New Zealand Heavy Metal Forum & Discussion

[soundstorm]

Recently got bored and fucked around with some of my guitars..

Got out a real oldie, Washburn (hadn't touched this guy in years) and did this:



Gutted the electronics entirely, changed signal path, reset Floyd Rose for new tunings/string gauge, etc.. Working on some cool electronics stuff for this one - will post updates as it pans out.

Filling in old pickup holes + knob holes and repainting, snow white.

Chucked a passive EMG in the neck of my mockingbird (photo coming)

Chucked a passive EMG in my new Gunslinger - will post a photo of this girl soon. Gonna repaint also, as soon as I get a bit of cash to do so. Snow white.

[Mince]

That looks really weird.. i cant quite figure it out

[Death]

how do you find playing gats with the frets borred out like that? whats the pro's n con's?

[Trendkill]

Wow trippy, can you bend the string inwards for a special effect?

[Rob]

its called "scalloped" frets. except these are probably 200X overboard. lol

does it even play. can u make a chord yet?

hah. check richy blackmore. thats why he's the pro he uses scolloped frets on his fenders for years.

[Torturor]

Aye, 'tis a fine scallop to be sure.

What tools did you use buddy?

[soundstorm]

Just used a round file and a shitload of sandpaper. Frets ended up coming out much smoother and nicer that the untouched frets.

Karl Sanders has his guitars with scallops this deep, playing them made me think it would be a cool thing to do for a project guitar. Much deeper than most scalloped frets, thats for sure. Except I've only done a traditional scallop, from fret 14 upwards. Maybe if I can be bothered one day I might do the rest.

Currently in the process of sanding down the Gunslinger and the Warlock for painting. Will post pics sometime soon.

[soundstorm]

Here is the Mockingbird. Put the passive EMG in the other week. Sounds nice and round in the neck position. I've raised her quite close to the strings (closer at least than the invader) so the output is high with chunky lows and low mids - works nicely for saturated lead stuff and also some cleans.



Here is the Gunslinger - put a passive EMG in her too, to be honest, no idea how it sounds. Used her for a couple of songs last weekend at KA but other than that, haven't even plugged her in.



Have since pulled her apart and am working on repainting her white, perhaps with black binding or perhaps the whole sides of the body black, with just white front and back. Pretty effortless and painless to sand down apart from a few tricky parts I'm still finishing up. If I get the chance I'm gonna head out today and try find some primer and start looking at suitable paint and shit.

[soundstorm]

And to answer other questions - the theory behind scalloped frets is basically that you have greater control due to less friction while playing (practically none). With the strings not touching any fretboard, you can (in theory) play faster, bigger and more controlled vibrato. This is how Karl Sanders does those awesome bends! Ha..

Advantages and disadvantages from Wikipedia:

The "scooped out" nature of scalloped fingerboards creates a number of changes in the way the guitar plays.

Most obvious, is that the fingertip only comes into contact with the string, not the fingerboard itself, creating less friction for bends and vibratos, which results in more overall control while playing.

However, that is also one of the main disadvantages. Many players, especially new players, may find a scalloped fingerboard to be too different to play easily — if the strings are light for the player and/or the player has the tendency to press too hard on the fingerboard, it does take practice to play in tune on a scalloped fingerboard. The player must first become accustomed to not actually touching the fingerboard, which may take some time. Playing a scalloped fingerboard requires a careful application of pressure: too much can change the pitch of the fretted note, as during a bend, and too little pressure can cause fret buzz. As a result, the majority of guitar players choose to use a traditional fingerboard on their instruments.

[Rob]

bro yours aren't scalloped. there more like "PAUA'D" haha

[Torturor]

That white Invader in the mock' looks killer!

[Rob]

personally i used to like the mockingbird only a tad. now i dont like it at all. =/ some must though why they make it.

[soundstorm]

personally i used to like the mockingbird only a tad. now i dont like it at all. =/ some must though why they make it.

I don't know many people who don't like them. In fact, quite the opposite. I get fuckloads of comments on mine. Such an awesome looking guitar! Isn't the best for leads (accessibility more than anything) but other than that, really, really cool guitar.

[Rob]

actives all round or just the neck? if so. why just the neck? also im not a fan of telecaster stocks =(

[soundstorm]

actives all round or just the neck? if so. why just the neck? also im not a fan of telecaster stocks =(

Neither are actives - neck pickup is a EMG HZ - lower output than the actives yet still detailed and full tone (have an EMG81 in another guitar, not such a fan of them). The HZ has a much more controllable output - high output when on full but can be taken right back to clean (with a usable tone) as opposed to a lot of active EMGs. It works well with the kinda stuff I do with Anabyss and nicely complements the Invader in the bridge.