DOES WOOD MATTER ???

DOES WOOD MATTER!!!

The collective opinion says that rosewood is warmer and fuller sounding ...but it can muddy or be uneven.

The maple is bright ,even, tight and clean but can be a bit harsh or strident.

Actually all things being equal except the neck ...both sound great
.
Personally the maple to me is my preference because in a band context it cuts thru the mix just a bit better.
But you want the guitar when sitting on a stand to say "PLAY ME" ....so the look is important ...whatever gets that guitar in your hands the most should be your choice.

DON'T YOU WISH THIS WAS AN OPTION ON EVERY GUITAR?

    .....WOOD MATTERS

 

I found this cool video of a guy who owns several old Strats. All but his 63 are                      either Alder or Ash.

But compare them to the 63 in Mahogany. The Mahogany is noticeable darker sounding. It is fatter in the low mids and has a lot of bass. Mahogany in a Fender is very unusual!

Gibson use mainly mahogany.

  DOES THE WOOD ON AN OLD GUITAR SOUND BETTER ? 

It most certainly can. It is scientifically guaranteed to be different. Science can not argue better!

I have read of knowledgeable people say it does not.

They say it is a myth. Myths can cause the placebo effect. They also claim there isn't any science on it.

Well those that can hear the difference get the 'last laugh'

There is now ample proof.

  YOU HAVE JUST GOT TO LOVE THE PIANO  

For years Yamaha have been trying to build the perfect piano. No matter how good they made
it the establishment and indeed the players preferred the Steinway.
So what was it about the Steinway that made a difference?
 AGE ?? MAYBE?? Those that were the best players played the best concert halls and those halls had a Steinway of course. BUT those halls are very old...and so was their Steinway. LOL
So...Yamaha searched around and found some old Steinway's that were way past their 'best before' date.
In short junked ones kept for  parts.
They hired both chemists and even botanist to cut up the wood and see what made it tick.
It turns out all wood contains sap. It dries out pretty fast when the tree is cut and dried. BUT the sap slowly crystallizes over the years. This will happen naturally but the process is enhanced by vibrating the wood. Could it be by hammering the metal strings over it?
So Yamaha has managed to artificially 'AGE WOOD'.and had the experts compared. YES!!!!
Sooooo they have just moved a similar system into their Acoustic guitar manufacture.

Having said all that Paul Reed Smith says it is all about moisture. It is generally assumed that if wood is air dried to a content of 805 it is Ok to make sh@t out of it that will not warp. So guitar makers do just that. A 59 Les Paul after drying out for years has a moisture content of 20%. WHOA!!!
The PRS kiln dries it's wood over 3 days until it HAS 20%.

THE 1952 FENDER FORECASTER...is it time to make this guitar?

A BIT OF FUN

The 1952 Fender Forecaster was never made...in fact it was never even thought of !

In the 1950's the second biggest selling guitar in America was the Kay Vanguard. It recently struck me that part of it's appeal is it's shape. It looks like a Fender that was meant to be made in 1952. Which would be two years after the Tele and two years before the Strat. The Vanguard is a 'Missing Link' between the 2 body styles.

So I started thinking .What if I designed one just different enough that where the neck is mounted it would fit a Stat or Tele neck. You can then build the new Kay using all standard Tele/Strat hardware and PU's.
This keeps the price down...allows for endless 'hot roding' and really makes the guitar
appear to actually be the mythical Forecaster

What if you could actually buy this guitar ???

you would have the rarest of all the Fender's...the
 '1952 Fender Forecaster'

I think the easiest way is to start with a body blank...the Fender Custom shop
                                         did just that on this one below. Then they traced out the Strat shape...and dispensed with the fancy routing and carving.

Fender Custom Shop Strat

                                                                                         

It would not be too hard alter the cutaways coming in towards the heel of the neck on the Strat.
The top cutaway would tie in 5 frets up the neck and the bottom tie in at the second fret.
This would both keep the heel and neck fitting 
the same as a stock Strat. It will also not threaten access to the highest frets nor would it alter how the heel fits to the body.
In short the new guitar would look much different 
...but the feel and playability would be the same as a  a stock Strat.
Great feel for any average player... nothing to even get used to for a Tele or Strat player.
Bullet proof !



So I am designing a prototype that can be made in China with American Standard Strat/Tele quality that could be sold for less then $500.00 USD. I have contacted a Chinese manufacturer 

. 

  

HARDWARE..

Perhaps the neck pickup should be a Strat...but with a chrome cover
The  Tele neck PU is chrome..

The Tele control plate could be mounted on an angle with the switch at the top

to mimic the layout of the Strat's controls

.

Keep the the tele neck pickup & bridge ...but update to the 6 saddles
the 1954 Strat had 6 saddles.

The upper side of the Strat pickguard is good but we will have to lop off the bottom
It needs to be shorten because of the bridge/pickup mounting plate.

The Tele Deluxe takes care of shaping the cutaway corner of the guitar

this keeps the vibe of the fun look of the Kay but following the pickguard curve of the Deluxe

puts us back into a Leo design

We will need a headstock that
 falls between the Tele and Strat style.
So since Reverend guitars have been
freely borrowing on Fender ideas
in fact the Eastsider is a Tele.
we will borrow the headstock back. LOL
Perfect ...It is thin like a Tele but clearly it is a Strat shape.

The fake sunburst does not make it....
but the old Fender Torino red would be good.


I think a classic 'Blonde'  maple/neck fingerboard goes without saying!
Fender did not use rosewood for fret boards in '52.


So a quick review
the Vanguard body shape will be used ...with a modification to fit the heel of  a Strat/Tele neck
and a minor change in shape of cut-away to make it the same shape as the Tele deluxe pick guard.
The bridge will be the current American Tele bridge.
The pickguard will be a merge of a strat style on the top half and a Tele Deluxe on the bottom half.
The pick guard at the bridge will go strait across ...Tele style ...and the cutout for the steel control plate will be angled to align it to the outward curve of bottom rear bout of the body. To mimic the slanted controls of the Strat.

The neck pickup will be a Strat but with a chrome cover...and the neck will be the standard Tele one.

Oh yes and the Pickups.
The best of the Tele pickups to me is coincidentally the 1954.
it has the Tele twang but with a nice fat snarling bite that sounds great with overdrives.
Duncan do a superb '54.
The also do a very convincing staggered Strat
BUT.

That said some cheap and cheerful Chinese jobbies will do to keep the price down.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

AUG.13, 2021

THE BIG SURPRISE

In 1951 Leo was making sketches of his new

guitar for 1953

LEO thought his guitars should be like cars

every few years you got a New VERSION

In other words the 1950 Tele would cease production and 

so the 1953 Tele would look like my Lenard.

Like a car a few things would be used over

but NOT the look.

Hence the spec of the basic shape. The back half is identical

The treble Horn was added (borrowed from 52 P. Bass)

The lower horn was cut off.

the bolt on maple neck, the wood used etc. stayed the

same

The 6 saddle hardtail bridge was already a prototype

in 51 for such a guitar.

The edges were more rounded off but the top was till flat.

the rear did have a tummy cut.

The Tele PU at the neck was kept ...but a new PU was already 

designed (the Strat PU? Highly possible)

for the neck position. 

The middle PU was added by me so you can get

the out of phase thing

I got all this info from guy who worked with leo every

morning in the last 4 years he was alive.

and got to see all the pics and notes from the 50's

Leo never thru his ideas out even when

they were rough sketches.

This 'Guy' is still alive so I will not invade his privacy.

by saying who he is.

I will give you a hint.

He is famous for designing a sh@t load of

after market hardware for hot rodding your fenders.

nearly all of it is still available and NOT hard to find.

Goggle  ...

The Second Best Guitar on the Planet

It has the whole story on the lenard guitar.

THE 6 PROBLEMS I HAVE WITH DIRT BOXES.

I have 6 problems with dirt boxes.

There are many kinds of OD/Distortion pedals. Many are highly specialized for a style of playing.

Most can be functional in some way. Perhaps a thin sounding one is great for muted notes
...another is very full and fills a space well or another sits nicely behind a vocal.
I have many of those that I choose on purpose for a task.

What I am talking about here today are the rip your face off shredding machines. Most are based of a Marshall amps..especially a JCM800 or a Gourmet company's reinvention of it.  lol

SO HERE ARE MY 6 BIG MOANS

One... missing thing is that they do not all respond to my touch and as a result will not express the note I played the same as I played it. One pedal that does respond for me with perfection is the JHS @. 

The Second... thing is the resonance point of the mid range...too high and the pedal sounds a bit thin...too low and there is no singing sound to the pedal. 

The Third... thing is I like a growl caused by clipping in the low mid and upper bass range.It gives the pedal a gutsy sound. Some have none.

Fourth...  a very low boost at 600k simulates the natural boost the a Marshall 4 x12 speaker box creates ...the pedal can sound better with at least a hint even if it is actually going thru a real 4x12 cab. With a trend to lower wattage combo's left on clean and letting the pedals make the sound ...makes this is more important then ever.

Fifth... Some lack definition or are just plain muddy in the lows. Others are tight but they do this by killing the lows.

Sixth... Some rare pedals will cause a long sustained note or a pinched harmonic to feedback and the harmonics will leap up to an octave higher then you are playing easily...and some struggle even at reasonably high amp volumes. Most are inconsistent.
In fact this is my biggest complaint. 


.
.

OVERDRIVE- FRIEDMAN BE-OD ...it should be called a demolition pedal...

FRIEDMAN BE-OD

Now what would a company that makes handmade Marshall type re-pro and hot rod amps know about making a pedal?
Well they might know better then to go onto a flooded market with anything but the best. They make amps in the $3000.00 range. I think the idea was to make this a candy for the guy that gets one...so if you want more...you will just buy the amp.

The pedal is a clone of their BE Amp.
BE...stands for Brown Eyed.

Friedman amps were originally called Marsha.

This is a high gain pedal. When the knob on the Friedman is only turned half way up it has more gain then the competitors.

I can tell you right now if you only want one pedal for serious 'remove the back wall' distortion this one can do it!!!

So...is this the best OD ever?
Yes...and No. It is not the fatest. It has a nice JCM 800 sound in there but boosting willy-nilly  
it all but disappears and it can get a bit harsh. Realistically it should be considered a distortion pedal.
But medium and low gain distortion can be covered with a couple of $35.00 USD Chinese clones
so ...
selling the family cow for a high gain pedal is not an issue.

It is reasonably versatile. Back it off and you have a great pedal for OD chord work...even a fixed position C sounds good...crank it past  half way and do some Metal...turn it up all the way...and throw away that Fuzz pedal you have,
It has incredible definition no matter where you set it.
I do not think you could muddy it up if you tried, Every note is razor cut clear. It is definitely not warm. It reminds me of an early 70's Hi Watt amp in the way that many choose to set it up.


Pete Thorn in his vid does a beautiful job of keeping all the lovely nasty stuff but still pulling out a Marshall JMT45 sound out of it.
He seems to think this thing is flat out the very best OD you can get. In his other vids he has played some exceptional OD's. In short this is a bold statement...as a reviewer it paints him into the corner of the room. My point is he has a lot to loose saying this.

Ok...one pedal is not perfect for everyone. BUT....for those that want to blow out the back wall yet still have great tone... old Pete says 'this is it.'  ...and his video is very, very convincing.

I have been whacking out $200.00 to $400.00 every few weeks lately trying to find the ultimate dirt pedal for soloing. How often does one use there 2nd or 3rd best pedal when shredding time arrives.

So what's my point.
I ordered one. LOL
If it really is that good...there will be some very nice nearly new mint condition dirt pedals for sale on Reverb.

Current Price $200.00 USD

a bit cheaper then the competition

 but they are still new to getting a serious pedal rep.

It has 6 knobs to control all the goodies. You get treble and bass tone controls. The presence is very nice...if you like that fat bassy Marshall sound you can add some sizzle without having to nudge up the highs and screw up the sound.

or you can back them off if you go into ultra-shred...so the crowd won't go home with tinnitus.

Tight is popular with everyone since Amptweaker put it on a pedal.

Very useful though it does eat up your low end.

Last but not least is the gain knob. It can easily put out more then double the gain that most players would need.

Finally...it is nice size not to large a footprint but big enough to easily get your hands around all those control goodies.

The look is simple and unpretentious.

So...hopefully I will soon have my pedal...and I will extend and edit this post.

ONE WEEK LATER AND IT ARRIVED AT MY DOOR... 

PETE THORN STUCK HIS NECK OUT AND BASICALLY SAID THAT THIS IS THE BEST DISTORTION PEDAL EVER!!!

I have had mine know for only a half hour.

Apparently PETE did not have some emotional over reaction

HE'S RIGHT!

I THINK THIS IS THE VERY BEST DISTORTION PEDAL I HAVE EVER PLAYED 

TELLING YOU THIS IS LIKE BETTING ON A FIXED RACE !!!!!!

My first impression was quite simply stunned disbelief.

SO....It is a few days later and I have played around with the pedal a bit. A bit of fine tuning to get

that extra drop of perfection from it.

I have some decent guitars..I usually leave 3 or 4 in the rehearsal room in the city.

As  fate would have it...I had not tried my Les Paul with it.
I now have. 

I new it would sound good ...BUT OH MY GOD....this pedal just went from amazing to a place I can not describe.

THIS PEDAL ....SERVES A FUNCTION.
IT IS A LOOK AT ME SHRED PEDAL!!!  lol

FIRST LOOK AT THE FRIEDMAN 

DP-OD 

   

WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEST PEDAL TO SHRED WITH I ALWAYS OWN ONE JUST FOR THAT!!!

Today JAN. 1 2018 my Friedman BE-OD was SOLD!

WHY ???...a better OD

CUSTOM TONES ETHOS TWE-1 TRAIN WRECK EXPRESS OD/PREAMP

WARNING

CHECK OUT THE POST BEFORE YOU BUY THE FRIEDMAN

No comment ...the pedal sells itself ...it needs no help from me!

PROBLEM SOLVER ...Simple ...Cool and Cheap.

Guitar Fetish Pickup mounting ring

A very cool idea...and cheap $4.00 ...a simple adapter ring that fits Strat pickups. You can then turn your Gibson into a Strat (or fit this mounting ring over any hole that was routed for a standard size humbucker. They come in black, cream and white.
The also have one for the Tele

UNDERDRIVE- LOTUS PEDAL DESIGNS SNOW JOB....no it is not a joke

UNDERDRIVE  ???

LOTUS DESIGNS SNOW JOB UNDERDRIVE

Like I said this is not a joke. It is clever...the guitar
signal is overdriving the pedal. I imagine it means
the input sensitivity is so low that the guitar signal
distorts it. The manufacturer says it fills the space
between the notes with harmonic content.
Once again...since the signal seems clean and normal
I expect that the signal from the guitar is filtered out
and the distorted overtone are allowed to be fed back
 into the the clean signal. If the affected signal is
heavily distorted it would saturated and over compress
and easily sustain past the natural clean signal.
A filter could be used as well to take most of the
lows and mids out so only the distorted upper mids
and highs are fed back in with the clean signal.

Current Price $149.00 USD

I have my suspicions it could be based
off of  the now discontinued Aphex
Aural Xciter.
What Aphex did was remove the signal
to a sidechain...filter out the basic notes
with a band pass filter leaving any signal
that is 700 Hz to 7Khz to be fed back
into the clean signal. It is mostly second
harmonic distortion. (tube amp sound at
the edge of breakup type sound.)

Sonicially it sounds a lot like a Klon style pedal.
So is it several ways to end up with the same sound...or is it hype and marketing ????

It is not a silly price but...considering it's similar sound to a Klon I would recommend the Tone City Bad Horse Klon clone over it.

Current Price $64.00 USD