Got an Artinger, my initial thoughts below.
Wondering what everyones is, as I am considering getting an Equator. Abyss also looks pretty sweet, people seem to use a lot of PRS Hollowbodies, but those are 25" fret-scale! I also looked at Schecter, never was a huge fan (the company seems kinda like a punk-metal sell out), but I'm open to opinions. Oh yea - forgot AO guitars!
What do you all like for a hollowbody, 25.5" fret scale with a smaller body size than, say, Ibanez or Gibson hollows?
I've always been a big fan of Bill Wilkat guitars(headless - I find to be very ergononmic). http://members.shaw.ca/wilkatguitars/Alex_M.html (http://members.shaw.ca/wilkatguitars/Alex_M.html), plus I have a neck and bridge he could use - I think I have some Golden 50's stashed at my parents house from many years back (I like my Joe Barden Pups, but they aren't exactly PAF).
I generally buy used if I can, though not opposed to giving money to a great Luthier, just kinda broke ;)
I have a Raven West Semi-Hollow with a JB and a 59 and i love it. I have found that i dont like coil tapping or a Phase Switch that much at all so its a perfect guitar.
Cool - I will check that out!
I always just assumed Equator was the go to, but I am trying to run a few other ideas through my mind. I actually never owned a guitar that does the phase switching/parallel series thing, but the Joe Barden single/bucker switching is excellent IMO.
my Artinger
I have had several Equators, they are pretty cool with a good setup and electronics.
Wow - nice!
Definitely a different body shape (which is not my biggest concern) - is it as ergonomic, the typical Languedoc cut seems pretty comfy.
Also, it is a 25" fret-scale - I used to think that would be an ideal balance, but when I was into building guitars, every other luthier I came across said it was a tonal/harmonic no-no (they had a technical explanation that I wont try to parrot). I noticed the PRS were 25" as well, which surprised me. I expect it wouldn't quite have the snappiness of a 25.5," more on the buttery side of a 24.75"
Two questions if you dont mind - what did you like more about that than the Equator? And what kinda price range do they run (couldn't find it on their site)?
Price on this one was the same as a Languedoc G2, but this is a unique Artinger. Most of his run in the 5-7k range.
The scale length is 24.74, 22 frets. I prefer the Languedoc/Fender scale and 24 frets but oh well, this one was built on-spec by Matt Artinger to his prefrence.
This is in a whole different class then the Equators. The difference is primarily in how the wood is shaped and carved in the fashion of a true archtop. Artinger is a master class builder.
For the price the Equators do a good job, but come with a sub-par setup, poor case, and no electronics, so figure that stuff into the equation.
Yea - I hear you. I am a true believer that most things you buy, the quality matches the price - though something cost more for frills, which I actually really dislike (ie, veneer on a guitar, fancy lights at a bar).
I prefer the feel of a 24.75," especially as my hand seems to be falling apart - I think I am getting ligament or cartilage damage at the pip joint, probably from playing for 5 hours a day for nearly a decade as a kid with bad form, lol - my index went bad about 6-7 years ago, now my middle is starting to feel the same. Either here nor their, I prefer the sound of a 25.5".
I am really surprised about the setup on an Equator! That is the first thing a luthier should learn to do. The custom build I got was outstanding (Paul Morley of Fretsong). Hmm, I can't help but wonder how he slides by if that is the case - maybe he just doesn't set it up as it still needs to be wired.?.
I was looking at a used Equator Standard at about $1000 off the new cost, so hopefully it is setup well if I buy it, plus it has pups and everything.
I also have a Raven West, a semi-hollow and full hollow body. They are ok guitars for the price. If you'd like I wouldn't mind parting with one of them, I just haven't been playing them much lately. Let me know if your interested.
I would be interested in learning more - I appreciate you not over selling it ('its and okay guitar'). Do you have pics? How about a price in mind? I looked at their website and they didn't have any hollows for sale, it looked like the site hadn't changed since the 90's, so I have to navigate elsewhere, lol.
I bought a used Artinger that just arrived today - I haven't had enough time on it to make a complete decision cuz I got home late and my roommate had a headache (she is always 'sick'), then her cat pissed on my laundry...
So I only got to play it unplugged and I am still blown away. It seemed to have been settling in a bit after the temperate change in shipping and probably just being moved around, but after about 40 minutes or so the action/tuning evened out.
The action is like butter - I might even raise it a bit, definitely if I hear any buzz when it is plugged in, but we will see. It is easier to play than probably any 24.75" guitar I have played, but, not surprising, has tone in between 25.5" and 24.75" - a balance of butteriness and snap.
With a hollowbody with a shorter scale than my usually preferred 25.5" I was worried it wouldn't have that snappy articulation, but it really did - it was very present and resonant, definitely not too bassy or muddy. And i was playing with a Dunlop Primetone Jazz pick which can really darken up the sound, almost like playing with your thumb. I would call the tone sweet.
My concerns were that it might be too big and clunky and that there would be neck sag. It feels very comfortable and the few pounds lighter than a Les Paul makes a huge difference, my shoulder didn't fatigue in the amount of time I got to put in on it. The neck sagged a little, not horribly though. The previous owner moved the upper strap button to the back of the guitar, which might help a bit. All-in-all, it was surprisingly ergonomic and I often play (I know, kinda cheesy now-a-days) a custom built headless guitar, so I would consider myself discerning in that respect. It felt a lot smaller than I expected and I mean that in a great way.
The guitar also seems to have great sustain and a nice amount of volume when unplugged - probably perfect for when your housemates are asleep and you cant bring out the acoustic.
Lol all hollowbody guitars with humbuckers have great sustain. Go get a washburn chinese crapper, and stick duncs in it, wow dude so close to the trey tone.
I don't know about that... hasn't been my experience at least. I have found well built hollowbodies have decent sustain, but solidbodies are usually better on average. And the tone of the guitar - I never played a Washburn, but I would be hard pressed to believe it compares to the Artinger (or Languedoc). Then playability, I definitely haven't played many guitars that compare to the feel of the Artinger. Sure, maybe the Washburn gets closer than a Strat...
I mean, I would suspect you play something nicer than a Washburn? If it isn't for a utility reason, would it just be for the name on the headstock?
dude what iam saying, is ANY smaller hollowbody with hot pickups will make most of those sounds. just about ANY guitar can be setup properly. when you hear trey playing you are hearing his guitar but equally, the amps, effects, and about a million dollars in front of house preamps and compression. someone playing 5 hours a day until their fingers break would have at least explored production line guitars of all types in particular budget hollowbody guitars. Your artinger is nothing like a languedoc, do visit paul in vermont, hell tell you the same thing. Its more to do with how the guitars are built, with what tools, etc. You have a tribute guitar cool, but it isnt anything like the real thing.
Yea, I would definitely agree with that. I was just looking for some good options, build quality and tone, to get me that sound (and I know it is a hollowbody, as mentioned in the OP). Anyway, I got an Artinger and it is pretty awesome - along with the rest of my rig, I get a lot of tones I am happy with.
Here comes the holier than thou parade. Again? Really? =\
LOL your funny man, tell us how awesome everything is again. and if you read my post, Iam saying you can get most tones out of a cheaper hollowbody, so thats actually a good thing for people looking to explore the tones without breaking the bank.
Quote from: Walker done done on March 08, 2012, 09:42:39 PM
Here comes the holier than thou parade. Again? Really? =\
Yea... did I miss something?
I agree if it can be done cheaper, more power to you, but I am allowed to disagree a Washburn compares to a builder many people consider to be top tier. But maybe I am wrong and you play a 'chinese crapper.'
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on March 08, 2012, 10:13:51 PM
Quote from: Walker done done on March 08, 2012, 09:42:39 PM
Here comes the holier than thou parade. Again? Really? =\
Yea... did I miss something?
If you are new here, you missed a bunch....... Ask poster for some pics of his 4" thick hollowbody with carbon fiber neck dildos. Just ask. It's fun. And maybe a link to a recording of his grammy winning tone.
Lol, thats what I suspected - plays a priceless guitar even though a POS should be good enough for everyone else, while you also need a million bucks in PA equipment to cop the tone.
Don't get me wrong, I am down for any helpful opinions... that just isn't the vibe I'm getting here.
Quote from: sour d on March 08, 2012, 10:37:05 PM
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on March 08, 2012, 10:13:51 PM
Quote from: Walker done done on March 08, 2012, 09:42:39 PM
Here comes the holier than thou parade. Again? Really? =\
Yea... did I miss something?
If you are new here, you missed a bunch....... Ask poster for some pics of his 4" thick hollowbody with carbon fiber neck dildos. Just ask. It's fun. And maybe a link to a recording of his grammy winning tone.
what crawled up your ass? and ive had my guitar for a while now
Wait, I'm confused here. Is it a guitar or a dildo? And would a cheap hollowed out dildo win the pepsi challenge if it were up against a hollowed out dildo from Amsterdam?
Poster, you are such a fucking trolling douchbag. Seriously, go fuck yourself.
Quote from: Poster on March 08, 2012, 11:13:56 PM
anonymously tone boning bitches into body bags.
Lets just stop for a second and look at how far we've come... I for one kinda missed the warm heartfelt sentiments. Welcome back Poster!
Quote from: picture_of_nectar on March 09, 2012, 03:54:08 AM
Poster, you are such a fucking trolling douchbag. Seriously, go fuck yourself.
And we have a winner. G'night, folks! ;D
(queue the Warner Brothers/Bugs Bunny-themed exit music)
(http://erroraccessdenied.com/files/images/270913946_efa38ec3d8.jpg)
Quote from: Poster on March 08, 2012, 10:04:45 PM
LOL your funny man, tell us how awesome everything is again. and if you read my post, Iam saying you can get most tones out of a cheaper hollowbody, so thats actually a good thing for people looking to explore the tones without breaking the bank.
Everything you say is said with such elegance, such grace. My bad.
Or...you come off as a condesending prick, I can't decide which. But, I do agree...it's good to have you back. ;D
If nothing else, the entertainment value on this board just went way up!
Quote from: picture_of_nectar on March 09, 2012, 03:54:08 AM
Poster, you are such a fucking trolling douchbag. Seriously, go fuck yourself.
hows the guitar collection coming along? its important to have a stable of great guitars when your touring and recording
Whatever dude.
How about next time somebody gets a nice guitar that they are happy with, and proud to share with us, try and refrain from logging in to tell them they wasted their money on a piece of crap and should have just bought some cheapo Korean laminate thing instead?
We listened to your ranting and raving about how awesome your AO guitar was only to see you flip it in under a year at a huge loss I'm sure. All you ever got was support and compliments from us, but in reality you are the one that should have saved your money and stuck with chinese bullshit. Luckily happyoarnge was smart enough to capitalize on your mistake.
You really have no place commenting on anyone's gear here. You lost all repect long ago. It's not fair to nice people like Heady Jam Fan who don't know to ignore you yet. Everything you have typed in this thread is a perfect testemant to what a crappy person you are...I don't really give a fuck how you wanna represent yourself online, but it seriously pisses me off when you come in and crap on somebodies joy that they are getting from a new instrument. I can't really come up with anything more lame you could do in a gear forum. Just go away. I'm done, rant over.
lol all i said was it wasnt built like a languedoc? different scale? build? And I was referring to the long sustain, that can happen with a cheapo guitar, some people dont know that.
but thanks internet badass for keeping me in line. and when did you ever show anything but smite? youve been a dick since you signed up. make sure to go take off your shoes, tuck yourself into a nice fleece blanket, and fuck yourself.
and thanks walker for hacking my karma yet again, some real tough guys around here.
Hey poster, Can we get some pics of your latest guitar? Any links to some of your latest recordings?
Standard operating procedure here is you go back and delete all your posts and then disappear for a while until your meds run out again and you find some other new unsuspecting SD member to shit on. So get to it. Buh-bye.
Quote from: picture_of_nectar on March 09, 2012, 11:41:40 AM
Whatever dude.
How about next time somebody gets a nice guitar that they are happy with, and proud to share with us, try and refrain from logging in to tell them they wasted their money on a piece of crap and should have just bought some cheapo Korean laminate thing instead?
We listened to your ranting and raving about how awesome your AO guitar was only to see you flip it in under a year at a huge loss I'm sure. All you ever got was support and compliments from us, but in reality you are the one that should have saved your money and stuck with chinese bullshit. Luckily happyoarnge was smart enough to capitalize on your mistake.
You really have no place commenting on anyone's gear here. You lost all repect long ago. It's not fair to nice people like Heady Jam Fan who don't know to ignore you yet. Everything you have typed in this thread is a perfect testemant to what a crappy person you are...I don't really give a fuck how you wanna represent yourself online, but it seriously pisses me off when you come in and crap on somebodies joy that they are getting from a new instrument. I can't really come up with anything more lame you could do in a gear forum. Just go away. I'm done, rant over.
Thanks PON - I try to be courteous, and Poster seems to have been here a while.
Quote from: Poster on March 09, 2012, 11:45:31 AM
lol all i said was it wasnt built like a languedoc? different scale? build? And I was referring to the long sustain, that can happen with a cheapo guitar, some people dont know that.
but thanks internet badass for keeping me in line. make sure to go take off your shoes, tuck yourself into a nice fleece blanket, and fuck yourself.
and thanks walker for hacking my karma yet again, some real tough guys around here.
I think I was the one who mentioned the difference compared to a doc, but I think your posts can be much more constructive if you want to supply helpful information as you mentioned above:
Quote"I think some cheaper hollowbodys can still get good sustain and the Artinger has some differences in the build, including the fret scale, as mentioned earlier. Personally, I think you can get a lot of Trey's core tones with a cheap hollow and PAF buckers, though I also use a pricey custom ;)"
It seems like you are knowledgeable about at least some aspects of gear, it would be nice to hear your opinions in a way that isn't condescending or whatever you want to call it. By all means, a little snark can be fun, but carrying yourself in an consistently offensive manor isn't healthy - I am new here and I don't know if that is completely the case/your thing, but it seems like it due to responses from others. Personally I don't take offense to it, but I feel bad as it seems you need to make yourself feel better about something - and I do not mean that as an offense, just how it honestly comes off to me and likely others, while constructive and knowledgeable posts conversely come off as confident and helpful.
^ well said
Quote from: Poster on March 09, 2012, 11:45:31 AM
and thanks walker for hacking my karma yet again, some real tough guys around here.
Anytime buddy. It doesn't mean anything anyways, so who gives a fuck right? All in good fun. ;)
Quote from: Walker done done on March 09, 2012, 12:44:49 PM
Quote from: Poster on March 09, 2012, 11:45:31 AM
and thanks walker for hacking my karma yet again, some real tough guys around here.
Anytime buddy. It doesn't mean anything anyways, so who gives a fuck right? All in good fun. ;)
Some people here have strong opinions, yet are ultra sensitive to what others think about them.
Or another way of saying it is.... How ironic that the most insensitive person is the most sensitive person.
whatever, you want men to talk to you like they care about your feelings, I personally enjoy getting the information i need, not getting sweet talked! To each his own. :D
Its all fun n games until you wakeup with a spent rubber in your ass
cup cakes and sex n the city dvds at wilsons tonight! we can rap gear.
I have an Ibanez Artcore with 2 stock humbuckers that sounds pretty good. It's my 2nd guitar, but I'd be game to try switching out the pick-ups for a $100-$150 if I could get some great tone...ideas?
I think the interesting thing about pickups for this application is that luthiers like Languedoc and Artinger seem to really like relatively cheap PAFs like Duncan 59's (or Schaller Golden 50's, which are nearly the same thing). Those are not you top-tier, boutique pups and I think my Golden 50's sound pretty great, though I haven't tried any real pricey buckers in my hollowbody. There are a couple other threads where people discuss some pups that are probably considered higher quality.
The one thing I would definitely suggest is getting pups with 4 conductors if you want to do any of the interesting wiring. I would offer to sell you my Duncans, but they only have 2 conductors and I think you would be missing the options at some point.
I don't think I would put the time into investigating wire schematics. I have S.Duncans in my Stratocaster, (Cool Rail, Vintage Rail, Hot Rail), and am happy with them.
What kind of SD Humbuckers do you have?
I have a set of 59's... they are actually at my Luthier's place, so I need to find time to pick them up. I took them out of the Artinger I just got and replaced them with Golden 50's just because I needed 4 conductors.
My e-mail is StevenD@usca.edu - let me know what you want for them w/ shipping included unless by some weird chance you happen to live near Augusta, GA.
Lol, I live in Pittsburgh, but I will try to pick them up this week and then send you an email if you still want them.
Quote from: sour d on March 09, 2012, 11:52:13 AM
Hey poster, Can we get some pics of your latest guitar? Any links to some of your latest recordings?
I'd like to see these too.