westhemann

good idea.save your money and use a speedloader instead of a transtrem.it's what i would do. and then you do not need a zero fret...the speedloader nut installs just like a regular locking nut as a matter of fact you cannot use a zero fret with a speedloader nut

considering the steinberger nut design,i think the zero fret was probably used to make that installation less complex

kxk ...his name is kaufman.i have talked to the guy on the phone since this thread started and he is very,very nice and i am sure would not appreciate the slur

i will attempt to quote your post from memory ahem close enough? geez ,how embarressing...i need a head hanging in shame emoticon

good lord greg...i just hit the wrong button and complety destroyed your post...i apologize profusely...i hope you can remember it well enough to repeat it... here was my attempted reply though...again,i am sorry just so you know,the edit and delete buttons are right next to my quote and reply buttons.it was an honest mistake scott and lovekraft know the irony of me doing this

don't be TOO sure of that...just to be fair i have to tell you i bought a studio plus 99 for i think $1100? if i remember right(in the ballpark anyway) and it is very nice.cosmetically flawless and sound and plays great...but it does not have the perfect fret job you would get from most handmade guitars.but it was worth the dough. especially after i dropped in the emg 81/85 set well he obviously caters to the metal crowd...such as me.i think that battle axe v is very,very nice....like everything about it.he has the same taste in parts and construction methods as i do.neck throughs,emgs,original floyds,sperzels,locking nuts,smaller v bodies with sharp points,optimum upper fret access,3 piece quartersawn maple necks,ebony boards. i mean,really...for $1500 to $2000 for a custom instrument how can you go wrong? by the way that guy sets up a website section so you can look at photos of your guitar as he builds it.

i edited my original post,so i will repeat it here.don't be fooled...the synapse is barely a step above a spirit,if at all. total p.o.s. that is what i had and returned

i do not know which is cheaper.that's not my department.but i trust lovekraft by the way..steinberger has a huge portion of their inventory which is nothing but low end korean imports.very few steinbergers are high end. the one i bought i repacked and sent back after about 5 minutes of playing.horrid,horrid p.o.s. it was a synapse...by the way as well...a synapse is a cheap korean import marketed under a u.s. name

i think you are talking about his broken mirror topped les paul...i think it was him who owns that one...it just reflects light everywhere...called a "mirrorball" i believe

don't want to break your heart...but mass produced guitars do not have the frets leveled,crowned,and polished after installation. i don't know how familiar you really are with building,so excuse me if i seem to be explaining why the sky is blue. the fretwire comes extruded in perfectly smooth and correctly shaped lengths,which are then cut to length and installed...then recut flush to the neck,and beveled,then the ends are polished smooth.if the board is level and the slots are clean so the frets seat all the way,then that is it...there is no more for the low end guitars... yes this makes for higher action to prevent buzzing.that is exactly the sort of mass production cost cutting idea that results in guitars that PLAY like cheap pieces of .... only the high end builders and custom shop guitars have a fret leveling,crowning,and polishing before being sent out. something else.when i build my own necks...i check the frets after installation because,if the job of installation is done perfectly,there is no need to level them.i have built two necks this well...the first two i built needed the leveling

yeah that really surprised me as well to see the way he plays...all of that stretching to avoid using his pinky to solo,and yet he uses it just fine for everything else...just wierd...but you can't argue with his results

one thing i note about the kxk guitars is that he flush mounts the straplocks...i think that is a nice touch.

drak loves some traynors...some he says are not so good

i have attempted to switch my picking grasp to play lead faster...but it makes my rythm suffer. since i really like my pick attack on rythm,i just keep practicing on the lead playing.really leads are secondary for me

bass through a guitar amp is bad news of course

is that the "blue steel" pose? (just kidding...a little zoolander humor) the guitar looks like my first attempt at a refinish...don't feel too bad.you always get better

he he...i also have given that thought...but i wanted to try it with that swiss army knife Kevan keeps bringing up

agreed.i am just quite sure it is in no way superior in metal.especially when my fingers are well enough trained that i can change fingerings any time i wish. i could play the same song two times in a row using diffent fingerings for all the power chords each time with no stumbling whatsoever.i often do,just because. and if there is a reason for it(panama intro example again),then you bet i have no problems doing it that way.(though that starts off with a ring finger barre and then the ring finger rolls up the clear the string next to it for the next chord) mine used to...you develop the rigidity with practice oh ..by the way...no venom...just a bit of "curtness"

better thread titles please

man..i had a great reply written out explaining why it is a valid style and why it is quieter on high gain metal and all that..and then the board went down...so i guess you will just have to stay unenlightened. i will just rewite this...alex skolnick,dave mustaine,james hetfield,and kirk hammett...what do they all have in common?they are all acomplished musicians in metal,i have seen all of them in person,and they ALL play those simple little damn three string power chords the same way i do. you see...unlike some people,i don't just grab something and "take a whack at it" or just "figger it out the best ah can"...i went through all this when i first started playing 14 years ago...when i first started learning those chords it was difficult for me to play them in any fashion(of course...i had just picked the instrument up),so instead of just listening to my cousin(who can't play worth a damn and does it like you think it should be done,because that's the way his acoustic playing mother told him),i watched "cliff em all",went to concerts,talked to good musicians who played what i wanted to play...and i learned. so buddy...if you want to try and tell me to "review my technique",then you are way off base.i am very serious about everything i do and i spend an awful lot of my free time checking up on my technique and trying not to develop bad habits. if you want to play whatever it is that you play that way,then go right ahead...but do not tell me how to play my style of metal...because i learned it from watching guys who really know what they are doing...and buddy,you are not one of them in my field of music. i simply try to pass on the information...and i am not fool enough to try to tell a classical or acoustically trained guitarist how to fingerpick...get it?

well..this one is pretty nice anyway

NO FEAR!!!!

sure thing.but you can learn alot from the quality of the website and by making a few phone calls to size the people up. look at ormsby...he is not well known at all(although i think he is getting there fast),but he is very honest and has enough pics of his creations that you can tell he builds quality instruments.

is that a current photo?because you do not look 44 in that pic

definately a strat with noisy single coils