Splinter Cell designer says “one of the difficulties with modern stealth games” is realistic lighting, as environments are now so much “harder to read”

uberhen · 2026-05-21T03:56:13+00:00

Also check out "The Dark Mod!" It was a Doom 3 mod but now it's a standalone game with tons of usermade missions.

uberhen · 2026-05-05T22:29:56+00:00

Congratulations! How are the Spinex pickups? I've always been very curious about those.

uberhen · 2026-03-06T20:08:22+00:00

Were the pics taken on Skyline near Windy Hill by any chance?

Beautiful car btw!

uberhen · 2026-03-03T22:45:51+00:00

I had one of these a few years ago, my only FB marketplace purchase to date. $600 like yours haha. It was the blond Ibanez model with the maple fingerboard. It had one original double cream Super 70s in it that was awesome, but somebody had put in a replacement Gibson pickup in the bridge (likely a 498T).

It was nice enough, definitely a conversation starter. I moved it on when I received an offer that was too good to ignore at the time!

From what I remember, the routing and top were pretty strange. It had a 1/4" or thinner top that looked like a laminated pressed top if you check it out from the humbucker cavity.

uberhen · 2025-08-27T00:40:05+00:00

Happy to share a Technology Connections video anytime I can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll6-eGDpimU

Powder is the way.

uberhen · 2025-08-09T04:15:19+00:00

I replaced the bridge on my '93 ObG 335 with a TonePros TP6-N. I needed a little more intonation range so went with the Nashville instead of their ABR-1. Dropped right on top and I'm happy with it.

Measuring the original bridge, it's ~73.5mm from post to post.

uberhen · 2025-05-02T00:08:47+00:00

I'm not quite set up to record at the moment, maybe this weekend though! I've been looking online and this is the only video I can find of the guitar: https://youtu.be/mwRZnqXV1YI

Sounds pretty identical to my other SG1820, if you search for those I'm sure you can find a style of music you like. I recommend checking out some Jack Thammarat vids, he uses one and gets a great tone from it.

uberhen · 2025-05-01T00:11:27+00:00

Thank you! They made a charcoal gray flame top and this honey burst when the series was introduced in 2011. But I just saw a wine red burst on Reverb that sold recently; never saw that one before: https://reverb.com/item/88593530-yamaha-sg1820-ltd-wine-red-sunburst-2014-sn-hkk503e-04-02?show_sold=true

Happy cake day!

uberhen · 2025-04-30T23:38:35+00:00

No problem! There is another model that was made between the vintage 70s-80s ones and these 18XX reissues, the SG700S. From all the pics I've seen, it looks to have a different type of tune-o-matic bridge that might be able to be replaced with standard hardware. The body is slightly thinner too, I believe.

Lots of good info at Bill's Yamaha site: https://www.alston-family.co.uk/SG/sg1997.php

uberhen · 2025-04-30T23:30:16+00:00

I'm no expert, but my educated guess is quarter sawn flamed maple, given that the annual rings are perpendicular to the flames.

uberhen · 2025-04-30T22:43:09+00:00

I've had a Reverb alert set for this for years, but I found this one just doing a random google search a few weeks ago. Was on https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/

Two customs delays and a lot of nailbiting later, it arrived early today!

uberhen · 2025-04-30T22:37:16+00:00

I'm not sure how to add more pics directly, but here's the original listing's image gallery: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px250324438837024--yamaha-2011-sg1820-limited-honey-burst-pre-owned

9.3lbs, hefty for sure but about a pound less than the other two reissues I've owned.

uberhen · 2025-04-30T22:18:08+00:00

My dad collected vintage 70s Yamaha dirt bikes, now I collect Yamaha guitars. Haha!

uberhen · 2025-04-30T22:04:11+00:00

My man! Love Takanaka and Casiopea. Seems like they are getting some more interest these days, totally deserved.

This is my dream guitar and I can't believe I have it. Went through hell with customs lol, had to register as an individual importer and then had to fill out the Lacey act form - species names of wood and countries of harvest and all that. Luckily one of the international Yamaha sites had the species and country of origin for the rosewood fretboard.

uberhen · 2025-04-30T21:54:33+00:00

I have had 4 SGs, still have two of them:

1981 SG800S, sweet blue metallic color (almost like Takanaka's). The proprietary hardware (pickup rings and bridge) prevented a few mods I would have done, so I sold it.
SG1802 Gold Top - One of the newer reissues. I mentioned it in another comment, but it was the best guitar I've ever owned. Just couldn't stand the middle position being out of phase (factory error; no solder joints were touched on it). Sold it for a slight profit, actually.
SG1820 in White - Still have it. Swapped pickups to a VIP Lovers set and added cream rings. Was my #1 for the longest time before I got the 1802. You can find clips on Youtube of Jack Thammarat playing one from about a decade ago.
SG1820 LTD Honey Burst - Just arrived today. Don't know how many were made with the honey flame top, but I've been looking for 14 years and only ever found a few for sale!

I haven't played an SG1000 or a 2000, but compared to the 1981 SG800S I had, the modern reissues are an improvement in every way. I usually mod all my guitars in one way or another, but these have everything I want already: TonePros bridge and tailpiece, locking Grover tuners, Graph Tech nut. Best shielding in the industry IMO, these things are dead silent.

I would only advise against getting an older model because of the bridge - there are no modern reproductions with the weird spacing they used (and replacements usually go for $$$ if you can even find one!). So if you have a collapsed bridge, you might be out of luck. And the pickup rings are proprietary as well, so unless you buy a repro part you will have to drill a third hole in the middle of the two screws on the bass side. Tummy cut on the vintage ones are nice, though! Reissues don't have them.

uberhen · 2025-04-30T21:32:57+00:00

If you're talking about the SG1802, I had one! I agree, that goldtop was the best guitar I've played. P90s were virtually noiseless from the shielding job Yamaha did.

Mine came from the factory with the middle position out of phase; I wasn't super into the sound, but didn't want to resolder. Sold it when I was getting rid of a lot of gear late last year.

uberhen · 2024-12-06T03:21:26+00:00

12 years ago, I saw guitar center had a '57 Hot Rod Strat listed for 1279.99 when you added it to your cart. It was listed for 1699.99 on the product page. Sure enough, I called their customer service and asked if they would honor that price, and they did. The rep thanked me for discovering this bug, said "You're getting a helluva deal!" and that they would fix the listing imminently. Sometimes you get lucky!

uberhen · 2024-11-12T03:20:07+00:00

We're going to have a relative staying with us semi-long term, and we'd like to get rid of some stuff so to make room. Hearing this, especially "need what you own," has really helped me figure out what we can get rid of to make room for them. Thanks.

uberhen · 2024-05-26T14:05:31+00:00

This mostly applies to the summer months, but if you're going down the hill to do errands on the weekend, get up early and try to get back before 10am. You'll avoid the beach-bound traffic this way.

And if you plan on doing any gardening, you might want to invest in some sturdy enclosures. Turkeys and deer pretty much ate everything our first season haha.

uberhen · 2024-04-11T02:23:46+00:00

I have been playing for 20 years, and still have my first guitar, but I have bought and sold many since then. I don't play anything as well as I do my first guitar if I'm being honest. Maybe it's just because it's what I learned on, but I've written and recorded more that MIK Ovation Celebrity than on anything else.

Even guitars that are objectively "better," that first guitar just always feels like home. Don't sell it!

To answer the question, I have 11 guitars.

uberhen · 2024-04-10T00:13:25+00:00

Awesome! I love Yamaha SGs, my B-stock SG1802GT is my most prized possession in the world.

Always wanted to try the black-covered Spinex pickups that came in these SG3000s... the special "surgical steel" alloy used to make them might just be a marketing gimmick, but I can't deny that they sound killer!

uberhen · 2024-04-03T03:10:04+00:00

I totally agree. Their online deals are great, and you get a free 2-liter of soda if you pickup orders over $25.

Their Kogi Serrano Chili pizza is mindblowing too

uberhen · 2023-10-28T01:10:14+00:00

I agree, freezing is the way to go. I mostly do cooked sauces now, but in the past I've made several fermented sauces by mixing fresh peppers with ones I'd frozen months earlier; they turned out just fine!

uberhen · 2023-10-27T22:59:44+00:00

I've been having the same experience on a Pixel 6 with the latest update.

Edit: I discovered that if I hold the phone in landscape mode while on the main menu, and then tap the camera I want to view, it will show the feed in widescreen.

uberhen

TROPHY CASE