Calling all guitar players, what is your axe of choice?

[HarleyDog]

(03-04-2019, 11:02 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: Nice!  My old singer has a Dean and he loves it.

Your sewing machine has a guitar too? :hail:


ok, carry on. Couldn’t resist my sometimes odd and inappropriate humor.

[BengalsRocker]

(03-04-2019, 11:04 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I always thought about swapping out pickups in some of my cheaper guitars. I just never knew which pickups I should go for. It's kinda hard to try out different pickups to see what suits you. I know Duncans have a great rep. I play quiet/loud Weezer/Nirvana style hard rock, so I'd want something hot, but not death metal hot. 

That's what surprised me about the PRS I have.

It's a cheaper model(Tremonti SE)but the guy I bought it off of put an American treble pickup in it  (which "treble" just means bridge for PRS).

It can play dirty tones but if you roll the volume knob back you can get it pretty clean.

That "Screamin' Demon" pickup I mentioned is really not a hot pick-up.  It has good clarity when distortion is applied.

The Seymour "JB" pickups are really clean.

Some people like Duncans and you'll have some that say they're sterile.

Active EMGs are what they are.  Clear, can handle a lot of gain, lack some personality.

If you love them then you can put them in any guitar and it will sound exactly the same.

Now that last sentence is why some people don't like them.  They want all of their guitars to have singular personalities.

[BengalsRocker]

(03-04-2019, 11:24 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Your sewing machine has a guitar too? :hail:


ok, carry on. Couldn’t resist my sometimes odd and inappropriate humor.

You would've loved my take on "Bone Tone"...  we'll just leave that for Fred.

He'll probably make a comment about neck size and shape preference.

[BengalsRocker]

So did Toast Jones or whatever he was going by quit these boards??

That guy had a ton of knowledge about guitars.

[BengalsRocker]

(03-04-2019, 10:40 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: No offense taken. Just amazed at your knowledge and my lack of it.

That's okay.  I've been around musicians my whole life.  It comes with the territory.

[Shake n Blake]

(03-04-2019, 11:25 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: That's what surprised me about the PRS I have.

It's a cheaper model(Tremonti SE)but the guy I bought it off of put an American treble pickup in it  (which "treble" just means bridge for PRS).

It can play dirty tones but if you roll the volume knob back you can get it pretty clean.

That "Screamin' Demon" pickup I mentioned is really not a hot pick-up.  It has good clarity when distortion is applied.

The Seymour "JB" pickups are really clean.

Some people like Duncans and you'll have some that say they're sterile.

Active EMGs are what they are.  Clear, can handle a lot of gain, lack some personality.

If you love them then you can put them in any guitar and it will sound exactly the same.

Now that last sentence is why some people don't like them.  They want all of their guitars to have singular personalities.

Lol yeah when I saw that "screamin demon" name, I instantly thought "metal". 

My old Jagmaster had some Duncan "designed" humbuckers in it that I thought sounded pretty good.

(03-04-2019, 11:28 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: So did Toast Jones or whatever he was going by quit these boards??

That guy had a ton of knowledge about guitars.

Toast Jones/Wes Mantooth made some kind of promise/bet, lost and kinda stuck to it. I think he's made a couple cameos since, but he's pretty much gone. I really miss having him and Berserker (Royal Red Legs) around Jungle Noise. 

[UKWhoDey]

Bass player here. I also play drums, guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, ukelele and harmonica, but bass is my passion.

I play a Warwick Corvette and run it through an Ampeg Portaflex stac.

[Whatever]

(03-04-2019, 09:51 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: Strats are the most versatile guitar especially if configured hss.

I've got two American Deluxes of that configuration with coil splits that can get even more sounds.

I've had all ends of the spectrum of Fenders in price point and really the only difference is the quality of electronics/hardware.

I play lead and bend the strings quite a bit so I need the tuners, nut, and bridge to be really stable.

The ones I own have a roller nut and locking tuners which work well for me.

Right now I'm playing covers that range from Rock, Pop, Country to soft stuff like Al Green.


Les Pauls/Epis can just sing when played in a rock lead.  That is one thing they really, really, excel at in my opinion.

Nothing beats the singing quality of a great Les Paul/Epi it just cuts the air.

Like Shake, I have a lot of guitars.

My favorite Hard Rock/Metal guitar is the LTD/ESP.  I have one with Duncans and Evertune bridge and the other with EMGs and a Floyd.

Those are beasts!  I also have my eye on a neck-thru Schecter which fits that bill too.


I have a Paul Reed Smith that I love playing Hard Rock with that cleans up with the volume knob better than any other guitar I've ever known.

I basically can roll it back, and cut gain, without sacrificing tone and clarity.  It's great!


I started playing piano at a young age and quit.

Started playing acoustic guitar later.  I quit.

My brother and me talked my parents into buying a Flying V knock-off(Harmony)to learn how to play electric.

That thing sat around my house for years and I had quit beginner lessons(my old school teacher hated my guitar).

It wasn't until my Mom heard of a rock guitarist in town who was teaching that my interest was piqued again.

I started lessons with him and quit.  LOL  Again.  All of this time just picking up bits and pieces along the way.

Met a few other people that wanted to form a rock band and we started playing covers and writing originals in High School.

After High School I moved to Seattle and met a lot of other guitarists and picked up on things quite rapidly.

Between those times and learning later from my Brother-In-Law who was a great guitarist I really increased my playing abilities.

I play with a pick and use my fingers too in a hybrid way.  It just depends on what I'm playing.

I'm not very good at just multiple finger-picking.  I completely suck at slide guitar.  It's just not natural to me and my guitars aren't set up for it either.

I have a question?  Do any of you guys play in alternate or open tunings?  I play mostly in standard/Eb/and drop D for heavier stuff.

Lower than drop D is not really my thing.  Neither are guitars with more than 6 strings.

I started experimenting in drop A a bit when I learned "Pisces."  I mostly play/write in standard and drop tune when I'm learning something in that tuning.  

[Storer50]

Got my first 12 string today.

Sent from my LG-Q710PL using Tapatalk

[Shake n Blake]

(03-05-2019, 06:01 PM)UKWhoDey Wrote: Bass player here.  I also play drums, guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, ukelele and harmonica, but bass is my passion.

I play a Warwick Corvette and run it through an Ampeg Portaflex stac.

Me and a buddy were talking the other day about how few actual bassists there are. Usually when we had the band going, we had to settle for a guitarist that had a bass laying around. I haven't played much bass myself, but I've always been fascinated with it. Whenever I listen to a band, I'll often just follow that groove between the bassist and drummer. If they're tight, the rest of the band just kinda falls in line.

I think my favorite bassist/drummer combo might be Rage Against the Machine. 

[Shake n Blake]

One of my favorite bass driven songs:





...and my favorite bass solo:

[Whatever]

(03-10-2019, 11:53 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Me and a buddy were talking the other day about how few actual bassists there are. Usually when we had the band going, we had to settle for a guitarist that had a bass laying around. I haven't played much bass myself, but I've always been fascinated with it. Whenever I listen to a band, I'll often just follow that groove between the bassist and drummer. If they're tight, the rest of the band just kinda falls in line.

I think my favorite bassist/drummer combo might be Rage Against the Machine. 

I thought the general rule was the bass player is just the worst guitarist in the band, lol.  Although seriously, if you get good on bass you'll never have a problem getting projects and gigs.

I would have to go with either Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey from Tool or Sting and Stewart Copeland from The Police as my favorite bass/drum combos.

[Whatever]

(03-10-2019, 02:06 AM)Storer50 Wrote: Got my first 12 string today.

Sent from my LG-Q710PL using Tapatalk

I always wondered if a 12 plays much different than a 6 string.

[UKWhoDey]

(03-10-2019, 11:53 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Me and a buddy were talking the other day about how few actual bassists there are. Usually when we had the band going, we had to settle for a guitarist that had a bass laying around. I haven't played much bass myself, but I've always been fascinated with it. Whenever I listen to a band, I'll often just follow that groove between the bassist and drummer. If they're tight, the rest of the band just kinda falls in line.

I think my favorite bassist/drummer combo might be Rage Against the Machine. 

Oh theres plenty of us, just not as many as guitar players.  Les Claypool is my guy.  Larry Graham, Bootsy, Flea, Stanley Clark, Jaco....cant go wrong.  Played bass and drums both for 20 yrs, so I am all about the rhythm section. 

[BengalsRocker]

(03-10-2019, 06:06 PM)Whatever Wrote: I always wondered if a 12 plays much different than a 6 string.

Yes.  The spacing and how you pick is a different feel.  Plus you seriously gotta keep that baby in tune!

When I used to play semi-pro shows I had to tote around at least 4 guitars to a show.

One standard + backup and one D-tuned + backup.

I bought a double neck Carvin electric that was 6 and 12 string.

Not long after owning it I realized I was never going to use that thing live!

I own a 12 string acoustic which is nice for strumming and a few picking things but it just collects dust compared to my other acoustics.

[BengalsRocker]

(03-10-2019, 06:04 PM)Whatever Wrote: I thought the general rule was the bass player is just the worst guitarist in the band, lol.  Although seriously, if you get good on bass you'll never have a problem getting projects and gigs.

I would have to go with either Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey from Tool or Sting and Stewart Copeland from The Police as my favorite bass/drum combos.

Yes that is in some cases but probably the worst case scenario.

You always want a true bassist over a guy who just settled for bass.

That is all subjective to music style/genre to the importance that of  course.

[Shake n Blake]

(03-10-2019, 06:04 PM)Whatever Wrote: I thought the general rule was the bass player is just the worst guitarist in the band, lol.  Although seriously, if you get good on bass you'll never have a problem getting projects and gigs.

I would have to go with either Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey from Tool or Sting and Stewart Copeland from The Police as my favorite bass/drum combos.

I'd imagine so. There's always a bigger demand for bassists than the supply.

(03-10-2019, 06:06 PM)Whatever Wrote: I always wondered if a 12 plays much different than a 6 string.

Wider neck, harder to make bar chords (and chords in general) due to spacing and it's harder to press down 2 strings than 1, naturally. 

You'll definitely give your fret hand a good work out. 

[Whatever]

(03-13-2019, 07:12 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: Yes.  The spacing and how you pick is a different feel.  Plus you seriously gotta keep that baby in tune!

When I used to play semi-pro shows I had to tote around at least 4 guitars to a show.

One standard + backup and one D-tuned + backup.

I bought a double neck Carvin electric that was 6 and 12 string.

Not long after owning it I realized I was never going to use that thing live!

I own a 12 string acoustic which is nice for strumming and a few picking things but it just collects dust compared to my other acoustics.

Lol, yeah, the one person I know who had(or at least claimed to have had) a double neck would wonder how Don Felder used to do it every night.  I wonder if you could get a similar tone with the right amp and a chorus pedal.

I mainly play three of my guitars, but I bust out the others on occasion.  I keep one in E standard, my "drop guitar" is currently down in drop A, and my 7 string is E standard + low B.

[Whatever]

(03-13-2019, 10:04 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I'd imagine so. There's always a bigger demand for bassists than the supply.


Wider neck, harder to make bar chords (and chords in general) due to spacing and it's harder to press down 2 strings than 1, naturally. 

You'll definitely give your fret hand a good work out. 

Personally, I started on guitar and figured I'd switch to bass if I sucked, lol.  Haven't made the switch yet, so I guess I'm doing ok.

[BengalsRocker]

(03-14-2019, 08:10 PM)Whatever Wrote: Lol, yeah, the one person I know who had(or at least claimed to have had) a double neck would wonder how Don Felder used to do it every night.  I wonder if you could get a similar tone with the right amp and a chorus pedal.

I mainly play three of my guitars, but I bust out the others on occasion.  I keep one in E standard, my "drop guitar" is currently down in drop A, and my 7 string is E standard + low B.

You should've seen the metal flight case for that double neck.

I actually thought about putting wheels on that damn thing it was so heavy/bulky.

Drop A?  At what point does the low tuning stop?!?  B & C used to be all of the rage for a long time.

Is it a baritone, and what gauge strings do you use on that thing?