[101fng]

hmmmm... i was actually just looking at jackson's san dimas guitars like an hour ago lol. the thing is though, i don't really like bolt-on necks. my old M had a bolt-on neck and it was OK, but nothing to write home about. i guess i could live with it. i think if i can pick up my buddy's jackson, i'll be set.

does charvel make a san dimas with a single or two piece bridge?

[Imran]

Other than set in/bolt on necks and all that, I have no idea what you all are talking about. What really surprises me is that my friend bought a Fender Mexican strata, and it has a bolt on neck. Why? Do all strats have this? I thought the premium for a fender over a squier would mean no more bolt in necks.

[zinc02GT]

Originally Posted by PiggySmallz Yeah Dave and PRS will be at the experience here in New York in a couple of weeks. I'd def go check it out if I were you. Dave's not the kind of guy you'd probably listen to, but you can learn A LOT from him. He's highly regarded in the PRS world. He's got some chops too. There are plenty of strat like bodies that don't have Floyd's. Doesn't need to be an ESP, there are other great builders with great profile necks. I'd never pay 3k for an ESP, custom or not. I hate floyd's because they are a nightmare to string, tune and play. If you break a string on stage you are screwed lol. Schecter hellraisers without the FR are pretty good for the money. Tremelo's are a bitch to tune, they need to be set up properly. If you change tunings or string gauges, it won't hold as well as a stop tail will. The trems change in tension and need to be set up properly. They are a lot of maintenance. On my PRS I rarely ever lose tuning using the tremelo system. I cahnged string guages and tuning, had it re set up. THe prs techs are going to do a free set up on it as well here in NY when they come to town. Its getting colder so it needs another set up.

Once you get accustomed to using a Floyd Rose, changing string gauges and tunings becomes a breeze. I had a floating Floyd Rose on one of my guitars. Typically known as your worst nightmare for tuning. I figured out that when throwing it into anything past 1/2 step down it needed a single spring gone leaving 2 springs. On the typical 5 hole stop piece I'd throw it into the 2nd and 4th hole to equal out tension and things would just balance themselves out when I tuned to either drop C or a whole step down.

My next guitar will have a Floyd Rose on it or at least some means of a tremelo. I have a Les Paul and I hate not having a tremelo.

[zinc02GT]

Originally Posted by Jakashh Other than set in/bolt on necks and all that, I have no idea what you all are talking about. What really surprises me is that my friend bought a Fender Mexican strata, and it has a bolt on neck. Why? Do all strats have this? I thought the premium for a fender over a squier would mean no more bolt in necks.

Yes. Strats have bolt on necks. All of them that are not complete custom shop and even then, I believe they are still bolt on necks....


I prefer a neck through guitar honestly. The sustain and the feel of the guitar is unmatched to me. One of the best playing guitars I've ever played was an RR1 with jumbo frets and the action set stupid low. It was JUST high enough to avoid string buzz in the middle of the neck. I just hate the RR flying V shape and it doesn't help that they are VERY small guitars body wise.

[101fng]

nothing beats a neck-thru. for a while there LTD was offering a neck-thru M (400 series i believe) for something stupid like $450. only downer was it only came in see-thru red or see-thru black. but a neck-thru M for $450... idc if its pink. $450 is a freakin steal for any decent M.

i don't play much anymore. i figured that i'd have to put it on hold while i was in the army, but fate kicked me in the nuts and one of my best friends sold my marshall stack while i was in basic. i haven't really played since (five years). one day i'll see if i can pick up a stack at a pawn shop or something for cheap. now that i'm out of the army, i have no income and money is tight.

[WickedSnake00]

Originally Posted by zinc02GT Once you get accustomed to using a Floyd Rose, changing string gauges and tunings becomes a breeze. I had a floating Floyd Rose on one of my guitars. Typically known as your worst nightmare for tuning. I figured out that when throwing it into anything past 1/2 step down it needed a single spring gone leaving 2 springs. On the typical 5 hole stop piece I'd throw it into the 2nd and 4th hole to equal out tension and things would just balance themselves out when I tuned to either drop C or a whole step down. My next guitar will have a Floyd Rose on it or at least some means of a tremelo. I have a Les Paul and I hate not having a tremelo.

A Floyd Rose really isn't so bad once you get used to it. It takes awhile to dial it in, but once you do you're golden.

The only thing I think they don't quite have is the same sustain as string-thru-body fixed bridge.

I am really looking forward to getting a neck-thru guitar next. I've played mostly bolt ons, and I'd just really like to get some of the better ones.

As far as Les Paul's, I agree with the fact they just feel kind of odd. They have that angled body, kind of short chunky neck, just not my style at all.

For amplifiers, I'd say go Mesa, hands down. I picked up a used 50cal+, which is basically the precursor to the dual rec, and I was blown away. The tone of that amp, especially with ceramic magnet pickups made me never want to touch a solid state or emulator amp ever again. I don't care what fancy emulator you use, the sound is never the same. When I was in a band you could tell exactly where in our songs I started using that amp, because the recordings had better tone, and I stopped using effects pedals.

Oh, and I run it with a Marshall 1960A cab I got on a trade for a Gibson/Moog L5 amp. I'm not completely sold on Marshall amps (especially after the flop that the MF350 was), but their classic cabinets are great.

EDIT:
And it's nice to see you back around here, 101.

[PiggySmallz]

Originally Posted by WickedSnake00 A Floyd Rose really isn't so bad once you get used to it. It takes awhile to dial it in, but once you do you're golden. The only thing I think they don't quite have is the same sustain as string-thru-body fixed bridge. I am really looking forward to getting a neck-thru guitar next. I've played mostly bolt ons, and I'd just really like to get some of the better ones. As far as Les Paul's, I agree with the fact they just feel kind of odd. They have that angled body, kind of short chunky neck, just not my style at all. For amplifiers, I'd say go Mesa, hands down. I picked up a used 50cal+, which is basically the precursor to the dual rec, and I was blown away. The tone of that amp, especially with ceramic magnet pickups made me never want to touch a solid state or emulator amp ever again. I don't care what fancy emulator you use, the sound is never the same. When I was in a band you could tell exactly where in our songs I started using that amp, because the recordings had better tone, and I stopped using effects pedals. Oh, and I run it with a Marshall 1960A cab I got on a trade for a Gibson/Moog L5 amp. I'm not completely sold on Marshall amps (especially after the flop that the MF350 was), but their classic cabinets are great. EDIT: And it's nice to see you back around here, 101.

I love Mesa's. I plugged my PRS into a 2011 Dual Rectifier, dropped the power to 50 watts on the 3rd channel in modern mode and my face melted. I played it through an oversized recto cab and a traditional stilleto mesa cab. The stilleto was nicer, mids were tighter but it was still a little too boomy for me. I want to check out a Mills Acoustics cab and throw the dual rectifier on top of that.

For effects, I run a TC Electronics G Major II in the loop. You are right about emulators and solid states, they just don't react or feel like a nice valve amp. However, if you get the opportunity to play an Axe FX you won't be disappointed. They are extremely close to the amp's and cab's they emulate. They are about $2500 new I think, but they play like tube amps. They have all of the charateristics of a tube amp.

[zinc02GT]

Not a fan of mesa amps at all. Too compressed and too flat for me. I've never and I mean never heard what I consider good tone through a mesa. I prefer a mix of bogner, orange, and classic fender amps. It really depends what the song calls for but with those 3 kinds you can cover almost anything.

[PiggySmallz]

Originally Posted by zinc02GT Not a fan of mesa amps at all. Too compressed and too flat for me. I've never and I mean never heard what I consider good tone through a mesa. I prefer a mix of bogner, orange, and classic fender amps. It really depends what the song calls for but with those 3 kinds you can cover almost anything.

Dual Rectifiers are VERY difficult to dial in properly. I played a Shiva and an Uberschall bogner and while I love them, the Shiva just didn't have the lows I wanted and the Uberschall's clean channel was worthless. The Mesa is somewhere in the middle to me. I understand your dislike towards them though, they can be very fizzy. It's a sound you either love or hate. I love it. But my all time favorite amp that I'd love to buy is a Diezel Herbert. I'd like to play a Hagan too, but I think it might be a little fizzy as well from recordings I've heard.

[brokenweasel]

Originally Posted by Jakashh Other than set in/bolt on necks and all that, I have no idea what you all are talking about. What really surprises me is that my friend bought a Fender Mexican strata, and it has a bolt on neck. Why? Do all strats have this? I thought the premium for a fender over a squier would mean no more bolt in necks.

Originally Posted by zinc02GT Yes. Strats have bolt on necks. All of them that are not complete custom shop and even then, I believe they are still bolt on necks.... I prefer a neck through guitar honestly. The sustain and the feel of the guitar is unmatched to me. One of the best playing guitars I've ever played was an RR1 with jumbo frets and the action set stupid low. It was JUST high enough to avoid string buzz in the middle of the neck. I just hate the RR flying V shape and it doesn't help that they are VERY small guitars body wise.

Strat guy here checking in. All Stratocasters are bolt-on necks. I had a Showmaster Stratocaster with Seymour Duncans that had a set neck (it was sexy too, carved top, flamed maple top and headstock with matching burst color. The neck was tweaked ever so slightly so it would fret-out up high and I sold it.

Fender is kind of like Ford in that they designed everything a long time ago, and keep using it. The bolt-on neck cuts costs in production I bet, and they have reverted back to mostly the same tremolo design that has never worked well. I have mine locked to the body.


On the other hand, I had a friend try to spin his SG around his neck and ended up flinging it into the ground. He got the neck re-set for only $80 and it played just fine after that. I was amazed they could even fix that.

[WickedSnake00]

Originally Posted by PiggySmallz Dual Rectifiers are VERY difficult to dial in properly. I played a Shiva and an Uberschall bogner and while I love them, the Shiva just didn't have the lows I wanted and the Uberschall's clean channel was worthless. The Mesa is somewhere in the middle to me. I understand your dislike towards them though, they can be very fizzy. It's a sound you either love or hate. I love it.

That's one place I like my 50Cal+ better than the DualRec- I have a graphic equalizer on it that makes dialing in a snap. Plus it has a 3 position switch that lets me switch through 3 presets, so tone is no problem. Almost makes me wish they carried that over to the rec series.

And I agree about the Uberschall. It can be mean and nasty, but it wasn't too good at clean.

Originally Posted by zinc02GT Not a fan of mesa amps at all. Too compressed and too flat for me. I've never and I mean never heard what I consider good tone through a mesa. I prefer a mix of bogner, orange, and classic fender amps. It really depends what the song calls for but with those 3 kinds you can cover almost anything.

I absolutely love the Mesa sound. It's great with loud, dirty and low, just the style I like. Plus they favor the mid-scooped sound I like.

It sounds like you have a taste for much warmer and mid based tone, kind of retro. I never got into the Orange amps.

I will give you the fact you cannot beat a Fender for clean and lows. I've got an old Fender 212 and I absolutely love it for clean and blues playing. When it comes to distortion though, it just does not do it for me at all.

[PiggySmallz]

Fender cleans are incredible, very bright and sparkly. The cleans on the newer dual recs are A LOT better than the older ones though. They took the wiring from the Lonestar series, but it still is not a Fender clean. The Mark series by Mesa has an onboard eq as well.

Mark Tremonti from Alter Bridge uses Fenders for cleans thorugh a mesa 4x12 and a triple rectifier/uberschall in stereo for his rhythms. Leads I think he uses a bucnh of shit. A two rock, A cornford and a shiva.


There are lots of great new amps coming out. Egnater has one now with a built in ISP Decimator noise gate.