Are you all ready for this! All my guitars and amps in one 'Eye-Popping'...(More)

Are you all ready for this! All my guitars and amps in one 'Eye-Popping' slideshow for your enjoyment and envy. I've been painstakingly preparing to record a bunch of songs with various tunings so I needed to fix up some of my un-maintained guitars because they were out of intonation, adjustment and had some issues that needed tending to before recording with them. After spending the last 2 weeks overhauling my entire guitar collection, I decided to photograph them all against a green screen. I intended to make a slideshow, but didn't really foresee that I would put so much into it. I got a little carried away, but had a lot of fun perfecting my video editing skills. Below is the history behind my guitar collection followed by a highly detailed explanation of my maintenance regimen for recording or gigging. Instrument Biography: #1 Westone Dimension IV Electric I bought this from Central Music in 1989 when they were still in St. Catharines. It was my second guitar replacing a destroyed HONDO strat copy that my Mom bought for me at RJ's music in Niagara Falls when I was 16. #1 was the first guitar I played out live with (Aqua duck and Sam's to all you Niagara Regional's) and is really 'Fugly' up close. It has survived some serious torture...the worst being thrown down a flight of stairs (not in a case) when I was still dealing with anger issues. I tune this to Drop C# and it still plays like a beast of true Metal Mayhem. #2 Ibanez Proline Electric My old girlfriend Kim bought this for me in 1990 at Ostanek's Music St. Catharines and it became my main guitar as it was in better shape than my Westone and I could solo easier with this one. This guitar has a replacement tremolo (blocked) because the saddles were worn out and I won it from Ebay cheaper than buying new parts from Hoshino (Ibanez) as they rape you on replacement parts and music stores rarely stock what you need anyway. It is tuned Drop C#. The pickguard is just some mirrored stickers to change the look of it from the old red sticker that used to be on it...as seen in previous pictures on myspace. I will always value the smooth Ebony fingerboard on this guitar. #3 Ibanez RG 560 Electric I bought this guitar in 1992 from Ostanek's Music in St. Catharines. I could not believe my eyes seeing it hanging up high on the wall. I was the first to play it as it was just brought in. This guitar is the guitar that has seen the most live and studio action and became the feel and look that I desired in a guitar. It really needs a fret job too, but I'll get to that in good time. The Low-Pro Edge, in my opinion, is the best tremolo to ever exist on a guitar. It holds in tune (E-flat) after going apes on it and it still flutters likes butter. #4 Carvin AC175 Acoustic/Electric This guitar was/still is the most expensive instrument I ever purchased Direct from Carvin in 1994. It has a neck-through body with a deep purple glossy finish. It is just a beautiful guitar to look at and hold and a dream to play. It is really thin like an electric and the action is almost as good tuned up to E-flat using D' Addario bronze 80/20 .011 through .052 gauge. I can shred on it or strum folk songs. It's the ultimate in playable guitars. I'd probably buy more Carvin's but they are so expensive. #5 Fender DG -- 10LM Acoustic I bought this acoustic dreadnought in 1995 at Murphy's Audio in Niagara Falls to have a guitar to strum acoustically at parties as the Carvin was too thin to project any volume acoustically without using a PA system or amp. This is a lower end model that plays like shit. The action is high and it buzzes still. The intonation is off too and it just isn't worth modifying. You can't perfume shit you know. lol I am using it for an open string drone guitar in the key of B-flat...like a baritone with a .068 gauge string for the B and I had to file out the nut to handle the girth of the thicker strings. It has a good tone, so I'll keep it around for the time being. #6 Ibanez RG 550 Electric I bought this used from a pawn shop in Niagara Falls in 1996 and it was almost as nice to play as my blue RG 560. It is my only maple fingerboard in my collection. The paint job isn't original either...some fool did it with soft paint that dings up real easy. This is now tuned as a B-flat Baritone with the fatter gauge of strings I mentioned above. The trem is in good shape because I merged the best parts from my old Proline edge into this one. #7 Peavey Tracer Electric I bought this from Ostanek's Music in 2000 and it was originally glossy black with chips and dings in it. I sanded it down to bare wood and stained it hunter green...with a satin clear coating. This guitar is heavy and well made. I also cut out more of the lower horn to get up to the higher frets, but it still feels a little clunky on the 22nd fret. The Kahler Spyder Bridge is an excellent bridge comparable with a Floyd Rose or Edge, but the saddles are no longer available and mine is in rough shape. I decided to block this trem so it would stay in tune and forget finding a left-handed whammy bar for it. I tune this Drop-A-flat with the low A-flat being a .068 gauge string. I turn to these home made baritones when I'm frustrated with my 7-strings, as sometimes 7 strings are one too many, but I want the lowness. #8 ESP H-201 Electric I bought this at Steve's Music while in Montreal, Quebec on a trip for my Fiance Visa interview in 2001 with Patti. This guitar looks like a dream and plays nice. It doesn't have that heavy wood feel that I prefer like the Ibanez guitars...after doing some research on guitar synths, I realized that this was the most suitable guitar for the Roland GK-3 pickup as it had enough space between the bridge saddles and the bridge pickup. I still kind of regret the synth purchase as it plays absurdly unpredictable even after repeat setups on the guitar and GR-20. You'll never see me live with the Roland or this guitar for that reason...unless I write nursery rhyme simple melodies at grindingly slow tempos. lol I will try to program my sequencer this way just to see if that is more successful than playing it live. #9 Ibanez RG 470 Electric I bought this on Ebay used in 2003 as a backup for my other blue RG. It is a cheaper Korean knockoff of my Japan made RG 560. The tremolo is a lower grade than the low-pro edge. I actually drilled out the screw-in whammy bar socket and replaced it with the 'edge' 'push in style' of tremolo arm sockets because I despise a rattle-y loose sound from the screw in jobs. The playability however is better than the Japan made RG 560 because they revamped the neck to body joint to remove the struggle to nail those last high frets. I actually should swap tremolos with the other laser blue RG and make this my main guitar. #10 Ibanez RG 7420 Electric I bought this guitar on Ebay new in 2003 and dremeled out the pickup cavities to house these EMG 707's because they are deeper and longer than any stock guitar pickup for a seven string. They are basically bass humbuckers. I tune this guitar Drop-A-flat because I just can't play a 7-string tuned normal because I am so used to playing my 'fake' baritone tuning. With 7-strings, you are facing a lack of fingers to get all the notes you want to hear minus the ones you don't while chording. The answer is to drop the string and voila! You can play seven string chords without any foul notes slipping in there. #11 Ibanez RG 7420 Electric Déjà vu...I bought this guitar on Ebay used in 2003 to use as a backup to my first one above. I also 'dremeled out' the pickup cavities to house the beastly EMG 707 pickups. I tune this guitar Drop-A-flat as well. The only difference besides all the f-in paint chips on this one is I wood blocked the tremolo for tuning stability and proper intonation for recording my heavy riffs...as heard in this slideshow. #12 Brice V2 6-string Bass Electric I bought this bass new online from Rondo Music in 2003 because the price was right...$200. I wanted to try and record the bass to my tunes instead of programming on my Boss Dr. 660 drum machine. It is difficult to play this monster and it buzzes like a cheap instrument tends to do. I tune it an octave lower than my 7-string guitars so my fingerings are exactly the same. I only wish my hands were big enough to play this well. I still am debating buying EMG's for this as well because I think the pickups are weak or I might sell this and get a 5-string bass to get my hand around the neck better. #13 Valencia CG 190CE Nylon String Classical Guitar I bought this new online at Rondo Music on the same purchase date as the Bass because I'd save on shipping and it was only $100. I couldn't believe an acoustic-electric nylon string classical for one hundred bucks was a steal. You know the "you get what you pay for" theory? Well, its intonation BLOWS and won't hold tuning well and I had to file the nut and sand the saddle down to get the action within a playable tolerance. I'll have to see if I have a use for this in any future recordings...if I don't, it's gone! I don't see the point in having a guitar collection you can't use...right? #14 Carvin C850 Acoustic/Electric Dreadnought I bought this guitar direct from Carvin in 2004 as it was the most affordable thing for a Lefty in acoustics. I was debating shelling out $500 more to go to the customs like my purple guitar, but wanted a full-bodied sound and not just another thin-bodied shredder. This guitar really puts my Fender acoustic to shame on all levels. The intonation is decent (not perfect) and it is very playable. It is harder to riff out on this, so it is more of the strummer for my softer side. I do get up higher on the neck with the very roomy cutaway. It sounds amazing acoustically or through the on-board transducer pickup. Carvin is an amazing company. Well worth the money. #15 Ibanez Prestige I bought this guitar used on Ebay in 2006 to be my main Drop-C# guitar. I paid $500 and it came with the Prestige case and all. New, this guitar was pushing $900 so I got a good deal. The tremolo is stellar as it is the improved version of the Low-Pro Edge found on my RG 560. This tremolo is why the guitar costs $300 more than the cheaper models. It's worth it though. The tuning is perfect and the action is wicked! The neck is effortless to the last fret, so I just may write some better solos to make use of that. That's all I have so far in my collection, other than a parts bin that could almost make another guitar or two. Now onto the meticulously described process of how I got my instruments in shape to be record-worthy...and for some folks new to guitar playing, you will find some good tips and advice in there. All the non-musicians and pros can gloss over the next chapter. haha! My electric guitar maintenance process was basically this: Removed the old corroded strings and recycled them Lemon oiled the neck applied using an old toothbrush (Barry's Tip) Polished the frets with super-fine steel-wool while covering the fingerboard (Barry's Tip) Tightened every loose screw on the guitar (my OCD kicked into high gear) Dismantled the bridge, replacing stripped out parts and thoroughly cleaned with alcohol Put new strings on and completely setup guitar (see below for details) Polish the entire guitar and take a picture of it. The Finer Details: I Restrung with D'Addario XLS Light top/Heavy Bottom Strings .010-.013-.017-.030-.042-.052 on my E-flat/drop C# tuned guitars I used the same as above for my 7-string guitars with the addition of adding an Ernie Ball .068 gauge string for the low B-flat/Drop A-flat tunings (it's just cheaper that way than buying 7-string sets) ...besides I wanted fat momma's for strings for extra heavy tone. I also made a few 6-string guitars 'Fake' Baritone guitars by stringing the same as the 7-string guitars minus the high E string. That is how I recorded my Low-B songs in the studio before 7-strings became readily available for LEFTYS. I then adjusted the truss rod and bridge height for optimum action without BUZZ...I hate buzz and I play hard so my action has to be set high. Then I made sure all frets played without buzzing and didn't fret out on bends or whammy pull ups. Then I adjusted the pickup heights to give even volume over all the strings and between pickups Once the strings were stretched out (by pulling hard on them and retuning) I intonated them in the position I'd be recording in (seated) A few of my guitars tremolos are just so beat-up that they go out of tune when using them floating, so I blocked the tremolo with wood. They are now like fixed bridges with the added fine tuning precision. I removed the springs and claw out of the rear of the tremolo and cut two pieces of hard wood to wedge on either side of the tremolo block. This way you don't have to have strings on it to keep the bridge in place and you can bend notes like a hard tail without going flat on the ringing strings not bent at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I love whammy bar wanking, but not if the guitar tuning gets out of whack. The guitars that are still floating are that way because they held in tune within acceptable tolerances on my tuner when comparing a dive bomb recovery to a whammy bar pull-up. I should point out a few other tricks that I incorporated into my setups that I feel add to their sound quality: I used foam/sponge under the strings at the headstock end to prevent that horrible high-frequency ring from the headstock section of the strings that would resonate when playing hard and heavy. Next, on the guitars that have floating tremolos, I folded up about 2' of toilet paper and placed it between the tremolo springs and the plastic trem cover. This takes away that other awful high-frequency spring resonation and doesn't hinder the tuning stability. All this extra effort gives me a guitar that can play 'dead-silence' muted chord chops without the computer editing. It also takes away the feedback issues associated with sympathetic vibrations at high-volumes. I use EMG active pickups exclusively for their quiet performance and added low-frequency clarity. I can also get the cleanest-clean sound out of them as they don't color the tone of my amp with any gain or fuzz. I always wire these pickups myself and have to reverse all the wiring diagrams and pots so my knobs work properly (counter-clockwise for high volume) for me. Some guitars even needed dremeling to remove enough wood to fit them in place. Luckily I'm a handy guy with tools. As for the (x) in my pickup explanation: that means non-functional. I have no real use for the middle position pickup on any of my electric guitars because they get in my way of picking, so I lower that pickup out of the way. I generally leave a 'dummy' pickup in this position in my conversions to EMG as to not leave a gaping hole behind...seeing as active and passive are not compatible on the same guitar, without going into a separate signal path. There would be no point because the pickup is lowered too far from the strings to have any real affect anyway. Well, that's pretty much a wrap on what I wanted to explain to the vast unknown public and to my dear musician friends. I'll spare all of us the tedious task of an explanation for my live rig. Take care of yourself and cherish what you have in life, no matter how little or excessive it is. Aaron(Less)