some of my lonestar clips

[nickkellie]

I have had this amp nearly a year now (1x12 lonestar classic) and am very pleased with it indeed (I run in stereo with stereo delay with a mesa stereo 2:50 one side only lonestar preamp sound is coming through both sides though - through 2 1x12 cabs EV loaded).... its my fusion band... hope you like it (clips are about 1 year old)... hope to get some new ones up soon.

nick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew7rx5jwxVA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAvBzOMkWbM

one has a punchier sound due to the fact this was filmed with a different camera and was closer to my amp.....

 

[Blue Fin]

Cool...sounds great.

 

[ja22y]

I hate guy that can read notes
You guys are awesome and you got great chops. Fusion on bros.
So your setup is FX send to stereo delay, one channel of the delay goes back to the LSC and the other to the 2:50? I'm experimenting with 2 amps and I tried the slave out but in the end I just use an A/B/Y box.

 

[nickkellie]

thanks guys, glad you like it.

ja22y - yes thats correct.... I go guitar into BB preamp, into volume pedal, into input on amp.... then as you said. I didn't like the sound of the "SLAVE output" at all....
I really wanted a head but picked up the combo for a great price on ebay.

I love the sound of my Cabs with the EVM12L speakers.... those speakers are awesome

nick

 

[djw]

Great playing, Nick. You make it look easy.

 

[nickkellie]

thank you so much!

 

[davidp158]

Nick - I checked out most of your youtube clips, and really dig your playing and tones. The Lonestar is a great choice for jazz/fusion.

I'm curious about the staggered frets on your Yamaha guitar. Do they take getting used to? Does it help with intonation better than the Buzz Feiten tuning system?

cheers,
Dave

 

[nickkellie]

Hi Dave -
thanks for checking them out!
yeah the fretwave system only corrects the 1st fret on the G string (G#) and 2nd fret on the B string (C#) .... It is great when it comes to compensating the open chords and averages out the tuning. However, I recently looked at "True Temperament" necks and think that is the way to go.... way too expensive though!
Nick

 

[davidp158]

Nick - Thanks for your reply. Does your tuning for that guitar improve beyond the first position? Minor third intervals are notoriously difficult in the first position, but less of a problem as you go up the neck. I think that's why guitarists who spend most of their time in the first position usually sound out of tune!

FWIW, I owned an Anderson guitar with the Feiten System, and it was easily the most "in tune" guitar I ever gigged. I'm sure the build quality had something to do with it, but I liked the Feiten System enough that I had my Lentz guitar "Feitenized" by a local repair guy. Unfortunately, they did a botch job on the string spacing, but otherwise that guitar is now more in tune than before.

I checked out the True Temperment web site (www.truetemperament.com), and those necks look wild. Looking at the fret distortions suggests where the primary pitch issues occur on the guitar neck. Its an interesting "graphic" display of that information. I play a lot of country and blues, with waaaaay too much bending to be able to use a neck like that, but I'm sure they'd be cool for jazz players who do a lot of chord work. They would probably be great for someone who only plays rhythm (or doesn't bend strings).

cheers, Dave

Hi Dave -
thanks for checking them out!
yeah the fretwave system only corrects the 1st fret on the G string (G#) and 2nd fret on the B string (C#) .... It is great when it comes to compensating the open chords and averages out the tuning. However, I recently looked at "True Temperament" necks and think that is the way to go.... way too expensive though!
Nick

 

[davidp158]

BTW, while perusing the truetemperment.com web site, I stumbled across this info on various tuning methods. There is some good info worth reading about, and tuning methods worth trying:

http://www.truetemperament.com/site/gfx/documents/Tuning_Methods_Evaluated.pdf

 

[nickkellie]

Hi Dave - I hear you on your reservations about bending... I thought the same until I tried one at a trade show... you honestly don't feel a difference.... its all psychological... It looks weird so its easy to assume it will feel weird... but trust me, the bends feel exactly the same. You will get used to it pretty quick.
I would have a neck now but I am busy saving for my move out to the states in October.
You have some great guitars! - I love my lonestar, and used to own a mark IV which I loved also! I would get one again....
speak soon!
Nick

 

[nickkellie]

with regards to the fretwave system improving tuning beyond the corrected frets - I'm not too sure about this - they mention that this is the case in their literature... but I don't see how its possible... I mean you press down on a fret and the string is just pressed down at that point.... making no contact with the frets behind or in front.... probably marketing crap.... but the guitar is very "IN". I think its just a well made instrument though....
Nick

 

[davidp158]

Nick - I was wondering if the intonation is slightly different for the Yamaha guitar. This would effect the entire string length, like the offsets used with the Buzz Feiten System. Folks love to debate the merits of the Feiten system, but I'm convinced it is an improvement. I've been curious about "intonated frets", so I appreciate your comments on the wavefret system and true tempered necks.

 

[nickkellie]

as far as I know, the intonation at the bridge end is the same - tuned to 12th fret harmonic and 12th fret pressed down.... the bent frets in the fret wave just correct the distance from the fret to the bridge... elongating the string slightly when pressing down on either of those frets.... Making the note slightly flatter and closer to what it should be. Straight frets are a compromise. People always ask, how do you play with those 2 bent frets ? - you really don't feel the fret.... and it doesn't affect the bending.

Nick

 

[davidp158]

Sorry to further derail this thread away from lonestar clips....

I didn't think adapting to the fretwave frets would be hard, as its only the first position. Regarding bends, I was referring to the truetemper frets. It seems that string bends would get hung up on the frets, or produce abrupt pitch shifts as you bend across the irregular fret shape.

I'd like to love to play one of those truetemper necks just to experience what the guitar would sound like in tune over the entire neck. Seems like a pipe dream come true. I recall speaking with a guy who owns a MIDI guitar, and he explained that the string pitch was sort of "quantized" to the "proper" pitch. He felt that it worked well for emulating keyboard sounds, but took away some of the natural variation you get with string instrument sounds.

 

[nickkellie]

well, the bends sounded the same when I tried one at a trade show in Frankfurt.... try and get to NAMM and try one for yourself... I was very impressed with the system... very in tune. Does sound like a pipe dream, but it works.... I think it will take a long time to catch on, if ever.. the inventor was telling me most people don't "Get it" or maybe they don't hear how out of tune the guitar actually is so it doesn't bother them enough to try the system.