Encyclopedia of Awesome Tones

Most musicians and guitarists never even break the surface as to how far and how accelerated their very own instruments can go, with electronics. Most musicians never would even consider using MIDI, because it's "Too difficult", "Too much money", or "Isn't worth it". I'm going to show you the electronics layout I have planned for the guitar I will be getting custom made ($8,000 or so; I'll talk about the exotic woods and such at a different time).
I'm hoping that after some of you read this, you may get an idea of your own, as to what you prefer, electronically. You'll also notice how much my ideas have changed from my previous ideas of 3 Vol, 3 Tone, 3 Coil Taps, etc! Take a peak, if you wish.


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Master Volume
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Master Volume is very important to guitarists (most guitarists use Master Volume. Master Volume = One Volume knob), because it prevents unwanted swelling and surges of volume increase when you change pickups, as well as give you an easier insight as to what your volume is at all times. Les Pauls use 2 volumes (and 2 tones), something I dislike very much. MIDI Volume is the same as Master Volume, so the Master Volume is "Master" for the Guitar Output, and for the MIDI output.

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Master Tone
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Much like Master Volume, this is important. You will never forget where that tone knob is, with Master Volume. When you start adding another tone knob, or two more tone knobs, It can get very confusing as to, if you switch pickups, where everything will be at. Note that the MIDI Tone knob is the same as the Guitar pickups tone knob, when I mean "master" tone, I REALLY mean Master Tone.

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Three Humbuckers
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Simple, I prefer humbuckers to single coils, and I prefer three humbuckers to two. Simple as that.

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5-way Selector Switch
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The Five Way selector switch is widely used by Fender's Stratocaster model, as well as every single rip-off of a strat, and also used by many, many companies. It is rather rare, however, to use a 5-way selector, with 3 humbuckers (The 3 way is more commonly used). The 5-way is used in the same manner with humbuckers as single coils, with the exception that in the "inbetween" positions, the coils on both humbuckers split, to form one "new" humbucker. Simply more options.

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Master Six-Way Rotary Coil Knob(looks like a Varitone knob)
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This is by far the most uncommon object used in guitars, because most people are confused by it. Basically, this is how it runs; it is basically a more complex form of Coil Splitting, with alot more options. There are 6 options, listed here:

1.) Series In Phase (Standard Humbucker)

2.) Single Coil (South) = Just the south coil alone

3.) Single Coil (North) = Just the North coil Alone

4.) Parallel In Phase = Single Coil type tone, with hum-cancelling

5.) Series-Out of Phase = makes a phased sound.

6.) Mute (or Standby)

Having one "Master Six Way Rotary Switch" allows me to choose what style of pickup I want to use, on the pickup that is already chosen. You can just imagine all the possibilies with those five sound options, and for inbetween songs, the Mute option.

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Roland MIDI Pickup
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If you haven't heard of MIDI, or haven't tried it, give it a shot, it's one of the coolest things you can add to guitar, the ability to play other instruments as well. Your guitar will soon become not just a guitar, but a whole ****ing library of music. You won't regret that choice.

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Unity Gain Buffer
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Under the cavity, that's where this neat toy lays. Basically, a Unity Gain Buffer transfers the signal from your effects, into the guitar, and registers them at full volume at all times, no matter what your guitar volume is at. This sounds confusign at first, but what you realize is that it solves the problem of "I can get great tone in my living room, but not onstage.....", because your effects will NOT change with volume! You see, with this, you have full control of your effects, right on your guitar. Plug your normal guitar into an amp, load the distortion, and tell me whether or not you hear a huge difference in tone when you roll off your tone knob. There shouldn't really be a difference, and the point is that effects have a tendency to be very unpredictable at certain volumes, and it is difficult to find the sweet spot for the effects, when they keep changing! For example, with the UGB installed on your guitar, you get 5 active and ready distortion tones out of the stompbox, instead of the normal one tone. The tones will not change (they are pre-vol and pre-tone), and you will find that your tone will be alot more recognizable when you can recall the same tones over and over again, if you wish. This will get rid of unwanted noise and unwanted feedback, because the signal is always constant, whereas the normal guitar doesn't have a constant volume. This works VERY well with Envelope Filters, because they will always be on 'full', so every note you pick will have that luscious and rare "wahh" tone that you only get by luck, otherwise.

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Dual TRS Outputs
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With Dual TRS outputs, all of the above is allowed to happen, efficiently. One Mono TRS output goes to your amplifier, the other to your Effects Processor, which allows you to effectively bypass your effects when you don't want to use them, by simply cutting the signal from the effects to your guitar, and leaving the amp to guitar one on.

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True Effects Bypass Switch
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Lets face it, guys. With all of your effects chained together, and you want a clean tone, it sucks your clean tone right out! Like I explained in the TRS section, The TRS Outputs, along with an Effects Bypass Switch, cuts the signal from the effects to your guitar, allowing nice, smooth clean tone, with no effects sucking the tone right under you! This is One simple two-way switch, either the effects are running, or they are being bypassed.

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MIDI/Guitar Bypass Switch
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This is One Simple 2-way switch (or it can be two 2 way switches, if you want to run both MIDI and Guitar through your amp at the same time...but for me, I'll use one or the other, so it is just one 2-way). Now, when you are playing 'normal guitar', your MIDI is the one being bypassed. When you say to yourself "hm.....I think I'd like to add a French Horn part to this...." , you simply switch the flip, and your MIDI is now being processed, and your guitar signal is not. This works better than those "On/Off" switches, because this way, a signal is always being run from your MIDI device, to your guitar, to an amp, it is just effectively being "Muted" when you play through a guitar signal. When you are playing MIDI, your guitar signal is simply being bypassed. This is much like the effects bypass.

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Onboard MIDI Numeric Pad
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I'm not a fan of Foot-Controllers, not at ALL. I hate them with a passion, because there is always a bigger chance that you'll screw up with your feet than with your hands. (We don't write with our feet, and there is a reason for that). Alot of these add-ons help me out because of my hatred for footcontrollers. A MIDI footcontroller was out of the question, right from the start. 500 Available Sounds, 10 Banks with 10 Presets with 5 sounds in each preset? no! Instead, I am going to have something similar to this MIDI Numeric Pad

and considering that MIDI is numbered, it's just a simple matter of remembering the numbers of the ones I use, and pushing the buttons. Note that the Shadow version of the Numeric Pad has it's own Volume and Dynamic control. Mine, already being routed to my guitar's tone and vol, will not need the extra vol and tone.

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Do not Try this at home :D
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Okay, guys; If I sparked anyone's interest in any subject, take notice that doing these modifications to your guitar is possible, but certain things are not recommended on your standard guitar. For exmaple, The Unity Gain Buffer (which is a preamp, and uses a battery), must be under the surface, and putting one of those on a Stratocaster is not recommended, due to the light weight of the instrument. Wood would (homonyms...haha) need hollowing out, etc. However, EMG has created it's own version of the UGB, called the JG-1, and the JG-2 (named after Jerry Garcia), which was made almost specifically for Stratocasters.
Keep in mind that you can add a certain amount of these modifications to your guitar yourself, but when something is internal, and put in while the guitar is being made, problems are less likely to occur, because there will be no soldering, no hollowing, and everything will be set up to your liking. If any of you will be getting custom guitars in the future, and would like to use any of these Mod's, go right ahead, but I warn you to choose heavier woods, due to the amount of wood being hollowed out (that is, if you are having the mods in the guts, which i would recommend over externally).

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What pickups will I be using?
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Dimarzio Super-Distortion 2's. 3 Humbuckers, all wired for the Rotary Knob.

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Isn't that going to make it harder onstage?
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Look at it this way, it gives you more options, and you can use those options how you wish. Your tone will not suffer because you have these options available, in fact, some of these options increase your tone, and get rid of many problems that occur at different volumes. If you want, you could have all of the options I have shown you, on your guitar, and simply use Master Tone, master volume, and the pickup selector. You don't need to use the Rotary Coil Knob, it just gives you more options! And if you are like me, more options on the guitar means I'll spend more time mastering the options on the guitar, mastering the guitars electronics themselves, so when it comes time to gig, the sound will be consistently good, with a constant signal, etc, which beats out the unpredictability of normal guitars any day, in my opinion.

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Q & A:
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Q : I like that tone I get from my tube amp when its at 2 or 3 (very smooth tone), But I can't seem to get that same tone
during gigs, when it's at 7 or 8. What can I do to get the same consistency in my amp, after I learned how to get consistency in my effects, after reading your post?"

A : It is quite simple, you use your Tube Amp as a Pre-Amp, remove the tubes, send it to a Power Amp (MacIntosh 2300 works well, though expensive), and run the Power Amp into a speaker cabinet. You will have the tone of your amp at Volume 2, but the sound will be loud enough that you could fill a small to large auditorium. This solves your "My amp sounds great in my room....but when i turn the volume up....it changes". The McIntosh 2300 simply takes the tone coming into it, and makes it LOUDER, no change in tone. You'll never be stuck with bad coloring of your guitar amplifier at certain volumes.

Q: How important are cables, in your sound?

A : Very important! I use Belden Cables with Neutrik Plugs, which are not mass-produced for guitars, but Belden is known for it's excellence in cabling (Belden did Woodstock '69), and Neutrik plugs are used on many types of cables. What is surprising is that Belden Cable does not cost very much money, yet the Sound is as good/better than $150 Monster Cables that are mass-produced.

Q : I play Metal Music, and I don't see why your Electronics Layout would help me.

A : You are partially right, Metal Man, because this Electronics Layout limits Feedback, because of the constant signal. You probably have no use for MIDI, and probably have no use for Clean Tones. And considering the amount of Distortion you use, you have no use for single coils either, so this might not be for you.

Q : What about MidRange boosts? Are they any good?

A : Not many people know this, but Eric Clapton uses an Active MidRange Boost, in replace of one of his tone knobs, which is one reason why he gets such a thick tone. Eric uses Master Tone and Master Volume on most of his guitars. They are excellent, but don't mix a Mid-Range Boost on a guitar with the UGB (The UGB is a no boost preamp, constant signal. Boosting the Mid-Range Boost is not, and contradicts the UGB system. Sounds goofy.).

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For those Still not convinced
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One of the many advice tips are "You may get great tone in your bedroom, but getting great tone in a band is a whole different ballgame". By getting your guitar wired in the ways I have told you, you are killing that piece of advice. Literally, there is no need, because your tone will not change from small bedrooms to large auditoriums to whatever, if you follow my Electronics Layout, as well as the Preamp into McIntosh 2300 into Speakers.

Finally, you'll notice the amount of knobs and buttons on a guitar with my electronics layout, there aren't as many as you'd think many. Lets take a look;
1 Master Volume
1 Master Tone
1 Master Six-Way Rotary Knob
1 Five-Way Pickup Selector
1 Effects Bypass
1 Guitar/MIDI Bypass
1 MIDI numerical pad

and thats it. That equals Seven Knobs/buttons, etc, including the pickup selector. Lets take a look at your Gibson Les Paul-
2 Volumes
2 Tone
1 Pickup Selector

That is Five, so consider that this idea, considering how many more options you can get, is just two more knobs/buttons/etc than your Gibson Les Paul. Amazing, isn't it?

~Incidents

Dr. Simon, consider what I've just written for a GuitarTricks News Article, I feel it is sufficient for an introduction to modification to great tone.

I will write a few more, sometime in the future.

~Incidents

I've considered the Tone Zone, and I might choose the Tone Zone over the SD-2's, I haven't decided. I've heard ALOT of good things about the Tone Zone pickups, but i'm not sure if they will sound good with the guitar I'm going to have. the guitar will weigh inbetween 11 and 14 pounds (I've decided against a hollowbody).

I'm a fan of the wood Cocobolo. I think it has to do with my love for Jerry Garcia's guitars, i'm not sure. Take a look at any piece of Cocobolo though, looks so nice and natural and goood looking. That's just my personal opinion, though. Like I said, 11 to 14 pounds is my scale (I weighed the Les Paul I'm using, it weighs a surprising 8 pounds, even though its chambered), and i'm not afraid of the weight.

I'm getting mine done at a place called Moriarty Guitars (www.moriartyguitars.com ), Matt is a great guy, he can do my electronics layout with ease, and the guy works with some very nice woods, inlays too. He doesn't have posted some of the best ones he's made (I'm subscribed to another group that has pictures of some of his great pieces of art. This guy made a replica of Jerry's Tiger guitar that fooled 500 people on the internet, before telling them the truth, that he made the guitar himself.)
Once again, I admit I haven't gotten over the actual GUITARS that were used by jerry, I'm trying to find something with even more logic put into it. Most of the things in the above were on Jerry's Tiger/Rosebud, although I would have wanted these options regardless. There are certain things that weren't on any guitars that i know of (5 way rotary switch, better MIDI system, MIDI/Guitar signal bypass, etc), but I see the use for them, and will use them.

When I say $8,000, that means that it will cost between $5,000 and $8,000, but if i have the option between getting a great $5,000 guitar, and an amazing $8,000 guitar, i will dish out the extra 3 G's, because thats the kind of person I am.

Just checked out the Tone Zone, not sure if that would be my thing, plus the pickups wouldn't work with my UGB installed (UGB = Constant signal. Tone Zone = changing signal).

The basis of all of my extras on my custom guitar is the fact that "i HATE footcontrollers". Pony, you mentioned that I can get most of my extras as stompboxes, or footpedals, but I hold it true that the Less footcontrollers= the better.

that's why i have the MIDI Numeric Pad. It is very uncommon to have one, usually you have a footcontroller with banks, and its not mounted to the guitar itself. For me, putting it on the guitar means one less footcontroller. My ideas for foot control are the same as your ideas for guitar control (if that makes sense, i like simplicity with my feet, but I can work the detailed stuff out with my hands).
My goal is to eventually get it where the only controls I use with my feet is one "effect selector", with five options-

1.) Overdrive
2.) Distortion
3.) Delay
4.) Flange
5.) Wah
These would be On/Off switches, not channel switches or anything. This way, I could have Wah and Overdrive running together if i wished. I never told you about my Effects Signal Processor, that sends each effect to it alone, without going through a chain (no tone loss; The In and Out cables are both sent to the effect processor. The effect processor then has one Stereo Belden cable running to it, while the other Mono Belden cable runs to my amplifier. This has been done before, and is much more logical than your typical "Chained together" type of effects.
Using a tube amp, i can set the reverb myself, and usually have it at around 2 or so at all times (not much reverb).

Now, I really like the tone of the Super Distortion 2's, because they have that "mean, but intelligent" kind of tone. I'm not sure if you know what i mean, but It's that kind of tone where you literally respect the guitarist playing it because the tone makes you want to say "Yes! thats it!".

~ Incidents



[Edited by Incidents Happen on 08-03-2003 at 01:33 AM]

hmmm...

- What makes it worthwhile to have Rotary Switch positions 2 [u]&[/u] 3?

- I predict some serious conflicts between the Rotary Switch and the 5-Way selector. Spend a little more time cross-checking the truth tables.

- Master Tone & Master Volume pots simply dictate the control settings that all of the signals pass through. This will [u]not[/u] ensure a constant volume or tone at the output, only that the Volume pot picks off the same fraction of the total signal presented to it, and that the Tone pot will apply the same roll-off to that total signal. Even using identical pickups in all three positions (which is probably not a good idea to begin with) there will be different output levels due to the different vibration amplitudes of the strings at different locations along their length.

- Unity Gain is just that - no gain, no attenuation. Such circuits are usually implemented as impedance-matching networks in critical RF or power applications. A guitar is neither of these. You describe it's action as if it was going to produce a constant output. That would require a variable-gain circuit that was configured to keep the output as close as possible to a preset level. These are commonly known as compressors.

- The tap-off to feed a clean, linear amplifier is sound practice (pun intended). This concept got a lot of discussion back when I was promoting the concept of using a 5 Watt amp both for practice and gigging.

- I often get frustrated with guitar players equipment choices, because, as a group, we are the most hide-bound, unprogressive, change-fearing bunch I've ever encountered! Having got that rant off my chest, I think you've missed the point of the 2 pickup, 2 Volume pot, 2 Tone pot system. This allows you to preset as many as three tone and volume levels that can be accessed via the pickup selector. Dead simple. No option confusion/paralysis.

- I've seen Rush live, when they were using racks full of midied effects and loop-samplers in an attempt to recreate their studio albums live. After the novelty of watching Alex, Geddy, and their sound crew tap-dancing on their controllers wore off, it became a distraction. The show reminded me of that scene in "The Wizard Of Oz" where Dorothy and her friends are being sternly told "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Bleahkk!!

I would explain it to you, but this Link explains it much better. Alot of the options on the Tiger guitar, will be on my guitar, with certain extras. Just take a look at that, read it over, you'll understand it better.

I didn't go into detail about the specifics, I figured I'd wait until specific questions came up, and take it from there.

Now, that being said, I'll tell you that my electronics layout is ever-chaning, in fact I just made a new, better electronics layout today. The essentials are all the same, but everything runs more efficiently (in my opinion).

*Changes*
Dropped the individual "MIDI/Guitar Bypass": This switch was essentially a switch that changed my channels from MIDI to Guitar, or from Guitar to MIDI; Instead of using a two-way switch for the simple bypass of one signal, I changed the Effects Bypass switch (which was a 2-way Toggle, Effects On, and True Effects Bypass), into a 3-way Toggle (1.) Effects On-2.) Effects Bypass-3.)MIDI On .
This means even less knobs, and I don't lose ANYTHING at all on it, the "MIDI On" part of the switch is simply a "Guitar Bypass" while the other two effectively are also "MIDI bypass".

I've dropped the Six-Way Rotary; It was a concept I thought could work, but ended up being too much of a hassle. I've replaced the Six-Way Coil Rotary, with 2 3-Way Coil Splitters (position- 1.) Single Coil (North), 2.) Humbucker- 3.)Single Coil (South)

I've also changed the neck humbucker (Dimzarzio SD-2) into a Dimarzio SDS-1, a single coil stratocaster stype pickup. I have a strong interest in Country music, and I can't get a country tone at all on my Les Paul. That, plus I know that most neck humbuckers aren't very good after getting the coils split (doesn't sound as good as a nice neck single coil). I know that would make the electronics the same as Tiger, as far as pickups/coil switching/etc.

But the new model, unlike the tiger, is based into two models. Revisions A, which has master tone/master volume (simplicity), and Revisions B, which has Master Volume/3 tone (One for each pickup).

Lord, after looking at that site (which pretty much sums it up, although it is something you have to see for yourself).
And, unlike Rush, I'm not looking for things to make it more difficult, I'm looking for things to make it easier, more logical, solve problems that can occur onstage. My layout, especially with the new style on it, allows me to control my sound with one footcontroller (for effects). I won't need a MIDI footcontroller, something I'm very happy about.
Once again, everything is ever-changing. I'm happy about the change to single coil in the neck pickup, I didn't think I'd have the balls to even consider making that change.
I'm sticking with my Onboard MIDI Selector idea, because otherwise, I'd need a footcontroller (By now, you should understand my hatred for footcontrollers). And the reason I don't like footcontrollers has nothing to do with movement, really, I'd just rather have a simple 5 Option On/Off controller for my effects (in this order : Overdrive, Distortion, Delay, Flange, Envelope Filter). there is no MIDI rack equipment, I can hook directly up to a Keyboard with a nice synth, due to the awesome technology of MIDI In/Out outputs.


~Incidents


[Edited by Incidents Happen on 08-03-2003 at 10:39 PM]

Originally posted by PonyOne
...Everything's a matter of preference. Some people are into "stunt guitar;" insane pedal setups, insane guitars, insane solos, basically, liberace and eval kineval distilled into a 15 minute opus of aural acrobatics.... To each his own. Just don't forget which switch is the "kill" switch... maybe you should put a panic button and garage door opener on there while you're at it... :)

Nicely put.

I am reminded of a scene in the much-missed TV show Fame... That cranky old music teacher was unimpressed by a student keyboard player's assertion that his multi-board midi setup allowed him to play all of the parts, unencumbered by other musicians, and their fickle ways. His response? "That isn't making music! - It's masturbating!" :)

Originally posted by PonyOne
To each his own. Just don't forget which switch is the "kill" switch... maybe you should put a panic button and garage door opener on there while you're at it... :)

LMAO!!!

Imagine a powerful chord progression, finger slips and the alarm goes off, crowd runs, thinks there's a fire in the building, mass chaos, people get trampled, lives get destroyed, interviews by the local news stations, no one ever recovers...

Originally posted by PonyOne

There's a certain point where options become excessive. You can only cram so many things onto a plank of wood with a surface area of 5 square feet before it becomes difficult to navigate.

Right, which is why I trimmed it down; It is alot more realistic now than what it was before, and alot more realistic than it was one year ago, when i wanted 3 vol/3 tone/3 coil splitters/3 EQ systems/TRS Outputs/MIDI/ON/OFF switches for each humbucker! Imagine that!

Now that would have been confusing!

~ Incidents

Originally posted by PonyOne
I think I saw that too... I also recall that when he plugged in his synth setup and went to play, the sound was a horrid mute tone that blared at a couple hundred db, and blew out the transformer for the building... maybe it was something different though.

Yeah, that was the episode. Whatsisname set up his rig in the gallery in an attempt to overwhelm the classical musician's (a string quartet?) practice.

why making it all sos complicated (8000 bucks??? dude - i get a GOLDEN guitar for that!) when there is the Axxon AX100?

btw - i just payed the first half of my guitar - so the luthier is at work! this will be THE guitar - this thing will make me famous.

Originally posted by Azrael
... this thing will make me famous.

You have that here already. :)

i do?

At last count we had more than 30,000 registered members. From all over the world. Never thought about that?

you think all 30.000 members know me? i bet that at least 2/3rd of them are inactive and have not logged in for at least a year .. however.. the thought is cool..

Learn to think of yourself as a published author/musician with a worldwide fan base! :D

Originally posted by PonyOne
My recipe for great tone...

-chambered mahogany body or denser/more resonant wood
-maple/bubinga through-neck
-DiMarzio ToneZone bridge p/u
-Benedetto neck humbucker
-StarrLabs 4-band EQ
-vintage Vox AC30 top boost and a Mesa Dual Recto road king

Just a couple questions... have you given thought to the ToneZone? It's more versatile than the SD2, it's also got a less scratchy clean tone (though the clean has a little more overdrive). The thing I love the most about them is the fact that they respnd to you picking dynamics... very cool.

I have 2 personalities, as far as guitar. I have one side of my brain (the analytical side) saying "Get the most options as you can, see what you can do with the technological wonders of electronical differences...", you know, the analytical part of my brain wants to see how far i can stretch it, stretch the possibilities, which is where my extremely long and complicated lists of guitar modifications come from. The other side (the creative side) says "You have Master Tone, Master Volume, a 3 way selector, you can do more with that then you can with silly effects and modifications." To tell you the truth, I've been listening to Santana extensively for the past few days, and have been really liking him more now than ever.

But, just because I like Santana doesn't mean I'll go out and buy a PRS- I hate the PRS headstocks (I prefer the good ole' gibson headstocks), and I do not like the Tremelos, and i'd rather have custom inlays than the paua birds. I've been considering getting a custom guitar with no inlays, aka Allen Holdsworth Fatboy style. Why? Inlays tend to send messages to your brain, as recognized parts of the fretboard. By getting rid of the inlays, and just having the whole fretboard with, say a nice wood like Ebony, it forces your brain to truly know the fretboard, you know? It's an interesting thought, I wonder how many people have considered that possibility on this forum.

It's funny to see the direct opposite to my first post on here...I'm wondering how many of us guitarists are like that, you know, have 2 personalities as far as music goes...Thoughts?

~Incidents

Definitely man. Sometimes I'll pick up my guitar and wail away with every effect imaginable on my effects board.

Then 10 minutes later, I'll get all mad and say this **** is annoying and go to a clean tone and play away.

I guess it just depends on what kind of mood I'm in.

lately i've been just going

Gibson Les Paul -> Ibanez TS-9 Re-issue Tube Screamer-> Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb, and getting some nicer tones than i can with my whole POD XT effects board.

The PRS Santana Model is definitely a better model than my Gibson Les Paul Double CutAway + though; Santana has better access to eacch 24 frets, where's I have full access to 21, then the neck joint starts out, and it gets harder from there...(Dexterity aside, of course). Plus, those PRS Pickups are sawwwwweeeeeeettt.

In other words, sometimes, less is more.

But then, sometimes i feel the need to have 15 knobs on my guitar:D

~Incidents

haha-
I can get a guitar luthier to make an exact copy of the Santana model for $5,000, if i wanted. But I would make changes; For example- No tremelo, no '2 mini-switches', I'd have a simple 3 way. The headstock would be Gibson, the fingerboard would be ebony. Inlays? I haven't decided if i even want them. I'd probably add a 3rd humbucker in the Middle (hell, why not?).
In the meantime, I think i'm going to replace my 490 & 498T humbuckers, they are far too weak for my tastes.
I'm the kind of person that wants to get all of my tones from one guitar, and not be switching, ever. It is just one of my pet peeves, when a guitarist has to change guitars to get different tones. I think it is much more impressive when a guitarist can get every tone imaginable on one guitar. Even more impressive if he can do it with not so many effects, or modifications. That's what I call soul:D!

I'd buy a Kramer (i'd get the cheapest model, $69, and learn to remodel it), but I already have my very old axe (Squier Strat), and I plan on rewiring that Indonesian piece of **** sometime when I have alot of cash.

One thing that Santana turned me onto, was the idea of simultaneous amplification. He powers a Fender Twin, Mesa/Boogie, and a Marshall 100 Watt Head + 4x12 Cab, which is why you can hear three tones blending together, all the time. I thought this was an interesting concept; I've done it before with my '65 Deluxe Reverb + Line 6 Flextone 3, and it sounded pretty good.

~Incidents