Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: MDV on October 23, 2009, 02:20:26 AM
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The said guitar is now approaching completion. These are some build in progress pics and option-illustration photos that Bobs has sent me in the last couple of weeks. The options were taken as seen (such is Bobs perspicacity in guitar design, with even my generally vague guidance the "do you like it like this" pics have invariably been answered with "Yes. Do that.").
These are some of those pics.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010122.jpg)
This is the top. This is the best pic of the top, rather. Its cocobolo. Its not the same as last time (that some of you may remember) as last times top suffered an unfortunate incident taking off the last 0.1mm needed in a thicknesser (due to its extremely intricate and unstable grain). Thats the truest colour pic that was possible - the reds and blacks in it are generally much closer to the fretboards colours, which were taken in spring/early summer sunlight, as opposed to house lights. There are two outlines of the guitars shape that bob offered the choice of - I went with the higher one.
This is the fretboard. Its indian rosewood.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/FB1.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/FB.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/FB2.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/FB3.jpg)
The guitar, with edge bevels revealing its layering, forearm contour and gutcut done.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010182.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010184.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010188.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010191.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010190.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010189.jpg)
There will be no heel on this - imagine a continuous curve between the inner sides of the horns, joining them up; the neck will only reach the thickness of the body at that line.
Quite beautiful work, imo! Bob and I spent ages coming up with this design and its fantastic to see it take shape as envisioned.
Bear in mind when/if picturing the finished guitar, this is all bone dry, freshly cut wood, and the final guitar will be oiled, so all colours a lot deeper and much more defintion in the features in the grain.
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Lovely woods on this one!!!
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Looking good.
What is the headstock design?
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Thanks....not that I really did anything :lol:
The headstock is the same shape as the MDV602, which this guitar evolved from (one can see at a glance the same neck stucture in the MDV602, that was pretty much its cornerstone, as the Aurora). It has a laminate from the same pieces of wood as the top on it.
http://www.legraguitars.co.uk/mdv602.htm
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Thanks....not that I really did anything :lol:
The headstock is the same shape as the MDV602, which this guitar evolved from (one can see at a glance the same neck stucture in the MDV602, that was pretty much its cornerstone, as the Aurora). It has a laminate from the same pieces of wood as the top on it.
http://www.legraguitars.co.uk/mdv602.htm
this is the problem with working with Bob,
once you work with him once you can't go back.....my list of guitars I intend to have built it by Legra is long...and costly................. :D
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Actually MDV now that I think about it,
Both of are guitars I think were initially designed at the same time, redesigned 'bout the same time, put on the unfortunate accident hold at the same time, and looks like are gonna be finished 'round the same time (mine's somewhere in the paint process) and yet they couldn't be more different...
oiled woods to glitter paint, hard tails to floyd rose, 22 to 24, alnico to ceramic, no frills controls to fuzz factories and kill switches, I swear I don't think anything is the same!
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Looks great! The top is gonna look awesome.
The neck-through guitar heels are really comfortable. The guys (Amfisound) that built my guitar also do many neck-through guitars and the body-to-neck area just..flows.
-Zaned
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Very nice indeed. Have you got an ETA for it getting into your hands?
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I'm sure it's built superbly, and will suit you, but it does nothing for me. Sorry. :oops:
Mind you, I feel the same way about Blackmachines/Caparisons etc too. It's the "modern metal guitar look" that I just can't like....
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Very nice indeed. Have you got an ETA for it getting into your hands?
Yeah, should be a week if I'm lucky. The fingerboard and headstock veneers are on now and its the neck profiling, fretting, electronics, final fit and oiling to do. Waiting for the oil is the biggest part of that.
And I'm bored by PRSs and telecasters.....and caparisons,
Blackmachine I'll let pass, they dont bore me; dougs doing something different/interesting and fair play to him.
Sos the aurora though; laminate wings on a through neck (for rigidity and vibration transmission; the asthetics are just opportunistic "since we have these layers we may as well...." things) the (intentional and unabashed) use of meranti (DRM) as a primary wood, the unconventional top and FB, the bevelling and contouring on the layering, zero paint; its not reinventing the wheel by any stretch, all these things have been done seperately in other guitars but niether bob nor I are aware of anything else quite like this out there! *am excited* :D
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Shame you didn't follow through with that MJW amp to play it through :(
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Shame you didn't follow through with that MJW amp to play it through :(
Its not totally off the cards. I'm just trying to get the best out of my powerball before I do anything rash. I had good success with a 5751 in V1, and have 3 more to place if I want to (i.e. all of them, if needs be), could replace the transformer, the caps, consider full blown mods. Lately I've been mucking about with the combination of the on board eqs and using an MXR and an EQ20 in the loop - the MXR for the EQing, the EQ20 because I really like the effect it has on the sound just sitting there, flat (no, its not transparent at all!). Certain changes make a VAST difference, and I still havent fully explored the sounds possible with just the controls available to me. Sometimes it sounds like a different amp; it goes between JCM800 and VH4 in a few tweaks :lol:.
I like the PB a lot, there are great sounds in there. It might well be able to sound exactly how I want with just need a push or two in the right direction - It has much more in common with the sound I want than it doesnt, if that makes any sense :lol:
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i like a lot - personally i think i would have gone for cocobolo on the back too to tie it in visually with the front... oh, and i probably would have put a black veneer between the DRM and maple layers for some contrast. but thats just the way i like doing it when i go for multilam thru-necks and bodies - just visual touches really
cant wait to see it with some oil on!!
so can anyone else see swamp thing in the cocobolo top? :)
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I actually think the red streak through it looks a little like a top down view of battlestar galactica :lol:
But mainly also a pillar of fire. That was my first thought, then it bugged me for ages while I was trying to remember what the other thing was. Regardless, its awesome, I like it even better than the first one.
I considered veneers seperating the layers to give a line to them, but I decided that it would look too busy. I like it like this. I wanted the back to contrast with the front too!
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so can anyone else see swamp thing in the cocobolo top? :)
Yes!
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wow. don't think i can say much more than that. That's downright awesome.
flamed maple on the back, too? what woods did you go for in the neck? any reason why you didn't go for a cocobolo fretboard? though the grain in that rosewood is awesome as it is...
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Looks great though not my style but it'll be great when you get her.
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wow. don't think i can say much more than that. That's downright awesome.
flamed maple on the back, too? what woods did you go for in the neck? any reason why you didn't go for a cocobolo fretboard? though the grain in that rosewood is awesome as it is...
:drink:
The flame maple on the back wasnt even asked for, it just is. I only noticed it myself when I first saw that pic :lol:
The neck is DRM/Maple/Walnut/Maple/DRM - same as the MDV602 but with meranti in place of mahogany (hence the through neck - the 602 mixed the mostly mahogany neck with the swamp ash body for the SA to add some top end and attack and tight low end to the sound, but the meranti should achieve similar results on its own)
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sweet, thanks. Sounds good, I imagine the meranti sound a bit like mahogany, but a bit tighter maybe?
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sweet, thanks. Sounds good, I imagine the meranti sound a bit like mahogany, but a bit tighter maybe?
Its got a mahogany like low end and mid, but tighter, and its got a swamp ash like high end and attack.
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yeah, i think that's what i heard from bob too. :) Sounds sweet!
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Looks great Mark. Some really good ideas in the design. Its a good feeling seeing your ideas coming to life in a guitar!
I'm sure it will do a great job of your musical ideas. Did I remember you saying something about Stainless Steel frets once? Or am I the only guitar player in here who sees SS frets as something to get aroused over?!! :lol:
The finger board Indian Rose wood looks superb.
Good job Bob!
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Cheers johny
I may have mentioned SS frets, but not in the context of either of my Legras. Bob and I were just talking about this the other day actually - I'm of the opinion that they are a good idea in principle, but the extra hardness isnt certain (the hardest nickel silver is harder than the softest stainless steels - you really need to know what grade youre getting!), and the tone is reportedly quite a bit brighter, and I havent tried it, but dont really trust it, and dont really see much problem with 18% nicver!
I may well change my mind if I ever get round to doing an SS refret, but its not in the plans atm.
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Looks lovely, the laminate body reminds me of some of Dingwall's high end basses.
Also, those Schaller Hannes bridges are remarkably comfortable, good choice!
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awesome looking guitar MDV.
It's getting on for 5 years(!) since Bob made my 'CH5150' 80's special, and i still love it. It's really cool looking at all the custom guitar builds around here, some good ideas and even better craftsmen to make them real!
This temps me to get another, I want another guitar but nothing tickles my fancy....well maybe the new Jackson Adrian Smith model, but at the price that costs i'd be stupid not to go custom!
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I love the shape of this - curious to see what the headstock will be like. I'm glad I've no money for gear right now as the GAS these build threads induce would, er, leave me with no money! :)
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I may have mentioned SS frets...and the tone is reportedly quite a bit brighter
I have Stainless Steel frets in two guitars (Warmoth necks) and haven't found any noticeable difference in feel or tone....
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awesome looking guitar MDV.
It's getting on for 5 years(!) since Bob made my 'CH5150' 80's special, and i still love it. It's really cool looking at all the custom guitar builds around here, some good ideas and even better craftsmen to make them real!
This temps me to get another, I want another guitar but nothing tickles my fancy....well maybe the new Jackson Adrian Smith model, but at the price that costs i'd be stupid not to go custom!
Ah, that one!
I know the feeling. My current legra still impresses me every day. Its just getting better.
If you want another guitar but dont know what to get, do you really want another guitar :lol: I know, silly question, of course you do, no reason needed!
Fair enough dave - reports vary. More often people say they're brighter. I cant really say more than I've heard because I havent used them.
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I may have mentioned SS frets...and the tone is reportedly quite a bit brighter
I have Stainless Steel frets in two guitars (Warmoth necks) and haven't found any noticeable difference in feel or tone....
Same here, the ones I had recently put in my Strat feel err like frets. I'm curious as to how long they'll last with my heavy handed technique.
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woah!! :o
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I like that a lot MDV, it's going to be a beauty.
I'd love something like that, but with a thickish neck (Fender C) and a 12" radius board, because I love the look of a lot of shred-style guitars, but can't get on with very thin and flat necks. That neck 'heel' is a great piece of design too!
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I like that a lot MDV, it's going to be a beauty.
I'd love something like that, but with a thickish neck (Fender C) and a 12" radius board, because I love the look of a lot of shred-style guitars, but can't get on with very thin and flat necks. That neck 'heel' is a great piece of design too!
Thanks!
I didnt say what the neck dimensions are going to be! But your right :lol: Its gonna be ~19mm at 1st fret through to 20 at 12 and whatever gradient bob thinks best for stability through to the body. Whatever he does, by virtue of the design, is gonna be better than having a heel.
Alas some git (gutierez guitars, iirc) pre-stole the heel off me. Probably half a dozen people before that, too :lol: I saw some fairly minimally heeled through necks and asked bob to take it to its natural conclusion on a strat-based guitar, then I saw one on HC that had almost exactly what I asked for on it!! :mad:
Edit - I should clarify - pre-stole means when some SOB steals one of my ideas before I think of it. Usually applies to riffs, but it works here too.
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the bar-stewards on cribs pre-stole my idea of having two dishwashers. I don't actually have two, but I thought of the idea independently, dammit!
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I like that a lot MDV, it's going to be a beauty.
I'd love something like that, but with a thickish neck (Fender C) and a 12" radius board, because I love the look of a lot of shred-style guitars, but can't get on with very thin and flat necks. That neck 'heel' is a great piece of design too!
Well, bob has 2 other kickass cocobolo tops (of 3 that I had the choice of, plus an ebony one, but I think he wants that for something else now) that hes going to use for 2 more Auroras - since hes considering doing this design as his main type of/flagship guitar.
He's gonna build them regardless: you could snag one of them and get it customised with any neck profile you like :D
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And why the hell do you need two dishwashers?
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And why the hell do you need two dishwashers?
One for Clean and one for dirty.
You fill one up as you empty the other.. then reverse. Simples...
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Wait, no, start from the ground up
What do you need a "dishwasher" for?
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having a dishwasher saves effort- you don't have to wash the dishes. From that it's only a small step (in my case no step at all :lol: ) to, "if i can't be bothered washing them, why can i be bothered unloading them?"
Plus considering the cost of kitchen cabinets, a dishwasher might actually be cheaper than a kitchen cabinet. Granted you'd have to get the kitchen plumbed for two. But other than that...
I've thought it through. :lol:
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Good stuff MDV : the pieces of wood are very good looking.
The cocobolo top :aww: show great "wood veins" whereas the indian rosewood fretboard is just awesome!
The overall looking of this guitar and body shape makes me think it has "some blackmachine in it"....
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Cheers vic.
I cant wait to see how the fb and top work together; my minds eye tells me it should be awesome, and its been, oddly, reliable in the design so far..I suppose I'll have to wait and see!
The shape is RG, which blackmachine are also like ;) Maybe its the no paint thing? Hardly a blackmachine original, but that is, admitedly, where the idea first came to my attention.
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yeah it does look a bit like a blackmachine now you mention it. not sure why i couldn't put two and two together myself... :lol:
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at this stage it already looks awesome! i'm not entirely sure about the headstock, it would be great for a 7 strings axe, though...
can't wait to see the final product!
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It only looks as much like a Blackmachine as a Blackmachine looks like an anorexic RG.
Looks $%&#ing great btw, looking forward to seeing and hearing the finished guitar.
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the blackmachine shape is pretty much an RG with softened horns right?
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The shape is RG, which blackmachine are also like ;) Maybe its the no paint thing?
Yes exactly : the highly figured natural wood (body and fretboard) is part of it.... Kind of agressive-neck-thru-B6-on-steroids :twisted:
not sure why i couldn't put two and two together myself... :lol:
:lol:
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"It only looks as much like a Blackmachine as a Blackmachine looks like an anorexic RG."
:lol: Exactly!
And, neither can I!
"the blackmachine shape is pretty much an RG with softened horns right?"
And the Aurora is an RG with sharpened horns :twisted:
"Yes exactly : the highly figured natural wood (body and fretboard) is part of it.... Kind of agressive-neck-thru-B6-on-steroids "
So what youre saying is the only thing it has in common with a blackmachine is theres no paint on it :lol:
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yeah, that's true, it's not like the blackmachine is completely original either.
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yeah, that's true, it's not like the blackmachine is completely original either.
Truth. Its aurora-like in that it combines lots of things that have been done before, but not at the same time. Rosewood neck, thin body, no paint = blackmachine, but blackmachine didnt start any one of those. Multiply through neck, DRM, laminate body, no paint = aurora. You can add 'pretty wood' to that, but who can lay claim to that idea?!
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yeah, that's true, it's not like the blackmachine is completely original either.
Truth. Its aurora-like in that it combines lots of things that have been done before, but not at the same time. Rosewood neck, thin body, no paint = blackmachine, but blackmachine didnt start any one of those. Multiply through neck, DRM, laminate body, no paint = aurora. You can add 'pretty wood' to that, but who can lay claim to that idea?!
darn you MDV, I just talked to Bob and your guitar is the only thing in the way of mine being finished!!!!!!!!!!!!1
:tfrag:
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yeah, that's true, it's not like the blackmachine is completely original either.
Truth. Its aurora-like in that it combines lots of things that have been done before, but not at the same time. Rosewood neck, thin body, no paint = blackmachine, but blackmachine didnt start any one of those. Multiply through neck, DRM, laminate body, no paint = aurora. You can add 'pretty wood' to that, but who can lay claim to that idea?!
darn you MDV, I just talked to Bob and your guitar is the only thing in the way of mine being finished!!!!!!!!!!!!1
:tfrag:
Ner ner ne ner ner!
Wont be long now. No, not long at all.
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yeah, that's true, it's not like the blackmachine is completely original either.
Truth. Its aurora-like in that it combines lots of things that have been done before, but not at the same time. Rosewood neck, thin body, no paint = blackmachine, but blackmachine didnt start any one of those. Multiply through neck, DRM, laminate body, no paint = aurora. You can add 'pretty wood' to that, but who can lay claim to that idea?!
darn you MDV, I just talked to Bob and your guitar is the only thing in the way of mine being finished!!!!!!!!!!!!1
:tfrag:
Ner ner ne ner ner!
Wont be long now. No, not long at all.
how many guitars have you seen lying around the Legra shop since you've been there finishing this one up? Does he have even more on the bench or is it just us two at the moment?
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Truth. Its aurora-like in that it combines lots of things that have been done before, but not at the same time. Rosewood neck, thin body, no paint = blackmachine, but blackmachine didnt start any one of those. Multiply through neck, DRM, laminate body, no paint = aurora. You can add 'pretty wood' to that, but who can lay claim to that idea?!
aye.
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yeah, that's true, it's not like the blackmachine is completely original either.
Truth. Its aurora-like in that it combines lots of things that have been done before, but not at the same time. Rosewood neck, thin body, no paint = blackmachine, but blackmachine didnt start any one of those. Multiply through neck, DRM, laminate body, no paint = aurora. You can add 'pretty wood' to that, but who can lay claim to that idea?!
darn you MDV, I just talked to Bob and your guitar is the only thing in the way of mine being finished!!!!!!!!!!!!1
:tfrag:
Ner ner ne ner ner!
Wont be long now. No, not long at all.
how many guitars have you seen lying around the Legra shop since you've been there finishing this one up? Does he have even more on the bench or is it just us two at the moment?
I've never been to bobs workshop, I have no idea. I think he has a couple to start, but I dont know if he has or not.
If bob said that its just yours and mine hes actaully working on at the moment though, then there you go. Most of the wait, the actual time between now and me getting the Aurora is for the oil to cure and layer it up. A lot faster than a paint job, but plenty of time to work on yours. Chill.
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The heel.
Can anyone say 'upper fret access?'
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What frets is just above that heel?
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The gradient youre seeing runs from about 17th to about 23rd/24th.
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Great! You'll play on 24th fret almost like you were on 1st fret :D
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Heggzaktly.
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Took me more than 10s to understand it :lol:
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nice, that's even better than the access on my V. and the access on my V is pretty much heel-less.
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Sweet. Now this is done (with much fussiness from me and weighing up stability/effect of the truss/location of neck pickup route/access/playability/asthetics due to removal of maple between bob and I) the rest is straight ahead. The guitar, as in the wood bit, is basically finished.
I anticipate delivery next saturday, hopefully :D
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awesome :D
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Sweet. Now this is done (with much fussiness from me and weighing up stability/effect of the truss/location of neck pickup route/access/playability/asthetics due to removal of maple between bob and I) the rest is straight ahead. The guitar, as in the wood bit, is basically finished.
I anticipate delivery next saturday, hopefully :D
good then,
get all this metal guitar mumbo jumbo out of the way so Bob can start working on the good stuff!
:lol:
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I anticipate delivery next saturday, hopefully :D
The last days are sloooooow 8)
-Zaned
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I anticipate delivery next saturday, hopefully :D
The last days are sloooooow 8)
-Zaned
Dont I know it.
This has taken a lot longer than the last one, and the last weeks looking a lot longer as well.
Funny, I just switched it off while bob was recovering from his broken leg, but since its been back on the excitement shot back up and has been mounting steadily!
Next weeks gonna be a looooooong week.
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Sweet. Now this is done (with much fussiness from me and weighing up stability/effect of the truss/location of neck pickup route/access/playability/asthetics due to removal of maple between bob and I) the rest is straight ahead. The guitar, as in the wood bit, is basically finished.
I anticipate delivery next saturday, hopefully :D
good then,
get all this metal guitar mumbo jumbo out of the way so Bob can start working on the good stuff!
:lol:
Heretic.
Glitter finish and internal fuzz boxes, indeed
;)
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And why the hell do you need two dishwashers?
For the same reason that Jewish households have two fridges and two sinks
You would wash dishes that have had meat in separately from those that have had dairy products in - to ensure that things are kept Kosher- so meat juices and dairy are never mixed - even in the cleansing of dishes
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nah i'm just lazy.
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I'm looking forward to seeing the end result with this one. It looks quite very nice already.
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how many guitars have you seen lying around the Legra shop since you've been there finishing this one up? Does he have even more on the bench or is it just us two at the moment?
I've never been to bobs workshop, I have no idea. I think he has a couple to start, but I dont know if he has or not.
If bob said that its just yours and mine hes actaully working on at the moment though, then there you go. Most of the wait, the actual time between now and me getting the Aurora is for the oil to cure and layer it up. A lot faster than a paint job, but plenty of time to work on yours. Chill.
[/quote]
There are actually five guitars including yours that are in the queue for final assembly there are two more in the paint shop and two more to start as soon as I can kill this backlog and two in the detail design stage.
Ten weeks out with a busted femur sure screws up the scheduling. I'm concentrating on the Aurora and the Gliteratti jobs 'cos you two have been waiting the longest.
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There are actually five guitars including yours that are in the queue for final assembly there are two more in the paint shop and two more to start as soon as I can kill this backlog and two in the detail design stage.
Ten weeks out with a busted femur sure screws up the scheduling. I'm concentrating on the Aurora and the Gliteratti jobs 'cos you two have been waiting the longest.
my apologies if what I said came across the wrong way, I was curious what other sorts of crazy guitars MDV might have seen lying around your shop since I'm a fan of your work :D
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There are actually five guitars including yours that are in the queue for final assembly there are two more in the paint shop and two more to start as soon as I can kill this backlog and two in the detail design stage.
Ten weeks out with a busted femur sure screws up the scheduling. I'm concentrating on the Aurora and the Gliteratti jobs 'cos you two have been waiting the longest.
my apologies if what I said came across the wrong way, I was curious what other sorts of crazy guitars MDV might have seen lying around your shop since I'm a fan of your work :D
That's ok; I wasn't offended in any way I just thought I clear up the speculation. There would be a lot more in the pipe but I've stopped taking orders for full-on, ground up designs because I'm tired of working for fourpence ha'penny and hour. Once the current commitments are completed my plan is to build three of my new PG600 design, three more of the Aurora design (one with a Malaysian ebony top) and three MG602 "Elites". I have some stunning flame tops and some forty-odd year old quarter sawn Brazilian mahogany to make the MG's with. The plan is to then market them directly from the website.
Cheers,
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Using that ebony in an aurora, huh? Its a beautifull peice of ebony. I'll be really interested to see what fb you pair it with and the final guitar.
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Somewhat oiled up and looking utterly $%&#ing stunning 8) (imo, of course :lol: )
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010211.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010212.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010213.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010214.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010215.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010216.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010217.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/P1010218.jpg)
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Note the bookmatched headstock veneer from the same piece of cocobolo
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Looking good!
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Damn straight. I had to put my eyes back in my head when I first saw those!
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And now I have a feeling something akin to watching a stripper. I WANNA PLAY! (But I cant....yet).
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Lovely looking guitar.
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that looks awesome. slightly curvier headstock too.
btw, are you sure those are strippers you're going to and not something much more illegal?
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Cheers dudes.
yes, strippers, that I dont go to with any regularity but there was one on stage at a gig this weekend, and because youre not allowed to do anything with them, unlike what you allude to ;) Wanna play, but cant. There is logic in my somewhat sordid madness. (occasionally)
next week.
Sometime early/mid week for bob to get a chance to get some pro photos done.
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looking good MDV :D
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Cheers cap'n
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Very nice!
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Hot diggetty. That looks better than a Blackmachine.
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Hot diggetty. That looks better than a Blackmachine.
:lol:
Yeah call it a "B6-on-steroids", which is, of course, a good compliment !
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wow! looks great!
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Absolutely beautiful!
Not having ever owned an oil-finished guitar, do you have to re-apply the oil every now and then?
-Zaned
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Cheers folks. Except Vic. blackmachine B6, indeed *rollseyes*
I'm not 100% sure, zaned: I dont own any oil finished guitars yet either! I dont think so, when using tru oil (aka gunstock oil) - its sets to be pretty tough stuff. Maybe, just maybe, once a year max. I'll have to ask bob about that, actually, thanks.
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blackmachine B6, indeed *rollseyes*
Exactly.
It's a lot more like the Ibanez RGT220 (http://www.gakki.com/catalog54/ibanez_rgt220h.jpg) ;)
Only teasing. 8) It's looking even better with the oil on.
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blackmachine B6, indeed *rollseyes*
Exactly.
It's a lot more like the Ibanez RGT220 (http://www.gakki.com/catalog54/ibanez_rgt220h.jpg) ;)
Only teasing. 8) It's looking even better with the oil on.
:lol: It is more like that, yes. I didnt even know that existed, actually.
and cheers.
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looking sweet mark, how you got the selector switch setup as I wouldn't think positions 2 and 4 would be useful for the br00talz
-
Ta.
Dont understimate what can be good for the brootalz
Bridge series
Bridge parallel (great for leads)
n/b
Neck split (great for cleans)
Neck series.
-
Bridge parallel (great for leads)
ooo gunna have to try that one day, cheers!
only got a 3 way switch so always been neck pickup for leads
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Have you mentioned what pickups are going in it?
-
Have you mentioned what pickups are going in it?
I havent, no :P
Holy diver neck, one off "something special" bridge.
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Have you mentioned what pickups are going in it?
I havent, no :P
Holy diver neck, one off "something special" bridge.
something special? I thought your holy grail of pickups was the c-bomb?
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I havent, no :P
Holy diver neck, one off "something special" bridge.
it's not a seymour duncan, is it?
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I havent, no :P
Holy diver neck, one off "something special" bridge.
it's not a seymour duncan, is it?
:lol::lol::lol:
Ahhhh, ya got me.
No, Tim designed it for 'modern metal': its intended to have an extremely tight ("tighter than a painkiller") low end, and be more percussive. He made it for work in his new band, civilisation 1. I dont really dig the music, too power metal for me, but the tones are sweet, so I thought I'd try it.
I dont know that its not better than a c-bomb, now do I. One has to try.
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hehe.
sounds nice, that's normally what you want for br00tz. :)
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hehe.
sounds nice, that's normally what you want for br00tz. :)
Truthy!
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truthiness would be more like why do you need high output pickups for br00tz, sure we've got high gain amps now... :lol:
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truthiness would be more like why do you need high output pickups for br00tz, sure we've got high gain amps now... :lol:
uh oh...*runs away*
Besides, its only 14.5k, so ner!
(plus I can answer that question all day long...I just dont want to right now :P)
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14.5k is pretty hot, surely? All things being equal, anyway. :)
i was joking, though, truthiness means that it's not actually true. I think steven colbert coined it (but i don't watch it, just know of it). i agree that you want pretty high output, tight pickups for metal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness
(assuming you didn't understand what i meant and weren't just playing along with the joke, which you probably were :oops: )
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I know truthiness when I see it. My gut tells me so. Everyone knows that your gut has more nerve endings than your brain. I read that in a book. Actually, no, I dont need books, I read that in my gut.
I love colbert, he cracks me up.
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Resistance alone tells you c--k all.
I have a 26.5k stacked coil in my Fender Esquire and it's bright, spanky and not that high output.
Go figure...
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Its 14.5k with painkiller magnet config - 3 big ceramics.
Daves right, it will be pretty hot.
Aside from anything else, tim said its hot. Its designed for teh metulz.
Edit - youre right though, you can indeed have a not hot pickup that has high DCR
But am I really gonna do that? :lol:
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I know truthiness when I see it. My gut tells me so. Everyone knows that your gut has more nerve endings than your brain. I read that in a book. Actually, no, I dont need books, I read that in my gut.
I love colbert, he cracks me up.
i've never really watched much of it, to be honest. i've caught a couple of seconds here and there on fx, but that's about it. :)
Resistance alone tells you c--k all.
I have a 26.5k stacked coil in my Fender Esquire and it's bright, spanky and not that high output.
Go figure...
yeah, definitely. But as mark said, knowing what he's like... :lol:
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Wednesday, muthafukkas!
Shouldnt have said anything, dont want to jinx it, but cant help myself!
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Wednesday, muthafukkas!
Shouldnt have said anything, dont want to jinx it, but cant help myself!
you bar-steward...mine is finished at the end of the week and I still have to wait for it to ship here!
-
Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.
Ner ner ne ner ner.
-
Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.
Ner ner ne ner ner.
I know your just acting childish because deep down your envious of my guitar's glorious glitter :P
-
Damn, you got me. That beautifull and unique cocobolos all well and good, but only if it were glitterier.
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Have you got it yet Mark? or did you jinx it?
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Almost jinxed. It arived at 5 yesterday. 5! bar-stewards.
Anyway, its pure unadulterated awesomeness, and in some quite unexpected ways as well. I'll start a new thread with pro pics of the finished guitar and my thoughts when I get the pics.
-
nice. i'll be interested to hear your thoughts about the pro pics, too.
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This ought to be interesting. The pics should be awesome.
-
Not thoughts about the pics!
Anyway, it doesnt need a new thread, thats just spamming.
Initial impressions - its kind of tricky to explain because reference points are hard to find; the closest reference point is the MDV602, which is unique enough, so I could tell Bob what I thought comparing to that, but few other people have played that so it doesnt really help here :lol:
But.....
Its got a very, very strong acoustic response, and even though it hasnt even settled in yet, let alone broken in with a couple of years playing its my loudest guitar acoustically and amped up by a considerable margin, and memory may decieve, and setups arent all equal, but the most resonant guitar I (recall) ever playing. The low end it produced rumbles strongly (many guitars do this but not to this extent) in your ribs and leg. Bob and I seem to have destroyed this 'wings arent included' thing with the laminate body, because the body resonates A LOT. So does the neck. Freakishly so.
The high end is the biggest departure from the norm - it sounds like its half piano. Really strong 'chime' to all notes, even down below 5th on the 60 and up at 24th. Incredibly clear with tonnes of punch and dynamics. These are all things that the 602 was designed to do as well, and it does, and did so better than anything else I've found, but that sounds much more like a conventional guitar; it has a lot more warmth and bloom and less attack and tightness (and it lacks nothing whatsoever in attack and tightness) than this. Its also got more low end and low mids, but they arent as tight or clear.
Its taking some getting used to, because its so energetic in its response and so unforgivingly tight and clear, but when I pick it up I soon forget all this 'yay, new guitar, lets analyse the sound to all hell and back' and find myself just playing it, and thoroughly enjoying it. The playbility of it really helps with that, too: the guitar is 'invisble'. The necks the right thickness that I can stick my thumb in the back and it feels right, and the right profile that I can wrap my hand around it and it falls in naturally (its like an RG thickness and profile, but its more curved in the sides). The bridge is extremely comfortable, the heel actually threw me off the first time I went up on high frets, because muscle memory said 'well, theres going to be a big chunk of wood here, so get ready to wrap your thumb around it and reach up', and there wasnt, I latched onto $%&# all and messed up! So I just played up there normally, thumb in the back of the neck or wrapped around the top of it, and its perfectly comfortable like that, which was the plan to begin with.
And the pickups have 'Urban Camo' covers that tim made on special request: a camo variation of black distressed covers with the camo in blacks and tarnished metal. They look very cool.
Edit - I'll update with pics and change the title when I get the pics.
-
Mark, you have the pics now if you check your email! :D
-
Pics!
-
er - maybe smaller would be good ;)
-
Sarky git.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/IMG_5124-Edit.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/IMG_5133-Edit-1.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/IMG_5152-Edit.jpg)
Happy now?
-
much happier - it looks great :)
-
YOU HAVE A HANNES BRIDGE!!!
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ITS LIKE FOR LOW TUNINGS! I must know!
EDIT: What is it currently tuned to? I might get Wez to put one into a custom I have in mind.
-
I can only tell you what the guitar is like for low tunings.
Peerlessly glorious. I've never heard drop A# sound so tight and so clear, and never imagined that it could be.
The bridge cant not be part of that. How much difference it makes I cant possibly say, because I never played an aurora with a more normal bridge, but its in there and the whole thing slays when detuned.
-
The pickup mounts are also a bit different on this guitar. The four metal slugs you can see in the back are the pickup mounts. They are internally tapped and the pickups are screwed to them with 3mm machine screws instead of wood screws.
-
The pickup mounts are also a bit different on this guitar. The four metal slugs you can see in the back are the pickup mounts. They are internally tapped and the pickups are screwed to them with 3mm machine screws instead of wood screws.
Which, (as I've said to bob earlier) rocks. I didnt really have an opinion on it till I changed pickup height - its nearly frictionless and the height adjustment is extremely accurate. It also holds the pickups parallel to the strings all the time (the move if you push them but they always settle to level instantly at all heights).
-
Looks really good!
You said about the drop A# sounding good, which is the scale of the guitar? 25.5"?
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Yes, 25.5. I considered going baritone, but trying it out beforehand was proving troublesome, so we went with everything else we could think of to keep the low end tight as $%&# and everything clear in baritone level tuning.
-
oh man, that's awesome. :D
is it just my eyes, or are the headstock and tuners very big? they look bigger than normal... :)
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Looks fantastic but the pics need to be a bit bigger.
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uhuh... it was definitely worth the wait! looks awesome and i bet it's perfect to play too...
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Looks amazing, but those vast pictures are playing havoc with my computer's puny memory. :)
-
Thanks guys,
On this page, phil!
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Ah, that's better! :D
-
Like someone said on my NGD-thread..
You sound like one happy camper! That's a beautiful guitar, and based on the review, the design was successful :) It's a nice feeling when you have a new guitar that already sounds awesome, and knowing that it will only get better the more you play it.
-Zaned
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clips or it didn't happen :D
old legra vs new legra would be interesting, I'd like to hear parallel bridge leads vs neck leads too ;)
picking mounting system is rather interesting, that add to the tone over traditional direct mounting or is it more for super fine tuning?
-
The look reminds me of a lot of bases, Alembics and Warwicks etc.......
-
Legra...Blackmachine? PDT_003
Looks awesome mate!
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Legra...Blackmachine? PDT_003
Looks awesome mate!
You may not believe this but I've never seen a blackmachine and it ain't the first guitar I've built that's close to this body shape by a long shot. So there's no cross fertilization of ideas here; intentionally or otherwise.
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That guitar looks stunning. Not my kinda style, but never the less beautiful looks!
-
Cheers guys!
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This guitar is raw n' pure looking and designed to get tons of tone.....
I like the back VERY much as well as the fretboard. I like the veener of the top a lot too.
Nice to see the result, congrat for that nice guitar !
Last but not least those BKP covers look amazing !
....
....
Legra...Blackmachine? PDT_003
Looks awesome mate!
PDT_006
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Guitarwise it doesn't do it for me (traditionalist). but as art / woodcraft, it really is a stunner. I bet that heel really does mess you up to start with, the joint is so smooth
-
That is truly stunning! Congratulations.
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Looks fantastic Mark! Well done on getting it exactly how you wanted it. Its a great feeling, enjoy!!
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That looks awesome! Like one of those Ibanez RGA121's but obviously much better :)
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Wonderful piece of luthiery. I'm looking forward to a sound clip.
-
Well, I'm a scientist, so I like to test things to see that I'm not fooling myself and put some cold hard facts where my mouth is. Me harping on about how this is a remarkably resonant guitar doesnt mean much.
So I thought I'd try and measure the resonance of my main guitars.
My 4 main guitars were tested. My other 4 electrics were left out because they either just plain wont cut it in this line up or they're set up differently, different gauges, different tunings and what have you, so it would be a meaningless test.
Basic assumption - the resonance of the instrument is going to be reflected in its unplugged volume.
All guitars set up 12-60, tuned to drop A#, all have action of ~1mm @12th high C to 1.5mm @12th low A#, all necks near flat, all strings are fresh.
All measurements taken with my decibelometer at 30cm from 12th fret, set DBO to record peak SPL, dbA, and hit all strings open reasonably hard a few times. Care taken to hit the strings equally hard and have the DBO aligned the same each time, but theres none of us perfect, so these will be the biggest sources of error. All looked and felt pretty much as good as I was going to get it by eye and feel, and a bit of well informed common sense tells me that errors of the order of mils in distance and degrees in orientation would lead to insignificant variations in the data compared to the differences in volumes found. I also know fine well how hard I'm picking, and do so consistently, but youre going to have to take my word for that (or listen to my clips: thats pretty consistent picking imo).
DX1 - tusty old buddy, had it for ~10 years, nothing incredible but it usually bests equivelent and more upper end guitars in resonance.
74.9db
1989 RG560. Nothing to look at, I like RGs, a lot, hence the shape of the Aurora, and this is the most resonant one I found, so I bought it. Spax screws Bob sent me for the neck join enhanced its resonance somewhat, too.
75.8db
MDV602
76.5db
Aurora
78.4db
Which puts it at ~2.25 times as resonant as the jackson, twice as resonant as the RG and about 50% more than the 602, by this admitedly clumsy and modestly scientific method. And its completely unbroken in. I hate to imagine how strongly this is going to resonate after a few years of the strings pumping vibrational energy into the wood, breaking down any structures in the wood that are inhibiting vibration (and on that note consider that the Legras just ousted 10 and 20 year old guitars, and they're 3 and 0 years old).
-
Wonderful piece of luthiery. I'm looking forward to a sound clip.
I need to do a couple of clips, but I'm reworking an old track atm which will be rerecorded with the legras (each of them, left and right is the plan) some time in the near future. Patience grasshopper. I do this stuff incredibly slowly :lol:
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nice, thanks for the science. at least you didn't tell us to concentrate or that we were worth it...
-
I even resisted the temptation to use CGI and make up nonsense words while swinging my hair around.
Though the latter does sound a bit like death metal, which I've been known to dabble in.
I even, come to think of it, resisted explaining that the decibel scale is logrithmic. Benefit of the doubt given, but I eagerly await someone trying to say that the >3db spread in the results is tiny, or that 78.4db is only 5% louder than 74.9 (78.4/74.9 * 100)!
-
I even, come to think of it, resisted explaining that the decibel scale is logrithmic. Benefit of the doubt given, but I eagerly await someone trying to say that the >3db spread in the results is tiny, or that 78.4db is only 5% louder than 74.9 (78.4/74.9 * 100)!
I'm not going to say anything about the >3db spread in the results, because I didn't understand a word of it. :P
But I'm just curious, Mark.... why have you got a "decibelometer"?
-
That is quite a jump in db's unamplified, I would say in my limited knowledge of this stuff! I'd love to hear some clips too. I don't really play metal but I used to. I still listen to some now and then. I've fallen in love with early 70's funk in a big way these days!
I just play my Feline now, I don't tend to think of all the spec in it anymore, I just love the way it plays and sounds! I had it in the studio today doing these fills on low gain, neck pickup, with a Phaser, Small amount of Reverb and a Wah. It sounded really cool I thought. I've found since I've been rehearsing every Sunday for the past 6 odd months, I'm more into the sounds and arrangements than gear. Which is really what it should be like. I'll have to get some recordings down myself. Like you say though it does take a long time, getting sounding the way you like it. The more you learn about sound the more options you have!
Good luck with your new custom guitar Mark! :D
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Because I do :P
Every time you add 3dB, you double the actual SPLs. (sound pressure level)
-
That is quite a jump in db's unamplified, I would say in my limited knowledge of this stuff! I'd love to hear some clips too. I don't really play metal but I used to. I still listen to some now and then. I've fallen in love with early 70's funk in a big way these days!
I just play my Feline now, I don't tend to think of all the spec in it anymore, I just love the way it plays and sounds! I had it in the studio today doing these fills on low gain, neck pickup, with a Phaser, Small amount of Reverb and a Wah. It sounded really cool I thought. I've found since I've been rehearsing every Sunday for the past 6 odd months, I'm more into the sounds and arrangements than gear. Which is really what it should be like. I'll have to get some recordings down myself. Like you say though it does take a long time, getting sounding the way you like it. The more you learn about sound the more options you have!
Good luck with your new custom guitar Mark! :D
Indeed it is!
There will be recordings, soon enough. One of the many things that gets in the way of me getting round to doing recordings is getting new stuff and learning new methods. I'm going to ignore that and just hunker down and do it. Later :lol:
Oh, and I used to have loads more guitars, but the DX1 and RG560 were the only ones good enough, acoustically, amped up and in playability to survive the cull and stay in my main guitars after I got the Legra MDV602. For a long time now I've not been impressed by or interested in off the shelf guitars, because they usually dont even compete with the DX1 and 560, let alone the legra. Now its legras, and I dont see me picking anything else up for quite a while. It would have to be a really special find, like the 560 was.
-
I think the general best thing about a custom guitar is that you love it, because its custom built and it fits and 'clicks' with you.
Then come the features and all that jazz.
I want a custom.. (and might get one soon, lulz)
-
I even resisted the temptation to use CGI and make up nonsense words while swinging my hair around.
Though the latter does sound a bit like death metal, which I've been known to dabble in.
I even, come to think of it, resisted explaining that the decibel scale is logrithmic. Benefit of the doubt given, but I eagerly await someone trying to say that the >3db spread in the results is tiny, or that 78.4db is only 5% louder than 74.9 (78.4/74.9 * 100)!
you forgot about hair extensions! gotta love a product which makes your hair look so awesome that they have to use hair extensions to help sell it.
but on the second bit... i actually thought that for a second, but luckily remembered it was logarithmic before i posted and made a fool of myself :lol:
-
See; this is what us poor artisans have to deal with......science and stuff. How's a poor woodworker 'sposed to understand all that logarithmic and db stuff?
-
See; this is what us poor artisans have to deal with......science and stuff. How's a poor woodworker 'sposed to understand all that logarithmic and db stuff?
little does the forum know this "poor artisan" is actually a mechanical engineer! :D
-
See; this is what us poor artisans have to deal with......science and stuff. How's a poor woodworker 'sposed to understand all that logarithmic and db stuff?
little does the forum know this "poor artisan" is actually a mechanical engineer! :D
So just plain "poor" then :lol:
-
See; this is what us poor artisans have to deal with......science and stuff. How's a poor woodworker 'sposed to understand all that logarithmic and db stuff?
little does the forum know this "poor artisan" is actually a mechanical engineer! :D
So just plain "poor" then :lol:
Too true TM.... but I'm happy :D
-
See; this is what us poor artisans have to deal with......science and stuff. How's a poor woodworker 'sposed to understand all that logarithmic and db stuff?
little does the forum know this "poor artisan" is actually a mechanical engineer! :D
So just plain "poor" then :lol:
Too true TM.... but I'm happy :D
I'm a Mechanical Engineer, I'm poor and my job sucks ass. Would rather be guitar fiddling, even spangaly pink ones :lol:
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I've no mercy for engineers :twisted: I'm blue collar :lol:
-
lovely looking guitar, and immaculate looking work. congrats. and thanks for the science lesson! :)
i'm intrigued by the metal screw inserts for the pickups, seems like a great idea. "someday, everyone will do it this way..."
-
I've no mercy for engineers :twisted: I'm blue collar :lol:
Just remember it's us engineers that keep the rest of you working, enjoying all the amenities of life, the benefits of medical science, new techno-toys, transport, heating, air conditioning, water supplies, even shitee disposal and best of all; guitars, amplifiers, stomp boxes, mixing desks.............. I guess you could ask "what did engineers ever do for us" but that would be a bit too Monty Python wouldn't it?! :lol: :lol:
-
:P
-
I've no mercy for engineers :twisted: I'm blue collar :lol:
Just remember it's us engineers that keep the rest of you working, enjoying all the amenities of life, the benefits of medical science, new techno-toys, transport, heating, air conditioning, water supplies, even shiteee disposal and best of all; guitars, amplifiers, stomp boxes, mixing desks.............. I guess you could ask "what did engineers ever do for us" but that would be a bit too Monty Python wouldn't it?! :lol: :lol:
That's true!!! Without an engineer for a luthier, who else would give me...
CUSTOM FUZZ CONTROLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
Is that a real carbon fibre backplate or plastic made to look like carbon fibre?
-
Is that a real carbon fibre backplate or plastic made to look like carbon fibre?
It's ABS with a carbon fibre effect finish. Looks a lot nicer than plain black don't ya think?
-
I know I'm a Bit late but that is one freaking awesome guitar Mark.
Is that a real carbon fibre backplate or plastic made to look like carbon fibre?
It's ABS with a carbon fibre effect finish. Looks a lot nicer than plain black don't ya think?
Thats awesome you you be able to make a pickgard for rg out of it?
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I know I'm a Bit late but that is one freaking awesome guitar Mark.
Is that a real carbon fibre backplate or plastic made to look like carbon fibre?
It's ABS with a carbon fibre effect finish. Looks a lot nicer than plain black don't ya think?
Thats awesome you you be able to make a pickgard for rg out of it?
Yeah sure, it's really good for making pickguards out of; I use it a lot for that very purpose. Email me if you want one making.
-
Is that a real carbon fibre backplate or plastic made to look like carbon fibre?
It's ABS with a carbon fibre effect finish. Looks a lot nicer than plain black don't ya think?
It fits the modern tech image of the guitar really well.
-
Well, I'm a scientist, so I like to test things to see that I'm not fooling myself and put some cold hard facts where my mouth is. Me harping on about how this is a remarkably resonant guitar doesnt mean much.
So I thought I'd try and measure the resonance of my main guitars.
My 4 main guitars were tested. My other 4 electrics were left out because they either just plain wont cut it in this line up or they're set up differently, different gauges, different tunings and what have you, so it would be a meaningless test.
Basic assumption - the resonance of the instrument is going to be reflected in its unplugged volume.
All guitars set up 12-60, tuned to drop A#, all have action of ~1mm @12th high C to 1.5mm @12th low A#, all necks near flat, all strings are fresh.
All measurements taken with my decibelometer at 30cm from 12th fret, set DBO to record peak SPL, dbA, and hit all strings open reasonably hard a few times. Care taken to hit the strings equally hard and have the DBO aligned the same each time, but theres none of us perfect, so these will be the biggest sources of error. All looked and felt pretty much as good as I was going to get it by eye and feel, and a bit of well informed common sense tells me that errors of the order of mils in distance and degrees in orientation would lead to insignificant variations in the data compared to the differences in volumes found. I also know fine well how hard I'm picking, and do so consistently, but youre going to have to take my word for that (or listen to my clips: thats pretty consistent picking imo).
DX1 - tusty old buddy, had it for ~10 years, nothing incredible but it usually bests equivelent and more upper end guitars in resonance.
74.9db
1989 RG560. Nothing to look at, I like RGs, a lot, hence the shape of the Aurora, and this is the most resonant one I found, so I bought it. Spax screws Bob sent me for the neck join enhanced its resonance somewhat, too.
75.8db
MDV602
76.5db
Aurora
78.4db
Which puts it at ~2.25 times as resonant as the jackson, twice as resonant as the RG and about 50% more than the 602, by this admitedly clumsy and modestly scientific method. And its completely unbroken in. I hate to imagine how strongly this is going to resonate after a few years of the strings pumping vibrational energy into the wood, breaking down any structures in the wood that are inhibiting vibration (and on that note consider that the Legras just ousted 10 and 20 year old guitars, and they're 3 and 0 years old).
you've awaken the monster that lurks inside me... now i feel the morbid curiosity to do the same with my guitars... that means DAS. (decibelometer acquisition syndrome) :)
-
Looks awesome man!
-
Well, I'm a scientist, so I like to test things to see that I'm not fooling myself and put some cold hard facts where my mouth is. Me harping on about how this is a remarkably resonant guitar doesnt mean much.
So I thought I'd try and measure the resonance of my main guitars.
My 4 main guitars were tested. My other 4 electrics were left out because they either just plain wont cut it in this line up or they're set up differently, different gauges, different tunings and what have you, so it would be a meaningless test.
Basic assumption - the resonance of the instrument is going to be reflected in its unplugged volume.
All guitars set up 12-60, tuned to drop A#, all have action of ~1mm @12th high C to 1.5mm @12th low A#, all necks near flat, all strings are fresh.
All measurements taken with my decibelometer at 30cm from 12th fret, set DBO to record peak SPL, dbA, and hit all strings open reasonably hard a few times. Care taken to hit the strings equally hard and have the DBO aligned the same each time, but theres none of us perfect, so these will be the biggest sources of error. All looked and felt pretty much as good as I was going to get it by eye and feel, and a bit of well informed common sense tells me that errors of the order of mils in distance and degrees in orientation would lead to insignificant variations in the data compared to the differences in volumes found. I also know fine well how hard I'm picking, and do so consistently, but youre going to have to take my word for that (or listen to my clips: thats pretty consistent picking imo).
DX1 - tusty old buddy, had it for ~10 years, nothing incredible but it usually bests equivelent and more upper end guitars in resonance.
74.9db
1989 RG560. Nothing to look at, I like RGs, a lot, hence the shape of the Aurora, and this is the most resonant one I found, so I bought it. Spax screws Bob sent me for the neck join enhanced its resonance somewhat, too.
75.8db
MDV602
76.5db
Aurora
78.4db
Which puts it at ~2.25 times as resonant as the jackson, twice as resonant as the RG and about 50% more than the 602, by this admitedly clumsy and modestly scientific method. And its completely unbroken in. I hate to imagine how strongly this is going to resonate after a few years of the strings pumping vibrational energy into the wood, breaking down any structures in the wood that are inhibiting vibration (and on that note consider that the Legras just ousted 10 and 20 year old guitars, and they're 3 and 0 years old).
you've awaken the monster that lurks inside me... now i feel the morbid curiosity to do the same with my guitars... that means DAS. (decibelometer acquisition syndrome) :)
Nuthin to lose!
Except 30 quid on a decent DBM.
I use this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Sound-Level-Meter-DT-805/dp/B00142Q85E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1260226917&sr=8-1
Its very good. I got it to keep an eye on sound from music listening and monitoring and recording so I didnt expose myself to any damaging levels for long enough to do any damage.
Also makes for handy experiments, too. And making educated guesses at whether the neighbours can hear me.
And
Cheers sambo!
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out of curiosity i bough a good SPL application for my iphone (or at least i read that it compares favorably with mid priced hardware db meters) of course i have no way to make some decent calibration, so i can't compare directly my results with yours... i kept the iphone at approx. 30 cm from the neck pickup, used C weighted measurement, and got some value between 79 and 81 Db (but wildly biased, i'm sure, so i won't be more specific)... the only exception was my chambered Les Paul (of course) with it's huge 85 Db peak. apart from that the loudest guitars turned out to be the LTD EC1000, the SG61, the USM hornet and (surprise, because it's so bright that acoustically sounds thin in comparison with middier guitars) my custom Cicolin WR. my Epi Les Paul performed much better than i thought, but anyway this test (while it's fun) tells nothing about the harmonic complexity of a guitar's resonance, like DCR tells nothing about a pickup voice.
useless but fun.
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out of curiosity i bough a good SPL application for my iphone (or at least i read that it compares favorably with mid priced hardware db meters) of course i have no way to make some decent calibration, so i can't compare directly my results with yours... i kept the iphone at approx. 30 cm from the neck pickup, used C weighted measurement, and got some value between 79 and 81 Db (but wildly biased, i'm sure, so i won't be more specific)... the only exception was my chambered Les Paul (of course) with it's huge 85 Db peak. apart from that the loudest guitars turned out to be the LTD EC1000, the SG61, the USM hornet and (surprise, because it's so bright that acoustically sounds thin in comparison with middier guitars) my custom Cicolin WR. my Epi Les Paul performed much better than i thought, but anyway this test (while it's fun) tells nothing about the harmonic complexity of a guitar's resonance, like DCR tells nothing about a pickup voice.
useless but fun.
Cool!
Plus different testing environments (I did mine in a moderately treated room in the most treated position, where reflections are cut), different string gauges and tunings (why I excluded other guitars). Certainly it tell you nothing about the sounds character, but its interesting anyway.