Show me your guitar and I will still not be able to ...

[LeMort]

Nice Guitars Shjak and Mayday.

I especially liked the vintage/old look on Frankenstein, you've *seriously* modded that one!
I've never tried Scallops and I'm not a shredder either. I'm very blues-based in my playing.
One reason for that might be Gilmour, who also is a hero of mine
I understand you've put a Pizo on your acoustic? She's a beauty, that's for sure!

I also liked the Balalaika, Mayday. I would love to find one to own myself. If I won a gazillion dollars in lottery I would probably try to buy every type of instrument there is. I love instruments, consider them my friends. That's why guitars get names and I'm not able to sell them, not even if I wanted to try.

Mell; I've always wondered about Thinline's. What's their pro's? I did try one at a store, but it did not resonate much at all unplugged. So it must a sound-thing it does I don't understand.
Your partscaster looked really cool too!

I'll upload a few more guitars later. This thread is fun!

LeM:)

[Shjak2823]

I agree this Thread is fun.
Been awhile since I Have been with Guitar lovers.
I'm Enjoying It,
I think the reason I laid the guitar down foe a while was because I had collected so much Equipment over the years that when the last band i was in stopped playing that I took all my gear and squeezed it into a back closet. then every time I wanted to play , I would have to move all that gear out of the closet to grab the pieces I wanted to play with for 10 -20 minutes then pack it all back into that closet. I guess I just got lazy.
Last year I started to remodel the house and decided to create a dedicated Computer/ Guitar room.
I am terrible at budgeting and i'm no Carpenter. I over kill on everything I do. Before I realized it, I found myself deep in debt over it. LoL But at least I got all my equipment out of that closet and into a Cabinet wall That housed each piece and got it all wired up so all I will need do is grab my Guitar, plug it in and turn it on.
Now whats my excuse??
Frankenstein is a Wonderful Guitar to Play with however with all that electronic gear and batteries to run those active EMG-SA pickups makes that Guitar fairly heavy. But at least now I can sit while playing it.
The Beast is so much lighter in Weight and it is totally built to play the Blues. The Scalloped neck does take a bit to train to use correctly. Because most guitarists are used to feeling the fret board under the string when pressing down. Now they have to judge the exact tone of the note and stop pressing farther. Or you may give the string a slight vibrato with your finger tip. Also because you may grab the string a bit deeper on your finger tip, you may bend heavier Gauge strings where you were unable on a flat fret board. But I do Love the Blues.
I'd love to hear your ideas on a great Guitar studio .
Mine is not finished yet but right now I need to Pay off that debt I got myself into.
Oh also I could never sell My Guitars the amount of Money and Time I have spent with them, I would take it as a personal insult for what other would be willing to pay for used electronics.
I would have a coronary attack and totally flip out. lol
oh also the Guitars look Vintage/old is because they are Frankenstein is 30 years old and has been through 3 Bands and 2 divorces with me. lol The Beast is not much younger and Beauty is about 20 years old. After taking those pictures I felt real bad for my neglect of them. I need to get to the store and get new strings and some polish to clean them up.

[LeMort]

I really appreciated reading your personal story.
I also tend to overdo things. I'm not badmouthing my ex-wife now, but while we were married, using money on equipment was a no-no. I did buy something of course. (It was a no-no. Not a no-no-no )
So when we divorced a couple of years ago and I got a grip on my life (I was way out there unfortunately), I could finally use my money as I wanted. On music and equipment
I'm working in my studio a lot nowadays, but a finished product is a bit further down the road, still. I will of course share when times come.

My main guitar is Dollface She's a Mexican build Classic 60 Vibe (or something like that).
I do want to mod her, haven't gotten that far.
(Speaking of, your pickups in Frankenstein was inspired by David Gilmour. Does he have active pickups in his black strat?)
Dollface is named after the chicken Ginger in the movie Chicken Run

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The next one is an Epiphone Les Paul.
Her name is Lizzie. She's named after Thin Lizzy. If my reason to buy a Les Paul was because of a band, it would be Thin Lizzy.
Mellified mentioned that he wasn't so much into Humbuckers. Me neither, actually. I really prefer Single Coils. But in my studio I also need the sound of Humbuckers now and then. When I first got a humbucker guitar (Sita, the Starcaster) I started to like the warm compressed sound.
So I do enjoy playing Lizzie, but she'll never replace Dollface. (Even if she actually has a split-coil)

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And I still have more guitars to show you guys

LeM:)

[Shjak2823]

Wow! You do have a lot of Guitars.
As for the Active pickups of David Gimour's Guitar. (its been 30 years since I built Frankenstien.) I was reading in 1 of my Guitar Magazines that David Prefered EMG-SA Active Pickups. However it did not mention (if I remember correctly) if he used them in all his Guitars or in which ones he did use them in. I think he would have had them in his Black Strat, which I believe is his favorite Blues lead Solo Guitar. In Fact that's what Got me to go to EMG-SA Pickups.
Although I have been told by many of Na sayers that they would not have done that. I found that I am quite capable of handling that powerful of a Pickup.
Na Sayers also warned me against Scalloping a Guitar Neck. However I did it anyways and now have a unique sounding Guitar that I love.
I believe if you are willing you are capable of learning how to play with anything. After all the Guitar is a Tool..... You are the artist.
I remember my first Guitar at the age of 12. An off Brand beat up Mexican made Nylon string Guitar that was given to me By Chone Gilez, an older Mexican friend of my Fathers that took interest in me. Most of the time was missing 1 or 2 strings until I could gather enough used coke bottles to trade to the grocery store for a few dollars so I could get more strings for it. I learned to play it. It could hardly hold a tune. But that did not stop me of spending hours playing it everyday.
My Father would tell me..TAKE THAT CONFOUNDED THING OUTSIDE. YOUR DRIVING ME CRAZY WITH IT. LoL
In 1979 I purchased a Les Paul Hollow body Guitar That sounded really nice. However I had it 2 months and somebody sole it. I kind of wished that I got to know it better.
I have a lot of old band gear that I have no use for and have been talking to some of the pawn shops in the area that might be willing to make some trades for a good one... No Luck as yet.

[Mellified]

Well - I go away for a few days (to a guitar show of all places!) and look what happens. All these guitars and guitarists in 9S - great. The Guitar Show was too noisy to really try anything properly but I had a good look (around 150 stalls and exhibitors) and I only bought a lead and a bottle-neck slide. I was very restrained.

Real mixture of lovely stuff and approaches in these posts so here's some questions:

May - what tuning does the balalaika use? Do you play it sitting down?
Shjak - do you play keyboards as well if you use the guitar synth pickup? You must have fingers of steel if you've got 16's on the beast - or does the scalloping take away the strain?
LeMort - is your studio just for you or are you planning to use it to record others? Dollface looks lovely - finally some proper single coils

I can't comment on Thinlines LeMort - I only made this one from a cheap kit - i thought it would almost be semi-acoustic - but it doesn't have much acoustic response. The one's I've seen in the shops all have a thick glossy laquer so that has put me off trying them!

I also amassed a bunch of gear (drum machines, midi sequencers, pa systems to use with various bands) and that all ended up in a cupboard too. I've finally got rid of it all and realised that I hadn't really spent any time practicing or learning new things - it was all organisation.

So when I got back into playing I decided to try everything that I could afford - E-Bay and Gumtree have been great for finding cheap things - and now that I have an understanding of modern pedals and guitars I can sell on the stuff that I don't like. I have a good idea of the few things that I want to keep as they suit me and the rest can go. Otherwise it's cupboard time again. All these guitars are new to me so I haven't developed an attachment. I have also learned a bunch of stuff from making some of them from scratch.

Anyway - here's another two:

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A very cheap guitar that I added some different knobs and new pickups to (Single coils!) - very slow to play but I like the shape and finish.

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I have no idea if this is really a Fender Strat (even though the headstock says it is - there is no serial number!), but it plays really well. The bloke I bought it off was leaving the country so I got it for a knockdown price. I changed the pickguard, pickups and control knobs - I love sunbursts.

[Shjak2823]

Welcome home Mel.
Sorry I do not play keyboard. What I do is Transpose Notes played on a keyboard to the notes or chords played on the Guitar and then incorporate a playing style to make it sound and feel like i'm playing a keyboard.
Actually I set the 16 gauge strings close to fret bar for fast action. so does not take super strong fingers to press them to fret bar, however bends and pull offs the Scalloped neck helps on. you see when you grab the string to bend on the Un-Scalloped neck, you are using such a small amount of finger tip which if they are 16 Gauge strings is not enough to bend them...unless you have very strong fingers... however on the Scalloped neck you can reach in and grab string much deeper on the finger tip giving you much more leverage. however it still require some strength. When I bend Chords on the Beast I do feel like Superman. LoL
That definately looks like a Stratocaster to me

[LeMort]

I wish there were Guitar Shows here.

My studio is as close to professional as a home studio can get. But I don't think I want to mess with "strangers", so it's entirely for me (and my family and friends)

In this picture you'll see my workstation.
You'll also see Pauline (obvious name?) and Beth.
Beth is new, I haven't tried her that much yet. She's named after my best friend Elisabeth. Elisabeth struggles with being bipolar and that guitar is also bipolar. (It has split coils )
The Viola bass is really fun instrument, it's a joy to play and it sounds really good too!

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I've tried a few thinline's in the shops and they don't resonate more than a little bit.
Same goes for Sita and Beth too, they resonate a little bit, but not as much as you would believe.
Both my hollow-body guitars have a center-block, so they're not as hollow as you might think.
If I understood it correctly, the center-block is one reason why these guitars have such a good sustain.

Thanks for kind words over Dollface.
A stratocaster will always be the guitar that comes closest to my heart.

LeM:)

[Shjak2823]

Wow LeMort, that is a fantastic looking studio.
It looks a lot more organized then Mine. And clean.
Mine is so... heaps of piles of this and that here and there. Lol
I will try and get a Pic of it. (one that doesn't embarrass me to bad) Later

[Shjak2823]

Ok here is my Studio,
Not as clean and no where near as finished as yours LeMont. and needs a lot more work.
I did mention I am not much of a Carpenter, but here is the Wall Cabinet that I built for my Equipment.

[LeMort]

I really like your studio. You sure have some good equipment to achieve warm analog sound (in these digital days). If you wake up one morning and that fender head is gone, it wasn't me. No need to come here to verify that ...