so rather then respond you neg rep me…good shit lol
Anybody get a chance to mess around with the Ibanez prestige series? I know Shadows Fall and Dragonforce use them. I assume they’re great metal guitars, but I’ve only played one and it wasn’t connected to an amp.
I’m looking for a good Shred/metal guitar for some neoclassical and drop tunings
I’ve been playing guitar and especially bass for a long time. Do you guys know about power tabs at all?
Power tabs are complete songs (including video game songs) which have been meticulously transcribed and tabbed using the Power Tab Editor program, which is very simple to use. Many tabs provide all guitar and bass parts as well as other instruments, and furthermore plays the song for you in MIDI form. Every person I’ve ever shown power tabs to has been hooked.
Until recently, www.powertabs.net has been the main vein for the most recent transcriptions. This massive and growing archive of music is where UG got all of its power tabs from and has been around for many years, and a subsequent community developed. Unfortunately, as you can probably tell by going to the link, powertabs.net has been permanently shut down by the MPA, which was a huge blow to the community because we can no longer transcribe new songs. However, as I mentioned before, all the archived music is available on UG and other mirror sites such as http://allpowertabs.com/.
If you’re interested in this program we have a fairly large community forum. My alias there is Shoryuken (go figure).
If you already knew about this or if it’s already been posted, just ignore me.
EDIT: If you want any more information on the community or the program shoot me a PM or just post here. I’ll try to check back here periodically.
Just happened on to this thread. Can any acoustic players recommend steel string guitars? I’ve been playing a nylon 6-string for years and figured it was time to get some real callouses.
I’m just looking for models/prices right now or if anyone can point me in direction, that’d be awesome.
I’ve play mostly Don Ross stuff, but if you guys can recommend any other guitarists, that’d be cool too.
hi there. can i join the bandwagon? i’m currently playing the bass in my band.
any tips would be nice. we’ve been playing for like 3-4 years now. Not that we have gigs or some sort. we only play when there’s a school event happening.
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4027/seansq4.jpg
EDIT: I have a washburn T14B(?) by the way.
Weapon of Choice, eh? Are you as good as Lonnie Marshall? 
Can’t say I’ve ever played a washburn, though I’ve heard good things (even on their budget instruments). What kind of stuff do you play?
nah. i’m not really that good. though i know a few scales.
We only play on school events, so most of our stock songs are new releases and most popular ones so that the students can jive with the song. We also have some love songs and smooth ones.
I really want to learn how to slap and all. i just don’t get the basics or principle to it.
Ah man I have shredded in years…this thread makes me want to go out and grab a new axe to wail on. Before I got outta the game I was really digging some of the Jacksons, run a Randy Rhoades through a Line 6 and sweet metallic butter pours out.
Recently though, I’ve been trying to find one of Dime’s Washburn models…but I heard there was some bullshit with the releases. I mean it looks fucking sick, but I hear it sounded like shit because they mass produced em. Anyone got one, give a review?
Fingerstyle Acoustic player here,
In terms of acoustics, price range is going to figure in huge in terms of what make. From what I’ve heard of Don Ross, you’re probably going to want to look into a Jumbo, a 000, or an OM body shape. In terms of makes and such, it’s hard to go wrong with Martin, Taylor, Tacoma, Avalon, or Santa Cruz. If price is an issue, then I’d recommend a Blueridge. As far as wood goes, I’d go with either Spruce (probably going to be Sitka or Adirondack, as European and Engelmann are a tad on the expensive side) and Rosewood (It’s going to be Indian probably, as Brazilian rosewood is no longer exported, and Honduran Rosewood is expensive), or Cedar and Rosewood. Cedar is a softer wood, and requires less “aging” in order to get a full sound out of it, though it’s hard to beat a good spruce once it’s opened up. Spruce guitars can change tone quite a bit within as little as one year, so it’s a bit hard to gauge.
Mass producing isn’t going to make it sound like shit…what the hell? :lol:
Well he also said he uses a line6 and it sounded like “butter”.
Guitarists eh? lol.
To each his own. A mass produced guitar can sound better than a handmade one. Thats like the old “if it’s made in America it’s better” sillyness. Most guitarists won’t see things for what they are for the most part (not pointing out anyone, just a general observation) and will look at any and everything with “how it sounds” being a distant if non-existent thing to concern themselves with.
There is a brand elitism with musical instruments that goes beyond most other avenues, for certain. It’s understandable, though, since cheap instruments back in the day were actually of much, much lesser quality.
Anyone have any experience with a Tremol-no? I recently blocked the OFR on my Kramer the old fashioned way by jamming some wood pieces in the back, but I was considering a more stable alternative.
Also, I’ve been looking at some audio interfaces because I want to do some basic recording, so any recommendations? Nothing too expensive… maybe up to $300…
Heard very good things about the tremol-no.
as for audio interfaces, if you’re only going to be recording guitar, there’s always a POD. If you’re recording anything, there are roughly a billion options out there in that price range. For something purely external, I’d recommend a firewire device if your system supports it.
Just to add onto whatever Sev said, depends on what factors you’re going to consider. . .price, wood types, and company are usually the main factors.
Aside from obvious makes (Martins and Gibsons are reliably good), I would suggest Blueridge, Alvarez, and Seagull, which are significantly cheaper but can certainly compete in terms of sound quality and construction.
I personally own a Seagull, so I’m a bit biased here. . .I’ll be honest and say that compared to a lot of the low/mid-end guitars out there, Seagulls are pretty decent. They’re usually cedar with wild cherry or rosewood sides, and they have a very warm, resonant sound quality that I found a lot more appealing than Martins (which I found muddy) or Taylors (which I found too bright).
If you’re used to playing classical w/nylon strings, a Seagull might be better for you just because the necks are usually standard classical width (1.80") whereas most steel string acoustics nowadays have pretty slim necks (around 1.69").
My pinky is really puny and it’s limiting what I can play. Any tips on how I should approach this?
I’m interested in learning more about Rondo guitars, but there’s precious little information on them floating around. Can anybody who has experience with them tell us a little about them, particularly in comparison with similarly priced guitars? How are the necks? Are they resonant when unplugged? What are the stock pickups like? Things like that.
I have a rondo. The stock pickups are pretty shitty, but you can’t argue with the rest of the guitar. It’s fucking quality.
I wouldn’t say there’s “precious little information on them around.” They have their own forum:
They’re talked about a lot on talkbass.com and harmony central as well. sevenstring.org swears by Rondo guitars (Agile especially, as they’ve put out a number of axes that were specifically requested by SS.org members–including the eight string(!!!) model coming soon).
A lot of the questions vary, because Rondo carries a lot of different models across 3/4 lines. For guitars, the presumed quality basically goes Agile > Douglas > SX, and Brice > Douglas > SX for basses. There is, naturally, some overlap.
I have a Douglas SIL-61 guitar. It’s super thin (though not Ibanez S thin), is H/S/S, has a vintage trem, ash body, maple satin/rosewood with sharkfin 22 fret neck and a black painted headstock. 5 way switch, single volume, single tone… Pretty fast neck, fretwork was okay out of the box, setup was decent. term is functional but could stand to be replaced. Pickups I go back and forth on. I love the warm jazzy sound I get from the S/S position, and the mid S soloed sounds pretty good…maybe I’lll just swap the hummer, since I’m not crazy about it. It sounds kinda brittle.
I have a Douglas WPB-955T five string bass. Ash body, neck through, maple/walnut 5-piece neck with super dark rosewood board. Weird two-piece bridge. Active electronics, V/B/T/T control config. Jazz style pickups. Hums a bit with bridge pickup tone boosted, should probably be shielded. Had pro setup done on it, plays smoothly, though I never got the action super low. Harmonics are bright and clear. Get complimented on the sound of this bass rwhenever I play out, and it turns heads. If nobody knows where I got it from and how much I paid, they assume it’s an expensive bass. If I did mod it any, I’d probably go with some humfree active J’s that have a wee bit more high-end clarity.
I have an SX jazz bass from one of their starter kits. The Starter Kit instruments a bit different from the regulars…on the basses, they come with slightly lesser fit/finish. On the plus side, my bass came with 21 frets rather than 20. I broke a knob off it, and now it’s in pieces being modded into a superbass. But while it was intact, I was EXTREMELY pleased with the sound I got out of it. It replicated a 60’s jazz bass sound very authentically, and the controls were responsive for changing sounds. They were just soft. I’m debating with myself whether to get new P/Us when I finish the mod job, or just put a signal booster or preamp in to make the difference.
Douglas instruments are (at least mostly) manufactured in Korea by the Saein OEM that produces instruments for a number of lines. A European line called Shine that is pretty popular has identical model numbers to a number of the Douglas instruments, but they’re significantly cheaper.
Pickup quality? In the SX basses, they’re very well received. I find that, in the guitars, opinions vary widely depending on what someone is looking for.
How do they compare with other guitars in the same price range? Exceptionally well, for the most part. Take, for example, this:
http://www.rondomusic.com/st1000.html
Just look at the features, and look at the price. Keep in mind MIM strats run $369+ at your local Guitar Center. MIMs usually come with bodies made of 3-5 pieces. They usually don’t come with Grover tuners, or a Wilkinson 2-point trem. Clearly great bang for the buck, and the fit and finish is normally very good. Plus, Rondo has a great return policy, so if you’re disappointed, it’s really not much trouble outside of return shipping.
And if you don’t like the pickups, there are so many inexpensive options out there these days that there’s almost no excuse. I’ll probably get some GFS Jazz joints for the mod project if I decide to swap at all. I’ll probably get the Audere preamp and try it on the current pickups before I decide to switch.
I’m pretty fucking excited about the guitar I’m getting. After doing some more research I am getting a japanese ESP, actually it’s an Edwards. It’s going to rape me of my income but fuck it, I think it’s going to pay itself off.