Guitar Megathread II: Unleash the picking fury!!!

[Wayne Evans]

I can't believe you still post here after all these years lol repped.

Howdy CP....

I just checked in and saw you posted in the music thread.

I hangout here and the OV35 misc. but I'm no prolific poster.
If I see a thread about song writing/recording music or the USMC/military I may chime in if I think I can impart some help or wisdom.
Depends on the direction of the thread.

Politics, SJW/feminism rants....won't find me poking my head in the fray.
One has too choose one's thread participation carefully on this forum....if you get my drift.

Thanks....carry on.

[Auburn RSX-S]

What do you guys think of this amp?

Bruce from Brit-Tone Amplification lent this to me to try out.

40~ish watts from 4x EL84's
Plexi circuit for the normal channel and a Bogner Shiva/SLO thing on the lead channel. It's technically 1 channel but Bruce lays out specifics in the youtube comments.

I gigged with it twice and was extremely impressed. It sat in the mix effortlessly, had plenty of power to cut through the mix for lead work in the moderately sized clubs and unlike my old JTM45 I had or my superlead, this thing retains tons of clarity when pushed hard with an overdrive and the normal channel cranked and hit with the Klon sounded insanely good at the show I used it for.

First show, I used my Jackson audio prism and it was great as well but the klon just slaps different and beefs up the lower mids in a really speical way that on these old marshall circuits can be too much if you aren't careful but this thing just didn't care.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq2pCJbhwPo

And some direct recordings

This one is with the quad cortex setup in 4 cable method using it's klon and OCD boost models in front of the amp

https://soundcloud.com/user-80695319...cortex-4-cable

And a couple with a backing track

https://soundcloud.com/user-80695319...h-tokai-clip-1

https://soundcloud.com/user-80695319...h-tokai-clip-2

And like with everything he builds, most everything is custom for the client so if you wanted this in 50W EL34 or 100W EL34's 6L6's, KT88's, etc, he can do any of that.

[Dominik]

RICK GRAHAM SIGNATURE MJ DK24 2PT CM

Basswood with caramelized maple neck with 12-16" compound radius and stainless jumbo frets. Signature model with no signature.

[Woody-5]

Finally getting back into playing again...

After the flood and losing my pedal board last winter I've barely played, just a touch here and there. Trying to get back into it with some regularity and actually learn new stuff instead of replaying the same 10 solos all the time.


What do you guys do as far as remembering everything? I have so many songs I used to know, but I can't keep up with practicing every one of them and staying fresh- that would be a 2 hour jam session without even trying anything new

dusted off the 1275 the weekend for a bit. Solid back workout just holding that thing upright for a few songs

Spoiler!

Here's my attempt at the first 17 bars of Coltrane's solo from Giant Steps. This chit is challenging, not like the normal shred stuff I like to play. Standard shred stuff tends to have lots of sequences and patterns that are easy to remember and aren't terribly complicated but these lines twist and turn everywhere and seem to go on and on. It's just flowing like some fountain, it's kinda crazy. It took like 10 takes to even get this completely chit take because RLF.
I also found that I couldn't really do it all alternate picking style in a way that sounded relatively smooth, the way the phrases translate to the fretboard is pretty unforgiving. Had to switch up almost constantly between alternate, sweeping, economy, and legato. The funny thing is I have a hard time seeing a guitarist play this type of stuff without having some kind of shred background.

Lol'd so hard @ "Fuk" at the end

that looks and sounds hard as hell, nice work

[VTheKing]

RICK GRAHAM SIGNATURE MJ DK24 2PT CM

Basswood with caramelized maple neck with 12-16" compound radius and stainless jumbo frets. Signature model with no signature.

BKP pickups, guess that's the one distinguisher.

[rollerball]

Lol'd so hard @ "Fuk" at the end

that looks and sounds hard as hell, nice work

haha thank you mang

[rollerball]

BKP pickups, guess that's the one distinguisher.

I think the steel frets and compound radius are as well.
Remember when Rick Graham was like this total gym-nut and Mr. Healthy Lifestyle? dafuq happened to all that?

[Dominik]

Remember when Rick Graham was like this total gym-nut and Mr. Healthy Lifestyle? dafuq happened to all that?

His brother committed suicide, he stopped training, and started drinking more. There's a video where he talks about being an alcoholic. Medication for depression can also cause people to gain weight.

I hadn't looked at his social media in a long time so I went back and refreshed my memory. Everything seemed to be going great for him until that happened in January 2015.

As for his signature Charvel it looks like a beautiful guitar. I'd prefer an ebony fingerboard with no inlays but that's about it. Nitpicking but I've never been a fan of that cutout for the spoke wheel truss rod nut even if it does make neck adjustments a lot easier.

[Dominik]

[rollerball]

His brother committed suicide, he stopped training, and started drinking more. There's a video where he talks about being an alcoholic. Medication for depression can also cause people to gain weight.

I hadn't looked at his social media in a long time so I went back and refreshed my memory. Everything seemed to be going great for him until that happened in January 2015.

As for his signature Charvel it looks like a beautiful guitar. I'd prefer an ebony fingerboard with no inlays but that's about it. Nitpicking but I've never been a fan of that cutout for the spoke wheel truss rod nut even if it does make neck adjustments a lot easier.

Well chit, that's pretty awful. It's been years though to be stuck in a depressive rut like that, I bet re-engaging with lifting and healthy living would help him. He already has an incredibly awesome job of making a living from shredding in 2021, that's not an easy thing to do. But I guess it's presumptive to assume things that would bring me contentment would necessarily work for him.

His guitar is nice but seems exactly like my Charvel minus the pickups, locking tuners, steel frets, and that compound radius. Signature models are funny to me, whenever the artist is promo-ing the instrument they always act like they've spent months or years finely tuning the specs of the guitar when in reality all he did was say "hey I want new pickups, locking tuners, steel frets, and a compound radius".
I don't like that spoke wheel thing either.

[rollerball]

tbh I like this version better than the original, to my ears Rick just plays the shredd-y stuff better

[Dominik]

Well chit, that's pretty awful. It's been years though to be stuck in a depressive rut like that, I bet re-engaging with lifting and healthy living would help him. He already has an incredibly awesome job of making a living from shredding in 2021, that's not an easy thing to do. But I guess it's presumptive to assume things that would bring me contentment would necessarily work for him.

His guitar is nice but seems exactly like my Charvel minus the pickups, locking tuners, steel frets, and that compounded radius. Signature models are funny to me, whenever the artist is promo-ing the instrument they always act like they've spent months or years finely tuning the specs of the guitar when in reality all he did was say "hey I want new pickups, locking tuners, steel frets, and a compound radius".
I don't like that spoke wheel thing either.

Completely agree. I hope he can dig deep and start training again. He transformed himself before — I hope he can do it again.

When you think about the average "wagecel" lifestyle today, sitting in front of a computer all day at work, hunched over a phone, stuck in traffic, and then throw in hours of practice if you're a musician. If you're not exercising in some way you've got to put your faith in top tier genetics or some serious willpower to avoid the usual vices that pack on weight with a sedentary lifestyle to avoid that happening.

To a certain extent all those hours of practice are a form of stimming and there can be social consequences if you're not playing with other musicians. I never had an issues with gaining weight, actually the opposite, I'd spend hours playing instead of eating, but when I stopped playing with other musicians it can almost reach an unhealthy level. You've definitely got to find the right balance and going to the gym helped a lot with that for me. Then it went the other way and I became obsessed with training and stopped playing altogether. These days I juggle the two and it feels good. How about you?

[rollerball]

Completely agree. I hope he can dig deep and start training again. He transformed himself before — I hope he can do it again.

When you think about the average "wagecel" lifestyle today, sitting in front of a computer all day at work, hunched over a phone, stuck in traffic, and then throw in hours of practice if you're a musician. If you're not exercising in some way you've got to put your faith in some top tier genetics or some serious willpower to avoid the usual vices that pack on weight with a sedentary lifestyle to avoid that happening.

To a certain extent all those hours of practice are a form of stimming and there can be social consequences if you're not playing with other musicians. I never had an issues with gaining weight, actually the opposite, I'd spend hours playing instead of eating, but when I stopped playing with other musicians it can almost reach an unhealthy level. You've definitely got to find the right balance and going to the gym helped a lot with that for me. Then it went the other way and I became obsessed with training and stopped playing altogether. These days I juggle the two and it feels good. How about you?

Ironically, considering I was judging ol' Rick Graham for his lifestyle, diet has kinda been my number one issue for the past few years as well. Sugar/salty/unheatlhy food is my nemesis, but I've managed to improve that through learning how to really cook and controlling what goes into my body a lot more strictly.
In terms of working out I went a bit too hard in boxing for awhile and ended up losing too much mass which I'm trying to re-gain.

Guitar playing hasn't really ever interfered with my lifting actually, but smoking weed sure does at times.

Do you ever play with anyone now? I've been trying to find some people to jam with just for fun but haven't had much luck.

[Dominik]

Ironically, considering I was judging ol' Rick Graham for his lifestyle, diet has kinda been my number one issue for the past few years as well. Sugar/salty/unheatlhy food is my nemesis, but I've managed to improve that through learning how to really cook and controlling what goes into my body a lot more strictly.
In terms of working out I went a bit too hard in boxing for awhile and ended up losing too much mass which I'm trying to re-gain.

Guitar playing hasn't really ever interfered with my lifting actually, but smoking weed sure does at times.

Do you ever play with anyone now? I've been trying to find some people to jam with just for fun but haven't had much luck.

Haven't jammed with anyone for a long time. Lost touch with all my musician friends which is a shame because there's nothing like that process of someone else coming up with a riff or chord progression, drummer and bass player coming up with a groove, and then you're coming up with melodic ideas you'd probably never discover on your own.

This wasn't a huge gig or anything but many years ago while studying music a couple of other students were entering a "battle of the bands" contest that night and needed a guitarist. We quickly knocked out 3 instrumental songs in about 15 minutes and ended up coming 3rd. That led to other opportunities for them which I chose not to be a part of but the experience that night, maybe 100 people packed into a small room, the stage was at street level in the middle of the city with people walking past, you get the idea. At the time it seemed like nothing important but years later when I look back on spontaneous stuff like that with other musicians I really appreciate having been a part of it. Playing in a room at home just isn't the same.

[Dominik]

Forgot to ask you last time, what happened with Friedman? You said something like you'd never play those amps again.

[rollerball]

Haven't jammed with anyone for a long time. Lost touch with all my musician friends which is a shame because there's nothing like that process of someone else coming up with a riff or chord progression, drummer and bass player coming up with a groove, and then you're coming up with melodic ideas you'd probably never discover on your own.

This wasn't a huge gig or anything but many years ago while studying music a couple of other students were entering a "battle of the bands" contest that night and needed a guitarist. We quickly knocked out 3 instrumental songs in about 15 minutes and ended up coming 3rd. That led to other opportunities for them which I chose not to be a part of but the experience that night, maybe 100 people packed into a small room, the stage was at street level in the middle of the city with people walking past, you get the idea. At the time it seemed like nothing important but years later when I look back on spontaneous stuff like that with other musicians I really appreciate having been a part of it. Playing in a room at home just isn't the same.

Playing live in front of an attentive crowd is definitely an experience that cannot easily be replicated. I played in a band for awhile that was trying to make it, I liked the music but internally I knew it was not the sort of music that would ever achieve that type of appeal they were looking for. We played at some decent clubs and did a little bit of touring but largest group we played for was probably less than 500 people. I hated touring and I hated all the things leading up to the shows in terms of trying to promote the band but actually playing the shows in front of relatively enthusiastic crowds was a great experience and I'm very glad to have had it. I also realized that I wasn't the touring type and that being a performing musician would never really appeal to me in the long term.

I really miss jamming though. What I want to find is some likeminded players who have zero interest in trying to play live or "making it" but just want to get together once a week/every two weeks to have some beers and smokes and jam around. I've always loved band style improvisation.

Forgot to ask you last time, what happened with Friedman? You said something like you'd never play those amps again.

Many back and forths via email, and several shipments back and forth where the issues were never fully addressed, led to a very contentious relationship with Mr. Friedman. At the end I got sick of everything, and his progressively strong implication that I was somehow trying to take advantage of the situation, and told him that despite the problems still existing with the amp just to keep all the money I paid him as payment to never have to deal with him again. I then returned the defective amp back to the seller who agreed to take it back after I showed the email-trail of all the chit I went through with the amp trying to get it fixed.
A few days later Mr. Friedman refunded all the money without a word through email.

[Wayne Evans]

1) Playing live in front of an attentive crowd is definitely an experience that cannot easily be replicated.
I really miss jamming though. What I want to find is some like minded players who have zero interest in trying to play live or "making it" but just want to get together once a week/every two weeks to have some beers and smokes 2) and jam around. I've always loved band style improvisation.

Howdy all....

For me:

1) Agreed.
I was in live bands for over a decade.
My lans band ("Ambush" - '76 - '79) was an all original band (except for a very few select copy tunes).
We played all the clubs in the bay area and I believe there's no drug in the world like playing live to a receptive audience that knows your songs.

2) "Jamming" is OK occasionally but it gets old pretty quickly.
Although it has it's place much of it can turn out to be unorganized, excessive, aimless noodling which doesn't work for me.
I find it far more gratifying to practice and play songs that all participants like in a band atmosphere.

I have a couple old musician friends close by but I mainly play off my personal set list.
If not that, I like to write songs.

In fact, I just finished a 1st final mix of my new one last night....it's called "Atlantis".
Yes, a story of the ancient city in 1600 BCE on the island of Thera that is no more.
I may post a link here should there be any curiosity/interest.

Have a great day....carry on.

[Dominik]

Many back and forths via email, and several shipments back and forth where the issues were never fully addressed, led to a very contentious relationship with Mr. Friedman. At the end I got sick of everything, and his progressively strong implication that I was somehow trying to take advantage of the situation, and told him that despite the problems still existing with the amp just to keep all the money I paid him as payment to never have to deal with him again. I then returned the defective amp back to the seller who agreed to take it back after I showed the email-trail of all the chit I went through with the amp trying to get it fixed.
A few days later Mr. Friedman refunded all the money without a word through email.

Sounds like a clusterfck. What was wrong with the amp? I've watched nearly every episode of Tone Talk so I feel like I know the guy. What he doesn't know about tube amps isn't worth knowing but then he's not building the amps — he designs and tests them. Still using the Axe-FX II?

[CherryPopinski]

Boyos what's the best amp sims? I'm living with my folks and can't plug into my OR15 right now. I'm messing around in GarageBand but the sounds are less than inspiring.

[CherryPopinski]

Completely agree. I hope he can dig deep and start training again. He transformed himself before — I hope he can do it again.

When you think about the average "wagecel" lifestyle today, sitting in front of a computer all day at work, hunched over a phone, stuck in traffic, and then throw in hours of practice if you're a musician. If you're not exercising in some way you've got to put your faith in top tier genetics or some serious willpower to avoid the usual vices that pack on weight with a sedentary lifestyle to avoid that happening.

To a certain extent all those hours of practice are a form of stimming and there can be social consequences if you're not playing with other musicians. I never had an issues with gaining weight, actually the opposite, I'd spend hours playing instead of eating, but when I stopped playing with other musicians it can almost reach an unhealthy level. You've definitely got to find the right balance and going to the gym helped a lot with that for me. Then it went the other way and I became obsessed with training and stopped playing altogether. These days I juggle the two and it feels good. How about you?

Basically I'm stuck in the same situation, I tried meeting and jamming with others at some point but they've always got stuff going on. I'm not really lifting too much myself RN but I am at least trying to play guitar more consistently. It's a tough balance and I also largely play music by myself.

[rollerball]

"Jamming" is OK occasionally but it gets old pretty quickly.
Although it has it's place much of it can turn out to be unorganized, excessive, aimless noodling which doesn't work for me.
I find it far more gratifying to practice and play songs that all participants like in a band atmosphere.

I think it kinda depends on who you're playing with. There can definitely be a "too many chefs in the kitchen" type thing going on but if the people you're playing with have sensitive ears and there aren't too many conflicting voices it can yield some great moments. I especially like jamming in a trio with just 1 guitar, 1 bass, and a drummer.

Sounds like a clusterfck. What was wrong with the amp? I've watched nearly every episode of Tone Talk so I feel like I know the guy. What he doesn't know about tube amps isn't worth knowing but then he's not building the amps — he designs and tests them. Still using the Axe-FX II?

The amp kept on having intermittent volume issues, and intermittent weird hums that were really distracting. There's a part of me that feels bad about the whole scenario because Friedman definitely tried to fix the amp several times but it just never got resolved to my satisfaction.

[rollerball]

Boyos what's the best amp sims? I'm living with my folks and can't plug into my OR15 right now. I'm messing around in GarageBand but the sounds are less than inspiring.

Maybe try Scuffham S-Gear Amps

[CherryPopinski]

Maybe try Scuffham S-Gear Amps

I've messed around with the free version of Amplitube 5 and STL Tone Labs

[rollerball]

I've messed around with the free version of Amplitube 5 and STL Tone Labs

Scuffham will probably destroy those plugins.

You're a gainfully employed cop yeah? Why not buy a hardware modeler like the Kemper or the Axe FX?

[CherryPopinski]

Scuffham will probably destroy those plugins.

You're a gainfully employed cop yeah? Why not buy a hardware modeler like the Kemper or the Axe FX?

George Lynch is building me a custom guitar I just dropped $6700 for it. I hear good things about both, but don't have the money right now.

[rollerball]

George Lynch is building me a custom guitar I just dropped $6700 for it. I hear good things about both, but don't have the money right now.

Good grief man lol.
I remember you've always liked to spend some exorbitant amount on electric guitars. Personally after getting my Suhr I've come to the determination that, personally, I don't think spending tons of cash for an electric guitar is worth it. Maybe $2500 max imo and even then that might seem more than necessary.

I'm curious why you would spend so much on an electric. Do you feel that you are getting your money's worth?

[CherryPopinski]

Good grief man lol.
I remember you've always liked to spend some exorbitant amount on electric guitars. Personally after getting my Suhr I've come to the determination that, personally, I don't think spending tons of cash for an electric guitar is worth it. Maybe $2500 max imo and even then that might seem more than necessary.

I'm curious why you would spend so much on an electric. Do you feel that you are getting your money's worth?

Actually no I've never spent more than $1400 on a guitar. I just bought and resold a number of guitars over the years. But I found one that I like and it's my main guitar.

It's a 2014 Gibson SG 24 Fret in Ebony, it also has a Firebird pickup in the neck. It's probably my favorite guitar and I'd likely lose my **** if something happened to it.

I told myself I'd never spend so much on a guitar but George is only making two of these so they'll be one of a kind. Here's the the build. I'm getting the one with the image of the Native American with the Crow. Plus my buddy has been hounding me to get a guitar with a Floyd since he knows I pretend to shred. I've been playing guitar consistently for many years now so I can justify the purchase I'll use it.

Plus if I have to sell it for whatever reason I'm sure it'll retain it's value. That's not the neck that will be on the guitar I asked for a Banana headstock though





EDIT: I also am a George Lynch fan and to put it into perspective I never thought in my whole life I'd ever be able to afford super expensive dream guitars let alone one of my guitar heroes personally built himself. But likely I will never spend this much on a guitar ever again. I'm definitely gonna play it though, it's not going to be a wall hanger.

[CherryPopinski]

He's taking his sweet time building it though, I'm super stoked I really wanna play it but I have no idea when he'll be done. He did say the body is pretty much done so I figured he just needs to do the neck and install the hardware.

[rollerball]

Actually no I've never spent more than $1400 on a guitar. I just bought and resold a number of guitars over the years. But I found one that I like and it's main guitar.

It's a 2014 Gibson SG 24 Fret in Ebony, it also has a Firebird pickup in the neck. It's probably my favorite guitar and I'd likely lose my **** if something happened to it.

I told myself I'd never spend so much on a guitar but George is only making two of these so they'll be one of kind. Here's the the build. I'm getting the one with the image of the Native American with the Crow. Plus my buddy has been hounding me to get a guitar with a Floyd since he knows I pretend to shred. I've been playing guitar consistently for many years now so I can justify the purchase I'll use it.

Plus if I have to sell it for whatever reason I'm sure it'll retain it's value. That's not the neck that will be on the guitar I asked for a Banana headstock though

I believe that guitar to be wildly overpriced - electrics can only get so good imo unlike acoustic guitars. In terms of actual worth you're probably paying $2500 just for the name. I'm actually curious if such a thing would retain its value in today's market, I think the number of people who even know who Lynch is have dwindled quite a bit. Even in the realm of made-by-hand signature guitars that price is crazy high.

This is not to sand-bag your decision to buy, if the idea of the guitar makes you happy then more power to you.

[CherryPopinski]

I believe that guitar to be wildly overpriced - electrics can only get so good imo unlike acoustic guitars. In terms of actual worth you're probably paying $2500 just for the name. I'm actually curious if such a thing would retain its value in today's market, I think the number of people who even know who Lynch is have dwindled quite a bit. Even in the realm of made-by-hand signature guitars that price is crazy high.

This is not to sand-bag your decision to buy, if the idea of the guitar makes you happy then more power to you.

Yea the unique design drew me in, and I like I said I'm a Lynch fan. So I do agree that it's quite overpriced and I could get any number of vintage instruments for the same price, but this guitar kinda spoke to me in a weird way. Also like I said it's only one of two so I'm excited to get my hands on it. I really need to learn how to shred proper though.