I stated at the beginning of the Stagemaster Project that this blog would have a beginning and an end, and I guess this is the end. The Stagemaster is all back together and I have been playing the heck out of it. I have to say, without exaggeration, that it is the most beautiful sounding guitar I have ever owned.
What did I learn? Lots, and a lot more than I cared to learn regarding electronics. But if I had to stress the importance of one particular item, it would be shielding. I just cannot say this enough . . . if you are going to hot rod an electric guitar, I advise you to shield the electronics properly. I have owned several electric guitars over the years, including a Strat and a Les Paul, and they all made noise. Hum, buzz, feedback, microphonics, whatever. To varying degrees, every one of them made some type of annoying noise.
This Stagemaster, because of the pains I took to research how to properly shield electronics, makes no extraneous noise of any type whatsoever. I can crank it up to ear splitting volume levels, and there is no hum, no buzz, no feedback or anything else. The only sounds this guitar makes is pure, sweet electric guitar sounds. The total lack of electronic hum and buzz really takes some getting used to. A new experience for me.
And finally, I would like to thank those of you who have followed this blog from beginning to end. I know this is a highly specialized topic and not for everyone, but I know there are a handful of you out there who have read the whole thing, and I appreciated your kind words and encouragement when the going got tough. I felt like throwing the whole thing in the garbage on several occasions.
So I guess that's about it for this blog. If you would like to drop me a line from time to time, please do so. I'd like to hear from you.
Take care and keep playing those electric guitars.
Crispy
About the Author
- Crispy
- I am a life long guitarist and fan of all things guitar. I currently play in my own band, The Southshore 3. Click here to view our Myspace page and to hear a few of our demo tracks.
11 comments:
Ahh Crispy, I´ve tried to mail you about an issue I have with my stagemaster which is exactly like yours but your mail seems to be old and defunct... do you have a new address so I can contact you? I´ll give you mine: carlos_canavessi@hotmail.com
Greetz!!!
The e-mail link is fixed now. Please ask away!
Crispy
Crispy!!!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I recently purchased a secondhand Ibanez (RG270DX) from a friend. It is an entry-level guitar, to be certain, but being primarily a player of basses or acoustic guitars, I wasn't really prepared to toss out the kind of cash I normally do for my preferred instruments.
It had been my hope to "mod the living hell" out of the guitar over a period of time as needs or impatience arose so I figured I would searh the net for guitar customization articles.
I've been doing this for at least 6 hours tonight and having read your entire project beginning to end (and studied all the subsequent links) I can honestly say that for what all I have found in that time, your Stagemaster Project is the BEST and most detailed desription of guitar modding!
I really want to thank you for the time you have taken to share what you have learned through trial, error and many, MANY hours of hard work and study. I hope to put nearly all of it to good use in my own project!
As a final note, the Stagemaster Project is making me seriously consider documenting my own RG mod on the internet. As well as improving the pickups (and SHIELDING I now know, thanks to YOU!!!) I am hoping to do major bodywork. When and if this happens, I will let you know so you can enjoy watching someone else struggle through a customizing project.
Thank you again, Crispy!
~~Vade
BTW: If I do blog this Ibanez, I would be honored to link to your Stagemaster Projet as one of the primary sources for my inspiration, so long as that would be acceptable to you!
To: Vade
Thanks for the kind comments regarding the Stagemaster Project. I greatly appreciate it. Believe it or not, even though I haven't posted anything on the blog since the last entry, the hits on it have steadily increase over time. I guess there are at least a few people on the planet who have mediocre guitars who see something in them worth the time and effort, like I did with my Stagemaster.
If you do decide to blog your guitar project, please let me know. I'd love to read it and keep track of it. And yes, by all means, link to my project.
One final note. I have been seriously considering making one more final entry to the Stagemaster Project, and this had to do with the intonation problems that arose from all the jostling around the Floyd Rose bridge got during the mod. To make matters worse, I decided to go with lighter gauge strings. After all of this, it was a significant project in itself just getting the string tension right and retuning the guitar. What a pain in the ass!
At least one person has asked me to add this intonation issue as a final entry and I have been considering it.
Let me know what you think.
Crispy
Oh, Absolutely! I couldn't agree more that a chapter about setting the intonation would be very interesting and informative.
It's actually thanks to an intonation problem with a Floyd Rose Trem that I managed to pick up this guitar so cheaply. Like me, my friend is primarily an acoustic man but I know a tiny little bit more about elecric instruments thanks to my bass experience.
His FR was so out of whack and completely wrong that the strings sat idle at no less than three times their ideal height at the neck join. "I can't get it in tune. I hate it and I don't even like electrics." Is all he said aside from "If you can fix it... good luck."
Well, I've never fiddled with a Floyd Rose before (not common on basses) but after about an hour I had it pretty darn close and more or less keeping it's tone. (Springs were WAY too loose.)
But even now, I'd like to know a lot more about intonation, particularly with the tremolo. If I can't get it perfect myself, I'm going to have to get it looked over by a specialist and who wants to pay some other guy to play with YOUR girl? Right?
I hope you decide to make this addition!
~~Vade
Oh, and by the way...
Have you built up a resource of other links that have helped you with the Stagemaster? Other sites like yours with mods and customwork broken down, I mean?
To: Vade
Regarding the string tension and intonation, this was just another learning experience for me that I researched on the web. There is a lot of good information out there regarding Floyd Rose tremolos and intonation. But still, reading about it and actually doing it are two different things. I'll see what I can come up with for a blog entry.
Regarding resource links, I put the significant ones in the "Links" column on the blog. Others I found here and there on the web and I don't recall if I bookmarked them or not. I'll have to check on that one.
Crispy
So just HOW different, Quality wise, are ACTUAL FRT's from the liscenced FRT's? I've heard that Kahler and Gotoh (i think... don't quote me) make high quality liscened trems but aside from those and the original from Floyd Rose that the quality see-saws radically and that you shouldn't really use anything else.
The cost for one of these "quality" trems is OUTSTANDING though! I mean, I want my guitar to be as good as possible in stages, but I can't see dropping 6 TIMES the cost of the instrument into a piece of hardware. (okay, a SET of hardware, but still.)
Are the liscensed jobs that poorer of quality (such as the ones found on lower-end Ibanez) that they are practically worthless?
Do you know if there is any kind of modding (filing, shimming, etc) that one could do to improve the performance of an "FRT copy?"
To: Vade
Because I have never owned an "actual" FRT (and I certainly wouldn't have spent the money on this project), it would be hard for me to compare the two.
However, I can tell you that mine seems to be fairly well built. It adjusts easily, all the parts seem to me well machined and the chrome finish looks very nice.
I have heard negative comments from those who own black FRTs. It seems like they have a habit of rusting. I don't know if "actual" FRTs rust or not, but I'm glad I don't have a black one.
Crispy
By the way, I have added a link on the right titled "Intonating/Adjusting".
I used this page for reference when I was setting up my Floyd Rose after deciding to go to thinner gauge strings. This is a major hassle, but it can be done. If I did it, you certainly can too.
Keep in mind you do not have "block" or "lock" your FRT to get the proper string tension. I didn't and still managed to get the bridge to float correctly.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.
Crispy
Why am I always arriving in the beginning of the end? ;-)
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