From '58 through today with dozens of strat/strat style vibratos/all price points, I've never had a tuning problem. Make sure the saddle moves freely; Nut is smooth and open; strings wrapped correctly and STRINGS STRETCHED (at installation; everytime you detune and retune; and if you find a string going flat). The metallurgical makeup of the string requires the molecules to be stretched to erase memory. Whatever the spring stretch is set at: claw; number of springs and thickness; will determine the height of the bridge when the strings are brought to concert pitch. It's a natural balance of string tension and spring tension. Simple as can be. Some strings that are wrapped around a ball end will slip in the wrap, once or several times making us think the vibrato is at fault. The wrap slip is microscopic and nearly impossible to see. Many, many brands do this, depending on the manufacturer's machinery on a given day. I always use Fender Bullets for this reason, except for one strat using pure nickels and another using flatwounds from D'Addario. Thanks! Addendum: Other areas to check: strings and truss rods are suseptible to temperature. Slightly cooler, the strings go slightly sharp. Slightly warmer, the metals relax and go slightly flatter. Each string has less/more mass and construction so each will sharpen or flatten more/ less. In the morning the guitar is somewhat sharp until hand heat and friction return them to the last tuning's pitch. Make sure the neck is bolted tightly. Tuning and using the vibrato can make the neck "give" in the pocket which is anything but repeatable. Always tune "upwards" with the tuners to keep the peg wrap tight. If you change the bridge tilt height or use alternate tunings, the intonation will change due to the changed distance if the bridge string pieces relative to the nut. One last "non issue" is using too much finger pressure for the given diameters of the string set. Chords and notes will go sharp and mimic poor tuning. I've heard countless complaints over the years about vibrato systems and in each and every case, the culprit is listed above.
Changing guitar picks will change one's sound far more than switching to steel frets. Play on steel for a week and you will never want to go back to nickel.
I had a lot of issues with Fret leveling storing my guitar in a carry case on a plastic crate above a concrete floor in the man cave. I created a lined timber drawer in a cabinet and placed the guitar in the drawer in its case. 6 months later 95% of the Fret buzz disappeared.
I always read select portions of the QA episodes after the index has been added (never the entire broadcast). This one had far more topics of interest to me. Keep up the good work.
It's been a long time since I've smoked but when picking up a old acoustic guitar I first look closely at the neck, body and then I put my nose to the body an take a deep smell. What I smelt was cigarettes and that meant good chants they were a honest seller they were not trying to cover up ( MOLD ) with vinegar or perfume. I've seen this a lot in the last few years.
I used to think I didn't need SS frets. Since getting my Solar S1.6 poplar burl I've been spoiled. Now it's a must have on my guitars now. I love the snap they have to them
Grumpy Mike, God Bless you, and everyone anything like you, buying four guitars! That's awesome! As a musician (play guitar and bass, mess around with a few others) I say congratulations and enjoy the process of getting to know your four additions to the family! As a builder of custom handmade guitars and basses for over 25 years, but building them for a business owned by my wife and I for the first time ever, I say, "Thank You!" to you and everybody looking, buying, considering, and even dreaming!
For the person asking about the Se Piezo from PRS it is a yes. I was talking to a PRS rep shows at a local shop with some wood library stuff and I told him I was on the hunt for a SE Custom 22 semi hollow and he said to hold off and told me about the fourth coming piezo hollow body. I wished it was on the 22 as well. I just dont like the neck carve on the hollow body. The 22 semi has the wide thin same as my CE24.
You can sell shirts and even cotton know your gear masks (as they’re fining $1000 here in LA for stepping outside your front door without a mask that covers nose and mouth) and then you can possibly find medical grade masks and buy those to donate to your local hospitals/ clinics. That’s one route I’ve seen taken.
I never knew the static was a real thing. I had one guitar that had a single ply pickguard and i always had little issues when playing and lifting off the pickguard then touching it again ide hear a litle static in my amp. The multi ply pickguards seem to not have this static issue but i did have good luck wiping both sides of the pickguard with an antistatic sheet and had good luck with that
Thank you Mr. McKnight. I just got my hands on a lefty Japanese EVH Special. It has vintage SS frets. I love the way it plays and feels EXCEPT that I need to change my attack when picking fast. There is a *clack* or snap of the strings. I think it is due to the height of the frets in comparison to jumbo. I'm one of those players who can sense minute detail. I'm actually thinking of refretting the the guitar because of this. Ludicrous right?
I think the biggest differences between custom shop and non custom shop guitars are time and expertise. The best builders spend more time per guitar refining it and making sure every detail is dialed in. There could also be design parameters that aren't available in non-CS guitars, but in terms of build quality it all comes down to time and expertise.
I put s.s. on my bass, and s.s. strings at the same time. It was horrible. I got flange - chorus efect so intense and even more string effect then you usually get with new strings that the actual tone was around 50‰ of overall sound. When I put on nickel strings it was a little better. I'm taking off s.s. frets for shure as soon as I can.
Amps under 300$: Digital = VOX adio, great ampmodels and works great with a boss ge-7 to take out some of those wierd digital frequencies and quiet and portable. Analog: Peavey Bandit 112 (Used) Just a great non valve amp my friend had one at his house and i loved it for what it was. Also check out Johan segerborns clip of the bandit.
I have an ID:Core 10 v2, power supply died after about 2 months. I got it replaced under warranty. I like the amp alot. I was looking at getting a 20 or 40 because I wanted a little more volume out of it, but I ended up getting the Marshall Code 25 instead. One advantage to amps like the ID:Core and the Katana is that they only have 6 voices and effects, the code has presets, 100 of them... sooo many choices. 6 is a better number than 100! LOL
Be very careful about using an ozone generator around an amp. Ozone attacks, severely dries out, and deteriorates rubber and vinyl. The surrounds on many amp speakers can be destroyed by too much ozone especially if the area that the amp is in, like a small room, is "sealed" or the ozone is confined for very long in a smaller space.
Can’t agree more on the id series blackstar amps... had the cores id beam come back for 3rd time from warranty and had regular core id 10 fail as well.. the issue is the power supply’s Shame because they sound great for the price as a practice amp.. no way you will keep up with a drummer but I liked I could put on my desktop and move it easily if needed
I have that exact dillema with my stainless steel frets on my custom guitar. It's the smoothest playing and feeling guitar that I have but something about the tone is sliiightly off for me. I think I can compensate in some way with pickups and other factors.
The main difference bretween Fender USA and Custom shop is that other than the spec, the Custom shop ones are fully set up and ready to play, the standard models tend to need the frets polished and the action set up to your preference, time costs money, hence why Custom shop samples cost a lot more and seem to play better, but don't sound that much better.
Phil, here’s a business idea! “Phil’s List” Like “Angie’s List”, but strictly for music related services (luthiers, lessons, & music retailers). What do you think?
19:55 Good to know about Fender custom shop guitars and the American standard and Professional series stratocaster deluxe being as good of quality. Thanks Phil!
Rainbow Guitars in Tucson is a Gold Level repair shop for Fender. They might be able to recommend a good luthier. Also, Chris, the store manager at Guitar Center at Broadway/Swan knows an excellent guitar luthier who made him a custom LP style guitar that he said played better than the LP Gold Tops he has played. Tim from Atomic Guitars in Phoenix area might know a good luthier. Tim did some finish work on a special guitar I got as a gift. He did an excellent job.
Hello Phil. I was watching the rebroadcast and Drew asked about keeping Strat tremolo in tune. Found humor in the fact that you had just mentioned Lizard Spit products as one that you trust. They make a graphite lube called Slick Nutz it works wonders.I use it on nut and saddles of my trem equipped guitars. Thanks for all the knowledge you share.
I remove cigarette smell from tolex by spraying sections with Sprayway World's Best Glass Cleaner and scrub it with a toothbrush. This cleans out the dirty low spots in the tolex and it instantly removes the smell.
They soubd tinny are hard to work with tough on tools. They're supposed to last about 3 times longer than normal frets but cost about 3x to have a tech do those than do bon stainless frets.
I put SS on my LP custom and love it. I think they will last 15+ years maybe more. I go through NiSilver in 2-3 years - heavy handed. They do have a little mores highs (roll your tone knob down to 8-9 for same ). They are better for bending, polish better and just feel better. I will convert all my guitars to SS.
Why does Fender have more “good will” towards them than Gibson does? I’ve never understood this, I’ve also never understood the criticism towards the price of Gibson’s Vs the price of Fender’s? If you breakdown the construction methods & materials used to make an American Strat($1,450-2,000) Vs a Les Paul Standard (2,500-3,000). The Les Paul Standard should really be at least twice the price of a strat.($3,000-4,000) Body: Gibson- 1 piece mahogany back & Carved flamed maple top. Binding added. Fender- usually a multi-piece Alder (or Ash) body. Neck: Gibson- Mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, that has trapezoid inlays, Binding on the neck and logo inlay on the angled headstock. The neck is then fitted & glued into the body. Fender- Bolt on, Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard, decal logo & dot fretboard markets. Finish: Gibson- Nitro Fender- Poly Electronics: Gibson- 2 humbuckers, 2 volume, 2 tone, 3 way switch. Wired into guitar. Fender- 3 single coil, 1 volume, 2 tones, 5 way switch. Assembled to plastic pickguard Hardware: Gibson- Stop tail piece, tune o matic bridge, tuning machines. Fender- Fender synchronized system, with tuning machines. Every piece of a Les Paul(other than the bridge) is more expensive & time consuming to manufacture. That was basically the point to Leo’s design, it’s cheaper & more utilitarian. So why are Gibson called “greedy”, but Fender isn’t? People can prefer a strat to a Les Paul, but at least recognize the difference in materials & construction methods will effect the price. If anyone disagree’s, try building your own accurate Strat Vs Les Paul, or even watch some RUclips videos of other guys doing it.
Gibson have a history of (relatively) poor quality control and, in recent years, an arrogance and seeming contempt for their customers and employees, which comes from poor management and a lack of understanding of their customer base. They are perceived as 'bean counters' - losing sight of their reason for existing outside of turning (or at least trying to turn) a profit. Fender are not quite as clueless as Gibson in this regard and , in general, the more you pay for something that's not right, the more grief you engender in your customers. Gibson also desperately threaten other companies that guitar buyers (including their own customers) love - thus making themselves look like faceless, corporate bean counters. It's sad really but it's basically their own fault.
Stuart Miller Thanks for the response. I have no reason or positive experience that would make me defend Gibson’s customer service. While anecdotal evidence is what it is, I haven’t had any issues with any of the Gibson’s I’ve purchased. All were bought online, so I didn’t get to play or inspect any prior to purchase. I’ve purchased a total of 5 Gibsons & still own 4, I had no issues with them. The Les Paul Studio, is the only one I no longer own, it was fine, I’m just not a fan of the Les Paul layout. I’ve purchased 5 Fenders(technically) , I only still own one, a black Tele. I had an American Strat that was fine, I’m just not a fan of the Strat layout. I had a white Tele, it was fine, quality wise, it was the exact same model as my black one, and it was a live “back up” for years, it was just not as good as the black one, so I eventually sold it. I purchased a Jag recently & it had serious issues, Fender allowed me to send it back to them & sent me a replacement (this took around 3 months), the replacement had different, but still very concerning issues. Luckily,Sweetwater let me return it to them, & refunded my money. I then bought a used Nash Jag online, that I’m very happy with. I’m sure people have had issues with Gibson’s, & my experience could be a complete outlier, but to me, Gibson has been far more consistent than a Fender has. I’ve owned 4 Epiphone’s, quality wise they were fine, I guess, I no longer own any of them though, they don’t come close to the a Gibson’s imho. 3 of my 4 Gibson’s are also 3 of the best guitars I’ve ever owned or ever played. I have tons of sentimental attachment to my Tele, I bought it new in 97’ & played 100’s of shows with it, but even after upgrading all of the electronics, hardware, removing the finish from the back of the neck( these were all improvements, imo) it’s still not as good as 3 of my Gibson’s. Maybe I’ve just been incredibly lucky? Since I’ve only bought one Les Paul, and it was only a studio, maybe the Les Paul Standards are where the issues usually occur?
I have 2 guitars with zero frets. Constantly wearing grooves into them, causing an annoying ping when you bent strings near the zero fret. I'm not a fan
lewisbeeman I have owned a Vintage V6 Strat and a V100 Les Paul style. Don’t have them anymore. They are incredible guitars. I own Fender and Gibson now but Vintage guitars came close to them. I preferred the V100 over every epiphone I’ve owned and played and I’ve had some expensive older epis also.
Whenever Bassists are brought up, I always have to advocate for the criminally underrated Dennis Dunaway of the original (& only) Alice Cooper group. Dennis Dunaway, Arizona Cortez High School Alumni, really did change Rock Bass guitar. Possibly the coolest looking Bass player, he took the torch from Paul McCartney & Brian Wilson and developed the melodic Rock Bass line, making it far more than just a rhythm instrument. His Bass guitar sound on the School’s Out album (1972) changed how Basses sounded. Here’s some examples: Is it my Body? (Live) ruclips.net/video/svGTWeNHOic/видео.html I’m Eighteen (Live) ruclips.net/video/jXZcJojTucg/видео.html Street Fight (from School’s Out 1972) ruclips.net/video/lVkXf3F9X1U/видео.html Blue Turk (from School’s Out 1972) ruclips.net/video/QgzoYzZiI7w/видео.html
I would appreciate your opinion and I need your help. I have a 1996 china made squier affinity strat, and i want to approach srv's tone, pickupwise. What would you suggest me in your opinion? Tex mex or the texas special pickups? I tend to like the cs texas specials. But your knowledge and the experience maybe can help me Cheers from north Greece!!
Hey Phillip, I know your a huge evh fan. Are you getting the new Frankie relic? I am undecided on the new frankie relic or the Wolfgang stripped series. What would you recommend?
Old thread I know but, regarding your experience of pro players being more conscious of stainless steel frets, ok I'll say it, being more picky (groan); personally I don't get it. This falls into tone mythology again which has been disproved by EVH(rip) and Vai who played each other's gear when they met up once and they still produced their own sound. EVH also said elsewhere he couldn't notice any difference in tone but his Wolfgang guitars have ss for durability. Sure there may be some difference in feel but you soon get used to that, like playing a different guitar, after a while you get used to it. The advantage of ss frets is their durability. I bend strings a lot and my frets flatten over time so when there's no meat left to reprofile I will most likely change to ss and they will see me off this timeline. Thanks for your output, always interesting, thoughtful and friendly. Stay safe. Steve 🖖
Hey Phil, Id love to see a review on a Heritage guitar. I think they’re awesome guitars and their story is pretty interesting. I’d probably buy used if I’d buy one, they are pricey.
They are very nice guitars. I have one. I love it more than a Les Paul. I also live near there and toured the factory. However they were just recently bought by someone so I am not sure on quality of new one's. However used do come up for sale quite often at fairly reasonable prices in the $1000-$1500 range.
Hat - Most ball caps are bad because they are not properly made. They are not stiff in the front. A ball cap with a guy holding the various guitars would be cool so long as the quality of hat is good. I have returned a lot of them due to them cutting corners and they just kinda flop on your head look like a wrinklebag. Which is not cool. Was a 92A 90-94 and not really programmed to wear wrinklebag attire. 3/52 ADA/GER - 80th ORD Ft Lewis, WA. Plz do not thank me for my service. They didn't care then and now when they say it shouts hypocrisy.
34:04 WOW did that question make me really heated...You are donating your money, it's not a requirement to do a super chat. And if you don't like the answer then tough shit! Don't EVER do a super chat refund, that's your money that people were gracious (or so we thought) enough to donate to you for your channel.
@@fbcaware8805 I couldn't disagree more, and I have watched just about every episode of this podcast. I am not going to speak for Phil though. If he wants to defend himself then so be it. I don't think he has to.
If you are a "gun for hire" a paid player, smoke, beer, blood, sweat and maybe even vomit are all smells your gear will collect, its part of "paying you're dues". All my gear smells like sh)t but its paid my bills for 37 years. My gear has earned every bump, bruise, scratch and stench that goes with the job and wears it with pride! Wouldn't trade any of it for pristine factory fresh smelling unscathed gear. Like me, my stuff has been rode hard and put up wet all its life. Gear is a tool of the trade, NOT made to be a wall hanger in some rich dudes snow flake man cave! Warm up your fingers for the hate mail but just know I really don't care about what any COLLECTORS out there have to say anyway. I understand there are some great players out there that would not be caught dead in the places I've played, and more power to them but that's why I got the breaks I did and they never will! You don't have to be the best, you just have to be willing to do whatever it takes and play every gig you can no matter how raunchy it is because you never know who might be there watching! I've played some of the worst places you could imagine to very big shows with some big name people and no one has ever bitched about how my guitar smelled LOL.
@@fbcaware8805 If you think the music biz is all glamour and groupies you are sadly mistaken, why else would so many musicians die so young. Its not all drugs though many turn to drugs due to all the pressures, long hours and stress. Everybody wants to be a rock star but few have the will to see it through.
Depend when you watch video. Looks like you started right after he finished by timestamp on your post. Basically how it works. Phil does live show. Then posts the live show to RUclips. Takes a while,15-30 min for RUclips to process. So Phil takes a break. Maybe get a sammich, beer. Then he goes through and starts indexing. Takes him another half hour or so.
I think because he posted it a lot later then usual. When I get off work and come home it's usually already posted with index and ready to go. He just changed his schedule and I didn't notice.
@@ldfox11 that could be. Could also be RUclips slow to process it. I have has some videos. Post in an few minutes some take an hour. Could also be if you watched it on a different device. RUclips doesn't convert videos to like phone size to high quality 4k size on the fly. It actually makes several copies in several resolutions then copies them to data centers all over the world.
Also, for Stainless- haven't tried one yet, but I wonder if the imports like HB that are now offering stainless are more problematic if they arrive with high frets or sharp ends. Maybe not as easy for us who like to try to fix our own to resolve.
As an engineer i don't like working with stainless steel, it is a nightmare when you have to cut it and obtain a good finish, it also wears out cutting tools and files very quickly, so stainless steel frets will be more difficult to to flatten and re-polish.
My HB has SS frets and they're very good. i get the impression that they know they have to get them bang on first time, so the manufacturing process seems to be a great improvement on older, non SS models. Maybe I was lucky or maybe they've proved that it can be done!
Stainless steel frets are great, I play with a soft touch so bending is especially easy since they glide so smoothly even after leaving the guitar u played for quite some time. Tone wise they really feel tinny on the attack but sound the same after that. Personally still preferred higher grade nickel silver that are harder in feel like evo gold etc.
I wonder what work there is to do on a Strandberg nut. My Chinberg has the same system and its great because with the zero fret, the nut has no purpose but to corral the strings. The height doesn't matter and even the slot widths aren't that important.
39:11 "any downsides to stainless steel frets?"
Thanks for that.
These videos help me know what day it is
I’ve set a bowl of vinegar in the back of a amp to remove smoke smells. It also works with used cars. You need a bigger bowl for cars thought
From '58 through today with dozens of strat/strat style vibratos/all price points, I've never had a tuning problem. Make sure the saddle moves freely; Nut is smooth and open; strings wrapped correctly and STRINGS STRETCHED (at installation; everytime you detune and retune; and if you find a string going flat). The metallurgical makeup of the string requires the molecules to be stretched to erase memory. Whatever the spring stretch is set at: claw; number of springs and thickness; will determine the height of the bridge when the strings are brought to concert pitch. It's a natural balance of string tension and spring tension. Simple as can be. Some strings that are wrapped around a ball end will slip in the wrap, once or several times making us think the vibrato is at fault. The wrap slip is microscopic and nearly impossible to see. Many, many brands do this, depending on the manufacturer's machinery on a given day. I always use Fender Bullets for this reason, except for one strat using pure nickels and another using flatwounds from D'Addario. Thanks! Addendum: Other areas to check: strings and truss rods are suseptible to temperature. Slightly cooler, the strings go slightly sharp. Slightly warmer, the metals relax and go slightly flatter. Each string has less/more mass and construction so each will sharpen or flatten more/ less. In the morning the guitar is somewhat sharp until hand heat and friction return them to the last tuning's pitch. Make sure the neck is bolted tightly. Tuning and using the vibrato can make the neck "give" in the pocket which is anything but repeatable. Always tune "upwards" with the tuners to keep the peg wrap tight. If you change the bridge tilt height or use alternate tunings, the intonation will change due to the changed distance if the bridge string pieces relative to the nut. One last "non issue" is using too much finger pressure for the given diameters of the string set. Chords and notes will go sharp and mimic poor tuning. I've heard countless complaints over the years about vibrato systems and in each and every case, the culprit is listed above.
Changing guitar picks will change one's sound far more than switching to steel frets. Play on steel for a week and you will never want to go back to nickel.
I had a lot of issues with Fret leveling storing my guitar in a carry case on a plastic crate above a concrete floor in the man cave. I created a lined timber drawer in a cabinet and placed the guitar in the drawer in its case. 6 months later 95% of the Fret buzz disappeared.
I always read select portions of the QA episodes after the index has been added (never the entire broadcast). This one had far more topics of interest to me. Keep up the good work.
It's been a long time since I've smoked but when picking up a old acoustic guitar I first look closely at the neck, body and then I put my nose to the body an take a deep smell. What I smelt was cigarettes and that meant good chants they were a honest seller they were not trying to cover up ( MOLD ) with vinegar or perfume. I've seen this a lot in the last few years.
Why superchat and then ask for a refund? Like asking your kids to give their Christmas presents back.
I used to think I didn't need SS frets. Since getting my Solar S1.6 poplar burl I've been spoiled. Now it's a must have on my guitars now. I love the snap they have to them
Thank you Sam Ash thru Walmart. com! My new strings arrived in two days as indicated. 40 hours to be precise. I am grateful to all who were involved.
Grumpy Mike, God Bless you, and everyone anything like you, buying four guitars! That's awesome! As a musician (play guitar and bass, mess around with a few others) I say congratulations and enjoy the process of getting to know your four additions to the family! As a builder of custom handmade guitars and basses for over 25 years, but building them for a business owned by my wife and I for the first time ever, I say, "Thank You!" to you and everybody looking, buying, considering, and even dreaming!
For the person asking about the Se Piezo from PRS it is a yes. I was talking to a PRS rep shows at a local shop with some wood library stuff and I told him I was on the hunt for a SE Custom 22 semi hollow and he said to hold off and told me about the fourth coming piezo hollow body. I wished it was on the 22 as well. I just dont like the neck carve on the hollow body. The 22 semi has the wide thin same as my CE24.
You have the whole arsenal behind you today
scott miller that’s what I thought. I don’t feel so bad with my lowly dozen
You can sell shirts and even cotton know your gear masks (as they’re fining $1000 here in LA for stepping outside your front door without a mask that covers nose and mouth) and then you can possibly find medical grade masks and buy those to donate to your local hospitals/ clinics. That’s one route I’ve seen taken.
California sucks.
I never knew the static was a real thing. I had one guitar that had a single ply pickguard and i always had little issues when playing and lifting off the pickguard then touching it again ide hear a litle static in my amp. The multi ply pickguards seem to not have this static issue but i did have good luck wiping both sides of the pickguard with an antistatic sheet and had good luck with that
Thank you Mr. McKnight. I just got my hands on a lefty Japanese EVH Special. It has vintage SS frets. I love the way it plays and feels EXCEPT that I need to change my attack when picking fast. There is a *clack* or snap of the strings. I think it is due to the height of the frets in comparison to jumbo. I'm one of those players who can sense minute detail. I'm actually thinking of refretting the the guitar because of this. Ludicrous right?
Regarding the discussion about working on frets, a surgeon friend of mine once told me that “better” is the enemy of “good”.
Small purchases online ... Shaller Locking Tuners for my Telecaster :)
Tiger tiger
I think the biggest differences between custom shop and non custom shop guitars are time and expertise. The best builders spend more time per guitar refining it and making sure every detail is dialed in. There could also be design parameters that aren't available in non-CS guitars, but in terms of build quality it all comes down to time and expertise.
I put s.s. on my bass, and s.s. strings at the same time. It was horrible. I got flange - chorus efect so intense and even more string effect then you usually get with new strings that the actual tone was around 50‰ of overall sound. When I put on nickel strings it was a little better. I'm taking off s.s. frets for shure as soon as I can.
Good call on the PRS Custom 24 vs 22. I have a 24 and it’s nice but I keep wishing I would’ve got the 22.
Amps under 300$: Digital = VOX adio, great ampmodels and works great with a boss ge-7 to take out some of those wierd digital frequencies and quiet and portable. Analog: Peavey Bandit 112 (Used) Just a great non valve amp my friend had one at his house and i loved it for what it was. Also check out Johan segerborns clip of the bandit.
I have an ID:Core 10 v2, power supply died after about 2 months. I got it replaced under warranty. I like the amp alot. I was looking at getting a 20 or 40 because I wanted a little more volume out of it, but I ended up getting the Marshall Code 25 instead. One advantage to amps like the ID:Core and the Katana is that they only have 6 voices and effects, the code has presets, 100 of them... sooo many choices. 6 is a better number than 100! LOL
Be very careful about using an ozone generator around an amp. Ozone attacks, severely dries out, and deteriorates rubber and vinyl. The surrounds on many amp speakers can be destroyed by too much ozone especially if the area that the amp is in, like a small room, is "sealed" or the ozone is confined for very long in a smaller space.
Can’t agree more on the id series blackstar amps... had the cores id beam come back for 3rd time from warranty and had regular core id 10 fail as well.. the issue is the power supply’s Shame because they sound great for the price as a practice amp.. no way you will keep up with a drummer but I liked I could put on my desktop and move it easily if needed
I have that exact dillema with my stainless steel frets on my custom guitar. It's the smoothest playing and feeling guitar that I have but something about the tone is sliiightly off for me. I think I can compensate in some way with pickups and other factors.
The main difference bretween Fender USA and Custom shop is that other than the spec, the Custom shop ones are fully set up and ready to play, the standard models tend to need the frets polished and the action set up to your preference, time costs money, hence why Custom shop samples cost a lot more and seem to play better, but don't sound that much better.
I agree with you on fender especially, these Suire by fender sound just like a mid price Mexican made.
Phil, here’s a business idea!
“Phil’s List”
Like “Angie’s List”, but strictly for music related services (luthiers, lessons, & music retailers).
What do you think?
I’d be all over a membership for that!
19:55 Good to know about Fender custom shop guitars and the American standard and Professional series stratocaster deluxe being as good of quality. Thanks Phil!
Pastor G-------Love your show. I always seem to catch your show after the fact. Keep up the good work.
Rainbow Guitars in Tucson is a Gold Level repair shop for Fender. They might be able to recommend a good luthier. Also, Chris, the store manager at Guitar Center at Broadway/Swan knows an excellent guitar luthier who made him a custom LP style guitar that he said played better than the LP Gold Tops he has played. Tim from Atomic Guitars in Phoenix area might know a good luthier. Tim did some finish work on a special guitar I got as a gift. He did an excellent job.
Hello Phil. I was watching the rebroadcast and Drew asked about keeping Strat tremolo in tune. Found humor in the fact that you had just mentioned Lizard Spit products as one that you trust. They make a graphite lube called Slick Nutz it works wonders.I use it on nut and saddles of my trem equipped guitars. Thanks for all the knowledge you share.
Hey Phil how about a video of all your Guitars
I remove cigarette smell from tolex by spraying sections with Sprayway World's Best Glass Cleaner and scrub it with a toothbrush. This cleans out the dirty low spots in the tolex and it instantly removes the smell.
Believe it or not i bought a Glarry guitar rack on amazon (well before the brand had any visibility) and havent had any finish burns from it.
You should change the tag line for the covid shirt.. Stay home, Stay safe, Know your gear!
They soubd tinny are hard to work with tough on tools. They're supposed to last about 3 times longer than normal frets but cost about 3x to have a tech do those than do bon stainless frets.
Stainless last a lifetime. Fender last a couple years.
They do sound tinny
I put SS on my LP custom and love it. I think they will last 15+ years maybe more. I go through NiSilver in 2-3 years - heavy handed. They do have a little mores highs (roll your tone knob down to 8-9 for same ). They are better for bending, polish better and just feel better. I will convert all my guitars to SS.
Why does Fender have more “good will” towards them than Gibson does?
I’ve never understood this, I’ve also never understood the criticism towards the price of Gibson’s Vs the price of Fender’s?
If you breakdown the construction methods & materials used to make an American Strat($1,450-2,000) Vs a Les Paul Standard (2,500-3,000).
The Les Paul Standard should really be at least twice the price of a strat.($3,000-4,000)
Body:
Gibson- 1 piece mahogany back & Carved flamed maple top. Binding added.
Fender- usually a multi-piece Alder (or Ash) body.
Neck:
Gibson- Mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, that has trapezoid inlays, Binding on the neck and logo inlay on the angled headstock. The neck is then fitted & glued into the body.
Fender- Bolt on, Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard, decal logo & dot fretboard markets.
Finish:
Gibson- Nitro
Fender- Poly
Electronics:
Gibson- 2 humbuckers, 2 volume, 2 tone, 3 way switch. Wired into guitar.
Fender- 3 single coil, 1 volume, 2 tones, 5 way switch. Assembled to plastic pickguard
Hardware:
Gibson- Stop tail piece, tune o matic bridge, tuning machines.
Fender- Fender synchronized system, with tuning machines.
Every piece of a Les Paul(other than the bridge) is more expensive & time consuming to manufacture.
That was basically the point to Leo’s design, it’s cheaper & more utilitarian.
So why are Gibson called “greedy”, but Fender isn’t?
People can prefer a strat to a Les Paul, but at least recognize the difference in materials & construction methods will effect the price.
If anyone disagree’s, try building your own accurate Strat Vs Les Paul, or even watch some RUclips videos of other guys doing it.
Gibson have a history of (relatively) poor quality control and, in recent years, an arrogance and seeming contempt for their customers and employees, which comes from poor management and a lack of understanding of their customer base. They are perceived as 'bean counters' - losing sight of their reason for existing outside of turning (or at least trying to turn) a profit. Fender are not quite as clueless as Gibson in this regard and , in general, the more you pay for something that's not right, the more grief you engender in your customers. Gibson also desperately threaten other companies that guitar buyers (including their own customers) love - thus making themselves look like faceless, corporate bean counters. It's sad really but it's basically their own fault.
Stuart Miller Thanks for the response.
I have no reason or positive experience that would make me defend Gibson’s customer service.
While anecdotal evidence is what it is, I haven’t had any issues with any of the Gibson’s I’ve purchased.
All were bought online, so I didn’t get to play or inspect any prior to purchase.
I’ve purchased a total of 5 Gibsons & still own 4, I had no issues with them.
The Les Paul Studio, is the only one I no longer own, it was fine, I’m just not a fan of the Les Paul layout.
I’ve purchased 5 Fenders(technically) , I only still own one, a black Tele.
I had an American Strat that was fine, I’m just not a fan of the Strat layout.
I had a white Tele, it was fine, quality wise, it was the exact same model as my black one, and it was a live “back up” for years, it was just not as good as the black one, so I eventually sold it.
I purchased a Jag recently & it had serious issues, Fender allowed me to send it back to them & sent me a replacement (this took around 3 months), the replacement had different, but still very concerning issues. Luckily,Sweetwater let me return it to them, & refunded my money.
I then bought a used Nash Jag online, that I’m very happy with.
I’m sure people have had issues with Gibson’s, & my experience could be a complete outlier, but to me, Gibson has been far more consistent than a Fender has.
I’ve owned 4 Epiphone’s, quality wise they were fine, I guess, I no longer own any of them though, they don’t come close to the a Gibson’s imho.
3 of my 4 Gibson’s are also 3 of the best guitars I’ve ever owned or ever played.
I have tons of sentimental attachment to my Tele, I bought it new in 97’ & played 100’s of shows with it, but even after upgrading all of the electronics, hardware, removing the finish from the back of the neck( these were all improvements, imo) it’s still not as good as 3 of my Gibson’s.
Maybe I’ve just been incredibly lucky?
Since I’ve only bought one Les Paul, and it was only a studio, maybe the Les Paul Standards are where the issues usually occur?
I have 2 guitars with zero frets. Constantly wearing grooves into them, causing an annoying ping when you bent strings near the zero fret. I'm not a fan
There are now options with easily replaceable stainless steel zero-frets. I think from Sintoms, but I haven't tried it yet.
Any good
Hey Phil, have you ever played any “Vintage” guitars? And I mean the manufacture “Vintage”. Not asking if you have played old guitars.
lewisbeeman I have owned a Vintage V6 Strat and a V100 Les Paul style. Don’t have them anymore. They are incredible guitars. I own Fender and Gibson now but Vintage guitars came close to them. I preferred the V100 over every epiphone I’ve owned and played and I’ve had some expensive older epis also.
Whenever Bassists are brought up, I always have to advocate for the criminally underrated Dennis Dunaway of the original (& only) Alice Cooper group.
Dennis Dunaway, Arizona Cortez High School Alumni, really did change Rock Bass guitar.
Possibly the coolest looking Bass player, he took the torch from Paul McCartney & Brian Wilson and developed the melodic Rock Bass line, making it far more than just a rhythm instrument.
His Bass guitar sound on the School’s Out album (1972) changed how Basses sounded.
Here’s some examples:
Is it my Body? (Live)
ruclips.net/video/svGTWeNHOic/видео.html
I’m Eighteen (Live)
ruclips.net/video/jXZcJojTucg/видео.html
Street Fight (from School’s Out 1972)
ruclips.net/video/lVkXf3F9X1U/видео.html
Blue Turk (from School’s Out 1972)
ruclips.net/video/QgzoYzZiI7w/видео.html
I would appreciate your opinion and I need your help. I have a 1996 china made squier affinity strat, and i want to approach srv's tone, pickupwise.
What would you suggest me in your opinion? Tex mex or the texas special pickups? I tend to like the cs texas specials. But your knowledge and the experience maybe can help me
Cheers from north Greece!!
?silver jubilee from uk or should I find a early one used
Are the new silver jubilee any goon
Hey Phillip, I know your a huge evh fan. Are you getting the new Frankie relic? I am undecided on the new frankie relic or the Wolfgang stripped series. What would you recommend?
Talk a little bit about 3 & 4 string cigar box guitars like Red dog's. Pig nose amps are cool for a small cheaper amp.
Old thread I know but, regarding your experience of pro players being more conscious of stainless steel frets, ok I'll say it, being more picky (groan); personally I don't get it. This falls into tone mythology again which has been disproved by EVH(rip) and Vai who played each other's gear when they met up once and they still produced their own sound. EVH also said elsewhere he couldn't notice any difference in tone but his Wolfgang guitars have ss for durability. Sure there may be some difference in feel but you soon get used to that, like playing a different guitar, after a while you get used to it. The advantage of ss frets is their durability. I bend strings a lot and my frets flatten over time so when there's no meat left to reprofile I will most likely change to ss and they will see me off this timeline.
Thanks for your output, always interesting, thoughtful and friendly. Stay safe.
Steve 🖖
PLEASE start a luthier source!!
THR10. 🤘🏼
Hey Phil, Id love to see a review on a Heritage guitar. I think they’re awesome guitars and their story is pretty interesting. I’d probably buy used if I’d buy one, they are pricey.
They are very nice guitars. I have one. I love it more than a Les Paul. I also live near there and toured the factory. However they were just recently bought by someone so I am not sure on quality of new one's. However used do come up for sale quite often at fairly reasonable prices in the $1000-$1500 range.
@@GuitarJeff Interesting. Ill look in to it. It would me a shame if the quality wasn't the same. If I ever buy one I think Id go for a used one.
I would definitely buy a special Covid shirt. 👍👍👍👍
Hat - Most ball caps are bad because they are not properly made. They are not stiff in the front. A ball cap with a guy holding the various guitars would be cool so long as the quality of hat is good.
I have returned a lot of them due to them cutting corners and they just kinda flop on your head look like a wrinklebag. Which is not cool.
Was a 92A 90-94 and not really programmed to wear wrinklebag attire. 3/52 ADA/GER - 80th ORD Ft Lewis, WA.
Plz do not thank me for my service. They didn't care then and now when they say it shouts hypocrisy.
😢😢wish they had all the sizes for the chrome.
At 27:36 you can hear Phil swallow. Don't know why I find it so amusing.
mr553821 you need to get out more
Wash your hands, Dont touch your face, Know your gear.
Darrell M if you do accidentally touch your face, a good coarse fret leveling file could probably help.
@@aixpert291 you are correct... a good Fret Leveling never hurt anyone. Lol
Pleeez wednesday show !!!
Yes. I'll buy a covid shirt!!! Stay home, stay healthy gearheads!
No
Covid-19 t-shirt ..... yes please!
You never answer my questions, so I just gave up lol
Use the question mark at the start. Copy paste in again if its been a while and he didnt see it. Or superchat to be sure of an answer
What was the question?
34:04 WOW did that question make me really heated...You are donating your money, it's not a requirement to do a super chat. And if you don't like the answer then tough shit! Don't EVER do a super chat refund, that's your money that people were gracious (or so we thought) enough to donate to you for your channel.
@@fbcaware8805 I couldn't disagree more, and I have watched just about every episode of this podcast. I am not going to speak for Phil though. If he wants to defend himself then so be it. I don't think he has to.
@@fbcaware8805 Again, if Phil wants to defend himself then so be it. I have spoken enough on this.
If you are a "gun for hire" a paid player, smoke, beer, blood, sweat and maybe even vomit are all smells your gear will collect, its part of "paying you're dues". All my gear smells like sh)t but its paid my bills for 37 years. My gear has earned every bump, bruise, scratch and stench that goes with the job and wears it with pride! Wouldn't trade any of it for pristine factory fresh smelling unscathed gear. Like me, my stuff has been rode hard and put up wet all its life. Gear is a tool of the trade, NOT made to be a wall hanger in some rich dudes snow flake man cave! Warm up your fingers for the hate mail but just know I really don't care about what any COLLECTORS out there have to say anyway. I understand there are some great players out there that would not be caught dead in the places I've played, and more power to them but that's why I got the breaks I did and they never will! You don't have to be the best, you just have to be willing to do whatever it takes and play every gig you can no matter how raunchy it is because you never know who might be there watching! I've played some of the worst places you could imagine to very big shows with some big name people and no one has ever bitched about how my guitar smelled LOL.
Yeah, it’s called Crust Punk.
@@fbcaware8805 If you think the music biz is all glamour and groupies you are sadly mistaken, why else would so many musicians die so young. Its not all drugs though many turn to drugs due to all the pressures, long hours and stress. Everybody wants to be a rock star but few have the will to see it through.
@@fbcaware8805 Not in the real world
spray your clothes with the static guard
you forgot to add to index the time line. Your slipping Phil
Depend when you watch video. Looks like you started right after he finished by timestamp on your post. Basically how it works. Phil does live show. Then posts the live show to RUclips. Takes a while,15-30 min for RUclips to process. So Phil takes a break. Maybe get a sammich, beer. Then he goes through and starts indexing. Takes him another half hour or so.
I think because he posted it a lot later then usual. When I get off work and come home it's usually already posted with index and ready to go. He just changed his schedule and I didn't notice.
@@ldfox11 that could be. Could also be RUclips slow to process it. I have has some videos. Post in an few minutes some take an hour. Could also be if you watched it on a different device. RUclips doesn't convert videos to like phone size to high quality 4k size on the fly. It actually makes several copies in several resolutions then copies them to data centers all over the world.
McDonald’s in Germany is waaaay better than in the United States
Really? Good to know. I never was at a McDonalds in the USA.
Also, for Stainless- haven't tried one yet, but I wonder if the imports like HB that are now offering stainless are more problematic if they arrive with high frets or sharp ends. Maybe not as easy for us who like to try to fix our own to resolve.
As an engineer i don't like working with stainless steel, it is a nightmare when you have to cut it and obtain a good finish, it also wears out cutting tools and files very quickly, so stainless steel frets will be more difficult to to flatten and re-polish.
My HB has SS frets and they're very good. i get the impression that they know they have to get them bang on first time, so the manufacturing process seems to be a great improvement on older, non SS models. Maybe I was lucky or maybe they've proved that it can be done!
Stainless steel frets are great, I play with a soft touch so bending is especially easy since they glide so smoothly even after leaving the guitar u played for quite some time. Tone wise they really feel tinny on the attack but sound the same after that. Personally still preferred higher grade nickel silver that are harder in feel like evo gold etc.
I wonder what work there is to do on a Strandberg nut. My Chinberg has the same system and its great because with the zero fret, the nut has no purpose but to corral the strings. The height doesn't matter and even the slot widths aren't that important.