Quite a few years ago, I obtained a very nice Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom. This came as standard with EMG HZ4 and 4A pickups which are the passive version of the popular active EMG-81 and EMG-85.
Being a typical guitarist, I had to have what Zakk had, and bought a set of active EMGs. Luckily in the interests of science and improving mankind's musical progression, I had the foresight to record a sample of the sound prior to the pick-up swap. I was then able to record and compare this to the new pick-ups after installation.
The samples were recorded on the same day, with the same settings and strings.
I'll not tell you which pick-up is which in the sample, but I was surprised at the result. Enjoy!
I was very fortunate to attend a fairly intimate workshop by LA guitar wizard Carl Verheyen. By my own admittance, I had never heard of Carl in the past, even though I have been playing and following the world of guitars for over 25 years.
His mainstream guitar media presence is limited and overshadowed by the more excessive and hence media friendly names. Not that he is wants for success. Indeed, I would suggest he is financially and artistically doing just peachy and is one of the top go to guys in LA for sessions and sidemen work.
Perhaps he needs a public drug overdose/addiction or a spat with a big public name to climb his mainstream profile. Or perhaps he is doing just fine. I think it's the latter.
Anywho, here's 10 things I learnt from Carl's workshop.
Take a
scale (say C major pentatonic ; C D E G A). Go from the lowest note that's (possible
to play on the guitar) in the scale,
E in this case and climb the scale to the highest pitch note you
can. Repeat this for each mode and scale.
Don't climb
(or descent) scales in a fixed pattern, move along and across strings in
random ways
Create a lick/riff book with
musical idea's that sound like You. Constantly add and review this book,
building up your Own voice.
Learn every note, every
position on the fretboard.
Learn and experiment with
chord voicings and inversions to change or add to the colour of the song
and even sit better in the band mix, example take the third of a major
triad and raise it an octave.
If you hear something you
like, no matter what instrument it originated on, learn it.
Transpose songs to different
keys. This tests your knowledge and puts you in a great position for
playing along with others who prefer a different key
It is possible to be very
successful, musically and financially in the guitar world but be
relatively unknown in the popular media world.
TV and
advertisement work can earn really good money
And finally, Carl Verheyen is
an exceptional guitar talent and a an all round nice bloke! Oh, yeah and
"tab is for pussys" (his words, not mine).
Be sure to check his website and music out, and if I had to compare
him with another player, I would gravitate towards Guthrie Govan, due to the sheer encyclopedia-like knowledge
and ability to play fluidly in any style he likes. Breath taking.
A huge influence to me growing up, Carcass have a new album ready to ship in mid September and it sounds jolly good!
And to keep this guitar related, check out Bill Steer's latest squeeze which appears to be a very discoloured Norlin-era (1977?) Gibson Les Paul Custom.
Looks pretty stock (sans pickguard off course!) and sounds great tuned to B!
I like the Phil X videos on Youtube, he's a great personality and plays some mean guitar, but this one in particular caught my attention. The clarity yet huge amount of balls that he gets in this video is my idea of the perfect rock guitar sound. Awesome stuff!
Having left the Classic Rock cover band I’d been playing in for a few years, I thought it would be useful to document the guitar parts of the songs as we had arranged for the line-up of single guitar, bass, drums and vocals.
When learning tunes for bands my preference is to do lots of research, learn the parts as close to the original and then tweak to either suit the band arrangement or my playing style.
Hi guys, I don't normally announce gigs, but this one is kind of special.
Apparently Mr Vai will be playing our humble city (Belfast) in the Mandela Hall, on August 29th 2013!
It's not on his website http://www.vai.com/ but is on scumbag monopoly ticket-tax corporation TicketM*st*r.
Whilst instrumental guitar albums are something I enjoy only ocassionally, Mr Steve Vai is light years beyond the label of "instrumental guitarist". His playing is immediately identifiable and his passion and dedication to pushing his playing, writing and artist boundaries seem never ending. On top of that, the man has charisma oozing from him!
Oh yeah, and he pracically invented the modern superstrat along with Ibanez, in the form of the Ibanez Jem along with it's workhorse siblings in the RG range.
My personal Vai choices would include the Crossroads movie scene (see below), the first Dave Lee Roth Album and of course Passion & Warfare.
Here's hoping he's bringing the excellent Dave Weiner along as his right hand man. If you've never heard of him, ask Mr Google. He's quite good!
In the meantime enjoy one of my favourite Vai moments
I was surfing for PRS Custom 24s recently and the “pre-factory”
tag came up a lot on the forums. This led me down a deeper rabbit hole until I
found this post which was written by Californian guitar maker Ron Thorn.
It was written when the subject of CNC vs handmade guitars was presented and he eloquently and very honestly outlines the entire electric guitar making process.
His post really resonates with me (no pun intended) as
there’s so much inexperience and misinformation on the web that it’s hard to
filter out the truth or reality. We humans tend to romanticise certain aspects of life without fully appreciating or understanding, and the whole hand-made is better than CNC debate is just one of many guitar myths which is, well a myth. Ron tells it how it is.
These comments are Ron’s and many equally qualified luthiers
may disagree, but there’s no doubting his experience and I found it a great
read. Coming from a manufacturing background I have experience of close
tolerances and machining and the requirement for hand work (albeit metal and
not wood) and wholeheartedly agree that the premise of “CNC manufacture” is
not, as many believe, an army of robots
completing every step but merely a mechanism for accuracy and expedience.
Enjoy, and when you’re done, go
visit his site and check out the beautiful craftsmanship. Thorn Custom Guitars
& Inlay
-----
Originally Posted by Ron Thorn when the subject of
CNC vs handmade guitars was presented.
First off, there is no shop, large or small, that is entirely CNC. It does not
exist. I think most individuals would be surprised by what a guitar component
looks like when it comes off a CNC. It is no where near complete, there is
still plenty of hand sanding, fitting, etc.
Here's a break down of what I do with the CNC and "by hand".
CNC: Fretboards - you asked "why they've gone to the CNC and what aspect
of things is better". The fretboard is so brutally important that it is
ideal for CNC accuracy. I perimeter, slot, radius, and rout for inlays all in
one set-up on the CNC. Than insures spot-on fret slot placement (VERY important
to the quality of the guitar), consistent radii including compound radiusing,
and inlays that are very tight and free of sloppy filler/gaps.
Total time on the CNC: 20 minutes
Necks - Once the blank has been bandsawn ("by hand") to an
oversized shape the CNC will machine the neck carve, perimeter the neck and
heel, shape the headstock, drill for tuners, rout for truss rod and rout for logo
& purfling. This is done through 6 different set-ups.
Total time on the CNC: 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Bodies - The CNC performs all cavity routing (top & back), neck
pocket routing, perimeter, top carve, and bridge location holes. On a pivot
style trem, such as a PRS trem, the location of those 6 holes must be perfectly
inline to prevent binding of the trem during use.
Total time on the CNC for a body with carve top: 3 hours
Inlays - Production inlays, such as my Firesuns and "T" logo,
are cut on the CNC for a perfect fit into the routes on the fretboard and
headstock. I also "rip" my purfling strips on the CNC too.
Total time for one guitar's worth: 15 minutes
Components - I machine my own 1-pc. brass tremolos, pickup covers and
rings, knobs, back plates, truss rod covers, and jack plates.
Total time worth: Approx: 10 hours.
Granted, all of these parts are "custom" for my guitars exclusively.
I could purchase all of these parts from guitar supply shops but prefer to make
my own.
None of the above times include any programming, set-up or material
preparation...all of which are done "by hand".
_____________________
"By hand"
This term, I assume, includes feeding or pushing the component through a power
tool such as a planer, jointer, drum sander, bandsaw etc.
Fretboards:
Pre CNC: The wood is bandsawn to an oversize thickness and feed through a drum
sander to flatten.
Post CNC - The fretboard needs to:
Have the side dots drilled and glued in.
Inlays and purfling glued in.
Glue the board to the neck blank.
Level and true the board.
Fret and fretdress.
Total time "by hand": 13 hours for the above operations. My fret
preparation (cutting to length, nipping the tang, grinding the tang), fret
installation and dress is a total of 6 hours alone...no CNC for any of those
operations.
Necks:
Pre CNC:
The wood is milled and rough cut to shape, using tracing templates, on a table
saw and bandsaw before it gets to the CNC.
Post CNC:
Install the truss rod and filler strip,
blend the neck into the fretboard,
inlay logo and purfling,
final shape the neck carve to spec using rasps, spindle sanders and lots of
elbow grease sanding then sanding some more,
gluing the neck into the body.
Total time "by hand": 8-10 hours easily.
Body: Pre CNC:
Split top, joint edges, bookmatch glue together, sand to thickness.
Mill/sand body to thickness.
Locate and glue top to body spread then sand and drill locating hole for the
CNC.
Post CNC:
Inlay purfling.
Drill for controls, side jack, wiring channels.
Radius back edge on router table.
SAND from 150 grit to 320/400
Total time "by hand": 10-15 hours depending on the wood species.
Paint:
Prep, mask off, stain, seal, color, top coat, lots of sanding in between, lots
of sanding after, buffing...the list goes on. No CNC for these ops.
Total time "by hand": 28 hours if all goes right the first time...it
never does.
Assembly:
Installation of components (tuners, pickups, bridge, etc), wiring, cutting the
nut, set up.
Total time "by hand": 6-8 hours
The above is only visually productive acts, not including ordering wood and
components, e-mails, shipping, and just plain running the business.
_______
So, if we deduct the custom components and use off the shelf bridges, pickup
rings, etc. The average total time is:
CNC: 5 hours, 20 minutes.
"By hand": 69 hours, 30 minutes.
I consider my shop to be fairly state of the art, I have a large HAAS CNC for
the woodwork, and 2 smaller CNCs for the pearl inlay work. The only additional
automated CNC-type machinery would be a Plek and a robotic buffer. I could see
that only reducing the "by hand" total by a couple/few hours at most.
Not mentioned would be a custom one-off inlay that I, or my father, would do
"by hand" with a jeweler's saw and a mini router. The time spent on
that could be from 45 minutes to 100s of hours depending on the design.
However small in comparison those 5 hours, 20 minutes seem...they are VERY
important to the outcome of the guitar. Accuracy and consistancy are unmatched.
There are features, such as my double offset purfling, that just can't
physically be done by hand. Fretslots accurate to within .0005" of an
inch...heck, the wood will expand or contract more than that by the time I turn
the lights off in the shop at the end of the day...but it's good to know they
are as accurate as can be.
Inlays that are gap free and clean are important to me. I'm not a fan of filler
and I don't want that to be a part of my product. Even with hand cut and routed
inlays, I feel we are one of the best at making them tight and clean.
Can I build a guitar with out a CNC, sure.
WOULD I now if I didn't have one...I doubt it, because I would always feel the
guitar isn't as good as it can be WITH the help of a CNC.
There you have one take on it from a CNC builder.
I've been playing guitar for over 20 years and for most of that time been using fairly stiff regular size picks - the green Dunlop Tortex .88's mainly.
I find these about as stiff as regular nylon 1mm picks and grippy enough for sweaty gigs. The Gator grips are pretty cool too.
Anyway, a student of mine would regularly bring along his latest pick experiments which seemed to be mainly super chunky beasts of plastic - 2mm type things, but on occasion there would be something a little more svelte!
Memorable ones include the Pickboy carbon fibre and .....the Dunlop Jazz III.
