GregP

He DOES sound flaky, and even sounds like he's not really into it. The only thing I'll say, playing Devil's Advocate, is that although you may want to share songwriting duties, maybe he doesn't feel like a lyricist? And then when you make the effort to extend it into the drum parts, instead of saying, "Yeah, THIS is where I really get to contribute!" he's just feeling pressured or that you're just making excuses to involve him. And if you ARE just using the drum thing as an excuse, he might be detecting it and feeling condescended to. But yeah... that's just Devil's Advocate... overall he seems disinterested. Not too many drummers around. If he's any good, you might want to at least give him a bit more time to shape up.

I've always found photobucket.com to be very reliable. Also has a handy way of creating thumbnail-sized links.

That's a theory worth looking into, for sure. Another one: is the action too low? You talk about lowering the nut being a common recommendation, and that's not usually part of a "too-low" tone equation, but it's worth asking I guess. Usually you can hear strings fretting out, but in some cases the contact is very slight.

Looks absolutely fantastic. Be sure to pass along any compliments from us to him.

Indeed! When I wrote that, I honestly believed some sort of bug was causing old threads to end up on the "new posts" list, and then people would reply to them.

And the feet-on-stage thumping sounds. This StS person is brilliant.

The Vai one was awesome. :lol

It's worth looking into. I'll see what my landlord has to say on the issue. I have no clue about the breaker box. Greg

You're going to burst a poor little rodent? JK. If even a $25 airbrush works better, that's a pretty minimal investment, I would think. I'm not anywhere near bursting a guitar (no guitar to burst...) but I'll keep this advice in mind.

Current links don't work. In the process of resizing, perhaps? Curious to see, since if I do any of my own work, it'll probably be rattlecan.

I'm not sure I'm able to identify a "definite ground" on that thing. Maiden and Rich: here's the longish version: My apartment building has been around since the dawn of time. Or at least, since the 50's. It has concrete construction, and therefore I can't even run my own grounds to a spike (and I don't know if I'm permitted to install my own spike) or to a cold water pipe without much difficulty OR an unsightly mess. I noticed the problem immediately upon moving here (but not BEFORE signing the lease... grrr) because I checked the outlets prior to (or shortly after? I can't recall) plugging in my recording equipment and computer. Called the landlord to explain the situation, and he sent over an electrician who swapped out all the standard 3-prong outlets for 3-prong GFI units. This should theoretically go a long way to prevent shock hazards, but it doesn't help the noise levels of my recording equipment, which of course wants to be grounded. I basically can't record any audio right now because of how cruddy and noisy the equipment sounds. I'm not sure how much of that is ground, and how much of it is being situated near a telephone interchange (or whatever it's called... it's a telephone node right outside my window). Needless to say, I didn't look into the recording equation before signing the lease. My and my fiancee just said, "Yeah, it's a cool apartment, and clean! Let's take it!". The Garnet amp is currently at my folks' place, so I'd have to go out there to check it and to see if it's in fact 2-prong. I can't fit it in this ap't, and it'd be too loud anyhow. <grin> I'll try to remember to check when I'm over there next. Greg

Heh, yeah, I didn't mind that at all-- it's all good info to have, esp. since I'm no expert. I was more referring to Maiden's "point" highlighted in red. The Garnet definitely zaps when you flick the switch. It always has! I'm quite certain that it only has a 2-prong cord, for one thing. I'd have to have a look. Not sure how to test with a meter and all that jazz, and I'm not sure where a schematic could be found. The Garnet company is neato, though.

A more apt analogy would be that the glued joints (if glued properly) are more like welds than springs/suspension. The act is to join the wood together solidly, not tentatively. The pic was just a joke... Wes was looking for it... Conversation is indeed best, you're right about that. Just make sure that it's not one-sided and that you don't have your opinions so solidly formed that you're not willing to listen to knowledgable peeps and/or logic. Also... +1 that Ed Roman is a snake-oil salesman and not a credible source.... conversations about him are done to death around here, yet every now and then we see evidence that people are believing what he writes. Your first and best step if you want to start down the path of learning is to ignore everything he says, wholesale. Even if there are grains of truth here or there (I've yet to see any), it's best to just assume everything he says is myth, voodoo, pseudo-science, and BS. Much safer.

My own apartment, which I've moaned about in the past, has 3-pronged outlets by appearance only. Inside the box there are only 2 conductors. There are going to be venues like that. There are going to be electricians who have done their job wrong, and there is going to be plenty of vintage equipment being used out there. I mean, the very passage you highlighted stipulates 3 requirements to create the "impossible" scenario: 1. modern equipment 2. 3-pronged equipment 3. proper grounded outlet. I'd add a fourth: 4. properly-wired amp, but 3 is enough. And I will STILL agree (and always have... I thought it would go without saying...) that I'm unlikely to come across that scenario myself, especially as old buildings get replaced and updated with new stuff. But that's not really a point I was either making or disagreeing with. In other words, a straw man. When I rewired my own guitars, I never bothered with that particular mod (following the source of that quote-- GuitarNuts' instructions), even though I had the opportunity... it just didn't seem worthwhile given that I'm not a gigging guitarist and that I have an outlet-checker. But there's a big difference between saying something is very rare and saying that it's impossible. Ironically, I would have used that same quoted paragraph (which is from an article and instructions about why it can be a good idea to include preventative measures), and without the red highlights, would have used it to as an example of how it's possible to get shocked. If I felt like getting in someone's grille that was bugging me (for whatever reason) and chose to use highlighting, I might instead highlight the "LETHAL" part, the "WHEN THEY OCCUR" part, or the description of the shock path. In other words.. I'm not sure why you bothered quoting that at me and selecting a passage to highlight.. it doesn't disprove anything I claimed, and is completely irrelevant to the conversation I thought was already over. I feel cornered into responding to this continued conversation, yet if I do I come off as a pedantic twat (which IS a shoe that sometimes fits. ) compared to you longhaired rebels. If you don't mind... enough already....

Hrm. I'm having a hard time sorting through all that. Are you saying that there's no way you can get a shock from your amp being plugged into a dodgy outlet? There's information out there that would differ, though I admit I've never experienced it or even talked personally to someone who has. As for the polarity switch, I have living proof in my Garnet amp. You DON'T want to grab your strings if the switch is thrown the wrong way. I don't know if it's volume-dependent or not, but even at low volumes there's quite a sting. I have to admit, amps are even less an area of specialty than guitar. Greg

A thick layer of glue acts like a car suspension not the joint. Nah. Most glues tend to get hard. But guitars aren't glued together with a thick layer that acts as a "buffer" between pieces of wood anyhow. So even if glue were that rubbery, that's not how guitar woods are jointed, laminated, etc. So, it's a false analogy. (all meant in fun )

I didn't mean the original bump... just the month+ -later bump to continue the conversation between me and him. In any event... yeah... no need to ground the bridge...

black labb-- how does that thing attach? I see no screw holes or other methods of fixture!

Pretty cool, pretty cool! I like my Kleins to be headless, but this is a neat twist that I still look forward to following. The body template that you're using for the pickup routs-- is that a Godin guitar template perchance? Hard to tell from the angle.

@ Prostheta-- now THAT was funny. I wish I could be that concise! As an editor, I cut away words left right and centre... as a writer, I tend toward excessive verbosity.... @ Wes, You can't just flip it around as me being "without humour" now, even though I suspected that's what you were going to do... because I DO know your style by now! "You are playing with words,and I am trying to point out how ridiculous it is" simply cannot be taken as humour. I wasn't crying in my great huge pillow over here, but nor did it make me smile and say, "Ah, that Wes... what a clown, always cracking wise... gotta love'im." It wasn't a kind statement, it wasn't written with any identifiable humour, and your assessment was incorrect. The nerd voice was mildly amusing, but just barely, and you WERE using it to cut me or my points down... you can insult and attempt humour at the same time; many people have made entire careers off it. And then in your 'humourous' response, you continue by then saying that I must not have a sense of humour because I don't just chuckle and slap you on the back when I'm told in no uncertain terms that I'm either "wrong," being "intentionally confusing" (not so...), or being "ridiculous." If you're trying to "teach" me humour, I suggest you start by being funny. If I take issue with your approach, it must be because *I'm* "humourless", not because your post was lacking in correctness and respect, right? Come on Wes... less deflecting, more ownership... that's the way we handle it when we're not at the comedy club. Continuing with the unintentional court-case... *sigh* No, I must NOT "admit" that I'm "using technicalities" to "confuse the issue." I made a rather bland and simple statement that was correct, and it could have just sat there in its correct glory. It wasn't particularly complicated or technical when I posted it, and it still isn't. "You don't ground anything TO the bridge" is perfectly clear. But YOU stepped up with "Yes, Greg, TO the bridge," which is where the clarification was forced. YOU were confusing the issue by making a statement with the voice of experience (we all know that you generally know your stuff and that I'm generally far less knowledgable) and with absolute confidence, while at the same time calling me out by name as having provided the false information. Perhaps you feel I'm being intentionally confusing because you got caught off guard and with your pants down and you STILL didn't seem to be grasping what was written in fairly plain English. Or Perhaps it WAS UNintentionally confusing to some audiences. But that's not something requiring an "admission" of some sort. Here, then: I admit-- you seem confused by what I wrote. That good enough? Honestly, man... a simple, "You're right, I'm wrong, I shouldn't have taken that tone; btw, your momma cooks a mean breakfast" (or whatever) would have ended it. I shouldn't have had to post yet another "humourless" follow-up. Assuming you don't bring more "charges" () against me as you attempt to deflect, I hope we're done and can move on to actual funny stuff. I'm surprised that you don't use the "view new posts" function rather than just going into individual forums (it's a lot quicker... it's not like you have to READ every thread it returns), but that's just me. But, I AM glad to know you're not the one with too much free time by digging up month-old posts. Greg

A glued joint surely does not act like a car suspension.

LOL! That's a great one. Wish it was intentional. Unintentional humor can be funny, too, I guess.

Wes, If you disagree with me, that's cool-- even though you're wrong-- but don't try to belittle me or call me a "nerd" or whatever while you're at it. It wasn't semantics, it was fact. It wasn't about which "specific part or sub-component" is grounded, but the flow of electrons. I was describing the fact that you are NOT grounding anything TO the bridge. Every ground in the entire guitar gets grounded ultimately TO the jack. So, you also do NOT ground "to" the claw of your floyd, and you are NOT grounding "to" the post of the TOM or whatever. If you reread my post again, you can plainly see that I am not playing with words, and it wasn't any sort of "ridiculous" post. I posted a fact, YOU contradicted me with false information, which I clarified normally, not nerdily. And it WAS clarification, whether it worked on you in particular or not. And then you CONTINUE to get pissy about it, when you're just plain -wrong- this time. I swear, you're the worst person in the world for 1-reading what people are actually saying; and 2-trying to make yourself look big by resorting to an attempt at mockery. I'm sorry the jocks picked on you in high school (or whatever the heck happened to make you bust out the "big man" act all the time), but it's about time you got over it. You failed to read the post, you fail to understand what I'm saying, and yet you bump an over-month-old thread to try to tell me that *I* have too much free time (which, true though it may be, is irrelevant and ad-hominem... not to mention a straw man, since it's self-evident that I have too much free time )? Since you've been here many times, it's not on the "new responses" list, meaning you had to dig it up somehow.... I like you most of the time, or at least find you to be informative and funny... but sometimes you can be a real mess. Reread my post, understand what I'm saying, and come back to me when you can be man enough to not resort to schoolyard tactics. When you first got sarcastic "(yes Greg, to the bridge)", I didn't take any offence, and I replied in as respectful a tone as I could, deferring to you but at the same time standing up for what I know to be correct. I suggest you do the same... defend your points with examples or facts rather than mockery, and maintain a level of respect while you're at it. Jeeziz, man. A thread that's been dead over a month... What on earth is WITH you? Greg

I know you said, "if", so you're not necessarily going to go for it-- but that's a nice-looking guitar! I wouldn't want to fart around with what's already a cool-looking finish. That's just me.