What guitar do you play?

I recently purchased a Fender electro-acoustic. My main instrument is cello but I wanted to learn guitar to supplement my songwriting. It's been pretty fun so far
 
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apart from two acoustics that I mostly have in various open tunings, I play three different electric guitars:
Jackson Kelly, modificated: original bridge & neck humbuckers replaced with EMG active Kerry King humbuckers, and I have that one permanently tuned dropped down a whole note to DGCFAd.
then I play the Jackson Adrian Smith Dinky US signature model, modificated: neck single coil replaced with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail humbucker , mid single coil replaced with a Seymour Duncan Hotstack humbucker.
last not least: a Fender Dave Murray Stratocaster, no modifications made to it. :)
 

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and my pedal board:
K800_139806684_3622307457854923_4688007832475100561_n.JPG

it took me three years to create and build it, I've spent sleepless nights comparing only compressors to compressors, then more sleepless nights comparing reverbs to reverbs, and here's the result. the positions of the devices of course have nothing to do with the signal path.
I'm very happy with it but it was COMPLICATED to set it up :scared:
:D
 
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and my pedal board:
View attachment 18811

it took me three years to create and build it, I've spent sleepless nights comparing only compressors to compressors, then more sleepless nights comparing reverbs to reverbs, and here's the result. the positions of the devices of course have nothing to do with the signal path.
I'm very happy with it but it was COMPLICATED to set it up :scared:
:D
Now THAT is a pedal board. :D So many people forget a noise gate for reasons beyond my comprehension.

Have you tried some pedals from Old Blood Noise Endeavors? Judging but what I see here, they'd be your kinda thing, mate. They make a few pedals you could use to replace that DOD Blues Driver that I think would make you fall in love.
I have the Haunt, Dark Star, and Excess and I adore them. <3
 
Now THAT is a pedal board. :D So many people forget a noise gate for reasons beyond my comprehension.

Have you tried some pedals from Old Blood Noise Endeavors? Judging but what I see here, they'd be your kinda thing, mate. They make a few pedals you could use to replace that DOD Blues Driver that I think would make you fall in love.
I have the Haunt, Dark Star, and Excess and I adore them. <3
yeah, some people forget noise gates, and some people even forget a tuner :nuts:
btw I have my reference tone set down from 440 hz lowered to 432 hz for all my guitars, and that's a great difference. ever checked that out? :ok:
cool, thank you for that advice, I have never checked out those ones yet but will do. and I'm gonna give you my feedback about as soon as I did. those four drive/distortion pedals I use mainly to kinda spit on my amp since almost all my distortion comes from my amp itself, and with the one or other drive pedal infront of the amp it all comes a lot fatter. pedal created drive and distortion to a clean channel sounds horrible to me.
btw that Neunaber Shimmer thingy top row third from the left on my board is a great thingy. suitable for clean sounds only, but one of my favourite pedals ever had in my hands.
 
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yeah, some people forget noise gates, and some people even forget a tuner :nuts:
Clear sign of newbies :D Indeed. lol Especially when you gig, you might have a great padded hard case, and you might have got that Floyd-rose locked in perfect pitch, but the second that thing goes on a road, lol, yeah you better have an easy access and directly connected tuner in your gear. And your truss rod wrench just in case.

btw I have my reference tone set down from 440 hz lowered to 432 hz for all my guitars, and that's a great difference. ever checked that out? :ok:
I have not! I'm a drummer now of about 8 years, but I still play my guitar, and I usually just keep it around 440. I will definitely give this a try next time I want to shred! I'm a bit lazy and like to thunder power chords and pinch harmonics a lot, so I mainly play in drop C. As a result I worry about going too far down. Though, like most punky metal players I typically only use the bridge pickup and occasionally center pickup in tandem, and tend to have less attenuation on the higher channels for a English gritty gravel-like punch. Maybe that will balance it, or should I am for a different frequency? I appreciate the advice, mate! You seem quite experienced. :)

cool, thank you for that advice, I have never checked out those ones yet but will do. and I'm gonna give you my feedback about as soon as I did. those four drive/distortion pedals I use mainly to kinda spit on my amp since almost all my didtortion comes from my amp itself, and with the one or other drive pedal infront of the amp it all comes a lots fatter. pedal created drive and distortion to a clean channel sounds horrible to me.
I have a feeling you won't be disappointed ;) Their pedals have very dynamic ranges in attenuation and modulation control, so you can really get more out of them by even minor adjustments compared to some of their peers. Something I know most guitarists like besides the pedals themselves. Their distortion models can range from adding mild Cream like crunch to turning your gear into a sonic flamethrower. :D

What amps do you use? Im definitely curious now!
I've gotta post my rig now. My guitar is an ESP (cool, but nothing super special) but the amp is something I think you will really be able to appreciate. It was a gift from my first guitarist when he moved abroad, which was given to him by his dad (awesome guy). I feel so stupid I cant remember the exact model number at the moment and I had a quick search, but I can't find it online. Anyways, It's an old school Marshall tube half-stack with original amp head (one of the 4100 variants I think) and has an amazing tone. Its the dual-channel one with the higher analog gain and natural distortion, and incredulous reverb. (Its not a JCB or Artist series) Its one of the ones that vary do to production at the time in tonal quality differences. So I know its quite unique and I was told to never sell it. lol (which I never will) Tell you what, I'm going to message one of my relatives and see if they cant snap a pic or two with a closeup of the head. Otherwise it will be a few weeks till I'm home for another visit.

A note with the guitar. Because I'm stupid and eclectic, I removed the locking nuts recently on my floyd rose so I could block the bridge for better dive bombing :D Its just too much fun when I play as of late, and I don't have the budget for another model (drums are pricey at best, especially upkeep) Even though I'm good at stringing, it still needs retuning quicker than I would hope. lol Though my lower tuning as well creates less neck tension so thats also a factor. If you have any advice or want to scold me for this, feel free, I dont mind learning. lol

btw that Neunaber Shimmer thingy top row third from the left on my board is a great thingy. suitable for clean sounds only, but one of my favourite pedals ever had in my hands.

I have never used their stuff before! Nice to have a first hand account.
 
Here we go! My mum isnt the best photgrapher in the world, but I think this will do fine. I dont want to trouble her again so Ill find out the exact model number and type during my next visit. She came with a bit of wear and tear, and I keep her covered, but she needs a little cleaning during my next visit. Vaccuum tubes still work wonderfully and last I was in the back I had it pretty immaculate. I hear you can replace them with a certain model of Mesa-boogie if they ever go bad, but I've never had that problem and pray I never do. I want her to stay as she is.

Edit: She took a look for me and its a Valvestate 100V Model 8100 <3 The only issue is that even on nil its ridiuclously loud if I'm not playing a gig, so I usually use my Blackstar ID:Core V3 (20) to save my parents (and our cats) some grief

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Here we go! My mum isnt the best photgrapher in the world, but I think this will do fine. I dont want to trouble her again so Ill find out the exact model number and type during my next visit. She came with a bit of wear and tear, and I keep her covered, but she needs a little cleaning during my next visit. Vaccuum tubes still work wonderfully and last I was in the back I had it pretty immaculate. I hear you can replace them with a certain model of Mesa-boogie if they ever go bad, but I've never had that problem and pray I never do. I want her to stay as she is.

Edit: She took a look for me and its a Valvestate 100V Model 8100 <3 The only issue is that even on nil its ridiuclously loud if I'm not playing a gig, so I usually use my Blackstar ID:Core V3 (20) to save my parents (and our cats) some grief

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I've sent you a pm, did you receive that? not sure if it worked.
 
Yes, thank you. I think you should post your advice here though. It was quite well written and maybe some other forum members, and novice or hopeful musicians could really benefit from it. There's a lot of people here I think that would love to learn more but have busy lives with kids, etc, and having some solid stuff here might be convenient for them. Speaking of which, maybe I should write some drummer stuff sometime. (future idea)
 
Here's my most recent addition:

remy.jpg

Meet Remy. She's a Charvel Dinky, featuring a caramelised maple neck and fretboard, ash body in a gorgeous satin red finish and Seymour Duncan SSL-6's in the middle and neck. There was a Duncan Full Shred in the bridge but she's been freshly outfitted with a BareKnuckle Holy Diver as the Full Shred was too bright and thin for my liking and as I like the HD in my Jackson I decided to get another. It does bug me a little that the BK is glossy black and the single coils are matte, but I'll learn to live with it.

She's very comfortable to play, super lightweight and the body and neck are silky smooth to the touch, you can even feel the grain of the wood under the finish. My only criticism now is the awkward position of the output jack (not my photo):

Charvelpmdk24redash_2_1024x1024.jpg
 
Got too many guitars to get them all in one photo, or to make a list. My pedalboard built March-April this year however (first one ever), is very simple and I'm super-pleased with how it turned out.

Korg Pitchblack > Cry Baby > BOSS CS-3 > BOSS LS-2 A(BOSS BF-3) B(BOSS SD-1 > BOSS DS-1) > BOSS DD-3T > BOSS GE-7.

Basically a fly-rig concept, two channels - clean with compressor, flanger and delay; and distortion with compressor and delay - with a lead boost in the GE-7 Equalizer. Loops switchable with the LS-2, a godsend of a pedal. The only things I need to touch while playing are channel (LS-2), lead boost and wah (highly optional).

All powered by a Cioks DC-7 on a Pedaltrain Classic 2 with a flightcase.

Got space and power for a pedal or two more... But am happy the way it is. Ready to rock and more simple than switching channels on an amp, adding effects. Just give me a clean channel and I'm set. Extra pleased with the flanger on my clean sound, I absolutely love it and for the first time ever I enjoy playing clean electric guitar as much as distorted.
 
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Does anyone have any experience with Fishman Fluence pickups? How would you describe their tone? How good is the vintage/modern voice switching? Are they versatile?
 
Does anyone have any experience with Fishman Fluence pickups? How would you describe their tone? How good is the vintage/modern voice switching? Are they versatile?
No but I've been thinking about putting them in my Solar. Apparently they're a much more versatile active pickup than EMG for example.

But I also dislike active pickups so am also considering Bare Knuckle.
 
No but I've been thinking about putting them in my Solar. Apparently they're a much more versatile active pickup than EMG for example.

But I also dislike active pickups so am also considering Bare Knuckle.

A month later I notice your response :lol:

I had also read that Fishmans were supposed to be more versatile and closer to a passive's tone than EMGs, but I then I read a review that painted them as a bit too "pristine" or clinical sounding and not as responsive to picking dynamics, still clearly an active pickup. I've been eyeing up a couple of ESP LTDs with Fishmans in them recently, obviously if I didn't like them I could remove and replace them, but with them being actives that would require switching out the pots too which is more hassle than I want to deal with.

I can recommend Bare Knuckle, I've tried three models across three of my guitars and been very happy, little more expensive but well worth the money. I replaced a Duncan JB and Full Shred with HolyDivers in my Jackson and Charvel respectively and the HD completely blew them both away. It's close to the JB but with none of the shrillness, plus extra clarity and dynamics. I also had the Mule in my PJD Jaguar-style, which had a wonderful old-school voice and excellent versatility, also way more power than I expected for a vintage-output pickup. I did end up replacing it with a Black Dog, only because the Mule did get a little muddy with dropped tunings (I was only going as low as drop D or BADGBE), but the BD is similar to a Mule plus a little extra output and better handling of low tunings so the guitar didn't lose any of the character I liked.
 
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