Black Mariah

If I had to guess, I'd say these are the same things that Kramer, Agile, and all the other mega-cheap guitar makers use. That's not totally bad as long as they're not microphonic as hell, especially for the price.

I'll add that a Wilkinson will fit in a standard Strat trem rout as long as the studs are the right distance apart.

The position doesn't matter much, if any. Drill from the back of the body to the inside of the pocket, so it hides any tear outs that happen.

Let me explain something about how retail sales work, for those of you that obviously don't know. A company makes a product. Stores buy these products, jack up the prices, then resell them for more money. You have to figure that the actual manufacturer's cost on an item will be approximately one third of final retail price, maybe more. I have a Jackson SL-3 that I paid $380 for. This was Jackson's cost at the time (it may be different now). Dealer price ran about $600-650 (it varied greatly depending on dealer), with average street of around $900-1000. Fender isn't making a 300% profit on guitars. Nobody is. Dealer cost is about 60% of what they sell for, and manufacturer's cost is about 60% of that. So on a $1200 street guitar, you're looking at about $700 for a dealer price. This means you'd have to produce a guitar, in the US, for about $175 in order to make a 300% profit. This simply is not feasible without resorting to mega crappy woods and components, and then overcharging the hell out of everyone.

*** is that? A Lescaster? Jazzpaul? Nah, it's just damn cool looking. I can honestly say I've never seen a Jazz/LP hybrid. Should be cool.

IIRC, the spalt (is that the correct way to refer to it?) is just rotten parts that happen to look pretty. Anyone care to straighten me out on this one?

People that complain about shipping charges are generally just too stupid to reat the auction they're bidding on. I've seen a number of negatives left for shipping overcharges where the shipping charge was clearly stated in the auction. For the price, I'd say this is legit enough. I'd go for it if the amp will fit.

The clearcoat might yellow faster than the paint. You never know.

One word... EARPLUGS. I noticed I was stating to lose a bit of high end a while back and immediately started wearing earplugs for anything above bedroom levels. I'm not going to Pete Townshend my ass before I'm 30.

That's true if you keep it cranked all the time, but the dude said he likes to crank it SOMETIMES. A Smokey or something similar is practice volume at best. A 25 watt amp works at practice volume and can put out enough for gigs. Then again, I have two 100 watters in my room that I play through all the time... my advice may be a bit skewed. All the stuff lovekraft mentioned is good. If you can't find something you like at those sites, you're too damn picky.

Practice... 25 watts... Same thing. Whatever you're looking for, the answer's probably here: http://www.ax84.com

Alright, very cool. Thanks for the help, guys.

How many cans of ReRanch colors does it take to cover a guitar? Like a tele in Dakota Red. I haven't seen anything on their site about it, and nothing turned up in the search here. I'm trying to get a feel for how much it'll cost me.

More like don't buy cheap tools at all. You end up spending more money in the long run to replace them than you would have spent just buying a good tool in the first place. If you have the budget for better, buying crappy equipment just isn't a good idea. How to get tools for nothing? Have friends, relatives, or relatives of friends that die a lot. That seems to be the easiest way.

Because solidbodies are generally built to rock, not eat cheese and drink wine. It's just a matter of who the target audience is. For example, I've never seen a single pickup jazzbox where the pickup was located at the bridge. They're always at the neck because that's what jazz guys go for, usually. LP Jr's are intended for rock music so the higher output and brighter tone of the bridge pickup is what you want. In short, it's because when you have to make large production runs you have to go with what will sell the most. There's nothing saying you can't do a single humbucker at the neck if that's your thing, and it would be cool to see more solidbodies like that.

In my full rig I use a Carvin 4x12 with stock speakers, a Jackson 4x12 with two Vintage 30's and two Eminence of an unknown model, and a 2x15 cabinet I built that has 300 watt Ross PA speakers in it. The only speakers that have a treble bias are the Vintage 30's, but that cab is the bassiest I own, so go figure. No, it's not contradictory to claim a lack of low end and a prevalence of 40Hz farty noises. The best way I've heard it explained was Jason Broadrick from the band Godflesh said that he liked his tone to be just a lot of super-low end with a really fizzy top and nothing in the middle. If you take that and shift the 'nothing in the middle' down a couple hundred Hz, you get the tone you have. There's nothing in the low midrange. There's no body to the tone, it's all midrange and non-musical lows. This isn't bad, mind you, just not what I'm talking about when I refer to low end. I think that's where most of the problem is, we're just thinking of different things. You're talking about Metallica type thrash low end where you have that really tight WHOOMPH sound on palm mute (gotta love it), while I'm talking about SunnO))) style bowel-quivering low end. EMG's have a practically flat response. They're designed that way. With the possible exception of the 85, they don't have that midrange bump that most passives have. Yes, the pickups themselves have a lack of low end. This doesn't mean your AMP has a lack of low end and can't compensate for it. I understand you're using a Mode 4, right? Those things are like low end monsters. A freaking single coil could rattle the walls. A WEAK single coil. That's out of phase. Or something, I dunno. Whatever the case, EMG's aren't bassy pickups and the dude asked about bassy pickups. On to other crap, I've heard that these pickups are really good. I don't personally know, but a couple of guys I trust on matters like this have recommended them. They're expensive as hell, so I probably won't be picking any up soon. http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZH-warpig.html

I'm getting a serious SG/Strat hybrid vibe. I think it's the pointiness of the horns and the shape of the treble side. Can't wait to see where you're headed with this one.

That has to be the most unique figure I've ever seen in a piece of wood. Absolutely beautiful. The only thing I can think of that comes close was one I saw with a top made from redwood, and that can't even hold a candle to this. It's sad to think this probably would be considered a castoff piece because of the "knotholes" near the bottom. What color binding are you planning on using?

Robins also have angled headstocks. I'm sure there's others, but I can't think of them offhand. I think this is one of those areas where it's all up to opinion. Guitars have been made using all of these methods for decades and none of them have really proven to be distinctly better than another. It's one of those things that, when it comes down to it, isn't all that important as far as playability. If you have good wood, the structural stability of one over the other is negligible. All that leaves is aesthetics and that's all in the eye of the beholder.

In addition, I am giving constructive criticism based on experience. I've used EMG's, I've used Invaders, I have used Lawrences. I am a total low-end freak and as such, my experience is just as valuable as your or anyone else's. I have never spoken on a subject I know nothing about. My thoughts and opinions might go against the accepted norm sometimes, but I don't talk about stuff I don't know about. Period.

And you're coming across as some middle-aged (deleted) that thinks he knows everything because "I've been playing since Mustaine was in Metallica." Good for you. It doesn't matter. Age means dick. If I was 20 years older and saying the exact same things you wouldn't give a ****. But no, I'm younger than you so I'm automatically an idiot. I'm tired of this stuff. When I come to a new board, I give everyone across the board the same amount of respect, regardless of post count or moderator status. I don't know who any of you guys are and you don't know a damn thing about me. We're even. In the few days I've been here, I've had people on my case for suggesting someone check for a low fret, then I made the terrible and unforgiveable mistake of saying that EMG's lack low end. I haven't said anything about anyone until they decided to get personal with ME. I haven't started it, I'm not here to do that, but I will stand my ground when someone tries to whine about MY OPINION. I don't know everything. I've made this abundantly clear elsewhere. The problem is when I express an opinion, I don't do so in a cautious and apologetic tone, afraid that I might offend someone. My opinion is not humble. Ever. But it's just that MY OPINION. I seriously don't know how anyone that gets worked up over SOMEONE ELSE'S OPINION can function correctly in society.

Companies don't care unless you're doing large scale and blatant ripping off. Large custom makers and parts manufacturers like GMW and Warmoth have to license the designs because they're trading on them. That's part of the attraction is that you can get actual strat headstocks and not some misshaped wannabe headstock. A small custom builder that does Fender headstocks on a very irregular basis... they don't care. They only care when a direct competitor is trading on their designs.

What the f$#k is with the people here? I post an opinion and I immediately have people up my ass for it. The guy asked for bassy pickups, I gave a recommendation. I don't use Invaders, I don't particularly like them, but he wanted bass and you just don't find more bass than Invaders have. 90% of low end bands use EMG's? What the hell do you consider a 'low end' band, pray tell? Most 'low end' bands I know of (Graves at Sea, Warhorse, High on Fire, SunnO))), Sleep ) use stock Gibsons. And when the F^#K did I ever mention Korn? Korn has all the tone of an elephant making sweet love to a tree. Check out some of the bands I mention above. THAT is low end without the muddy garbage that passes for Korn's tone. Your bass was on 5. I said the low end was lacking. Please explain to me how those two statement are in any way contradictory and indicate that I know nothing. Really, go for it. I want to see you wriggle out of this one. *EDIT* I'd post some clips, but I've never been able to get my tone on tape with any sort of accuracy. My recording gear sucks massively.

Yes, the low end IS lacking on those clips. The tone is basically the typical EMG brittle crap with some extra farty noise around 40Hz. If you want to hear real low end, check out the band Sleep. A song called Jerusalem if you can find it. THAT is low end.

Jackson, Jackson, a thousand bloody times Jackson. Yes I am biased, I readily admit that. I think Jacksons are the best guitars you can buy in whatever price range you're looking at. BTW, what kind of price range are you shooting for? If you like the JS30 but want something a bit better without spending much more you should check out the DX10D and DK2. If you're looking for something to just completely kill the JS30, you'll want to go with an SL-3 or SLSMG. Above that, you have the USA Jacksons which you can explore on your own, since I'm pretty sure nobody wants me drooling all over the nice forum.