taking free software from our website at work, burning it to CD and selling it on e-bay. I wonder if it's the same guy. I told a co-worker about this Kench Byers and he says that it's no different than someone downloading music from Napster & Kazaa. I don't agree. I never had any intention of repackaging, selling or taking credit for any songs that were downloaded from Napster or Kazaa. I used this material for my own private use. I never used material and called it my own to gain creditability to prove that ripped off material was authentic and original. Kench is stealing information and making a profit. He's total scum that needs to be shut down and retribution given to his 'victims' Sorry, had to vent a little.

WoW! How thick was the top, 1 1/4"? $$Cha Ching!$$ Looks SAWEET!

I agree. Very reasonably priced & great customer service for an excellent product. Becky & Bill Lawrence are true professionals when it comes to picking the right pup for the sound your after. Just give'em a call. They'll even steer you to another pup maker if they don't have what you want. Just be sure you go directly to them because there are alot of rip-off 'Lawrence' pups out there. The real thing can only be ordered direct.

I don't TOTALLY agree or disagree with this description. My main point is that finding 'the tone' is very subjective. What one person likes is not what the next person may like. 'The Rock Sound' covers a pretty wide tonal spectrum in my opinion. If you have a particular player's sound in mind this may be helpful in finding the sound you are listening for.

...and just turn your amp up to '11' oh crap!...did I just help hijack this thread?! Kevan made me do it!

Both types of pups are used in rock. Do you know a player's tone you are going for? I don't agree with this description but it's a very subjective thing. Once again I suggest testing them out at a local music store. There are so many different aspects that make up tone in a guitar that make it hard to make generalizations like sethmetal has done. No offense seth, I just don't want him to run out and buy a set of buckers based on what someone else says they like only to be dissappointed after the money is spent.

When asking about pup tones you'll get alot of opinions from people and sometimes this kind of thread can get pretty heated (although the guys around here are pretty mellow). I would suggest going to a music store and trying different guitars that have both types of pups in them. I find that smaller, privately owned music stores have employees that know what they're doing and are willing to help. I think that the bigger chain stores like Guitar Center make me feel like I'm walking onto a car lot and alot of the people are just trying to sell you something and don't really care about you. Anyways... Try guitars with as close to the same specs in every way, except for the pups, at a local music store and make sure that you use the same amp on each type. Another suggestion would be to find out what your favorite guitarists have on their guitars and pick the sound you like most. Just keep in mind that the tones you here on record are made by more than just the pup type but you may get an idea of what you want. Alot of guitar mags go into 'the gear of the pros' complete with effects setting, guitar set-ups and amp selection. Good luck in finding the tone that makes you say "Yeah! that's it. That's my sound!"

Yeah, this is a good site for guitar finishing info. They have a forum as well. That's actually where I heard about this site

I'll take the one on the left, thanks! PM me and I'll give you my address.

I think that there'd be enough responses for ideas on how to fix someones 'shame guitar' to make it worthwhile. I also think that it would give other noobies more confidence when making their first project. My problems when learning something new is that I lack so much confidence that it actually hinders my progress and causes me to make mistakes when venturing into 'the unknown'. Knowing that others have had problems and ways to solve them would be a great resource. It might actually get me to route that neck pocket intsead of looking at it 3 times a day sayin to myself 'all that hard work up to this point can go right out the window if my router kicks back' I'll do it tomorrow But knowing that it has happened to others and can be fixed without ruining it would be a BIG relief.

LoL, it's only your B-day for 10 more minutes in my time zone but have a good one!

Very slowly since I'm lacking tools and time. I did manage to find a couple template bits at Home Depot today. I may go ahead and route the neck pocket & control cavity tomorrow. Reading, reading and reading about different finishes cause I'm still undecided. To cause even more indecision, I've been thinking about a lam top with binding. Naw, Carve top in a cherry burst...well...ahhh crap! About the only thing I have decided on is dual gold covered humbuckers that I'd like to order from Brian next payday. The Babygrand bridge is on back-order from Stew-Mac for like 7 weeks!

I agree. Much more satisfying being made yourself and considerably less than $3500 I'm sure.

Then deffinately check with Tommy at USAGC...or even Warmoth for that matter. Tommy's stuff is high quality and he's got more orders than he can keep up with so maybe he needs more help? I think Tommy would make a cool boss. Also check out Tacoma Guitars. I don't think they pay very well but you'd have benefits Good Luck Litch!

It's a Don Grosh guitar. It's what I'm basing my first project body after. I haven't played one yet but their styling and parts look top notch. They should be for their price range. Their finishes kick arse too I posted some more pics in this thread Guitar body making, early progress

I've seen something close to that before.

That sounds cool. I'd like to do one in a French polish. Good luck and I'm looking forward to pics BTW...is the bow separate or part of the kit?

This is where the courts would have to decide where the line is drawn (pun intended) for how close a body shape can be to be considered a violation of copyright. LoL, imagine Ford suing Chevy over a truck design...Ford's claim: "It has four wheel, two doors, a steering wheel, seats and a bed. We believe they stole this design from our company in order to make a financial gain from our design". I agree that Gibson is looking to push PRS down so they can keep thier sales up instead of just letting the quality of thier own products sell themselves. This kinda crap seems counter-productive to me in allowing the guitar making industry to move forward. This makes me feel better that I can skip the corporate off-the-shelf guitar makers who are more businessmen than luthiers by just making my own. I believe actions like this will only cause the boutique/amateur luthier builders to grow while the big corporations loose sales but we'll see in time.

Since this dude sells computer hacking info as well, I'd bet that he's gone to hacker forums to compile the info and burn to CD. It would serve the punk right to find the hacker forums that he's stolen info from and point out to them how he's using their knowledge to make a profit off of it without their consent...Let someone else administer a lil justice. Well said!

What your asking takes time and knowledge. People pay an Electronic Engineer alot of money to design circuitry. What your wanting can be done without an Engineering degree but a basic understanding of electronics is a start. Not meaning to shoot you down but what you need to do is take an electronics course. I'd recommend a local tech college like ITT tech. I've found the more seemingly cool ideas for wiring guitars always takes me back full circle to what's already been done for many years. I like to keep it simple for my simple mind. If you look around on the net you should find alot of cool ideas, schematics and prebuilt circuits kits.

Drak has good advice in this thread. The solder work I do at work is on small ICs (integrated circuits) with 144+ pins that are each the size of a needle point and not much further apart than that (and surface mount). This makes it even more important to make sure you have good, quick heat transfer to prevent damaging expensive components and still maintain a good conductive surface and these ideas still apply to soldering pots. Once again read what Drak has to say about tinning, heat transfer and also about scraping the pot for a good, clean surface to solder to. Flux helps tremendously to transfer heat and allow solder to flow. I use ALOT of flux when I solder but I also make sure to clean it with flux remover when I'm done. When too much flux is used I've seen it remain sticky causing dust particles to stick to it. Dust can have particles of metal/conductive material in it causing short circuits. One thing I would add is DO NOT BLOW ON THE SOLDERED AREA TO COOL IT QUICKLY. This can cause what is known as a cold solder joint. This cools the outer surface of your solder point faster than the inside of the solder and very small cracks can develop at this point. This is probably the #1 problem I run into and these cracks can be hairline thin making it a pain to find the problem on big circuits. Anyways, sorry to go off...it might be a bit more info than necessary if your only going to be soldering wires on control pots but these are the basics to soldering anything.

Thanks Frank. If I screw up my routes badly you've given me a cool idea to just fill the srew ups with some cool wood to make it look like it's a set-neck or even a neck-through and just reroute the new wood That makes me feel better knowing I have an option if my first project gets totally hosed.

I agree with daveq. I'm new to building but not new to hearing comments about details that are almost indecernable to the average ear. The line seems to get lost when it comes to what the human ear can pick up. I've noticed some people (other forums but not much here) getting picky about tone issues that are so minor that only a person with canine hearing could even tell a small difference. Tone is very important to me but finding the balance between tone, playabilty and practicality is what I look for. ie...in playing blues I don't dive bomb a whammy, I do more single note bends with vibrato so my first project is gonna have a fixed bridge. My strat has a vintage style bridge while my G&L has a floating bridge. I personally love the feel of the floating, 2 fulcrum bridge more. Especially for songs that require vibrato on full minor 7th&9th chords. Anyways jivin...I'd say go play all styles of guitars that you can get your hands on at music stores side by side and decide what you FEEL is right to you and your playing style.