GregP

Lots of world-class tone can be had without a tube, dude. Tube voodoo is like wood voodoo... if the neo-mystic powers of a tube make you feel better, that's all well and good; however, you can get great tone without one and sucky tone WITH one. The J-Station is considered one of the most natural-sounding of the digital processors, and something like the Tech21 SansAmp is solid-state and yet full of awesome character. Regarding the thread topic, though-- pedal boards scare me. If you think an amp modeler robs a signal chain of tone, imagine running your signal through 10 pedals? Your SNR will be just horrible. That said, let me address a few of your specific concerns: regarding compressor placement, you should almost always put your compressor right at the beginning of the chain. Although this isn't strictly accurate, think of it as a pedal that makes your quiet parts loud and your loud parts quieter. The dynamics get all squished, which is sometimes a good thing. Why at the beginning, then? After your signal has gone through distortion pedals and the like, it will already be naturally compressed. Your compressor isn't doing anything particularly useful if you put it at the end. Furthermore, effects like phasers, flangers, and tremolo will contribute to nasty-sounding artifacts in the signal chain as the compressor tries to level their signals out. Even worse, any residual hiss (and with stompboxes, believe me there will be hiss) will be accentuated and amplified by a compressor if you put it after a bunch of effects. On the other hand, if you put it first, it's as though only your 'clean' playing is affected. Only the purest form of the signal is being 'levelled out', at which point in time the other effects can begin to work their magic on it. Now, I say "almost always" because happy accidents happen all the time, and compressing a flanger could produce an unexpected effect that ends up being exactly what you want! I personally WOULD consider an EQ pedal. There's far more magic in knowing how to change EQ settings than there is in buying multiple distortion pedals. OK, so if you're happy with the one tone you get from your amp, you don't need one. But if you want to alternate between 2 tones, the EQ pedal is your friend. Even if you set all the faders at below unity, you get a reduction in signal which might 'clean up' your amp. Or, if you set a mid boost, it might drive your amp in a way that it wouldn't otherwise drive it. It's probably the most versatile and underrated pedal out there, but it's a real secret weapon that'll change your approach to the way your amp and guitar interact. Greg

Orrsum!

Most? I highly doubt that. The most common slide is the Jim Dunlop chromed steel slide. Traditionally, slides are glass or brass, but I would think that right now the majority are steel. Besides that, I said, "IF it's a stainless steel slide". I understand magnetism. Greg

Another question is: how much additional money will it cost to finish the project? It may very well end up the same as the BC Rich. Greg

Word. I know I personally wouldn't have the resources to build one, either, but I'm sure that there are other people on here who would love to get plans for an inexpensive CNC. Greg

The Weddington was my lust-after guitar for years and years. I had it as a saved search on eBay, but suitable models never seemed to come up for the right price. Hope the project takes shape for you; I'd love to see one being built! Greg

Absolutely. Not a person on this forum would mind being proven wrong here. I'm sure lots of people would see ~$700 as a small investment for a 3D medium-duty CNC capable of doing guitar bodies and necks. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong at all. Greg

We had a 'DIY CNC' thread very recently, and the conclusion seemed to be that for that kind of money, you could make a 2D (not 3D) CNC machine for light-duty work such as inlay. However, the consensus was that you don't have a shred of hope of building a body-routing grade CNC machine for remotely close to that price. Greg

I'm surprised if it's Velcro. I would have thought Vai and his techs would have come up with a clip. There are literally thousands of different kinds of clips you could easily retrofit to a headstock; however, I guess it WOULD stick out a lot compared to a simple velcro strip. Seems to me that if it's a stainless steel slide being used, the best option would be a magnet. Greg

Unbelievable. Well, actually-- believable, but ludicrous! Lexmark are the most expensive printers I've personally come across, because you can't even BUY 3rd party ink for it, like you can with the Epson. Cordless drills are handy as heck. Good snag on the new one, Southpa! Greg

Yes, by all means read a bunch. BUT, don't be afraid to get dirty, too. Each and every time I've made any sort of significant progress (including making mistakes to learn from!) has been when I've put down the book and just gave'er. Greg

Awesome! Thanks for sharing the link. Greg

Just remember that you cannot solder it, so you will need to make your conductive contact with much care. Greg

I'm sure there are millions of different-sized clips that you could use for a slide on your headstock. A bit of creativity will sort you out. Retrofit one of the mic stand ones if that's what you can get your hands on. Greg

Well, that's what conductive paint is, right? So why not? Anyway, it certainly can't hurt to try--I'd use a grinder (and a respirator), you'd have enough copper dust in a few minutes. How would you test that, though? ← Voltimeter or whatever it's actually called. I'm skeptical, but you're right that it IS what conductive paint is, at its basic level. Remember, though, that for something to be conductive there must be unbroken or nearly-unbroken contact between the conductive matter (I say nearly because electrons can jump in the right circumstances, but I don't think that it's going to be the case here). So, the suspension has to be pretty dense. Some copper particles floating around in paint won't cut it unless the quantity is substantial. Although-- now that I'm thinking about it... it's not like you'd be preparing a gallon of the stuff. Wouldn't even be a pint, so maybe it WOULD only take a few minutes to get enough particles. Someone was mentioning another alternative, though-- some sort of paint that was readily available at Home Depot / Lowe's or places like that. Can't remember what it was. Greg

If by "it doesn't work" you mean "it doesn't work if you try to do it the same way you'd do copper tape" then I agree. Read my post again, though. The same rules would apply for aluminum tape, I'd imagine. Only thing that I'm skeptical about is that I didn't really like how unwieldly the actual aluminum tape is. I'd rather use foil and the craft spray adhesive. Greg

Sheesh, what a hassle. Ah well, I've registered now so I might as well wait for "Approval". Greg

Aluminum foil will help, for sure. The main reason people use adhesive copper foil is: 1. As a self-adhesive product, it's less of a mess to work with 2. You can solder directly TO it. You cannot solder to Aluminum foil 3. It's slightly thicker and sturdier to work with 4. It's more conductive (I think) than Aluminum, and therefore works a bit better But YES, you CAN use aluminum if that's what you have access to. You'll need to find a way to affix your wires to the foil, though-- a simple screw should do the trick, but that's not the only way to do it. When I shielded a guitar using Aluminum foil. I found that spray adhesive was the only way to even consider using it. Any sort of brush-on or 'spread'-on adhesive would have been too much hassle. Sorry if any of my words are too complex-- it seems as though perhaps you are not a native English speaker. Greg

Glad to be of service!

Excellent work! Welcome to the Italians. No parle italiano, pero hablo mucho espanyol et je parle francais aussi! Easy enough to spot the word, "mierda". Greg

Making a case should be a snap! Here's what I threw together for my microphones, in about a day, using a combination of plywood (tops and bottoms) and regular old pine: Depending on budget, you could use nice woods and finish, and fewer "plain old wood screws". I think it turned out well for a few hours' work! I have to admit, it's pretty heavy, though. A 'hardshell' plastic case would certainly be much much lighter Greg

Just had a quick look-- you're probably using the USB connector, which means that the DSP engine in the unit is probably capable of sending only the clean signal on one channel, and the dirty signal on the other. You're monitoring the dirty signal but recording the clean channel somehow. I'd have to know which connectors go where on your particular setup before I could give you further detailed advice; however, you will also need to read the manual of your unit to find out how to switch between clean and dirty signal on each channel. FWIW, it's often desirable to do what you're doing, so remember it. You can re-amp a clean signal (change the distortion and effects if later you decide you want to) but you can't re-amp a dirty signal. The best thing you can do for yourself is record BOTH at the same time, which should be possible since the unit can stream up to 4 signals to the computer. Then, you simply mute the clean one in Pro Tracks until you decide you want to use it. Or, if you're handy with computers you can delete the clean track from your 'screen' but keep it in the project folder so that you can use it later if you need to. The clean signal can also come in handy for a bazillion other things-- if your part is lacking a certain clarity or punch, blend a bit of the clean back into it. This is how Voodoo Labs' acclaimed "Sparkle Drive" pedal works, by blending clean and dirty signal. Or, even if you're happy with the dirty track, you re-amp the clean one for a SECOND dirty track with slightly different EQ, distortion, etc... which can really thicken up a guitar part especially for heavily-distorted genres. Greg

It's going to be a setting on your GNX4 somewhere. I'm completely unfamiliar with the unit, but any number of things could be happening. First step: How is the unit connected to the computer? USB cable? Patch cord? How is the computer connected to the speakers? Is the unit connected to its own speakers/headphones and the soundcard is connected to a different set of speakers? Greg

It's truly an awesome guitar. Greg

Lots of great guitars, but I had to go with Perry's.