GuitarMaestro

Please explain how you did the fingerboard. Is it just a thin metal overlay over a wood fingerboard? Or is the complete fingerboard out of metal? If yes how did you insert the frets?

Wow. Looks great. Especially the fingerboard. I like the body design as well. Looks classy in some industrial/cyber way. How did you get that fingerboard finish?

No way. As simple as the schematic of most boss pedals is it is WAY cheaper to build them analog. The components for a boss ds-1 for example are in the couple of dollars range. The most expensive part of all those pedals is the case.

I don't like the polka dot finish at all. And I don't like the original Rhoads V shape with the round edges. That said I still have to say the guitar looks killer. Although not my taste. The finish and quality looks outstanding from the pictures. And the Crazy Train solo that guy played rocks. Congrats man!

For that money forget about it. If you want somewhat nice wood you can only buy the raw materials with that money.

Most of them are not famous because they are not as good on all levels. There is a reason some players are famous and some not. I know enough people how can play cleaner and faster as Petrucci but that does not make them great songwriters and performers. I NEVER wrote that I rate guitarists by speed. And in fact I would never do so because speed is nothing if the notes are boring. And I NEVER wrote that Petrucci or Romeo are the best in term of technique. Don't know where you got that from. I already stated why I consider DT better musicians. It does not matter to me who is faster or if Romeo is better or Petrucci. I just stated that to me DT's songs are way more complex and impressive. Although I have to admit that this might not be true for some of the solos. Additionally I never wrote that I think nobody can play the Erotomania solo or play Petrucci's/Romero's leads. I just was sceptical as you wrote that Erotomania is a "very simple" song. I know many unknown players who could play it easily. The teachers at MGI for example are insane. I just wanted to make sure this is no hollow statement....but after hearing your mp3 I don't doubt you can play that song.

I am currently rebuilding a homepage and rerecording songs with our new singer. I will definately post some songs as soon as I am done. Maybe I will also dig up some old ones when site is done.

Don't listen to them! I mean I prefer Alder too, but basswood is just as good. It's a matter of taste. If the answer was "Definately Alder" there would not be so much guitars on the market with different woods. There are many great players like John Petrucci, Steve Vai and Satriani who play basswood guitars. Petrucci even exclusively. What tonewood you like you should try yourself. Go play some comparable guitars with different woods. Best bet would be to check out the Ibanez Jem's as they are available with both woods.

After listening to the song again I have to admit I remebered it beeing more difficult. The basic stuff is not what I would call "very easy" though because there are many people not able to play that stuff. It might not be difficult for me or you to play but beeing able to play that is already a certain achievement. But some passages are definatley very hard in my opinion. For example I cannot imagine that you are abe to play the stuff between 5:00 and 5:30 really clean and with every noted picked. There are so many people saying "I played that and that and it was easy". However if you really are in a recording setting it will become obvious they cant. Being able to play something or beeing able to nail it perfectly is a huge difference. The last 2% percent of perfection are what takes 95% of the time to learn. If you can play that as perfect as the original then you are simply really good. But if you consider that part easy what's the difficulty playing Symhony X? Again it's hard to judge without proof. Understanding and playing the different time signatures can be done by many. Getting it to groove and be perfectly tight is another story. And especially soloing over that stuff as Petrucci does. And I am not talking about playing something made up, I am talking about improvising. I don't want to make you sound like a liar. I am just sceptical. After all the majority of guitar players is not nearly as good as they tell everyone.... After thinking about it again I agree that if you can play Romeros solos you can play Petruccis solos and vice versa. But discussing what I or you can or cannot play will lead to nothing without proof and is not really fitting this thread. I was just saying that I think DT are even better musicians than SY X. What I think makes DT's accomplishment so difficult to suprass is the sheer complexity of the songs. They play a 2-3 hours set each evening. And they play different songs each evening. Many of these songs have about as many different riffs/ideas/parts/meter changes as the half of a Symphony X album. And despite this complexity they still they play so tight and perfect and so relaxed it seems like it is not even a challenge for them. And thats the reasons why I consider them better musicians than Symphony X. Though I don't want to diss them. They are a great band and I respect them very much. P.s.: You seem to be a good player. Do you have any recordings online? I am always interested in hearing good musicians....

I don't remeber that song. However on the latest DVD and the gigs I saw the singing was excellent. Sure any singer misses a note sometimes, but he really keeps it to a minimum. I have never seen Russel Allan live so I cannot comment on that.... I called SY X one-dimensional in comparison because DT uses all styles from jazz/country to death metal riffs on each album whereas Sy X always plays the same malmsteen style shred that was not even a new style when they began. The solos are always the same harmonic minor stuff. And harmonically there is not happening much. I know these things are not necessary for a band writing good songs and playing good music. BUT SY X cannot compete in musical diversity in my opinion. Although I like their style and music very much. Always depends on which songs you choose and what instrument you play. But if you mastered the speed you can play SY X wheres for DT you must also be able to solo over all these odd meters and play uncommon scales, etc. and be able to fit well into every musical style. Can you play "Erotomania" or the solo of "As I Am"? There are easier DT tunes and easier SY X tunes. As you I learned alot of songs of both bands and think for DT you just need to be a broader trained musician.

Hehehe.....got it!

Thanks alot! That voulme pot was only temporary. As you see at the time I did not even have the tone poti installed. Now I have installed two black knurled metal knobs with abalone inlays.

Man I looked this up in dictionaries just for this thread. And the dictionaries say that it's Mahagony in Britain and Mahogany in USA. Nowhere....you just invented another variation....

Man.....enough of these rectangular guitars! I don't want to critizise your work or ideas....its just that I wonder if these guitars are at least somewhat comfortable to play....

Just wanted to add that I like the way the body looks now alot. Good work and good luck finishing it.

Concering that problem with the floyd nut. How stupid is that???? Don't want to attack you, but it is the same thing as if a beginner would say "I cannot play guitar because it hurts my fingers". Just play some hours on a locking nut guitar and you will be so accustomed to it that you don't realize it's there.

Thats a question of taste. In terms of technique and intonation they are about equal in my opinion. Although I never saw Russel live. That said I am no huge fan of both singers styles.

The neck is very nice, plays nice and is more stable then a standard neck. However I think I might build one from hard maple because the soft maple neck sounds quite mellow and has not enough bite for my tastes. Maybe it's the pu's though. Not sure if it is worth to change a thing and if what to change first.

How do you come to that conclusion? Are you talking about his show? There I would agree. But I have two live videos and attended two shows and everytime the vocals were so flawless it was unbelievable. I have yet to see a singer that nails every note as correct as him live. And I go to many live concerts. I like them alot. But their sound is very one-dimensional: Neoclassical shred whereas DT is way more diverse, unique and innovative. SymphonyX is great, but what do they bring to the table that is or was new? Interesting. I don't know much about the eventide and thought it is only pitch shifter/harmonizer. What else is it able to do? Maybe I should look into getting one....

You better should at that price....lol....btw. I wonder why petrucci has it in his rig. I cannot remeber a song where he uses it.

This auction by the same guy is way more ridiculous. I can't believe somebody would be stupid enough to buy that for that price. Maybe 10$ but 1250$????

@daveg: Don't take my comment too serious. You just sounded like you generally only like bands that have flashy gear....lol @El Dangerouso: I know exactly what you mean. Everybody has different tastes and only because many people like Dream Theater's music you don't have to like them. After all rap and hiphop are very popular and I HATE both styles.

Very interesting. I just looked it up in a dictionary and you are right. But it seems the American language is at fault here. In German it's called "mahagoni" and in british english it is called "mahagony".

You like bands because of the gear they use????

All the info you need can be found on the offical Seymour Duncan homepage. Basically you should connect the pu's the same as your old pu's. However if they are humbuckers they may have four wires each. In this case two of the wires need to be soldered together and the other two go where the old wires went. Additionally you have to get the polarity right. That means that the ground wires should be wired to the volume pots casing NOT the hot wires. Which color the hot Seymour wires have I don't know. But it's definately described in the info under the link I write above.