The best chuggy sound I've played thru is thru a gflex, ported cabs are awesome
The best chuggy sound I've played thru is thru a gflex, ported cabs are awesome
In reply to z31maniac :
I watched a video for this today. Looks like Gibson is finally investing some money into Kramer.
I watched the video thinking, damn... set neck (sculpted like a neck-thru)... Floyd... fancy finish... this won't be cheap. And then I click the link and see it's only $899. 
Not that I'm a huge Traci Guns fan, but it's a cool guitar for a decent price. Rumors are floating that Dave Mustaine will have a new Gibson and/or Kramer model coming out soon (it is NAMM season...). But I have vowed not to buy anymore guitars until I, A - Finish all of the guitar projects I have on the docket, and B - sell off a few guitars I don't play very often (ever).
Gave a little love to my '19 Am Pro Tele this past weekend. I played it stock for just over a year and told myself I wouldn't touch it until I figured out what I actually wanted for it if anything. Just a couple minor tweaks with a set of custom shop '51 Nocaster pickups (Neck is warmer, bridge sounds the same to me) and a factory Fender aged mint green pick guard to replace the 3 ply white. Looks right and sounds good to me though to 99.9% of the world you couldn't tell what I changed at all. 
Dem brass saddles:
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to z31maniac :
I watched a video for this today. Looks like Gibson is finally investing some money into Kramer.
I watched the video thinking, damn... set neck (sculpted like a neck-thru)... Floyd... fancy finish... this won't be cheap. And then I click the link and see it's only $899.
Not that I'm a huge Traci Guns fan, but it's a cool guitar for a decent price. Rumors are floating that Dave Mustaine will have a new Gibson and/or Kramer model coming out soon (it is NAMM season...). But I have vowed not to buy anymore guitars until I, A - Finish all of the guitar projects I have on the docket, and B - sell off a few guitars I don't play very often (ever).
The neck thru......probably not. There is a new process manufacturer's are using where they "bond" ie glue, the neck into the body vs bolt-on, and then paint over it so it looks like a one solid piece, but it's really not.
I'm kicking myself for pulling the trigger on a Gibson Explorer yesterday on Reverb. New they are $1700. This one was $1200 shipped with a hardcase, lightly used but I couldn't see any imperfections on it. I knew it would sell within a few hours and it did. I didn't pull the trigger because I thought, "I don't really need to spend $1200 on a guitar today."
And now I'm mad at myself for not just jumping on it like I knew I should have.
In reply to z31maniac :
In the introductory video, Traci describes it as a set neck. I added the "sculpted like a neck-thru" part, since... well... it looks a lot like the heal joint on my ESP, which is for sure a neck-thru (only way ESP built Horizons back in the 80's).
I keep looking at one Explorer on Reverb... the red triple P-90 example with a Kahler... but the same self-inflicted buying restrictions apply.
Got any luthiers here? I am just realizing that I have a guitar issue after slowly learning the guitar for the past nine months. It's an Epiphone SG which I bought from Musicians Friend (Sweetwater next time).
When I an in tune open, and in tune at the twelth fret, I am silly sharp at the seventh and silly flat at the nineteenth. To me that means the frets are spaced wrong on the neck. This happens on all strings. To boot, the lowest four strings are maxxed out in length to intonate properly. I had my second Zoom guitar lesson where we hashed this out.
It sounds like the 12th fret is too close to the body, and the scale is shifted.
Musicians Friend is happy to take it as a warranty claim, but that means shipping it without damaging it, and also being without my only guitar for a few weeks.
Thanks in advance!
In reply to tuna55 :
Is the guitar neck straight? Hold the string at the first fret and the last fret (22?). You should have a couple thousandths between the string and the 12th fret.
What model exactly? Even on the cheapest guitars I've never had an issue with fret spacing. Finish, height, overhang... but not spacing.
It could be the bridge is in the wrong spot. Check the length from the nut to the bridge. Should be 24 3/4".
If the neck is straight, and the bridge is in the right spot, I'd call MF and send it in for a replacement. Sweetwater is better to deal with but I've had good experiences with MF customer service.
Have you had it set up with new strings? Old strings and/or a truss rod out of whack will cause odd intonation issues.
Or you could just have a lemon.
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
I did set the truss rod and height properly. Looking down the neck I can see the relief, but it's within 1mm with the string fretted at both ends. I replaced the strings a few times, the most recent just a few weeks ago.
It's a G-400 PRO
barefootskater (Shaun) said:In reply to tuna55 :
It could be the bridge is in the wrong spot. Check the length from the nut to the bridge. Should be 24 3/4".
The bridge is canted. Is this normal? Meaning the distance from nut to bridge is not the same for each string.
In reply to tuna55 :
Look up Darrel Braun Guitar. He has a great Youtube channel that goes through how to set up a guitar. He goes through neck straightening and saddle adjustment along with a bunch of other little tweaks on both cheap and expensive guitars.
tester (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to tuna55 :
Look up Darrel Braun Guitar. He has a great Youtube channel that goes through how to set up a guitar. He goes through neck straightening and saddle adjustment along with a bunch of other little tweaks on both cheap and expensive guitars.
I love that guy!
yeah I went through those videos and went through the basics with my guitar teacher again. Something is weirder than that.
I would be pretty surprised if the frets are not the correct spacing. It sounds like something is out of whack on the neck, but I would start with changing the strings just to rule that out.
Are the harmonics right? Meaning, is the harmonic played at the 12th fret the same note (different octave) as the open string?
I personally would take it to my local shop and have my luthier take a look and tell me "yeah, minor adjustment and we're good" or "Lemon, take it back".
mtn (Forum Supporter) said:I would be pretty surprised if the frets are not the correct spacing. It sounds like something is out of whack on the neck, but I would start with changing the strings just to rule that out.
Are the harmonics right? Meaning, is the harmonic played at the 12th fret the same note (different octave) as the open string?
I personally would take it to my local shop and have my luthier take a look and tell me "yeah, minor adjustment and we're good" or "Lemon, take it back".
I already changed the strings a few times.
Yes the harmonics at open/12 are right, or as close as I can get them with the intonation adjustment that I have.
I am waffling on the last bit. If I bring it to a guy I am paying out of pocket for the pleasure, and I don't have a relationship yet, though I do have a solid lead. So I am out the luthier cost or the time of not having the guitar for two+ weeks.
In reply to tuna55 :
I had a g400. Not the pro though.
That was a lemon. The only bad epiphone ive ever had. It was just dead. Some chords were ok, some had zero sustain. Something wrong with the wood itself. Hopefully yours is easily solved.
Missed a hell of a deal last night.
That's a USA Peavey Fury bass AND a little Peavey practice amp for $80. These basses are pretty much Fender USA quality, and prices have been creeping up steadily lately. And I even like the color. Not that I needed another bass, but man, I would have loved to have that! 
tuna55 said:mtn (Forum Supporter) said:I would be pretty surprised if the frets are not the correct spacing. It sounds like something is out of whack on the neck, but I would start with changing the strings just to rule that out.
Are the harmonics right? Meaning, is the harmonic played at the 12th fret the same note (different octave) as the open string?
I personally would take it to my local shop and have my luthier take a look and tell me "yeah, minor adjustment and we're good" or "Lemon, take it back".
I already changed the strings a few times.
Yes the harmonics at open/12 are right, or as close as I can get them with the intonation adjustment that I have.
I am waffling on the last bit. If I bring it to a guy I am paying out of pocket for the pleasure, and I don't have a relationship yet, though I do have a solid lead. So I am out the luthier cost or the time of not having the guitar for two+ weeks.
Buy a cheap guitar on craigslist for the two weeks, sell it when you get yours back?
mtn (Forum Supporter) said:tuna55 said:mtn (Forum Supporter) said:I would be pretty surprised if the frets are not the correct spacing. It sounds like something is out of whack on the neck, but I would start with changing the strings just to rule that out.
Are the harmonics right? Meaning, is the harmonic played at the 12th fret the same note (different octave) as the open string?
I personally would take it to my local shop and have my luthier take a look and tell me "yeah, minor adjustment and we're good" or "Lemon, take it back".
I already changed the strings a few times.
Yes the harmonics at open/12 are right, or as close as I can get them with the intonation adjustment that I have.
I am waffling on the last bit. If I bring it to a guy I am paying out of pocket for the pleasure, and I don't have a relationship yet, though I do have a solid lead. So I am out the luthier cost or the time of not having the guitar for two+ weeks.
Buy a cheap guitar on craigslist to play while yours is in the shop, then buy another. Buy two more. Sell one, buy six. The guy with the most guitars is happy, science fact
FTFY
Frets being in the wrong place are pretty rare, unless you buy Firefly guitars. Are you fretting when you notice it's sharp?
You can also manually measure it, there should be measurements online if you look.
In reply to tuna55 :
Somethings funny there. Have you tried a different gauge string? If That set is .010-.046 I'd switch to .009-.042. Those saddles Shouldn't need to be maxed out like that. One or two once in a while, but not 4 of them.
As you're new, also remember that finger pressure can cause things to be sharp too. Make Sure you're not fretting too hard muscle man.
The angle of the bridge is normal, I'll go measure my epiphone LP which is the same scale length and post pictures.
Two minutes, Turkish!
and the frets if it helps:
that is standard tuning with .009-.042 Ernie ball strings.
I'll check those momentarily. Thanks! They are nine gauge strings now, and pretty new
Mine is a good bit different than that.
In reply to tuna55 :
Is that measurement from the headstock side of the nut or the fretboard side? Measure from the edge of the nut where it meets the fretboard.
Tuna, random thought, make sure the nut isn't backwards. It should have the strings "start" right at the fretboard, with a taper on the headstock side. The highest part of the string slot should Be right up against the fretboard.
Some guitars I've encountered have loose nuts. Not glued down or anything. Easy to put one on backwards. Or it may have left the factory that way. That would cause the octave (12th) to be somewhat normal with the intonation set, but have everything on either side to be out of whack.
just a random thought I had that could explain that odd behavior.
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