Your next guitar?

[Hink]

damn ...guitar parts depot already shipped my order...just got the email...once again I'll post the link because they have parts for floyd rose systems, they sell duncans, emg, earvana, qparts, schaller, switchcraft and a whole lot more. Great service

http://www.guitarpartsdepot.com/

[susiwong]

Suzi...

Oops... brain fart... showing my age again with the Thunderbird remark.

I remember going to see JW at the Fillmore East way back in the day... couldn't wait to see him play in the BLACK LIGHT... he was all purple (quite cool looking). When the opening act first came on... I was totally not interested in them except someone said that they had two drummers and thought that it might be interesting. Turned out to be the night The Allman Bros recorded Live at the Fillmore... they had me rockin' but JW blew them away (at least for me).

But it was a fun night indeed.

Jim

What a line up !
Learned some of Betts' parts off that record lately - wonderful, musical playing by everybody there.
And Winter ... in a class of his own, too.

My concert visits only started about 5 years later ...

Cheers,
susiwong

[susiwong]

Hi Hink,
looks like a nice little project for sure !
I'd prefer locking tuners to a lock behind the nut personally, but that's just me.
The rest seems to make good sense ...
Oh, and wouldn't that type of guitar be the perfect excuse for a custom, extremely tasteless, era-correct paint job ?
Think of all colours associated with neon, slime, glitter and so on and combine them freely ... just noticed I'd love a guitar like that, and the maple neck would suit perfectly.
Keep us informed how it turns out !
Cheers,
susiwong

[Mauvehead]

My next one will be a Vibrance Guitar. Craig Collins is a friend of mine who has taken it upon himself to start up his own hand-made guitar line. His first two prototypes can be seen here:



http://www.vibranceguitars.com/

He's getting ready to start his first production run of six instruments, one of which will be mine. He's starting on the necks this week and next. I'm swinging for a walnut double-cut this time around and plan on commissioning him for a (wenge top?) single-cut in a few months, and then probably a few more varieties as time goes on. But these two prototypes are incredible tonally as well as playability-wise. He's not going through any dealerships or distributors, so it's all going to be in small runs. He's aiming for the $2500-$3000 range. Here's some of the basic design details: Five-piece laminate neck-through with 2-way truss and dual carbon fiber rods, choice of wood species/pups/hardware, hand-carved front and back and neck profile, chambered body (for weight relief and more added resonance), 12" radius fingerboard, zero fret design (for easier strings bends at the lowest frets), all screws have machined inserts, one-of-a-kind wooden control plates that are carved with the the back, custom wooden inlays on fretboard (designs can be worked out with him), etc..

For the record, I am not employed by Craig, nor do I have any special endorsement with him. But he is a friend and I have been fortunate enough to have Craig ask for my ideas and input throughout the early design stages. Also, he harvests the bulk of his own wood (except for foreign exotics), has his own saw mill and drying kiln, and does all of the work himself. He's a one-man operation who decided to do something that he enjoys after 30 years of machinist work for a local machine shop. His first two protos are phenomenal and have to be played and heard to really 'get it'. These are boutique all the way and honestly he is under-priced for the product he is making. This is the kind of thing that will turn heads and drop jaws. Can't wait until I get my first....

Todd[/url]

[susiwong]

Mauvehead,
these look cool, a bit like old Alembics !
Make sure you really want that zero-fret though, ime they are notorious for tuning problems, especially when bending.
Simply due to the added friction.
An expertly cut bone- or Graphite saddle (slots like on a PRS) is my favourite by far.
Ymmv,
susiwong

[Hink]

Hi Hink,
looks like a nice little project for sure !
I'd prefer locking tuners to a lock behind the nut personally, but that's just me.
The rest seems to make good sense ...
Oh, and wouldn't that type of guitar be the perfect excuse for a custom, extremely tasteless, era-correct paint job ?
Think of all colours associated with neon, slime, glitter and so on and combine them freely ... just noticed I'd love a guitar like that, and the maple neck would suit perfectly.
Keep us informed how it turns out !
Cheers,
susiwong

I actually ordered one other part from ebay...a kahler lock for behind the strings...16.99,



there are actually several reasons why I prefer this method the main one being I can change the nut to a brass nut or graphite if I choose (or a hip shot zero friction). Plus I don't really feel like messing with shims, my first whammy was a kahler...I installed into a 72' black fender tele custom

Having seen my bari I'm sure you can get the connection

[Hink]

My next one will be a Vibrance Guitar. Craig Collins is a friend of mine who has taken it upon himself to start up his own hand-made guitar line. His first two prototypes can be seen here:



http://www.vibranceguitars.com/

He's getting ready to start his first production run of six instruments, one of which will be mine. He's starting on the necks this week and next. I'm swinging for a walnut double-cut this time around and plan on commissioning him for a (wenge top?) single-cut in a few months, and then probably a few more varieties as time goes on. But these two prototypes are incredible tonally as well as playability-wise. He's not going through any dealerships or distributors, so it's all going to be in small runs. He's aiming for the $2500-$3000 range. Here's some of the basic design details: Five-piece laminate neck-through with 2-way truss and dual carbon fiber rods, choice of wood species/pups/hardware, hand-carved front and back and neck profile, chambered body (for weight relief and more added resonance), 12" radius fingerboard, zero fret design (for easier strings bends at the lowest frets), all screws have machined inserts, one-of-a-kind wooden control plates that are carved with the the back, custom wooden inlays on fretboard (designs can be worked out with him), etc..

For the record, I am not employed by Craig, nor do I have any special endorsement with him. But he is a friend and I have been fortunate enough to have Craig ask for my ideas and input throughout the early design stages. Also, he harvests the bulk of his own wood (except for foreign exotics), has his own saw mill and drying kiln, and does all of the work himself. He's a one-man operation who decided to do something that he enjoys after 30 years of machinist work for a local machine shop. His first two protos are phenomenal and have to be played and heard to really 'get it'. These are boutique all the way and honestly he is under-priced for the product he is making. This is the kind of thing that will turn heads and drop jaws. Can't wait until I get my first....

Todd[/url]

quite a few similarities to my Daion (handmade Japanese guitars from late 70s early 80s) including the cavity covers which is not a negative thing





could I ask you to pass along a suggestion? He has an exquisite neck through as does the Daion, but I think the stop bar tail piece is a mistake. The thing that sets the Daion apart from other neck throughs like say a mockingbird is the fact that the strings are anchored to the same wood at both ends for all intents and purposes. A stop bar anchors to a part that is attached to two more parts that finally make contact with the same wood. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, strings through the body though contacting ferrels gives far more sustain from my perspective.

He might want to think about offering both options, they are indeed beautiful looking and I wish him the best of luck

[Mauvehead]

My next one will be a Vibrance Guitar. Craig Collins is a friend of mine who has taken it upon himself to start up his own hand-made guitar line. His first two prototypes can be seen here:



http://www.vibranceguitars.com/

He's getting ready to start his first production run of six instruments, one of which will be mine. He's starting on the necks this week and next. I'm swinging for a walnut double-cut this time around and plan on commissioning him for a (wenge top?) single-cut in a few months, and then probably a few more varieties as time goes on. But these two prototypes are incredible tonally as well as playability-wise. He's not going through any dealerships or distributors, so it's all going to be in small runs. He's aiming for the $2500-$3000 range. Here's some of the basic design details: Five-piece laminate neck-through with 2-way truss and dual carbon fiber rods, choice of wood species/pups/hardware, hand-carved front and back and neck profile, chambered body (for weight relief and more added resonance), 12" radius fingerboard, zero fret design (for easier strings bends at the lowest frets), all screws have machined inserts, one-of-a-kind wooden control plates that are carved with the the back, custom wooden inlays on fretboard (designs can be worked out with him), etc..

For the record, I am not employed by Craig, nor do I have any special endorsement with him. But he is a friend and I have been fortunate enough to have Craig ask for my ideas and input throughout the early design stages. Also, he harvests the bulk of his own wood (except for foreign exotics), has his own saw mill and drying kiln, and does all of the work himself. He's a one-man operation who decided to do something that he enjoys after 30 years of machinist work for a local machine shop. His first two protos are phenomenal and have to be played and heard to really 'get it'. These are boutique all the way and honestly he is under-priced for the product he is making. This is the kind of thing that will turn heads and drop jaws. Can't wait until I get my first....

Todd[/url]

quite a few similarities to my Daion (handmade Japanese guitars from late 70s early 80s) including the cavity covers which is not a negative thing





could I ask you to pass along a suggestion? He has an exquisite neck through as does the Daion, but I think the stop bar tail piece is a mistake. The thing that sets the Daion apart from other neck throughs like say a mockingbird is the fact that the strings are anchored to the same wood at both ends for all intents and purposes. A stop bar anchors to a part that is attached to two more parts that finally make contact with the same wood. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, strings through the body though contacting ferrels gives far more sustain from my perspective.

He might want to think about offering both options, they are indeed beautiful looking and I wish him the best of luck

The string through body is on the radar for him for sure. It has been discussed several times at length, as have a few other possibilities. Again, those two are just prototypes and a generalized basis for production models. As far as these two protos go, the sustain is unreal, in spite of the TonePros bridge set-up. But I am like you in the sense that I believe a string-through set-up would further enhance the sustain. It will likely be done for some of his builds. Also, Craig is all about options and he understands the whims and wants of guitar players, down to every little detail. Initially he plans on building these two single-cut/double-cut shapes just to get them going, but I'm sure he'll venture out in due time, so long as the design is of a certain quality structurally. (Also, I've discussed with Craig the possibility of sound holes of various shapes and sizes and at various locations....all as an option of course....at least for my single-cut. ) Both of these protos are hollow from the horns clear around to the hips. The top is not carved underneath (yet), but the back body wings are chambered out. As such, you can lightly tap on these guitars and the vibrations and sustain tickles your nether regions. Can you say 'Got wood?' Also, pups are a very very subjective thing for obvious reasons, and he'll put anything on there that someone asks for, but so far the most supreme tone has happened best with lower output pups that don't color the wood tonality too much. He's tried a few different models, and the winner for the double-cut ended up being a set of the newer DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF's (...can't remember what's loaded in the single-cut, but the single-cut's pups are more of a medium-output affair). Also, the walnut that has been used so far is just stellar tone-wise. These guitars have so much going for them before you even plug them in. Very balanced, clear, loads of sustain, sweet highs, no mud, very pleasing mids, easy-to-steer lows, etc.. Again, hard to describe how good they really sound and play.

I'll point Craig to this thread shortly so he can read the feedback and ideas for himself. Thanks for the input and suggestions!

Todd

[Mauvehead]

Oops...forgot to address this...Per the zero fret on the Vibrance Guitars, yes it does add a negligible amount of friction, but strings bends are very very nice down low on the 1st fret.

[soulata]

Btw, don't you just love that Geddy Lee ?
Wonderful bass, one of the best buys atm.
That Badass bridge makes all the difference, PUs are fine, too.

Ymmv,
susiwong

I like it a lot. Now there's that little detail of me learning to play it better

[susiwong]

Now there's that little detail of me learning to play it better

Who cares ?
It's the instrument that counts, as we all know.
Lol,
susiwong

[Tech21NYC]

Slightly OT:

I just got a Fender Jazz bass (Geddy Lee Japan-made signature series) and need some kind of a preamp/active DI for those gigs that don't ask for an amp (the whole band uses in-ear monitoring, so it's easy and practical to do some gigs without bass amp).

Would some kind of a Sansamp or EBS Microbass II do the job well?

k

I would suggest the sansamp

Thanks.

I could spring for RBI or RPM if they're really great but am lost as for what the difference between them is. ANd I'm so new to this that reading technical details doesn't help much...

k

p.s.: eh, ok, RBI seems bass specific...

The RBI has a built-in mid-scoop (below the frequency of the Midrange control), and the Presence puts an "edge" on the tube emulation and overdrive. This can be subtle, as in "note-articulation and definition", or pronounced, as in that trebly "click". If you need a more "modern" bass amp tone, like the "angry white-boy band", aggressive "grind" of a vintage Ampeg SVT, the RBI's the right choice.

The RPM starts out completely flat (no mid-scoop), and its Mid Shift allows you to select the center frequency of the Mid control, so there's more overall tone-shaping. It also has a slightly "mellower" overdrive (without the Presence control). So, if you need the warm, vintage, tube amp "growl" of say, an Ampeg B15 (heard on millions of pop and Motown hits), the RPM's the one..

[Hink]

thanx for the above ^^^^^

I originally came to update that guitar parts depot once again came through with flying colors. The duncan mick thompson blackout and backplate already arrived today. I did not pay for this fast of shipping but I ordered them on 9/28. (shipping was usps and $7.95) So once again I will post their link, allparts is great but if GPD has it they get my order every time (also ordered was 4 25k pots to keep on hand and shielding tape)

http://www.guitarpartsdepot.com/

Now I have to get my daughter to design a Scarface logo for the headstock and hopefully Ill put it together early next week

[Ian B]

How's about one of these? http://www.designyourguitar.co.uk/index.html
There's a thread at the CM guitar forum about them and the guy behind these guitars has just joined to try and answer some of the more obvious questions/concerns http://www.musicradar.com/forum/showthr ... 598&page=4

[Hink]

How's about one of these? http://www.designyourguitar.co.uk/index.html
There's a thread at the CM guitar forum about them and the guy behind these guitars has just joined to try and answer some of the more obvious questions/concerns http://www.musicradar.com/forum/showthr ... 598&page=4

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