davidmichael

They both opened right up for me Rudi. Got a little hillbilly thing goin on. Cool

In my opinion,its a shame what Gibson has become. My first guitar was a Gibson SG which wound up getting stolen. Then I got a bicentenial edition Firebird,which like an idiot I let go. Then I got a '72 Les paul Custom,which I still have,along with a '73 SG and a '73 L6-S,which are all excellent guitars. I have played many of the newer Gibsons and have been dissapointed pretty much every time. As far as Im concerned,in their day they were the instrument of choice,but now i think they are a mediocre guitar that you are paying a top notch price for. I have many other guitars that will blow them away that cost half the price. Just my opinion..

Very interesting !!!! I didnt think Id have a chance in hell of playing it until the end of the vid that showed the plexiglass neck shape. Without that Im sure iI would be all over the E strings as far as unwanted muting,as I do use the sides of the neck to lightly grip and keep position when changing positions on the neck. As far as do we really need a guitar like this?Probabbly not .But do we need a car with massive horsepower and handling to get from point A to B.Probabbly not but we all want one. Last but not least,speaking for myself anyways,I thought the sound samples sounded very good,so where does that leave us with all the discussion and debate over tonewoods? I still and allways will believe that as far as on an electric,99% of your tone comes from the components from the bridge to the nut,including strings,pickups,frets,electronics,and of course the overall set up. My two cents !!! One more thing that just occurred to me.I guess it would react somewhat like a scalloped neck,where if you press to hard,you would push your notes sharp. On the other hand I guess you could do a bend by just pressing down instead of pushing across the fret. LOL !!!

For me ,that would be a toss up between Stu Hamm or Dave LaRue. I know there are many,many more that are awesome,but either of those would fit into a lot of what I play.

Out of all the basses Ive played,I think the Peavy Cirrus was the most comfortable ,and sounded great. Although Im mainly a guitarist,I play enough bass to do my own bass tracks when recording. Ive also played a few Alembic's that were totally awesome,but Im nowhere close to justifying having one,as much as Id like to.

Thats awesome Rudi !!!!! Sounds like an awesome adventure and I sincerely wish you the best. Im sure youll do just fine. Just keep it in the groove. And most of all , ENJOY!!!!! David

Agreed. So much goin on and not missin a lick. Quite awesome.

mine gave me that message yesterday trying to log onto this site.i did a clean up ,rebooted and everything was fine.

Sounds a lot like Yngwie Malmsteen stuff. I love shred but a continious blur of notes can get monotonous, But in short bursts at the appropriate time,they can indeed be awesome.

Hey Rudi Glad that you found a distortion that you like. I'd never heard of the "Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor" but after doing a little reading about it and listening to some demo's on youtube,it does indeed seem to be a nice,quality pedal.{bye the way for some reason the link you posted wouldn't work for me} The only complaint I read was what you said about the volume differential between the two drive settings. ​I'm sure its probably occurred to you,but in case it hadn't,a volume pedal could help you overcome that issue.I'd much rather pedal the volume to my liking than have to take my hands off the guitar to make an amp adjustment. It was amusing to me that after getting your jazz guitar you've been talking about for months,you start talking distortion,but I'm sure if your anything like me you play a wide variety of different styles of music. As for myself,I got a TC Electronics Corona chorus pedal for Christmas I planned on kinda reviewing at some point of time,but figured I'd use it for a while and really get to know it before I reviewed it,but so far I'm loving it.The TonePrint app is really cool and once again I'm amazed for the fact that something actually works the way its described. Anyways,best of luck in finding all the tones you desire !!!!!

Hey Dog First ,you should understand that guitars like that come with "Vintage" style pickups,and arn't really considered to be a hot pickup. With pickups like that people would depend on high gain on their amps,or putting some kind of a effect pedal in front of the amp,which is what I'd do if you cant dial in enough crunch from your amps gain pushing the pre amp side into hard distortion. First off you'd come out a lot cheaper,and you could always hit the switch and be back to the original sound for playing mellower stuff if you ever decided to.Always nice to have options. I'm sure your local guitar store has your exact guitar,as its so new,and a display of effects you could try{preferably on an amp similar to yours}till you find one that suits your taste. If you are determined to purchase new pickups,be aware that your looking at roughly $200 plus roughly another $70 for the install. As far as recommending a certain pickup,their are so many out their,depending on what you want to pay,it's kinda hard to just say that's what you want. You can do research and many websites have sound bytes of pickups,but that doesn't necessarily mean that's what the'll sound like in your guitar or through your rig. You can also look up what other players you like use,but as before it might not sound the same. Personally I'd try a pedal first,You can find them all day long on C/L very cheap all day long. Best of luck and let us know how you come out. Just read what Tom said while I was typing my reply.He is !00% correct,but I still think a pedal would do the trick for you if you love everything else about the guitar.

I own an E Bow and it is a very fun product to use. It does sustain forever as it was designed to. I usually run it over the neck pickup with the tone rolled pretty much all the way down to get a synth like sound,which is were it works best in the regular position on the E bow switch[no matter where the tone is]. If you switch it to position 2,it works pretty much everywhere and is more of a harmonic sound. I just wish it was as easy to use as the videos I watched that encouraged me to buy it. It's a tricky little rascal to get used to,but just like everything else,practice,practice.... You can do awesome volume swells by moving closer or farther from the pickup.I also get some cool sounds combining it with delay. The only complaint I really have is that it doesn't work as well on the upper registers or on the first E string,due to the increased string tension in these positions.In these cases it still works but needs a little help to get it going,like a hammer on,or starting lower on the string and working your way up as the string is vibrating. I've managed to get pretty decent moving from string to string,maintaining a smooth sound.The part i cant seem to get down is playing arpeggios,but I'm still working on it. All in all,a very cool product. The intro to this song is what got me interested as Andy Timmons is one of my favorites.

Yes indeed.There are many things as far as players technique that will diminish or add to notes or chords being sustained. For instance:location of finger placement between frets.Too close up on the frets will let your finger RIDE the fret and kill the note. Also not pressing hard enough will kill a note in the same way as the string won't make solid contact on the fret.On the other hand pressing too hard can actually pull the intonation slightly sharp on a string,as will any unwanted bending to the side which is easy to do on light gauge strings. Their are a lot of people that don't think about the fact that it's not your finger on the fret board itself causing the note,but actually the space between the fret just above your finger and the bridge actually making the note. Also unwanted string muting which will occur if you don't as I call it "play over the top" of the strings to keep your fretting fingers from coming into contact with other strings.Same with unwanted palm muting.Great when you want it,terrible if you don't. Other ways of adding sustain can be anything from using vibrato on fetted notes to using movement of the guitar itself. As for other ways besides the actual players role,you can also improve sustain within your gear by adding gain to amp settings,using compressors,or using shear volume when appropriate. As said in my previous post, pick up height plays a critical role also:[to low=lack of volume and not enough string energy to maintain sustain.Too high=distorted notes and lack of sustain due to magnetic pull] A little adjusting and listening and you'll find the "Sweet Spot" I know most of this is common knowledge to seasoned players.Just trying to give some helpful insight to the not so experienced players out there. Also a larger mass tremelo block will supposedly add sustain,though I've never done this. Also bolt on v/s set neck v/s neck through is also very high on the debate block.Look how many people love their Strat's,Tele's,Ibby's ,etc..... Some of the best sounding players in the world use bolt on necks,and don't seem to have sustain issues. I was very surprised and somewhat disappointed that I didn't get blasted from my previous post on this issue,as there are so many people out there that are dead set on their opinions on these matters.I wasn't really trying to start a debate on the subject,but I have read so many articles about this that turn into exactly that. I am just really interested in hearing peoples thoughts and suggestions about this subject from actual players willing to share their wealth of knowledge. David

When I play,my hand never totally comes out of contact with the neck for a couple reasons. 1:To keep track of where my hand is on the neck,and if I'm playing well enough to remember where I'm at,move on to the next position without looking, 2:This is a big thing I try to show people that I try to teach new players;Always try to know where your going next,whether chording,running leads or doing arrpeggiated chord picking.You need to be ready to pounce,or already be moving a finger for the next note as your playing the present note,or preparing your available fingers for the next shape you are going to. If I do come to a point when I'm not playing for a second or two,I will take that opportunity to let my hand relax and loosen back up before my next run. Another thing I try to show people is to hold the neck somewhat relaxed.A death grip on the neck will make your hand tire extremely quickly,and seriously hinder your speed. As for neck finishes,I love natural wood,and do believe that it does increase ease of mobility around the neck,which equals speed[thats part of the reason I love my Ibanez guitars so much],although I have many other guitars that have finish on them,and yes if your hands get sweaty,it does cause more drag. I'm sure many people will disagree with me,but I'm gonna stick my neck out anyways,and mind that this is just my opinion. As far as sustain,tonewoods,fretboard material,etc having a huge impact on sound,i very much agree with this reasoning on an acoustic. As far as electrics i truely think that the only things that make a significant difference are the nut,the bridge,the setup of the neck [strings clearing all frets],obviously the strings themselves,and the pickups themselves and the height of the pickups not putting to much of a magnetic pull on the strings,causing loss of clarity and sustain. I must admit that maple fretboards seem to sound brighter ,but how can that be when the two points of contact are on the fret and the bridge.The only time I really notice a big difference is if I'm tapping.For some reason I get my best results tapping on rosewood necks[and for the life of me I can understand why]. As I said,thats just my opinion and would be more than glad for anyone or everyone to tell me why my reasoning is incorrect. This oughta get interesting !!!!!!!

Where exactly is it breaking [bridge/nut/tuner,etc] This could give you a clue as to what might be going on,like a sharp surface or something binding the string and keeping it from freely moving across a surface as it should. I used to break them alot due to extreme bending until I switched to Ernie Ball strings,and have had very good luck with them. Pretty much the only time I'll break one is if I get totally stupid with the whammy bar. Then again if its something that just started occurring,and you haven't changed anything on the guitar or the type of strings your using,you might have just gotten a bad batch of strings. Although most of my guitars have trem's,I have a few hardtails that I'll tune anywhere from standard down to A,and the only time I have this problem is if I was well overdue to change strings to start with [like a couple years!!!] Hope you get her figured out.

We call that a treble bleed circuit. I think pretty much every guitar I have that I'veopened up has one. Keeps it from getting too dark as the volumes rolled down. You can also change resistances depending on how you want the guitar to react .

If its any kind of smartphone it should be able to handle it. Pretty much all it uses is the mic you talk into , and if I remember correctly it wasn't a very large download. What phone do you have ?

Yes sir Rudi If you open the link from the beginning of this topic , it gives a very detailed description of what the app will do . From app description . "Includes a database of common tunings for Guitar, Violin/Fiddle, Mandolin, Ukulele, Banjo, Bouzouki and Pedal Steel Guitar, Standard Guitar, Drop D Guitar, Open D Guitar, Open G Guitar, Open A Guitar, Lute Guitar, Irish" ETC......... Some of the features Im stiil trying to figure out , but I just started messin with it the day I started this topic . Open it up and check it out !!!!!

I went ahead and downloaded the Guitar Tuna just out of curiosity. I must admit that as far as the tuner itself , I prefer the PitchLab , just because of the tuner with the bar seems to suite my taste a little better , and its seems to acknowledge my unplugged electrics a little better . But on the other hand , for someone who is still learning chords , the chord library on the Guitar Tuna would definitely be a big plus. Both way cool IMO .

I was just messin with my smart phone and found this guitar tuner app. I was surprised how well it worked as it checked dead on with my regular chromatic tuner. The thing that impressed me the most was that it even worked on my electrics without them being plugged in , with me resting the phone on my knee in front of the guitar. I'm sure a lot of people already were aware of this app , but thought Id share with those who didn't . Kinda handy I thought. Its also free . https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.symbolic.pitchlab&hl=en

If your referring to the Ibanez Jem 7WH,I own one and it is an exceptional guitar.I didnt necessarily by it because its a Steve Via model , but for the fact that I love Ibanez [upper end] guitars. All a jem is pretty much is a RG with a monkey grip , alder body instead of basswood , factory Dimarzio pickups and stainless frets . It is also IMO a beautiful guitar with the vine of life inlay on the fretboard , and this guitar is an excellent playing BEAST !!!!. I would in no way consider paying $3000 which is the going price for one now [not MSRP] .Mine is a 2003 which was the last year with the ebony fretboard which i prefer , and considering it looks brand new with the exception of a tiny bit of the plating wearing off the edge of the trem , i feel i got a very good deal paying $1200 . I agree 100% that just because it has an artist endorsement , doesnt make it worth any more. Same goes for people selling a guitar that has been signed by an artist for four times what its worth .That signature isnt gonna do anything for me unless I can find someone dumber than I would be if I bought it that would give me more than i payed . On the same note is a Gibson Les Paul Custom worth close to $5000 ,or a custom shop Gibson worth $10000 .I dont think so .Take the name Gibson off it and whats it worth ? [and yes I own 3 Gibsons] And IMO the quality is no where near what it was in the 70's . Same with PRS . In my opinion you can take a couple thousand dollars and go to a true custom shop and get a guitar that will blow the doors off pretty much any retailed guitar . I have two guitars I ordered from Carvin that I would put up against anything Ive played ,neckthrough construction , the most beautiful tops Ive ever seen ,coil taps and phase switches ,Floyd Roses , locking tuners etc....The only thing I could imagine someone changing is the pickups [which I personally love] if they werent to their liking , and they cost me approx $1700 each . But thats just my opinion !!!!!!!!

Moe All the guitar stores I deal with , which are either Guitar Center or Sam Ash , will do price match with anything shown online , as long as they can verify that it is an actual price. Also your online retailers usually offer free shipping and dont charge tax [xcept in certain states] So if you see a guitar on an online retailer for say $1000 , and your local store will indeed price match , you should walk out the door for $1000 . I have never paid asking price for a guitar , price match or not. They want to sell guitars bad and will drop the price to do so. Kinda like haggling over the price on a new car . Where they make their big money is people walking in without doing their research and just buying for sticker price. Like I said earlier when you narrow down what your considering let us know and Id be more than glad to through in my two cents. Happy Hunting !!!!

Hey John I actually thought the original and follow up post did a pretty good job of describing the characteristics of the Evolutions , but I just plugged it into my amp and will try to describe what I hear as I play , and as I'm sure you know , tone isn't easily described but here goes. To start with I'm playing through a Mesa Nomad 100 , with the knob and slider EQ's all flat ,which isn't where Id usually run them.As I'm sure you know Mesa's arn't known for being a plug and play amp.They take a little messing with to get the sound your looking for and the slightest tweak makes a big difference. Also I'll run through the clean and channel two which is pretty heavy distortion. On clean bridge: As for chording it it has a very even volume response at all strings with the D and G being just a tad bit louder to accent the mids. As for playing individual notes , they all ring out very pronounced , even playing fast or when playing arpeggiated chords. There is still a slight bit of grit in them but if you roll the volume down to 8 there pretty much totally clean.You can hear some harmonic rings even if your not trying to grab one [but not in a bad way]. On clean neck: Pretty much the same as above except obviously more bass to it and its actually pretty clean with the volume wide open. It actually doesn't sound quite as bassy as some of my other guitars neck humbuckers but as I tend to play backwards half the time playing leads on the neck and rythms on the bridge , it works very well for me. Also the clarity an harmonics are still there . One other thing is there isn't a huge volume difference between the neck and bridge which I like ,partially due to the way I set the heights which are pretty close to the same as far as the relation to the strings. As for spitting either humbucker and combining it with the center pickup ,you get pretty much what would expect out of a Strat on position 2 or 4 ,but not quite as quacky , as well as the center by itself sounding somewhat like a Strat in position 3 . As for the volume when splitting , wide open split pretty much equals the buckers on 8 which is pretty typical . Distortion: Pretty much as described above with the harmonics being even more pronounced and tons ot sustain I try to play a lot of stuff where I will leave certain open strings ringing and play lead runs over top of them . It works very well with these pickups as you maintain the separation between the open and strings being played in the lead run. Also in distortion the bass from the neck pickup is more emphasized and stays very tight . As for the other things you said I should describe. Playabilitty: these pickups are hot and have a lot of bite.they will mellow out to a certian extent but if you want to play totally clean,these probabbly aren't what you want. Tone:The separation of the strings will allow you to dial in most tones xcept super clean. Versatility: Noted above. Beauty: They are flat black with double allen pole bobbins , but you can get them in pretty much any color you want ,and the guitar is black ,and an anniversary model [they only made 1987 of them] so I wanted it it still look original . Price: As I said in my original post I got them from Muscians Friend and they worked with me on the price.$140 for all three pickups delivered. Value for the money: Considering that almost any single humbucker will cost a minimum of approximately $90 I think it was an excellent deal that I am 100% satisfied with !!!! Hope this gives more insight to what these pickups will do , If your not familiar with Steve Vai , The Evolution;s are the pickups he's been using since 1992. Here is a link to one of my favorite songs he does that shows the versatility of the Evo's.

Hey Moe Thats another hard question to answer. Most of what Id say has been noted in the previous replies to your post so ill try not to be redundant. My first suggestion is to go to as many music stores as possible and play as many guitars as possible.By looking at your profile picture it appears that you play left handed which will limit your options,as most stores dont stock nearly as may left handed guitars.Also quite a few models dont come in lefty,but I would definitely want to play an instrument before purchasing. Also play it through a rig similar to what you are using or anticipate yourself using for the long haul. Next thing is,and this is just me,if im gonna lay out money like that,I would want to walk away with something that Id want to keep for the rest of my life. Other things to consider are 1:Playabillity. If your not comfortable with it you will regret it as long as you have it.The main things to consider as far as comfort are weight,neck profile [backside] , fretboard radius and body shape . Also try to play it standing or sitting as you never know what situation you might playing like gigging or sitting down recording. In the price range range your shooting for you could get something very nice used,but their are a lot of thing you somehow need to make sure work correctly:Electronics,trussrod working correctly,frettwear,warped neck etc.Hopefully you know someone that you trust and knows enough about guitars that would help ensure you dont get something with issues. I personally like thin necks with fairly flat radius frettboards as i play a lot of leads,or a lot of companies are making compound radius boards that have a tighter radius at the neck for chording and flattens out as you move towards the bridge for playing faster leads. I would also look for something with quality pickups as you don't want to buy a guitar and put a few hundred dollars in upgrades on it.Same with the tuners,bridge etc. Last but not least if you buy a new guitar,make sure that their is an in store or online satisfaction guarantee,as even mid to upper end guitars can have manufacturer issues,or to leave yourself an option if you don't get what you anticipate. If you could be a little more particular about the sound you are trying to achieve and what kind of rig you plan on running through,how your hands fit on the neck etc I would be more than glad to make some suggestions ,but unfortunately what one person might love,someone else might hate. Best of luck in your search for the guitar that suites you and your needs the best. David

I don't really know how to answer that question. After playing this pickup for a week as much as possible and still have fingertips left I thought I could give a better answer. First off ,from Dimarzio's site: "The original Evolution® Bridge Model did exactly what Steve Vai wanted it to do: kick butt and produce serious scream. Then he wanted something a little more complex — the same basic tone with increased headroom and dynamics, so that the sound kills on 10 and cleans up when the volume is rolled down. With a little less power than the original Evolution®, Evo 2™ balances perfectly with the Evolution® Neck Model and performs equally well with high gain and vintage amps" "Although Steve was happy with the basic sound of the original Evolution® bridge pickup, he felt that a pickup with similar tone and less output would be useful — particularly for live performances. He also requested the frequency response in the 4000Hz to 5000Hz range to be reduced slightly compared to the original Evolution® Bridge Model. The Evo 2™ accomplishes these tasks by using a less powerful magnet to reduce the pickup’s power, and patented Virtual Vintage® technology to alter the frequency response without drastically changing the overall tone. The Virtual Vintage® technology also allows the Evo 2™ to produce a very good single-coil sound when switched to split mode" It is still considered a high output pickup with a 375 MV output, and the.tone responses are as listed:treble 6 /mids 7.5 /bass 6 . I find Dimarzio's description to be quite accurate. As far as comparing it to another pickup , it really doesn't fit in the category with any of the pickups listed in your question.Maybe a little like a Duncan but without the "Vowel Tone" and a whole lot more harmonics.The only other guitars I have that produce harmonics like this are some of my Carvin's. As for my personal description: Excellent crunch and sustain when wide open ,roll the volume down to around 8 and it calms down very nicely while maintaining its clarity which it also does wide open.Even rolling the tone to about zero and it still doesn't get muddy. As far as on clean channels it still retains the qualities mentioned above ,and that's when it slightly reminds me of a Duncan , as far as the well pronounced mids. Hopefully I'll be able to post some sound clips soon as my next purchase will be some Shure 57's to mic my amps. I know this really didn't answer your question , but its as good as I could do for right now .