just a quick test of the scalloped fretboard sections

[modsbeck]

nice man, but it really worth it?

[TruthSurge]

@modsbeck ehhhhhhh coin toss. you can get a similar feeling from tall frets so for me, prob not. HAHAHHA But when you're broke and can't afford a new $200 neck, you just dick around with what you've got.

[TheAttyjace]

very nice. did you really intend to remove the inlay, or were the scalloping so deep that the inlay had to be removed?

[TruthSurge]

@TheAttyjace the scalloping broke a couple inlays but I bought some more and so now they are all in. filing them should work but they were too thin I guess after scalloping.

[joachimekstrom]

nome sain?

[TruthSurge]

@joachimekstrom I definitely nome sain.

[TruthSurge]

@joachimekstrom i meant, nome chu sain. hehehe

[joachimekstrom]

@TruthSurge a tink a no wa yu sain man! hhah, happy new year!

[TruthSurge]

@joachimekstrom same to ya

[JBmaho]

that's how we roll it bitches! lol

[TruthSurge]

@JBmaho yeah, got a bit carried away. HEHE

[2eelShmeal]

2:45 HAHAHAHAHAHAH People who dont play just dont know do they... lololololololol

[TruthSurge]

@2eelShmeal you mean the big gravelly D chord I made? hehe

next I'll mollusk my fretboard instead of scallop. I just don't want it too slimy.

[2eelShmeal]

@TruthSurge You just sounded SOOO happy to B playing.. It was a actually a couple seconds later..... lol

[TruthSurge]

@2eelShmeal just happy that it sounded in tune. hahahhaha

[2eelShmeal]

hellllzzzzz yeah maaannnngg.. i prefer oysters....

[metemi]

So your fingers don't actually touch the fret, I didn't realize that. So would you recommend doing this? I kind of think that I wouldn't want the lower frets scalloped.... but maybe up from the 5th fret or so.

[TruthSurge]

@metemi The frets themselves are the same. the fretBOARD is basically just lowered due to the scooping out of the fretboard. I wouldn't recommend anyone doing it on a good guitar. Either do it on a cheap one first to see if you like and make sure you don't screw it up and also maybe find one in a music store but prob only in huge stores will they have one I guess. I'm still not sure if I like it that much but it does help a bit with bending or choking up on the strings.

[TechSmack]

@TeesByTruthSurge haha.

[TechSmack]

jack black?

[Mr23Metallica]

can u actually tell me why and what does this do when u scallop it

[Nevigo]

Nice feeling yes?..;)

[TruthSurge]

@Nevigo yep. It is different than most guitars. some guitars with tall frets can feel this way but scalloping removes the fretboard altogether.

[Nevigo]

Nice feeling yes?

[charlyparkers]

your guitar is very nice

[TruthSurge]

@charlyparkers thank ya.

[charlyparkers]

what type or mark is that guitar

[TruthSurge]

@charlyparkers just parts.  DiMarzio body, Warmoth solid rosewood neck, DiMarzio pickups and Floyd Rose bridge.

[xllxRUExllx]

I really see what you was saying. You belong on stage man. Even now. "claps!" And I don't mean the disease. lol

[TruthSurge]

@xllxRUExllx I used to play on stages for about 1.5 years. from 83 is to 85 or so. This same guitar. heck, I'm gonna post a tune we used to play when we first got together. The singer is so so. keyboardist... no great. bass player was actually pretty good and could sing a few tunes and then there was me. hahahahha we were never going to make it but it was KINDA fun. maybe. :)

[L00NGB00W]

Ahh I see.. I might have to try that!

[TruthSurge]

@L00NGB00W just use sandpaper and don't go too fast or too far. just a little scalloping helps a lot. but it changes how it feels so maybe try it on a cheaper guitar first.

[L00NGB00W]

@TruthSurge I'll encorporate scalloping into my custom model. I've got lots of rounded files and whatnot.

[TruthSurge]

@L00NGB00W i prob needed a round file but too lazy to go to the hardware store. hehe so i just used sandpaper. took a loooong time as that wood was quite hard. good luck on yours. just gauge your speed so you don't go too far b4 you realize it. I winged the depth so mine isn't gauged precisely. just ballpark.

[L00NGB00W]

@TruthSurge

"took a loooong time"

I bet!

Don't go too deep... Gotcha. I'll put some vids up when I start the build.

[TruthSurge]

@rage4reason It's parts I bought around 1983. DiMarzio body. warmoth neck. Floyd Rose vibrato. DiMarzio pickups. I'm in the process of scalloping the fretboard to make bending the strings even easier. Prob be a week b4 I'm done. using sandpaper and just going slowly.

[johngeetar]

I wanna jam with you. You're the man.

[TruthSurge]

@johngeetar hehe thanks but I'm rather crippled right now in my playing technique. Can't really press on index finger much. play a few bar chords for me!

[OriMeissa]

Nice one TS :)

[TruthSurge]

@OriMeissa thank ya

[ozmoroid]

I bet you can do some wicked vibrato just by varying your finger pressure. It will be interesting to see what you long-term experience is with this set up.

[TruthSurge]

@ozmoroid I won't be. The whole thing now is that I can't put much pressure on the tips. My vibrato will be by pushing up as normal. Some people wobble the finger side to side for slight vibrato. I don't like that cuz it also takes much pressure. So, i will be pushing strings up or down. daz it! But if my tips can toughen up, I'll be happy with this as it should make it a tad easier.

[TruthSurge]

@ToldCurkey yep. just string and air.

[TruthSurge]

@ItsTheSuperFly Yeah. I have only 2 guitars now. Used to have 5 or 6 at one time but sold due to $ issues. Now the brown monster and the other diamond studded one. This one is about 27 years old. I figure I'd modify it to make me happier but only so much can be done with it. Radius of the neck (how round the frets are across the fretboard) cannot really be altered. Buy a new neck basically. but it's a decent guitar.

[IllPropaganda]

"Unchained" in there!

[TruthSurge]

@IllPropaganda yeah, i didn't do it well but it's in there. I used to be a HUGE VH freak. Played all the tunes from I and II.

[Hannsfeld]

Adagio in G minor FTW! I love that Doors track they title "The Severed Garden".

[TruthSurge]

@Hannsfeld Wow. I never heard that doors tune b4 now. My fav part of the piece is where it changes from harmonic minor for a sec to a dom 7. that's Like G harm minor (with the F#) then actually G# dim 7 (but it sounds as if it can be that or the G 7). That's just the coolest part to me. I am a sucker for slow, romantic genius chord/note interplay. Air on a G string and stuff like that.

[Hannsfeld]

@TruthSurge

As I recall, that one is from "American Prayer". I have the CD around here somewhere. It's one of my favorites.

[TruthSurge]

@Hannsfeld The Doors is a band that sort of never crossed my radar. They were great but you can only know so much in one life. Like Led Zeppelin. I knew about them but they never really totally did it for me. I had this ear for a more linear and distorted guitar sound (ala Boston, VH, etc) and Page was too twangy and sloppy for my tastes at that time so I learned like 1 zep tune (whole lotta love) and that was that.

[Hannsfeld]

@TruthSurge

I was always a keyboard player (or rock organ as the case may be) since my hands were small for trying to play guitar. The sound I like leaves me with two keyboard heroes: John Lords of Deep Purple and Ray Manzarek of the Doors. I did have a field day when Van Halen 5150 came out, and could almost play the entire Pink Floyd "The Wall" album, but I am sorry to say that I have forgotten most of it. I'll have to catch back up at some point.

[TruthSurge]

@Hannsfeld Yeah, I loved that Deep Purple organ sound. That was a cool sound in that context. And Ray was great too. I liked DP's Knockin at your backdoor and lots of others. Highway Star.

[nishbrown]

@TruthSurge

I'm sure you will. ;-)

[nishbrown]

Cool.

I just raised the nut on my acoustic.

Same effect, basically. I just have to press a bit harder when bridging my index finger.

[TruthSurge]

@nishbrown Yeah, you can sort of get a more string thing by having higher action but then that doesn't fly with good hammer ons. So, it's up to what you plan on doing and for me, I wanted really low action and less rub during bends and so... I scalloped those puppies. It's going to take some time to really get used to it. 35 years of not having them and suddenly... but I think I'll like them better.

[TruthSurge]

@AnglicanApologist72 ya. I didn't get the best sound on those G and B strings tho. I should redo it better.

[Iacobbos]

wicked sweet 

[TruthSurge]

@Iacobbos ya, it should be real cool when I get all of them done and get used to it. Still I have a couple low frets that buzz (like 5th little E, 2nd big E and 12 little E). not sure I can fix that w/o redressing the frets (huge undertaking).

[Enochsfury]

Nice man!

[TruthSurge]

@Enochsfury thank ye

[zebruh]

It's really fun to watch & listen to you jam.

[TruthSurge]

@zebruh thanks, mon. I would like to do another guitfiddle vid sometime. Maybe even write something of my own design.

[nekedemus]

So.. you are goin all John "Shakti" McLoughlin.

[TruthSurge]

@nekedemus  YEAH! hahahhah I'll be the fastest picker ever! hahah

[redshift40]

Sounds good. I will have to try a scalloped neck.

Cheers!

[TruthSurge]

@redshift40 It might mess up your inlays but other than that, you can just sand each fret till it looks dipped and use some gauge to get the distance the same for each fret. I didn't but I'm lazy like that.

[Elenkhos]

Pretty sweet.

[TruthSurge]

@Elenkhos thank ye

[saxmanchiro]

Do you know anyone in the music biz that has done this to their guitar or is this just your idea?

[TruthSurge]

@saxmanchiro Yngwie Malmsteen did it prob back in the late 70s and used it on all his stuff. I think Ritchie Blackmore may have too. The idea is that there is no need to have the fretboard interfering by slowing your bends down. Kind of like a sitar. just you and the string. It's funny how you basically evolve over time. If I had somehow thought to make the ultimate axe back in 83, it would have had a scalloped fretboard.

[saxmanchiro]

Do you know anyone in the music biz that has done this to their guitar or is this just your idea?

[TheLittleDonkey]

very impressive results from that! I wouldn't dare taking an instrument to the shop like that.

[TruthSurge]

@TheLittleDonkey As with everything, you have to find a reputable luthier.  I know a bit about working on elec guitars (i've refretted a few and did fret jobs on a few) and so I have no fear in sanding the fretboard. Once done, you sand again using smaller and smaller grit till you polish it up and then hit the frets with a bit too. Sandpaper DOES file away the frets so you can polish them with sandpaper and steel wool. But a full leveling/recrowning is a chore.