cratz2

It'd definitely be a strat. I don't currently own any H/S/S strats, but if I could only keep a single one of my guitars, I'd probably take this one and replace the bridge pickup with something like a Dimarzio Chopper and wire it with coil split:

Yes.

I've really only named two of mine and one almost doesn't count. This one is named Hannah, mostly because it reminded me of a car I used to own. I don't name cars either, but this was one named by the original owner. Car was an 88 BMW 535is and for whatever reason, this guitar just seemed to remind me of it: And this one is the one I've put more work into than any other guitar... refinished the neck, refinished the body, wired up the pickguard from two different set of pickups. It's a bit orange, but it was supposed to be 'Coral' which many Fiesta Red strats faded to... so I call it Corey. In my defense, I do think of it as a girl's name: Other than that, I just call them pretty obvious names... The Surf Green one is 'Surfy', the red-ish one is 'Red', the acoustic one is the very unimaginative 'the acoustic one'. I have one really ugly partscaster that I call either 'The ugliest guitar ever' or 'The Mut'. I guess could call my Hamer 'Hamertime.' That's all I got.

+1 to tehuk for promptly paying for a pickup -1 to me for not having the pickup I promised. I said I had a YJM and two HS3s but in fact, I had three HS3s. I gave him a refund, but I feel bad for the inconvenience.

+

+1 for brianeharmonjr Got a Fender Super Sonic amp from him in trade and it's better than described. +1 for Lonnie99 Multiple good transactions but never listed them here. +1 for lowbrow Got an Ibanez AX125 and a MIM trem from him and both are perfect. +1 for solarpimp Multiple good transactions but never listed them here. +1 for vicenzajay Got a great deal on a Pitch Black from him and he shipped it fast fast fast. +1 for Woody_in_MN Sold him a GFS Dream 90 and he paid very quickly.

My Faded had the 490r/490t pickups and in all honesty, I couldn't tell a radical difference them and the 57 Classics I have in another guitar. I admit that I am in the minority, but they I just couldn't hear the terrible horribleness so many folks speak of. They sounded like the 57 Classics but with a little more upper end and a little more mids. The 57s sounded more complex though... like the longer you listened, the deeper you could hear. I liked them so much, I bought another used set. Granted their rep is so low, I was able to get a pair of uncovered 490r/490ts for $50.

Actually the the Soldano suggestion is a good one. I haven't had that amp in a while and forgot that was an option. Not to oversimplify, but the Soldano vibe was basically an boosted 800 with having to have a separate boost. Definitely give it a try.

I think a lot of the CC hate comes from him as a person. Kind of obnoxious. In his defense, anyone that does his own body weight in blow is gonna be pretty obnoxious.

The Fadeds have carved tops. Those are all Studios. I don't think I understand the thread or this question. The Highway Ones and the Studio Fadeds have less work that goes into the finishing of the guitar which other than advertising, is likely the most expensive single step of building the guitar. Give it a finish that doesn't require much after it's applied vs someone having to wet sand and polish and buff it by hand... boom. You save $300 to $500. So these aren't real Studios? Maybe the pic in the Sam Ash one just looks like a flat top? http://www.samash.com/p/Les%20Paul%20Studio%20Electric%20Guitar%20Assorted%20Colors_817465 http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-Raw-Power-Electric-Guitar-582135-i1516800.gc http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Swamp-Ash-Studio-Electric-Guitar-102089893-i1149451.gc

Pretty much, the Studio Fadeds the Highway Ones are the same quality as the Studio and American Standard with slightly different features and a less time intensive finish process. It's not like American Standards are the best guitars ever and Highway One is utter crap. They are the same quality of instrument, but the finish and all the post build work is better and more complete on the American Standard. If you want the rolled edges and glossy finish, you pay the extra for the American Standard. Anything else (headstock shape, fret size) is personal preference not 'better or worse'.

thanks guys, this is all VERY helpful. No, I don't have any other effects, just what's in the amp, which I think are pretty good overall. If you're going for some 80s tones, I'd definitely suggest picking up a cheap-ish OD or distortion pedal. The Rat was THE pedal back then. I had one and it had a lot of raggedy gain on tap. For something a bit more subtle, look for a Boss DS1 (not the best, but will suffice and can be found cheap) a Boss SD1 (a little better - little smoother, but not really smooth and again - cheap) a Digitech Bad Monkey or Screamin Blues. These are each usually between $20 and $35 used. The Bad Monkey is a tube screamer knock which is mostly associated with boosted mids, but you can dial that out to some extent. The 80s hair bands were largely about boosted Marshalls and having any of these pedals in front of your Vox will go a long way to getting those tones. None of them sound very good going into a clean amp, but do a great job of further pushing an already dirty tone.

To me, that tone always sounded like he used chorus. Wouldn't doubt it. Back in the day, it was very fashionable to use a little bit of everything... Some compression, some amp reverb, some studio reverb, some amp gain, a pedal in front of it to boost the gain, some chorus, some delay... Most folks ended up sounding pretty similar. I haven't heard the song in a while, but I wouldn't doubt for one second that there's some chorus going on.

Going from how he sounded circa 1986 or so, I'd assume he was using a boosted JCM800 so yeah, an 800. If you have a distortion or OD pedal to put in front of it, I'd do it. Probably about 7 or 8 on the gain on the amp and the pedal half way up, obviously depending on what pedal you have. Bridge pickup, not split. For effects, probably most of it was added in post. Come compression and some 'spacial enhancements'. I never hated him. I dug his rhythm playing and always thought of it sort of like Mick Mars first three albums. Pretty basic, but with enough extras thrown in to make it interesting. I liked his melodic solos more than his more out there solos. I don't see how the solo from Every Rose Has It's Thorn could possibly have fit the song any better. Of course, guys that grew up well after that song will knock it, but an awful lot of guys got laid an awful lot of times by playing that song.

what i really love about the DKMGT and the DXMG is the compound radius fretboard. i love how it flattens out up top. Without a doubt. I've had about 4 guitars with a compound radius, but they were all very modern feeling necks. Another forum member is building a very traditional looking strat with a compound radius Warmoth neck. Standard C shape, standard Fender type headstock. If it turns out half as good as I expect, I'll buy one. I don't hate them, but I just don't get on with very wide, very shallow Jackson/Ibanez/Parker necks anymore and greatly prefer Fender C to slightly bigger than Fender C necks profiles but DEFINITELY dig the compound radius.

Sweet. I used to have one just like that... but mine was a bit older and a different color. And MIA. And had an arched top and and was neck-thru. And had an OFR and was bound. And no reverse headstock. Come to think of it, mine was kinda different. Honestly though, I've played precious few Jacksons made before 2002 or so that I couldn't get a great setup out of. I bought a 1997 or 1998 Professional Dinky Reverse with a Wilkinson non-locking trem for like $325 after having been away from shredders for quite a while and I absolute could not believe how great of a guitar you could buy for $325 brand new. Obviously not on par with my old Soloist, but radically better than anything at that price point in 87.

Right back atcha, Doc. +1 for Doctor Morbius - Always-reliable, always on time. And a +1 to Lowbrow for a Dimarzio Chopper pickup.

I have little refinishing advice and I haven't used any paint, only oils. My #1 bit of advice based on my experience is use a finer grit paper, then use a finer grit, then use an even finer grit. This is an Ibanez. I really took my time on the flats... the front and back. There is one gouge in the back, but I didn't want to fill it and it doesn't really look THAT bad. I used a palm sander on everything, using 60 then 180. Then I hand sanded with 360 or 400 then 600 on the flat front and back. On the sides, I only went down to 360. It looked fine without a finish and felt absolutely as smooth as the flats. Put as soon as I applied Tru Oil to it, the sides/bevels actually looked visibly different than the flats. Next time, I will to 600 everywhere. I really rushed through this project though. I only sanded for about an hour and a half total, then applied the Tru Oil letting each coat dry exactly 3 hours, 1000 (maybe 2000) grit sanded the first coat, then steel-wooled after the second and third coat. Looks pretty good in pics and pretty good in person actually, but next time, I'll spend all the time I need and then some on the sanding.

Every guitarist should attempt every skill they want to attempt. How's that for vague? On electric - since we ARE on an electric forum - the only times I finger pick is if I'm noodling along with a song, playing the vocal line on the guitar, or if I'm playing a lead and a harmony, I tend to prefer the results of picking the lower line and finger picking the upper part. Sounds more balanced than if I pick both strings at the same time. So sure... lots of people would benefit from spending a decent amount of time fingerpicking, even if it just inspires them to do something a bit differently.

This is sort of like comparing Wish You Were Here to Dark Side Of The Moon. The high points of Wish You Were Here are absolutely outstanding, but the overwhelming majority of folks will like go with Dark Side because it's great start to finish and is simply more iconic. If I can only have one Radiohead disc, it would definitely be OK Computer.

Maybe my eyes are going, but in that one pic, it doesn't look like the pickup rings line up properly. Not only a fake, but a bad fake. If you have some time to waste, go look at it, then say, 'Sure I'll give you $35 for it.'

I'm definitely a try it before you buy it kinda guy unless you are getting it for less than you KNOW you can sell it for. Having said that, I think there's more consistency in American and Japanese stuff than with the Mexican stuff. But I've played some awfully nice higher end Mexican strats as well... The Classic Series and Classic Players guitars and I like those Robert Cray necks nearly as much as I've liked any neck at any price.

Sometimes I feel the same way. I'm not metal at all, don't usually get along with lower priced HB guitars, don't care for black guitars and don't like pointy guitars. But... last time I was at Guitar Center, I saw one of these for the first time, played it and came this close to walking out with it: Plus it was 20% off. Pretty spiffy for $160. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone-Explorer-GT-Electric-Guitar-581887-i1471985.gc

I dig 80s and early 90s Japanese and the prices are getting pretty silly on those kinds of items. In the last two weeks, I bought a Japanese Squier, a Japanese Fender and a Japanese Aria Pro II for less most of the Japanese Fenders are listed BIY on eBay. I still look there, but rarely find guitars I'd buy for the asking prices.

The only album of theirs I had was their third with Heaven on it. I first heard it on college radio before the song broke big. I instantly loved it. The basic song, the harmony, the lead playing. Far from the greatest song ever, but it certainly got my attention. Sort of like a blues player that had spent a lot of time listening to metal, but only took it as an slight influence rather than major one. I've got nothing but love for Henry.