1

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Actually I have two Marshall amps a 15 watt with clean, OD/crunch no foot pedal.

I also have a 30 watt with four programmable channels with clean, od1/od2, crunch, (FX)  chorus, phaser,
flanger, vibe,and octave.

tab tempo, tuner, reverb with a 4 switch programmable foot pedal............

2

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I don't know if you read the original post about this guitar? ....Yahama to Strat
It has an Agathis body, a Maple Neck, and a Rosewood fret board............

This guitar has been highly modified......The modifications to it plus the price of the original guitar
Cost as much as a Mexican Fender, I have over $500.00 dollars invested .............If I add labor
$1000.00

I set out to save money I wound up spending more .............
I think it is was worth it because it has features that a Strat doesn't have..........

It has a personal touch...........

These include, dual tone capacitors, serial to parallel wiring for the Humbucker, a reverse polarity
middle pickup, all vintage 1960's Seymour Duncan pickups wired exactly like the original 1960's
Fender pickups..............

You cannot believe how much the tone is changed by switching between serial and parallel on the Humbucker.
It virtually goes from a moderate low in parallel to a high pitch in the serial mode............

3

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Some pictures of the front:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/13706472023_3e2fd76f56.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/13706722314_9dbcbd8f9c.jpg

4

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I would like to take moment to say thanks for that fine explanation on how to post the pictures.
I would have never figured it out by myself........
I don't think it is anywhere else on this site that I know of............
I wonder why?

Gus

5

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

This is what the Agathis wood looks like on a Yahama that has a clear finish

I recently read that one of the uses for this wood is in the building of Yachts......
As you can see it would make for a nice looking cabin on a yacht



Code:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/13706394183_3bb75cb2bc.jpg

6

(4 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

beamer wrote:

Hell If I want better sustaing,, that is what my comp/sustainer pedal is for smile

How do you use it?

I read up on compressor sustain, it works like an automatic volume control, an AGC in other words, automatic gain control. It struggles to keep the volume above and below a certain threshold.........

So it is in essence a volume control, it cannot alter the intrinsic resonance of the fret board wood or body
of an instrument.

Say, if the string vibrations and the echo feedback from a certain fret board reach zero in 20 secs. it will do so no matter what kind of amp it is plugged into.

The comp/sustain circuit may help it remain audible for a longer period, however, and that is a desirable parameter.

But the Piezoelectric sensor in a Snark vibration style tuner is way beyond the human hearing
range and it is the vibrations we are interested in for this test, not audio. 

My intention with the test is to compare this intrinsic resonance gathered by feed back from other members who do the test and post the result here.
Maybe we might get an idea of what type woods actually work better.

I admit it is a crude test and most people won't bother with it since there is little that can be done with
the information except maybe help narrow the choices when purchasing a new guitar.

My motivation is pure curiosity

Gus

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/13706394183_3bb75cb2bc_q.jpg

7

(13 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I have a question!

How do you post a picture to this site?
I see some people have accomplished it.

Is it discouraged?

8

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Tenement Funster wrote:

Wondered the same thing, Gusspoon. I wouldn't think that going to a denser wood for just the fretboard would have much impact on weight. Verawood isn't dark, which may be the reason it's not used. It would be good to hear from an experienced luthier about this ... I'm sure there s a good reason.

The hardest wood that was listed is African Ebony 3080 on the hardness scale...........must be expensive!
I agree with you about using verawood for the fret board.........

I read recently that the fret board counts for 70% of sustain, the body it's self is less than 30%........
Which makes me wonder why Fender uses Maple necks and Maple fret board or no fret board at all with
the Maple neck?

Rosewood is 2790 hardness and sugar maple is 1450 hardness.........

9

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I heard an online instructor say one time, learn how all of your amplifier controls work because you are really
playing the Amp.
True to some degree I suppose..........

I have two Marshall amps, the 30watt has all the bells and whistles, I can't figure out how to work it.
It has a programmable foot controller and 4 channels plus clean/crunch.......

Marshall instructions are lousy, the owner's manual is devoid of detail!

Gus

10

(4 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

If it works, and I think it will, it's a easy way to tell something about string aging even the condition
of the bridge and nut.

That B string that was about 9.66 secs. well it turned out it had a bit of dark lint from a buffing cloth
hanging on it.
I never noticed it and probably never would have, but for this test........

Now it rings for about 12 secs similar to the e string.....

deadstring wrote:

I use them on everything I have with no problems.
By the way, my user name comes from my poor playing, not from the strings I use.lol

I'm from Louisiana North West Louisiana Shreveport..........
I came up here to Colorado to die............
I After 30 years in the oil field I got real bad heart trouble, I wished I had stayed where I belong!
I started to learning to play to keep my mind occupied and stave off depression
About a year now I have really learned a lot......Never had much time for anything but work..
All ways wanted to be a rock star............Hmmmm!...... maybe I waited too late!

12

(4 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I discovered a good way to test a guitar's sustain, you old timers may all ready know about it.

but it might help a fellow, out to buy a new guitar or just to compare..........or maybe tell you when it's time to change strings.

I will post my results here and hope I get some comparative feedback......

You'll need a stop watch I used my cell phone it has a timer under the tools menu it works great
You need an decent tuner that senses the vibrations at the neck, a clip on type.
I have several different types some use and internal microphone but I wanted to use one that strictly
uses vibration only, for obvious reasons, it is the vibrations we are testing.

I have 3 of these a Korg, Yamaha, and Snark, of the 3 I like the Snark best because it will lock on to the tonic and stay locked until the vibrations die off then it will drop back to zero.........

After you have carefully tuned up your guitar leave the tuner clipped on and get out you cell phone or stop watch

Use a medium or light pick, strike the string about the way you would a good strumming lick
Press start as soon as the tuner locks on, and press stop immediately when it goes to zero
Record your numbers.

The results are how long that guitar held the note, that is important, the longer the better.

My numbers on the Yahama Pacifica using the snark tuner and light pick were:

Sixth low E.............19.37 seconds
Fifth        A.............18.51 secs.
Fourth     D............ 17.15 secs.
Third       G.............15.19 secs.
Second    B............ 9.66   secs.
High        e.............12.78 secs.

That B string looks like I need to inspect, 9.66 was as high as it ever got after several test runs. Maybe it is set too low or some wrong at the bridge or Nut or the string is damaged...... If I find something I will post it

Try this and let let us compare results............

PS.  After  close exam I found a bit of lint from a buffing cloth hung onto the the B.
After clearing this the B will hold until about 12 secs. now, closer to high e ...............

13

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Tenement Funster wrote:

From everything I've read (and what little I've experienced) the type of wood used affects a lot about the sound of a guitar. This is readily audible in acoustics more than electrics. The various woods selected will affect how rigid the neck is, how much sustain it will have, how well it holds tune, how the pickups react to the strings, and apparently a lot of other subtle things. For example, I'm really impressed with the way Ibanez uses a five-layered neck on many of it's bass guitars. This allows them to be thinner (faster) than many others, yet still very rigid.

I posted a link a while back to a wood database site, and have really enjoyed reading up on them. While some are dense / hard and seem suited for instruments, they're often oily and hard to work with, hard to glue, etc. I've been told I'm hard-headed and hard to work with! (hyuk)

http://www.wood-database.com/

For example, I've often wondered why "Verawood" (a.k.a. Argentine Lignum Vitae) isn't used for fretboards, as an alternative to ebony or rosewood. It's relatively inexpensive, plentiful, good to work with, and much harder than either of the other two. It's ranked at 3710 on the Janka hardness scale, while African Ebony is at 3080, and Brazilian Rosewood is at 2790. I understand that the harder the fretboard, there's more sustain and a cleaner tone.

I looked up vera wood it seems from the chart to be the second hardest wood there is 
I wonder if it would be too heavy to carry or too dense to work with??

14

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

beamer wrote:

Ummm ....Pictures???

Try this site:                https://www.flickr.com/photos/122653243@N04/

15

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I looked these woods up for hardness, which I think is the main parameter looked for in making a good
(echo) sustain electric guitar........

And still be light enough to carry.

Rose wood 2790 hardness
Maple        1450 hardness
Alder         590 hardness
Agathis     1350 hardness

There plenty of much harder woods

http://ejmas.com/tin/2009tin/tinart_goldstein_0904.html

16

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

From my limited experience with it I don't see why people turn up their nose at Agathis wood for guitar
bodies. It is very heavy and dense, I would think that would be the ideal parameter to make a sounding board.
I don't know the intrinsic resonance of such wood but it is bound to reflect vibrations needed for good sustain. And this is the property most desired buy the manufacturer.

Maybe the reason for the bad reputation is because it is used in a lot of cheaper guitars made in Asia so it gets tagged as cheap.
The fact is it is very plentiful in the around Asia and grows in many places so this would tend to make it cheaper to use.
Cheaper to use doesn't directly translate into cheap wood.
If they used it in an American Fender it would likely make the guitar more costly, because the wood would need be imported from Asia........

17

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Grah1 wrote:

I  have  a  standard  one  its  great  plays  better  than my  strat

Is your Yamaha Pacifica very heavy?.......

I do not have wide experience with guitar types.
I'm trying to get an idea about weights, I have a Strat Clone that weighs about 5-6 lb.s
I have no idea what wood is in it, I do know that this Clone is made in laminated pieces about 1" inch........
I was wonder what a real Strat weighs

18

(17 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I bought  a Yamaha 012 Pacifica Deluxe, it was OK but a little rough.

I tell you it is one heavy guitar, Agathis is almost 30lbs./cu ft. this guitar weighs about 9 lbs. A body this solid
must have good sustain, with it's Red Wood fret board and it does!
Some things on this guitar, like the Humbucker, didn't fit right, it was tilted and I couldn't make it stay flat.
The fret ends were unfinished and scratchy.

Here's what I did to fix it;  after filing and polishing the fret ends to make the neck feel smooth and finished
I installed a set of Seymour Duncan Vintage 1960's pickups, the middle pickup is reversed wound,
I wired the Bridge Humbucker where it can be switched from series to parallel by way of a miniature SPDT
toggle and this really changes the tone of that pickup from high treble to low and mellow.
I but in dual tone capacitors a .047mf and a .021mf with another mini-toggle switch.......this changes
the tone on high treble but hardly noticeable with a lot of bass........
I installed all new Stratocastor tone and volume control as the orginals were cheap China crap.
I installed a new Strat 5 way switch and got rid of the original cheap-o.........

This guitar really sounds good with a lot of tone selection .....you can play anything from low mellow chords
or smooth Jazz to screaming high treble licks.

But I wouldn't do it again!
You can buy a Mexican Fender for less money.

I would put it up against any Fender and I love to play this thing!

I don't know how to actually post a picture here, but try this site     https://www.flickr.com/photos/122653243@N04/


Gus

19

(14 replies, posted in Music theory)

I have been learning pentatonic scales.......
Are there Pentatonic s for just a plain natural scale? Not Major or Minor just a natural scale.

Example:

G A B C D E F G..............

What would the derivative be?

Gus

20

(7 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Howdy!

This is Gus.....

Does anyone out there have trouble makeing the A major?

My three fat fingers just barely fit D, G, B in the first Fret......

Some people hate F

But A is the hardest chord for me to make......

Gus

21

(3 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Howdy!

I'm Gus actually nickname.......live in Colorado, Have lived in Arkansas and Texas
Real name Collin Courtney 70 years old with serious heart trouble............
I took up Guitar once when I was a teenage kid......I had the Major chords down good enough to jam around with some other kids.......
Things happened senior year..........the Army needed us to go down and see about Castro who had missiles
pointed at us........
Came home 4 years later had lost most of my guitar ability by then........
Got married had kids no time for the guitar........
Here I am 50 years later with a little time left......I thought I would take a more serious look back, with a much greater appreciation of God and his gifts..........
My goal is to learn "Jam-Man" a beautiful piece of work by Chet it's a long way from where I'm at........
Why not set your goals high even if I die trying......
The Guitar is just a wonderful and versatile instrument..........
My fingers are sore, so I will go now.......
Send me an email let me know about yourself......any suggestion you have for new learner!

Gus

22

(9 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Howdy!
I'm Gus actually nickname.......live in Colorado, Have lived in Arkansas and Texas
Real name Collin Courtney 70 years old with serious heart trouble............
I took up Guitar once when I was a teenage kid......I had the Major chords down good enough to jam around with some other kids.......
Things happened senior year..........the Army needed us to go down and see about Castro who had missiles
pointed at us........
Came home 4 years later had lost most of my guitar ability by then........
Got married had kids no time for the guitar........
Here I am 50 years later with a little time left......I thought I would take a more serious look back, with a much greater appreciation of God and his gifts..........
My goal is to learn "Jam-Man" a beautiful piece of work by Chet it's a long way from where I'm at........
Why not set your goals high even if I die trying......
The Guitar is just a wonderful and versatile instrument..........
My fingers are sore, so I will go now.......
Send me an email let me know about yourself.

Gus

23

(9 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I am Gus

I am a beginner..........

Is this Guitar any good?................ Yahama FG700S

How does it compare with other acustic Guitars?

Which one has the truest notes?

Gus