GregP

Harmony Central's review section is a joke. I wouldn't bother with it at all. Not having looked at any of those 171, I can already tell you that you'll have everything from a 1 ("This thing is a piece of **** and sounds nothing like a "real" amp!!) all the way up to an exaggerated 10 ("This thing is even better than my MegaSuperTube 3000, which cost me $20,000!! Get it today!!"), making the entire section worthless unless you know individual reviewers whose opinion you trust and can therefore search out. Everything I've heard about the Spider II tells me that it's a very good value for money, so I don't think you could go "wrong" with it. Having seen that H&K link, though, I think it warrants at least a peek. Greg

Erik, the proof is NOT in the pudding just yet. I don't see how any of that shows that a higher angle = a higher force. A higher force would generate more tension and therefore change the pitch. You don't have to "pull harder" just because you're changing the angle. That doesn't hold up to science at all. The ONLY time the angle will make things trickier is in the presence of friction, which makes for a very complex calculation indeed, since even different materials will produce varying amounts of friction. Since we're talking about theory in the absence of friction, that's irrelevant for the moment. Another experiment, which you don't actually have to perform if you're feeling lazy: take a length of string, or even a spare guitar string. Using your hands, place it over a surrogate nut and bridge... anything that won't move when you put downward pressure.... the backs of 2 chairs if you want, as long as they're heavy enough to not fall. Press downward and get someone to "play" the string. Change the angle without changing the pitch... you won't have to pull harder, and in fact you CAN'T pull harder because then you'll change the pitch. Greg

I think I added more information while you were typing your reply. At any rate, a 6-in-line guitar is a much quicker way of testing than building a prototype neck, for sure. Greg

The length of "dead string" will have an effect on fretted intonation. Seems self-evident. This whole "being given a task to do the work" is for the birds, though. I agree that some things are better learned by practice, but there are also such things as different learning styles. Doing your project will only be an effective teaching method for about 20% of the population. Some of the rest are fine with: With a longer amount of "dead string," the increased tension of fretting is distributed through more 'material', i.e., string. Therefore when fretting, you won't pull quite as sharp, resulting in better intonation. Put on a locking nut and all bets are off. Greg

You'll still get a signal if the bridge isn't grounded. However, the entire "circuit" has to be completed. If you're not grounded properly in general (ie. connected to the wrong lug of an output jack) it won't work. I had a similar problem both times I re-wired my guitars, and all it took was one ground of a pickup on making it to "output ground" (for lack of a technical term). One little connection wasn't properly connected and the whole thing fell apart. Greg

Sorry, no. This is pure fiction. I will prove it mathematically using the assumption of no friction across the nut/saddle....but right now I have to head out and run some errands. I should have it up in a few hours. Think of it this way (you can actually try this with twine): say you have to pull the string to 20 lbs tension over 25 inches to tune to E, and you are pulling across your chest with both hands. Now stretch the string across the backs of 2 chair backs (nut & saddle) that are 25" apart and break them over by 15 degrees. You'll have to exert more than 20 lbs of tension between your hands in order to get 20 lbs of tension between the chairs.......this is because now some of your pulling force is being partitioned into a downward force on the chair backs, it is no longer all going to pull on the string. The greater the break angle, the more force you'll need to get 20 lbs. *boogidy boogidy* With the SAME distance between the "nut" (or surrogate nut in your example) and "bridge" (ie. we're not talking about different scale length), and the same string guage, you will ALWAYS have the same string tension in order to get the same pitch. PERIOD. It's physics. After the nut and after the bridge, anything at all can happen. You can have an extra mile of string. You can break it at 5 degrees or 90 degrees. But the string tension will be the same. You first say, "proving...using the assumption of no friction", but then your example demonstrates ONLY the effect of friction. With zero friction, the string tension must be the same no matter the angle. I had a thread about 2 years ago in which I explained it all with a very long example... wonder if I could still track it down... but I was referring in the example to the length of the string rather than the angle, so not an identical argument, but the basic premise is the same-- on the same scale, with the same guage of string, the tension is identical no matter what happens before and after the nut and bridge. Greg

That's way off the mark. I like Tracktion because of its: a ) unique system of bussing b ) modular routing possibilities with "Racks" (a little space where you can connect your plug-ins to one another and to the inputs and outputs in any way you like) c ) Intuitive workflow d ) Intuitive workflow I don't use any of the above on a regular basis, though I've tried Amplitube LE and I use SampleTank LE (by the way, the one with Tracktion is SE, not LE, which is a big difference) for a drum library. RMIV is exactly as realistic as the way you program it. The difference between RMIV and something like Stylus is that Stylus is loop-based. A lot easier to get quick realistic-sounding results with Stylus, for sure, and it's a wonderful $400 tool (Yikes!), but that doesn't make the above information correct. RMIV will load multi-sampled drumkits and provides a decent bunch of MIDI loops to go with them. I feel that the results are realistic indeed, right out of the box (especially if you choose an acoustic kit instead of an electronic one, but that should go without saying), and even moreso when you realize that it's just a tool and not to be blamed when an end-user doesn't want to put the craftsmanship into the drum line. As for Cheese Machine... it's a solina string ensemble emulator. Which are cheesy sounding. Hence the tongue-in-cheek name. It's considered a classic for what it does, but it's... well... cheesy. Guitar Rig 2... $300. Amplitube 2... $400-700 Atmosphere, Stylus, Trilogy. All $300, for a total of $900. You're looking at anywhere from $300-$1600 extra. Of course they sound better than what's bundled. But you're missing the big draws of Tracktion's plug-in suite which is the Mackie Dynamics bundle. These are programmed by a company called Acuma who were basically bought out by Mackie but retained-- their skills then added to the Tracktion coding team as dedicated plug-in builders. The Acuma plug-ins sold for $300 each though they were sold to a niche market (Mackie was making hardware that ran the plug-ins, so they were proprietary rather than VST). You get: - Final Mix, which is comparable to Izotope Ozone, T-Racks, or Waves products - 6 different compressors (really, 3, but with mono and stereo versions) with high quality and tolerances, beating even Waves for ability to compress without distorted artifacts - A very nice EQ - Spatial effects - A filterbank - de-esser These are the REAL draw in terms of plug-ins, and yet you overlook them. ---- For the $150 of Tracktion, which includes all of the above (and since he's not pretending to be a "pro" he's not likely to get caught up in the hype of having all the "pro's" gear anyhow) you're getting a hell of a deal. Vs. $1,000+ that you're suggesting. ---- PS, Reason is a glorified drum machine for kiddies who want to make their own IDM or DnB.

PSP caught on pretty well over here, so I'm not sure it's a "mistake" if you're into games.

http://www.zacharyguitars.com/Products_Prices.htm Seems hes hidden quotes all over his site for us to find! I'm not sure whether hes doing this for a laugh or not; just to see how we respond Weird. With the pronoun "his," the quote could very easily be misunderstood. Greg

I just got my roller bridge like the second link from the original post (for posterity, since the e-bay link won't be up forever, it's a Wilkinson with locking studs like the kind that Guitarfetish also carries). The build quality is good, the rollers are smooth, and I don't anticipate having any troubles with it. The post "locks" work well enough for what they are. The way the saddles sit on the bridge, you have to tighten them DOWN to the bridge. If you don't, there's the risk that they'll slide. But, I don't anticipate it being an issue since it takes some serious force to make them slide when the screw is finger-tight, never mind if you crank on'er. In other words, I think that Wilkinson will do fine.

Robert, The primary area of interest was the upper "bout" or whatever you want to call it in this kind of design. On the Klein, it connects at a higher fret than for Chris's. If I'm not mistaken, the armrest area is a bit larger. It's also chambered for weight (dunno about the Klein). Non-ergonomically speaking, it features nice electronics, too-- Bennedetto pickups, though when I first looked, I thought they were Bartolinis. I bet Chris would be happy to provide any information to you directly. There's a contact link on his website: http://www.forshage.com/ We didn't have time to discuss TOOOoooo many of the specifics, but the impression he left me with is that the main thing "borrowed" from the Klein guitar (other than the obvious overal similarity in shape) is the leg rest area, which is nearly identical I believe. As for pickup position, I feel that you're overthinking it; however, there are enough people who feel that 22 vs 24 frets is a big issue that it's not as clear-cut as one man (me) believing it's not a huge deal. I'm also of the opinion that upper fret access and even upper frets in general are highly overrated. I almost never go above the 17th fret to begin with, feeling that a guitar's strength and tone are better captured by the middle frets. So, I'm pretty biased when it comes to these sorts of things. The short answer: stay with 24 frets if it's going to ruin your whole plan to do otherwise, else go with 22 frets because the pickup position is probably at least a LITTLE more valuable than 2 measly frets (ie. 1 full tone... not much...). Greg

I agree that the UX2 is super-cool especially for the price. I have one, and even got the "Power Pack" which gives it all the remaining PodXT models (amps, cabs, AND effects). However, I think what he really wants is the sequencer part, and the Ableton Live Lite that comes with the TonePort is in a word "horrible." So, Tracktion 2 + TonePort UX2 = an unbeatable combination, IMO. Greg

Not everyone on this board WANTS to do it full time or for profit. Besides that, the fact that he's making a business out of it, or that he's getting any sort of publicity at all (I agree-- it's probably still good publicity!) has nothing to do whatsoever with any critiques on his voodoo. Such lines of debate are a red herring. Greg

For the mac, another viable option is Tracktion 2. I love this software, and I really don't think you can beat its ease of use and yet powerful features, at any price.

I LOVE Gwar. Bet that's a surprise to some folks. I can still sing most of "Hell-O" and "Scumdogs of the Universe" by heart.

Veillette guitars remind me of Myka guitars.

CA stands for something scientific-sounding, which in turn is the common name for products like Krazy Glue. Greg

Auction ended. I suspect he might have had success at $75 and after scrubbing that sucker a bit cleaner. Nobody expects perfection with well-used equipment, but it could stand a makeover.

I haven't done it myself, but I think using the ferrules in place of the plate is the best advice. It's not at all worth it to you to try to glue it.

<looking at his own previous post> Joint? Join? I can never remember which to use. Cool. I guess time will tell. Glad to hear it wasn't a total disaster, though-- maybe if I don't let mine fall or drop it, it'll hold up.

No worries. For all I know, it COULD be your particular pickup, but humbuckers in general don't exhibit high-E sustain loss. Humbuckers generally sound a tad darker overall, but that shouln't translate into sustain issues.

Doesn't EMG have some sort of molex (or similar) connection option, making installation actually easier?

Amateur opinion, and not to be considered much until the experts weigh in, but I think the type of wood has to be a factor for endgrain-to-endgrain. Really dense woods like maple might turn out OK, but I really have concerns with the mahogany. I've done non-guitar stuff endgrain-to-endgrain, and it has never held up worth a crap. If it's only 4cm, I'd be tempted to modify the body rather than tack on another piece of wood. Curve it off and have a semi flat-looking butt end... in my mind's eye, it could actually be quite good-looking. Greg

Fair enough. Did you scarf at the headstock or in the neck? If at the headstock, did you use a headplate? I ask because my neck (scarfed in the neck) hasn't been stress-tested yet, so perhaps my joint isn't as solid as I'm currently thinking. Greg

In the absence of a router, a flat piece of wood and some sandpaper will still let you do a scarf joint. Gotz to think outside the box. The topic was started to discuss the guy's techniques, and their legitimacy. It's perfectly on-topic to disagree with his methodology, approach, or "logic," and the only really "off-topic" discussion in the thread was regarding getting on the idiot page, which is nonetheless everyone's prerogative to participate in. I've never been at a forum where absolutely every post stayed perfectly on-topic, and communication is never that linear. And although I was beat to it, the moment I read your post, Perry, I spotted the faulty logic in it. I can understand that you find it distasteful to gang up on someone or whatever, but at the end of the day it's still just your personal perspective. My lack of prolific guitar production does not disqualify me from discussing techniques, aesthetics, or business approach. It's a strange politically-correct world when people who bring their own problems on themselves (Ed with his "rants" page, this guy with his "idiots" [his choice of name, not anybody else's] page) are being defended for merely the fact that they've been "ganged up" on. I don't agree with mob mentality in general, but I didn't see that here-- it's just that most of us are intelligent enough to see through his crap and into his character. It's not a coincidence that very few people see fit to say, "I dunno, I really respect him or his work." I have absolutely no sympathy for this Zachary person, regardless of the perspective that he's been "picked on.", having browsed his website and read some of the words straight from his own mouth. He disemminates false information, makes exaggerated claims supported by anecdotal evidence only (a fact of which he seems proud), and makes it HIS business to publicly post words that criticize him and then try to mock the person who had lodged the complaint. His option. And if he chooses it, no sympathy. It shows that he's willing to put on the gloves all by himself. If I spot a victim in all of this, it's anyone who spent that much money on one of his guitars. And I certainly don't need to apologize for having that opinion. Re-reading my post before pressing "submit," I realize the language seems argumentative and pissed off, so I can only assure you that it's written very calmly and without any personal feelings, as a counter-perspective for people who might feel castigated. I'm not really all that fussed either way, but I don't see anyone having done anything particularly terrible. Greg