Author Topic: I want to get a custom guitar. (Read 479 times)

applejuice · « **on:** September 15, 2008, 09:21:45 PM »

I was thinking about an Orion. I love my Orion bass but I find myself playing more guitar. That could be because my bass is usually 2000 miles away from me.

I want this guitar to be a representation of what I've become since I joined the military. I made myself a guitar when I was 16 that had inlays on the 12th and 24th fret that were peace signs. Well, been there done that and unfortunately I can't find peace anymore. I want the inlay on this guitar to say I gave peace a chance. I'm not too sure if anyone here really agrees with that though.

I'm not sure what kind of electronics I want in it because I've never played an Alembic guitar. I know I want it to be able to have a sharp low sound for metal and be able to switch to a crisp clean sound for everything else. Anyone got any suggestions for this? I know I want it to be a neck through instrument with an ebony laminate in the neck. I want this guitar to be able to do anything.

lbpesq · « **Reply #1 on:** September 16, 2008, 01:46:22 AM »

Joe:

IMHO Alembic guitars just inherently don't do metal very well. Alembic guitars have a very clear clean tone. Some have described it as piezo-like. Others have referred to Series guitars as piano-like. I find these descriptions to have validity. If you search around you'll find past discussions about efforts to find a distortion pedal that matches up well with an Alembic guitar. I don't mean to rain on your parade, just suggesting that you get your hands on an Alembic, put it through your rig, and check it out.

If you're going to take the plunge on a custom, you might want to pick up an Orion or and old Electrum first, so that you will have a better idea of exactly what you want. I hope peace finds you wherever you are, and that you return safe and sound and have many more years to enjoy that Alembic.

Bill, tgo

jazzyvee · « **Reply #2 on:** September 16, 2008, 12:48:51 PM »

I agree with what you say Bill, I have an orion guitar and getting it to dirty up in a convincing way has not been very productive. None of the pedals I've tried really do it very well.

Digital pedals like the Line6 XTPro live i bought against my better judgement, proved to be just buzzy and plain nasty thin and take away the individual tone of the guitar whether it's the alembic or strat.

The only way so far I've found to get it to distort/overdrive in a creamy way without losing the tonal character of the guitar is by using the the overdrive channel on my Fender twin but even that does not sound as creamy as my Ultra Strat does.

Hence my quest to find a good valve over drive pedal that I can take on the road and get the sound I want. At the moment when touring I use my original pro-co rat which, since 99% of what I play is clean, is a reasonable compromise..... for now.

I've been trying to get hold of a Mesa Boogie V-twin pedal but am always being outbid on ebay.

An Orion guitar is fantastic, about a year or so ago I upgraded the electronics to a filter and 3 position q-switch and that has improved the versatility of the sound and when used with a distortion pedal it sounds better.

It seems to me the alembic is best for clean sounds and really for distortion. Yes I also agree with the piezo like tone, it does have a great acoustic type tone.

ps:I put Alembic activators on my maple neck strat and although I found it weak on overdrive with the original fender pickups, it's no better with the alembic guts. But it sounds phenomenally cleaner, and less noisy now and the addition of the bass and treble electronics the tonal colours are incredible.

It's so righteously crisp that James Brown would have loved it.

Jazzyvee

lbpesq · « **Reply #3 on:** September 16, 2008, 03:40:22 PM »

As for an overdrive pedal, I am currently using the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic, which I love. It essentially converts a single channel amp into a three channel amp like a Mesa Mark III. It has two different channels on the pedal, a lead and a crunch rhythm. For metal you might want to check out the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem. I've never tried one, but I've heard good things about it. It seems to be an over-the-top version of the classic, from what I've read.

Bill, tgo

jalevinemd · « **Reply #4 on:** September 16, 2008, 07:41:14 PM »

Joe,

His Esquireness speaks the truth. I have 2 custom Alembics and have owned 2 others. I have gone through at least 2 dozen OD/Distortion pedals over the last few years trying to get the sound I need from my Alembics...a sound that comes quite easily with the 20 or so other guitars I own - vintage BC Rich's, Les Pauls, you name it. This is my take on Alembics and it's going to ring like pure heresy with many here:

They're wonderful instruments. But I love them more for how they look and feel rather than sound. There isn't a more beautifully crafted instrument out there and nothing can come close to the necks on mine. But if I could put PAF's or Dimarzio S2's in my Alembics without destroying them, I'd do it in a second. If you play through a clean amp or one with different modulation effects and some occasional overdrive, you will love these guitars! But as soon as you kick on that distortion pedal, you pretty much defeat the purpose of owning an Alembic. The sound they are known for...the acoustic-like ring that no other guitar can give...simply vanishes. And a lot of the cost of these instruments is in the electronics. What are Series I upgrades, like 5K?

It's taken so much time and effort to be able to play the 70's AOR music I love on my Alembics. And I still don't know if I'm quite there. So I'd forget about metal entirely. Sometimes, when I'm lazy, I'll play through my POD XT Live. The Les Paul, Mock, Bich, Zemaitis, Strat all sound great. Then I plug in the Alembic and...ouch! Not so good.

In short, if Metal's your game, I'd find a custom builder who can give you everything you want...including the sound.

Let the firing squad commence.

(Message edited by jalevinemd on September 17, 2008)

lbpesq · « **Reply #5 on:** September 18, 2008, 01:29:16 PM »

Just to balance out Jonathan's heresy, I find the sound of Alembic guitars to work wonderfully for the Grateful Dead and other clean-style music that I play. If you're looking for a clean sound for Dead, Jazz, even country, Alembic is it. If you're looking for dirty, Alembic isn't it.

Jonathan:

You should try and get your hands on a Daion Power Mark XX. Alembic-like construction (9 piece thru neck with maple and rosewood), standard humbucker type electronics with the most usable coil splitting I've encountered. A great asymmetrically shaped neck. The best production line guitar I've played to date. Made at the Yamaki factory in Japan, 1978-82. They show up on ebay 2-3 times a year and go for $800-$1000. Susan looked at one of mine and said she'd have to charge $3000 for the wood working alone. Try it, you'll like it!

Bill, tgo

jalevinemd · « **Reply #6 on:** September 18, 2008, 02:25:09 PM »

Bill,

I will definitely keep my eyes open for one. That's why I love the Big Bear. Wonderful craftsmanship and 3 Dimarzio Super II's to boot. The best of both worlds!

In all fairness, I can get good overdriven and distorted sounds from my Alembics. I'm not saying it's impossible...just a bit harder. They're like spoiled children who just don't want to play nicely with the other kids. And my pedalboard is quite a bit bigger in order to accomodate the Alembic-friendly pedals and the Not-so-Alembic-friendly pedals.

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #7 on:** September 19, 2008, 11:05:45 AM »

I've never tried one of these, but I saw them in another forum recently, and they certainly look intriguing. If they hold up to their claims, they might be the answer to the active electronics distortion issue.

http://www.psionicaudio.com/main/fuzzylogic.htm

jalevinemd · « **Reply #8 on:** September 19, 2008, 09:07:26 PM »

Kevin,

I'm definitely going to look into one of those Fuzzy Logics.

Bill,

I took out my Duncan Twin Tube after close to a year in the closet. I played my Goldtop through it and actually liked what I was hearing. Not heavy enough distortion for certain things, but a very nice warm overdriven tube sound. I might need to revisit this one. Later I'm going to put my Keeley-modded Tube Screamer in front and see if I can kick it harder without it getting too muddy.

lbpesq · « **Reply #9 on:** September 20, 2008, 08:25:53 AM »

Jonathan:

Something tells me you might like the Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem.

Bill, tgo

jalevinemd · « **Reply #10 on:** September 20, 2008, 09:14:33 AM »

Bill,

I'm headed to GC later to see if they finally have them in stock. A few months ago it was special order. I watched the Guitar World Gear Demo and it seemed a bit metaly for my taste but I'm sure I could tone that down a bit. After all, I got the EH Metal Muff to sound pretty damn good.

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #11 on:** September 20, 2008, 02:22:22 PM »

Jonathan,

If you happen to try one of those fuzzy logics, please let me know what you think. I was actually able to get some pretty decent metal sounds from the Orion Baritone I sold to Bill, and an old DOD grunge pedal. I hate the sound of it with pretty much everything else I have, but it sounded nasty in a good way with the Orion.

pace · « **Reply #12 on:** October 10, 2008, 02:26:31 PM »

Kev,

Did THE Baritone get passed along to Bill?!?.... awesome..... play'er in good health!!!!

-Mike

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #13 on:** October 10, 2008, 02:57:17 PM »

Hey Mike,

Yeah, unfortunately my wife and I ran into some tough times financially, and I had to part with the Baritone. It sounds like Bill is giving her a good home though. I hope everything is going well for you.

jalevinemd · « **Reply #14 on:** October 10, 2008, 08:24:42 PM »

Kevin,

I emailed the folks at Psionic Audio about the Fuzzy Logic and never heard back. So I didn't wind up getting one.