funkle

I think the main difference between an active and a passive PU is that the active pickup coil has a much lower impedance (and lower output), and utilizes electronic amplification to increase the signal in the PU itself prior to sending it through the cable to the amp. You can make a passive PU "active" by adding a preamp, but the PU will still differ from a true active because the coil is high-impedance (more windings). So you'll gain some, but not all of the characteristics of a true active PU. There is a F.A.Q. at Warmoth that sums it up pretty well. It's talking about basses, but the concept is the same. -Sven

WD Music offers something like this. It's an adjustable nylon/metal rod. It blocks the trem so that you can push down, but cannot pull up. It's much simpler than using wood blocking - it fits inside the spring on the bass side.

I have a small web based business, in addition to my real job, that generates enough revenue for projects and toys - I call it "funny money"

I like the Japanese made Ibanez guitars of the '70s and '80s for their design, quality and value. What most people consider to be an Ibanez is really a totally different animal, designed by Ibanez, but manufactured in Korea by Samick or Cort. All of the Korean Ibanez' I've owned, I've ended up selling. They're fine guitars, but lacked a certain vibe and feel that the Hoshino ones have. I think that one of their strongest recent successes has been their aggressive endorsement campaign - anyone around here like Satriani or Vai models?

Angle grinder, nach! I have a wish list at Amazon if anyone wants to get me a little something

Retracted. Sorry, posted that reply before the request for retraction...

Me too. I just gathered from another thread that Snork had left, or been removed from the forum, and I knew the reason lied somewhere in this 8 page thread. Just read through the whole thing. I saw it coming - hope the kid learned a little something about netiquette. I have to admit, I'll miss some of his posts

Join the club! I have an amazing shredder's CD with Brett Garsed, Shawn Lane, and Frank Gambale. It's called The Mark Varney Project: Centrifugal Funk. That's a hard one to find. Its out of print and usually goes for $40 or so.

Are you going to build a full hollow arch top? Bob Bennedetto has a good book on this. -Sven

Yeah, great stuff... still think it's funny he used to be in Nelson. Remember them? ...and he's tours with John Farnham, formerly of the Little River Band But hey, he gets to make some good money, nothing wrong with that, and I think he really enjoys those gigs. -Sven

Oops, sorry, make that "King of Tone"

Analogman Tone King -Sven

Hey, but at least he included Rockabilly Re: the country licks, I really like the way Brett Garsed works some tasty country licks into his playing. He's really a monster! -Sven

Actually a few others beat you to it. I first saw it an a LAGG. And Dan Earlwine has a section on installing them this way in his book "how to make your electric guitar play great" I guess the only downside is that you're "Locked" into this system once you install it this way. -Sven

Nigel Tufnel would say Volume. In that same segment where he says "ours go up to 11", he shows Rob his LP and says it has so much sustain you could "go out and get a bite" and it would still be going when you got back.

Mostly jazz and fusion. Everything from straight ahead to stuff like Greg Howe and Shawn Lane (RIP) -Sven

When you're using a pattern bit, you have no choice but to go full depth on the first pass, in this case 1". I was routering the body from a template attached to the top. I guess you could start on the bottom edge of the body, then when you work your way up to the figured top, reduce the height of the passes. I was probably more like 1/8-1/4" from the line on the band saw. The blade had some kinks in it, so I was playing it safe - next time I'll buy my own blade and bring it to the shop.

I was edge routering some figured wood (Anegre) yesterday, and I had a lot of problems with bite, and entire chunks of wood chipping off. It was at the parts of the body when you're going parallel to the grain that I had the problem. The bit is good, new and sharp, the speed was high, and I was going really slow and smooth. What do you guys suggest as a way to avoid this? I actually found that when I move the piece with the direction of the bit rather than against it, like your supposed to, I was able to get a cleaner rout. I know your not supposed to do it this way. I held the wood down on the router table very securely so the bit wouldn't grab into the wood and shoot it out the window. Thanks -Sven

Yeah, I agree! "Sustain" is one of those over-emphasized guitarisms - even Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap talks about it All solidbodies inherently have a lot of sustain. The important word is tone

Nice work!

To print without seeing any pixels or steppyness, you'll want your file to be 200-300 ppi or pixels per inch (always incorrectly referred to as DPI - DPI is a totally different thing used measure printer performance) To do this in Photoshop, you'll need to start at this resolution, so unfortunately, you may have to start over from scratch. Launch Photoshop, and open a new file (File > New). In the dialogue box that comes up enter the size in inches you'd like to use in "Width" and "Height" and enter a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Then make your logo and print it out at the highest quality setting your printer is capable of. If you don't want to redo your logo, you can TRY enlarging your file, but you may get a blurry or jagged image: Launch the image size dialogue (Image > Image size). Make sure the boxes called "Constrain Proportions" and "Resample Image" are both checked, then change the "Resolution" number to 300 and click OK -Sven

yeah, but how many guys are there walking around carrying JEM guitars by the handle with no case? Now THAT'S cool!

I'd worry about long term durability. -Sven

Picks and technique can make a big difference, but you say you're not getting this tone from your other guitars. This makes me thing the guitar is the culprit. Does it have a tone control. Some '80s shred machines took the minimalist approach to wiring. I had a strat style with a SD JB humbucker that had a similar problem. I think this was caused partially by the wiring. It had no tone control at all. A passive tone control will bleed some treble from your signal, even when turned up all the way. That's why strat bridge PUs can sound so damn screechy sometimes - no tone control. Passive tone controls are very effective at getting rid of the ice-pick sound. If it has no tone control, you could ad a micro-pot inside the cavity, or add some kind of stacked pot to the existing volume control, so you don't have to drill any holes in the front. If it does have a tone control, you could try changing the capacitor. Typical values range from 0.001 to 0.01. Increasing the value will roll off more highs. Also, the value of the post can effect tone. A 250K pot will give a warmer tone than a 500K. You could try this. I suppose changing the pickup could be considered too. If wiring or PU changes make no difference, and you want to keep this guitar, you could try experamenting with a parametric EQ. These will allow you to shape, or eliminate specific frequencies - can be had for around $50. -Sven

I used Elixirs for a few years after my Taylor 612ce came with them. Started using them on all my guitars. I liked them, the tone was good and they last. Switched to Thomastik-Infelds and never looked back. They sing. I don't think they are great for rock, but jazz and blues they are the best. I have T-Is on my jazz-box, and Elixirs on my main solidbody. I like 'em both. The Elixirs have such a smooth feel and mellow tone, I have a hard time playing on normal rounds (they feel sticky now). The T-I flats on the jazzbox are great. They seem to intonate better than other brands - the needle on my tuner doesn't wobble around as much. I'll have to try some lighter T-Is on my solid. Which ones are you using? -Sven