NGD: They put these at the top of the pile..

[Phantasmagoria]

30 frets vs. the rest

[Phantasmagoria]

Gotta say...30 frets are fun to play around with...but my intonation's a bit off & I'm not keen to tackle that job myself...it gets kinds weird & warbly on the highest ones and I still dont have the finger-strength to dig in enough to shred all the way up at the top there. Tapping is probably the easiest to manage provided I use just the single-finger on my right hand - & it's easier to slide not tap (unfortunately 7 not 8 finger tapping is pretty much impossible..there just is'nt enough space to put all those fingers..which is a shame cuz I bet it would sound mega-cool blazing around at light speed all the way up there )


EDIT: forgot the video

[Phantasmagoria]

Gotta say...I like most Ibanez stock pup's Folk ***** about them all the time but almost all of them actually sound pretty sweet. Single coils & humbuckers both.

I think this one (SA) has the new Quantum bridge (ceramic) & the RG above has an Infinity (A5) and they both sound pretty killer. The "Hot Grinder's" in my new Sabre take the cake...absolutely fantastic pup's (imo).

[Phantasmagoria]

Neoclassical ballad w/ my AMT Stonehead 50W solid state head (Emi Legend GB128 1x12 cab)...no shredding, just tasteful restraint...

It's awesome how this pickup goes into that awesome harmonic feedback that I love w/ extended notes/bends even when playing slowly & softly (& tastefully)..

[Phantasmagoria]

Next up I'll do the "unrestrained" version (w/ little to no tasteful restraint).

Now that might be challenging seeing how this is an acoustic ballad, but here's hoping I can still fill it w/ (7 not 8 ) finger tapping, arps, shred, divebombs and the like cuz this amp has just the right kind of compression for all that stuff as I've demonstrated before..

....I mean, why should ballads always be slow??

[Phantasmagoria]

V2 ....Track does'nt really lend itself too well to all-out shredding & divebombs/whammy trix (I tried....but I lost the tastefulness..).

So instead I went w/ a bunch of (tasteful yet unrestrained) robot tapping/sliding & squeelies..

Bridge pup.

I mean, there's a couple of ways to approach guitar playing imo..the first is w/ a stick up your arse (and gaping @ a crappy theory book spread-eagled out in front of you) & the second is to have fun and do w/e the hell you feel like doing

[Phantasmagoria]

And more uptempo power/neoclassical fun w/ my S1070 & Randall T2 ...Tone Zone ridge..

[Phantasmagoria]

....same thing w/ my Brutus Live 30W head/ Emi Legend GB128 1x12..

[Phantasmagoria]

...same axe (DMZ Air Norton neck) w/ my Orange Super Crush 100 & my 1x12 w/ an Electro Harmonix driver.

Kinda woofy/muddy but I dig it...

[Phantasmagoria]

W/ my BC Rich Ironbird Pro Series (EMG 89R br)

^^ For that all-important 'active vs. passive' comparison

[Phantasmagoria]

Ironheart does Plexi?

Well I think it's in the ballpark of a boosted/souped up 70's Superlead-ish kinda tone. A bit darker/gainier maybe (should've dialed back the bass a little ideally) but with that vintage Marshall sweet/fat/chewy kind of of vibe...

It was pretty much the exact same settings I have on the lead channel left untouched ..but with the treble knob pulled (amp has push-pull EQ...that I've hardly used/explored). Gotta say it's pretty damn effective and has quite an audible effect on the tone. I've got to look into this a bit more. The Laney is a hell of an amp.

[Phantasmagoria]

Same settings but w/ the bass dialed back a hair, treble knob pulled as in the last clip. Played w/ my new Saber..

[Phantasmagoria]

& with my EVH Wolfgang Special...

[Chistopher]

Hell yeah! Have you tried an A3 in the neck? The American Wolfgangs come that way from the factory and I think it makes a world of a difference

[Phantasmagoria]

Thanks I really like the EVH A2 bridge pups...they have that sweetness/roundness to them that's great for soloing & makes them sit really well in a mix.....

Have'nt done much magnet swapping lately. I did try some things out years ago but lately mag's have been hard to come by & my eyesight is'nt what it used to be so I try to avoid stuff like soldering & just messing around w/ fragile stuff (like pups) in general .

What does the A3 do to the sound? I think this axe has A2's in both pup's. Never really tried an A3 in anything though my old S-540 Saber has a pair of A4 pups that I Iove..

If I remember correctly the neck pup in my Wolfgang sounds pretty cool as well if slightly beamy/thin (but can be fattened up by adding more bass..or maybe i just need to re-adjust the height). I'm not much of a neck pup guy though tbh...but they're fun occasionally.