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So I have a guitar with SD Livewire pickups. Has this base level hum that I don't think humbuckers--especially actives--should have. Is not affected by touching various parts of the guitar. Have checked continuity between the pots, switches, output jack and bridge and everything seems fine. Both pickups make the same noise. What the heck can I do to further troubleshoot? As far as I can tell the wiring's 100% factory and everything looks fine. It does seem to vary slightly depending on position in the room so it feels like it's picking up something. Shield every cavity? None of my other guitars are making noise with the same amp, cable and sitting in the same place playing.
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Aug 8, 2022 18:32
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Agreed posted:Usually active pickups are really low noise, and aren't even grounded the same way to the guitar's hardware as passives. However I only have experience with Jackson actives and EMGs, maybe those are weird? ... I really don't know, if my poo poo were acting up like that I'd take it to my tech after I figured out what I could. Seems unlikely it'd be innate to the pickups themselves because that'd mean you managed to get two bum actives at once, which though possible seems unlikely, so I'd suspect something downstream or how they're wired in is problematic. I've had cables become radio receivers in cases where a pedal's electronics or an instrument jack wasn't grounded properly, maybe something like that? As far as I can tell it's wired like this:  Baron von Eevl posted:If you have a battery powered amp, try it through that (on battery mode, so no wall electricity) and then if there's still noise take it to different rooms/outside with the portable amp and see if you still get it. I have a THR10X so can definitely try that on batteries. Will do a bit later. EDIT: Stuffed some batteries in the amp and did some testing. Noise is everywhere in the house BUT the guitar is dead quiet in very specific orientations. I can move it just 10-15 degrees and it starts up again, but at a particular angle it is quiet as can be. So I guess there's some sort of interference at play here. The wiring is fairly "generous" from the factory so they folded it over a few times; could this be acting as an antenna of sorts? Wondering if I should get some copper tape and just shield the control cavity for starters. Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Aug 8, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 18:47
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Baron von Eevl posted:Take it outside, walk around a little. Some guitar youtuber was having noise issues (his was like a ticking) and didn't try batteries/portable amp until after he unplugged every appliance in his house and heavily rearranged things, then it turned out it was a transformer across the street and, after he called to complain, eventually the local electricity concern came by and fixed it. Samurai Guitarist aka Sammy G I think. Good idea, I will go out and play some Megadeth riffs around the yard. I do have a couple dimmed LED lights acting wonky as well so perhaps there's something troubling going on...
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Aug 9, 2022 14:52
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OK, it's not the guitar. It's the orientation. When I play my other guitars I sit with them so the neck's basically horizontal. But when playing the V I use classical position. If I angle my PRS up 45 degrees I get a similar noise. If I make the Dean neck horizontal it goes quiet. Can't believe I didn't think about this before. Not sure what the gently caress I can do about it though.
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Aug 9, 2022 15:19
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I've had a desire for an ambient reverb pedal for a while, just to make some weird chill noises. Looking at the OBNE Dark Star but are there other ones I should perhaps consider? Watched this demo and love it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqYigPRDdUw
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Sep 5, 2022 19:37
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creamcorn posted:does it need to be a pedal? valhalla supermassive is amazing for ambient reverbs, $0 in your daw of choice. Yeah, I usually just go straight into an amp and like it that way. That Dispatch Master sounds wonderful but doesn't seem to get quite as nutty as the Dark Star though. But man, what a sweet reverb/delay combo.
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Sep 5, 2022 20:40
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Lumpy posted:Quitting drinking is like getting a second (or in my case second, third, and fourth) job. Suddenly you have money! Congrats, and as someone who is now 15 years sober, it's the best thing I ever did. PMs are open if you (or anyone else) ever need help / advise on that journey. +1 Not to mention all the time you suddenly have available that's not wasted on feeling like poo poo or worrying about how many beers are left in the fridge... BTW, that Dark Star showed up. It really does a lot of poo poo and the controls are very sensitive so there are lots of options for neat sounds but requires an investment in time to figure out what sounds good. Found some recommended settings online that help get things started though. It's a weird and wonderful pedal. Gotta figure out a good dirt pedal to put before it. The Metal Zone did not play well... Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Sep 8, 2022 |
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Sep 8, 2022 17:39
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Doctor Dogballs posted:holy poo poo, a beautiful.......squier??! I have too many strats I have too many strats I have too many strats I have too many strats I have too many strats I have too many strats I have too many strats But man that is nice.
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Sep 8, 2022 17:44
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Just dropped off my Subsonic at a local luthier for adjustment. Been fiddling with the setup on it and it never feels quite as good as I think it should be. Wondering if it lost a neck shim at some point; he took a quick look at it and said that might indeed be the case. Seller had the neck off for taking pics of the markings there so it's possibly a shim got lost then or at some earlier point in life. This is a bit beyond what I feel comfortable with and won't cost more than $70-80 or so here to get it setup properly so figured it's worth it. The guitar's an early 2000s custom shop so I'd like to make the most of it. Got such a good deal on it I've been worrying whether it was a fake / modded but he said it looks like the real deal and Fender's serial # lookup matches the config. Should get it back in a couple of weeks so excited to see how it turns out. Never had a luthier do a full setup before, perhaps it's something I should consider for a few others in the collection if it turns out well. I also made the mistake of playing with their giant pedal collection so walked home with a Metal Core. That thing sounded way better than I expected.
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Sep 17, 2022 11:49
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New Polyphia and it's awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNmz17gnMw
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Sep 28, 2022 21:42
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Almost NGD here, got the Subsonic back from the luthier. Since the strings were basically new he thought it seemed silly to change them out so only charged me $40 for a full setup. I suspected the neck angle wasn't quite right since I was never entirely happy with my own setup and he confirmed this to be the case. He ended up adding a small shim and tweaking the truss rod a bit as part of the setup and it's like a whole new guitar now. Low action, plays wonderfully and man it's hard to stop playing it now. (Luthier commented that he spent quite a while playing it after it was done and that if I ever wanted to sell it, well...) Rearranged my pedal board as well and sat and noodled with the OBNE Dark Star for a while. The B-B baritone coupled with the delay mode cranked far enough that it was near falling into infinite feedback was awesome. Could just sit there and let the bass strings ring while doing single string noodling with lots of moody reverb. So much fun. New pedal board order: Tuner -> MXR compressor -> Metal Zone -> Metal Core -> Big Muff -> Joyo American Sound -> OBNE Dark Star -> Boss looper -> Nux Solid Studio. I run into the Nux or bypass it and into the FX return of the Grandmeister amp. Feels like I could use a slightly more normal reverb/delay before the looper as well. Would like something that can do all the basics in a standard size pedal since I have room for one left. Suggestions? Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Sep 30, 2022 |
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Sep 30, 2022 22:17
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Jonny 290 posted:Great post. i've been trying to figure out my rogue vi all year. i may have done a sloppy day 1 setup; your post gave me some ideas to get it running better Is it a Subzero Rogue VI? Just googled it and looks like it's a fixed bridge Bass VI type thing. 30" scale length would be fun to add to the stable here and it seems like they are pretty reasonably priced. Have you compared it to the Squire VI?
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Oct 1, 2022 21:36
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Agreed posted:Yeah I have never been able to connect w/ a Yngwie song on an emotional level, which isn't true for some Vai and Petrucci stuff (it's ok if that isn't the case for others, this is my drat post) but maybe there's somebody out there who is like yngwie plays my feeelings, idk And he gets amazing sound out of a fairly oddball setup: single coils, downtuned strat with I think .008 strings and high action. Seems like it really shouldn't sound as good as it does. Strat related post: So I've had this parts strat for a year or so, Mexi strat body with originally a Falkon neck (Swedish brand I think that probably sources their poo poo from China). Got a good deal on it and I wanted a "normal" type strat since my at the time only one is scalloped and modded. The neck never sat quite right with me and I ended up finding a maple fretboard MiM neck a little while back that I stuck on it. Liked that a lot better. But it still wasn't quite right. This past week I saw a 2013 MiM sunburst body in the local classifieds for $150 and really liked the looks of it so picked that one up, figuring that strats are basically like Lego and poo poo just fits together no problem, bada bing bada boom. So I learned about bridge spacing and how in fact strats aren't all the same. The body I had from the beginning was originally a 2 point trem one and was drilled for a 6 point later. But the one used was the narrow (52mm) spacing, and the new body I had acquired used 56mm spacing. So it was either buy a 56mm trem but that made me concerned the strings would end up too close to the fretboard edge for my taste, or find a "hybrid" one (56mm spacing on the holes, 52mm on the strings), or plug the holes with glue and toothpicks and drill new ones, which is what I ended up doing. Also, the screw holes in the body were too small for the neck screws so had to ream them out a bit so the neck screws would slip through properly. But I got it all together and setup reasonably well and drat if it isn't a great playing strat now. 9.5" radius MiM neck off a 2021 strat, body from a 2013 I think Classic Player 60s, Wilkinson pickups and ??? tremolo. Mint green pickguard on a sunburst body. I still have the pickups and pots from the one I initially purchased but I am well on my way to the strat of Theseus at this point.
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Oct 3, 2022 20:58
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New Polyphia drop! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixoMFAK4U0E
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Oct 7, 2022 21:03
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BizarroAzrael posted:I played on my tutor's PRS last night as now that got me all interested in owning one of my own. Just felt like the right thickness, and it combined comfort contouring with a maple top which I've not seen elsewhere, and for whatever reason I could do harmonics on it much easer than my own guitars. Felt kind of like my SG but with the strap button in the right place. ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ...which model was it? I love my Custom 22 but as much as I'd like another one I just can't justify the cost these days.
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Oct 12, 2022 21:34
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Of course everyone needs a Les Paul. My first proper guitar was an Ibanez 2350 (ended up getting stolen, 30 years later I still look for it in the classifieds occasionally) and it ruled. Current LP is an Epiphone 1959 and it also rules.
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Oct 13, 2022 20:02
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I know, I know, I'm a Polyphia fanboy but drat it if this didn't make me so happy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKCsEDWl0ys Just the guys and Steve chilling and chatting about poo poo. So nice to see entirely different generations of virtuosos sharing and respecting each other. edit: the part with Steve having to call radio stations to ask for Alcatrazz songs is hilarious. Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Oct 14, 2022 |
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Oct 14, 2022 20:57
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Worth nothing that Tommy Emmanuel doesn’t grow his nails and I would say he has a pretty strong bright sound. Saw him play last week and drat it was some amazing poo poo.
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Oct 31, 2022 07:32
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I keep thinking I have too many guitars but then I look at them and can't figure out what to get rid of. Taylor 110ce: played a buttload of Taylors in all price ranges and just loved the feel and sound of this particular one. No need for anything fancier and I still love it. PRS Custom 22: traded my way to this one and it just fits like a glove. It's the one I usually pull off the stand for exercises or just playing for fun. Epiphone LP 1959: really nice Les Paul that didn't break the bank. Does everything an LP should and sounds amazing. Parts strat (Fender body and neck, Wilkinson pickups): The Stratocaster of Theseus at this point since I've swapped everything including the body and neck... but now it's "right". "Yngwie" strat: 2006 MIM Fender that a luthier scalloped (very nicely), painted aged Olympic White and put Lace Gold pickups in. Just a fantastic guitar. Custom shop Subsonic strat: got it for around $1100 in an amazing deal and had a local luthier set it up. Awesome baritone that I can never let go. Dean VMNT Mustaine: Gotta have some kind of V and this one rocks. I do have a partscaster tele that I like but not love. Thinking about swapping the neck on it since that's the part that doesn't seem quite right so chances are it'll turn into something I really like at that point. Like everyone else I'd like a new guitar or two though but I'm out of space and TBH I can't really figure out what I could possibly need that isn't covered by the current setup and I also don't want to get rid of anything. Maybe I'll buy some more pedals.
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Nov 3, 2022 18:06
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Speaking of new things, you guys see the Revv pedal that Youtuber Glenn Fricker helped develop? Sounds pretty drat awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ynXc3ROKGc
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Nov 3, 2022 21:54
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Spanish Manlove posted:sounds like a little bit of HM2 in that circuit Seems to basically be an HM2 clone and a modern sounding circuit that you can blend together.
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Nov 3, 2022 22:12
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https://www.espguitars.com/pages/usa-v-ii-fr
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Nov 4, 2022 22:01
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Red_Fred posted:It's perfect! Except for the price How about this then? https://www.tuttostrumentimusicali.it/en/esp-sv-standard-black-used.html
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Nov 5, 2022 12:58
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Dr. Faustus posted:You do not want a JEMJr under just about any circumstances. I tried out a couple Jem Jrs at the local store and man I was not impressed. Cruddy finish (very rough fret ends and fretboard felt dry as tinder) and meh sound. Was shopping for a suitable guitar for my nephew who wanted to get something "decent" but not expensive. Ended up with a GRG121DX which felt and played way above expectations. Not sure if they are generally that good or if we just got lucky but it had very good attention to detail and sounded great. In other guitar related news: Been jonesing for an old Marshall for a while. Used to have one when I started playing back in the late 80s though I can't for the life of me remember the exact model. Extensive googling and Youtubing has led me to believe it was a 2203 or a Plexi, 2203 being the more likely one. Anyway, they are loving expensive these days (back then they were very affordable) and you're getting some pretty well aged electronics so likely want to have one that's been worked over a bit. While looking for candidates I came across a Plexi-like clone made by a small cottage manufacturer in Poland (Mad Dog amps); apparently commissioned as a one-off by a guy here in town who wanted a "new" Plexi with lower output. After owning it for a while he finally caved and bought a real vintage one and offered this one up for sale. Paid $350 which I think was a pretty fair deal; it sounds outstanding and seems to be well put together. Point to point soldering and all that, and nice feeling controls. 5W output which is enough for my intended use. So now I am shopping for a suitable OD pedal for it. May acquire a few and see what works best. Surprised at how little noise there is. I was expecting some more hum and poo poo but the drat thing's quieter than my Grandmeister 36. 
Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Nov 12, 2022 |
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Nov 12, 2022 18:12
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Guitar related and this is the funniest thing I have seen in months. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWJMNYpRikE
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Nov 21, 2022 22:13
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Help I ran out of guitar space so have been buying pedals. But there's space left on the board. What should I add to the below? I like metal and ambient poo poo. Boss Chromatic Tuner Ibanez WH10 wah MXR Super Comp Boss Metal Zone Boss Metal Core Boss SD-1 Big Muff pi with Tone Wicker OBNE Dark Star EQ Dispatch Master Boss RC-1 looper Joyo American Sound Nux Solid Studio Maybe an HM-2? Ocean Machine? Both?
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Nov 23, 2022 21:42
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landgrabber posted:i cant help but notice you lack a RAT, which is the best pedal Mmmyes, that is good point. I feel like I'm a little bit short on distortion here. Red_Fred posted:Do you need a noise gate? Those are deceptively expensive! I do not! My new-to-me plexi clone is VERY quiet, much more so than my Hughes&Kettner. But I imagine I will need one at some point if I chain too much poo poo together. Huxley posted:A Microcosm will solve both your problems (having space and disposable income). This sent me to Youtube and I spent a fair amount of time listening to it. Sounds like a very complex but potentially awesome beast. Thanks for the recommendation! muike posted:no overdrive to push your amp's input? I use the SD-1 and it works marvelously with my not-a-Plexi. 800peepee51doodoo posted:Digital delay Oh yes, octaver! I keep forgetting about those. The Dark Star has an octaver built in but it only works in conjuction with spaced out weirdness so a "standalone" one might be the ticket. Back when I used to play more as a teenager I had this harmonizer pedal, I think it was a Boss, that was super fun to do your own Iron Maiden harmony riffs with. Worked surprisingly well. Digital Delay, yes. I like the Boss ones so maybe I should pick one up. By the way, did anyone else fall for the siren song of the TOD10N? I ordered one as soon as it was possible but have no clue when it'll arrive except "sometime in 2023". https://www.ibanez.com/eu/products/detail/tod10n_5b_01.html Been looking at thin bodied nylon string options for a long time and this seems to be huge bang for the buck. Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Nov 25, 2022 |
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Nov 25, 2022 19:37
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Malaria posted:Max grip jazz iii's are my go to now. I was a Jazz III XL fan for a loooong time, but have been preferring the John Petrucci Jazz III lately. It's slightly smaller than the XL and just feels perfect. By the way, not sure if any of you follow Bradley Hall's antics, but this one was pretty drat good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3DY3Lbo50
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Dec 5, 2022 20:40
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Got a notice from the dealer that I can expect this late January. Not quite in time for Xmas but I'll take it!
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Dec 24, 2022 20:06
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ColdPie posted:What am I looking at there? Nylon acoustic with a tele body shape? It's a thin body nylon acoustic with narrow-ish string spacing and a sound hole on top facing the player. Tim Henson (of Polyphia) signature. If I understand it right, Tim had some old weird Ibanez like this he liked, but the original line was a complete failure. So Ibanez decided to go conservative and apparently did a pretty small production run initially, but the sales just blew up and now there's a massive backorder log for them. The inlay is indeed the "tree of death". Ibanez did a good ad for it too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fch1tUtXc8I On a non-gearhead note, I spent a lot of time doing some of Bernth's picking workouts the past month or two. Boring as hell but I really could see daily improvement. Last night I was going through some tabs and stumbled upon "I am a viking", and realized I could loving play a good part of it. Maybe this "practice" thing is worth looking into further instead of just noodling. Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Dec 24, 2022 |
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Dec 24, 2022 22:29
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This one followed me home today. 2011 Traditional Pro Flying V, got the '57 in the neck and a BB3 in the bridge. Realized I had no strings at home though so will have to try it out tomorrow, spent this evening polishing it up a bit instead.
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Jan 1, 2023 17:10
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Good Soldier Svejk posted:Love his poo poo though, he's like a guitar repair Bob Ross Happy little string trees
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Jan 13, 2023 19:59
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duodenum posted:Paul Gilbert is a national treasure. 
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Feb 2, 2023 17:42
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ethanol posted:i am officially the biggest moron in the thread Looks great. If you're dumb as hell so am I, got a CS baritone strat sitting right here. loving awesome guitars.
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Mar 9, 2023 18:32
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tetrapyloctomy posted:"Sultans of Swing" is just fun to play every time. Every. Time. I really love "Down to the Waterline," too. A guy does a fantastic two-part video for it: Kottke's version of Last Steam Engine Train is a good one, sounds great but not super complicated.
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Apr 30, 2023 18:06
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massive spider posted:It does sound better in the loop but no one can convince me running a stomp box into your fx loop is convenient or was originally intended This one is intended to be connected to FX return. 
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May 6, 2023 17:39
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Tad Naff posted:Indeed, I have a fake Yngwie strat from Ali. I was just scallop-curious, had no idea it was going to come with full Fender branding, including a fake serial that maps to 'Made in the US for export'. Yeah, sounds like a fake or partscaster with a real Yngwie neck (unlikely). I have an Yngwie style strat but it's more a homage than a copy/fake -- 2006(?) Classic 60s strat (7.25" neck) that's been scalloped and painted Olympic White, but no Yngwie badging/labels. Love that thing.
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May 12, 2023 06:57
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The Demilich posted:I've really gotten into Justin Johnson lately. What should I study to play in this style (ignoring the slide guitar)? I think he sells a number of instructional videos on his site.
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Jun 9, 2023 13:17
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landgrabber posted:i just see the "short scales are unnecessary" thing as a mark of the player. maybe they aren't necessary for basic open chords and barre chords. however, this: Huh, I actually managed to finger that one (on a 25") though it's not super comfortable. Sounds like Al DiMeola.
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Aug 1, 2023 17:06
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Armacham posted:I need a baritone guitar and a twelve string still Love my baritone strat
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Aug 6, 2023 19:02
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