Jon Bell

I scalloped one of my guitars and liked it but I wouldn't do it if you only have one guitar. It feels good for some stuff and not so good for other stuff so I think it would be useful to have the option to switch between scalloped and regular guitars.

----------------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4----- ---------------------------------------- 2 3 4-5 ----------------------------- 2 3 4 5---- -------------------- 3 4 5 6--------------- ----------- 4 5 6 7------------------------ ---5 6 7 8- ------------------------------- Actually Snork this is the correct way to play a chromatic scale. Note that it is the B and G that are same not the E and B like you said. Remember that all the strings are tuned in fourths except the B and G which are a third (one fret less), so you end up with the pattern above. And listen to what wylde1919 is saying the pentatonic scale is used all the time in jazz, it is very important - just listen to Steve Khan (a jazz guitar legend!).

E||--------------------------|--------------------------| B||--------------------------|--------------------------| G||---------------------------|-----------------------0--| D||--------------------------|--------0--1--2--3--4-----| A||-----------------0--1--2--|--3--4--------------------| E||--0--1--2--3--4-----------|--------------------------| --------------------------|--0--1--2--3--4--|| --------------1--2--3--4--|-----------------|| --1--2--3--4--------------|-----------------|| --------------------------|-----------------|| --------------------------|-----------------|| --------------------------|-----------------|| That would be a chromatic scale but because you are picking in groups of 5s it changes all the picking directions (sometimes you start with a down, sometimes an up). Its an ugly pattern to play so I'd stick with Jivin's original scale pattern as it's great for a finger exercise.

Well its a system that gives a very safe sound, but you're right the others intervals can sound good and usually make things much more interesting. The 6th can sound very cool but it will never sound as "stable" as the root.

I know a guy who repairs TVs and stereos, etc. for a living. He's mentioned this problem before with guitar amps and he said its usually a cap thats going bad and is likely to fail (like what Ansil said).

Tonal systems have hierarchical structure. The most stable tone is the tonic (if you are playing over a G chord a G note wil sound good). The other stable tones are 3 and 5 (B and D in the key of G major). So in terms of what notes will sond good over a G major chord G is the best, then D, then B. All three are stable in that they sound finished and resolved, so if you are going to end a lick or line over a G major chord these three will sound the best. All other tones are unstable and will naturally want to resolve to one of the stable tones. Unstable tones generally resolve downwards: 2 (A) resloves to 1 (G), 4 ( C ) resloves to 3 ( B ), 6 (E) resloves to 5 (D). However the most unstable diatonic tone, 7 (Fsharp), resolves up to 1 (G). These are the natural resolutions for the G major (Ionian) scale. What I meant in my previous post is that is you treat all the modes as being the same as the parent major scale you will resolve to the wrong notes.

Remember G Ionian and E Aeolian are two very different things. I wouldn't get in the habit of thinking the G major scale is the same as the E minor scale which is the same as the C lydian scale, etc. I think its very confusing in the long run. The different scales may contain the same notes but they have different degrees of stability. In G Ionian G is the most stable and F# the least. G Ionian (major) Most stable G D B E A C F# Least stable But in E Aeolian although the notes are the same they are in a different order of stability. E Aeolian (minor) Most stable E B G D F# A C Least stable Answering the original post I would learn the pentatonic scale as it's a good starting point and good fun to use.

Hi, I'm planning on making a scratchplate and control cavity covers out of wood. I'm after a very natural look for this guitar so I would like to know which woods need no finish at all. I think that ebony, rosewood and paduak need no finish but I was wondering if theere are any others?

Looks good, where did you get the vinyl?

I've done a liitle bit marquetry before and its actually not quite the same as inlaying on a fretboard. With marquetry you cut all the way through wood and make little windows in which to piece together the picture. Inlaying means cutting a hole to certain depth (rather than going all the way through) which I found harder. Two things to look out for when inlaying. 1 - The venner I was using was very thin so I was running the risk of sanding through when I radiused the board. 2 - I also had difficulties inlaying a piece of light wood in a dark freboard (ebony, rosewood, etc.) as when I sanded the board dark dust from the fretboard filled in the grain of the lighter wood and I couldn't get it out. Overall I got some decent results but had to vary my technique to avoid the 2 problems above.

I'm sure that the wood used on all Saga kits is very durable.

I was working on somebody's Epiphone SG recently, both humbuckers were mounted directly into the pickguard without using rings. It was one of the cheapy bolton neck type and I'm sure there are loads of pictures of them on guitarshops' sites.

What vintage pickups are they?

I wouldn't waste your time learning "exotic scales" until you've learnt your pentatonics and modes inside out (which should take a few years to learn them fluently). Once you know your modes well you'll find you don't need to to learn exotic scales as you can just relate them what you already know.

What material did you use to do the inlaying?

I'm actually a classical guitar teacher and I've always been a fan of the instrument. I'd recommend having a go at classical to any guitarist as it's always nice to look at new styles it can be great for getting out of a rut and gives you something very different to play. My suggestions for composers would be Fernado Sor, Matteo Carcassi and Francisco Tarrega. They wrote some great tunes at a variety of difficulty levels (including some excellent beginner studies). Their music is used all the time for commercials, tv, etc. so you may find you recognise it if you play it. Overall my favourite guitar composer has to be Leo Brouwer, he has written some amazing stuff unfortunately most of it is very difficult to play correctly and may sound a bit too modern for some folks. Jon

You might find this link useful. http://www.altrion.org/fcb1010/

Try "Blues Guitar Rules" the author is some german guy (but the book is in english) and its the best blues tutor I've read. Jon

Looks amazing! How long did the body take? Jon

My rack rig consists of a Yamaha FX770, a Rocktron ProGap and a Boss rack chorus going into a Marshall poweramp, it's all very 80s but it sounds good for some stuff. The Behringer allows me to change almost any setting I could imagine mid song. Jon

I use the Behringer FCB 1010 a great pedal and pretty cheap brand new. Jon

Looks great, thanks for all the pics too!

Very impressivem I like how you tackled the higher frets. Jon

You might want to do a search on google (or google groups) for converting a bass in a fretless. Obviously fretless basses are more common than fretless guitars and I've regularly seen the topic appear on various bass forums. Jon

Try changing the pickups first, that way if you don't like the new sound you can always go back. Pickups can make a big difference to the sound and there are loads to choose from. Changing the fretboard is a very big job and there are lots of things that could go wrong, especially if you never done it before. Its better to practice on a cheap guitar than a Gibson Les Paul. Jon EDIT: Primal beat me to it.