Making Music

[Mel81x+]

Also check this beauty out. Way out of my price-range but I love that retro-mech-theme they have going here. It quite nicely happens to be one of my favorite animes as well that they drew inspiration from.

https://geekculture.co/fender-busts-out-new-neon-genesis-evangelion-themed-telecaster-guitar/

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Single-locks are horribly notorious for losing tune faster than a double and have major stability issues as well. Its also why some of the cheaper Japanese models today still do it in certain variants to keep that old trem alive their Edge system really is what you want from them because with a single-system you're asking for more damage than just tuning if you want to go crazy with your bends.

Makes it all the more confusing they even exist then  - I just really don't see the point in a single-locking tremolo. If you want to go crazy with whammy shite, you're going to want a double-locking trem variant. If you just want subtle swells and don't want to deal with the pain in the arse… then those Fender-style (idk what you'd even call it without using the brand... "vintage style tremolo")

Another big question is... why in the fuck do Ibanez have so many different bridges and routing styles? They've got a load of good cheap guitars, but honestly it's a bit of a nightmare for a first modding project figuring out how to mod a cheap Ibanez without needing to do any routing (because I don't trust myself with any woodworking). They make so many bridges that have different routing to other Ibanez bridges. I think it's a bit weird that if I wanted to get an Ibanez replacement, I would need to change the routing on the guitar for the trem. But if I wanted a Floyd Rose or a licensed Floyd Rose design… it fits into the route.

I got a bit lucky the Edge-Pro I & II are basically just Ibanez branded licensed Floyd Roses with a bit of a different cosmetic look to your standard Floyd/licensed Floyd. A shame the RG220 didn't come with an Edge-Pro I stock though, as those are supposed to be just Gotoh licensed Floyds with Ibanez branding. The II is similar but made out of crappier metal (which I could see even after barely being used for such a long time, the knife edge on the trem was very very very worn). At least finding a replacement to throw into the guitar is easy.

I think if it had a single-locking trem or one of their weirder routed Edge trems… I'd be a lot less inclined to muck about trying to make this guitar any better. But I'm quite looking forward to the new trem coming and giving this thing a bit of an upgrade.

[Dr. Gonzo]

13 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Also check this beauty out. Way out of my price-range but I love that retro-mech-theme they have going here. It quite nicely happens to be one of my favorite animes as well that they drew inspiration from.

https://geekculture.co/fender-busts-out-new-neon-genesis-evangelion-themed-telecaster-guitar/

 

I’m unfamiliar with that show (or any anime really), but wow what a beautiful guitar

that other strat is nice too

[Mel81x+]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Makes it all the more confusing they even exist then  - I just really don't see the point in a single-locking tremolo. If you want to go crazy with whammy shite, you're going to want a double-locking trem variant. If you just want subtle swells and don't want to deal with the pain in the arse… then those Fender-style (idk what you'd even call it without using the brand... "vintage style tremolo")

Another big question is... why in the fuck do Ibanez have so many different bridges and routing styles? They've got a load of good cheap guitars, but honestly it's a bit of a nightmare for a first modding project figuring out how to mod a cheap Ibanez without needing to do any routing (because I don't trust myself with any woodworking). They make so many bridges that have different routing to other Ibanez bridges. I think it's a bit weird that if I wanted to get an Ibanez replacement, I would need to change the routing on the guitar for the trem. But if I wanted a Floyd Rose or a licensed Floyd Rose design… it fits into the route.

I got a bit lucky the Edge-Pro I & II are basically just Ibanez branded licensed Floyd Roses with a bit of a different cosmetic look to your standard Floyd/licensed Floyd. A shame the RG220 didn't come with an Edge-Pro I stock though, as those are supposed to be just Gotoh licensed Floyds with Ibanez branding. The II is similar but made out of crappier metal (which I could see even after barely being used for such a long time, the knife edge on the trem was very very very worn). At least finding a replacement to throw into the guitar is easy.

I think if it had a single-locking trem or one of their weirder routed Edge trems… I'd be a lot less inclined to muck about trying to make this guitar any better. But I'm quite looking forward to the new trem coming and giving this thing a bit of an upgrade.

That's Ibanez and more important Japanese manufacturing for you. They never want two instruments to have the same system and want them to be unique on their own. I think they also like to respect the designer without trying too much to shit on customers but ultimately they kind of have to because its necessary for the sound and the way those trems are made. I love the Edge Pro series as I am not someone who likes to crank my tremolo like I want to dislodge it from the body but I do want it there to know I can't hurt the guitar if I do haha.

A lot of people complain about the exact thing you do and no one seems to have a real answer for it but my guess is that it has something to do with design aesthetics because you don't see any other major manufacturer do it.  when this thing is done I am going to take all the money I saved and buy a bottle of booze, open the Ibanez website and play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and pick a new guitar from them. I have flirted with the idea too long and I think its time to just get one.

[Mel81x+]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I’m unfamiliar with that show (or any anime really), but wow what a beautiful guitar

that other strat is nice too

I can see a lot of people taking that color model and modding their teles with the same. The thing I like most about is the scratch-plate its so not Fender that it makes it pop even more.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, Mel81x said:

A lot of people complain about the exact thing you do and no one seems to have a real answer for it but my guess is that it has something to do with design aesthetics because you don't see any other major manufacturer do it.  when this thing is done I am going to take all the money I saved and buy a bottle of booze, open the Ibanez website and play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and pick a new guitar from them. I have flirted with the idea too long and I think its time to just get one.

Get drunk, close your eyes and run your fingers across 3 letter keys, then mash your hands over the numbers.

That should be fairly close to an Ibanez guitar model 

[Mel81x+]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Get drunk, close your eyes and run your fingers across 3 letter keys, then mash your hands over the numbers.

That should be fairly close to an Ibanez guitar model 

Was it Scott from Scott's Bass Lessons who said "Why cant they just give it a name instead of making it sound like a machine sent from the future to do your laundry"?

[Dr. Gonzo]

26 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Was it Scott from Scott's Bass Lessons who said "Why cant they just give it a name instead of making it sound like a machine sent from the future to do your laundry"?

Their naming convention actually makes sense if you follow it through, and pretty much tells you everything about the guitar (sometimes down to the finish, in some cases about the different hardware on different models as well).

The issue is when you’ve got a long string of numbers and letters, if you don’t have their naming conventions in mind it’s just going to look confusing as fuck. Like it does to me.

[Dr. Gonzo]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Their naming convention actually makes sense if you follow it through, and pretty much tells you everything about the guitar (sometimes down to the finish, in some cases about the different hardware on different models as well).

The issue is when you’ve got a long string of numbers and letters, if you don’t have their naming conventions in mind it’s just going to look confusing as fuck. Like it does to me.

God bless the Ibanez wikia though. Ibanez has some loyal loyal customers and I'm so thankful to the many of the fans of the company that keep track of pretty much everything Ibanez has ever done. All of the info they've catalogued has been so useful for me to figure out how to fix this guitar up.

[Mel81x+]

10 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

God bless the Ibanez wikia though. Ibanez has some loyal loyal customers and I'm so thankful to the many of the fans of the company that keep track of pretty much everything Ibanez has ever done. All of the info they've catalogued has been so useful for me to figure out how to fix this guitar up.

That wiki page on model number explanations is actually very useful. Particularly the places the guitars are made and their purpose.

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Mel81x said:

That wiki page on model number explanations is actually very useful. Particularly the places the guitars are made and their purpose.

And the specs on the necks by model and by year, because weirdly not all Wizard or Wizard II necks have the same dimensions at the nut.

Honestly think it would be impossible to mod an old Ibanez without that wikia

[Mel81x+]

21 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

And the specs on the necks by model and by year, because weirdly not all Wizard or Wizard II necks have the same dimensions at the nut.

Honestly think it would be impossible to mod an old Ibanez without that wikia

I think the wiki came about because of that too. 

[Mpache]

So as some of you know I've been working on my voice. I'm trying to become a bachatero (Dominican love music).

My inspiration besides the mainstream bachateros (Romeo Santos, Prince Royce, etc) was one of my best friends from school. He started making music as something I would have never imagined him doing years and years ago. It gave me some faith that I could sing.

Here is one of his songs. It's Lo-Fi.

 

[Mel81x+]

21 hours ago, Inti Brian said:

So as some of you know I've been working on my voice. I'm trying to become a bachatero (Dominican love music).

My inspiration besides the mainstream bachateros (Romeo Santos, Prince Royce, etc) was one of my best friends from school. He started making music as something I would have never imagined him doing years and years ago. It gave me some faith that I could sing.

Here is one of his songs. It's Lo-Fi.

 

I like it. Not too punchy (and I mean the vocals) and it blends very well.

[Mel81x+]

@Dr. Gonzo remember how we always say that guitars today have come a long way in manufacturing? Take a look at this video. I sat there trying to tell myself that the Gibson's acclaimed mid-range came through particularly on the 60s model but for the life of me I can't say that because the Epiphone really just sounds superb and this is not to slate the 50s model as Pete might have been running it through a rig to highlight the faults but that's something the EQ and modeler can fix. At 529 quid what a fucking steal.

 

[Mpache]

4 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I like it. Not too punchy (and I mean the vocals) and it blends very well.

Yeah my friend is doing well so far and he inspired me to find my talent.

My most recent demo was OK enough I think.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Mel81x said:

@Dr. Gonzo remember how we always say that guitars today have come a long way in manufacturing? Take a look at this video. I sat there trying to tell myself that the Gibson's acclaimed mid-range came through particularly on the 60s model but for the life of me I can't say that because the Epiphone really just sounds superb and this is not to slate the 50s model as Pete might have been running it through a rig to highlight the faults but that's something the EQ and modeler can fix. At 529 quid what a fucking steal.

 

Wow remember back when Made in China guitars were totally shite and if you gave it a brief inspection you'd see all sorts of problems with the: fit and finish, electronics, hardware. £529 is probably the most expensive guitar made in China I've seen from one of the big brands, I think by a few hundred quid tbh. But wow... seems like a bargain.

I say this as someone with a very expensive guitar and another guitar that's probably more expensive... and they're very nice... but there's for sure better value in the "mid" tier brackets with guitars. I do think my nicest guitar, which is the one that new would have had the biggest pricetag (but I got it second hand) is nicer than my other guitars in pretty much every way. But I think if I'd bought it new, it'd be a grand more than my Gibson... and while I like it better, it's not a grand better than my SG. Which is pretty similar to what they say about these Epiphones to their Gibson counterparts.

There's so many good options of guitars and guitar gear nowadays at every possible price point, it's pretty great.

[Mpache]

I just got a massive confidence boost. @Dr. Gonzo

The person who featured in the song "Cuentale" which is what I'm covering shared my Facebook post of the demo I made.

[Dr. Gonzo]

21 hours ago, Inti Brian said:

I just got a massive confidence boost. @Dr. Gonzo

The person who featured in the song "Cuentale" which is what I'm covering shared my Facebook post of the demo I made.

Told ya it was better than you thought!

I think @Mel81x and I will have the same general advice. Stick with it mate, making music isn’t just cool... its fun.

Mel will probably be able to give you better advice once you delve more about recording and recording vocals.

[Mpache]

I just sang a song in English and I'm feeling very confident about my voice. If Manny Manz' share wasn't indication enough. 

Think I feel ready to prepare a full cover of something.

[Tommy]

5 hours ago, Inti Brian said:

Think I feel ready to prepare a full cover of something.

Do Rammstein.

[Mel81x+]

On 02/05/2020 at 23:39, Dr. Gonzo said:

Told ya it was better than you thought!

I think @Mel81x and I will have the same general advice. Stick with it mate, making music isn’t just cool... its fun.

Mel will probably be able to give you better advice once you delve more about recording and recording vocals.

Think its mostly vocals so I am still learning there but yeah if @Inti Brian posts something in here I'd be happy to take a stab at improving it and giving constructive advice. One of the benefits of going to a studio very often is hearing other people sing and then re-tuning your hearing to what is actually required to make a song sound good versus the "it sounds good" philosophy. It's honestly a very slippery slope as well because its very hard to break habits and patterns but just like learning an instrument it comes with time and practice. 

[Mel81x+]

How many of you in here play or sing with a click in your ear? I used to hate it at first but does it ever help with auto-correct and time alignment.

[Machado]

@Inti Brian and everyone here you should watch this when you have 40 min to spare. You won't regret. Very inspiring for who's looking to make music.

 

[Machado]

1 hour ago, Mel81x said:

How many of you in here play or sing with a click in your ear? I used to hate it at first but does it ever help with auto-correct and time alignment.

Never tried it but I never recorded anything so I guess it's not important.