mushy the shroom

Wow, I was not aware that we had so many Dream Theater fans on the forum! DT is one of my favorite bands, and I've been listening to them pretty much nonstop for a couple of months. I got Scenes From a Memory first, after hearing it at a party (yeah, my friends have pretty good taste), then after being completely blown away, I went out and purchased Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance, which I did not like as much, but it still had its moments and was much better than most of the other stuff I listen to. Longing for more, I purchased Images and Words, Falling Into Infinity, Train of Thought, and Live at Budokan, and downloaded Awake. Images and Words blew me away after a couple of listens (I have to listen to an album a few times for it to really register, although some I can enjoy on the first listen). Falling into Infinity is pretty good, although more mainstream, and most of the prog is lost. Train of Thought has the coolest album cover I've ever seen, but the music is just little too heavy for me. The vocal effects (sounds like he's talking through a distortion pedal or something) kind of throw me off, because they make it hard to take the songs seriously, although the instruments are mixed well (the guitar has a little too much fuzz, but what can you do?), and some of the riffs are amazing. I think it'tl take a little more getting used to before I can appreciate it's true qualities. I haven't had too much experience with Live at Budokan, but it seems to be really good quality (although, I don't like some of the songs selected). Awake is currently my third favorite album I've heard, with good prog all over. Some of the singing is lacking, but I like it overall. So, I agree with the people here, the singing makes or breaks the band (usually), but most of the time it is pretty good. I expect Octavarium to be a little like Falling into Infinity, in the sense that the same graphic artist designed each cover (I'm assuming this, although I have done no research ). I hope that they lost the edge from Train of Thought, cut the cheese on 6DOIT, and got back into their vocal/intrument interation groove found on Images and Words, and maybe a concept album like Scenes From a Memory (Is that too much to hope for?) Anyway, I'm looking to expand my library further than Octavarium, any of you buffs got any suggestions?

I don't know if anyone else has heard this, or if I'm going to get flamed, but slinkys are supposed to be lower tension. Usually the tension depends on the gauge of the string, but Ernie Ball boasts that their strings are softer and easier to bend (maybe because of a different material?). Anyway, that's why they call them slinkys. I don't know if they are more "slinky" than other brands, but they're supposed to be. On the other hand, what the guy said was false anyway, because the trem unit can counter balance a wide range of string tensions. You can loosen or remove the trem springs if you can't get the trem to lift off the body. Anyway, the only experience I've had with a Floyd Rose was with slinkys, and they seemed to work perfectly for me. A side note, though: lower guage (and lower tension) strings supposedly stay in tune shorter because they are more susceptable to stretching.

Wow, big fan of travel guitars here, and that has got to be the one of the coolest ones I have seen. I don't much care for the blue paint (In my opinion, the only blue acceptable on a guitar is sparkle blue, or transparent blue over quilted maple), but the shape and flexibility look great. Nice build, man. You should honestly enter that in th the GOTM contest!

Sorry, I didn't have time to read through the patent. What does the cylindrical nut do? Adjust nut action? I guess that'd be pretty cool, if a bit unwieldly. Anyway, the whole stepped-fret design appeals more to me than normal frets, but I'm sure it would be ultimately harder to make for a one-off type of build (although, much cheaper for a factory run, if it's moulded). Glass frets sound (kinda a pun there) great, and I'm sure you could do some neat stuff with LEDs and whatnot. I'm not very technical on the ideas, but it seems to me like this would be better if you could get it CNC machined. The initial cost for a one-off is pretty steep (what with all the programming and figuring out the fixtures), but for each subsequent piece, the price is significantly reduced. If you're really bent on moulding it, it would be wise to CNC a multiple use mold, as hand-making one (even if you're going to "trade-up" the type of material you want to work with), would be very innacurate.. even with the finest of measurements.

Very nicely shaped. Did you already get the Gearless Steinbergers? Because the only place I could find them (www.musicyo.com) are sold out, and usually get sold out within a day of recieving them.

I'm pretty sure DR makes Red coated strings, may be close enough. Check 'em out at www.drstrings.com.

Haha wow.. I must ask, what's with the bolts? Aesthetics or digital fixtures ? Nice modeling.

Man.. I wish I had one of those. My vintage handheld routers are starting to look a little incompetant. Hey you live in Chicago? Nice, I live in Ann Arbor, a couple hours away.

Looks just a bit like a Wolfgang guitar, but with a differently shaped bottom horn. Very nice. Is the rebate (groove around edge) going to be so defined? Or are you going to blend it with a concave carve like a Les Paul? I think it looks nice either way, but I would blend it if I had the choice. Nice work.

I first joined to get help with a few specific questions on my first build, but I've been browsing ever since, helping where I can, and trying to gather new concepts that can better the guitar market as a whole. Also, I'm looking for some really good wood.

Wow, fast. Is a tounge groove better? I have a jointer (although jointing quilted maple is a *****), but I found it better to clamp the piece between two metal plates, with a sixteenth of an inch sticking up, and belt sand the edge. Although, to make sure it is perfectly flat, I either have to use wide plates (maybe an L shaped piece of metal). or make some jig that steadies the sander.

Alright, I've emailed everyone you guys have suggested, and I have some results. I'm thinking of a new approach, where I take two 6"x36"x1" and bookmatch them (out of a 2" thick piece). The problem with this is that I would have a seam running right through the neck and through the joint, and this may be too weak. Although, I'm probably going to be making a stainless steel (or other rigid material) fretboard with tons of support rods, some passing through the joint. Does this seem plausible? All help is appreciated.

Probably not much, but it would be a little stronger on a thin fretboard, because the weakest points on a fretboard are underneath the frets where the slots are. Probably just another useless design idea.

Thanks to all you guys. The figure on each piece you've referred me to is up to par, but the size is a little too small(although it does get close atr FWSW).

Hey all, I'm looking for a large piece of highly quilted maple that measures at least 11"x36"x4/4". Anything larger is acceptable. If any of you have such an item, I would be glad to purchase it, and if any of you know of any resources that may carry such a piece, please inform me. I have scoured Northwest Timber's inventory, and have found some near acceptable pieces, but I'm looking for something with a little bit more figure. All help is greatly appreciated.

mled, he's talking about his Tremel-No.. sarcastic son of a woman.

You'd be suprised how little weight affects a guitar's playability (within a certain range). A Les Paul is only about 1 or 2 pounds heavier than a Strat, on average. I built a 4.7 pound guitar, and it is nice, but not all that much lighter feeling than a Strat (although I can play it for hours without any ache in my back). Anyway, if you are concerned with weight, you could just make the body thinner, shave off some wood.

Yeah, I've never been injured seriously, but I have broken a toe twice.. same one, actually. I stubbed it on some furniture, and noticed that it was still hurting a full six months later. So I went on down to the doctor, got some 'rays, and BAM.. hairline fracture. Just taped it up, and it was good in a month or so. Same thing happened a couple years later, I just did the same thing, and I'm all good.

Under The Sea, from the Little Mermaid.. If I'm not mistaken, it has several long pizzacato (sp) sections. I used to play it with a school orchestra (with me on guitar), and I was the only one who could pull of the melody (partly because our teacher had us play it faster than it's meant to be played). Anyway, it sounded terrible, so I just ended up soloing during the concert, because no one could hear me. Anyway, about the topic, I think that all stringed instruments could enter, but the contest should be split up when the vote comes, like the issue with "scratch built" guitars. Sounds like a great idea.

Had to vote for Maiden. I am a big fan of quilted maple, so they will probably get my vote every time. I like the shape on Wix's, and the finish is unique, but the center of the guitar looks kinda like a mistake to me. Also, the stuff on the fingerboard looks like it's rubbing off (has this been mentioned?). I'm a big fan of metal guitars, but the shape and top patterns on MetalCarver's are not my style. It was close with Godin, though.. great guitar. How are those Steinberger Gearless Tuners working out for you? I was thinking of replacing my standard ones with those on my first build.

hey, those look real nice. Love the maple to mahogany contrast. What are you doing for the edges? I think it would look nice with a 1/2" radius round, or a little less.

I really like that body shape. Very original, but not too striking.

Hyunsu, you are incredible. A maxim for you: "A guitar a day keeps the doctor away!". Keep up the good (and fast) work!

Yeah, I'm not worried with moisture, considering there's going to be a lot of CF and steel supporting the metal/glass fretboard. Guitarfrenzy- no hammering/installation involved other than inlaying the glass. String tension is the key, but with lots of rigid material instead of wood and a truss rod, I think the bending will be kept at a minimun. Skibum- I could inlay glass (or acrylic, in this situation) between each fret as an alternative, which was my original plan, but I wanted to see if a continuous inlay pattern that isn't broken with frets (or small fretlines) is possible, and the most plausible material seems to be glass. Thanks for everyone's help.

Yeah, I'm not actually trying to change my guitar tone, just trying to find a translucent alternative to acrylic that I can use for frets... the frets arent going to be inserted into the fretboard, rather machined out of a billet of glass that follows an inlay pattern that corresponds to a metal fretboard machined the same way. I guess that if it breaks I'm outta luck, but I can make the whole setup easy to replace, so I could just machine more glass. As for bending, I'm considering using a non-adjustable truss rod that works in conjunction with the metal fretboard and neck joint so that the whole neck remains rigid.. a little inconvienent, but if it doesn't bend there's no need for an adjustable truss rod, right?