westhemann

yeah i think the comfort contours are different though.i think the s looks better though(although mine was built before they started to cheap out on the construction)do they stiil make some of the s models in japan or is it all korea now?

beautiful work.i love the extended upper horn and the deep carve.the finish is excellent.makes me want to change my plans for my v and build one of those.you have talent.

i just realized by that picture that the s and the js are nearly identical.

beer is bad news for some people's dexterity(including mine).i can be playing awesome and if i drink one beer i suck.to a smaller extent that goes for any cold drink.when i play in public i don't drink anything except maybe a cup of coffee.also you didn't mention this but i will. drugs will mess up your playing.one time i was at a party and i dropped some acid(i was about 18).my buddy was bragging to some of the other partygoers that we were pretty good so out of nowhere instruments were found and we were set up.worse night of my life!i had to leave the stage because i couldn't even tell where i was on the fretboard.still to this day(12 years later)i think of that night and cringe.don't let this happen to you! the best thing i can say about playing live is you need practice and you must be warmed up.if you don't feel confidant in your playing you won't perform as well.but i'm sure you already found out that it's hard to get everyone together for band practice.we once had a drummer who spent 90%of his time painting his drum kit.you can imagine how much practice he got. the best thing to do is to set up a stereo right by your amp and play along with the cd.that way you in effect are playing with a band that makes no mistakes.if everyone in your band does this then your group practice sessions will improve every time you get together.and don't give up.everyone has bad nights. something else you mentioned is a lack of monitors.that has nothing to do with it in my opinion.what i found when i first started was that everyone in the band wanted to be able to hear themselves over everyone else.that's not necessary as you are a band not a one man show.while you are playing with your cd's make sure that you are not louder than the guitars on the stereo.this will train your ear to pick out your sound over theirs even though you are at the same volume.when i play with my cd's i only hear my guitar if i make a mistake.if your volume is good then you will blend so well that you will sound just like the cd and if you stop playing for a moment the cd will sound like something is missing. and don't worry if you can't keep time at first.it all comes with practice.playing by yourself is great but if that's all you ever do your rythm will suffer and your band practice will be miserable. when i was in school me and my buddy played together so much that even without drums we were so tight we sounded like one guitar. one more thing about volume.if you have two guitars then when you play lead it's not going to stand out like on the cd.this is normal they boost the volume on leads for recording.i never did it but i think you can get around that it a live situation.reverb helps.if you have a reverb pedal with a volume control you can set it up to play just a little louder when your using it. bottom line more important than anything else is practice.the more you practise the more everything else will fall in line.NEVER GIVE UP!

i gotta ask,what's the top wood?quilted maple or more exotic?veneer or not?i can't tell from the pictures.

thanks for the pic.i am confused it is obviously a tremelo but comparing it to a flat mount it seems to be missing the cam.(the part the bar goes in).it looks strange.why don't you measure from the nut to the bridge at the roller on the #3or#4 string and see if it jives with the scale from the nut to the #12 fret (doubled).maybe i am crazy but it seems like the saddles are too far back in the bridge as if someone modified it incorrectly.to be clear it looksas if the cam is missing and the saddles are moved back to compensate.i don't even know if that is possible but that is what it seems like.if your scale is longer than it should be then that is probably what happened.i have seen people do all kinds of strange things to guitars and i think you mentioned it was like this when you bought it.anyways tell me what you think.i am really curious.

i think that's great.any one who steals a musician's instrument is a piece of trash as far as i'm concerned.they're not just stealing an object they're stealing a way of life.most musicians work harder to buy that first really great guitar than most people understand.put em away for life,that's what i say.

personally i love natural finish on guitars.i love the combinations of different types of woods on necks especially.the guitar i am doing now is going to be solid red but i prefer stain.i want to try transluscent colors too.have you ever checked out the quicksilvers at edroman.com?i love the spalted maple.

thank yooouuu!!!!!

how about some info on these paints you use.obviously the whole painting thing is new to me and even though i read all the info i can find i haven't seen anything on these two and three part paints you speak of.the finishing is the hardest part for me and i am having alot of problems with these spraycans.if i can whip the finishing my life will be a whole lot better.any reccomendations you can make in products or tecqniques will be appreciated.

allright thanks for the warning.i guess i need a spray gun so i can get more proffesional.

yeah carvin has a great line of active and passive pickups

this seems rather obvious and i'm sure ya'll have tried this but i just discovered if i have a hairdryer on low heat while i'm painting i can paint just like normal but as soon as i put the coat on i hit it with the hair dryer and it seems to not only dry it before it can run,it smooths out the orange peel right away and i can hit it with another coat immediately.obviously you have to blow the dust out of the hair dryer first but it seems to work well i just did my neck and the results are fantastic.i also warmed up the neck with it too before i started.does any one know of any problems with this i'm sure you shouldn't get it too hot but it only took about 30 seconds from about a foot away on my neck.if anyone tries it(on scrap wood first)let me know how it turns out.

one thing just my opinion.i love the way active pickups sound on a bass.way more punchy.

my ibanez sabre has it and i like it.less fret wear and bends are super easy i think cause stainless is a little slicker

hey dudes how long does it take for laquer to harden sufficiantly to where i don't have to worry about damaging it while working on it.i let my neck sit for a week before i put veneer on the headstock and i still damaged the finish.and which is harder,laquer or enamel?i want a tough finish.isn't laquer what most guitars have?and on a different subject where are all the guitar building girls at.i'm not trying to be a perv but it just seems strange that all you people are guys.(maybe half of you are women and nobody knows it,like in chat rooms or something.)i also don't see very many girls playing really aggressive guitar either(the actual number around here is zero)what's up with that?

buurrrn!!!oh why you talk that way? besides don't let her lie to you she tells me different stuff than she tells you. oh and thanks for the info.

where do you get this super spray?i've been having hell with my krylon running.i think i need better paint.if i spray to dry it doesn't flow enough and the second i get it wet it runs.and it's plenty warm so i don't know.maybe i should just invest in a spray gun.(wes the mann)it's my email address and i'm not very creative.plus king macho and #1stud are already taken.

i would say not only do you need to drill it,you should try to find a drill press to make sure your holes are straight.it's too easy to screw up with a hand drill.if you can't find one another option i have used is to get a bit of the correct size and enlarge the holes by hand(turn the bit with your fingers)it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes per hole butyou are much less likely to go off course.

the songs are going great but i keep forgetting the words.

just for kicks if you haven't already go to edroman.com and check out his selection of deans.he has alot of them like yours and maybe you'll see something that looks like your setup.by the way could you maybe post a closer picture of that kahler on your other guitar?i am really curious about it.

you should measure from the nut to the 12 fret and double it to make sure of the scale length and check that scale length with the center of the bridge holes to see if it falls center of them(+or- 1/8)because for example if the scale is 25 1/2 and it is only 25 to the center of the bridge holes then your saddles should be 1/2 away from the holes on your bridge.you might already know that but just in case...you sure don't want to put a bridge on there that will screw up your scale length.just out of curiosity i notice in one of my parts catalog that there is a badass guitar bridge that has 2 adjustment screws so you can adjust to your own scale length.is this the one you have?if so it says it is designed to retrofit the original gibson combination tailpiece bridges.i might be wrong but didn't dean use those bridges on some of their guitars?if so i bet your o.k.

if a schaller is indeed what you want to put on it(and that would be my choice)then you will probably have to enlarge the holes.i saw the guitar you are speaking of and since i only see one set of bridge holes i assume the bridge you have is a combination bridge/tailpiece.i am not familiar with how a bridge change might affect the value.if you are careful in enlarging the holes you wont even be able to tell.i suspect brian is right though and it is just the larger flutes causing the problem.my schaller inserts made a vast improvement in tone over the cheap chrome plated plastic inserts my schecter came with.i imagine your probably only talking about a half milimeter or so anyways.in truth i probably didn't need to enlarge the holes on mine but i did and i still had to hammer them in.i just wasn't comfortable with hammering as hard as i would have had to.

yeah he told me schaller is all he puts on his guitars.hey by the way i was just looking at your guitar collection on your website and i noticed a kahler flatmount on one of them.give me your opinion on it.(the tremelo)

thank you.i did just that last night onto a scrap piece of wood and it worked well so i went ahead and put it on my headstock.i'll know by tomorrow how well it turns out.