GuitarMaestro

NEVER buy an amp without playing it first. Different people have very different opinion on sound and amps. You can see it even in this thread: Wes calls the Mesa gain ridicolous high. I have a 5150 and it has much more gain, so to me the Mesa does not have so much gain at all....

I have to state that I dont consider it a good idea because the hardware and the pickups are usually the two things which make cheap guitars so much worse than better ones. And if you end up replacing them, you could buy far better wood for $170....Even the $800 Ibanez 7-string has a pickup which is so muddy for the low B-String that I'd rather play no 7-string at all....And if you are still convinced that it is a good idea, then check if the body of the guitar is hardwood at all. Many cheap guitars are made from cheap plywood which sounds not exactly excellent.

What a nonsense....Can anybody really imagine that the spiral neck increases playability?

thanks for the hints....

Are there still new guitars made with that Tremolo? If yes I would check it out in the store....

Thanks for the link! I have to say that this Tremolo seems to be great and much better than a Floyd if it really works. You dont have to remove a big chunk of wood from the body and the unit has full contact with the body. These 2 things should increase sustain dramatically and solve one of the main problems with floyds. But the question is: How stable is the unit? Does it take the same amount of abuse than a Floyd without detuning your guitar? Is it comfortable to use?

Sounds interesting....Where can I get infos + pics about the Kahler Tremolo? I did not find much via google....

I am in Germany and order most of the exotic wood I need from the USA. With digicams and email it is really no problem to buy wood over a big distance.

That sux....Happened to me too with the first neck I ever built. Nowadays I check everything twice or at least measure critical areas often instead of relying on feel.

Thank you very much for the cool pictures Wes. That guitar looks really cool! And the recess looks very elegant too. I'll do something similar but without a endpiece. I want to the strings to go through the body.

The Tone Zone rocks. Perhaps you could describe the sound you're after in more detail. There are alot of different Death Metal Sounds. There is not ONE Death metal sound. At least if you talk about good Death Metal which is *very* rare in my opinion. There are alot of stupid Death Metals where you wouldn't here a different Pickup anyway. I would describe the Tone Zone installed at the bridge this way: -High output -Thick and a little compressed sounding -Very Balanced frequency response. There is no single frequency range which is louder than the outhers. -Perfect Highs: They highs are not louder than other frequencies but they sound so cool. You hear them very well and they cut through very well, but they dont sound harsh at all. They simply sound very clear and transparent but still very warm. I play mainly Progressive Metal in the Style of Dream Theater and for this music I love the Tone Zone. HTH, Marcel Knapp!

Hmmm....looking at the picture it certainly wont be too difficult to build one if you have expirience in building guitars. But I guess it will be very hard to build it for less than $100 in parts.

I never ordered from allparts, so I dont know if they sell to dealers only. They way their website is designed makes the impression that everyone can buy from them. But if you get the tuners cheaper somewhere else, then forget about allparts.

Having both is still better though.... Dont get angry....I would(and could) not afford all those tools I mentioned in my posts. My father is an engeneer leading a company which does not only scientific research but also build prototypes from time to time. Therefore they have a big and proffesionally equipped woodworking shop. They decided to only keep their metal workshop in the future, therefore I can use the woodworking shop until it gets closed. It is a huge hall with all woodworking machines I could imagine. Now I only have to learn how to use them....

Thanks for the hint Wes. Definately a nice looking bridge. I really want to use a TOM for this guitar, because it is the only non-tremolo bridge I really like. I plan the 7-string guitar for riffing and palm muted stuff and runs(A sound going in the direction of the new Dream Theater Album). Therefore I dont want a Tremolo which always takes away a little "meat" from the sound and isn't as comfortable for palm muted stuff. The fixed bridges like this Carvin bridge will all feel the same as a usual Trem. If I dont have the feel of the TOM, then I'll rather go with a real Floyd. Is there another bridge I dont know about which feels like a TOM and does not need a neck angle?

Thanks for your anwers. One question: Are there TOM bridged which are flat enough for using them without a neck angle? If not I'll simply recess the bridge.

Although I hate PRS for their overpriced mediocre guitars I have to admit that this one looks really great. Only detail I dont like are the two switches....and I doubt that they are really of much use at all.

Allparts carries the Gotoh locking and the non-locking tuners in several different colors. HTH, Marcel Knapp!

Hi! I like Tonepros Tune-o-matic bridges very much and would like to use one for my next 7-string project. Unfortunately I cannot find a supplier who sells a 7-string version. I am not sure if there is one at all, but I cannot imagine that a well known company like Tonepros does not sell a 7-string version of their popular bridge. Can you recommend a store selling them? Thanks in advance, Marcel Knapp!

Thanks for your help again! I'll definately go with the 5-piece....Should look great. Unfortunately I cannot reverse the center piece of maple, as I dont want to destroy the look of a highly figured neck. My question concerning the direction of the grain was aimed at the Wenge actually....Should I buy quatersawn Wenge pieces and if yes, should the endgrain run parallel to the maple or perpendicular? Thanks, Marcel Knapp!

Thanks for your answers. I will certainly go with the lamination, as I want the guitar to be made of wood wherever possible and if you route the trussrod channel and two channels for the carbon rods, there's not enough wood left for my taste. I would prefer the look of the 5-piece lamination, but I fear it will make everything much more difficult. I have access to a bandsaw, a tablesaw, a jointer and thickness planer. How difficult will it be to get a good result with these tools? P.s.: What about the grain orientation for the 5-piece? Thanks in advance, Marcel Knapp!

Hi! As most of you know I have a very nice curly Western maple neck blank. The piece seems very hard and stable to me but several people here an in other forums recommended to somehow reeinforce the blank as Western Maple is not as stiff/stable than Western maple. I now decided to laminate a piece of Wenge in the neck. I have two options how to laminate the neck (from left to right): 1. Curly Maple, 6mm Wenge, 6mm Curly Maple, 6mm Wenge, Curly Maple 2. Curly Maple, 12mm Wenge, Curly Maple Can you tell me which of both options will result in the stiffer/stronger neck? And whats the best way to cut the pieces precisely. Thanks in advance, Marcel Knapp! Edit: My curly maple neck blank is quatersawn and the end grain runs from the top(where the fingerboard will be) to the bottom(where you have your palm). How should the Wenge be sawn and orientated for maximum stiffness?

opinions please....

@Hotrock: The idea with the recessed metal plate sounds great....but what did you mean with carbon fibre? Rods will not help here....And patches of carbon fibre will only reall help if laminated on BOTH sides of the peghead. Is there anything about using carbon fibre I dont know yet?

@samdjr: Can you please show us some pictures of your axes? Sounds really interesting....