Gasalcoholics anonymous? whoever said this was a help group?

[dubkitty]

FWIW i have a Japanese White Falcon that couldn’t possibly be any better than it is.

email for the Stylophone Drone Synth just dropped. i’m really looking forward to a drone toy that’s more capable than the small oscillator things i have.

[Heraclitus Akimbo]

email for the Stylophone Drone Synth just dropped. i’m really looking forward to a drone toy that’s more capable than the small oscillator things i have.

Some $$ came through today and I felt like it was time to grab something off my list... the Stylophone drone synth was definitely one of three or four things in the running, but instead I went with the bastl wizard modulation thing to enhance my array of tiny modular toys.

[chuckjaywalk]

Visited Hauer Music in Dayton. Talk about a great shop! The owner was our personal guide through the store, roughly the size of a Guitar Center. I told him I wanted an American-made guitar with 2 humbuckers and he told me to sit down. He came back with a Heritage H-535, their version of a Gibson 335. Plugged it into the Fender Ramparte I had my eye on. I've never liked a semi-hollow before, but this was magic. After 15 minutes or so, he replaced it with a Heritage Custom Core H-150 with a Bigsby. I'd played around 12 Les Pauls around Cincinnati in the last 2 weeks, but this felt different. The weight was right where I want it, heavier than a Strat but not painfully heavy. The neck was somewhere closer to a Gibson 60s but thicker. I lost track of myself playing it. Fell in love. Can't get it for another couple of months but man, Heritage makes an amazing guitar.

Totally bought the Ramparte. Dead mint. The owner checked everything on the bench before we left, regaling my partner and I with stories about Joe Bonamassa, who he's known since he was a teenager, and George Benson, who was there the day before.

[dubkitty]

that sounds delightful. when i ordered my White Falcon it took several days to ship because they were checking everything, as should always happen when you spend that much. or any other time you buy a guitar.

[dubkitty]

Stylophone is really going in for the new year…they just announced a dual filter for the summer that sounds very impressive. think i’ll wait until i get the Drone Synth and see what i think, but i’m definitely intrigued. are these fuckers trying to backdoor me into modular? intro video at link (scroll down).

https://stylophone.com/stylophone-df-8-waiting-list/

[Gone Fission]

In: Guyker version of the Les Trem for my Epi LP. I’m not really sure WTF I’m thinking because I’m happy with it as a fixed-bridge guitar. But it’s a non-permanent install. I’ll probably break some strings before figuring out if I dig it and then see about attacking friction and tuning stability.

Finally put it on today. What I like the most is the stability with string bends—other strings don’t noticeably detune but there’s still a touch of up-pull and it isn’t abrupt going down like a decked Strat trem would be. Lots of dive, though. But with a light touch it can do subtle very well.

The included studs were just a touch too big for the Epi’s existing bushings, but rather than pull those and install the new bushings I just reused the old studs. Yeah, they stick out a bit but IDGAF at the moment.

Tuning stability next. I hear Dubs on the OG approach with the domed thumb wheels. Curiously, it doesn’t look like Advanced Plating duplicated the curved-bottom ABR-1 bridge to go with. Just getting a non-ABR bridge with roller saddles to slap on seems cheaper and easier, though I’ve never really believed in rollers. Also thinking about one of those String Butler doohickeys for straight string pull at the nut.

[Blackened Soul]

Also thinking about one of those String Butler doohickeys for straight string pull at the nut.

I’ve always wondered about those.. out of my four guitars with bigsbys my telebird holds the best (I have no string retainers on it) followed by my sheraton ii the has a b6 so no tension bar so it’s closer to what you have in terms of functionality… so a trem with no tension bar and straight pull over the nut “should” get you about as good as you could get..

[dubkitty]

my experience with roller bridges hasn’t been good. the rollers and assemblies aren’t made to close enough tolerances to avoid losing string energy by dissipation. there was a small but noticeable difference in sustain and tone. if i was going for a roller bridge i’d spend extra for better quality, and wouldn’t trust the typical Chinese ones you see on the sales sites.

[dubkitty]

<moved to Dub’s project guitars thread>

[Gone Fission]

my experience with roller bridges hasn’t been good. the rollers and assemblies aren’t made to close enough tolerances to avoid losing string energy by dissipation. there was a small but noticeable difference in sustain and tone. if i was going for a roller bridge i’d spend extra for better quality, and wouldn’t trust the typical Chinese ones you see on the sales sites.

I just watched my stock Tune-o-matic rock with the bar. So I’m now in less “how the fuck does that work” about the domed thumbwheels. Are Graphtech saddles a help or a hindrance to that setup?

[dubkitty]

i honestly don’t know having never used them. it seems there could be a slight advantage in terms of avoiding string drag across the saddles, but i suspect the effect would be minor. better to try with the regular saddles and see if that needs improvement. i’m a firm believer in not doing work you don’t have to do.

[Blackened Soul]

the other 2 of my bigsby guitars have the Schaller roller bridges..I’m actually not sure if they help….

[Zork]

My Firebird has a Bigsby and a Tune-o-Matic. For some reason, the bridge is rocking. I wish my Casino's bridge would be rocking, too, as I found it worked also very well on my Bass VI and Tele with Bigsby and Mustang bridge. I'm not sure about the domed thumb wheels, though. They seem to be made for imperial system and I'm not sure if Korean Casinos have metric or imperial threads?

Speaking of Stylophone, I'm not sure about the new products, the drone synth and the dual filter. I've heard the theremin feels very cheap and toyish. But in the recent run of new Stylophone stuff I begin to wish I had bought a Gen R-8 when they were available and affordable. I believe I could have a lot of fun with one of these. But it was a limited run of 500 pieces or so and it seems they are as rare as hen's teeth and super expensive by now.

[dubkitty]

the theremin isn't great, but is was pretty cheap. i watched the demos before i ordered the DS and i think it should be OK.

there are adapters to change the posts on guitars with studs screwed into bushings set in the top of the guitar, which have worked for me with Asian solidbodies. i don't know if Casinos use the simple threaded rod like old-school ES-335s or not.

[dubkitty]

<moved to Dub’s Project Guitars thread >