mushy the shroom

That is a good-looking SG. The finish doesn't look that bad, actually, but I could see how you would like to replace it. And congrats on the inlays, they look marvelous. Very ambitious, building the neck; great job!

Great finish, love the color, very vibrant.. the maple is killer, also. Good luck with finishing it, Bill Lawrences are great pickups!

Incredible shape, very unique. I would have liked to see the paint darker or lighter (as it is now, it looks a bit spotty), but I could imagine it would shine in good light. Great build! Keep it up!

The carving near the bottom is quite elegant, but the horns and waist could use some work. As duo said, the waist could be staggered (offset), and I think the horns could be a bit less symmetrical.. perhaps the lower one should be bigger? Just a thought.. play around with it until YOU like it the most. Also, as you asked if anything needed to be changed for it to play well, that usually depends on the neck, nut, and bridge configurations, rather than shape, unless you're talking about how it would balance or play sitting down. In either case I think it would perform rather well. Good job.

I like the finish and carved top, even though the paint job is a bit dull. Did you make this? Or are you interested in the shape, because the carve is really quite unique around the horns, and if that is your thing.. it's pretty cool. The body shape actually looks somewhat used; it seems to be worn down around where the arm lays across it, and there is residue under where the pickup mounts would go, and some various other dings, it seems. What I don't like is the lack of a round-over on the edges, it seems it would be somewhat uncomfortable. The routing for the pickups is quite sloppy, but if the rings cover it, then who cares? Good job if it is yours, and if it isn't.. it's still a pretty cool guitar.

Hey, some Van Halen fans! Good news! Welcome abrichardson, it's nice to have someone new around here with some new knowledge. We look forward to your contributions.. and helping you. Enjoy the site, it really is a good resource.

Haha Cooledit! I used to use that.. I had some problems with levels, but generally it's not bad (not professional, but not crummy).. Now it's Adobe Audition, but it's basically the same. Nice to find a fellow metalhead (even though we're not that rare).. Keep on rocking, dude!

Great bass, scotty. The wood is killer, especially the neck, and I do like the shape, especially the ergonomics. Good luck finishing it!

Dang, you're selling that? I really liked that one. In my opinion, better than your new one (althought I haven't heard much of it). Whatever, whoever buys that is getting a killer deal. Good luck!

Great Les Paul! I was going to buy one with a similar finish a while back, but it never happened. And it's good to know that other people prefer stainless frets ! One thing I would have done, is added some binding to make it look more like a Les Paul Standard, rather than a Studio, but if you like that look, I bet you're very satisfied. Some other things I like also, are the lack of inlays in the fretboard, and the wood knob. Very intricate. Great job, dude!

Wow, quite a good jig. Is that fretboard at the bottom of your last pic lacewood?!

Hmm.. I seem to be seeing a lot more of these recently. I must say, yours looks quite nice, and a little more original than some of the others. Although, one thing I would like to see would be if the scallops (I believe this is the correct term) in the sides weren't so straight radiused.. I mean, if you sagged the radius towards the bottom a bit, sort of like a hook, it might look a touch more even. But you know, you didn't ask for advice, so if you like it how it is GO FOR IT!!! I'd love to see this one get finished.

Not bad, the finish should be interesting. But, how are you going to achieve it? The pickup choice should be interesting.. quite a range! Good luck, man. I hope that turns out well.

Gotta say, Emachine shop's 3d CAD freeware is my favorite. The cool thing is, you can get an instant quote from their online machining service, which has quite a variety of different machines, from 3-axis mills to injection mold machines. Even cooler, it's free from www.emachineshop.com . I'm thinking of getting some guitar parts machined from them.

That's probably the most elegent Warlock I've seen. The fretboard looks very well done. The whole "simplicity" factor seems to tie it together, and the lack of pots helps everything. I think, if you have an amp handy, or you don't need immediate control of volume or tone or whatever, what's the use of pots?

Great shape, but it seems a tad small for a bass. I'm not a big fan of the finish, looks too porous, but the neck is great. What type of pickups are you planning on dropping in it?

Very cool thing to do, Vwall. I'm in.

I really like that curly maple jazzish one (although the neck style choice is a little odd). And I would like the walnut (?) one more if the top cutaway was better shaped (maybe extened a little further out and had more body). But yeah, the one in the first post looks pretty sophmoric. I think it could have used smoother edges, and it woulda looked nicer, but the shape could also use some revamping. You could still make a kinda funky V out of it, by slicing the cutaways off

I like Iron Maiden, but the graphic is a bit cheesy. Does it hold some significance to you? Because it doesn't correspond to any Iron Maiden album. I think it would be cool if you did it in front of a starburst, with darker colors, or maybe a close up of the chipmunk's? face.

John Petrucci (who mled is reffering to) plays in Dream Theater, and released a solo album recently. If you like guitar playing, I'd check Dream Theater out. A good starting album is "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory", or "Images And Words".

Using it as a head sounds like a good idea (if I were you I would go so far as to construct a new casing for it). You probably know this, but make sure you match the ohms for the cabinet and head. Otherwise, you would have some serious problems.

Maybe we should turn this thread into something positive, like an instrument photography tutorial. I got a few tips: 1. Shoot outdoors. Unless you have professional lighting and backing, the sun's natural light (on a sunny day, of course) should show off the finish and details. Beware of shadows, though. Your body may block some of the focus or the background, or the sun may be at shuch an angle so that parts of the guitar (like pickups) create a long shadow on the body. Also, make sure the sun is in front of your instrument. Nothing stinks more than a washed out image of a darkened guitar because the sun is behind it. 2. Use a tripod. Blurry pictures can detract from the beauty of the instrument. If you don't have a tripod, use a stepstool, or some other stable surface. If all else fails, use the "sport" function (if you have a digital camera) to decrease the shutter speed. The clarity of the image depends greatly on how much the lens (or object being photographed) moves while the shutter is open. 3. Mind your background. A good background should contrast with the instrument in color, contrast, and brightness. But be sure not to use colors that are too "hot" (i.e. bright red, neon green). As for the texture, make sure it isn't homogenous (meaning all one color or texture). But make sure that there isn't too much of a contrast in shapes or colors, as they may distract the viewer from the main focus. Leaves work well, but grass can be dull. Try not to use a solid color, unless you have a fabric sheet that has wrinkles (to add texture) behind it. It usually looks good if your instrument is brighter (more illuminated) than your background, also. 4. Mind your angles. If you lay the instrument on the ground and photo from above, the angle of the instrument in relevance to the film (or digital sensor) usually looks strange. Your best bet is to lay the instrument against something so that the angle of the body isn't exactly perpendicular to the camera, but not too far off. Your camera lens should be perpendicular to the ground. Shooting a guitar against a wall usually works well if the wall looks nice. 5. Be careful with focus. You want your main item to be as clear as possible, but the background should be a little blurry. This effect is easy to achieve if your instrument is far from your background, or your camera is close to your instrument. Also, with the picture selector on digital and SLR cameras, it's wise to choose the "portrait" option, which puts the main item in focus with the background blurry. But beware, if your lens is not centered on the main item, the camera will put the background into focus. 6. Mind the placement of your instrument. If you have a really interesting background (such as a lake), you may want your instrument off to the side (this works better with people). Cameramen in the movies use the "rule of thirds", in which they divide the screen into thirds vertically and horizontally, and place the focal points at the intersections. For most settings, though, you will want the guitar in the middle of the shot, and as straight as possible. 7. Get photoshop. Either shell out $500 (or something) or pirate it (just kidding... kinda), but it is really worth it. With a little bit of practice, you can edit out sneakers, or add visual effects. One very valuable tool is the level adjusters, which can change the RGB levels, contrast, brightness, sharpness, etc. If you don't know how to use these, perform an "auto levels" function, in which the computer determines the best settings for you. Of course, make sure that the image's biggest dimension is 600 pixels on this forum. If you don't like it, post a link to your giant photo. It may help to crop out some of the background so you can squeeze as much of your guitar as you can into 600 pixels. Also, if you don't have a constant need for a high powered photo editor, just ask a friend (or me) who has it to help you. 8. Invest in a good camera. The digital camera market is growing very fast, and it's getting easier to take quality pictures at low prices. Make sure you have over 2 megapixels for a good resolution. Of course, make sure that the camera is on the biggest resolution/size setting for these important shots. Nothing's more frustrating than spending an hour setting up a great shot, shooting it, and uploading it, only to find that your photos are the size of a postage stamp. If you can't afford a new camera, or you have a quality analog camera, just bring it in to a photo place and ask for digital prints. Most companies will give you a CD with all your photos on it in relatively high quality. This is a good option if you have a quality analog SLR camera, and you don't need to invest in a new digital one. 9. Webspace, webspace. Make sure that you own the bandwidth that you're using to display the image(s) on this forum. There are several rules regarding this. Either buy some webspace, or use www.photobucket.com or www.photojerk.com for free image hosting. The problems with these sites, though, is that you can exceed your daily bandwidth, or the public access options can get screwed up. That's about it for me.. I encourage others to give some tips of their own.

Haha, nice. I do love the guitar though.

Nothing a quick photoshop can't fix. Of course, it would've been easier to just crop it . Anyone who wants some photoshop work done, just send me a PM, I'll do if for free, providing it's not too complex.

Yay! I got the last copy at Borders yesterday. Sorry to all the Ann Arbor Deam Theater fans. I've only been able to listen to it three times so far, but I really like it so far. The first song sounds like a mix between Train of Thought, Falling Into Infinity, and 6DOIT, continuing the saga of Portnoy's alcoholism. I like it, but the singing isn't the best for most of it. The second is a ballad that never seems to really pick up. The singing is beautiful (not my style, really, but I can really appreciate it). I do like the song, but it doesn't deserve the five-something minutes they gave it. Maybe if Portnoy had an insanely complex drum beat it would be better? Now, the third song is killer. It sounds like the mix quality of Scenes from a Memory, with the vocal/instrument relations of Images and Words, with the rough edge of Awake. Very nice. The next four songs are some of the best on the album, but I have not been able to listen to them very much yet. It seems Panic Attack has some of the best intrumentals (great bass intro), and each song has some amazing riffs. One of the songs (not sure which) is either full instrumental, or has a great instrumental section, but on my first listen it seems that this song is the only one with a really ripping guitar solo. Maybe this is something they should address on the next album. The twenty-something minute title track at the end is pretty good for the most part (haven't been able to concentrate much on it), but it starts out really slow. I do like some of the lyrics (it seems Portnoy wrote these, and they are clever, with a few puns). Anyway, the album is definatly better than Train of Thought and Falling into Infinity, and it may be better than 6DOIT, but it still has the modern rock influence that I have not come to terms with. But then again, I haven't been able to fully digest the album yet, I may elaborate later. And thanks Mr. Churchyard, I will definatly check out Liquid Tension Experiment, and their first album.