DrummerDude

I think they are awesome - neat an precisely made axes with great finishes and fantastic inlay work. I especially like their multi lined abalone neck bindings. And normally I freaking hate all kinds of bindings, hehe...

Thanks, Jester. It makes sense - the guy if Finnish himself. I just browsed Amfisound's site and that company makes awesome customs.

Yes it is shaped lika a RR but from what I can see on the pics, the headstock logo does not look like Jackson's. The fretboard inlays are kind of special too, not the average Jackson shark fins or triangle markers. I'm trying to figure out what company or person built it.

Well, the topic says it all. What guitar brand and model does the new Finnish guitarist of Necrophagist play? It looks like a Jackson RR but it ain't. I can't post decent pics of the axe. Actually, if I had them I'd just read what it says on the headstock and forget about posting here. Here is a couple of not so decent photos: Couldn't find better photos.

have decent construction. The lower end models will not have the level of attension given to the set up you desire. Some music stores may do a quick set up to make sure they play pretty fair, but they will not spend much if any time(especially on a lower dollar guitar, they just can't). Now what is still a little confusing is why are you buying another guitar(as you have an Ibanez)? Is this for you to practice your set up techniques on? If so before you go out and spend money on another guitar. Get your tools and measuring devices, and check out your settings on your Ibanez. Check it's relief, check it's clearance at the nut (as described in the tutorials). If you need to make a small adjustment to get the neck flat do so. Then see how flat the frets are. Check the frets at the body joint. Study what you have(it has to be pretty darn close if it has 1.2mm clear), and see if you can detect any slight adjustments that can get it spot on(SMALL adjustments). There is nothing wrong with what you have and if you hope to do better than 1.2mm you will have a better chance on a neck that is close to begin with. If you buy a new guitar you are going to have to take the same tests and make adjustments so why not just use what you have. As far as killing sustain. There is a point of diminishing returns as you lower action. Lets be real a string needs some room to vibrate freely. You can play with a lighter touch and make the string will not vibrate as much. Of course you are doing two things- limiting your window of dynamics, and reducing energy. Now if you play very accurately and let the amp do more work you may have enough to work with. You can also adjust your pickups closer to be more sensative to the decreased string movement. This is perfectly cool if your skill permits, but mind you there is a point that you will run out of room. You also have to remember this is wood you are dealing with. It will move with moisture, and a neck will vibrate(this is normal movement). If you bring in the clearance extreamly tight you will have to deal with adjustments more often. You know one time Perry pushed me to go look closer at a neck/strings/bridge and really look close at just what was going on. I am going to give you the same advise. Just set down and look really close at your stings and how they bend over the saddles, nut and what have you. Look at the clearance between the strings at different parts of the neck. Pluck a string and see how it vibrates in the middle of the neck, near the 1st fret and at the last. Just really look close, and don't worry about conclusions just look at what is happening. You may really take a lot of the mystery out of how the neck works. Peace,Rich Thanks Rich, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Yes, at the moment I have my Ibanez set up pretty low. But I need another guitar because I hate Ibanez and I curse the day n which I bought mine. Will sell the thing pretty soon. The other reason is because I need even LOWER action than 1,2mm on the 12th fret. I need 0.8mm on the 17th fret like on this guitar: And last, but not least, I want to buy or, more likely, build a new axe that would be V-shaped. I just love Rhoads and King V's. I am still considering the idea of building one rather than buying a factory guitar because trying to find the right factory made V-shaped model would take me quite some time and effort. Where I live, I don't have access to big music malls and I am not able to test different models in a row to judge on their action and quality. And I found that reading online user reviews is more confusing than helpful. Thank you again for your thorough answer.

Thanks Greg, just what I thought - low action does not kill sustain. It is bad playing and fret buzz that do.

PG Tutorials Books Videos Book Frets Pinned Topic Another Page Topic Peace,Rich Thanks Rich, this is an awesome and very informative knowledge base you've managed to put together. My question was about factory made guitars, though. Which brand/model gets the lowest action WITHOUT much tweaking? In other words: which guitar brands and models come as good low action players directly out of the factory? ESPs? BC Rich'es? Jacksons? Else? By the way, I just read the whole thread and there were people who were claiming that low action = bad sustain. Is that true and if yes, what is the reason?

OK, what is your experience with action on factory made guitars, guys? I mean, waht is the lowes action factory made guitar you've dealt with? Mostly interested in metal-shaped guitars especially Randy Rhoads or Kerry King shaped V's. Seems that you were right and setting up a pre-made guitar's action is the smarter way to go after all. Could save me months or even years of building. I will go for a cheapo axe and then try to customize it to my needs, to make it play and feel like an expensive guitar. I read a lot of Harmony Central reviews about V-shaped BC Riches, Jacksons, Kramers, ESPs and so on but people had completely different opinions about the action on those guitars. Users of one and the same maker and model guitar claimed both that the action was "too high" or "quite OK".

Is the nut made of plastic? Or is it made of blued steel?

Actually, I think that he has messed up the the pickup cavity with a router but without using a template or at least a guide. I would route the messed up cavity square, then glue a wood block into it and re-route the whole thing this time using a template or a guide.

Yes, I noticed that - seems that I need a dead flat neck. Thanks for the tip. @soapbarstrat, yeah, we are all going to end up in a lunatic asylum.

Thanks, westhemann. Yes, it is really easy to guess what you need for low action but it is hard to put it to practice without the proper experience. That's why i need tips and advices from people wh have done this before. I will take your advice on the double action truss rod. Makes a lot of sense - more control seems to be one of the secrets. Abut compound fretboads - I don't know how to make one but I guess there are tutorials out there, so I will take my time reading about that. Any tips on how to make the freatboard and frets leveling absolutely perfect would be much appreciated. Thanks! PS: Holy cow, this setup is cool - only 0.8 mm at 17th fret! Damn, I am fighting for 1,1 on 12th fret. I need to build an axe like this one: .

Man, this guitar is f*cked. What did you do to the pickup cavity? Chiseled it free hand while being drunk? PS: Seriously, I suggest you fill the excess carvings with putty or something.

Low action = less effort for your fingers, less movement too, better positioning, less muscle and tendon friction. And this means less chances to get Tendinitis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrom, Tendovaginitis and the other guitar-related injuries. I am not saying that if you use high action, you will get those injuries, but playing with a minimal action would help you evade them for sure. Yes, there are people who like medium or even high action. Yes, this is their style. Yes, they like to "dig" into the strings or whatever. The thing here is that I don't care about them. This is just NOT my style. I hope you understand. I care about the guys with ultra low action like Michael Angelo and the such. Is he just a bedroom warrior? I don't think so. Whoever thinks that guitar players with low action are sissies who just can't fret good, think twice. I love it when people are trying to beat physics but I haven't heard of single one doing it for real. High action = more effort, more movement, more tension, less speed. That's it. Just watch Michael Angelo Batio's "Speed Kills" video and you will notice that his fingers never leave the fretboard. MINIMUM effort for maximum speed. That's the secret and he explains this pretty damn well in the video. In that vid he is using several guitars. Pay attention to his signature custom builts - they are all ultra-freaking-low action. This is what I am after too.

Rich, the difference between a guitar with 1,2 mm at 12th fret and anothe one with 1 mm at 17 th fret is much more than 8 thousands of an inch. I can't calculate it but if we acept that a gitar with 1 mm at 17th has 0.8mm at 12th, then 1,2 - 0,8 = 0,4 mm. 0,4 mm is 0,015 in.

You are right, I have my Ibanez's 6-th string down to 1,2mm at 12-th fret but I need to go lower, say 1mm at 17-th fret and I don't know how to do that without any fret buzz. What do I need to do besides lower down the brifdge? Any tweaks witht he truss rod? Etc... I am just looking for tips. I am going to build a new axe anyway, so I was looking for tips on how to make the new build ultra low-action too. With a new build I will have the advantage of putting whatever neck angle, nut and bridge that work best for achieving super low action.

Shredders cannot play on high action axes as fast as they can on low action ones. This is all about physics and nothing more. It has nothing to do with some guy's fast fingers because those same fast fingers will have to travel a longer way on a high action guitar than on a low action one. And this means slower playing. The higher the strings are, the longer the way your finger has to travel to fret them. The longer the way, the slower you play. That's it. Pure physics. Playing fast on a high action guitar would be as hard as playing with your fingers lifted too far from the fretboard - you simply lose valuable time until your finger gets back to the fret. Believe me, low action is important for speeding up your playing. Actually, I can't believe that I had to write all this - I thought that it was obvious and everybody knew that. Some people (the blues types) love high action. That's OK with me - I don't care if some guy loves it when the strings are two miles away from the fretboard. I do like freaking low action, though, and I want to build an axe that has that low action. Please, share your tips and tricks.

So, how to make those circular/eliptical/whatever vibrating strings not buzz when they are 1 mm away fromt he frets?

Well guys, thanks for all the replies. It's 2 years later now and I still love ultra-freaking-low action. Every time I watch "Speed Kills" by Michael Angelo Batio, i get amazed by the freaking low action on his signature guitar - it is like 0.000000001 microns at 12th fret. Seriously, if you wanna shred like a pro, you need to have the lowest action pssible on your axe. Any tips about how to build a guitar that has the lowest action ever? Fret leveling? Nut height? Neck angle? Bridge type? I need a practical guide on ultra low action guitars. Anyone into building them? Any shred masters around?

I think that the Jackson RR (first Jackson indeed) appeared somewhere between. Kramer were making radically shaped metal guitars in the 70's and the Vanguard appeared somewhere in the early '80s. I *think* that it was born before Ransy's Jackson. You are right that the new Korean Vanguards do not look like Jackson RRs and actually that's why I am loving them. Their design is so cool. I prefer them because of their evil look and sloped wings (good for resting your arm on). Their reversed banana headstock is quite Gibson-esque and cool too. PS: It's just a matter of taste. I would not mind buying a cheap Jackson but I hear that they sound like crap. The Kramer has several good advantages and one of them is the Quad Rail pickups.

Finish is important for the metal look but the shape is more essential, i think. This is my take on your guitar's shape: You can achieve this by just cutting. If you don't mind gluing new pieces to your body, then it could be easilly turned into a Jackson Kelly clone. I don't know what your headstock looks like, but it is very important for the "metal" look too. I did a conversion on one of my guitar's headstock and it made the guitar look so much more evil.

Finally, I managed to take a few decent photos of the modified guitar. And now, eaxactly two years later, I am posting them here. This is how the guitar looked before: And here it is after the "improvements". Yes, I made a double sided headstock after all... Share your thoughts and comments. IMHO modified guitars are cool.

The Old Kramer Vanguard used to be something very close to a Jackson RR. Actually, I think that the first Kramer Vanguards were made before Randy Rhoad's Jackson model, so it is more like that Jackson RRs are clones of the classic Vanguard Kramer. The new Vangaurds are quite different fromt he average Jackson RR too. They have sloped wings for arm comfort, so you don't get bruises on your forearm after a few minutes of playing. And that reversed headstock is freaking cool for the looks. They are not low quality at all - equipped with Gotoh tuners, Gibson Tune-o-Matic bridge, American Quad Rail humbucker pickups that have 4 coils in each - a whole lot of 8 coils per guitar which is like having 4 humbuckers instead of only 2 in your axe. These Quad Rails are known for totally eliminating the hum and having a very hot output for a passive pickup. They are cool for metal and people like to compare them with higher end products. I think that it is a rather good offer for the ridiculously low price. I am NOT after the model witht he Floyd Rose. So, I don't care if the floyds they put in the new Vanguards are good or not. I was just thinking how to fix that Floyd in case I have to order a model with a tremolo. @marksound, I cannot order from MusicYo.com even if they have the Vanguard back in stock again. They do not ship to my country and Iw as unable to make them make an exception just for me.

who is forcing you? MusicYo.com and their shipping policy. I have to order from another site and they have the model witht he FloydRose only. There are no other Kramer Vanguard sellers in the world besides MusicYo.com and that other web site (unchainedguitars.com). Both are American. There are absolutely no Kramer dealers in Europe. Funny, isn't it? Too busy to build anything, too stingy to order a custom built guitar. And last, but not least: too in love with the model I am after to replace it with anything else.

Hello guys, I need to buy each of the two Dremel bits from the photo below in big amounts. Do you know a good online store to get them as individual items and not as parts of a Dremel bit kit? I know I can make the sand paper roll bit but it is not worth the effort. The steel bit with the abrasive tip is absolutely impossible to be made at home, so I definitely need to buy it from a store. By the way, what is its name in English?