OK, OK, guitar this time

lucylespian · September 2008

Finally took a couple of pics of the new fiddle. It was a struggle to stop playing and put it down for long enough. I then got a call from a bud telling me about a backyard jamfest that was on in his valley with about 8 bands, so I went to that and saw some of best guitar playing ever. I'll start a different thread about that player.
The single coil sounds are really convincing. It actually gets a good out-of-phase sound too in the middle position with both coils tapped. The SD humbuckers are pure class and the overall playability is as good as it gets.
Only has a single volume though, so doing a selector switch flick effect can't happen yet. I'm thinking of either replacing the tone with another volume, but that will be complicated if I want to keep the out-of-phase tone. Maybe it will be simpler to just get a kill-switch installed.

Anyway
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/lucylespian/guitar.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/lucylespian/guitar2.jpg

pearljamgirl07 · September 2008

wow it's so nice ,my brothers gave me a black Guibson Les paul as a birthday gift the last tuesday .It's really beautiful I'm in shock:)

Piper At The Gates · September 2008

Is that an Ibanez?

DOSW · September 2008

Good stuff! Now that you're satisfied with that, I'll take your R9. You don't want it collecting dust, do you?

ianvomsaal · September 2008

Nice looking ESP Horizon FRII in Black Aqua: http://www.bmusic.com.au/prod3284.htm
I'm not really a fan of the Floyd Rose trems (you also have one on your Kirk Hammet, so hey
if they work for you I'm not judging - they're just a little to "shred guitar" for me).

Anyhow, take a look at Concentric Volume/Tone knobs - gives you Volume & Tone in one pot.
This way you don't need to get holes drilled in the guitar for two volumes or another switch:
http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/images/parts/knobs_6.jpg
Here's are two 500K/500K Concentric Pots:
http://www.allparts.com/store/electronics-500k-pots-ep-4586-000,Product.asp
http://www.warmoth.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=23033
Here's some knobs: http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/parts/parts.cfm?fuseaction=include_knobs
Here are a few more Concentric or Stacked knobs, just scroll through:
http://www.allparts.com/store/knobs-metal-knobs,Category.asp
or http://www.allparts.com/store/knobs-metal-knobs-mk-0137-010,Product.asp
or http://www.allparts.com/store/knobs-metal-knobs-mk-3320-010,Product.asp
They even make 250K/250K or better yet 250K/500K concentric pots if you need split values:
http://www.allparts.com/store/electronics-miscellaneous-pots-ep-4585-000,Product.asp

I don't even know if you'll see this, but hey I tried.
Cheers . . .

- Ian

lucylespian · September 2008

Ian,
Thanks for the tip on the different control knobs. I'm not real keen on drilling more holes in her, so I might look at that.
Yes Floyd Rose trem have their issues, but I love the tuning stability. I tried Strat ownership, but the hopeless loss of tune every time I used the trem was a real problem for me. I'm no shredder, but lots of songs call for trem use, and I like to play with it, making weird sounds and playing with feedback, ala Joe Satch.
If I only owned one guitar, it would be a stop-tail for sure.
Which is why I needed 2 gits with FR's, for different tunings.
Tone-wise, I used to think they were a real tone suck, but after a couple of years of ownership, I'm not bothered by that any more. They do sound different , but not bad.

lucylespian · September 2008

DOSW wrote:

Good stuff! Now that you're satisfied with that, I'll take your R9. You don't want it collecting dust, do you?

No Piper, it's an ESP Horizon.

DOSW, keep your greasy mits off my Lola. She will still see plenty of dust removal time, trust me. Don't want to wear the frets off her, so the new one will be a workhorse for practice.

ianvomsaal · September 2008

Yeah, I prefer the Les Paul wiring myself - 2-Volumes and 2-Tones - it's just seems to allow for a lot
more tonal options and versatility - and you can even coil tap to allow for even more tonal options.

As I said, I had a really nice guitar with only two knobs (1-Volume, 1-Tone, and a 3-way selector).
The guitar I did this on was actually an ESP Standard Viper (knob configuration just like your Horizon).
I replaced my Volume & Tone pots with 2-Concentric Pots & it really opend up the guitars versatility.

I also moved my 3-way selector switch to the back position (where the tone knob was) so that both
my Volume/Tone pots were next to each other (it just made more sense to me). I could volume swell
both pickups easier, & I didn't accidentally hit the pickup selector when reaching for my volume/tone.
Cheers . . .

- Ian

BTW, I don't like Fender Strats much either . . . I know blaspheme on this forum, but so be it.
When I need to use a Strat, the one I use most often actually has a Fender Floyd-Rose, LSR
Roller Nut & Schaller locking tuners: http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=1996510100
It's a Fender's 50th Anniversary Strat that I purchased new back in '96 (American Plus Deluxe).

lucylespian · September 2008

Yeah, I have an ESP ltd Viper 301, which is an SG style guitar. Only one volume and tone on that too. I tend to use it for drop D or D standard tunings as it is solid mahogany and it is really suited to that. I put an EMG 81 in the bridge but left the EMG HZ in the neck, so I really only use the bridge pup on full throttle. It was my first good guitar after I got back into playing about 5 years ago, and it has a lot of fret wear, so I don't use it so much any more.
It's great for songs like Sad But True and Fuckin' Up. Really meaty tone.

I looked at roller nuts, but I find them ugly and a lot of complication for a simple issue.
Truth is, I really love ESP guitars. The new blue goddess is a beautifully built thing that is a dream to play and it will be my main gigging guitar. I introduced our singer to YLB today, so it might get a run on that yet too.

ianvomsaal · September 2008

Yeah, I kinda wish that I hadn't sold my Std Viper, especially with the kind of music that I'm writing as of lately.
It sounded really thick and heavy (all mahogany, ebony fretboard, EMG 81/85) - did the volume/tone MOD, had
jumbo stainless frets installed, and had a Buzz Feiten installed (was more like a custom by the time I was done).

It played really well, but unfortunately I only used it for one session - A buddy of mine came over, played it,
and he completely fell in love with it - he wouldn't leave until I agreed to sell it to him - he loved it that much.
He ended up giving me $1800 for it, which was (incidentally) what I put into it - thus I got what I paid for it.
If I had the guitar now I wouldn't sell it for $3000 - it really played that well and sounded that good - sad :(

Piper At The Gates · September 2008

lucylespian wrote:

No Piper, it's an ESP Horizon.

DOSW, keep your greasy mits off my Lola. She will still see plenty of dust removal time, trust me. Don't want to wear the frets off her, so the new one will be a workhorse for practice.

Thanks Lucy, I thought ESP at first and the headstock kind of fooled me. That axe really screams; 'Play fast runs and do some dive bombs with me'. The Satch, Vai type of thing.

lucylespian · September 2008

Piper At The Gates wrote:

Thanks Lucy, I thought ESP at first and the headstock kind of fooled me. That axe really screams; 'Play fast runs and do some dive bombs with me'. The Satch, Vai type of thing.

Yeah, everyone seems to have that association, but while it will play very fast, it has a nice woody LP tone and a really liquid neck lead tone. It does not quite have the same depth as Lola, but with an FR, it never will.
I've been playing a bunch of Pink Floyd since I got it, and it really sounds great there. This will sound silly, but I'm still trying to decide if it has 10's or 9's on it. They feel like 10's, but I'm bending them like 9's. Maybe the 12 string has made my hands stronger, but I'm getting the Gilmour 5 semi-tone bends easy. Short scale does not hurt either. I think they are 10's though.

Novawind · September 2008

ianvomsaal wrote:

BTW, I don't like Fender Strats much either . . . I know blaspheme on this forum, but so be it.

Haha, to the gallows with you!

Strats just feel most comfortable in my hand. Personal preference I guess.

keeponrockin · September 2008

Novawind wrote:

Haha, to the gallows with you!

Strats just feel most comfortable in my hand. Personal preference I guess.

Yeah, my Strat just fits me like a GLOVE!

lucylespian · September 2008

keeponrockin wrote:

Yeah, my Strat just fits me like a GLOVE!

I tried, I failed, twice !!

I gave up. Enter the Super-Strat, now that's my glove !!

keeponrockin · September 2008

lucylespian wrote:

I tried, I failed, twice !!

I gave up. Enter the Super-Strat, now that's my glove !!

Yeah, I think part of it is I played Strat Style all my life.

When I pick up a Les Paul, it just feels weird to me!

All Those Yesterdays · September 2008

keeponrockin wrote:

Yeah, I think part of it is I played Strat Style all my life.

When I pick up a Les Paul, it just feels weird to me!

The Les Paul doesn't actually feel weird, it's just he disc in your back that slips from all that weight!

Anon · September 2008

lucylespian wrote:

Yeah, I have an ESP ltd Viper 301, which is an SG style guitar. Only one volume and tone on that too. I tend to use it for drop D or D standard tunings as it is solid mahogany and it is really suited to that. I put an EMG 81 in the bridge but left the EMG HZ in the neck, so I really only use the bridge pup on full throttle. It was my first good guitar after I got back into playing about 5 years ago, and it has a lot of fret wear, so I don't use it so much any more.
It's great for songs like Sad But True and Fuckin' Up. Really meaty tone.

ahhh awesome! and congrats on the new purchase lucy.

OK, OK, guitar this time

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