Recent content by MikeS

I played 2 guitars today. I recently picked up an MXR EVH Phase 90 and put it to the test this afternoon with both my ESP LTD Serpent (in Eb Standard) and my LP Studio (in drop Db). The top on the LP is actually green, but it takes a lot of light to bring out the green. It looks black most of...

The SLO100's preamp circuit is pretty much the ancestor of all modern high gain tube amps. The 5150 was based on the SLO100, was more affordable, and mass-produced. The 5150 and 6505 remain ubiquitous metal amps to this day. It seems to my ears that many metal bands today are either playing...

Tonight I played my white strat again, still getting to know Fred and PAF Joe. Played that for about an hour and then picked up my Epiphone G400 (SG copy) - it's loaded with a Custom/59 hybrid in the bridge and tuned to Drop C. Strings are beyond dead on that guitar, so the next time I pick it...

My guitar playing prowess stalled at a point where if someone said I sounded "unique" that I wouldn't know whether to take it as a compliment or a diss.

I've always been partial to the Cool Rails. I don't have a pure PATB-3 (I have a PATB-3 wind on standard trembucker bobbins) and I've had multiple Cool Rails - I think they'd pair well together.

Now that these have been out for a few months, I'm curious if anyone has had a chance to give them a go? I may be looking for something new for my 7-string Strandberg and the description for the Machete certainly gives me the impression it's a great answer for those looking for less compression...

Testing a new pickguard on my white mahogany Warmoth/Fender strat. Pickguard is loaded with a DiMarzio Fred and PAF Joe. I don't know why I continue to use this body as a test bed for pickguard swaps, as I don't think I'll ever find a guard that I like better than the blue shell loaded with a...

Played around on the Strandberg tonight looking to find some settings to reign in the bridge pickup (Fishman Fluence Modern Ceramic). I've long reached the conclusion that the ceramic version of the Moderns is not at all my thing. Time to test the neck, which is the alnico version, in the bridge...

Very cool, that color combo is a lot of fun.

While it's not necessarily interesting or unique, I've found the G&L PTB tone circuit to be worlds more useful than the traditional Fender tone circuit.

I'll second this, I love Artie's coil swap mod. I have a version of it on two different guitars, both HH, both with standard toggles and using a push/pull for the swap. This creates two flavors of the coil swap (bridge stud + neck screw in the bridge position and neck stud + bridge screw in the...

One of my favorite heavy JB tones is Jerry Cantrell's rhythm sound on "We Die Young."

Finally received a DiMarzio order I've been waiting on and tonight finally had the chance to install the Chopper T into my baritone thinline. At the same time I removed the 3-barrel bridge in favor of the more modern 6-saddle to help with intonation. Put it through the paces tonight and the...

I cut them after a little detuning. I cut them somewhere over the fingerboard, as cutting them too close to the tuner results in more frequent string end stabbings. Unless the board seems extra dirty, on guitars with floating bridges I'll sometimes go 1 at a time just to reduce chances of...

It's not. It's a function of string tension, geometry, spring tension, spring rate, and personal preference. I have different guitars set up different ways. I can't get a flutter with all of my setups, nor do I want to. But speaking of flutter, tonight I was playing my ESP LTD Serpent-600. It's...