A work in progress - the 'Charvel' guitar

While she doesn't look like much now, this guitar started life as a Charvel . Can't remember the model. Anyway, I sanded this one down to the wood and stained it, which I don't think I'm going to keep. This guitar will most likely be painted a custom color, such as Shoreline gold, maybe even Sherwood Green metallic (fender colors) or even a Les Paul gold top color... not sure yet!

Anyway, the real magic of this one comes from the Neck (LTD, fast action) and the pickups - both Gibson ('57 Classic (vintage style) humbucker, and a '57 Classic plus) in the neck position. They sound fantastic for blues, jazz, even classic rock stuff.

Don't really have much more to say on this one, because it's not complete yet, but it sounds and plays like magic... now I just need to make it look more like that! The action is quite low, and the neck is quick -- but I still can't compare the neck to guitars like my Larivee or my Jackson, they're real shred-necks and this one is a bit slower.

I love the sounds you can make from this one. She dishes out heavy tone every time, and the Gibson pickups are just amazing for blues stuff. I think the fact that the body is a bit towards the heavier side only helps things.

Schecter S-1 Elite

My dad went shopping at a local pawn shop one afternoon, and came back to the studio with this beauty. I think he scored it for around $200. Anyway, it plays great! I was very impressed ; the tone out of the 'Duncan Designed' pickups was meaty, and powerful ; but they sound great clean too. The body isn't super heavy, but is made of solid mahogany and has a set mahogany neck to boot. It's all setup fantastic and very well build in my opinion, and I've played hundreds of 'custom' LPs, Strats, PRS, you name it. Top that with a gorgeous flamed maple top, abalone binding (and inlay) all around the neck and body, grover tuners, and a push pull coil tap -- and you've got one pretty sweet little axe.

Here's the manufacture's description:

"The S1 Elite is a set-neck double cutaway with a figured maple top on its mahogany body. The neck is 3-piece mahogany with a 22-jumbo fret fingerboard and Gothic Cross inlays. Its Tone Pros bridge system strings thru the body for increased sustain and the fullest tone. Other features include Grover tuners, Duncan Design H101 pickups and abalone binding. "

One thing that I've noticed is that this guitar (in terms of bass, compressed mid range tone) stands up to a Les Paul. The neck is a little wide for me, (like a PRS?) thinner than a Gibson but fatter than a strat. They're only $700 retail, so an axe like this for that price is a steal in my book.

The range of tones you can get out of this guitar still floors me. You can get blues, metal, jazz, and classic rock tones out of this guitar in spades, and you could probably get some country tones out of it as well. The pickups have a very full sound to them with plenty of midrange (which I like) and bite. The guitar is made in Korea, but obviously really well built - better than almost all of the other 'foreign' guitars I've played. Then of course you have it's stage appeal --- it's a really pretty guitar to look at, but I won't go into detail there as I'm sure a million others have. It's got amazing inlay, a beautiful top, and I wish they had done the Schecter guitar (name) in abalone as well. That's my only complaint.

Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty Custom Shop - 2008

This Gibson LP Black Beauty was my main guitar when I first started (really) playing well... it's an '08, custom shop with gold grovers and hardware. A great example of what a Gibson 'is all about'. This guitar has burst buckers and sounds wonderful with the distortion cranked up for leads and hard (huge) sounding rhythm stuff. It really is an awesome sounding axe, and I wouldn't trade it's tone for any other guitar. However, she still isn't my #1. See the Larrivee RS2 for that :)









The action is very nice, it's a bit inhibiting to play however and I actually prefer a 'Strat' style guitar now over the LP shape. It also weighs as much as a boat anchor and likes to dig into your belly when you play. But the tone? Yeah, Amazing.










Here is a picture of my Gibson at my uncle's recording studio in Novato. I was playing through a Jaguar Retro (2 x 10" combo) prototype at the time on loan from Jaguar Amplification. Thanks Henry!

Ibanez AF95 Hollowbody

I can't say enough good things about the Ibanez AF95. It's like having a Gretsch in the corner to play, but without spending $4,000. Seriously. It sounds as good and (seems very similar) to the Gibson ES-175. My dad had one, so that's what he says and he would know ; being a studio and live musician for years. These guys are real (completely hollow, no tone block) hollow bodies made from real maple, and the top and back sides on mine are pretty beautiful when cast in the light. The finish under low lighting looks almost black from a distance.



The Inlay is abalone with mother of pearl framing on the neck, the bridge / tail piece and on the headstock. Features a very nice bridge humbucker (which produces cool 'twangy' cleans, and rich full leads) and a neck humbucker that has that 'creamy' jazz box sound. It's seriously everything that I wanted in a hollow body and I couldn't be happier with this guitar.



Action is quite low (especially for a hollow body) and the neck is a thinner radius ; and pretty fast. Feels like it has some weight, and substance. The top and sides are real flamed maple. The neck is solid mahogany. POTs are crappy and I may replace them -- especially if one acts up in the future. Tail piece is thick, tough metal and nothing looks cheap / thin or like it could break on you at all. It's a well made I-bee. Even the pick guard is made from a solid hunk of curly maple. I also like this guitar because it compliments my other curly maple solid body (visually) and sounds like a much more expensive guitar probably due to just the materials / woods they used as opposed to an Epiphone hollow body for example.


I've never been a big fan of Epiphone DOTs, and I think the Ibanez is a superior instrument for the money. Of course, you'll find as always with any (foreign factory made) guitars some are made much better than others ; which is why you have to play them before you buy them. I almost never buy a guitar without playing it first. The exception was the Fernandes with Sustainer.

The nut I replaced with a graph tech one, and I may replace the tuners with grovers eventually, because the guitar is worth having better hardware added. Perhaps Gibson pickups later too, but I like the stock ones just fine.



Of course, one nice feature of the AF95 is the fact that the tail piece / bridge is pretty dang solid and doesn't go out of tune. Another thing I love about this guitar - turn up distortion, on the bridge pup and she starts to sound like a hearty Gibson Les Paul. It's a really meaty distortion tone with lots of depth. The clean tones range from slightly twangy to silky smooth.

If you're looking for a good, inexpensive hollow body I highly suggest the AF95 - for it's materials, tone, and look. It's worth the extra money over the AF75 too. I played a few AF75 models, and I felt like (while it's the same guitar) it lacked something in the fit and finish department. If I can find one of the limited gold-top AF75's though, I'll have to make it mine.

'62 Fender Strat RI

This is my '62 Fender Strat RI [USA], with Fender Noiseless pups. Makes all those cool vintage strat tones in spades. The color is a rare 'Surf Green', which some people love and others absolutely hate. I guess it's a preference thing, I think it's a neat 'vintage' looking color but I am not very partial to it. My dad thinks it's great, but he's from that Era (born in the 50's) and I'm sure he's drooled over a few Surf Green Fenders in his day. I say - hey - at least it's not Fiesta Red. The maple neck on this guy is suuuper smooth sailing, and very easy to play. I use this guitar for Reggae rhythms, jazz, - predominantly clean stuff, without the fluff.



The pickups are OK, but I think it might be a more interesting guitar with Texas Specials in there or something. I may change them out in the future in favor of something else ; but they do have a lot of vintage strat vibe to them. I'm not cursing them or anything, but of course they feedback etc... single coils are known for it. I guess I kind of miss having a humbucker too when I am playing this guy, so I think she sees more action when dad is in the studio these days.

The 'Orange' Strat

Custom MIM Strat Body (painted corvette c5 atomic orange) with a Jackson 'V' neck





Originally my lead guitar (and a real screamer as the bridge pickup (DiMarzio DP192) is hot!) this is my custom 'Corvette C5' Atomic Orange Stratocaster. This guitar was my main guitar for years, and I still love to play it ; although now she doesn't look like the first picture (with the black pick guard) ; and the tone is closer to a vintage strat now for both neck, mid, and bridge pups because of the coil taps and 'selector switch' for turning on either the neck or middle pup in (any) position.




Now the guitar looks (more beat up!) but has a slew of custom wiring and electronics in her as well as a pearl pick guard and some other minor changes. The first two pups are hand wound (by myself of course) to sound like Vintage '54 Fender Stratocaster pickups, and I think I nailed it. The wiring done is a push pull coil split for the humbucker (Dimarzio DP192) ; and a toggle switch for turning on the bridge or neck pup in any position. I also changed the selector switch a long time ago to an Fender American Std. one, and added an oil tone cap on a push pull pot (tone) so I can bypass the tone capacitor, one of my secret tone weapons ...

This is the old wiring w/ custom Varitone Switch (tone capacitor selector):



This is the new wiring:



I love this guitar for the neck, and the weight of the body... even though it came from a MIM strat, it's still a pretty weighty chunk of Alder, and I think that has ALOT to do with it's tone. The Jackson neck is awesome, I mean we're talking fast action! It was one of my first 'slim' tapered necked guitars, coming from Gibsons and Fenders ; and I actually stopped playing my Les Paul to play this one more. It had what I wanted, and still want - something clean in the neck, and something hot in the bridge. I call it my 'best of both worlds' guitar, because it has 'both the tones' I want, and it also changed my playing style and made me a better guitar player. Pretty epic. I bought the guitar from a friend whom owed me some money, and he was kinda sad to see it go. I fell in love months later, because I didn't realize what I had & continued to play my Gibson black beauty LP.



With the push-pull pots, and selector switch - I get some AMAZING 'vintage' American Strat cleans out of this guitar that sound both in phase and out. I even get a 'Telecaster' tone I just love in one position, so it's very versatile. The bridge pickup is a hot screamer, and I've always liked the tone of the Dimarzio DP192. When coil split, it sounds good too and you can still punch leads out with it, especially through a pedal board. The cleans aren't bad when split either, but I prefer the neck / mids for that.





A close up of the fast action Jackson neck with 'Shark Fin' inlays:



See how thin they went on this one? LOVE it!



The Shark Fin inlay is pretty cool too. Rosewood fretboard obviously.

1988 Larrivee Custom RS-2 CM / RS2 CM

1988 Larrivee Custom RS2-CM / RS-2 CM




Currently my favorite guitar, and the one being played the most in the studio. Born on 6/7/1988 in Vancouver Canada , this Custom (curly maple) topped RS2 is an absolute dream to play. The neck is (super) fast, and even faster than my custom Jackson-necked Strat. The odd thing about this guitar is the neck pickup (offset) and no middle pup. Normally, these guitars came with two singles in a standard configuration with the humbucker in the bridge.



Fit and finish is on par with a custom shop Fender, PRS, or Gibson. The quality is 'over the top' notch on this axe, even the maple cap on top is very thick, nicely matched etc. The neck is bound, and the body is an arch top with cut away around the horns sort of like a PRS. I love this guitar. I'll never sell it. The tone is amazing, and she out plays all the Gibsons and Fenders I've played. Seriously. Sometimes you just find a guitar that 'clicks' with you, and this is it for me. I'm not a big fan of the Floyd Rose on there, wasn't really my preference but it does allow you to do some pretty wild Steve Hackett tremolo stuff. This is my #1 lead guitar and I love this axe for playing Hackett, Gilmour ... screaming blues stuff mainly. Kee Marcelo played an RS2 as well, and he was a very (fast) and accurate player. I love this guitar so much it makes me fuzzy inside when I think about her.  I should have a photo on here of the guitar from the back side, but it's amazingly playable and accessible --"smooth sailing" here dudes.



The neck pup sounds a lot like a 'vintage strat' knock off... so you get those wonderful clean tones, but with a really ripping (hot, hot) hum-bucker in the bridge position. I get better tone as well as sustain out of that stock Larrivee humbucker than I do out of the Gibson '57 Classics, (correction, this is actually a DiMarzio pickup in the bridge, not a Larrivee pup) -  the DiMarzio DP192, etc.. Larrivees are awesome guitars, but usually known for their high quality acoustics - and I can only see what small # of solid bodies that they did make - going up in value (big time) once they are discovered probably 5 to 10 years from now when they're (really, really rare) which this one already is.




The only modification to this guitar was the addition of a oil tone capacitor ( MOD ) .0022uf. It didn't change the tone all that much, possibly due to the fact that this guitar uses a concentric tone POT which has a middle point (at 250K) and when turned all the way up it's (500K) ... so you get the best of both Strat and Humbucker tones. It pretty much stays on 500k though.

Fernandes Monterey - Review, Tips, and the Fernandes Sustainer

2008 Fernandes Monterey w/ Sustainer


While not one of my most expensive guitars in the studio, this Fernandes Monterey with Sustainer circuitry is pretty unique. It has a Gotoh bridge pickup, and a sustainer neck pickup. When I first received the guitar, I noticed it would feedback a lot from the bridge pickup and I could get it to 'stop' feed backing when I physically tilted the bridge pup with my finger. Hmmmm. Pulled the tape off around the bridge pickup only to find this one had not been wax sealed properly, which was probably the reason for all the feedback. I decided to replace that pickup with one of my hand wound humbuckers, and now it sounds (alot) more like a Les Paul, with all that compressed goodness. Wiring was a complete mess too, and quality isn't (really) there... I would do a better job on the wiring if I had done it myself, and this kind of bothered me.



The weight of this guitar isn't really there either. While mahogany is a great tone wood, and one I personally prefer -- this guitar made use of only a thin slab of it, and it doesn't dish out tone (like it could) if they had used a thicker, heavier body.

I like the neck, it's got kind of a wide PRS feel to it, but it's radius isn't huge and it's pretty easy to play... paint looks great (very nice silver pearl job), the headstock I don't like much. Tuners are 'Grover' spin-offs with the 'tulip' heads. I like that, just wish they were real grovers!



The sustainer is pretty cool. You have two modes -- one which sustains (indefinitely) as long as you are 'activating' the string and another which goes into a 'feedback' squeal . I like both. The problem with the system is that it can be feedback-ie on the high E string, and it literally eats 9V batteries for breakfast.

My Gear

I love blog posts where people get to show off their gear, so I figured I would start a blog -- detailing my gear, and some of the experiences I've had with it (good or bad) so that other fellow musicians can get an honest opinion on guitars, amps, and pickups.

A little background - I'm a total nerd. I've taken apart everything since I was 9 years old, and I do most of my own guitar work - especially when it comes to electronics. I even shocked the crap out of myself last night fixing an old Peavy Bass amp! (seriously).

Eventually, I'm going to make my own guitar brand ; and wind my own pickups. A CNC machine is my first (large leap) which I will probably take before next year (2012) to make my own guitar bodies. I think there are huge quality control issues in the guitar manufacturing process right now which can't be cured through more corporate hype. I want well made, GREAT sounding guitars with 'special' features... more on that to come.