rate your guitars....

Re: rate your guitars....

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So I think it would take too long to rate all of my guitars, I can't even get them all into one room for one picture so I took the best family photo I could, it's missing a few step brothers, they are @ a friend's house where I record/jam & then I got some close ups of what are probably my favorite 2? 80% of my guitars are like my kids so I don't like picking favorites?

The Strat is a 54 reissue but it's been heavily modified, obviously the original owner changed the 8 hole pickguard to an 11 hole guard and I've replaced the tremolo with the best aftermarket Trem I could find, which is nice because I can actually use it & it stays in tune? Under the hood she's got a custom built Jeff Beck aluminum grounding plate & harness with a N.O.S. Russian P.I.O. capacitor, basically this means I can use both tone pots for all 3 pickups? It's also got a beefy C profile Maple neck, vintage tuners, & as far as pickups go, we got a Lil 59 for Neck in the bridge (lil 59N is the closest thing to a true P.A.F. I've found in a bladed S.C. sized humbucker) & 2 SSL-1's in the neck & middle positions! All together it adds up to one super versatile and F****** amazing playing guitar!!!

The Tele is just a Standard Telecaster with a fancy paint job & another C profile Maple neck, or @ least it was @ one point? Now, the first thing I did to this one was getting the frets level, they weren't really all that bad, just not great either? After that I turned my attention to the guts, I wanted a Tele that was still going to be a REAL Telcaster when I was done but in no way wimpy? With a bit of help from Scott O. I think I hit it right on the head!!! I replaced the old control plate with a custom built one made up of 300k pots & a wax dime capacitor. As far as pickups go, I put a Quarter Pound Lead for Tele in the bridge and a Phat Cat in the neck. The first time I played it after all the work was done I was almost floored! The pickups were perfectly balanced and both sounded great on their own! The real magic happened when I put it into position 2, WOW!!! Imagine a Strat, a Tele, & a Jazzmaster got all Molly-ed up & had a 4 some with a old P.A.F.? If the 4 of them could somehow have one love child I think it would sound just like this does? Its still very much a Telecaster but ballsy as all hell & although it's extremely powerful it's also still very sweet sounding when using clean tones but it also really, really, loves a good dose of gain! The only complaint I have is now I've got to feed it other Telecasters!!!

I'd have to write one of these for each of them if I were to "rate" them all.....
 
Re: rate your guitars....

That is a well rounded, totally sick a$$ collection!

I'll just rate mine like this:


Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus Custom Shop Peacock - Custom 5/Jazz - Badass
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Gibson Les Paul Classic Premium Plus Cherry Sunburst - Duncan Custom/59 - Badass
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Gibson Les Paul Junior Special Alpine White - Stock P90's - Badass
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Gibson Explorer Natural Mahogany - Phat Cat/Phat Cat - Badass
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Gibson Flying V Natural Mahogany - Seth Lover/Seth Lover - Badass
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Gibson SG Junior Black - Stock P90 - No Frills Gibson That Plays and Sounds Great - Fantastic Little Guitar

Gibson SG Junior Cherry - Stock P90 - No Frills Gibson That Plays and Sounds Great - Fantastic Little Guitar
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Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop - Jazz/Jazz - Badass - Sounds Amazing - One of the best necks that I've ever played on any guitar - You wouldn't know the difference between it and a Gibson on a recording
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Epiphone Les Paul Blue Sparkle - Custom Custom/Pearly Gates - Really good guitar. Sounds great, but doesn't blow me away with its playability - You wouldn't know the difference between it and a Gibson on a recording
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Charvel San Dimas Style 2 2H Candy Purple - AHB1 Blackout/AHB1 Blackout. Unbelievably Badass Guitar For What I Paid For It New - All Three Of The Charvels Are My New #1

Charvel San Dimas Style 1 2H Candy Blue - Soon To Have Dimarzio Titan/Dimarzio Titan - Unbelievably Badass Guitar For What I Paid For It New - All Three Of The Charvels Are My New #1

Charvel San Dimas Style 1 2H Black - JB/59 - Unbelievably Badass Guitar For What I Paid For It New - All Three Of The Charvels Are My New #1
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Mid 90's ESP Vintage Plus Telecaster Translucent Blue - Not a LTD Model!! - Vintage 54/STR-1 Vintage Rhythm - Badass - I'll put it up against any top of the line USA Made Fender
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Brian Moore i.88.13 Black - Stock Pickups - Fantastic Guitar For What All It Does - I Only Play It With My Roland GR-33 Guitar Synthesizer
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Schecter PT Elite Vintage Honeyburst - Full Shred/Full Shred - It is what it is. Surprisingly Fantastic. Plays and sounds great.
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Schecter PT Custom Black Cherry - 59/59 - It is what it is. Surprisingly Fantastic. Plays and sounds great.
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Schecter S-1 Elite Vintage Honeyburst - Stock Pickups - It is what it is. Surprisingly Fantastic. Plays and sounds great.
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Squier Telecaster Lake Placid Blue - Quarter Pound/Quarter Pound - Late 90's Mexican Made - This is the sleeper of the bunch. If you played it blindfolded, you'd never know it was a Squier. It honestly blows me away everytime that I play it, and it has for the past 16 years. Unbelievably BADASS guitar that I paid $149 new and stuck some Duncans in that I paid $50 for.
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Taylor 314CE - 30th Anniversary Model - Bought from Jeff H - Plays and Sounds Amazing - Badass

Yamaha FGX-412CE - Cheap little 12 string Acoustic/Electric - Nothing amazing, but not crap either - Plays and Sounds Great
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Re: rate your guitars....

#1. Warmoth strat hardtail. Candy orange with a maple neck (tele headstock). The stainless frets and 59 profile feel like home to me. The chambered body makes this one just under 7 lbs. the lace hemi/hot gold HSH setup is pure rock and roll. This guitar sounds and plays so well I lose track of time when I pick it up. Easily my favorite.

#2 (tied) I play both of these equally
Ibanez rg921. A hardtail rg, what more can I say? Sustains well, plays well, super light. Best fixed bridge I have ever played on. Has a full shred set in it. More versatile than one would think

Ibanez rg3xxv. Bone stock with a really great setup. A seriously bad ass heavy guitar. It is pretty heavy too. I like the edge zero 2/ZPS system More than the original edge trem.

#4. Carvin h2 holdsworth. A wonderful mutt of a guitar! Take an alder tele body, hollow it out, and add a rather large d shaped, fender scaled, alder neck to it. Now add a les Paul style bridge and pickup setup. Now throw in 6100 frets on an ebony fretboard.
It just resonates in my hands at any kind of volume! I can hold a note seemingly forever in that controlled feedback kind of way. I tried a bunch of different pickups in it but the stock h22s seemed to work the best. It will remain stock forever.
Did I mention that it is light as a feather? Just a hair under 6.5lbs.

#5. Ibanez rg520qs. Heavy!! Around nine pounds!! Carvin h22 pickups in it now, though I have had about a dozen sets go thru it. They all sounded the best in this guitar. Built in '99, it plays amazing, but only for shorter periods of time due to the weight. I may put my Norton back in it.

#6. (Was #1 when I had the strat'is neck on it) Warmoth tele. Alder body, spalted top, mahogany/ebony fatback neck, harmonic design vintage plus pickups. Picture a fatter sounding tele. The low frets are a challenge for me sometimes, but I love these pickups so much, that I sort of adapt to it. I will get a different neck for this one in the future.
 
Re: rate your guitars....

That black neck thru strat looks like a fender stagemaster (or maybe showmaster) blackout. I could be wrong but I have been reading about them a bit, thinking of buying one off craigslist. I forgot to look at the pic to see if it's rear routed tho
 
rate your guitars....

1: Ibanez rgit20fe iron label
Ash body, ebony board, 7 piece maple and walnut neck thru, changed the pups to Seymour Duncan blackouts
Super thin and wide neck and generally bright but deep sounding.
2 Schecter Synyster gates custom with Seymour Duncan Invaders
Mahogany body and set neck, floyd rose 1000 trem, ebony board
The neck is thicker than my ibanez and is very warm sounding
3 Ibanez SZ320, Mahogany body, Maple Set Neck, Duncan ibanez pups but will probably change them to warpigs in the future, very chunky sounding
4? Got a schecter KM-6 coming in the mail so that may be my new favourite
Swamp ash body, ebony board,maple neck and Seymour Duncan blackened winter pickups

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Re: rate your guitars....

Too many of them and impossible for me to rank, but I have my favorites for certain things:

Charvel 650 Custom MIJ: Brawny EMG 85 and two EMG SLV (Steve Lukather) stacked singles + EMG SPC active midboost. This is a TOTAL freakin' hotrod, basically the same as a Soloist, except with a rosewood board and matching headstock. This is one of those guitars that I never feel I can outpace----there is nothing it can't do! It removes all limitations. When I'm playing complex/busy/fast metal rhythms like Jake E. Lee w/Ozzy or Akira (Loudness) I reach for this one. Just recently picked a Jackson Soloist Pro with ebony board that takes this up even another notch, although I am keeping the very nice stock passives in it (errr...unless perhaps I get Cool Rails for the neck and middle). Have barely had time to play the Pro yet, but it is a monster...


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Fender Sonic Blue Yngwie Strat/Dimarzios: The purest YJM Strat formula with the old school Dimarzios and maple board. The scallops give a very special feel and difference in tone. YJM Strats are truly magical and inspiring to play, although NOT as easy to play as standard guitars. Each note has more individual volume and clarity than with a standard board, even for sweeps, so it's worth the extra effort. I love how even the heaviest riffs have pronounced twang and nice high end clarity.

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ESP LTD JH600 Hanneman Limited Edition (Total of 100 made): This has the classic EMG 81/85 and Kahler trem, which has a different feel than the Floyd that suits this guitar. I have another JH600 with the Floyd, but this one definitely has more mojo. I never play any Rhythm and Blues or Country with this guitar (LOL), only music that is fitting to the legacy. EMG SPC midboost replaces tone knob. I can easily see why Holt plays his LTD on stage, LTD is no joke! Incredibly sleek neck on par with the finest Jacksons, and extra jumbo frets.

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Charvel San Dimas MIJ Style 1 2H: This is my Jake E. Lee Badlands/Warren DeMartini guitar next to the 650. Bone stock with '80s LA Strip tested-and-approved JB and '59 + Original Floyd. Comes with rolled fretboard edges on the maple board for an already broken-in feel, and I believe it has stainless steel frets. May get another one of these at some point to do an '80s Adrian Smith/Dave Murray tribute with Super Distortion + PAF.

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ESP Eclipse II: EMG 81/60 with rosewood board. Another total hotrod, but in LP flavor. Cleans up a lot better than you might expect also thanks to the awesome EMG 60. Beautiful, HUGE tones, but lighter and faster than an LP Standard.

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Charvel Model I USA: Koa Body with birds eye maple neck and pau ferro fretboard. Bare Knuckle Nail Bomb (b) and Cold Sweat (n). I like playing metal in the style of the first couple of Dream Theater albums with this guitar, before they became excessively wank-prone (I couldn't remember one of their newer 69-minute songs all the way through anyway!! :laugh2: ). I now understand why Bare Knuckles cost so much----they are truly killer! I wouldn't put them in every guitar, but this one was cost-no-object, and it was worth it....


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Custom built Warmoth/Fender Yngwie Strat: Since Fender doesn't offer Seafoam Green, I put this one together using a genuine Fender neck, trem and pickguard loaded with Duncan YJMs, and everything else by Warmoth. I have never seen a more beautiful light green than this! Amazing how the feel is indeed different from my older maple YJM. Maple Strat feels a bit faster and rawer, while this one sounds warmer, and more importantly, has the standard 5-way switch instead of 3-way so I can get the critical #2 and #4 sounds. In addition to Yngwie inspired music, I also like to do '70s Prog and '70s Heart with this one.

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Re: rate your guitars....

#1: Ibanez SZ320 - Plays great and sounds excellent. Very stable neck. Definitely has a PRS-ish thing going on, with a very chunky/wide neck and mahogany neck/body with a maple top that sounds fat, but attacking at the same time. Excellent for heavy downtuned sounds but it can hold its own for sweeter tones as well. Surprisingly versatile.

#2: Partscaster - Damn good tones out of its single coils. Playability suffers a bit due to a mismatch between neck and body that I'm totally unqualified to fix, and also needs some help with its tuning stability.
But it resonates beautifully and sounds great. Once I take it to a good luthier there's no doubt it's gonna be my best guitar.

#3: Jackson Kelly - I loved it when I bought it, and I have no idea why now.
No amount of pickup swapping could mask the fact that it doesn't resonate particularly well. Plays great though but it needs fret leveling and a nut that isn't made of gunk.
It also sounds perpetually plinky and thin. Currently for sale in hope that some poor sucker will fall for it.
 
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Re: rate your guitars....

#1. Ridiculously amazing player with a super low action, zero fret buzz and sustains as well as my Les Paul even with the lo-pro edge trem. I've never in my life played one the plays better than this, it laughs at $10k Gibson Custom shop stuff. Has Ibanez's version of a SH-5b and '59n, the tone is really nice and it's super versatile with push-pull coil taps. Tone wise it's my number two guitar, that could be fixed with a pup swap but it's too valuable to cut it up at this point. The rest of the package puts it in a different class.
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#2. Pretty nice player but in this aspect it would come in third of my gear, but the tone this thing has would put it solidly in the number one spot. Still a really nice player though. Amazing pickups! Beefy, clear, and powerful.
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#3. Really good player, hand picked from probably 30+ LP'S at many different dealers before the plek was in use. Great tone, loaded with a set of SD Pearly Gates, needs a new bridge pup though, still trying to decide on what to get. Loads of sustain and all the other goodies a LP should have but not all do. Top has improved a little with age.20151209_185113.jpg

#4. Not a great player, most of you hate the pickups (BDSM) but it's been my warhorse for way over a decade. Frets are shot, beat to hell all over, missing parts of the head stock from fending off out of control lead singers. I do great great tone from it though, it's my number three for the particular tone that would be described as my bands signature sound.20170327_215832.jpg

#5 Low action, EMG'S, stays in tune no matter how violent I get with it. Abalone binding, fret markers, and knobs, with a Beast headstock. Very "pretty" for a metal guitar.20161222_220502.jpg

#6. This is a warhorse too, decently beat up from shows. It's just a decent player but it has a DiMarzio Evolution in the bridge that sounds pretty damn killer.20170327_220537.jpg

#7. Good player that's do for a refret. I don't know what the pickups are but man do they sound good! Like a JB but clean up really well when you roll down the volume. Tons of harmonics in a sleeper guitar. Does heavy metal as equally well as classic rock.20170327_221314.jpg

#8. Just barely good enough to keep, bought it as a young player, but it's getting ready to get a MAJOR overhaul. Once I upgrade the nut, harness, and pickups it will be a good one. Plays decent but it's the red-headed step child of my gear.20170327_221916.jpg

#9. Everything about this guitar sucks! I set it up for slide as a last ditch effort. It's my first though so I had to keep it.20170327_222830_001.jpg
 
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Re: rate your guitars....

My all time #1.

83 Ibanez AM 205






And on the single coil side of things.

08 American Standard/Warmoth neck.


 
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Re: rate your guitars....

Rate my guitars. Hmmm. None of them would hold me back in terms of my playing, so they all rate better than me. Well, except for maybe a couple of really cheap ones. Aside from that, an inexpensive Gibson LP Tribute probably has my favorite neck. The Godin Montreal Premiere is probably the most "buttery" to play, overall. My purple Dean Hardtail (Korea) is a great player and a sustain monster. Not really ratings, just off the top of my head.
 
Re: rate your guitars....

I'm a little... OK a lot sideways... Thought came to me which guitars do I play based on what they do for me... Posing he question to you.

Which are your favorites and why?




I'll go first:

#1 Dean Custom Shop Blue V, it sounds absolutely perfect with any amp and any pedal, (SH-6 distortion bridge and 59neck) it plays great with the v neck. Looks stellar! Weighs nothing. Love it. I'd sleep with it! Needs 10's to sound right.


#2 Epiphone Gothic explorer. Plays perfect, takes any strings and any tuning, always in tune, I love the narrow neck and the board. Detonators in both slots, it's like a part of me. Could play it drunk or asleep.



#3 Gibson faded v. Stock. Plays great, love the feel of the ebony board, sound good in all genres. Can't complain about it one bit. All around great guitar. Very organic wood. Finicky tuner. Controls are awkward.

#4 BCRich V deluxe. Emgs sound great, string plays flat and true, board and Floyd are always spot on. Big ass scale fits my hands comfortably.

#5. Jackson RR limited. Weighs nothing, Jackson neck is amazing, detonators sound spectacular for teh brootalz, no complaints whatsoever. Cheapest guitar in my stack, but sounds huge for poplar.

#6. Jackson bastard homebuilt reverse bloody warrior. I love it to death, it sounds great and hardly ever ****s up! Dimarzio x2ñ bridge sounds wicked.
.

#7 ibanez V. New to me, but love the feel and the pups. (D-Activators) scale is huge and comfy. Plays well.
.

Dude you have the best herd of pointies I think I've ever seen!


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Re: rate your guitars....

That's a tough one; I've got three that are all excellent and really not discernable as to one being better than the other as the stars simply aligned with each of the two builds (Warmoth Tele & USACG Iceman) and they came out spectacularly on all levels and the '83 Kramer...well it's a Maple Neck/Maple Body and simply a spectacular Vintage USA Kramer that feels, plays and looks stellar. BEST KRAMER I HAVE OWNED.

*** Number Ones
2016 Warmoth Tone Bomb Telecaster: Vintage Natural Relic Flamed/Birdseye Telecaster Neck - 1 11/16”/R3, 12” Radius, Jumbo Frets & Gotoh Tuners, 1 Piece Black Ash Tone Bomb Telecaster Body w/Front Forearm Contour & Rear Tummy Cut, Clear Gloss Nitro Finish over Lemon Oil, Vintage Seymour Duncan MJ JNJ Jazz Neck/Custom Shop MJ DeMartini RTM TB, 3 Way Tele Blade Switch/DiMarzio 500k Volume/Fender TBX Tone, 1986 Floyd Rose Original w/37mm Big Brass Block & Screw In Arm, DiMarzio Clip-Lock Black Strap




2013 USACG/Warmoth Iceman: This is my EVH/Brown Sound Guitar, incredibly comfy neck, an Custom - Custom Build, USACG Quarter-Sawn Maple/Maple Fretboard Neck - 12” Radius, 22 Jumbo Frets, R2 1 5/8” Nut, Gotoh SG38 Tuners, Warmoth Mahogany Iceman Body in Pearl White, Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB-Custom Custom A2 Hybrid Trembucker, DiMarzio 500K Push:Pull Volume/3 Way LP Style Selector Switch/Fender TBX Tone x 2, Cup Jack, ’89 Ibanez Metal Pickup Mounting Rings and Vol/Tone/Tone Knobs, Recessed ’85 Original Floyd Rose w/Threaded Screw In Arm and 37mm Big Brass Block, DiMarzio Cliplock Black Strap
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1983 Kramer Pacer Imperial: Beautiful Maple Board Beak “Pacer Series Patent Pending” Neck with Chrome Schallers/R2 Nut/Retainer, 2 Piece Center Joined Black/Red/Brown Sunburst Dual Humbucker Alder Body, Seymour Duncan ‘59/JBJ in Original Schaller Mounting Rings, Chrome Floyd Rose Original, NStrap , Black HSC. First Year to include Schaller Tuners and Floyd Rose Tremolos on production models - no doubt due to Edward Van Halen's influence. Heavy two piece Maple Body with finish checking front and back, a beautiful and comfortable Maple Neck with spotless frets and SD '59/JBJ.




*** Number Twos
2009 Gibson Les Paul Studio Raw Power: these are stock other than upgraded Schaller Tuning Pegs and Gibson TP-6 Fine Tuning Tailpieces. Even though they are Maple Board/Maple Body they feel, play and sound like a good Gibson Les Paul should. Think GnR and Social D turned up and all the Classis tones with Vol and Tone rolled back a bit via the Gibson '57 Classics. Different guitars than the above but not much different in the level of playability and enjoyment as they're both well done guitars.
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