daveq

I'm going to try putting in two GT's (12AX7's) - and yes it does have two tubes. I don't know what's currently in there since there is foam wrapped around them. I don't hold out much hope though since the last time I upgraded to GT's in my marshall's preamp it only changed the tone of it - I don't think it increased the gain all that much. As far as the POD having too much gain - I do see that on their "insane" channel but the Soldano emulation that I use is almost perfection to my ears. I was considering looking for a soldano preamp (X-88 is it?) but I haven't completely given up on the rocktron yet. Well, technically I guess I did since I have a graphic EQ in my effects loop (see first post).

I am currently using a POD Pro for my preamp. I love it but am always interested in trying new things. I checked harmony-central and found that the Piranha got excellent reviews - better than most products I've seen on that site. I bought one in excellent condition off ebay. I played around with it for a couple days but could never get a good thick sustaining distortion out of it. I'm running the effects loop on it into my other effects (DSP7500, G-Major, Graphic EQ, BBE 362) and am going direct into my PC (E-MU 1210 - I think). The sound card is excellent for what I need - so it's not even a factor here but my main point is that I'm not using a power amp at all. I use headphones connected to the left and right outputs of the Piranha when I'm not using the PC speakers. So, is the problem that I'm not using a power amp? I don't think it is because it would seem strange that a preamp would rely on the power amp to add more distortion. Compared to the POD Pro, the Piranha is just very weak. I guess it might be good for 70's overdrive type stuff but not even close for the heavier stuff I like to play. I don't expect many people to have one of these things but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I forgot to mention - I also put a parametric EQ in front of it to try to help get a better sound out of it but it didn't do much in terms of gettting a thicker distortion.

I did a jem style vine inlay using brass, gold MOP, and white MOP. I had the board radiused and slotted before I did anything else. That's just the way I did it though. Read the reply from Clavlin above. A major concern with inlaying shell before radiusing the board is that you will have no idea what color or pattern you will end up with. If you pre-radius the board and then inlay, you have a much better idea of how it will look when completed. I realize that most Jem vines are not shell but the general idea of radiusing after doing the inlay does have it's risks. Re-slotting isn't too bad unless you have to do a large portion of the fretboard. Some people take the extra step of removing a bit of the inlay where it meets the slot to prevent it from cracking when pressing the fret wire in - others just remove the tang and glue the fret wire on - and I guess some people just leave it as is and press them in. I'm no inlay expert but I wanted to throw that out there as a possible consideration.

I really, really like the AlnicoII pro in the neck position. I think it's one of the best sounding neck pickups (int the passive category) I have heard. It's name doesn't do much in terms of getting people's attention but for those of us who have played through one - the name doesn't matter. Nice choice!

I shim my floyds to approx 18" for fretboards with that type of compound radius. I think there are some people here on PG that just leave the floyd at 10" and deal with the higher action on the middle strings. I prefer shimming it though.

The OFR's have a 10" radius. You can easily use them with a fretboard with a radius within +/- 2 inches of that (8 to 12). You can also adjust each saddle to create a custom radius if your board exceeds that 2 inch tolerance. When I first saw Yngwie's guitar, I was really surprised. He has very high action and prefers the same tight radius fretboard as Dave Murray. I guess some people are used to playing that way.

This is the type of router jig that I built a while ago. The pic isn't all that great but you can see that it's not the same old 16" tall on one end and 10" on the other type of design. GAL Jig (Mike Nealon's jig). Unfortunately, the GAL issue (#66) has the wrong angles/measurements in it's description. It wasn't too hard to figure out the correct math for it though. It took about 1 day to build. To do a board with it, it takes about 15 minutes. There is some sanding required so whether it is really that much of a help could be debatable. For the real tough stuff like ebony, I think it can be a time saver though. I've done about 4 fretboards with it. I can't say if it's any better than other jigs I have seen but it does seem to use the proper geometry. I've seen other jigs that seem to rely on the joints giving a bit to accomplish the task. It's very difficult to explain without pics. I'd give it a try with sanding by hand first though if you only plan to do a couple of boards. The stewmac bars are ideal for this stuff. I built my jig expecting to do a whole bunch over my lifetime.

I often feel the same way. That's one of the reasons I decided to get those videos. They do two things for me: 1. Inspire me to improve. Seeing those guys tear it up makes me want to do the same. 2. They give good tips and exercises to help get you there - especially the petruci one. I mention the petruci video because it's really geared to be a one on one lesson. Even if you don't care for Dream Theater (like me), I still strongly recommend the video. There's no denying that guy has serious talent and he really does share some great tips on how to improve on all sorts of areas of playing guitar. An example of something I really like about this video is the alternate picking lessons. In the past, I have never really paid that much attention to my picking hand. I have found that using the lessons in that video has really allowed me to do things that I couldn't do cleanly in the past. Definitely good stuff. I also have just about every George Lynch video there is. I use these for inspiration and stealing a few licks. These aren't lessons as much as they are videos of him going at it. Lastly - I'm heading off to the video store to find a copy of Crossroads. It's too bad they chose Ralph for that role but damn that movie is cool! Very inspirational.

I'd recommend getting the Petruci video. He has some very challenging exercises in there. Without any set program to follow, I tend to play what I'm most interested in or what I'm comfortable with - not the best way to improve. I have a whole collection of videos by various guitarists and try to steal exercises from them. I have a guitar in the family room to do the picking exercises while watching the kids or "being with the family". That way, I can extend my practice time a bit. It doesn't always work out but I take what I can get. The other thing about the family life is that your free time is usually late at night when you're most tired. It's difficult.

What type of rod are you using?

Matt - Just use your judgement on it - I've seen necks built with spalt before and I've built a couple myself. Since each piece really has it's own unique properties, it's hard for anyone to know without examining it whether it is suited well for a neck. My very non-scientific advice would just be to bend it a bit after the piece is roughly cut. If it bends very easily, obviously it's no good. It doesn't appear to have any "punky" sections from the pic. I'm looking forward to seeing it come together!

The Createx paints aren't expensive - I'd guess that you could paint the whole thing for around $35 and have enough left over for another - maybe. That's without the clear nitro. Here's where I got mine: Mister Art I just really wouldn't even consider attempting it using nitro for each color. What a nightmare! It's not like you'd be losing quality either. There are other paints out there and it's possible that Createx isn't considered the best - I don't know. They were recommended to me by LGM but he said later that he switched to something else.

From my experience with black limba, I would stay away from it (or Korina) for a metal guitar. I think there was another person here on PG who wasn't thrilled with it's low end either but I can't remember who it was. Maybe it's the pic but that maple looks strange to me. Is it hard maple or soft maple? Maybe it's heart wood or something - I've just never seen that kind of coloring in hard maple before. What type of truss rod are you planning on using? I would not use the round-over bit unless you are really comfortable doing so. I have never needed to use one (I know some people do). Shaping the back of the neck goes faster than you would probably think even with 100% hand tools. I use sand paper, scraper, rasp, ...

No. The Createx was actually recommended to me by LGM. If I were going to use a different type of paint in the future, I would probably test it out. I don't know off hand what the likelyhood is of having troubles like that with the common airbrush paints. I think they are all going to be compatible with nitro but I don't know for sure. I do know that the Createx Auto-Air worked great for me.

RRV - I'm no expert but my advice would be to NOT do the colors with nitro at all. Use something that cures faster when doing mulitple colors and then coat it with clear nitro or other clear. I use Createx Auto-Air for the colors on this one: and here it is after the clear nitro: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~ds_quinn/im...erFinal2sml.jpg Nitro takes a while to cure and can be tricky to deal with compared to paints such as the Auto-Air that I used. Using the Createx allowed me to do all 6 colors on that guitar in two days. I could have done it in 1 day but there was a lot of masking going on there. If I used nitro for each color, I might still be waiting to spray my 5th color. The stewmac nitro cans are usually great. I have used enough of them to comment on them - that's for sure. Once in a great while, you might get a spit but it has been very, very rare for me. I usually don't let the cans go much below 1/3 full before switching to another - maybe that's the reason - I don't know. I have seen some outstanding guitars built by people here using rattle cans and I don't think there is any real need to spend the big cash for automotive poly equipment unless you plan to build professionally. Maybe a better alternative would be to pay someone to spray that stuff for you if you really aren't thrilled with rattle cans? I guess it all depends on your bank account and future plans.

That Parker doesn't appear to be what I would normally expect - I thought they all used the carbon necks / fretboards? The specs say that it has a maple fretboard but the pic doesn't appear to show that. Does Parker make a cheaper (price - not neccessarily quality) line of guitars that don't use their carbon necks w/SS frets, piezo bridge, ...?

You can also glue the fretboard to an already tapered neck and trim it flush. That's the method I use most often. Is that what you meant?

Not in a big rush. I'm always thinking about my next piece of gear though. My situation is that I'm probably not going to need a 100W head and 4x12 cab since I play mostly on my own. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that setup - it's just not ideal for me. I like the idea of going with a rack mounted preamp and power amp. The Line6 POD Pro that I'm using now is great but there will be a time when I will want to go non-digital distortion - I just know that's where my mind is heading now.

Maple - Yeah!!!! I hope you like it as much as I do. As for a headstock, what about checking out some knife manufacturers (Gerber?) and use them as inspiration? I'm not a big fan of 3x3, 4x2, or 4x3 (for 7 strings) - especially for metal guitars. I'm an inline kind of guy.

I bought a Badlands CD a couple of months ago thinking I'd be treating myself to some kick-butt Jake Lee. I was stunned at what I heard - it sounded like a garage band and each song sounded dissapointingly similar. There's no possible way that Jake Lee played on that CD. I wish I could remember the title of the CD - I just threw the thing out the same day I bought it. I remember reading the band member list and not seeing him on there but I can't remember any of their names. Are there two Badlands groups out there? Is it possible I got a real old one or something (before he joined?) Can anyone recommend one of the real Jake Lee / Badlands CDs?

From what I have read, Hetfield has them all modified. I guess that's true for just about every pro nowadays - nobody seems to settle for stock equipment. Well, thanks for the info. If I see one around, I'll give it a try.

Has anyone here had much experience with the Mesa Triaxis preamp? I have read some reviews that it sounds horrible on the low end but others say it's just an EQ issue.

I've done several bolt-on necks but never a set neck. I don't know how much more complicated it is to remove a fretboard from a guitar where the neck is still attached? The method I use is to place a household clothing iron on the fretboard and set it to full power / full steam. I hit the self-clean button often, forcing it to blow out loads of steam (be careful not to let it dump water though). After about 5 minutes, I use a razor blade to get under the fretboard at the heel end. This is where I really don't know how you would do this. There's probably a different method for set-neck guitars (maybe start at the nut end?) but I am not up on those. For a bolt-on, it's really not very bad. I usually can get one off it about 20 minutes. It takes a little while to get everything sanded flat/smooth again but as a whole, it's very doable. I just don't know about that type of guitar.

I think most people would agree that it is impossible for pot to be legalized in the US. It would be political suicide for any candidate for just about any office to take that stance (certainly for President). It just isn't going to happen. What will happen is the same exact thing that went on with alcohol during prohibition - people will find a way to do what they want. I really believe that alcohol is a much larger problem than pot. I have had too many altercations with people who have been drinking to think otherwise. Alcohol is seriously dangerous. So what do we see on TV ads - loads of people having fun with their favorite brand of beer and kids diving into empty pools when smoking pot. That kind of propoganda is pure crap and is very disturbing. I don't know if the creators of these anti-pot commercials really believe this stuff or if they have been brain-washed with the rest of the crowd. It makes no sense whatsoever that alcohol is legal and pot is not. I undestand how that came to be here in the US but that doesn't mean it makes any sense. People who have never tried it do seem to be at a disadvantage in really understanding the difference between the propoganda and the actual effects of the drug. For those who have never tried it and still think that it makes people want to do evil and dangerous things - I am here to tell you it's just not so. On average, the worst thing that happens to a room full of stoned people is they decide to order a pizza or watch cartoons. With alcohol, well, you all probably have your own horror stories. It doesn't get much uglier than a room full of drunks - something dangerous or violent is almost certain to happen. I wish more people could understand what it's really like and see what's happening with the misinformation campaign currently in full force here in the US. Sorry if I sound on the offensive here. The false advertising that I see almost everyday on the subject of pot really bothers me. I hate to see people completely misinformed the way they are. It's not so much the marijuana topic but more the government taking advantage of people and assumming that they are gullable to such a degree. PS - I used to smoke daily during college and some of high school. It's much more rare for me to smoke nowadays but I haven't lost sight of the truth.

It waits until you have stopped playing to give the full delay effect. When playing lead, it's a fantastic feature - especially when playing fast runs that you don't want blurred or washed out by the delay but still want it when you stop the run. Here's the TC description of it: I was watching a Petruci video the other day and he's got a MIDI pedal set up to accomplish the same thing. My Eventide calls them "ducked delays" but are the same exact thing. I had not heard of them until I got the G-Major and have been using it ever since.