Not another one...! (guitar)

[TapperMike]

I know,  when I was young I wanted a guitar like crazy.  Couldn't afford it and my Dad didn't want one in the house (let alone popular music)  It's was different over here then it was there.  Sure there always was a rebellious nature to have a guitar but over here we had a long long history of guitars in a positive role culturally. 

[john]

Rudi, 

 

Stop fretting.  You can relax. There is a mathematical formula you should use:

 

If Y = Ideal number of guitars

and X = Current number of guitars

 

Then:

 

Y = X + 1

 

There now. All better  You can make your purchase guilt free.

[Rudi]

I was never much good at maths.

 

An X is 10 right?

 

I've been a bit concerned that Thomann havent followed up with a returns label for the Flaxwood. I had sent them a couple of e-mails over the last few day that they didnt answer (Yesterday was a German Bank hol).

 

However, I discovered a pdf label + packing instructions in an attachment to a prior phone message. That's the problem, using 2 computers and a phone to communicate & having to wonder where the answers are going.

 

So I can send the guitar back on Friday (off shift for 5 days starting Friday). Not sure if all Post Offices can take it though?

 

I had another look at it last night (the 1st time since it arrived). The neck edges are not rolled, but I suspect it isnt a true neck radius, maybe more of an ellipse? The build quality is actually very good. If I had kept it I would have taken out some of the neck relief by now.

 

 

[TapperMike]

It never hurts to have another guitar around the house. Until you hit your head on the ceiling because there are too many guitar cases under your bed.

 

 

[Rudi]

Interesting to consider the house/rooms/storage part of it. Because it is important. As it is now, I can fetch any guitar I have quite easily. I dont have to drag out the vacuum cleaner, hedgetrimmers and mop from out of a closet to reach a guitar. But I'm living on my own in a 3 bedroomed house with plenty of free space around me. I only really live in a lounge-dining room & the middle sized bedroom.

 

The small bedroom in my studio. The large bedroom is full of tools and wardrobes. The large sitting room is has got the bulk of my guitars in it. I have to clear them out if I want to use the room for visitors. If I get any more, I'll have to begin stowing some away, and if that happens I probably wont use them. That is the cut off point! If I cant easily access an instrument it might as well be gone. If I lived in a bigger property, I might well feel different about having some more instruments around.

 

 

[Rudi]

ok, the Flaxwood is gone. I repackaged it this morning and took it to Waterlooville Post Office. All I had to do was attach the returns sticker (I printed from a supplied pdf) from Thomann and hand over the postal docket to the counter clerk.

 

I feel more at ease now. I have 5 days off before resuming work. Time to work on my recording, house, garden, etc.

[TapperMike]

Way back when I had a motel room sized apartment.  It was very narrow I had all four walls lined with guitars and stacked amps on top of amps.  I had just bought a Carvin Amp with a 4x12 cabinet and a 200 watt head.  The deal was too good to pass up at a local pawn shop.   Well I was trying it out and I didn't think it was up that loud.  Neighbors called the cops.  When the police arrived the Sheriff's deputy looked through the door and saw my lineup.   Fortunately I had receipts for everything well organized.  He spent about an hour going through the equipment and matching it up with the receipts.  Finally all he said was keep it down.  After that I found a storage place which offered rehearsal room @ $100 a month.  I choose to keep most of the amps there.  It was a half hour drive and limited my time to explore my amps (plural ) capabilities.  I kept a practice pignose amp at the apt.

 

Thank goodness for current music industry technologies. (amp sims etc)

 

I do have to admit whenever I see someone's collection on the web like Scott Grove or Gregor Hilden who started off as a professional musician collector and now sells guitars as well https://www.youtube.com/user/GregsGuitars/featured and a few others.

 

For a time I didn't play as much guitar in general when I first got the linnstrument.  It was worse when I got a ztar.  I played the ztar for the first 6 months without looking at a guitar.  Having the chance to play guitar in front of other people again and acquiring the variax changed all that.  I still rotate through my other guitars but the majority of my playing time is on the variax.  It's just too much fun.

[Rudi]

Variax makes a lot of sense, especially for recording. Apart from the versatility, a silent signal can be so important.

 

It is a shame that you cant easily transplant the variax innards. Not only to ad it to an existing guitar but also to replace the variax circuit when its replaced by a newer version.

 

On the subject of replacements, its amazing how many guitars have such a short manufacturing life. I had a Musicman Sillouette on my shortlist, but it seems out of production now.

 

[TapperMike]

Funny thing about transplants.   Parker made one (adrian belew) it took years to make a reality and costed a small fortune.  Line 6 refused to sell the parts so Parker had to buy complete guitars, (700 series) Gut them and then transplant the guts to the parker.  Because the Belew model took so long for development many a wealthy parker guitar owner went out and had a transplant done.

 

Before JTV several luthiers/ guitar techs and hobbyist's would do transplants.  With Luthiers it would cost a small fortune just for the labor.  I know a guy who makes 5K just for a paint job.  Until I win the lottery I'll stay happy with my Yamaha Standard as it is.

 

Re  Sillouette

There is something magical about the EB/MM necks.  Every time I've played a Musicman neck I've been awestruck by it   I have no problems buying used if/when I can play something prior to purchase.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Rudi]

Elsewhere (somewhere?) I reported trying out the Variax Standard & JTV 59. I prefer the Standard. The handling is better. I even like the sound of the pickups. It has the Fender sound I crave.

 

There is only one left at PMT now. It’s almost certainly the one I played (white). I will wait until after xmas now and If it’s gone then I’ll likely wander up to Andertons.

 

One nuisance is that it seems that my podHD400 won’t interface properly with it. It seems that only the podHD500 does that.

 

 

I will part-ex the Casino Coupe when buying. I might even see if they'll take the Dagger Bass too. 

 

 

The broad plan is to lose a guitar every time I gain one. This should focus my mind properly, as I really will have to like the new one much better than the one that getting the heave-ho.

[Richard Tracey]

Rudi - my friend has a shit load of guitars and is always on the lookout for his next one. He is adamant he will not buy a guitar without trying it first, as like the problem you had, not all guitars are made the same or feel the same. I have one electric guitar that is sitting gathering dust and has been for about 3 years as I keep putting off learning it. My friend uses it when he pops over to record music.

 

I don't know if you guys are the same, but he walks about everywhere with guitar picks in his back pocket - it cracks me up!!!

[TapperMike]

Since I've started working with workbench I've had less desire to buy other guitars......  And I play the other guitars I own less.

On the other hand I desire more Line6 stuff.  Like... Firehawk FX, or Helix or Pod 500 X Pro.  Though I think it will be a Firehawk FX reviewing price consideration.  Not that I expect to own one in the near future.

 

In the distant past I too would get rid of a guitar when acquiring a new one.  Back then I stopped because in a short while I'd miss the old guitar.   Many of my professional friends would also have seller remorse.

 

Recently I haven't had much time for playing.  As a result I've lost callouses.  It makes playing slow chordal playing a struggle to get clear tone from.  As a result, I'm reaching for my Parker with 09's while I build things back again physically.  The only drawback to the variax is you have to play with 10's and in standard tuning.  Otherwise it wreaks havoc with the piezo pups.  

 

Yeah I remember a Anderton's video on youtube regarding various POD HD models and how the 400 wouldn't accept the vdi port.  It would be nice to store your guitar modeling along with your amp/effects preset but It's not the end of the world if you can't.

 

 

[Rudi]

15 hours ago, Richard Tracey said:

 

I don't know if you guys are the same, but he walks about everywhere with guitar picks in his back pocket - it cracks me up!!!

 

Yes Richard. I used to keep a pick in a key fob. Now I just keep one in a purse. And yes I do need them sometimes. Once I went to see a jam session and was persuaded to play. Other times I might come across a music shop or whatever else, so it makes sense really.

[Rudi]

13 hours ago, TapperMike said:

In the distant past I too would get rid of a guitar when acquiring a new one.  Back then I stopped because in a short while I'd miss the old guitar.   Many of my professional friends would also have seller remorse.

 

So far, this has not happened to me. My old Strat (had that for 23 years), the Jackson Elite (had this for 2 years), the Yamaha acoustic (had that for 46 years) etc. It might do at some stage, who knows.

 

My working guitars change position as favourites all the time. So I would have to be pretty sure when losing one of those!

 

13 hours ago, TapperMike said:

 

 

Recently I haven't had much time for playing.  As a result I've lost callouses.  It makes playing slow chordal playing a struggle to get clear tone from.  As a result, I'm reaching for my Parker with 09's while I build things back again physically.  The only drawback to the variax is you have to play with 10's and in standard tuning.  Otherwise it wreaks havoc with the piezo pups.  

 

Yeah I remember a Anderton's video on youtube regarding various POD HD models and how the 400 wouldn't accept the vdi port.  It would be nice to store your guitar modeling along with your amp/effects preset but It's not the end of the world if you can't.

 

 

 

I wondered about upgrading to a Pod HD500, but I wont get rid of the 400. Its all set up nicely as part of my rig now. I would just keep it as a gigging tool. What ever other line 6 processor I might get would be for studio & home use.

 

I should be able to import the custom patches into a new sp. If not, I know how to reconstruct them.

 

Odd that you cant change string gauges on variax. Lucky for me I use 10-46 on electrics anyway. The only exception being the Hofner which has 11-65 flatwounds. I know what you mean about swapping gauges though. I used the Hofner yesterday evening for a couple of hours. When I picked up the LP afterwards I was forcing the strings hard down onto the fingerboard for 10 minutes & losing intonation because of it.

 

[TapperMike]

Well I "rediscovered" something I'd already known about the firehawk.   External editing can only be done via android or iOS.  Not win and not any flavor of OSX.  While I do have an android phone it's smaller.  It would be cheaper for me to buy a chromebook to edit the thing then ipad.  It also would be easier as my android phone isn't very large.  My needs for a laptop/tablet have changed through the years after leaving support..... But that's a story for another day.

 

Yeah,  I've read countless things on issues with string gauge changing on older variax guitars.  Not much on trying it with recent ones.

I too would always play 10's on my solid bodies and 12's on my jazz boxes.  It was oddly my gigging days playing the blues and advice from a friend that I try going to a lighter gauge.   That was the tipping point for me when I could finally do some serious country bends all night long.  Which even though I don't consider myself a country player converted me to playing with lighter gauges thereafter (it also helped to speed up my chops)

 

 

Regarding performing with various guitars......  I'll never perform live with an acoustic ever again.  Not only have I had issue after issue with acoustics through the years.  But I've had not one but two "Belushi" moments playing acoustics live.

 

My 30+ year old strat would need work before it saw the stage.  The 9th fret is all out of whack.  What's more the finish looks horrible.  For the price of a refinishing job I could get two or even three new american made Strats.  Actually I could prolly get a 920D custom shop replica of my Strat (as fender no longer makes em that way) for less then I paid for the original.  

 

As for carrying around picks it's just natural for me. If I'm playing with a pick, when I'm done it goes into my pocket and when I change pants the pick, coins, keys come out of one pair and into another.

 

 

[TapperMike]

I had to come back to this thread to state one thing....

 

Recently (last two days) I've gotten an itch to play melodic metal.  While I wasn't a fan of the magnetic single coils that come with the variax I'm enjoying them quite a bit now.  They have that punch and grit without the sweetness that I'm familiar with playing on Seymour Duncans or other pups.

 

 

 

[Rudi]

Well, as I said earlier. I only tried the std on regular pickups, and it had the Fender sound I was after. They sound great.

[starise]

I pulled mine out and was playing the other day again.It's been awhile so my fingers are sore trying to adjust. As TapperMike has mentioned I feel similar that the single coils give more definition to things like metal, probably why I'm gravitating more to the telecaster setup on the variax. I don't like the sound too deep and mushy. This easily happens when trying to get a thick metal or classic rock kind of tone. That kind of tone might sit well with a lot of folks but not me.

 

Maybe you can relate to this: That kind of music is better played with less strings. The more minimal you can get and still get the chord or base sound the better IMHO. This is true no matter if you play a Variax into a line 6 product or into an amp with an old school guitar.

 

Variax pros- The models are spot on and modifiable in software.The only noise you hear is the programmed noise of the amp models. The ability to use both variax digital AND standard outputs at the same time ( with line 6 variax)...watch this...it gets tricky though unless you were born with a computer for a twin. On stage when the heat is on to perform, who really wants to be fuddling with a bunch of wires? So I usually keep it simple to just the Variax connection when playing it out. I keep presets close and easy to reach.

 

Cons- Factory tones loaded into the HD series floor units only offered me a few patches I really liked. There are other patches online you can get, but I don't have the time to go through 500 patches. I might try a few of those that look tasty. Not a huge leap from the HD500 to the HD500X. My favorite so far is the tweed setting..has just the right amount of crunch for my music and has a nice adjustment range. Still less expensive and more adaptable than buying a tweed amp. A half dozen nice patches made it worth the money for me. I might tweak more and I might use one or two of those Martian sci fi sounds on a later recording.

 

Best results are obtained using line inputs into a quality stereo setup...even on stage. A single mono amp is probably limiting yourself though it can work like that.

Edited January 3, 2017 by starise

[TapperMike]

There is much contention over the 1.+ and the 2.+ variax tones.   Some feel the 1.X is more faithful to the original instrument models... Not me.

 

As far as working with the workbench software to modify the guitars.... I love it.  I've built more then a few "custom" guitar tones from it.  I'm not the only one... http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=138.0

 

I just wish I had a line6 effects  processor to complete things.  I'm saving my pennies for a firehawk FX.  I figure by the time I can afford one the prices will drop on the used market.  Firehawk is known for it's ease of use over pod floor/rack and helix as well as having "classic tones" in the presets so famous sounds are easy to just find.   With regards to finding presets Line6 has a vast library of user created custom tones  for most models - http://line6.com/customtone/  Oddly Firehawk is not listed among the devices.   

 

That being said, If you don't have the ear for building custom tones line 6 also has... Tone templates

http://line6.com/tone-templates/

Granted the values aren't expressed so you would need to spend some time with that but it's a foot in the door.

 

Another source I've found is.....  GP5 and GPX (Guitar Pro) files.  They have RSE virtual guitars, effects and amps.  Depending on the arrangers skills you can just open up a guitar pro song and then select the Guitar and Effect icons and figure out the effects and settings of various songs.

 

Before turning over a new leaf and heading away from my fingerstyle jazz I looked around at my collection and said.... My tone catalog is complete for jazz.  I need not more then what I have.  But part of me wanted to move away from what I'm doing because I'm so very bored with it all.  Moving into a different style gives me something to challenge myself with.

 

 

[starise]

Thanks for posting the links. I have been there and downloaded a few of the tones. I just need more time to do it and honestly, I doubt I'll find the time. If the search for a good tone is anything like looking over thousands of keyboards sounds, it could take weeks. Probably more complicated because not only am I comparing the tones, I'm also changing guitar models to compare how that tone sounds with each model...very time consuming unless a person gets lucky and finds what they want right away.

 

Fortunately I found a few nice ones on my older HD500 that seem to work for what I was going for, so maybe I'll just be ok with what I have for now. I want to get to those links more often.

 

The Firehawk looks like a nice setup. A combination of HD tones with wireless capability and connectedness to iOS and android devices. 

38 minutes ago, TapperMike said:

Before turning over a new leaf and heading away from my fingerstyle jazz I looked around at my collection and said.... My tone catalog is complete for jazz.  I need not more then what I have.  But part of me wanted to move away from what I'm doing because I'm so very bored with it all.  Moving into a different style gives me something to challenge myself with.

 

Best of luck in moving towards new directions. I think we all tend to feel like were recycling things or doing the same things...at least I do. Alternate tunings really helped me here, especially D tunings since I tend to hum in D. The scale resonates with me somehow.