Spike1956

I'd stick with it and learn it inside and out. i've been using a digitech GNX3 guitar workstation for a couple of years and I'm still earning new things on it. For a while I just used the factory presets, then started downloading user patches and now I'm into making my own amps and cabs. There are over 1000 user patches available. It also has a built in 8 track recorder and a drum machine, but I use my computer for recording. Does your unit do amp modeling? Good luck in your choice. Spike

Well I have two, first one was my Les Paul Black Beauty that I had I the early 80's, don't remember what happened to it or the '74 Les Paul Standard I owned. And the other one I still have, it's a ~1974 Vega acoustic which was made the the Martin company in the Netherlands. The sound/tone of this guitar is incredible and I got it in about 1980 and it looks like new still. For now I play a Schecter C1 classic with a JB and '59 which is sweet but will never compare the the Black Beauty. My plan is to build a Les Paul and a Strat as soon as I finish working on my house, which is really soon. Got all the materials and got a start on the Strat neck and body. Spike

This thread makes me think back in the old days (70's) when I had some really great amps. But since I decided to start playing serious again about 3 years ago I've stepped up twice. I was using a 10W Crate practice amp for awhile which was a piece of crap. I got a Digitech GNX3 workstation and things sounded a little better. But within a year I moved up to a Spyder II 212. This amo isn't to heavy to haul around and with the GNX3 I can get a wide range of sounds, by itself it's not to bad either. But eventually I wanted a tube amp like I used to have as a kid with a little more watts. So about 6 months ago I got a deal on a Fender DeVille. Now I got an amp I can play out with and it has that great tube tone. Combined with the GNX3 I have a great setup. I paid $550 for it so I got a deal. The Spyder was around $250 I think. Hope this helps. By the way the fender is HEAVY. I am surprised that nobody mentioned Fender or Marshall amps, but maybe thats due to the cost. I say spend as much as you can and get a tube amp. You'll be happy you did. You may be able to find a fender blues deluxe in your price range which has plenty of wattage. My next rig will be the following: (Taken right from Joe Bonamassa's latest) 2 MArshall 100W Silver Jubilee HEads 1 Budda 35 Overdrive Head 1 Budaa 80W Overdrive Head 2 Marshall Bottom 4-12's in each. But I will need a second job to pay for this stuff. Spike

After reading this entire thread I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I started recording with my computer about 1 year ago. When I started out I found a website that soon became my best friend and it still is. I have found no other information anywhere that compares to this site for learning recording at home or anywhere for that matter. Perfect for a beginner or advanced mixer. I have no affiliation with them. http://www.tweakheadz.com/ Lots to learn at tweakheadz and I used there guidelines to built an inexpensive DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) also lots of diagrams. I had the computer so I just needed soundcard, mixer, amp to get setup. This is what I ended up with and I'm very happy Computer: ATHLON 2800+ Ram : 1.5 GB Disk: 2 sata 150Gb 2 IDE 300Gb DVD/ CD burners ( to sell your music to all your fans) Some sound card by creative. This first thing I needed was a good audio interface, lots of choices here but I ended up with the TASCAM US122 which is USB 2.0 and as yet have never had latency issues, very happy with this espcially or the price ($150) Then I wanted a mixer so I could add a drum machine(ALESIS SR 16, 2 guitar amps 2 mics, the Tascam US122, tape deck so I got me a Behringer UB1204 Pro but now Tweak recommend the Behrigner XENYX 1204 ($139) Of course I need an amp to drive my monitors so I got an used CRATE power mixer and just output from the Behringer to to input on the CRATE. ALT 3-4 on the mixer is important to have for this recording setup. Have some studio monitors from the olden days. THis whole setup is great for practice jams and recording. I tried several rocording software packages and found CUBASE to be eaisiest for me to use. They have a light version that came with the TASCAM that works fine. The quality is excellent, mixing is all done on the computer ( I only use the Behringer mixer for jamming/monitoring and practice. Lots of cables were required but I am very happy with the setup. Cost wise this would be on the low end and I really didn't need the mixer and amp .... power monitors would have worked out fine for recording. But If you can afford it there are alot of other options ... this is a cheap one to get started. There is definately a learning curve with both the hardware and software. But the best advice would be to read everything you can at Tweaks site. So there's my 2 cents, hope it helps.

That's what I'm looking for, Thanks!! spike

I really RacerX's idea from Dan E. . Best idea yet.

I received both CD and DVD two days ago. Very fast shipping. These are both incredible. Thanks!!! Spike

Here are some ideas. When I was a toolmaker these are some of the techniques we used to get screws out of metals. There are tools called screw extractors which I haven't used in a long time but they work great. They have a left hand spiral on the so you drill the proper size hole in your broken screw. And with the screw extactor mounted in a tap handle your insert it in the hole and unscrew it. The problem, I think the smallest one is like a #00 which might be too big, also to drill out the tiny screw you will need to setup in a vise in a drill press or mill (no hand drilling here) and drill with a tiny bit. You may need to center punch the screw to get the drill started on center. Another you might try is finding a left hand drill (they make them) and try drill it out in reverse with a pistol drill, this works .... I've done it. the screw can also be burned out in a EDM machine, but them you would have to submerge the neck in EDM fluid, this probably would ruin it I'm guessing. What I would try is get yourself a carbide burr with a round point about the same size as the root diameter of the screw and gring it out. If you know someone in a tooroom they might be able to help you out. I don;t think any kind of adhesive process will wokr becuase you have very little surface area for adhesion. The srew is probably very tight without pilot holes. Did the screw break easily? if so they might be some cheap aluminum or brass. I like steel screw. These should grind out easly although your carbide bit might gum up. There is a way to clean the material out of the bit, but it escapes me. Maybe grind some steel to clean it. Also if your able to drill or grind out some of it you may be able to break it appart with a small pick. Well, good luck, I hope you get them out. Let me know if any of this helps. Spike

Thanks cSuttle!

Just bought both on eBay, can't wait! Bought individually and seen a combo price after I commited to buy. Spike

I would like to buy some inlay blades for my jewelers saw frame. This will be my first time with inlay. There are a whole mess of them on ebay. Would someone like to comment on what sizes I should get and if you think the ebay ones are worth the money, or are they cheap quality.? Thanks Spike

What sort of engineering never uses titanium or inconel?

I can tell you why its more expensive, Titanium is very difficult to machine. It is a rare metal. It is very expensive to cast or forge due to its strength. It has the highest strength of existing metals. In the case of this trem block, the quantities they order might be so low that they have to machine from solid stock, casting would be cheaper but only in large quantities. If you were to go to a machine shop I'm sure the price would be even higher. Cost of the raw material, carbide cutters, machine time. Years ago I machined 2 parts for the military that went to some helicopter. They wanted this part made out of two different materials, 1 being titanium and the other Inconel ... both considered exotic metals at the time (20 years ago). The 6" diameter thin rings were a toolmakers nightmare as we couldn't keep them flat. We ended up jig grinding them to size with a spray mist after several stress relieve heat treatments. Thankfully I moved onto engineering and will never have to work with that material again. Oh well, my 2 cents Spike

You will want it flat. However, if the neck blank is moving probably getting used to your humidity then you should weight and sticker(be sure all surfaces get good air flow- don't place it on a flat surface) it for a bit before you make any changes to the surface. No point in fixing a bow if it is still stabalizing. I would imagine it was pretty well dried if it came from Stewmac, but your humidity may be different enough to be making it move. It is really important that you make sure it is not twisting. Bowing or a bit of cupping can be dealt with (pretty common), but twisting is not good or easy to deal with. Out of curiosity. What is the humidity like in your shop or area right now? Peace,Rich THanks Rich, I'll get it straightened by a jointer. Somehow though I have to reroute the truss rod pocket and the sides have been sawed, so now it went from any easy truss rod route to a difficult one. After I joint it the pocket will be to shallow. Not sure about the humidity but my shoop is in my basement and with the air conditioner running lately it about 72 F in the house and fairly dry. Outside today it is 95F with a heat index of 108 F. Got any iddeas on how to route the truss rod? Spike

Hi All, Starting my first guitar and its a Strat. Using GuitarFrenzy.com along with Melvyn book and others to build this. I bought a maple neck blank (not curly) from Stewmack. It was flat and square so I laid out the shape with a template from guitarbuildingtemplate.com and routed out for the truss rod (stewmac double acting). Then bandsawed to shape to within an 1/8" or so and used a robosand to bring to final dimensions. Everything worked great except there is now a bow in the neck. The bow is an upbow I think, with the fret board side up it sags in the middle about .090 . Should I try and plane the neck flat or use the truss rod to bring it back? Any ideas please. Thanks Spike