GregP

Of course, you had the benefit of knowing what you were looking for. Or if not-- then you're just smarter and more attentive than me. <grin>

I can't find it, either.

OK, thanks for that. It was a bit confused in my dome at first, but after looking at the diagrams for both the rotary and the blade switches, I now understand what's meant by "4-pole"; and having made THAT connection, the rest has clicked into place. Thanks a bunch.

Is it possible to do THIS with a special blade switch instead of a rotary one? I know a standard strat switch won't do it, but are there ones that will? I'm schematically challenged, even though I know how to solder-- so if it's possible I'll probably need a visual aid. It's the pickup combinations that I'm interested in. Having the split coils in series as well as in parallel, without needing a mini-switch or a push-pull is what sparks my interest. Cheers, Greg

I think it's great. Seems similar, though even easier, than the Steinberger system. If I make a Steinberger-style 'broom' guitar some day, I think I'd prefer this Speedloader over traditional Steinbergers-style hardware.

There's been a thread on this fairly recently. The benefits are many. It is certainly not a joke.

Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right about that. Right now I'm a bit bogged down by selecting a bridge and colour of hardware... but the shopping list is coming together bit by bit.

I would take that a step further and say that shielding is -completely- dependent on the environment you're playing in... hence the terminology! You're not shielding the guitar from itself, but from sources of interference around it..... An example of a guitarist who would benefit greatly from a shielding job is one who spends a lot of their time as a 'bedroom producer', where they're surrounded by computers, monitors (though no amount of shielding will save you from sitting right in front of your CRT monitor), nearfields, mixers, etc. Paulie, you hit the nail square on the head, whether you realized it or not, though-- you indicated that you never had problem with hum anyhow. So how COULD you notice a difference? Those of us with hum problems usually notice a significant improvement from a proper (all material grounded together, for instance) shielding job. There's no such thing as perfect/complete shielding, as far as I know, but is it worth shielding your guitar? Yeah.

Thanks for those. Didn't notice I had another reply until today. Isn't there a "view my posts" function that's not so buried? I contacted Windsor in Thunder Bay, and they directed me to this site: A & M Specialty Woods. It's located in Ontario, but since they ship and sell to the U.S., there'd obviously be no problems sending stuff out West, as well. Anyhow, it's another one for everyone to check out at least. They carry a limited range of binding, inlay, fretwire, and hardware as well. I'm still on the lookout for other Canadian places that sell hardware, if anybody knows of one. The problem with using Warmoth and/or Stewmac is that to get the hardware I want, I'd need to order from BOTH places, so my shipping/customs costs go up. Greg.

Good lord! Another Greg from Canada, but this one has talent and a project on the go. Unbelievable work. I think Vintage Cherry would look killer. Leaving it natural would be an excellent choice, as well, though-- the wood is gorgeous. Maybe a subtle amber burst? I dunno... with work that good, almost any transluscent or transparent finish is going to look top notch! Greg.

On a related note-- I loathed the Godin LG's body and finish when I first saw it. I thought, "Damn that's an ugly sort-of-Les-Paul thing." But I played it anyways. The moral of the story-- he should play some stuff that DOESN'T catch his eye, too. Strange how things grow on you.

I don't know if this has any relevance at all, but my plan is to build a chambered solidbody. Since a picture says a thousand words (taken from the Warmoth website) : So the whole bottom bit is routed out in the non-mission-critical areas, leaving enough wood for structural integrity. Then I imagine one would glue the top of choice over top of that. If not, I need to rethink my plans. I'm not counting on it being particularly resonant, though-- it'll likely be a little bit moreso than a totally solid body; but I'm doing it mainly to shave off some weight.

On a slightly related note, a lot of the new Samick line are excellent value. I saw the Royale in a guitar shop today, along with a Malibu. The Malibu's weird because it looks like a strat with a PRS-like headstock. :S Of course, being the manufacturer of all the other companies' offshore stuff doesn't mean they have any say in the copyright issues. For stuff that's not their own, they just take orders and crank out instruments.

I'm biased, but I think the Godin LG (the P90 has more soul, but the humbuckers sound great, too) is a winner. Hell, for less than a grand, he can get one of each. I'm boggled enough by the feature-to-price ratio on paper, but when I actually pick it up and play it I just shake my head in disbelief. I haven't tried a Carvin, though-- but I've never heard a bad word uttered about them.

The Hamer, for certain... but the PRS? Other than Santana's versions, I think the PRS is a fairly distinctive body type. If you had just a silhouette of a PRS custom and the LP Special, you could identify which is which with no problems whatsoever. If I'm not mistaken, the PRS is noticeably smaller, too-- though it might just be the carves that give that illusion. In any case, the 10% difference "rule" seems pretty silly-- where do they get their measurements? Or is it a 'subjective' 10%? Who decides?

The poll doesn't specify electric or acoustic, so I just went with what I play the most-- my good ol' dreadnought. I string it with Elixirs, and I do believe they are worth the price. To me they sound brighter right off the top, which is good because my guitar is normally a bit dark; it creates a more balanced sound. They last forever (and retain their brightness, while my fingers normally kill regular strings in about a day... and it's not just a placebo effect based on their sales pitch) They feel good to my fingers, especially for slurred phrases. There SEEMS to be less string noise, but I'm not sure if that's because of the nanoweb or because of the way the strings themselves are wound.

Sweetness, indeed!! Fabulous work. What colour will the hardware be?

Just to clarify... Godin bodies and necks are actually made in Canada. They're only assembled in New Hampshire. Right... it depends on your perspective, I suppose. As a Canadian myself, I didn't want to get all nationalistic or anything (as we tend to), because to me, the true attention to detail happens when the pieces come together into a guitar anyhow. Using the word 'assembled' is appropriate, I guess, but more than anything it helps get rid of the poor aesthetic of saying, "Made in the USA from parts made in Canada", you know? Bottom line: LG is a kick ass guitar... and for $550 Cdn new, or the $360 Cdn used that I paid, it's a true steal.

So, is 9% within tolerable limits, or should I be getting it drier? If I HAD to decide today, I'd hold off on the wood and try to find something with less moisture... But since I DON'T have to decide today, does anybody else have a strong opinion? Thanks, Greg

I always liked the black... Until I saw the mahogany, which is super-sweet! Good work!

Hi all, I found a good wood source in the Ottawa area called... er... "The Wood Source"... They carry everything I could need for wood, including 3 different kinds of wood already cut into the right size for fingerboards (that toxic cocobolo stuff may end up being my first purchase <shudder in fear>). What I'm wondering is-- What are acceptable tolerances for moisture levels for guitar bodies and necks? The store says their stuff tends to have about 9% or so, which seemed pretty high. He recommended a guy with a kiln in case I need to dry things further, but obviously that means waiting a lot longer before I can start working on an instrument. ( ). Any thoughts? Greg.

For those who haven't checked this one out yet: Insane Guitar Even though he's tried to be as basic as possible, I think he's missed explaining a few things that an experienced player might take for granted. Still, once you understand the basic technique of sweeping, the examples get gradually more difficult in a very accessible way. Really, what it comes down to (and I'm no sweep master here, I'm just starting, too) is that moment when you understand how to mute the string after playing it, and then actually successfully doing so. The rest is just about learning different patterns or making your own. As for the 'rolling' technique described, this may or may not help: You don't need to make your finger (usually the index, which is making the barre in most cases) into one long stiff arch-shaped thing. It's much easier if you just think of it as pressing down on the string with a different part of your finger each time. Let's say you have an all-index finger sweep with a bit of pinky thrown in there (similar to the Insane Guitar example) e-----------12---15-p-12------------ B-------12----------------12--------- G---12-----------------------12------ D-------------------------------------- A-------------------------------------- E-------------------------------------- When you play that first 'G' (on the G string) you're playing it with your fingertip as usual. But since you don't have time to lift and replace the fingertip, you just fret the 'B' a little bit lower on the finger. For me, it's like playing the G with the tip (though I'm not really arched... my index finger is still touching all strings), and then the B with the flat part near the first joint, and then the 'e' with the area right around the joint. If you don't concentrate too conciously on the muting, but instead concentrate on putting pressure ONLY on the string being played, I think you'll find that the other strings will have a tendency to mute themselves anyhow, or at least you'll only have to devote a very small amount of concentration to lifting the finger a bit to get the proper mute. (ie. putting pressure on the new string and muting the previous one will become -one- action instead of requiring your brain to process 2 events). Cheers, Greg

That's the impression I'm under, too. None of the local stores stock the Made in the USA ones, unfortunately. I was pretty gung-ho to get one of the foreign ones, having heard that the quality is still good, and having SEEN that they look pretty snazzy. So I went down to the local shop.... Well, I walked out without the Hamer, and spent less money at a different shop on a guitar twice as good-- the Godin LG, which IS made in the US, with Seymour Duncan pickups. I still respect the handcrafted Hamers, though. I'd love to have one.

From strolling through their website, Hamer still has an active "Made in the USA" component, which as far as I can tell still uses the same staff and machines that it always has...? Either that, or the original owner maintains some seriously strong ties to the company.... An early 90's Hamer Studio archtop is my idea of 'vintage'... those were some beautiful guitars. I also officially boycott Fender, PRS, and Gibson. Of course, I can't afford PRS or Gibson, so that part was easy. As for Fender, the G&L "Tribute" line will be the last factory-made strat that I will consider purchasing. Bang for the buck, and nice-looking, too. Too bad the "Tribute" decal is ugly-- I don't mind a non-Fender headstock, though.

I tend to get obsessed with one thing at a time, and I usually see it through to completion before I move on to something else. That means that knowing myself, I run the risk of only ever building one guitar every year or so, so I have to pick the right one before I start.... The 5 I'm considering right now, for various reasons: -Strat from a kit, so that I can at least feel what it's like to assemble a guitar. It would be for my father. -Schecter 006-style ripoff, but with some sort of natural finish, and neck-through. -PRS-style guitar. To be honest, I'm moving away from PRS as my dream guitar, but my best friend (without whom I wouldn't even PLAY guitar) is still pecking away on a $100 Mako electric and a $300 Yamaha acoustic. I have a Godin LG, a Yamaha Pacifica, a Yamaha acoustic, and a Guild acoustic. He is 5... no, 10 times the guitarist I am, and I feel he deserves a decent axe. He likes PRS. On the other hand, he's not exactly poor... he makes twice the money I do, so if he wants it badly enough, he can just buy the real deal and make me cry, dammit. -Musicman Axis (in the style of the EVH axe when it was first made) knock-off, which requires less complicated routing and detailing than the guitar I'm about to talk about-- And the one that I'm a bit obsessed with, which would be for myself... this is the one I'm leaning towards: -A dual cutaway hollow-chambered guitar, neck joint undecided (though set in would be most authentic for my vision): *Hollow-body construction, in the style of a Gibson Lucille but smaller. Haven't worked out the body shape, but it'll be a similar size as the Hamer Studio or a PRS, but with more robust cutaway 'horns' like the 345. *jet black with high gloss finish, or VERY SUBTLE blue burst (mostly black still) *F-hole undecided *2 humbuckers -- I have an SB Jazz and an SB 'JB' on the way, though I might sub the JB for something with less output. *Fixed bridge. Either traditional TOM with stop tailpiece, or TOM with string-through into ferrules *2 vol, 2 tone, on cocentric pots *5-way blade switch, with coil splitting options *14 degree angled headstock *cream or white binding *nickel/chrome pickup covers, but with a gold mounting ring *mixture of nickel/chrome and gold hardware -- some of the bridges use both at the same time, so that'd be the starting point *Trapezoid pearloid inlay *Fairly traditional headstock, but with as straight a string-pull as I can manage without throwing off the balance of the traditional look. *Body wood uncertain... mahogany with a maple top? I'm still researching *Ebony fingerboard with white/cream binding *Earvana OEM nut *either traditional 24.75" scale, or 25" *maple neck, painted black as well... and hopefully either I'll figure out how to get a glossy neck to feel slicker, or I'll be able to do a satin finish. *22 frets, medium or jumbo fretwire (haven't decided... but I've always used Medium and I like it, so why switch?) Of course, the problem is that the odds of pulling off the kind of guitar I envision first time around are 100:1 at best. I don't want to be one of those first-time builders who thinks he's going to make a masterpiece first time out of the gate. So, I might be better off making a kit just to see if I take to it. ;-) Greg