GuitarMaestro

Looks really great and very clean. Only thing I would not like if I had to play it is the volume pot placement: no fade in/out of notes possible and not adjustable without stopping playing.

Great work there. Definately enter it into GOTM. As I did I was not sure if it would be a good idea but I even won the first place. I especially like the finish and the perfect binding work. Only thing which I really don't like is that you did not correct Gibson's original design flaw: WHY would anyone place the strap button on the neck on a guitar that would have fabolous upper fret acces otherwise????

Most people try to find them on the internet or via this site. It's exactly what I did too first. Then I went into the store of the local Ibanez dealer and asked if they could get me a cosmo black Low Pro 7. They ordered one for me for 225€ which is quite a good price compared to the online sellers. I think every local Ibanez dealer can get the trem for you at this price. Just ask them....

Hi! As I don't have a Universe or EBMM Petrucci 7 string at hand it would be of great help to me to have some drawings of the neck profiles of one of these guitars. One from the profile at the first and 12th fret would be enough. Are there any plans arround? Thanks, Marcel!

Ok....I stand corrected to some extent. I really depends on the inlay shape and size. I was always thinking about shark fins, block inlays or anything else that nearly spans the width of the fret board. In these cases I still think it works way better to radius after inlaying. But I did not think about the more complex inlays constisting of hundreds of small pieces where each piece is small but the whole inlay is big. In this case it makes no difference as clavin pointed out. Or even gives advantages. Sry....if it came across as an attack....

I bet no-one of the people here that recommends doing that radius first actually tried that. If they did they would knew about the problems. It works for simple inlays like dots but for nothing which is more complex or bigger in size. If you radius first you can't even lay your inlay on the fingerboard to draw a precise outline of the inlay on the board. Even if you would manage do get the outline on problems will follow: 1. You can't precisely guide the router base on a radiused surface. 2. The cavities bottom's will have the radius too, but your shell piece is flat 3. If you use scrapwood under the routerbase like setch told it solves the radius problem, but this setup will be very shakey and probably not produce clean results. I can only state again: Every book on guitar building I read recommends to first do the inlays. Every luthier I heard of does it that way. Doing tight and perfect inlay cavities is difficult enough on a flat surface. There is no disadvantage in doing it that way. So why would anyone want to radius the board first is beyond me....

You should do the inlays first and then the radiusing. That's the common way of doing it and it worked for me perfectly as I inlayed a set of sharkfins. The shell once it is glued to the wood is not fragile anymore and the more coarse grits are no problem as long as you follow them up with finer grits.

Nicely drawn pic. But to be honest I don't like the combination much. That headstock has the PRS/Gibson/etc. look and vibe and the body looks simply stock Ibanez and shredder style. Both styles don't match at least to my eyes. It looks as if you combine a picture of a human from photos from several different humans(i.e. head from one person, body from another) => simply somehow not really matching. Sorry.....but in the end I think it's quite pointless what others think about your design as long as you like it. I bet some people would not like the designs I do, but I tweak them until I think they're perfect and that's what matters.

There are not only differences in wood and pickup routes but also in the shape. There are too many different squiers on the market for me to really know which was made where, etc. What I know for sure is that on many cheaper models the armrest countour and some other details are routed very blocky and not round at all. On the really cheap models the armrest is not following a curve but is simply a plane cut into the body at an angle.

I second that. I always did that and what some "reputable" companies sent me as pictures of "aaaa++++++++" wood was so ugly it hurt my eyes. Before paying a hefty price and realizing the rip-off too late it is way better to ask for pictures.

Ok....got it.....sry for the harsh post. This page displays most common body shapes. mabye you can combine them to something new/cool.

What a strange idea of your customer. I know it's not your fault, but I think the whole idea is so stupid....That guitar without a neck and that strange cover will only make people think that the tremel-no is a very complicated thing which cripples your guitar and requires major modification of their guitar. Exactly the opposite of the tremel-no's strengths. A complete guitar with the thing installed would make the whole idea way easier to understand and more convincing. That said I respect the work you put in an idea which is strange anyway. Looks very cleanly executed and like the best you could make under these circumstances.

This is somehow ....hmm.....stupid ....You ask for an original and creative guitar shape that strays from common designs but on the other hand you want to copy other peoples ideas? Only a guitar shape YOU design will be new and orignal....

There is no best method. Both have their advantages/disadvantages. Do a search and you'll find countless discussions on this issue.

@Godin SD: No problem. I just reread my post and I should have written it way more polite. Sorry for that and respect for admitting the faults in your post. Most people never reply or start flaming if you correct them....

No problem....I should add that you might have to call them....their email adress never recieved my mails due to a strange kind of spam protection I guess.

Wow....great design and execution. I especially like the fretboard extension.

Looks great. I did not like your drawings, but the final bass looks excellent. Might have been the sloppy quality of the drawings. The shape of the body is very cool.

I bought bookmatched quilted and flamed maple veneer for a Rhoads V at The Woodwell. Great prices & service.

Hehe....seems RGGR already writes my posts for me. As he said I built a 7-string with a curly maple neck and it sounds way to warm for my tastes. I used quatersawn curly soft maple reinforced with two bubinga stripes though. What kind of maple did you use for the neck daveg? I am currently building a hard maple neck for it and then I'll see if it was the curly maple as I suspect that makes the tone so warm. @Godin: Please inform yourself before posting stuff like that. This is not correct. There are many variations of maple ranging from very hard and dense wood to quite soft and warm sounding wood. We are talking about a solidbody guitar here. Rosewood necks are very uncommon and I never saw an acoustic with a Rosewood neck. It may sound nice, but calling it the best neck wood is quite misleading. If it is that great why are there basically no rosewood neck guitars on the market? Except for some special PRS models and some other exceptions? Additionally rosewood if used for a neck is known for dampening the highs and for sounding warm and full and not as a bright wood. VERY nice guitar by the way! Kind regards, Marcel!

Depends on where the neck pu is located. On a Strat for example the neck pu is at an harmonic node, so that even most common harmonics cannot be heard let alone pinch harmonics. On a Tele the neck pu is at a different location, but I never tried it on a Tele. Interesting!

The longer the cable the higher the capacity. You loose highs and volume. Additionally the longer the cable the more noise it can pick up due to it's bigger surface. Both facts are derived from simple pysical laws and cannot be changed. However the better the cable and connections the less noise and loss in highs and volume. In my opinion it depends on the situation. If you do a studio recording where the sound is most important use as short cables as possible. Live it's way more important to be able to move arround than to prevent a slight loss of highs. If you want to hear the effect easily just plug a guitar with weak pickups in an distorted amp channel. With a longer cable you can easily hear the loss of gain/distortion.

Can't be. vwall is an offical Ibanez dealer. He should be able to order one any time. I know that Rich only sometimes has them in stock, but you can always buy them from vwall.

Don't change the serial number. If you ever get robbed of your favorite guitar you know how hard it is. Luckily it did not happen to me, but I think it's fair to at least leave the serial number on so that the original owner has a chance of finding the guitar again. If you behave fair I bet the original owener would pay you the price you paid to get his favorite guitar back. If he does not care he will not find the trace to you and the guitar with or without the serial on.

Just wanted to add that although playing pinch harmonics is quite possible with most gear it is still way easier to learn with high output pu's and a hi-gain amp.