diablo175

Fixed Income No Kids. I just made that sorry shit up... but it fits.

For us FINKs, that becomes a bit of challenge.

Just giving voice to the thought we all have had: Guitar playing IS health care. Rarely feel better than I do after a better than average session jamming on guitar. The trick is trying to hit that sweet spot of better than average on a consistent basis.

A couple of immediate returns due to finish issues: an EVH 5150 and Ibanez RG The keepers: Jackson MJ Series RR 24 A Charvel USA San Dimas 2H A project Charvel Star, now on it's way to be painted. And the big Kahuna- Jackson Custom Shop Kelly... also with finish issues. 🙄

I always struggled with finding a volume pedal that worked the way I needed. The quest ended when I moved to the Boss ME-50 effects unit for my stage rig, which had an expression/volume pedal that did what I needed. Moving to the Fractal Axe FXIII and the FM 9 cemented the divorce from traditional amps. And with a Mission expression/volume pedal, the volume control is on point.

Damn.

Lime green metallic per the tag in the case. I don't believe there is a silver undercoat. They have this exact color in nail polish. If I was a bit more confident in my skills, I'd fill it with nail polish and clear it with CA glue. And yes, I have been alerted to the difficulties inherent in this type of repair. The good news is, I'm okay with a not-quite-perfect-match, functional fix- doesn't HAVE to be perfect. It's covered by the strap.

Have you ever considered scuffing up the neck? It was suggested to me on here years ago to hit a gloss neck with 0000 steel wool, Scotch-brite pads or 200- 300 grit sand paper and you get a nice albeit temporary satin feel. It took me a few months to finally fully bond with mine. Not a fan of painted necks either but can get on well enough if the other playability characteristics are solid. The one issue I'm having is hitting the the rhythm pickup while playing chords. Normally, this is not an issue but with the Sustainiac p'up in it, for whatever reason, makes a bit of racket, like it's hollow. At stage volume, it's not discernible. Jamming in the studio at preserve-the-marriage-volume, it's audible and annoying. You might want to look at the the American Series RR 24s. Pricey but satin finish.

I remember when you posted getting this and it inspired me to grab this one:

Nope. Stike don't do repairs...

And just to bring this wacky, sordid tale around to a fitting conclusion, I shipped the guitar back to sender on Friday. Or so I thought. Saturday morning, UPS drops it off at my doorstep. I'm guessing the previous shipping label (with me as recipient) which neither UPS nor I removed, was scanned and well, no one was asking why a package was being shipped from a UPS Store in the same zip code. 🤔 Between the time I shipped it and the time it (re) arrived, I was thinking maybe I should have held onto it and negotiated a partial refund and getting the finish damage repaired. I mean, how many lime green metallic, Custom Shop Kellys w/ maple boards do you come across? And while I didn't get to actually plug it in and test drive her, the action was actually quite good, right out of the case. After a pick up swap out of the stock Invaders for a proper Gravelin (and possibly a Sustainiac) and a kill switch/tone pot, I think this could be a contender. It seems fate agrees. The seller readily agreed to a reasonable partial refund. Now the search is on for a paint repair. 😬

Here's the weird thing- the guy is a wealthy collector. Lives in a very exclusive condo on the upper west side of Manhattan. The guitar was packed very well and shipped 2 day air. $300. There were zero signs of damage to both the shipping box and the case. There were no finish bits and pieces in the case. Whenever this took place, it was not during shipping. I have a theory that he did not personally pack the guitar to ship. I suspect he had his housekeeper (which he mentioned during our numerous exchanges prior to purchase) pack it or get it out to be ready to ship and it got hit on the butt end strap button. The missing finish, to my untrained eye, looks consistent with a hard hit to that button.

No one on here by that name... Yes, CS Kelly.

I'm thinking he did not personally pack it. It looks like it may have taken a substantial impact on the strap button. The other imperfections are possibly significant swings in humidity/temp?

So after haggling this supposed pristine NOS Jackson Custom Shop Kelly down to a slightly less than insane price, I pulled the trigger. The seller just happened to be away and wouldn't return to ship for 9 days. So the agonizing wait began. He assured me he would arrive back in NYC Monday 6 AM and the guitar would go out 2 day air. Didn't quite pan out that way but it arrived last night. I wasn't able to open until this morning. Just as well. Gave it time to warm up to room temp and 45% humidity. Not that it did any good. Opened it and put it on my bench to inspect and set up. That's when I saw these. Luckily the seller was not a dick about refunding/returning it. <sigh> easy come easy go. The hunt for a new toy continues....

The operative word there is "trying" Not consistently adhered to.

I'm trying to honor the 1 in, 1 out rule as well. So far, I'm not doing so well. This landed yesterday. Oops.

VH and Eddie, in particular, have always been a source of mystery, amazement and frustration. As a middle/high school-er, I couldn't even begin to fathom what he was doing. Wasn't even in the right zip code, let alone the ballpark, of having a clue what he was doing. Imagine my dismay when, after all these years, my 40 yrs worth of acquired knowledge and insight on guitar and I'm still out in the parking lot of said ballpark. Cue the frustration part. Eddie was f*cking amazing. Some (most) of us are just not meant to ascend to such heights, to shine that brilliantly.

Done. Had to make the agonizing decision between a decently, semi-pro mixed tune and a self-mixed (i.e. shit) tune that I prefer for it's writing/structure. Ah well. There's always TBOHFC VI.

Just saw this on FB. Made by J Hale Guitars for a guy in a Poison Tribute band.

This is the best I can do.

If it's a matter of learning anything involved, I will sometimes take the song and open it into Audacity, then slow the tempo down (without effecting the pitch) so I can play it at half speed and then speed it up gradually. I learned some fairly challenging pieces (for me) that way. If it's just familiarizing yourself with it, then repetition is the name of the game.

Haven't played one myself but have heard numerous sentiments that concur with Jeff R's assessment: Not for anything beyond basic Strat or Bigsby stuff. It definitely won't flutter.

Am I seeing that correctly that they look to be locking type tuners?