diablo175

+1 Spent close to an hour, to date, looking for dropped V-Picks. The good news is I rarely drop 'em.

Total V Pick convert here! The V-Pick Lite Small is perfect for my needs and a welcome change from the Jazz III's that almost everyone was using for while.

I think I can sum up my 9's rationale quite easily: I allocate enough focus on just trying to hit the right note at the right time that I can ill-afford to be focusing on added energy needed to push the strings. Sure, if I had been playing bass or 10's and 11's all my life, this wouldn't be an issue. But I've always been a 9 player. I can do what (little) I can do because of the 9's. That includes my trem work which benefits greatly from the 9's.

I sold an O'Connor painted Elite to a guy in Russia. It'd be a damned shame if it did go to Russia- MUCH more difficult to get dibs on it over there.

Damn! That's so purdy I'da hit it, even without a reverse head and toggle. Just as well though. Got little discretionary cash these days and I just got word of another impending NGD headed my way.

Check out the PSA in the FS section.

This/\ I leave that shit to my co-guitarist. He digs the beef and bombast of 10's and 11's and I like my 9's for the slinky, spongy action. Makes for a killer combo, IMO. I cover the searing highs and chewy mids, he gets the growl of the lows and girth of mids that I don't hit. Fits our soloing styles as well.

Changes day to day. Today it's a 3 way tie between the Clown Vector, the CS Charvel Star and my trusty Diablo. Tomorrow? Who knows.

Looks like kidney stones and bowling balls are being passed... oof.

Exactly. Sensationalistic headline designed to lure us in. Well, it worked.

Damn females, always buttin' in with the voice of reason and tasteful restraint.

I'm sure they could get me to weep and moan.

Led Zeppelin have lost the first round of the legal battle over classic track Stairway To Heaven. http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2014-10-20/led-zeppelin-lose-stairway-heaven-lawsuit-round-1 The song:

Actually, on a semi-serious note: my most expensive guitar turned out to be something of a dud and needed roughly 300 dollars to bring it up to where it should have been. <cough-cough, gibson, cough> This did NOT include/involve re-paint or different type switches.

Are we to factor in costs associated with making it fully playable in addition to initial purchase costs?

This f-ing rawked!!! Dayum but those ladies can still bring the rawk!!!

Yup. Definitely were some profiles that wore my hands down to fatigued sausages trying to chord on them for prolonged periods of time. I seem to remember getting wicked hand cramps playing chords on my Washburn N4. And then there were others that I couldn't shred on to save my life. Had a badass Charvel San Dimas in Desert Crackle that sounded and looked awesome but was so flat and wide that I couldn't play leads on there for shit. I was left with: what's the point? It's like having a Ferrari and not being able to drive it over 30 mph because your feet couldn't reach far enough to push the pedal all the way down.

That's a good question for anyone/everyone. Yup. I guess if I was more knowledgable about the radiuses and profiles, I could answer more succinctly.

This is precisely why I consider myself lucky to have found 7 Cali's that all have killer necks (for my tastes). It also explains, in part, why I've let 3 go.

i got to hang w/ zen today and had a blast! JEALOUS! Would love to trade licks and stories with ya, Zen. For that matter, you too, Brooks!

I hear there's a sweet Vector on Reverb as well. With a Floyd, a zebra TB-5 Custom and a zebra Dimarzio PAF in the neck.

I agree. The set neck really does play like buttah. Easiest playing guitar I've laid hands on in a LONG time. The low E string actually seems to vibrate much more animatedly. Like I can see the width of vibration is much more pronounced in comparison to my others. Almost cartoon-like. But it ain't no joke. That set neck is all business. Pure rawk with a nasty growl and a nastier bite. Cuts thru the mix like a hot knife thru... well, buttah.

+1 Cali's defy conventional shredder logic and conformity in that sense. Necks are a bit rounder and IMO, more comfy. Not as wide, as I recall, as Jacksons and not as arthritis-inducing thin as Ibby Wizard-style. But one man's carpal tunnel is another man's lightning fast neck.

Maybe Nathan can show you something from the line of potato-shaped guitars?

It really depends on two things- what you want to do with it and what you, personally, work best with. As you surmised, I don't need to voice my opinion but I will say that I own what I do (and why I mod them) because they suit my needs best and are the most compatible with my preferences in terms of feel, options, style, aesthetics, etc. So, what is it that you will use it for? Gigging? Recording? Plunking around? Conversation piece? What are your own likes as far as materials, tone, options and aesthetics go?