Guitar Megathread II: Unleash the picking fury!!!

[jaxadam]

I am like the sweep picking master.

[Bodhy]

Imnopotts, how much did the pedals set you back?


I'm shopping around for the best pedal deal ATM. I want to get my ultimate 80s set up completed (complete with synth and all). Looks like a sexy pedalboard you've got there.

[rollerball]

Update to my post from Jan 2021... got tickets to see Polyphia tonight (the band that sparked my desire to start practicing again) and my gear's been cleaned up!

LP copy had a Seymour Duncan 59'er put in the neck so now I finally have double zebras, updated wiring from modern to 50s wiring.
N4 I replaced the Bill Lawrence L-500L to a L-500XL, tossed the licensed tremolo and put in an original Floyd Rose with a D-tuna, also changed out the noisy pot.
Oh, both guitars got re-fret with stainless steel.
Grabbed a tuner and a Boss SD-1, finally got pedals off the floor and onto a board with a legit power supply, my noise floor was totally reduced!

[img]https://i.imgur.com/ZkfZeWQ.jpg[img]



[img]https://i.imgur.com/8sZypT7.jpg[img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/lI4M38R.jpg[img]

Solid.

I've always thought it was funny how Stephens really wanted to let everyone know that it was he, Stephens, that came up with the Stephens Extended Cutaway and, as such, is Trademarked by Stephens.

[rollerball]

So picked up the guitar recently after not really having played for a year. I learned those 17 bars of that Coltrane solo and I decided to quit guitar after that.

Here's me trying to fukk around with Vai's For The Love of Gawd and part of it is obviously complete chite. I only know a few bits and pieces here and there and openly laugh at some of my chit tier playing. But it feels good to pick up the guitar again ngl.

[rollerball]

lol, its like your mind knows where the notes are and tells your fingers to do it, but they cant make it in time... I know that feeling when I've taken a break for a couple weeks

as always, just gotta slow it down and get the details right then the speed will come right behind it

every try Vai's "Building the Church" thats one song from him that I always liked

good that you're getting back into it, keep playin

Haha I was just fukking around and throwing in tons of bad filler due to not actually knowing like 75% of that solo. I need to actually sit down and learn it all the way through, thx for the words.

edit: lol gotta re-do this garbage

[lmnopotts]

Howdy....

Excellent!

You're back on the path with your axe mods done and with some fine equipment to keep you motivated.

Good luck with you music endeavors.

Carry on....

Thank you! For anyone curious on a boring afternoon, here's the details of the work I've had done on my guitars. This wasn't all at once, but over the past 20 years. More money in parts and work than what they originally were ever worth, but it's not like I'm ever gonna sell them.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...#post-34324369

Imnopotts, how much did the pedals set you back?

I'm shopping around for the best pedal deal ATM. I want to get my ultimate 80s set up completed (complete with synth and all). Looks like a sexy pedalboard you've got there.

Thank you! 4 of them were bought 20 years ago in my freshman year of college in 2002, lol. I want to say the delay, chorus, and phaser were maybe $85 at the time? The Fulltone Clyde wah might have been the only one over $100, everything's like $150 - $250 nowadays.

Looking back at my Sweetwater purchases The Boss SD-1 waza was $160 and the Peterson StroboStomp tuner was $140. I should have had a tuner in my chain earlier, its so much easier. Previously I was unplugging from the amp to plug into a handheld Korg tuner. Now I can just step and tune easily and with one click on the side I can change from the 2 tuning presets I keep; Buzz Feiten in Eb, and sweetened in E. Plus the strobe is much more accurate.

I held off on other purchases... the 80s in me wanted to get a ProCo Rat and the Zakk fan in me wanted a vibe on a pedal... If I could've squeezed a Fulltone DejaVibe 3 next to the wah I would've pulled the trigger! Pedals definitely addicting...

Solid.

I've always thought it was funny how Stephens really wanted to let everyone know that it was he, Stephens, that came up with the Stephens Extended Cutaway and, as such, is Trademarked by Stephens.

lol I hadn't considered that before, that is odd. Great design though, a shame he's not a bigger name. He switched careers into tech stuff but his luthier partner in the Seattle area used to take a few jobs here and there up until recently.

[rollerball]

What is the fukking perfect string guage and string height? Someone fukking tell me objectively what this is please. FFS. WHAT'S THE PERFECT SETUP?

Seriously, I just want a guitar that feels tight and percussive when I want to play metal riffs but also feels loose and pliable when I want to do legato lines, something that sounds full and toneful with thick body, but is yet extremely elastic feeling and overwhelmingly easy to play.

[Wayne Evans]

Thank you! For anyone curious on a boring afternoon, here's the details of the work I've had done on my guitars. This wasn't all at once, but over the past 20 years. More money in parts and work than what they originally were ever worth, but it's not like I'm ever gonna sell them.

Howdy....

I can see that was a lot of work over your '20 years'.
Well done....all look damn good to me.

I don't have the patience or knowledge to what you've done.
I"m just a rhythm player/song writer with the same (3) axes I started out with almost (5) decades ago.
All of which have served me quite well.

TBH....if I was rolling in green I'd spoil myself with a semi-hollow to round out my axe family.
My local buddy here just bought (beginning of the year) a very beautiful Drab Green finish Gibson 335.....at a price point of 3200$.....HO-LY SHVT!
But....he's a single guy/mid 30's so he could afford it.

Back to it....

[keyboardworkout]

Couple guys I know were in a hotel elevator with Keith Richards in Munich in June and didn't recognize him until they got to the lobby and he was mobbed.

[Wayne Evans]

What is the fukking perfect string guage and string height? Someone fukking tell me objectively what this is please. FFS. WHAT'S THE PERFECT SETUP?

Seriously, I just want a guitar that feels tight and percussive when I want to play metal riffs but also feels loose and pliable when I want to do legato lines, something that sounds full and toneful with thick body, but is yet extremely elastic feeling and overwhelmingly easy to play.

Ha....
I don't know the 'perfect setup'.
If you feel your setup is uncomfortable to play action wise I'd just take it to well respected luthier especially if you haven't done in the past.
Fret wear, action, intonation....all that will be fixed and it's worth the cost.
I had my Tele & Guild D40 (see avatar pic) set up after a long time because arthritis was really giving my fingers some major grief about (4) years ago.

Strings?....
I always used mediums on all three (tonal reasons - mediums project very well) up until (4) years ago.
I use Elixers....pricey when compared to some but they stay in tune well so I buy (3) sets at a time from Amazon.
I use 10's on the Guild and 9's on the Tele.
That works for me.
https://www.amazon.com/Elixir-String...68&sr=8-4&th=1

I've read Billy Gibbons uses 7's or 8's....I couldn't imagine using that gauge.

Anyway.....hope that helps a bit.

Back to it....

[Dominik]

What is the fukking perfect string guage and string height? Someone fukking tell me objectively what this is please. FFS. WHAT'S THE PERFECT SETUP?

Seriously, I just want a guitar that feels tight and percussive when I want to play metal riffs but also feels loose and pliable when I want to do legato lines, something that sounds full and toneful with thick body, but is yet extremely elastic feeling and overwhelmingly easy to play.

Light top/heavy bottom might be the ticket brochacho. Adjust the action higher on the bass side so you can dig in on those chugging riffs but low enough on the treble side so you can shred higher up the neck.

[Dominik]

I've always thought it was funny how Stephens really wanted to let everyone know that it was he, Stephens, that came up with the Stephens Extended Cutaway and, as such, is Trademarked by Stephens.

Saw a video on The Gear Page about the Washburn "4N" from the guy who originally bought it before it ended up with Nuno. Washburn has since tried to cash in with a copy.

The Team at the Washburn Custom Shop went to painstaking lengths to capture the uniqueness of Nuno’s 4N. Chris Meade, the Head at WCS not just studied the instrument in hand but also designed and made a set of custom tools so he could accurately measure the neck! From that point forward, every effort has been made to get the feel and look captured expertly; the results of which are obvious with instrument in hand.

What stands out like dog's balls is the original had a one piece body and the copy is a two piece. Washburn's beancounters won that round.

[rollerball]

Light top/heavy bottom might be the ticket brochacho. Adjust the action higher on the bass side so you can dig in on those chugging riffs but low enough on the treble side so you can shred higher up the neck.

I think I want something closer to 52 on the low side and .08 on the high side. Or is .08 too light?

[rollerball]

Saw a video on The Gear Page about the Washburn "4N" from the guy who originally bought it before it ended up with Nuno. Washburn has since tried to cash in with a copy.

The Team at the Washburn Custom Shop went to painstaking lengths to capture the uniqueness of Nuno’s 4N. Chris Meade, the Head at WCS not just studied the instrument in hand but also designed and made a set of custom tools so he could accurately measure the neck! From that point forward, every effort has been made to get the feel and look captured expertly; the results of which are obvious with instrument in hand.

What stands out like dog's balls is the original had a one piece body and the copy is a two piece. Washburn's beancounters won that round.

It's interesting to me that Nuno never really strayed from that guitar. Also, everyone I've ever heard play that guitar seems to be unable to get Nuno's tone.

Nuno's just one of those irritating dudes whose tone and vibe is "all in the fingers bro". Fukk Nuno and his annoyingly effortless abilities on the guitar, dude also has that Keanu thing where he never seems to age.

[lmnopotts]

What stands out like dog's balls is the original had a one piece body and the copy is a two piece. Washburn's beancounters won that round.

Between Davies N4s, N4s, N4 2.0s, and 4Ns, the specs are all over the place, lol. You'd think with today's digital scanning Washburn could re-produce the specs correctly but neck thickness and body contours have changed back and forth throughout the years.

I'm in a ******** group for N4 owners, most of the Davies built guitars or padauk models get traded or sold in there before every making it to Reverb or eBay... I had a dream I would get a legit N4 someday but prices are astronomical now. Joe had a cool story and so did Todd recently, took a gamble on a Guitar Center used posting and it turned out to be the 1st ever production model N4. He then sold it to Nuno:

https://www.guitarworld.com/features...no-bettencourt

Mine is an early 2000's "N3" which was a Korean made version with a rosewood neck, Washburn pickups, and a licensed tremolo. This was discontinued and became the NX6. My franken-N4 is as close to an original I'll get but it screams now.

Also, everyone I've ever heard play that guitar seems to be unable to get Nuno's tone.

Yeah, the guitar is a good start, but even with different amps he sounds pretty much "him." I've seen vids of guys with his album set ups of either the ADA MP-1 or a boss driven Soldano Super Lead 60 II, still not quite Nuno. His current live set up is usually a rented Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100, mids scooped, with a ProCo Rat in front and with that he's pretty damn close to his studio tones.







EQ will vary a bit depending on venue.

[Dominik]

I think I want something closer to 52 on the low side and .08 on the high side. Or is .08 too light?

What are you playing right now? 8 is pretty light. You could always experiment with a custom set buying singles from Strings By Mail, etc.

9-48 might be a more reasonable compromise with something like 9-11-16-26-36-48.

[rollerball]

Yeah, the guitar is a good start, but even with different amps he sounds pretty much "him." I've seen vids of guys with his album set ups of either the ADA MP-1 or a boss driven Soldano Super Lead 60 II, still not quite Nuno. His current live set up is usually a rented Marshall JCM 900, mids scooped, with a ProCo Rat in front and with that he's pretty damn close to his studio tones.

Yeah he's got that Eddie thing where it's just super duper hard to really sound like him.

What are you playing right now? 8 is pretty light. You could always experiment with a custom set buying singles from Strings By Mail, etc.

9-48 might be a more reasonable compromise with something like 9-11-16-26-36-48.

I'm using 10s I think and they're start to feel like thick steel bars to me when I try my legato and wide bending stuff. 9s probably is more reasonable.

[CherryPopinski]

Yeah he's got that Eddie thing where it's just super duper hard to really sound like him.



I'm using 10s I think and they're start to feel like thick steel bars to me when I try my legato and wide bending stuff. 9s probably is more reasonable.

I'm about to put a Malmsteen signature 8-46 set on my Stratocaster.

[dogorman7]

Anyone here play bass ? I’m gonna start picking it up and focus on it more than guitar for the time being because it’s pretty fun.

There’s also a huge shortage of good bassists so you’re always in need if you want to play in a band.

[Uber_Dad]

Yes I have done exactly that...the band thing would get really weird though...just frustrating...there were times it was fun though.

[Dominik]

Bonamassa back to running a sh*tload of amps on stage at a time when bands are migrating to sterile modeling rigs. He's somehow unlocked the secrets to improving on Eric Johnson's late 80s tone. Sounds incredible.

Starts around 30 mins in...

[CherryPopinski]

Bonamassa back to running a sh*tload of amps on stage at a time when bands are migrating to sterile modeling rigs. He's somehow unlocked the secrets to improving on Eric Johnson's late 80s tone. Sounds incredible.

Starts around 30 mins in...

Nice definitely Eric Johnson sound right there. I've been absent from this thread for a hot minute but keep shredding brahs.

[bignpisst]

I wanted to hear him play the thinline

[Jacobcapra]

Hello miscers, been playing a lot of guitar lately and enjoying it a lot. I played acoustic for some years and started on electric about 1.5 years ago. I play lots of styles but love to play metalcore.

I love to do covers and share them with some of my musician friends, but sadly I don't have many that play

Some of my more recent stuff:

Spoiler!

I don't have an AI so if the EQ is poor I just remove my guitar track entirely, sadly.

[Bodhy]

Bonamassa back to running a sh*tload of amps on stage at a time when bands are migrating to sterile modeling rigs. He's somehow unlocked the secrets to improving on Eric Johnson's late 80s tone. Sounds incredible.

Starts around 30 mins in...

Fuark, nice. Eric Johnson had IMO, one of the nicest tones I've ever heard (along with Slash, and David Gilmour). Reminds me fondly of my G3 DVD with Satriani and Vai as well, except I thought Johnson could peg a better tune.

I still think Manhattan is a magical song where every note just hits at the perfect time and place (including the bassist and keyboardist).



EDIT: And on the tone thing, that's a personal idiosyncrasy. It just flows out of the player from the unique way he attacks the guitar. I've heard Steve Vai play a BB King style guitar and it didn't have a BB tone, it had a Vai tone. It sounded like him. The idea is not to fret or worry about getting another players tone. Create your own tone and attack the guitar in your own way.

It's why George Lynch is the GOAT 80s guitarist. It's not just the notes he played, it's his phrasing and the whole way he attacks the wood. No one will ever sound like him.

[ThePump0561]

likin this new one from Marty Friedman

[dogorman7]

Any of you boyos play Edwards guitars by ESP ?

I was gonna go for the new E-II alexi ripped model or E-II Arrow but I forgot Edwards made a lot of the older Alexi sig guitars too

I know they’re MIJ but I’ve never seen anyone play an edwards so that’s why questioning if it’s a good value lol

It is a 800-1k price difference

[milfmanmilk]

Bonamassa back to running a sh*tload of amps on stage at a time when bands are migrating to sterile modeling rigs. He's somehow unlocked the secrets to improving on Eric Johnson's late 80s tone. Sounds incredible.

Starts around 30 mins in...

Eric Johnson and Andy Timmons are tone gods.

[7empest]

sup brahs

i have a kemper which is great but i play it through studio monitors at the moment. i want to get a speaker for it. but then i was thinking of selling my kemper and getting one of these : with a cab instead.

[Harry362]

trying to learn acoustic guitar where do I start?