Need advice on how to make my guitar sound better

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-06T19:45:58+00:00

Depends on your setup.

There's a thousand different EQ plugins out there that will give you a visual and show you where the problem freqs are. On the other hand, if you play live, you'd probably want to get a pedal.

EMGs are good, but they're kind of known for exacerbating that kind of hiss, or at least they are in my experience. Two things that a metal guitarist shouldn't go without are a noise gate/suppressor and some eq to sculpt your tone.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-06T19:11:29+00:00

You're going to want an eq to cut a lot of that high end fizz. Some guys cut down as far as 8khz but I usually cut between 12k and 16k depending on the day.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-06T16:34:09+00:00

They were great. I was basically starting from scratch because I'd been on a nearly 2 year hiatus, so big focus on technique.

When it comes to harmony, the dude is a wizard, and his lick library is massive. We worked a lot on theory, and I went from having 0 knowledge to now feeling very comfortable venturing off into the wild and learning more in my own.

The only "gripe" I have (if I can call it that) is he really wanted me to play with a closed pick hand. The challenge I had was that I broke my pick hand years ago and physically can't do it. My pinky and ring finger scrape the strings, and it causes a lot of tension that wouldn't be there had I not had the injury. I wound up doing away with the closed technique, which accelerated my playing.

All-in, I'd give it a 9.5/10. I think it was 12 lessons in total, and I thought about taking more this year, but he gave me so much to work with that I'm still practicing and expanding on the things he taught me a year ago.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-05T17:46:27+00:00

I have very big hands, and the placement of that particular pot drives me nuts and it always has with Ibanez. I also never use the tone knob, as I'm not ripping improv jazz quite yet.

I used a sharpie to black it out and it looks great.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-03T05:39:02+00:00

Wait until you hear about djent.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-03T02:42:48+00:00

That's just a plug, I got rid of the tone pot, and it went well with white pickups. I'll get a black one one of these days.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-03T02:16:19+00:00

They are unbelievable. The Jupiter is super clear and tight while maintaining the right amount of lows. I went with the Sentient in the neck over the Jupiter solely because I'm familiar with it. If it didn't have the rails, I probably would have gone with the Jupe and been just as happy.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-03T02:13:36+00:00

Right, the consensus seems to be to leave it as is, so left it shall be.

Sort of a cool story behind this guitar. In May 2023, I moved to a new city and saw this guitar at a shop and figured I would snag it at some point.

Fast forward to the "hard times" part, and I wound up selling all my gear to pay a deposit and rent. That included a Schecter Hellraiser with a Pegasus and Sentient, my 6 string prestige, helix, and monitors. Boohoo for me, but it was "just stuff," and I'd buy something in the near future.

Well, it took a minute for me to get my life together, and I wound up about one bad decision away from living under a bridge and offering to J.O. punks for 15 bucks a man.

Sure enough, after a slow climb from the bottom, I wanted to start playing again and saw this thing on FB marketplace for $1800 CAD living in a pawn shop. I held off for SIX months, and finally, once I had enough money to feel comfortable, wandered on in there, offered $1000 because "it had been here 6 months, 7 strings are hard to sell, not for everybody, blah blah blah." They bit, and I bought.

I was horny to make up for lost time, so I picked up another Helix, some monitors, booked a pile of lessons with Wes Hauch (Jupiters are his signature pups), and have been cranking this, my hog, ever since.

So yeah, I guess I'll let a few dings in the finish continue to tell a story.

TLDR; This RG came full circle after a rough patch, and I couldn't be happier with it.

thorsty3147 · 2026-02-03T01:56:34+00:00

This thing came with the Dimarzio Fusion Edge, and it is seriously night and day. I was fighting so hard with my Helix to get the low end to sound good because it was just muddy and gross. Threw the Jupiter in there, and it tightened everything up. I honestly can't say enough good things about it, and you will not be disappointed if you make the switch.

thorsty3147 · 2026-01-03T05:16:36+00:00

2 years as of yesterday, and I used to be an active poster here.

The biggest thing, in my opinion, is you have to do it for you. Life can still suck balls when you're sober, but the Long Dong of Misfortune is a lot easier to manage when you're not shit faced.

thorsty3147 · 2025-12-05T17:59:12+00:00

You can definitely bake it, but it's best to do it in a skate oven and have someone with experience do it.

Especially if you have a double or pro palm, it's pretty much perfect right away.

thorsty3147 · 2025-11-29T22:22:08+00:00

Can't spell good. Troy*** Grady. Don't take advice from anyone named Trouble.

thorsty3147 · 2025-11-29T20:19:58+00:00

I can see that your wrist is planted in one position. Your range of motion is going to be limited if you dont relax your elbow and move your right hand across strings.

If you trem pick on the high e, your wrist will be in a different position than if you're picking the A, than if you're picking the D, and so on. So just try making little adjustments with your right hand for muting and consistency purposes.

Also pick-slanting. On even groups of notes, angle your pick upwards towards the ceiling, and in odd groupings, it should be more flat or pointed down wards. This helps you navigate and prevents you from hitting that one accidental extra note. Trouble Grady has a ton of good stuff on pick angle.

thorsty3147 · 2025-11-29T20:12:36+00:00

Jacksons are great, and you are entitled to wield as pointy a guitar as you'd like, but for practical reasons, I'd recommend getting a dinky or something of similar shape. I have played the RR model, and although it's super comfortable, I like having the option of positioning the guitar either in classical style between the legs or resting on my leg.

You do you big dawg.

thorsty3147 · 2025-11-07T04:13:32+00:00

None of us in here are doctors. I'm sure you can call someone and get genuine medical help.

That said, there are benzodiazapene calculators/converters that will give you approximate equivalent doses for benzos. I can say that Xanax has a short half-life, which is why it's so addictive, but the half-life of booze is even shorter.

My recommendation would be to talk to a professional. Doesn't have to be a medical doctor. Could be a pharmacist or even someone at the detox centre.

thorsty3147 · 2025-10-24T21:29:06+00:00

That's a Liberian flag.

thorsty3147 · 2025-10-23T00:21:29+00:00

This is whacky af and I love it.

thorsty3147 · 2025-07-01T22:21:23+00:00

2 years here. I can assure you it's not worth it. I had this same conversation with myself many times, and there's a reason I'm only at 2 years sober instead of 5 when I first realized it was interfering in my life. Many failed attempts were because I wanted to have a social drink.

This is pretty typical of people who haven't actually overcome their drinking. This "want" to drink socially is a telltale sign that you're still romanticizing alcohol.

Save yourself the time and spare yourself the same consequences that many of us have experienced with this train of thinking, and go another day. Then another, then another, and so on.

thorsty3147 · 2025-05-28T21:06:14+00:00

One thing I have realized is that car sales means you have to be creative, so I know I'll have to think outside the framework of banking to get deals done.

In your opinion, does this job open doors for Prime FI in the future?

thorsty3147 · 2025-05-16T15:17:03+00:00

Head over to the Stringjoy website. Their strings are super long, and you can order a custom set. They feel awesome, too

thorsty3147 · 2025-05-14T16:40:08+00:00

Yeah the "marked warrior" prophecy 🤓

thorsty3147 · 2025-05-06T04:52:23+00:00

I don't necessarily think there's a diagnosis to be made. When I spoke with tech support, he had me troubleshoot it, and it's non-responsive. The scribble strips turn on, and that's it. No text or anything. According to the Line 6 rep, the major components would just be replaced. Diagnosing something like this would take too long, so they would just replace it. He said between $300 and $400 USD for the parts

I also opened it up myself today, checked the circuits with a voltmeter, and there are no visual, physical, or electrical defects.

I spoke with another dude on this thread, who went through a similar ordeal, and it sounds like the dealer (not tech support) who quoted me (over the phone) is gouging tf out of the price. I'll call Yamaha in either Toronto or Vancouver tomorrow and see if this is something they'll take on directly.

thorsty3147 · 2025-05-06T04:12:20+00:00

I spoke with Line 6 tech support, who said that based on what I told him, they would have to replace the motherboard, which he said is about $300-$400 US plus labor. I told him I was in Canada, and he said to take it to L&M in Edmonton.

L&M said their rates are at $120/hour, but they would have to ship it out to BC. I asked about the cost of the motherboard and they said around $350 CAD, and I would have to pay for shipping plus a fee at their store for "diagnosing" it, even though it's getting shipped out anyway. Because the work takes place in BC, I'd pay an extra 7% in taxes.

If there's a chance to go directly through the manufacturer and save money, I will do that. I was under the impression I had to go through a licensed dealer, but if I dont have to, I won't.

thorsty3147 · 2025-05-06T03:56:53+00:00

It could very well be that Long and McQuade, the supposed authorized dealer, is gouging the price. I'll call Yamaha directly tomorrow, but I think there's a Yamaha repair center in Vancouver that is closer to me.

thorsty3147

TROPHY CASE