jeremyb wrote:I think it was Mark Twain who said that when he was 18 his father knew nothing, but by the time he was 21 he was amazed by what he'd learnt in 3 years!
I believe it was 14 and 7 years.
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."
Mark Twain
I also don't think they've found a record of him ever writing it down? However, it is attributed to Mark Twain. My dad had the quote on a printed tea towel in the kitchen when I was a kid.
"It's all a gift... and I have to keep giving it back, or it goes away. If I start believing that it's all my doing, it's gonna be my undoing." - Stevie Ray Vaughan http://www.darcyperry.co.nz
You guys are all talking about wood, finishing and pickups. Even if all of those things are important, this is not where big company are faulty. All of the above can easily be check by customers but nobody check the electronics. They purposely make the "cheaper guitars" sound crap by ignoring basic electronic principles. They create ground loops that makes pickup sound thinner and prevent you to play loud enough to get all the overtones. You need to pay really high price to get a guitar from Gib... or Fen... that is properly shielded and properly wired. People just think that this buzz in the single coil is normal. When properly wired the single coils don't buzz and you can play louder /cleaner, getting all these awesome overtones.
Try it, buy a super cheap ST and re-wire it, adjust the intonation properly and you will have a 1500$ guitar for 200$
kremata wrote:You guys are all talking about wood, finishing and pickups. Even if all of those things are important, this is not where big company are faulty. All of the above can easily be check by customers but nobody check the electronics. They purposely make the "cheaper guitars" sound crap by ignoring basic electronic principles. They create ground loops that makes pickup sound thinner and prevent you to play loud enough to get all the overtones. You need to pay really high price to get a guitar from Gib... or Fen... that is properly shielded and properly wired. People just think that this buzz in the single coil is normal. When properly wired the single coils don't buzz and you can play louder /cleaner, getting all these awesome overtones.
Try it, buy a super cheap ST and re-wire it, adjust the intonation properly and you will have a 1500$ guitar for 200$
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well it doesn't matter how well a guitar is wired/shielded if you are plugged into dirty power there will be noise
If Less is More Then Just Think How Much More More would be
kremata wrote:You guys are all talking about wood, finishing and pickups. Even if all of those things are important, this is not where big company are faulty. All of the above can easily be check by customers but nobody check the electronics. They purposely make the "cheaper guitars" sound crap by ignoring basic electronic principles. They create ground loops that makes pickup sound thinner and prevent you to play loud enough to get all the overtones. You need to pay really high price to get a guitar from Gib... or Fen... that is properly shielded and properly wired. People just think that this buzz in the single coil is normal. When properly wired the single coils don't buzz and you can play louder /cleaner, getting all these awesome overtones.
Try it, buy a super cheap ST and re-wire it, adjust the intonation properly and you will have a 1500$ guitar for 200$
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
well it doesn't matter how well a guitar is wired/shielded if you are plugged into dirty power there will be noise
Eh..? This is like saying, it doesn't matter if you have the best guitar in the world, it won't play well if you don't have fingers.
kremata wrote:You guys are all talking about wood, finishing and pickups. Even if all of those things are important, this is not where big company are faulty. All of the above can easily be check by customers but nobody check the electronics. They purposely make the "cheaper guitars" sound crap by ignoring basic electronic principles. They create ground loops that makes pickup sound thinner and prevent you to play loud enough to get all the overtones. You need to pay really high price to get a guitar from Gib... or Fen... that is properly shielded and properly wired. People just think that this buzz in the single coil is normal. When properly wired the single coils don't buzz and you can play louder /cleaner, getting all these awesome overtones.
Try it, buy a super cheap ST and re-wire it, adjust the intonation properly and you will have a 1500$ guitar for 200$
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
There's an entire aftermarket dedicated to upgrading electronics so I'm not sure its overlooked as such, but your sentiments are right. But even in In the les Paul world the tone seekers drop the whole guts out of a les Paul and replace it all. Having transformed a few myself its often a worthwhile exercise.
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
I've been toying with the idea of having the pickups and electrics replaced in my strat ("Duncan Designed" atm)... is it really that big an improvement?
Capt. Black wrote:Call me if you're looking for the sound of a sows ear made from a silk purse with a side of hot bitches and alcohol
alanp wrote:I've been toying with the idea of having the pickups and electrics replaced in my strat ("Duncan Designed" atm)... is it really that big an improvement?
Start by shielding your guitar.I'm sure you can find some tutorial in this forum on how t to do it yourself. If you're not comfortable to do it yourself, find someone who knows how to properly shield pickups and cavity box.(most guitar shop will follow companies wiring diagram, so you end up with the same thing). If you want I can send you a step by step link. (I'm new on this forum so I don't know if it's allowed to post external link)
*UNIQUE* wrote:
There's an entire aftermarket dedicated to upgrading electronics so I'm not sure its overlooked as such, but your sentiments are right. But even in In the les Paul world the tone seekers drop the whole guts out of a les Paul and replace it all. Having transformed a few myself its often a worthwhile exercise.
When I say it's overlooked, I mean it's overlooked by the majority of customers.
Like I said you need to pay very high price to get a properly wired guitar. Now they start to put a "thin"coat of conductive paint in the cavity box to send customers off track by giving the impression of a faraday cage. But all what this paint do is connecting all the pots and switches together making even more ground loops.
alanp wrote:I've been toying with the idea of having the pickups and electrics replaced in my strat ("Duncan Designed" atm)... is it really that big an improvement?
It can make a big difference. But not as big a difference as a good practice schedule. I went through a stage of upgrading pickups and electronics and then I realised I was spending a ton of money on upgrading a cheap piece of wood. So I stopped and haven’t upgraded a guitar since, both my electrics are stock and I have almost no desire to change that.
It can make a big difference. But not as big a difference as a good practice schedule. I went through a stage of upgrading pickups and electronics and then I realised I was spending a ton of money on upgrading a cheap piece of wood. So I stopped and haven’t upgraded a guitar since, both my electrics are stock and I have almost no desire to change that.
I understand your point but decades of practice will change nothing on a guitar that buzz or humm. Changing the pickups is often the first reflex. It's very "cool" but expensive. I build all my guitars with proper shielding and wiring. My guitars all comes with Wilkinson pickups and people are amazed at how well they sound. When the guit is well wired you can put the volume higher without being so much louder and you can hear all those awesome overtones that are otherwise covered by noise.
Polar Bear wrote:
On the subject of Gibson, the 2012 models that we've had through the store have been fantastic build and sound wise. In fact I can't think of a Gibson we've had that's been anything less than great, including the studio tribute models.
The guys at the K Rd Rockshop said the same to me, and that was after I'd bought my 2012 LP Studio. I can find no faults with its build quality, it plays and sounds great.
How many piece is the body?
If you don't count the cutaways (which are the same plank of wood but separated but the cut, mines a 5 piece.
Does anyone wonder what a "dark back" Les Paul would look like if it wasnt....a dark back? Always been a bit suss of those.
Last edited by timj47 on Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Not really such a thing as a ground loop in a guitars wiring, there's a ground circuit so your volume and pickups work and one for the bridge, they all go to the ground of the guitar jack... if you're getting hum or buzz when you touch the strings it's more likely you have a short or you've wired the jack backwards
Ground loops only really exist between devices which are coming off different 240v circuits.
How can I be sure I'm here?
The pills that I've been taking confuse me...
