diablo175 Posted October 12, 2015 Author Posted October 12, 2015 How excited are you now? Pretty damned excited.
Victor (Fret Friend) Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 Zut FUCKING alors!!! Only just seen this thread! Fuck me = this guitar is all kinds of AWESOME! Did I see carbon support strips in the neck??? Awesome!
Meatbomb Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 Zut FUCKING alors!!! Only just seen this thread! Fuck me = this guitar is all kinds of AWESOME! Did I see carbon support strips in the neck??? Awesome! Yep. Carbon fiber rods in the neck
Victor (Fret Friend) Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 Zut FUCKING alors!!! Only just seen this thread! Fuck me = this guitar is all kinds of AWESOME! Did I see carbon support strips in the neck??? Awesome! Yep. Carbon fiber rods in the neck That's just too neat! I only even found out that luthiers/builders were putting carbon fiber rods in necks this morning then hey-ho, one turns up! Sa-weet!
diablo175 Posted October 26, 2015 Author Posted October 26, 2015 It's heeeeeeerrreeee. Chris brought it over last night before band rehearsal, he wanted me to try it out and give any feedback re: tweaks to be made. On the advice of several luthiers, he recommended trying it out and allowing the neck to adjust to being under pressure a day or two before intonating it. So, I have it for the next day or so to play around with before he intonates and makes any last minute adjustments. The first thing I noticed was while the quilt definitely is standout and pops quite vividly, the overall color is not as bright as I hoped for. It may have something to do with the lighting in the basement but it's as I feared- as an artist I know you have to adjust and compensate for different viewing situations as color can be profoundly effected (muted) by light. I typically anticipate that muting of color's characteristics and push it more to the exaggerated side to allow for that. Sonically, this ax is a BEAST! It has superb low end rumble and definition and excellent mid range tones. The highs are not as in-your-face as my Hamers w/ SD Customs, but are fuller and harmonically rich. The SD Distortion was a good choice for this build. I'll give my self a pat on the back for having sound instincts (pun intended) on this one. It really sounds fantastic. A perfect storm of build materials, hardware, construction methods and pick-ups. Plays very well! There is a minor issue with the neck contour/profile being a little off- more D shaped than C and as a result, it feels a little clunky and chunky to me. I've used to the C profile of my Calis and the D of the Jackson/Charvels which is just a tad thinner so it doesn't bother my hand. The good news is he can adjust that but it will require that it be out of my hands for another 3 - 4 weeks. Well worth it if it comes back feeling a little more like the Cali's. The FU Tone Floyd is similar to a Gotoh in form except it has a little heftier feeling like the OFRs. I much prefer the screw down collar mechanism for securing the arm in the socket vs. Gotoh's push in arm and screw adjustment for arm swing tension. It seems this FU Tone is, for me, the best attributes of the OFR and the Gotoh. Because of the springs rubbing against the trem cavity rout when the bar is dumped, I haven't gotten the full measure of what this bridge is capable of. Chris is going to round off the edge of the cavity to allow free movement of the springs, without taking away any more significant real estate from the body. Overall, this is a killer ax. Chrsi has a few adjustments to make and the plates anc overs need to go on but once these are done, this thing will be a flame throwing, rawk monster!
coolfeel Posted October 26, 2015 Posted October 26, 2015 Great report on your new guitfiddle - congrats! Can't see the pics on here though...
Meatbomb Posted October 26, 2015 Posted October 26, 2015 Those pics are kinda backlit This is definitely a guitar that needs the right lighting to bring out the full effect. Definitely has different looks in different environments. I dare say on stage with those bright LED lights pointing at it its going to look spectacular Once I make the adjustments to the neck and trem and get it intonated it'll be a real beastie
DBraz Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 Great guitar. Great build photos and it looks like a happy customer. Rock on!
Steve Haynie Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 This has been an exciting thread with an incredible looking guitar at the end. It sure would be nice if it got passed around the country so we could all enjoy the awesomeness of this guitar.
Dasein Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 It's cool to see how you understand how this kind of thing is a work in progress in terms of adjustments etc.... I hate taking my guitars to anyone who thinks that they can throw a new set of strings on and make some immediate adjustments and send me out the door. Guitars are organic - they gotta breath and it takes a bit to respond to any changes -- and those changes and responses will have an effect on the other variables --- so nothing is a single tweak - it's all sympathetic and involves time.When my guitars are setup I feel awesome --- when they are not I get so depressed and disturbed by this feeling that something is off that I can't play for shit and it literally hurts me. In my classical days - before performances or master-classes I'd spend several hours tuning up - allowing the guitar to adjust and open up ---- there's a whole process to it that tunes the body and mind to the instrument. I can't wait to hear how this one comes together for you.I too notice trem cavities being too narrow for the most part (Spring rub means both tension/friction and sound -- causing tuning issues and just general noise.
Meatbomb Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 It's cool to see how you understand how this kind of thing is a work in progress in terms of adjustments etc.... I hate taking my guitars to anyone who thinks that they can throw a new set of strings on and make some immediate adjustments and send me out the door. Guitars are organic - they gotta breath and it takes a bit to respond to any changes -- and those changes and responses will have an effect on the other variables --- so nothing is a single tweak - it's all sympathetic and involves time.When my guitars are setup I feel awesome --- when they are not I get so depressed and disturbed by this feeling that something is off that I can't play for shit and it literally hurts me. In my classical days - before performances or master-classes I'd spend several hours tuning up - allowing the guitar to adjust and open up ---- there's a whole process to it that tunes the body and mind to the instrument. I can't wait to hear how this one comes together for you.I too notice trem cavities being too narrow for the most part (Spring rub means both tension/friction and sound -- causing tuning issues and just general noise.Most definitely. It's a process. Especially with a brand new instrument that's never been under tension before.Things move, then you adjust, then things move some more, and you adjust, etc until everything reaches equilibrium.
diablo175 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Posted October 28, 2015 Sure looks sweet.Sounds sweet, too! After the few minor adjustments are made, this beast should be firing on all cylinders!
scottcald Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Please post audio or video so we can hear it scream.
diablo175 Posted October 30, 2015 Author Posted October 30, 2015 Please post audio or video so we can hear it scream. I'll be using tomorrow night for our gig in Ephrata. If you're in the area, top on out and here in person. In all seriousness, I'll try to capture some video. In the meantime, settle for more pron from Meatbomb's website: Burrito page 8
FGJ Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 Man, I was hoping for, like, a first-time-playing video with impressions. Oh, well, I'll take what I can get. When can we expect to see this in action?
diablo175 Posted October 31, 2015 Author Posted October 31, 2015 Man, I was hoping for, like, a first-time-playing video with impressions. Oh, well, I'll take what I can get. When can we expect to see this in action? Sorry. Even after some tweaking earlier this week, it was re-delivered to me last night at 8 PM and needed some minor adjustments on my part to make it, well... mine. Specific little tweaks a builder is not going to, nor should, necessarily know about. Besides, my rig is already broken down and poised to be loaded up for tonight's show so, no audio. As stated above, I'll be trying it out tonight for our Halloween gig at the Amvets in Ephrata. Will try to capture some video/audio of it tonight.
Meatbomb Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 Man, I was hoping for, like, a first-time-playing video with impressions. Oh, well, I'll take what I can get. When can we expect to see this in action? Sorry. Even after some tweaking earlier this week, it was re-delivered to me last night at 8 PM and needed some minor adjustments on my part to make it, well... mine. Specific little tweaks a builder is not going to, nor should, necessarily know about. Besides, my rig is already broken down and poised to be loaded up for tonight's show so, no audio. As stated above, I'll be trying it out tonight for our Halloween gig at the Amvets in Ephrata. Will try to capture some video/audio of it tonight. Right.....SECRET tweaks builders don't know about :-)
FGJ Posted November 1, 2015 Posted November 1, 2015 Wait, shouldn't a truly custom build have all of those tweaks already built into them, hence, truly custom? What more could you possibly add to an already awesome guitar? Or does "live performance sweat" count?
diablo175 Posted November 1, 2015 Author Posted November 1, 2015 Man, I was hoping for, like, a first-time-playing video with impressions. Oh, well, I'll take what I can get. When can we expect to see this in action? Sorry. Even after some tweaking earlier this week, it was re-delivered to me last night at 8 PM and needed some minor adjustments on my part to make it, well... mine. Specific little tweaks a builder is not going to, nor should, necessarily know about. Besides, my rig is already broken down and poised to be loaded up for tonight's show so, no audio. As stated above, I'll be trying it out tonight for our Halloween gig at the Amvets in Ephrata. Will try to capture some video/audio of it tonight. Right.....SECRET tweaks builders don't know about :-) Not really secret. Just minute adjustments ( i.e.action, trem setting, pick up height, etc.) to a players unique expectations that a builder wouldn't necessarily think to do unless the customer had made it known in advance. And even then, a builder could shrug and say, "Meh, do it yourself."
FGJ Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 I'm confused. Aren't those kinds of adjustments generally what constitutes a "set-up" (which a custom builder hopefully does before sending it out the door)? I mean, okay, I can imagine the trem being set up differently, depending on what the player personally likes; but isn't there an optimal string and pick-up height that works best for the guitar itself, e.g., wouldn't a builder set a pickup to a height that gets the best clarity and power for a particular guitar/pickup combo? I guess what I'm saying is, if a pickup is set up to avoid mud while yielding its potential power, why would anyone want to alter it? And if the strings were set up with the lowest action that can be had without buzzing, why would anyone want to raise the action?
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