The Musical Instrument Thread

Dig.
The nice thing about recording on a computer (after you've managed to get the flapping thing to work) is that you can see everything, and it's really easy to edit everything track by track, part by part. It's easy to cut things apart and rearrange a tune without having everyone either there, or having played their part correctly the whole way through.
 
HecticArt said:
Dig.
The nice thing about recording on a computer (after you've managed to get the flapping thing to work) is that you can see everything, and it's really easy to edit everything track by track, part by part. It's easy to cut things apart and rearrange a tune without having everyone either there, or having played their part correctly the whole way through.
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Yeah--I wish Steve had gone 100 percent software because that device just does a crappy job of what a PC would do, with a far less intuitive interface.
 
HecticArt said:
It beats the hell out of the 4 track tape recorder we used to use back in 1990.
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I imagine that's true...

The Lester arrived today, and I have to say it's probably the nicest guitar I've owned. I can find no fault with it. I like the fatness of the humbuckers and SUSTAIN. Just rings forever. It was playable out of the box--great action. I could flatten the neck a smidge if I were being anal but I'm not going to fool with the truss rod right now. The back and neck are matte finished--really just a stained mahogany without the pores being filled. It gives the neck a pleasant speed but also a little tactile feel to it, but not sticky like a gloss neck. Interesting. The MOP inlays are perfect. Couldn't find a nick or blemish on it.

I bought a nostalgic jacquard weave strap to go with it. I was trying to think what Jimmy Page or Mick Taylor might have used and this looks like the rug in an Indian tea shop in London in 1970. Not 100 percent sold on the Epiphone strap locks as they seem to rely more on friction and faith than German engineering, so some Schallers are probably in my future.

Photo:

lester.webp

:band:
 
Nice looking stick.
With all of the computer cut stuff these days, neck inlays are cleaner and more intricate. How's the weight?
 
HecticArt said:
Nice looking stick.
With all of the computer cut stuff these days, neck inlays are cleaner and more intricate. How's the weight?
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Thanks. It weighs about as much as my strat. Solid but not overwhelming. Much heavier than my tele, which is made from agathis, a wood that is common in SE Asia.
 
I really like that headstock. The hollow body I had--which I never should have sold (guitar cliche 101)--was really resonant and airy.

What do you think is the biggest factor in keeping a guitar with a trem in tune--locking nut or locking tuners? My strat is out of tune as soon as I use the trem bar. Or is that just par for the course?

Weights: both my strat and my LP are between 7.5 and 8 lbs. Closer to 7.5, based on my bathroom scale.
 
I'm still thrilled every time I pick it up. I chose very well. (I must say.)

The bridge is always the first thing I question on a trem's tuning stability. The Fender made trem on my Strat worked great for the first several years, but the rollers aren't as smooth as they used to be and it doesn't hold tuning with dives anymore. Light tremolo still does OK. That and my Guild (Khaler) and ESP (Floyd Rose) all have locking nuts. I think that makes a big difference. The Rev doesn't, but the Bigsby doesn't really dive very low. I tried my buddy's PRS for a while, and it didn't have locks, but it didn't stay in tune very well with heavy dives. If there's no locks, the best design for a headstock is for the strings to have very little bend between the nut and the tuners. Rev used graphite nuts and they recommend lubing your nuts with "Nut Sauce." (I know, they did that on purpose....) I need to get some to see how it does, but generally, the Bigsby stays pretty well in tune.

I don't dive much, if at all, when I play for most tunes, so it doesn't usually get in the way.
 
I seldom use the tremolo, but it's there. I feel surf-rocky sometimes...dial up the reverb and tape delay...By rollers, do you mean roller saddles, like these?

Roller Saddles- Upgrade your Trem- Hardened Steel- Set of Six

I read up on some other stuff to do: remove the string tree for the G and D strings (they don't need the tree to have sufficient break angle over the nut), get a better nut cut, lube the nut, lube the B/e string tree (I would just get a roller tree), deck the trem if you're only using it to bend down and not up, use all your springs on the claw...

Maybe in my SPARE time.

I saw a cool Mark Knopfler video the other night about him and his strat. How he uses the trem bar very delicately. Did you know he bends three strings with his index finger--I think down at the second or third fret even--when he plays "Sultans of Swing"? Bastard, what with his mad skillz and such.
 
Rollers as you showed. Yep.

Those trem tips can all help. A lot depends on the geometry of the headstock. If it's pretty flat to the neck or tips back a lot. The angle of the strings off the neck to tuners, and whatnot.

Knopfler is the shiz. No question about it. As long as I'm in the fanboy mindset to keep praising Reverend....Knopfler and guys from his band play them.
MK_guitars_reverend2.jpg

MK_guitars_reverend.jpg
 
They have Billy Corgan AND Knopfler? Well, there's one respectable musician in the stable!

My mandolin arrived yesterday. So much fun. My wife went out with friends (to their "knitting circle" at a coffee shop) and when she got back I had the thing tuned, intonated and was playing chords and "Camptown Ladies."
 
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