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daveq

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Everything posted by daveq

  1. I recently finished a PRS clone with a Floyd (OFR). Here is a pic of it before the finish was applied. I guess I don't have a pic of it completed. Anyway, it certainly can be done. I'm a bit biased but I really don't understand most of the "put-downs" when it comes to the Floyd bridges. I grew up playing a fixed bridge guitar and switched to Floyds after about 5 years of playing. Cutting the ball has never been a big deal to me - it doesn't take more than a few seconds. Tuning a Floyd after all of the strings have been removed used to drive me crazy. I have a piece of wood that I place next to the spring block and it takes care of most of the problems. A little spring adjustment is sometimes needed also. To avoid these issues, try not to remove all of the strings at the same time. Once in a while you will have to remove all of them to clean the fretboard but mostly, one string at a time will get the job done without having to do the things I mentioned above. The slams I have heard about Floyds not being good enough for people who cannot earn a living playing guitar are the ones that really make me wonder. The typical "kills my sustain" and "sucks my tone" comments are amazing to me. I guess if Steve Vai or Joe Satriani were to say that they just can't use a Floyd for these reasons, the comments may carry more weight with me. When a 19 year old who isn't quite sure what "Modes" are tells me that Floyds are great for dive-bombing and "tricks" but won't meet his tone and sustain requirements, I have to smile and shake my head. I don't mean to sound like there are no reasons to dislike a Floyd. If you really can't get the hang of tuning one or if you just don't like the feel - I can't argue with that. It's the comments about them somehow being a downer on your otherwise famous tone and sustain or the notion that they are only useful for "divebombing tricks" that I have to disagree with. The Floyd adds a tool for expression that is very hard to duplicate by bending the neck or other means. P.S. - these comments have nothing to do with any posts here - this thread just reminded me of previous discussions on this topic.
  2. Now, being a huge George Lynch fan, you'd think I would have known about that. Then again, he's endorsed and developed so many products, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Thanks for the tips, I'll check them out.
  3. I have a friend (really - not me) who has a multi-effects processor and some floor pedals that he would like to use for two amps. He has a Mesa and a Peavey amp. He does not like to use the Peavey's preamp - he uses his multi-effects for the distortion. He uses the Mesa's preamp though (of course). So, should he be looking at using some A/B/Y's or can he use the effects loop of the multi-effects to send to the Peavey, ... ? Lots of ways I guess but I wanted to at least get the question started. I'll try to provide more details as needed. Thanks, DaveQ
  4. This caused quite a conflict last time I saw this question posted. I think the basic answer is that the SD isn't really supposed to be a COPY of the BL version. It is supposed to be Dime's SD product - and I'll leave it at that. For what it's worth, I have the Dimebucker installed in an all maple guitar and really like it. I have not tried the BL product but plan to.
  5. I know, ... what could be less inspiring, less creative, less interesting than the one millionth PRS style homebrew guitar. What can I say? I've never owned one, rarely played one, but I thought I would give this carved top thing a try. When I use the PRS name, I certainly do not claim to have reached anywhere near their level of craftsmanship - I just use it to describe the shape of the guitar. It will have: - Alder body with 3/4" quilted top - Curly maple / Wenge laminate neck (7 piece if I remember) with Wenge headstock (2 way rod) - 24 fret curly maple fretboard with wenge bird inlay at 12th fret - Chrome floyd with R4 nut - Chrome tuners - SD Jazz in the neck, SD JB Trembucker in bridge - 3 way toggle, 500K vol, 500K tone (push/pull for coil tapping) - Set neck construction From a design standpoint - it really isn't anything worth getting excited about. I'm still focusing on getting better at the finshing stages. I do have another in the works that should score some creativity points - none here though. Here are a couple of pics of the body being finished: Blue Burst Blue Burst II
  6. I'm horrible at internet sarcasm. I hope you didn't spend too much time with that. BTW - does anyone use anything other than google nowadays? Is there any way MPA can sue for the use of that word? (that's more of that sarcasm again - no need for reply)
  7. Does anyone know how to contact these people or a way to express - umm, ....... let's just call it an "opinion" directly to them? I'll try to remember not to use any sentences or groupings of words that may have been in any song ever written in my correspondence.
  8. My guess (which isn't worth much in the finishing world) is that you need to bleach the hell out of it. I don't know if they use a white pigment or not - very possible. From my vast experience in dealing with this type of finish (which is one project), I'd think that a well bleached piece of wood may actually be all you need. Stain it blue, wait for it to dry, hit it with some 800 or higher and clear. I think the critical thing may be to use a true clear though. Any clear that introduces an amber effect such as shellac will tend to take away from the white that you are shooting for. I did see Erlewine finish a Tele or Strat with a transparent white in one of his videos. Maybe PRS does something like that layered with blue? I'm not sure it's really needed though. For anyone who doesn't know my history - I am absolutely NOT a finishing expert. I'm very comfortable with woodworking and pretty much everything else needed for building a guitar but finishing has always been my greatest weakness. Take this advice with this in mind. Start building now!!! We need more threads in the In Progress section. There seems to be loads of "My first project" entries but not so many from people who have several under their belts already. I like to see the new people but I also love to see the progress of the more experienced builders also. Get going!!!
  9. Yes, partly. I really like the faded denim finsh that PRS uses. I wanted that in the middle and a burst (which I don't think PRS usually does on that finish) toward the edges. I'm surprised you mentioned that.
  10. Thanks. I did it mostly using an airbrush (after rubbing the first blue coat). There's more to it than that but that's the nickel tour. I'm working on finishing it up now. I hope it will be ready soon - can't wait to hear it.
  11. As much as I was wanting to do the black burst or the brighter orange/yellow colors - I totally wimped out and went with something more familiar. I'm in a bit of a time crunch so I wanted to allow more time to practice a black burst on a future project. I still want an orange quilt someday also. For this project, I went with the ubiquitous blue-burst: I'm so boring and predictable it's disturbing. Maybe next time. Thanks for the input. See ya!
  12. Yes, it definitely can. With any figured wood, I always take off a tiny amount with each pass. I just tap the adjustment wheel, lock it and send it through. Over and over again. If it looks like you're not going to be able to avoid tearout even with tiny adjustments, stop before 1/32 to 1/16 of final thickness and sand the rest of the way. I don't normally have to sand but it does depend on the wood.
  13. Very often it "appears" as though more birds are visible. I think it's more of an illusion in that the planing just clears things up and doesn't actually uncover more. It's possible that more are actually uncovered but mainly, it's the cleaning up of the surface that makes it look more figured. To sum it up, planing it will make it look better. If you kinda/sorta like it now, you should feel more confident about it after it has been planed. No guarantees though.
  14. Here's a pic of the guitar as it is now: No points for creativity on this - just trying to put together something in the neighborhood of a PRS. I did do a more aggressive carve though - just something I wanted to do. I have more pics but they aren't on the web yet. I have a feeling that I would need to layer the black dye over some clear to get it right but I could be wrong. I wasn't able to turn up anything on this search or on mimf. I get a lot of results for the word "burst" and "black" but nothing that I could find for "black burst". So, any opinions on what might look good? Sorry the rest of the neck isn't there for reference. It has a wenge headstock and wenge bird at the 12th fret. Thanks!
  15. I'm having the worst time trying to decide on a color for my PRS'ish project. It has a nice quilt top and it's a nice bright/pale color (no need to bleach). Here's what the guitar is made of: 1.Quilt maple top 2.Alder body 3.Flame maple neck laminated with Wenge (7 piece) 4.Flame maple fretboard with wenge bird inlay at 12th fret 5.Wenge headstock with scarf joint It will have chrome hardware and black knobs. I was originally thinking that I'd do a cherry burst but I don't think I want to go that way now. Now, I'm considering these: A. Bright orange with a fade to darker orange/red at the edges B. Black burst (would need some tips on how to do this) C. Bright Yellow possibly with some fading effects D. The good 'ol Blue Burst E. Carri-burst I have no experience with doing a black burst. I also don't know if that would be a waste of a really nice bright colored top (which usually tends to go well with bright colors). I can't decide!!! HELP!!!!!!
  16. I did something similar to what I think you are describing (although not a V and not a veneer) on my Jan. 2005 GOTM. Here's the pic from the PG main site: I did a mixture of black, green, and blue with the rub on technique. I then put several coats of Tru-Oil on and then used an airbrush to do the dark fading on the edges with some black dye. After that, more Tru-Oil and that's about it. I think you are looking for more of a blue-burst, right? You could use a similar technique to do it. I have heard that when using the rub-on burst technique, the brighter colors can be added after the darker colors (backwards from painting). I don't know for sure if this is true with different shades of blue but it does seem to be true for a cherry burst. Give it a try on some scrap and see if you like it.
  17. Are they talking about tabs that are directly copied from a book and posted on the web? I guess I could understand that - maybe but if they mean that nobody can listen and tab a song and post it - that's insane. That thing about "throw in some jail time" - that really pisses me off. As if jail time were a trivial thing to just "throw in".
  18. I don't get into that type of music. I don't own a single piece of their stuff. It's hard for me to bash anyone (even rap artists - well, maybe not rap but you get the idea) who has the ability to put a song together and sell it to millions. I wish I could. I can play almost anything I want to (given either time to figure it out or tab) and make it sound spot-on but I don't seem to have what it takes to create something from scratch. I can create pieces here and there and maybe some lead work that sounds good on it's own but I cannot incorporate it into anything that resembles a complete song. I've been playing for a long time (since 1985/86?) but only on a rare occasion with a band. I think that has a lot to do with it but I still think I'm missing something that others are born with. I've often sat down with my guitar with the notion in mind of creating a song only to find that I end up with several pieces that don't fit but sound good separately. To sum it up: If someone were to challenge me and Green Day to come up with a song - I would likely lose every single time. Even though I know I can play circles around Billy - I cannot do what he does. Actually, I don't even know if he writes his songs but I think you know what I mean. Maybe you can tell me - if I went for music lessons (not guitar lessons), is that all I would need or is it something that you're born with?
  19. My wife is a teacher and she works with someone who has a student with some issues. His father is dying of cancer and his family is really struggling financially. He really wants an electric guitar for Christmas. I offered to build one or buy one for him but someone else has already arranged to buy a WalMart package for him. He's in 7th grade. I'm fine with that but here's my question - since his dad needs some quiet/peaceful surroundings, I want to give him a headphone amp. I don't know if the WalMart amp will have a headhpne out but even if it does, I still want to give him something nicer - something with some effects, ... I have a POD Pro (rack mount) that I really love. I've been considering upgrading to the XT but I don't know if it's worth the huge price tag (around $650). I thought that if I did upgrade, I could give him my POD Pro. He'd have just about everything he would need in terms of effects for a beginner and it would likely sound 100x better than his Walmart amp. So, do you think the XT is worth the price? I can find other preamps, effects, ... for him. It's not a POD Pro or nothing deal but it's one possibility and I think it would be a sweet deal for him. Just let me say this - I know he doesn't NEED that much capability at this stage. It's just one option that may work out well in this situation. At his age, having something "cool" that other more fortunate kids may have is important - even though in the long run it's not. I remember that age too well. What do you think? Upgrade (if you think the XT is worth the price tag), or give him something like a Rockman and stick with my POD Pro?
  20. There are lots of very helpful and experienced people here who could point you in the right direction. Please don't be offended but that last line has me thinking your project might benefit from a little more help than the answer to this quesiton. Electronics can be tricky in that you can spend months going down the wrong road without even knowing it. The old saying "I know just enough to be dangerous" applies. Just trying to help.
  21. I know you don't want people to ask why but if the reason is the problem of detuning when bending strings, maybe this Stewmac Tremconverter would help? It would save a lot of work if you just want to avoid the detuning. If there are other reasons, maybe it's not the best way to go.
  22. Can you explain this a little further? I always use Floyds on my guitars and would like to know more about these. I switch between OFR's and Schallers but I mostly use OFR's. I honestly don't hear or feel much of a difference betwen the Schaller and the OFR but I've only tried switching on the same guitar once. The difference in sound was less than the difference in feel and they were both very minor. The only thing I could consider a negative concerning the Schallers is the locking screw is smooth and won't take a intonation tool (the little slider/spring jobber that AllParts sells to help intonate) and the D-Tuna. I have'nt tried the D-Tuna but it appears as though it needs that knob on the end. I'd guess that you could swap out that screw for an OFR type but I haven't tried that yet either. Basically, I like the Schaller very much but will pick the OFR when possible. Any info on why you like these bridges would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
  23. OK, this is where I always get confused. For a system to actually be true HVLP, you need the turbine in addition to the gun - true or false? I see so many HVLP guns for sale but I don't understand what the advantage is to using them if you don't have the turbine to go with it. Please help a very confused person here!
  24. Most info I have read on Alder is that it does not need it. I have also read that once in a great while you will end up with a piece that will need a bit. My personal experience with it (I've finished 4 alder bodies) is that I have not needed it yet. I've used both nitro and tru-oil on those in case you were wondering. 4 bodies doesn't constitute fact but like I said, most reading I have done indicates it does not usually require filling. When I first got into building, I picked alder mostly because I didn't want to have to grain fill.
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