perhellion

Someone please explain "fall away". I understand what it is, basically, but not when it occurs. If the neck is strung or in a neck jig, are the last frets level, or is this when you could measure "fall away". Or, is the neck under tension, frets all level, then when you unstring it, there is fall away? What do you do with the truss rod during this? Thanks, Charles

JB Weld. Probably stronger than some metals bridges are made of, but I don't know if it is strong enough to be given the allen wrench treatment. If any "metal glue" will hold it, JB Weld will.

I alway thought the Nightswan design had something to do with the feel of his LP neck rather than the LP sound. He probably would have gone for more PAF-ish pickups rather than the Full Shred if he wanted the LP sound. Nightswan not only has short scale but narrow at nut (R1 Floyd nut, I believe, only 1 1/2"). I thought maybe he has small hands. P.S. Don't forget John Sykes (from same band even) for "smokin'" LP playing. Liked his sound, too. Vivian is great, but I always thought his "I'm gonna play really fast mode" ended up sounding the same regardless of song, band, or guitar. (Sykes is kinda guilty of this one also.)

That G3 thing is interesting. So, you are saying Vai in the first one sounded great, Vai at the second one sounded OK, Vai at the third one sounded like poo and then sounded markedly better towards the end of his set? (Could sub Satriani's name for Vai's - point is, same guitarist, three shows) I guess it stems from being overly critical of my own playing -- if I can't make it sound close to the album (happens a lot), I assume it is all player error. But when I see Joe Perry and the Champ amp warming up and sounding awful, I feel much better about my own playing.

80 % of Les Paul sound from the 24 3/4 scale? I've never actually played one, so there is some room for erroe=r, but nobody every said Vivian Campbell had the "Les Paul sound" with the Kramer Nightswan. Short scale was all it had in common with the LP. Bolt-on maple neck, Floyd. Not meant as an argument, but I'd really like to be able to capture the "LP sound" in a non-LP, because I hate the way they feel, and I've always wondered how similar a custon guitar would have to be (for example, I feel a short scale bolt-on with mahoghany body and neck, hardtail bridge, PAF-ish PU's, rosewood board, maybe a maple cap would sound like a LP) but I've wondered what could be eliminated from this equation.

Okay, if there are lots of takes and piecing together of parts (which there no doubt are), why are some guitarists better able to capture their studio sound than others? If good technique were the only answer here, the "technical" guitarists should be the ones best able to mute out any unwanted noises and sound like their recordings. But such is not the case. I've seen some not so great technical guitarists sound like the recording and some "technical" guitarists be surrounded by the "ugly fuzz" live. And, the motion involved in playing live and energetic shows = no way technique is perfect, yet some sound good, some don't (Slash live CANNOT run and jump and sound good, stand still, not too bad.)

That's basically what I thought -- I understand what a compressor is doing, and I was afraid the sound I like is the result of studio egineering. Lynch's instructional video looks "live", but the sound has been fiddled with. With all the above understood, what would be a way to approximate "my Head's in Mississippi" live? I think the recording is sacrificing some "dynamics", but that's okay here. (I also think this is the era when Gibbons used the XP100 head (Rockman, but better). Also, I really don't know much about noise gates. I understand how they work but not the "fine tuning" of them.

Hi all, I was looking at a topic at harmony central on compression. Lots of good info, but the thing I wondered about was some comments made about high gain. Someone pointed out that with high gain, you get some compression automatically (true). Someone else pointed out that you don't really want to use compression with high gain, since all the noise gets compressed also, so high gain + lots of compresser = lots of fuzz between notes and just overall mush rather than distinct notes. Okay, if you automatically get compression with high gain, how do you get good note seperation/ quiet between notes? Sidenote: The answer IS NOT: use proper technique and mute between notes. As an example, same guitarist, same song, album vs. live (He should be using the same technique both places.) George Lynch, Dokken, Kiss of Death, Back for the Attack vs. Beast from the East. Both sounds are way compressed, but the live one has much more of the between note fuzz. I've also seen George on an instructional video in which he was playing "live", and the between note sound was almost like the album, so the answer is also not "production of the album". Other examples, ZZ Top, My Head's In Mississippi, compressed, distorted, absolutely dead between notes. Billy Gibbons live - noise between notes. Joe Perry backstage, 80's black Les Paul, though what looked like a Fender Champ, cranked up, good distortion sound, but surrounded by the "ugly fuzz" so much so that it was hard to tell what he was playing. Any comments along these lines greatly appreciated.

Is it normal for some factory humbuckers (In this case, out of a mid-priced Yamaha Pacifica) to have only one conductor surrounded by a shield wire (and no other wires)? I guess that gives you signal and ground, but it kinda looked odd to me. Thanks

Ansil, Your idea sounds good, but for us with limited electronics knowledge, exactly what do you mean? Pics or schematics would be great.

One thing I'm now wondering - how is the varitone different than an EQ? Say you place the EQ first thing in the output chain. Then find one of the frequencies the varitone effects and "cut" by the amount the vaitone would (All these frequency and db values are listed somewhere online). What would be the difference in the sound done with the EQ and the one done with the varitone? I realize the varitone is cheaper and more simple, but for someone like BB King, for example, (I don't think he adjusts the varitone but sets it to one setting he likes) why not run the signal through an EQ, through the distortion and effects (if any), then through another EQ, and forget the varitone entirely?

I see an occaisional reference to thickness planing with a router instead of a planer. Is this a tutorial on this site? (If so, where? I can't seem to find it.) I'm pretty good with a router, but it seems like this would be a hard method to obtain perfect flatness with. All thoughts/experiences appreciated.

Lovekraft, Any links to schematics or other people on the internet that might have made such a pedal? (Perhaps just getting the Snarling Dogs pedal is the way to go.) Do you think the Varitone (minus any kind of preamp) would work in a seperate box right at the output jack? (Like the old Armstrong effects; the compressor was called the "Orange Squeezer") The reason for going to this extra trouble is to be able to try the Varitone with several guitars, without actually putting extra holes in them. Thanks

I dug out the kit, and the key word is "mini". The mini transformer is there, but it's way smaller than what I expected, so easily overlooked. (Mouser, same part # as above) Is there anything special about the rotary switch? I can see it as being harder to use than, say a Strat-type 5 way. Could I wire it up with a five way? (I realize, of course, I'd lose one cap, as there are five and a bypass) It seems the this is also what the Snarling Dogs Very Tone pedal is, so could I wire this up as a pedal instead? Since it is just hooked to the ground, I wondered if it would work in pedal form. Thanks

Hi, I'm a little confused. I thought a Varitone was basically a "sampler" of various caps like those found on tone controls. Basically each switch position would be the same as if you soldered a cap of a given value on the tone control and then rolled the tone all the way off. Essentially, that is what happens -- BUT what does the choke (inductor) do? It seems that even if no capacitor is selected (the Big D one has a "bypass" setting), the inductor is still in the circuit, so how is it bypassed? How is 1.5H the "magic" value? (I'm only familiar with inductors as used in speaker crossovers, and they come in mH values, so 1.5H sounds big). Finally, long ago, I ordered a Varitone kit from Torres, but I never got around to trying it, but I don't remember seeing anything that looked like an inductor in the kit. Maybe someone has a pic of a 1.5H inductor? Thanks

Some updates : The Lynch guitar is cowhide, not leather. I guess it still feels "fuzzy". But I want leather anyway. No idea how to contact J. Frog. Brian's tutorial will be just what I want to see. It looks like (on the Lynch guitar) the cowhide covers the front, sides, and a little of the back, where it meets a back piece of cowhide. The "meeting" of the two is fairly crude (horrid by the standards of this board), and appears to be a line of perhaps rubber cement. I wouldn't want mine to be that sloppy looking, but I don't think Lynch cares too much about the backs of his guitars. Mr. Scary and the kamikazes are all plain on the back.

To the George Lynch fan, MTV ran that video only once I think. It was near the end of the first Dokken. I caught it again a few years back on MTV2, when they ran every video they (MTV) had ever aired, in alphabetical order. Yes, that's a lot of videos. It started at New Year's, and I believe "Walk Away" was in March. Vh1 classic has a show called "Metal Mania" that is basically "Headbanger's Ball" circa 1990. They really like Quiet Riot, Judas Priest, and thankfully for catching "Walk Away", Dokken. That's where I saw it. I actually didn't know it was leather-covered from the video. I thought it was dull brown paint. That's the only pic I know of. I guess you could go see it in person (Hard Rock somewhere, I believe). In the video, Lynch uses a Les Paul looking guitar for the clean parts. That guitar is cool also. I have seen that one in an old interview. It's hollow, had a trapeeze tailpiece (I think). Looks kind of like a Bendetto, but the body seems no bigger than a Les Paul. The solo is on the leather one, with a few clips of the neon green Kamikaze (prob. a prototype - reverse shark's tooth headstock, pearl fret dots on a maple fingerboard). Cool footnote about Lynch - he actually posts on his own discussion forum - really seems to want to answer fan's questions. Perhellion

Hi, If I ever figure out how to do it, it would certainly be worth lots of pics and a tutorial. It's actually something I've thought about for a while, but I saw the "Walk Away" video yesterday, and it reminded me of it. The Audi interior is cool, but I know nothing about sewing. Although with the coarse stitches shown in the pic, it would be more "lacing" than "sewing". To the member who had worked with leather, when you work with the wet leather, what do you glue it with? If the leather will form around the front edge, why not the back edge? Like use a bigger piece, have the only seam be in the back (probably hard to get straight, but the tremelo cover would allow a little "hiding"of mistakes.) Perhellion

Hi, Any thoughts on covering a body with leather? See pic at http://georgelynch.com/guitars/froglmob.html. Lynch also plays this guitar in the "Walk Away" video. The part I'm wondering about is the unfinished/ lightly finished leather. I can see how the answer to this question might be -- "like a material finish - use thin leather and a lot of clear", but that's not how this one looks. The problem is, with little finish, what do you do about the edges of the body, where leather meets leather? Hopefully someone has actually done this, but all educated guesses would also be appreciated. Perhellion