crafty

Oh god. Your assigned homework is watching "The Paper Chase". My first Property professor was exactly like John Houseman's character. The third year is easy because you can read 300 pages of material per evening and understand it. The first and second year is a bitch above all others. If I'd worked this hard on my B.B.A. I would have graduated at the top of my class back then. Now I'm lucky to be mid-pack here. Yeah, I do owe Maiden and Lovekraft an apology for being condescending in my last post. I am sorry, guys. But I do stand by my philosophy of questioning someone's direction if it seems like something's not quite right. Good luck finding the missing units. Shake 'em down and take no prisoners...we want our Tremol-No's!!

You know what Kevan? That's good to hear. I've heard stories about good inventors coming up with great ideas like yours and getting screwed because something didn't get filed properly. What concerned me was when it looked like your trademark was abandoned and nothing showed up in the patent search. It still concerns me a little because the basic information, like you and your attorney's information, is still supposed to be searchable on the USPTO website, even if the full application and file hasn't been published or approved. Maybe it's just a government oversight...never heard of that before As for lovekraft and Maiden69's comments, I'm going to post whatever I feel like posting within the rules established by the forum. I will never hesitate to question a person's direction when it looks like something may have been overlooked with the facts I have at hand. Kevan was kind enough to answer the questions I had posted WITHOUT being belligerent or in a term you can understand, uncool. I'm actually a little flattered that he followed up with his attorney and made damn sure that everything WAS filed properly. Having said that, now that school has started back up today, my attention will probably be elsewhere for a while and you won't have to worry about reading long posts from me for a while. BTW, Kevan, law school IS only three years. I'm taking a trademarks and unfair competition class right now, so that's why your situation seemed interesting to me. Our professor had actually demonstrated the TESS/TARR system a couple of weeks ago and looking up your stuff was good practice. I sincerely hope that I didn't offend you or anything. That was definitely NOT my intention. Good luck finding the missing units. I'd still see about putting the squeeze on some people over at the machine shop, though.

Are you calling me out? Are YOU calling ME out?! Actually, here's the deal: I'm a law student. A third-year, in fact, who's bored as HELL on fall break right now. So, I'm not a lawyer--yet, but your situation looks very interesting from an academic point of view. I was reading the various Tremol-No threads and read about your current situation with the missing units. I decided to go over to the USPTO's website on current filings with the USPTO. Here's what I found: according to the USPTO TESS/TARR system, your trademarked term "tremolno" was abandoned as of June 18, 2004. This was due to either the failure of yourself or your attorney to respond to correspondence regarding your mark. I swear, I'm not making this up. You can go to www.uspto.gov and see for yourself. Your last name is Geier, right? So then I decided to check and see if you had any patents or patent applications filed for the device. Bupkis. There are no pending or approved applications for a device such as the Tremol-No listed under your name at all. Again, see for yourself. Believe it or not, there is a difference between researching a patent and actually filing a patent, as you did mention on your website: Anyway, from what I can tell, all you have protecting you right now is basic claim of copyright on the images of the device on your website. All that seems to suggest is prior art which could potentially stop someone else from trying to patent an idea they stole from you. However, if your "missing" units have somehow wound up in the hands of some guitar accessories companies' R&D department, you're screwed unless you have a cool million to take them to court. So, before another famous PG Forum flame war erupts here, let me just say that I wasn't trying to start anything and I actually did read your website and the initial announcement thread in its entirety. All I'm saying is that instead of focusing on just looking around ebay or pawnshops for the missing devices, I'd focus on getting the law involved and squeezing the company who "lost" the devices for answers. It's your money, not mine, brother. I'd rather be buying "original" tremol-nos from you than a company that just stole your idea. I eagerly await your "quiz"...

Well, since you never filed a patent application for the device and you let your trademark on the "tremol-no" name lapse, I wouldn't be surprised if they started showing up in some Ibanez or ESP guitars within the next year or so...maybe even under the Floyd Rose name. Better contact your attorney and start shaking that company down who "lost" your tremol-nos. You could be wide open to lose a lot of money now, my friend. Especially if the units are in the hands of Mr. Gotoh or Ms. Schaller. Why license it? No patent, no trademark, no problem! How else do you think these multi-million dollar corporations get their next big ideas? If you can't buy the invention (or have absolutely no reason to do so), just steal it! They have their eyes and ears open at NAMM just like everyone else, just looking for the next big idea and the little guy to steal it from. Good luck.

Looks like an imported version of the Hot Rails... Anyways, if you went with the SD pickups, their website has a good selection of wiring diagrams to guide your installation. EMG also has diagrams you can download as well. I would highly recommend the SSL-7/TB-4 setup, though. I have played a guitar with such a setup and it was excellent. Very versatile and clean. As far as pots and switches, the reason why EMG includes pots with their pickups is because they use different values than passive systems. With passive systems, most people either use 250k or 500k ohm pots. If you use the Quarter Pounders, go with 250k. Your bridge humbucker will loose some highs, but you'll still get a nice quack out of the mid/neck singles. If you go with the single-coil size humbuckers, including stacks, you can use 500k pots. Of course, selection of these parts is all personal preference anyway. SD also has a cool page where you can hear a sample of their pickups being played, too. BTW, as far as Jackson/Charvel quality goes, I do hope that Fender will do something to upgrade the quality and maybe pair down the selection of guitars. Having five different import lines and two USA lines is just way too confusing. Also, do something about the naming structure, too. SL2AQT and DK2FS, anyone? Do one asian line, one mexican line, and one American line, and I'll be happy.

Oh, absolutely. What I was trying to say is that Fender has not been as diligent in defending their marks in countries that DO recognize the various trademark and patent treaties in force around the world. I have no doubt that Fender cannot stop Samick from making Strat copies in China, Indonesia, and Korea. However, Fender CAN stop their distribution in the EU and the US if they would bring an action against Samick's operations. It's probably way too late for that, but I doubt Fender's going to do anything against one of their "worldwide partners" any time soon.

Duncan Quarter Pounders are good single coil pickups and sound good with a TB4. I'd also consider the Hot Stacks if you don't want the single coil hum. Both would sound good with the TB4. The EMG Pro Series setups are a good deal and everything comes prewired and tested, which is nice. It's EMG's way of making their pickups less expensive than anyone else by offering a matched set for a discount price. On a side note, I was at a shop in Des Moines yesterday and they had a well-worn Jackson Dinky Professional series for only $279 w/case. I almost offered the guy $200 for it because it was just about worn out. The only reason why I didn't was because I didn't want to mess with a refret along with a refinish on a nearly worn-out guitar. But it sure sounded nice if it didn't exactly play very well. Very nice "relic" piece.

I agree. The hurdle that Fender is going to have to surmount is the fact that they've done literally *nothing* to protect their designs from copy over the years. They've protected the headstocks, yay, but they've done nothing to shut down Carvin, Valley Arts, Kramer, Samick, or any multitude of companies that ripped them off. Gibson has been a lot more diligent in defending their designs from being copied and I think it will help them out a lot. But in the end, whether through settlement or reversal of the trial judge, I think we'll see new PRS Singlecuts and Tremontis again. Gibson is a corporation and they'll take a $200 licensing premium on every PRS they can if possible.

The problem here is that Gibson trademarked the basic body shape of the Les Paul in 1989. After seven years, you can sue the socks off anyone who tries to copy it. The PRS Singlecut/Tremonti models are for all intents and purposes Les Paul-killers. Especially the Tremonti with the contol layout. I think the problem PRS ran into was the question of the intent of PRS. Was it to copy the Les Paul or compete with it? Was it to confuse or establish a new design? I think the smoking gun was all of the memos and other internal documents seized under subpeona from PRS that established that they were trying to copy the Les Paul and confuse the market. Now the question, will they ever come after smaller builders? Maybe. It's their perogative. They have a valid trademark, caselaw, and a court that will back them up. The guitar business is going to get real interesting pretty soon. Look at all of the companies that are now part of Fender, Gibson, and Samick. The big three are about to throw down and companies like PRS are going to get swallowed up. I'd be willing to bet that Samick or Gibson owns Ibanez and ESP in five years. Even Parker is now owned by US Music, who also owns Washburn.

Yeah, I knew they were upside-down but I didn't want to make anyone upset...maybe he likes the look of the pickups how they are.

I don't think you can get the dummy coil in white on an SD zebra...anyway I'm sure it doesn't affect the tone that much anyway. I've just always seen the screw coil on the neck pickup on the neck side, not the bridge side.

The change in the pickups is going to be very subtle anyway. I think if you listen close enough you'll notice a certain tone difference that only Alnico 2 magnet pickups can produce. In overdrive, you'll probably hear a smoother, more articulate blend than with the old pickups, too. It's going to depend a lot on how your old pickups were made, too. If your old ones were Alnico 5 magnets, the change won't be as dramatic as if you went from ceramic to Alnico 2. You must understand that you essentially went from one low-power pickup to another. If you'd gone from stock to say, a Super Distortion or an Evolution, you'd notice a huge difference in the volume and tone. I prefer the Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro pickups, myself. IMHO, they come the closest to the "brown" sound and I like the mid scoop. Slash has them installed on all of his Les Pauls, so we know they can deliver the goods out of a relatively low-power pickup. BTW, the wood looks like Mahoghany. I highly doubt Epi found some walnut cheap enough to build LP-100s with. It looks from the picture that you may have installed the neck pickup backwards, though. I thought the slug side was supposed to be towards the bridge and the screw side towards the neck?

Okay, in the top right hand portion of the Seymour Duncan schematic for 2 humbuckers, 1 vol, 1 tone, 3 way schematic that's on their support website, there is a legend that explains the ground. Bend the grounded leads on the volume and tone pots to the back of each pot and solder them to the back. Solder a piece of wire between the backs of the pots to continue the ground. Solder the green and bare wires of the pickups to the back of the volume pot. Solder the ground lead from the output jack to the same ground spot on the volume pot. Run a wire to the bridge from the back of the volume pot to ground the electronics to the strings. That's all you have to do. Keep in mind these are usually 1/4 watt pots, so don't heat them up too much. Give them a few seconds to cool after each connection.

Yeah, but if I hit you with a rock maple bat I bet I'd knock out a few more teeth... Wizard necks are very thin and you must use strong wood and a good trussrod to keep it stable. I would use maple. Mahogany is not strong enough, either. BTW, Sammy Sosa uses rock maple bats custom made in Canada. Ever seen one of his bats (not corked, that is) break?

The aluminum (or any other metal) will be a good common ground for the electronics, but it will not be a sufficient ground plane for the system. Also, it's always best to have the grounds solidly connected by solder in an electric guitar. This is because the electronics are generating a relatively weak signal that is susceptible to interference and sensitivity to ground connections. When you touch the strings of a properly grounded guitar, you are the ground plane. It supresses noise and other spurious interference. Active electronics don't need a path to ground because they are well shielded and feature preamps that handle all of the grounding needs of the system. It is possible to not connect the electronics to the strings and still have a quiet guitar in a passive setup, but it is very difficult to eliminate and shield all sources of noise.

Oh, thanks for the correction. It's been a while since I looked at the Dimarzio price list for the Parker replacements From Dimarzio's website: In addition to the Parker Fly Custom Neck model PHWP1 and Parker Fly Custom Bridge model PWHP2, which are currently standard on most recent Flys, we also offer Fly versions of the Humbucker From Hell®, PAF®, PAF Pro®, FRED®, Norton®, Air Norton™, Air Zone™, Tone Zone®, Breed™ neck and bridge models, Air Classic™ neck and bridge and Virtual PAF™ neck and bridge models. No Evo for you!

Yes, that would be cool indeed. Just keep in mind that unless you use active electronics, you still must ground everything to the strings, too.

That's some nice customer service for you. Sounds like some other things I've heard about Warmoth laser cutting accuracy... Anyway, there's not much that can be done if the pickups aren't in the right spot. But this really doesn't make much sense on a Tele, though. Does it have a traditional-style Tele bridge or a Strat-hardtail bridge? If it's a Tele bridge, it shouldn't matter because the strings will line up with the bridge pickup no matter what.

For starters, go over every ground and chassis connection. Most cutting-out problems are due to either loose solder connections on the grounds or bad input jacks. Second, replace your input jacks. Third, check the resistance of your volume pot and try jiggling it around a little. My little Peavey Audition had a similar problem last year and replacing the pots cured that. Peavey's customer service, even for out-of-warranty items, is excellent. You can call 'em up or go to their support forum and get the parts you need anytime. $60 for a diagnostic is not a bad price at all. I once paid $120 to get an amp looked at and another $50 for repairs because I didn't have time to do it. After that, I decided I'd use my electronics education and fix 'em myself. But if you really don't know what you're doing, take it to someone who does. It's probably not a plug-n-play fix.

Coil-splitting is nice if you have a Strat with a bridge humbucker. If you want to get your single coil treble and blend with the middle pickup back, just flip the switch and there it is. All it does is shunt one coil to ground, effectively "turning it off". If you want a good demo of the different sounds you can get from this, check out Parker Guitar's website and they have a video with the Fly Mojo you can download. Yes, it's an ad for the guitar, but the demonstrator does an excellent job showing one all of the different switching combinations you can put on any guitar.

One of the most innovative guitars in the last 25 years--and most ridiculously overpriced. The new Parker Fly Mojo has Seymour Duncan pickups and arguably sounds the best. Go to www.parkerguitars.com. The reason why I thought they might be pickups sized for a Parker is because you can't see any mounting ears on the pickups. Parker uses custom Dimarzios in the rest of their guitars that don't have mounting ears like a traditional humbucker. Dimarzio makes all of their pickups in a special order size to fit Parker guitars, too, so if you want a FRED in your Fly, you can order one that will fit. In this case, even though Ed Roman is an outspoken critic of Dimarzio, it looks like he used a couple of the Dimarzios built for a Parker. Also, I think the guitar is a fine guitar and I do like the signatures on it, but I think giving $2500 to Roman's shop for a relatively plain guitar is a bit ridiculous. And I still loathe that nasty headstock. It would have looked much better without the black finish.

Yeah, he's back. This time he's jasonbeckerliveson instead of metalthrashingmad.

You just have to have enough body thickness to be able to have a vertical jack in there. Any output jack will work, you just have to have the thickness. However, IMHO, jack locations on the front of the guitar, except for the Strat style, are just asking for trouble. You're either going to eventually crack the wood or the pickguard if you drop it, and there's going to be a bunch of scratches all around it from the tip of the cable. Not my fave design, indeed.

Yeah, I was wondering about how the pickups were attatched, too. Usually you have to cut out a wider opening to get the mounting ears for the pickups to fit into the hole, especially with direct-mounting to the wood. Maybe they used pickups made to fit a Parker Fly? BTW, World Class Guitars is Ed Roman's shop. $750 is probably what he should have paid for it in the first place. Especially with the butt-ugly headstock.

Holy Lord... Yes, you HAVE to tie all of the grounds together. Solder them all to the bottom of the volume pot and then run a wire to the bridge. Passive guitars are grounded through the strings to YOU. Seymour Duncan has some excellent color schematics that show all of this, too. Check 'em out.