Z-TARD Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 Got side tracked from the Z yet again. Probably explains why it has taken me 5+ years to get the car to where it is now, which is only about 40% complete. Anyway, I found a really cool and cheap Chinese made copy of an Ibanez JS sereis guitar on ebay. I bought it with the intention of doing a complete makeover: paint, electronics, hardware, etc. When it showed up I found that I really liked the finish, which was white with skeleton figures painted all over it (A copy of one of Joe Satriani's personal guitars). I decided not to re paint that one since it looked so cool, but I did redo just about everything else. New pickups (GFS Crusaders) which are absolutely brutal, as well as new switching that allows them to be coil tapped from humbucking (Les Paul sound) to single coil (Stratocaster sound). I still had the black pearl paint and clearcoat that I didn't use, so...... Enter fake Ibanez guitar #2. Fortunately the white paintjob on this one was not nearly as nice as the first one, and it was promptly wet sanded down to #400 and repainted, followed by 3 coats of clear laquer. Did a complete re wiring of this one as well, using GFS Big Mouth pickups which are about the best I've ever heard. Wired for coil tapping and a high pass filter like the $1400 original Ibanez version. This thing has AMAZING tonal versatility. It does everything from vintage style Strat sounds to all out hernia inducing metal crunch with just a few pulls of the switches. I still have to work on the setup and intonation on both of them a little, as I haven't yet found the sweet spot for the neck adjustment that will let me get the strings REALLY low. Also, the Floyd Rose style tremelo's are made mostly of brass, so some of the screws for seting intonation have stripped out. I'll probably end up replacing the trems on both guitars because of this. Anyway, pic: Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 how much did you pay for these fakes?....and this GFS Big Mouth pickups....similar to duncans?....intonation is the most critical aspect to check on guitars, otherwise is pain in the b***, to get them in tune, specially with a floyd trem. nice paint jobs though....and who´s gonna notice it´s a fake behind the 10th row at a gig anyway? I was considering a JS 2000, I haven´t decided yet because I saw this great steinberger guitar..... these chinese fakes could be the replacement so I don´t ruin my main one. good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted September 17, 2006 Author Share Posted September 17, 2006 The white one was $175, the one below it was $135 about a month later. I've seen the same guitar with a "Buy it now" prce of $115. Out of the box they are pretty much unplayable. Electronics made lots of buzzing noises, weak pickups, action set way to high, etc. Add about another $100 worth of pickups, switches, capacitors, shielding tape and paint and you end up with a pretty nice axe. The GFS pickups are another item I found on ebay. The Crusaders are supposed to be a lot like the Duncan Invader. I've never used a set of the invaders before, but I like the Crusaders a lot. Lots of gain and saturation, without being overly heavy on the bottom end. Artificial harmonics are really easy with these too, even on the neck pickup. On clean channel they sound incredible, kind of odd for a distortion pickup, but I'm not complaining. IIRC the resistance for these is something like 17k for the bridge and 16k for the neck. The Big Mouth pickups are the ones in the Black Pearl guitar. They are rated much lower for resistance, at about 10k bridge and 8k for the neck. They are "supposed" to have a more vintage sound than most high output pickups, which to a large extent they do. Crank up the gain knob though and these things scream. I was trying to get a set of pickups that are similar to the specs for the Dimarzio pickups used in the JS1000 and 2000 guitars. These are pretty close to the Joe and Mo-Joe as far as resistance. Not sure about sound as I dont have real JS1000 to compare against. I really like the sound of these though, they get the Satriani sound pretty well and have excellent characteristics all around as far as playability is concerned. My only gripe is that the chrome case on the pickups is kinda ugly, and makes it hard to fit in some trim rings. Heres a link to the ebay store I got the pickups from: http://stores.ebay.com/Guitarfetish-Store_Pickups-Humbucker_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ16QQftidZ2QQtZkm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonZ Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Very cool. Here are some pictures of the guitar I built myself just a few months ago. http://www.coldfusionracing.com/Strat/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 the guitar looks very nice cold fusion.....you got the variax things inside of it.....I´m guessing here.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 thanx Z-tard...very cool info....but the thing is....in my case ...I gotta practice as much as I can....I will rethink about the DYS guitar for awhile.....again good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonZ Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I don't want to hijack Ztards thread too much. Got any audio samples for us? I would be interested to hear the clean tones. Yep, I'm runnning a Graphtech Ghost system in the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Here's mine (epiphone SG clone on the left, Fender Mustang on the right): The SG clone was gloss black, but I sanded it down and then drew on it with a sharpie. but it didn't come out especially well in the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 A few of my other toys... You can never have too many toys. LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Larry, you play the banjo? That is so cool, I always wondered if it was as hard as it looks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 you guys are making me want to get mine out again.....Oooo I think its video time!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share Posted September 18, 2006 Awesome guitars guys! Should change the name of this thread to "Show us your axe!" Cold fusion, that strat looks amazing. Very sanitary looking. Parker makes a version of the Fly that looks similar, with no visible pickups. I drooled over one for a long time, but it just wasn't in the budget. About all I can do for audio samples is record directly to the computer out of my Korg PX3 as a "WAV" file. Recording time is limited to about 40 seconds, and sounds like crap At some point I'll have to get some recording software for the computer so I can make some decent audio files of these guitars/pickups. Keep the pics coming! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 there´s never enough toys I guess, got 5 axes myself. can take a look at them in www.sapiens.8k.com this was the first web page I ever made....a long time ago...so don´t expect a lot of fancy stuff.... I drooled over that parker too!....jeez....too mucho drooling... and love the sg veritech Z what´s that guitar near the banjo cozy z cole? ovation electric....I´m guessing here... did you guys tried recording to HD with the guitar port...well I have and it isnt bad at all....it just takes a few minutes of tweaking to get a sound.... I record into sonar for multitracking....is not studio quality but close enough.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 Nice Wolfgang. I have one of the early archtop versions of those, in retrospect I should have waited for the special version to come out. Cheaper, and to my ears they sound a little better. That sucks that Eddie's signature is rubbing off like that on yours. Might have to get him to redo it, then follow up with 5 or 6 coats of clearcoat Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Thanks Memegtr, I wish I could take a better picture of the artwork on it. For some reason I can't get it to show up the way I want it to with this camera. I just ordered a Nikon D80, so hopefully I'll finally be able to take real pictures again soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 For a guy that doesn't really play that well, I seem to have quite a few guitars. I'm begining to realize why my wife frowns so much when she catches me looking at guitars on Ebay..... Left to right: Hohner "The Jack" Steinberger style guitar. Very cool, but heavy despite it's small size. Ibanez S470DX. Latest aquisition from Ebay. Tremelo busted up, waiting for parts. "Chibanez" Satriani copy Peavy Wolfgang. Awesome guitar. Ed (Van Halen) was silly to drop Peavy..... "Chibanez" Satriani copy V2.0 (My favorite for the moment) OLP MM1. Copy of Ernie Ball Music Man (Another EVH signature model) Crappy paintjob was how I got it from Ebay. Looks much worse close up. On the floor: "Chibanez" Satriani copy V3.0. An even cheaper copy than the previous 2. Required major resculpting of the body to look decent. This one will probably get the SU-27 splinter camouflage paint scheme. Ibanez RG 7 string. Given to me by a buddy. Cracked neck, no electronics. Painted with black krinkle finish paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 awesome Z tard...really... check mine at http://www.sapiens.8k.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 I hope this pic shows...is my wolgang special autograph from van halen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-REX Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Haven't dropped in for a few... here's why I haven't built the Z yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memegtr Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 the autograph is actually fading.....its a great guitar.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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