daveq

That's the shielding paint. Good stuff. Some people do it with copper foil tape but a lot of manufacturers use the paint instead. I've been using the stewmac paint for a while and have had good results (and fewer cuts in my hands).

Does anyone know if those things can do ducked/dynamic delays? Just curious.

I like pcbexpress.com - I don't know if pad2pad is operational yet.

I'm glad they are keeping the amps and just giving them a different name. That would be a shame to see them just dissapear. I think the same thing is true for the D-Tuna but I don't know for sure. I think this all happened several months ago, didn't it?

Yeah, I read the reviews on harmony-central on the GT-6. Many people seemed happy with the unit but there were at least a dozen people who had the same issue I did with my GT-5. They had very similar descriptions of the distortion being too weak and lifeless. It may have to do with the amp used - who knows? I am extremely picky about that so it could just be me being a distortion snob. The reason I mentioned the G-Major is that the chorus, delay, reverb, ... are sooo nice and it's about the same price. I was afraid that this suggestion would be taken as an insult and it appears as though it may have - this was not my intent. Of course, I am one of those people who doesn't want anything on the floor that could be mounted in a rack. I have a MIDI controller on the floor and that's all I want there. Others are happy to have lots of gear on the floor but it just bugs me. The GT-X's must be worth the price though - there seem to be a good amount of happy customers posting on harmony-central. BTW - Can you do ducked delays with the GT-6/8? I have found that to be a real nice feature in a delay. I didn't know it even existed until I had the G-Major.

I'd play 6 hours a day if I could. I used to play about 4 hrs a day back in college but now that I've got a job and a family, personal time is almost non-existent. I can usually find about an hour these days to do whatever I want. I have to fit everything into that hour so it's not usually all dedicated to guitar. When I was in college, I used to teach a few people who were starting out playing guitar. When they got stuck on something, I always wondered if it was something that I wasn't explaining properly or if it was just a case of them not being physically gifted enough to do it. The desire was there and I could always hear them practicing so that wasn't it either. I was checking out one of my George Lynch videos the other night and that's what got me thinking about all of this.

Different from what?

Looks incredible!! I don't know how I missed this one earlier. Is that natural binding I see along the edges? That's a real bitch to do in my limited experience. I bet you can't wait to plug it in, right? At times like this, I have always wished that I had access to some of that component poly equipment so I can get on it quickly. Keep those pics coming- great work!

Thanks Gorecki - I think you understand what I was after. Interesting answer. BigD - I agree - if there are obvious physical differences, then that would be an issue. I guess I should have stipulated that all 12 would have very similar builds. One other thing I should have mentioned - I'm not talking about developing a players ability to create songs such as "Crying" - just getting them to the point where they can play anything put before them. The creativity issue is another interesting subject though. My personal feeling on that is that people are either born with it or not and it's not learned. I could be swayed to think otherwise though - just my gut feeling.

I'm not sure what you mean? I know there are other factors involved that make it difficult to answer this but really what I'm after here is this: As a teacher, at what point would you just say "OK, that's as far as this person can go" and stop pushing them. Are the obstacles purely mental or are some people just physically limited and will never be able to play certain pieces no matter how much they practice and no matter who is teaching them?

Does anyone know what Fender is doing or what their plans are for the Strat bodies and headstocks that are so widely copied around the world? Are they ever going to try to put a stop to it or are they screwed since they have let it go on for so long already? I don't personally care about Fender but I have seen soooo many variations of the Strat it just makes me curious. I'd also like to know how it is determined when it is a copy/theft and when it is just a similar looking instrument. Is it just up to the judge to determine this or are there actual guidelines that spell this out?

I was wondering if everyone has the same physical ability to play guitar. What I mean is, given enough practice time, could anyone off the street learn to play like Yngwie? I understand that it would take some people longer than others but given enough time, would everyone be able to learn the same material? For example, if I were to take Yngwie's "Crying" and have 12 people learn the song. Some who have never played guitar, others who have. During 20 years, they all get whatever help they need from experienced players/teachers. After that 20 years, would all of them be likely to play that song note for note or do you think some people are just born without the ability to pull it off? I know it's a difficult one to answer since things like desire, interest, ... are factors but for the sake of this - assume that all people involved are equally interested and are equally driven to succeed. In my experience, I don't really know. I've seen some people pick up guitar more quickly than others but I don't know if that's just due to their desire to learn it or if part of it is something physical?

What do you have against rack effects? Sorry I mentioned it.

This is going to be a bit controversial for those who are big fans of the GT-X products but when I bought mine a few years ago, I was seriously dissapointed. All of the talk about COSM this and COSM that, had me thinking that it would deliver unbelievable distortion and amp modelling effects. It was unbelieveable - just horrifying . I ended up taking it back the next day. I did try editing just about every possible setting but got no closer to my ideal sound. Now, it was a few years ago and I think it may have been the GT-5 and not the GT-6. It was mostly blue with some yellow if that helps determine which one it was. The delays, chorus, ... seemed pretty good but the distortion was shameful. At the time, I was really after a good distortion unit so that's what ruined the experience for me. The price on these things is around $400, right? For that, I would urge people to at least consider trying out a TC Electronics G-Major. It doesn't do distortion but it does everything else and does it extremely well. TC has an outstanding reputation and the G-Major is a very well respected effects processor. I recently bought a Eventide Harmonizer and was wondering if it would lead to me offloading the G-Major but I found that the two sound awesome together. I use a POD Pro for distortion (and I also use my amp's preamp when I actually plug into it) so if that's what you are after, you can skip the G-Major. If you're looking for a great processor that does pitch shifting, chorus, delay, reverb, filtering, ... please check it out before spending money on anything else. If anyone does take me up on this, just keep in mind that most of the factory presets aren't that great. It took my about 15 minutes to dial in a great sound for what I like to play. I don't mean to anger those who truly enjoy the GT-X products. Everyone has their own preferences and hears things differently. It just wasn't what I was expecting and it just didn't do anything for me. Again - it was a few years ago so maybe things have changed?

Sorry if this is getting off topic but is it safe to say that when using EMG's, you don't have to remove the bridge ground? I can't think why you would be required to do so. This is why I'm asking:

I didn't think that you HAD to remove the bridge ground when using EMG's? Can someone explain why that would be? Also - having a grounded bridge doesn't mean you are safe from being shocked. I don't want to hijack on that topic but that seems to be the assumption that many people make.

This is what I used on my Ibanez clone: Santa Fe Jewelers Supply They are thin but certainly workable. I've also bought some from a local jeweler who managed to find much thicker discs. I used CA glue but the jeweler I bought them from suggested using epoxy instead. Just make sure you switch to a fine grit before you get too close to being flush with the fretboard. I did mine after the board was radiused. With thicker pieces, you could install them before radiusing.

Oh, no - that's not what I was saying. I was talking about having to deal with the crappy "built-in" MIDI drums that come with Cakewalk and other recording packages. I would fully expect a drum machine to sound much better than those sounds but the reason I mentioned Drumatic is that it's much less expensive than a drum machine - something like $50.00, I think. I would never try to claim that Drumatic is in any way a better sounding product than a piece of equipment such as a drum machine - that would be crazy. I do think it's better than the crap that I got with my recording software. Maybe it didn't even come with Cakewalk - do those MIDI sounds come with Windows? Do you know what I'm talking about?

I'm new to recording but drums were my first real "problem" I encountered. I tried setting up a MIDI file manually for every piece and ended up just getting too frustrated. I looked around and decided to try something called Drumatic by Cakewalk. There's probably plenty more products like it but it's actually very good. They recorded two complete drum kits (a hard rock/metal kit and a more mellow sounding kit). They have .wav files for 1/8, 1/4, ... notes and all you need to do is drag them into your recording software and line them up. They include a whole bunch of fills also. The only thing that I think needs improvement is the cymbals - they don't have enough samples for my liking. This way, you don't have to live with the synthesized drum sounds but you can still manipulate the pieces in a similar fashion. I'm sure most of you already have used products like this and I'm late to the game but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

How about yourself Marcel - do you have any recordings online? I know you said that you are currently in a couple of bands - do any of them have a site with some mp3's (or other format)? I wish we had a place here to post clips - maybe a pinned thread?

I haven't played my RG in over a year now so I don't even remember what it sounds like compared to alder. The guitar I play most of the time is made of alder and I love it. I'm also a big fan of maple bodied guitars but they aren't really comparable. I don't remember hearing anyone say that they dislike alder - it's pretty popular for good reasons in my opinion.

A bit off topic but - We just did the move last night (a horrible experience) so I hope to be able to record a few things to demonstrate what it is capable of. The temporary place we are living in now doesn't have much space so I'm going to have to bribe the wife for a spot near the PC for my rack gear. The harmonizers are definitely not for those who shy away from a bit of programming. You can find some decent factory presets but to really get the most out of it, you'll need to customize it yourself. That and the price tag are probably the biggest reason that they are so rarely seen in a typical rig. BTW - I am still using my G-Major. The two units play very nicely together and expand the possibilities. People reading this are probably thinking that I'm creating this wall of sound and over-effecting but the sound I'm currently using is quite tame but nice and thick.

I think the main reason why the LEDs don't look as good in those pics is because the LED hasn't been sanded flush to the board and polished. When that is done, they will look very nice. To me, it actually looks like the LED was embedded beneath the edge and you can see a gap around the dome of the LED. Try leaving a bit of the LED exposed beyond the fretboard's edge and then sand it flush. After that, give it a good polish with higher grit (use micro-mesh if you have it). They should end up looking a lot like the fiber after that. I think fiber is a good choice as long as your are happy with the hell involved with routing the fibers under the fretboard and into the body. There are considerable advantages to using fiber - no doubt about that. With bolt-on necks though, the advantages start to become out-weighed by the routing nightmare. By routing I mean finding a path to the control cavity and dealing with all of the bending needed to get by the neck pickup and dealing with getting the neck on and off cleanly. For new builds, there are certainly things that can be done to make this a little easier but for existing bodies, eeeks! Good luck with it, I hope it turns out looking great for you. Lit fretboards are always an eye catcher!

I wish I could do that! Incredible! What exactly did you do to the last several frets? Are they flush with the fretboard or are they just flat topped - and why?

The "Ultra Harmonizer" is a trademarked name and it's what they use for their multi-fx processors. Since the H3000, each harmonizer has had the ability to do diatonic shifting but what many people don't know is that these processors do a lot more than that. It's difficult to say how many effects they have since you can build your own from existing modules such as filters, modulators, math blocks, shifters, delays, ... So, it's not like other processors where you just press the "chorus" button and adjust several settings for it. You can modify factory presets or build your own effects using PC/MAC software. Now, that probably makes it sound extremely difficult to use but it's not bad at all. The 7500 has a large screen that allows you to edit settings and navigate through all of the options in an intuitive manner. The bottom line is that the "Ultra Harmonizer" name is a little misleading. They do certainly harmonize but that's a small portion of the capability of these things. Here's an example - the preset list for the DSP7500: DSP7500 preset list