GregP

Looks great! Looks like there are also some ergonomic considerations made in the design, which is rather cool. Mainly, though, the finish and shape simply "look great" without any further need to qualify.

with no pots or anything in the way, that P90 is wide open. I'm not surprised it was harsh.

Do NOT get one of the MG_DFX amps. I have a 30-watt combo, and I can't handle the artificiality in the distortion. I'm not against solid-state or digital (I'm a big fan of amp modeling a la Line6, etc), but the MG has a resonant peak in just the wrong area that produces this weird artifact that I can never get past. And the way it handles the FX is so limited that there might as well not be any effects on board at all. Sorry, I have no counter-recommendations to make, but I really think you're better off with almost anything other than the MG.

http://www.epiphone.com/Doctor/epiactive.html As far as I can tell, they're passive pickups with the preamp moved onto the pickup housing itself, and MAYBE with some additional voicing via EQ... maybe.... There are active electronics on-board. I guess that makes them "active pickups". But the technology doesn't seem as interesting when done this way, compared to EMG who actually have different (fewer, at least) coil windings. If I wanted to go this route (the core technology-- passive pickup with a preamp), I'd get passive pickups that I really liked, and add a separate preamp and/or EQ. The name is also bad... if they want to sell these aftermarket (hard to say, maybe they're just going to be for certain models like their Epiphone version of the Zakk Wylde LPs) they needed a much better name than this. They could have even been sneaky and called them "EPA" with 3 letters in the bottom corner. Greg

Unfortunately, with trouble-shooting, more information, pictures, etc. would be needed. Because to just take you at your word "everything is wired exactly correctly" the only answer is the obvious one: well, then, your pickup or another component is broken. But it's easier to triple-check wiring than it is to go on a hunt for a broken component. More than once I've found myself staring at a diagram and the at my cavity and thinking, "this effing sucks, I KNOW I did it right" only to notice something that I had done wrong. On my last wiring job, it was that I had reversed the wires on the output jack (note, doing that wouldn't result in the symptoms you're describing). If you have access to a multimeter, there are any number of things you could check before pulling it all apart, and I believe you can even check the resistance of the pickups themselves without actually desoldering them. To be honest, I've never had to do exhaustive multimeter checks with wiring that's already in-place, so a more experienced person could better advise. Pickups aside, you should be able to check the point-to-point wiring of your wiring to make sure you're getting continuity (for example, the wire from the volume lug to the switch, or if it's a more complex switch, the wires from one lug to another). In those cases, you want to make sure your multimeter tips are touching the LUGS, not the wire itself... if you're not getting continuity, THEN you check the wire itself to see if it's a physical problem with the wire, or a problem with your solder joint. In any event, I'm not an expert, just a hack... my recommendation can and should be commented on by pros, but my steps would be: 1. Triple-and-quadruple check your wiring. You might be overlooking something, the same way a writer can overlook a misspelled word a dozen times because the brain has convinced him it's correct. Orient your knobs and switches either physically (if possible), on paper, or mentally to match the diagram, so that you can be absolutely sure you're wiring to the right lugs, etc. 2. Check the things that can be checked without desoldering (point-to-point, and possibly the pickup resistance which will give you a clue as to whether it's working or not) 3. All else failing, pull'er apart again and begin checking components separately. Steps 2 and 3 will require a multimeter, so if you don't have one already, borrow one or buy one (you can get a cheap one for little money, and you'll likely use it again in your life, so it's not money wasted!) Greg

I'm always surprised when people request a triple-humbucker solution. That aside, if I were lucky enough to own it, you'd have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers. Greg

I think your own posts are saying more about you than I ever could, Wes. If mine are that boring to you (which is fine by me... I never tried entertaining you or anyone else... I have nothing to prove and never claimed to be writing for anyone's entertainment) then you're welcome to not only pretend to not read them, but pretend you don't want to reply to them and then REALLY do just that. It would bring a smile to my face. It would save me from writing boring replies to your even more boring attempts to provoke... what? Some sort of weird little fight? Not interested. You're really just a typical internet troll, but you don't know it. Troll, begone! "Wes The Man." Even your name says it all. You're the man all right, Wes... you're the man... rock on with your bad self. <lol>

Heck, I literally *DID* forget that you're a teacher. Or I never knew. I'm not sure which. In any event, I'm not upset like my post may read. Wes's... approach... does tend to wear me down a bit, I have to admit, but my habit of over-explaining (which is the only thing Wes has ever gotten right about me) might make it look like I'm taking it more personally than I really am. C'est la vie. I'm not perfect, either.

Hey cockroach, I think most people on this site would instead recommend a waterslide decal, followed by a clearcoat. If you look on the main "projectguitar.com" site, there should be one I believe, written by Jehle. If it's not at the main site, Google around for it and Jehle might have it up on his personal webspace somewhere. I'm not sure about the actual sticker question, though, I'm afraid. Is this going on a headstock that's already finished, or is it currently bare wood or an otherwise un-lacquered finish?

Perry, I didn't mean that you'd necessarily do some fancy staining or custom paint (like the WOMD); just that you'd choose or approve (if it's the customer's decision) the right finish for the job and pull it off the way it deserves. Solid black seems like a good choice, whoever's decision that was.

I didn't realize you were so narrow-minded. If you also think that all accountants act alike and all mechanics act alike, then I'm certainly not going to be able to change your fundamental mindset by explaining how skewed that worldview is. I do wonder why you always have to try to make personal digs at me, though. Even when I simply point out that you made a good joke, you have to turn it around and throw an insult in there. Typical "angry metalhead" behaviour, I guess. As for the talking like I write thing, heck, *I* don't even talk like I write (for example, I probably wouldn't choose the term "skewed worldview", now that I'm rereading it and imagining it... I'd just say "I'm not going to convince you how f***ed that is"), so I highly doubt you know anybody who talks like this. I think you have a particular coloured (and revisionist) memory of your high school years that you haven't let go of, but I don't buy for a second that you currently know teachers who ACTUALLY talk like this, especially outside of the classroom over a beer. In any event, I wasn't always a teacher, I sort of became one accidentally (though I loved it), and I'm not a teacher now. I restate: a person's job is not who they are but what they do. Discarding personality shortcuts (stereotyping) is a sign of maturity you haven't quite reached yet, it seems. It works fine when you're a kid in high school (avoiding or gravitating toward nerds, jocks, metalheads, or whatever), but it's kind of sad to see in a grown man in his thirties. And you've called people "nerds" enough to show that really... you *haven't* discarded stereotyping yet. I haven't seen any EMG bigotry. :-/ Wasn't his position already clarified that he's not anti-EMG? As for me, not even the least bit. I don't have a tonne of "hands-on" experience with EMG, but to me they're the most compelling pickup company around, with Lace coming in second (I like that both do not use traditional passive technologies but are improving on (or at least making lateral moves, depending on your value system) the technology). I don't actually own any guitars with EMGs (yet), but I keep trying to find excuses to buy a set for my LG, and they'll certainly be going into my engagement guitar. Greg

Wes, I haven't been a teacher for 2 years. Besides that, a person's profession isn't "who" they are, it's what they do. I don't know of many active pickups other than EMG that use a different coil archetecture. As far as I know, Bartolinis can also work in "passive" mode, implying that they're basically passives with a preamp. I could be wrong-- Bart's website is terrible. Epiphone has some new actives, I see. THey're passives with an integrated (on-board) pre-amp. Lord only knows if they're good or not, but they should have chosen a better name than "Epi-Act" or whatever it was... Epi-something... Greg

I know you're going to pull something awesome off, but I don't prefer the body shape, so far. Your finished products are so sick, though, that my mind might well be changed as it progresses.

Just when I thought you were ONLY a such-and-such, you bust out a funny.

The work does look marginally improved. And I've always said I love the "humbucker in a soapbar housing" look.

Awesome that you're amused by pretending someone else is unhappy. Knock yourself out!

Dude, you bumped a 2-month old thread to say that. STFU already.... jeez....

An apostrophe can sure make a difference in meaning. I puzzled over "were assuming", thinking, "but I didn't assume anything-- he SAID he wants it dual action", since 'were' (past tense of "are") matches perfectly with the subject "you". Of course, you meant "we're" referring to the two people recommending self-made single-action. I agree that most people will never need dual-action.

Considered Lace Gold or Hot Gold pickups?

His original post specifies that he wants dual-action.

I don't remember paying insane tax or duty for stuff I had sent from StewMac or LMII. Have you tried these people? http://www.guitarpartscanada.com/ They don't list any truss rods on their site, but it might be worth contacting them to see if they can do anything for ya.

Happy B-Day.

Heh, I put that sig line in there as a temporary replacement for my old one... haven't gotten around to putting something new. You're not out to lunch-- there may indeed be a difference in volume with the polepieces not being aligned absolutely perfectly. That was the whole idea behind differentiating between the different spacings. However, in practice, the difference might be tiny enough that it won't be worth getting a whole new pickup. The only real test is-- try it out, and if you like it, keep it. If you really don't like it, the small difference in individual string volume isn't going to be significant enough to affect the tone as a whole... and not liking it would signify that you just don't like the sound of a FRED. Greg

If you compared a normal with an F-spaced side-by-side one right after the other, you MAY hear some differences depending on how sharp your ears are. But since the difference is minimal, the F-spaced you already own may work perfectly fine for you. Why not give it a go before dropping coin?

Have you considered MicroPlane? Not too expensive, and perform awesomely.