westhemann

took the words right out of my mouth.and scott i agree wholeheartedly!the first thing i noticed was lars drowning out the guitar riffs with his bucket.and i am sorry but the guitar riffs are sophmoric.something a 12 year old would write. i am telling you they used to be GODS to me.i still listen to their old stuff and am amazed by the creativity of riffs such as the chorus riff to "jump in the fire" or the entire "master of puppets"album.listen to "the call of ktulu"it is BRILLIANT!!!no metal band EVER wrote like that.they wrote the book on thrash metal.their music was inspiring,thought provoking,and theoretically exceptional. then came death in the form of the black album.the beginning of the end.metallica died that day and i will always mourn the loss. by the way i hope none of this offends any of you but metallica will always fuel rage in the hearts of many old school fans. by the way kirk hammett is the reason i started playing guitar and james hetfeild is the reason i downpick the way i do.

gedward said it all.

alot of amps sound mushy that low.guitar amp speakers generally handle midrange best.thicker strings might help.you're possibly getting alot of rattle which distortion makes even worse.

that sounds really cool

you have to understand where i am coming from with this.i was a fan since about '85 and these guys were gods.then they came out with the black album.that and everything after it has been a sell out.if you don't believe me consider the how age group of the target audience changed from late teens to early and pre teen.songs about the sand man and king midas only appeal to youngsters. but more than the content the guitar changed too.no longer were they epic multilayered masterpieces such as master of puppets or frayed ends of sanity.they became cheesy 3 and 4 minute forays into riff milking and unimaginative crap.kirk hammett went from a man who cherished his instruments to one who threw them as high as he could and dragged them across the stage. i truly believe the members of metallica were abducted,killed,and replaced by aliens(from the planet lame-o)in the early 90's want to see a cool dvd;get cliff em all and you will see how metallica used to be.for a fan from way back like me,what happened to them is incomprehensible.

didn't he play fender?you may just need to get an eq fo your amp.that would clean up the bass

depends on what you think sounds good.if you want sparkling clean and bright then alot of bridge type humbuckers work well.believe it or not if you set a dimebucker at the proper distance from the strings it has a great sparkling clean tone and is treble heavy not bass heavy.why don't you tell us what style of music you play and whose tone you admire so we can give you a better answer?

i think you are thinking of poplar?

we all knew what you meant.to be honest i never noticed until you said something

i use a simple high speed drill bit.the kind that is good for wood or metal.(some people call it a twist bit.)

a flying v is MUCH longer than a strat.i would definately build it from scratch.on the upsid it has many straight edges which means you can cut alot of it with a simple table saw.

i think i am just going to go with a tasteful 3 by 3 setup with maybe a nice carved in design of some type.i haven't had a chance to work on it lately though because my job sucks but ya'll will be the first to know. thank you for asking.it's really cool that you're interested.

the more laminates you have, the stiffer and more resistant to twisting it is.some say it's a little less resonant though.i prefer a laminate neck.the stiffness more than makes up for anything else IMO

have any of you noticed the quilted maple top is only about a 2a quilt?i just can't see him selling these things.i hope he has a good day job.

in a word yes.glueing on extra pieces of wood and cutting existing wood will alter your tone very noticeably.but believe me when i say modifying your guitar body in this fasion will be more time consuming than just making a new one.i made a strat shaped body from square piece of wood to final shape in about 20 hours.that includes routing with the dremel and sanding by hand.if you are set on modifying your existing body then that's great.i have done that myself,but it takes just as long as making one from scratch. if you are going to do it the best way would be (imo)to take the body and using a table saw carefully cut the middle section out(keeping the neck pocket and pickup cavities complete)then glue on your wood "wings" and shape it however you want.then all you have to rout is the control cavity. just a suggestion.of course it's your project.show pics when your're done by the way of course you will have to plane all your edges after cutting. how much shape altering were you planning?

YOU DON'T LIKE ACTIVE PICKUPS!!!!!!o.k. fine. be that way.that's cool everyone is different.but have you tried em?just curious.carvin makes some good ones too it's not all about emg.i love them cause of the complete lack of background noise.

by the way tsl is right.if you are looking for a les paul tone mahogany is what you want.(or korina,limba)not that alder is bad it,s just a different tone.but if you're buildine the charvel guitar you speak of,take your pick.

yes there are many different brands at different prices,some with more or less accesorries.it,s called a rotary tool but many people refer to them by the brand name of the most popular one which is a dremel.any place that sells them also has a section of specialized accesorries such as router bits,cutting bits,stuff like that.

i think i could turn a cooking pot over,drill a hole,stick a broom handle in,paint the whole thing and put a piece of string on it and have the same thing.i wonder if he sells many of these things. oh wait,it does have a custom laquer finish

and yes it is multifunctionall.everything from routing to cleaning and polishing your fretboard.works great to get the gunk off of the fretboard.(with the tiny buffing pads NOT the sandpaper)it looks like a dinky tool but it is more powerful than it seems

it works exactly like a router only smaller.that thing you see next to it is a router base.you put it on and use it just like a router.just take your time and don't try to cut more than about 1/4 inch deep at a time.it works great in alder,mahogany,basswood,all the softer woods.maple is tougher but it works you just need to replace the bit after about 2 hours of routing.the other woods you will get more use out of the bit with.just go slow.it takes me about 2 1/2 hours to rout a pickup cavity.it,s fun though so time flies.put a bandana over your mouth while working with wood though.alder especially will make you sick as a dog if you breath too much sawdust.i only work with it for about 2 hours at a time(wearing a mask or a wet bandana)then i imediately take a shower to clear off any sawdust which may linger.and do it outside of the house.

drill a hole from the control cavity to the bridge insert hole closest to it,run your wire from the common ground thru that hole,and make sure when you put in the insert the bare part of the wire is sandwiched between the metal of the inset and the wood.this is how it's commonly done.but if you run active electronics no ground is necessary.

this is what i use with a 1/4 inch routing bit.but a chisel would work.just takes longer.

man that's a real eye opener when you first posted the picture i assumed it was a demonstration of an incorrect set neck vs a correct one.

i think it's hollowed out and filled with gold(you know,for sustain)