GodBlessTexas

The Spider II amps are nice, and for the money are hard to beat. I was looking to pick one up after being ampless for so long, but found an original 5150 212 combo for $599 at SuperMegaGuitarMart w/ 15 months 0% interst financing and couldn't pass it up. However, if you're looking for a vesatile amp that you can practice with at low volumes as well as play out with at a smaller venue, the Spider II's are hard to beat. I'm actually a little disappointed with the 5150 because it's honestly more amp than I need or can use at home and it doesn't really sound good unless it's cranked. so I am considering taking it back for a Spider II 210 since the prices have been dropped by about $100. $299 for a decent 120 watt amp with versatile sounds isn't bad, though I have my POD XT Pro with a lot of presets already. What I'd really like is some way to use that with just a power amp without having to break the bank or get extra features. GBT

Ah, missed the comment on the website, and he never mentioned it in the video. If that's the case, then it sounds like it's a pretty neat tool for the price. GBT

I've purchased all sorts of stuff from them in the past with good results. The only downside was that they split my order into two because it was sourced from two warehouses in two different states. Other than that, it was a positive experience. GBT

It shouldn't be a problem at all. As a matter of fact, the pickup layout in the 89's install/data sheet is exactly what you describe: an H/S/S setup. Check out page 3. GBT

Interesting guitar. Be very careful when handling and cutting carbon fiber, both the raw cloth and the laminated stuff. Carbon fibers are bad news for your lungs, and just handling the woven cloth can cause them to break and get on your sking and into the air. I've had them on my skin, and it makes fiberglass feel like a walk in the park. GBT

That's a cute kid. He reminds me of my wife's baby picture (wild hair and the same arm poses). GBT

AWESOME! Man, I LOVE GWAR. Their shows are something else. We had a venue in Houston called The Vatican (and eventually became The Abyss) where they played and bands would write their name on the walls. There was a stain on the ceiling (about 30ft up) that they never fixed in all the years I went there from one of the GWAR shows. I miss my copy of Scumdogs of the Universe. GBT

That's pretty cool. I can imagine a machine like that could pay for itself pretty quickly. I don't see why it couldnt' cut both the inlay cavity and the inlay pieces. You might need to back your inlay material if it's not thick enough, but given a bit with a fine enough point it shouldn't be a problem. However, looking at the demo, it appears that the software only supports creation of the pattern from a pattern library, and not a way to do them on your own. GBT

Absolutely. Thanks MiKro. I hate to admit it, but I'm like a kid in a candy store with my new tools, though I still need a band saw and a table saw. But I'm really enjoying the router. How long do your bits last? I've used some in the past, but I literally have no idea how long these things last or how to take care of them. I've been doing a lot googling lately. GBT

Wow, 26 reads and no replies. Ah well.

In the past, I've used my father-in-laws power tools and whatever bits he had, but now that I have my own router (Hitachi M12VC), I'm interested in what bits are useful for guitar building and what brands are worth the money. In doing some research, I found this article from Fine Woodworking that did a router bit shootout. Granted, it is somewhat limited since they only used 1/2-in.-dia., 1/2-in. shank, double-fluted carbide-tipped straight bits, but it is at least something. I was shocked at the showing done by the Jesada bit, as that's one of the names I knew as high dollar (and supposedly high quality). So, what are some good workhorse bit styles for guitar work, and what manufacturers are you guys using? Also, what types of experience do people have with the bit manufacturers listed? Anything that goes against the article? Thanks in advance. GBT

Man, I can't believe I missed these. I'm looking to finally build my first guitar, and any one of those would have been perfect for one later down the line when I figure out what I'm doing. GBT

Check out the tutorials on the actual Project Guitar homepage. Filling in pickup cavities is covered conceptually by the trem to hardtail tutorial, and filling holes is covered in the converting from an RG to JEM style output jack tutorial. The short of it is this: Fill with wood block or dowel and wood glue, then fill in edges with wood putty and sand down. Then refinish. Good luck. GBT

I play metal and the blues, and I have two different types of EMG single coils in various guitars: an S-set in my strat and an SLV from a Luke set in my S470DXQM. If you're looking for a switchable single/dual EMG, that's the 89. Supposed to be an 85 and an SA in one housing that you can switch with a push/pull pot. GBT

Not to shill for the guy, but Chris over at Chris' Guitars just put up a 2005 Ibanez RG321 w/ mahogany body in Gray Nickel for $225. Not a bad deal at all, and Chris is an awesome guy (when he doesn't lose your e-mail). GBT

Downtuning the ZR is a lot easier than a free floating bridge like an Edge or Floyd Rose. It only takes minutes, and I've done it (I've owned 3 ZR equipped guitars though I'm down to two right now). However, if you plan on switching between tunings, I'd suggest picking up another guitar. The RG321 fixed bridge can be foun used online for cheap, sometimes less than $200. GBT No worries. It's a great trem if you haven't had the chance to play with one. I love em, though you can't do the kind of divebombs you can with an Edge or other trem. GBT`

Since the Ibanez ZR is not based on a Floyd Rose, the Tremol-No won't work on it. It's got a dual spring system that provides tension on both sides of the trem block which acts like a backstop. However, even without the negative tension backstop system, there's no way to mount the tremolno since it doesn't use regular trem springs. Found a pic (courtesy of Jemsite). GBT

Does it happen with both of the pickups or just one? I had it happen on one of my guitars with active pickups, which are a lot better for allowing the string to continue vibrating than passives, and it turned out to be a setup issue. I never figured out what the exact issue was, but after it was all setup properly the high-E was good to go and had no sustain issues. Your case could be different, but start methodically. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

I'd suggest getting a 3-way switch if you don't plan on putting a single coil in since you won't be doing any series or parallel wiring with the EMGs. You'll simply have Bridge, Bridge+Neck, and Neck selections. Other than that, the directions for EMGs are dead simple, and if you bought used and didn't get them, EMG is nice enough to have them all online. If you need help, I'll do my best. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

Well, the wires attach to the pickups via standard molex and pins (think old style CD-ROM to soundcard connections in a PC), but the end of the wire still has to be soldered to the pots. I personally wouldn't call it easier, but it is convenient if you buy used pickups and the previous owner cut the lead extremely short. Instead of soldering an extension, you just whip out another EMG quick connect cable. I've also seen the pins on a quick connect pickup break because there wasn't much clearance between the bottom of the pickup where the pins are and the body surface in the pickup cavity. I'm having the problem right now in my S470. The 81 and 85 are fine, but the SLV is higher than I'd like, and it's screwed down as far as it can go safely. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

Unfortunately the search function won't search on anything shorter than 4 letters (so no EMG, PRS, jig, etc. searches). However, knowing that you were the topic starter makes it easy to find such a thread, which is what I'm looking for right now. GBT

I've always found the biggest issue with installing actives to be the location of the battery. It's a pretty tight fit in a lot of guitars. I'm about to install an 81 and 85 in my RG520QS. I'll take some pictures when I do. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

The page loads fine for me in Firefox, but as others have noted you need the latest Flash player from Adobe. That being said... I personally would ditch Flash entirely and do mostly HTML. I would also read up on web usability. Some key things I think you need to address (I've been doing web design as a pro-am for 11 years now): Using Flash for navigation is fine (I do it in Dreamweaver for menus), but your navigation is cumbersome and confusing. Your webpage should match the elegance of your guitars, but the whole Flash guitar body where you pick a spot hoping to find the spot that takes you were you want to go is more frustrating than usable. Also, it takes forever for the sides to move apart and the content to show up in the middle. Unless someone is really interested in your stuff already, they won't stay long enough to see it (research shows you have a very short time before people click away). My advice: Usability/ease of navigation is key! Ditch Flash except where it makes sense - Menus and maybe some multimedia content. Have a constant navigation menu/layout at the top or side that clearly says where it goes so that people can easily navigate the website. Put something stunning as the opening page to catch the persons eye and get them immediately interested. You have no real text past the opening page. That text should be on your "home" page, but bringing up a different page first, then a flash intro, then the flash home page is tedious. I'm currently at work with dual OC-12 connections to the net and a 3.2Ghz PC with 2GB of RAM, so if it's slow and tedious on this system, it's not for any technical reasons here. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

I got the variable speed Hitachi KM12VC set yesterday for Father's Day. I got to pick it out myself. The Rockler price is the same as my local Lowes. So far, I'm impressed with it and think it's got a good fit and finish to it. It's pretty quiet too. GBT

The Powerball should have an effects loop that you'll run into the POD XT Pro. The POD XT Pro has stereo send and return jacks on the effects loop, as well as all sorts of other nifty inputs and outputs on the back. My favorite is the dry signal output for recording a completely dry signal to reprocess later. You use the left input and output for a mono effects loop. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...