GregP

+1 As I mentioned on Robert's blog (won't repeat the whole thing), I got to meet Chris in Toronto when his band Ohn (http://www.letsgetitohn.com/) was playing the North-By-Northwest in Toronto. My g/f and I went to meet with Allison Scharf (the singer in much of the recent stuff), actually... and ended up seeing this cool guitar being played on stage. Of course, I had to ask Chris about it after the gig. I got to pluck a bit at it, and it was a well-cool guitar. Greg

<shrug> Variety. It doesn't matter. Ferget it.

Well, I'm not sure why I didn't elaborate, but the bridge and neck are actually 89's, which contain a full SA inside.

Check Myka's Rosewood guitar thread... it uses a highly useful switching/tone system that you might find appealing.

Since an EMG-SA and an EMG-S have different resonance peaks and frequency response, do you think the "in-between" positions (2 and 4) would still be useful and quacky in an SA/S/SA system? (S in the middle) Or would the differences in overall tone produce the wrong sound? Any thoughts, even if only from theory and not from practice? Greg

Simply spectacular. I, too, prefer it over the Blue Dragonfly. It's... well, it's awesome. I dunno what else to even say. I really like the electronics scheme-- A few too many knobs for me (even with cocentric), but I instantly appreciated the amazing versatility and attention to detail (choosing the caps). Greg

I like it! Definitely in the realm of the "shredder" style paint job. Very well done! Be interesting to see it all clearcoated and buffed out, with the hardware and neck back in place. Be sure to post those pics, too. ;-)

I don't trust HC at all. Their user review section is populated by fools. As biliousfrog says, you can glean useful information by being a critical reader and extracting the wheat from the chaff... But I'd rather just avoid HC's user reviews altogether. Greg

Something in the same continuous path as the tone pot isn't making it to ground. You need to check and recheck your wiring and make sure everything's going to ground. If you're already poking around, you might want to consider a star-grounding system. The uber-quick version: anywhere (including the typical bent-back lug on the vol pot) that should go to ground will go to a washer instead, and then the washer will go to ground. There's a touch more to it than that, but not much. If you decide to go with a star-ground, I'd be happy to help you find the resources. The description on Guitarnutz' "Quieting the beast" article should be good info even if the actual pots and switches used are completely different (that info is specific to strat, but you can extract the useful general info). To me, star ground is the best way for me to not go crazy and wonder if I've created a ground loop... so I usually put one in whenever I update electronics. I've done it even when my guitar had no problems to speak of. Greg

Geo, sounds like you're well on the way to identifying the problem. Does the sitar sound appear no matter where you're fretting? If it goes away at some point on the neck, it COULD be vibrating against a fret. But, I think your initial assessment is probably correct and here's why: as you tune a string up, it is adding tension, not relaxing it. This will pull your neck into relief, and should theoretically make it LESS likely to fret out. That doesn't mean that other factors aren't at play, and you can't rule out the frets yet... but your own theory sounds more plausible to me right now.

the lower bout (left side, when looking at the guitar upright like in the visible picture) is significantly larger than the lower right... which gives it an asymmetrical feel. Assymetry is actually quite cool a lot of the time, but in this case it's making the guitar look like you measured everything off-centre. You certainly don't "have" to address this issue, especially if it's by design. However, if you choose to, the guitar would still look quite nice with the oversized portion of the bout reduced to match more closely and create more symmetry. Greg

jnewman already covered some of this, but I somehow managed to leave my computer without hitting "submit"... so I'm a-post it anyhow. <chuckle> --- Sounds to me like you need some active electronics. If you want flexible tone-shaping on the guitar itself, that's the way to go. Any tone-control variations (including the Varitone) will only de-emphasize regions of frequencies, never boost them. For example, and active circuit like EMG's SPC can BOOST the mids, whereas the TBX cuts treble and bass, reducing overall output. The resulting EQ curve is similar, but the decibels of output are different. Many active tone circuits can work with passive pickups, which will also give them the other benefits of active electronics such as less signal loss over long cable runs, as well as obviating the need for a DI. Greg

I couldn't find any videos of builds or specifically showcasing the variax transplants... However, in his "Licks" section, he's got some tasty country open-string hammer/pull licks and tab to go with... Maybe if I practiced for 2 years I'd be able to play those at that speed with that cleanliness. <laff>

It sounds like you're thinking of building a chambered solidbody. Under that assumption, I would say that carving the inside of the top is probably unecessary (and will make your life more difficult) and the sides should be thick enough to main structural integrity when you glue the top down. But beyond that, it's arbitrary.

This site is full of those kinds of tips and ideas; however, the question is so general and broad that you won't get many useful answers. I don't mean that in any negative way-- simply, decide what you want the end result to be, start researching (visit ReRanch for at least an overview of some approaches to finishing, for example, though I'm sure the internet's full of such stuff!) and then when you run into specific questions backed by a sufficient "toe in the water" amount of research, you'll find people bending over backward to help you. Greg

Yup, that's what I want to do. That's pretty much all there is to it? Source a "4PDT" mini-switch? I have to say... I went back and forth with EMG about a few issues (including trying to put together some piezo-related parts) and they've been very unhelpful. One tech sent some of his personal wiring diagrams for a different option I had in mind (89/89 with a 4P 5-way switch) but that was about it. I think they're content to just keep making money off their corporate sales... not much attention paid to the little guy.

It was linked to quite a while ago, but nothing wrong with sharing again, especially since new members come in all the time. Neat concept. Not sure I'd want one for the MSRP, but neat concept nonetheless.

I'm doing some preliminary research because... well, I'm just that kind of guy. I'm considering a guitar with 89/SA/89 combo from EMG. Ideally, I would like one switch to put both 89's into single-coil mode. As some of you know, an 89 essentially contains 2 separate pickups in one housing-- an SA single-coil, and a humbucker that is similar to an 85. Even the wiring treats them as separate pickups, and they SHARE the same preamp, meaning that the two pickups within the one housing/casing can never be used in combination. (or, the pickup can't be used in combination with itself, if that makes more sense) Switching them between modes individually is trivial. But EMG assures me that there's "no way" to 'split' (not really split, but I'll use that term henceforth) both pickups at the same time with the same switch. I suspect they just haven't considered all the possible switches out there and are assuming that people will only have access to or will only purchase a DPDT switch (or use one on a push/pull knob). I suspect there's SOME way to do it, even if you use an unexpected switching system... for example, an LP 3-way toggle and a strat-style 5-way (or even 4 pole 5 position if needed). Ideally, though, I'd like it to be a 2-way switch (think of it as humbucker mode, or single-coil mode) and then a 5-way blade. One of the Steinberger original lines had ONE mini-switch to split both coils, but I can't find any literature describing whether they're both split at once, and if it's a 2-position or 3-position switch. If anybody has any ideas or insight, it'd be appreciated, though in the interest of full disclosure-- I AM primarily just researching the possibilities right now.... more compulsion and curiousity than putting action into motion. Greg

Cool, thanks. Confirms the crappy state of Ottawa area pawn shops. <chuckle>

Ottawa doesn't have pawn shop prizes that I'm aware of. But I happened to be in a pawn shop and noticed an RG350 ex going for $250 CDN. Only thing blatantly damaged was the locking nut, which was missing the piece(s) that lock down. The trem itself seemed in good condition. I was just walking through so I didn't bother investigating too deeply, but if it's in good shape, is that a good price for that guitar? Greg

.wibble. Love the maple burl. Thanks for sharing!

Or, take what you've learned and apply it to THIS job again! Lots of people on this forum have sanded back to wood and started from scratch.

Is there any sort of upgrade for the Spider? The wahs included in the PowerPack add-on (not sure if it can be installed on Spiders) includes some Wahs with very wide expression. Though, I have to admit, the one included by default is one of the wider ones. Far wider than most "real" wahs, actually. Is it possible that you're just using such treble-heavy tones that you're not noticing the wah's effect? (which will tend to de-emphasize bass and emphasize treble as you step on it) Greg

Wow, how did you dig this thread out of the archive in order to bump it? <lol> That response is only 4 years delayed.

Bleargghhh...!