Jester700

I get great travel use out of my Steinberger spirit ($300-ish) and a Zoom PS-02 headphone amp. Not as good sounding as my DG Stomp or V-Amp2, but serviceable, AND runs on batteries, AND can record ideas. And it's tiny - 4" x 4" x 1" or so. And has aux in put for hooking up a CD player to jam to. If you don't need to record, any of the Pandoras are pretty good as well, and I think Zoom has a non-recording unit now, too (plus a bigger, better one in the PS-04.

AH! Like a self fulfilling prophecy. Sneaky.

The closest thing to a true bucker you'll get on a strat is wiring the neck & middle or the bridge & middle together in series. Period. That way, they will buck hum, and basically BE a humbucker, except that the coils are seperated by more space and the magnet config is different. Of course, because of these things it won't sound exactly like a bucker, but it's as close as you get. If that's NOT how he's doing it, he's taking the long way around.

I just got a "second" guitar that sounds fine, looks fine except for the one finish flaw that was noted before purchase. The issue is, the brace right beneath the soundhole is cracked. It starts at the center, and is about 1/8" by the time it gets to the body side. It won't stay down on its own, so how can I glue this thing with wood glue? I can't figure out how to clamp it and I assume CA won't work. Or is there a gap filling CA for this kind of stuff? There's no buzzing or anything, but I got this for a student of mine and I want it to be "right" for her. Here's a pic: Thanks for any help.

To everything there is a purpose... As others have said, MDF is dead. This makes it terrible for guitars, which should resonate. But it also happens to make it excellent for speaker cabinets, which SHOULDN'T resonate. Plywood is in the middle for both purposes (unless strength is desired, like in PA speakers - then plywood is often preferred over MDF).

I've heard that before, but it doesn't work that way in the DiMarzio HS series of stacked humbuckers, which are wired in series. Those have no poles in the lower (dummy) coil, and the lower coil is sheilded from the upper. In those, there is loading and decreased output and treble when the bottom coil is connected. Thus, I disconnect the bottom coil. I always use those in combination anyway, so no loss for me WRT hum.

I've heard that from others, too. But still others share my (one) experience - that it isn't as stable. I'd be willing to buy that if the regular nut is perfect (or you're willing to make it so) it'd be fine, but if not the locking nut will likely be better. The locking nut seems more certain, and works well even with non "straight across" designs - say, like Jacksons. Of course, locking nuts are more of a pain in other ways.

I got a carvin neck with graphite nut & sperzels to put on an edge-equipped ibanez radius. Had it a couple months before getting a behind-the-nut lock for it. If you're doing lots of whammying, you want a locking nut, IMO.

S540=540S. This is a weird one; that inlay isn't stock. It'd be nice to see some close ups of it! Sabers weren't basswood; they were mahogany. I had a couple and I liked them. Nice guitar, good pickups. They're light - about 7 lbs; same as a JS or radius, because though mahogany is heavier, there's less wood.

Warmoth's measurement is a bit thicker. I asked them if they could do the old Yamaha Pacifica profile, and they said it was no longer programmed, but that they were going for a wizard feel for that, so that's the one to get. BUT they don't offer the carbon rods anymore. The guy said that isn't a problem, but the only neck I ever had that warped was a wizard, so I just don't trust it. USACG WILL put in the rods. Note that the warmoth will have their compound radius by default. *I* think that's an improvement, but if you don't, be sure to order the 16" straight radius.

I went with a PUTW model 54 and a Baggs classic pre from their iBeam line. I like the soundboard pickups, and there are other good brands - K&K also comes to mind. Careful about what pre you use, since many are EQ'ed for Piezos - they have a big mid boost in them.

I've seen playable stuff at $250 from several brands - Takamine's Jasmine label, Samick, Yamaha...

Just tryin' to help. I never said it had no time domain effect, just that this was not the cause of the extra clarity. There was an old hifi version where the FX could be applied seperately, and a review said there was no audible difference with just the alignment but an obvious one with the "booster" switched in. Now, maybe they changed the circuit since then. It would be interesting to see a frequency analysis in both level & time domans pre & post to suss this out. There is MORE HF energy after BBEing - that won't arise from simple fixed delays. Now, I just noticed the reference of HF "dynamic control" in that SOS article - that probably means HF expansion, which would boost highs. So I'll concede that I was mistaken WRT harmonic generation - the highs are just boosted by expansion.

Basically, they both add treble. The exciter generates upper harmonics from midrange frequencies. This can work well on sources that lost their treble - like cassette tapes. For guitar you're adding harmonics to the ones that are there. Maybe you like it, maybe not. I don't generally care for it. But if you use it, be careful. It often happens that you get used to it, crank on more, get used to THAT, etc... repeat until your ears bleed from treble overload. The Maximiser claims to "realign" bass & treble in time to give greater clarity. This is pure bunk. IIRC, this was originally designed for hi fi systems with 3 way speakers that usually have drivers mounted on a flat face. In this arrangement, the sound from the woofer actually originates an inch or two behind that of the tweeter, which this purports fo fix. Unless you're sitting in an EXACT sweet spot and never move your head, the distance they claim to fix is the LEAST of your worries. And on guitar rigs where there's one speaker or 2 or 4 that reproduce the same frequencies, even the theory makes no sense. So why does the maximiser make audio SOUND brighter? You may have guessed - it also has a harmonic generator. Theirs sounds a little different than the aphex, and I actually slightly preferred it on program material (like brightening cassettes). But they're similar.

Looks pretty close to the $170 Saga. Different woods, though... http://store.yahoo.com/chrisbsmusicinc/sagelguitkit.html

They've offered this as a "hidden option" for a while now - not in the catalog, but requestable. Unfortunately they DON'T offer the one I want - the 12-15" compound radius that was their standard a year or two ago. Still, very nice. AND, (in case anyone missed my other post) the options are half off when you buy a neck.

Don't forget DiMarzio, the biggest of them all. A few patents under their belt for this as well, and the HS line came out in 1980. I don't like their current legal strategies, but credit where it's due...

Remember that even perfectly matched coils will not be perfectly hum cancelling in the real world, because they don't occupy the same space and will thus sense different noise. Given this, if I have a choice between a pup that is "90% of theoretical" in reality based hum cancellation and one that is maybe only 75% but I like the sound better, I might go that direction. DiMarzio has sold a ton of pickups on this principle.

True, but in a similar environment, IME matched coils do reject noise a little better. I know with my guitars a JB does better in this regard than a Steve's Special. I'm not swapping out the SS because I dig the sound, but it would be nice to know if there was a "most important" measurable value for this so it could be taken into account when designing/building.

Ken has said in an interview that the skin protects the basswood from dings since it's soft, but is not for structural support. According to him, basswood is strong and stiff and needs no reinforcement. Like you, I don't find it intuitive that basswood, being softer than alder, could be stronger & stiffer. But then I'm not a knowledgeable wood guy.

Carvin uses alder on their Holdsworth neck, and offers it as an option on other guitars. But they use graphite rods as well. Parker uses basswood.

I hadta quote this, because it applies to damn near all of our usual arguments in this goofy niche. Solid state vs. tubes vs. modeling. Real singles vs. split humbuckers. Real '57 strat ('59 Paul, '78 frankenstrat, etc.) vs. reissue. "Who do you want to fool?"

ONLY the Cobalts are outsourced. I suspect both brands source them from Cort or Samick - there's a persistent rumor about Cobalts & Cort. But the non-Cobats ARE made in the USA. The headstock thing? I dunno. Coincidence or copy, but not the same factory.

Looked into it. 'tis true - AND I could get the floyd nut. I ordered one. Just so y'all know I ain't crazy, it didn't USED to be this way! When I got the kit last time, I DID ask about options on just the neck, and he said they'd be full price. They must change their rules every year. Or it depends on the sales guy. Guess I can't complain, tho'...

I need to look into that. This'll be the first time they ever did that, and it's not in the catalog or on the web site...