Aloha WN!

Ryan Sequeira (7665)

Guitar Miscellaneous Forum · 6/24/2012 11:53 AM

Wow.

I go away for a couple years, come back, and the whole place has been redesigned?! Crazy!!!! Still though, it's a really nice change. Glad to see WN changed with the times...the old interface looked really dated.

So how's everyone doin??

I've been up to no good. Actually that's a blatant lie. I've been having lots of fun in my absence. About a year ago, I decided to leave my black/death metal band and instead figured I would focus on writing and playing music that makes me truly happy - blues and rock.

I'm in the process of writing a blues/rock solo album right now, which I will be releasing around the end of this year...just in time for the apocalypse. Yay!

Here's a taste (just a demo): Out in the Lurch

I also got bitten by the guitar building bug earlier this year and crafted a quasi-strat for myself. Sonically it's halfway between a Les Paul and a traditional strat. Thick humbucker tones, but versatile enough to still retain the sizzle and snap of a strat. I call it the Jolly Roger Cutlasscaster - has a whole pirate theme :)

It's a Warmoth alder body with the contoured heel/lower horn, maple neck from an MIM Fender strat, which I shaped down from a D profile to more of a slim C. Hardtail, string-thru-body. Semour Duncan pickups - Custom 8 (Duncan Custom with an Alnico 8 magnet) in the bridge and a Little '59 in the neck. 3 way switch, and series/parallel mini-toggles for each 'bucker. And the pickguard is Black Pearl - kinda what inspired the whole build/theme. All finished in aged white and I lightly relic'd the finish itself and some of the hardware. I love it :)

Alright, enough blabbing.

Cheers!

-Ryan

Responses

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/24/2012 10:25 PM

Randy Hano (12046) wrote:

Been cool Ryan. Glad to see you back dude and you got a sweet looking axe there!

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/25/2012 2:19 AM

Warren Hunt (5715) wrote:

"Flying 'D Jolly Roger" was last bands name I was in. Great looking guitar.

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/25/2012 11:03 PM

Ryan Sequeira (7665) wrote:

Thanks Randy!

Good to be back. Also glad to see that there is regular traffic around here. A few years I remember there was a phase where nobody would post anything for weeks on end :-\

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/26/2012 10:35 AM

Randy Hano (12046) wrote:

It still varies. Old timers still visit and say hi and then leave again into hibernation for an undetermined time. Hopefully with Christopher updates, many will hang longer and not seem so scarce.

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/25/2012 4:06 AM

Michael Laurance (4038) wrote:

Great looking axe!

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/25/2012 4:15 AM

I-air Color (590) wrote:

Nice looking guitar

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/25/2012 2:48 PM

Ken Richardson (9031) wrote:

That is a cool guitar!! I like the simplicity of 2 pickups, yet you have series and parallel switching for each one to get different tones.

I like the combo of Gibson and Fender features you used on that.

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/25/2012 11:10 PM

Ryan Sequeira (7665) wrote:

Thanks Ken!

Yeah, it's a really insanely versatile guitar and I love it. I used a 500k volume and a 250k tone so it's not too bright, not too dark, but it's really balanced sounding, a little bit smooth and a little bit crunchy. The series/parallel switches are great too, especially if I want a quick drop in output or a bit more treble.

If I want a more vintage sounding vibe, i put the bridge 'bucker in parallel mode and it sounds like more of a classic sounding PAF than the hot rodded/high output sound it has in series. The Little '59 consistently astounds me cuz it really does sound like a full size neck bucker - warm and rich, but because of the narrow string-sensing aperture compared to a full size, it CAN have a lot of strat-esque brightness and cut with the tone cranked. Rolled off, it sounds much warmer and more "full-size". In parallel it sounds more like a single coil.

At one point I had the pickups wired out of phase which gave me some really weird but cool sounding in-between sounds, although I found I didn't really use them. I prefer the in-phase sounds.

I was jamming along to some Gary Moore stuff today and I was pretty surprised how close I managed to get to his tone.

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Re: Aloha WN!

6/28/2012 10:40 AM

Ken Richardson (9031) wrote:

I have an old Ibanez with 2 humbuckers that has a phase switch... its an interesting tone!! Makes the pair of humbuckers sound somewhat like a Strat.

Speaking of Strats, I recently caught a deal on one... somewhat similar to your axe with maple fretboard and white finish, but with 3 single coils. I plan on doing a couple things to hotrod it. I may add a push-pull pot so I can run the neck and bridge pickups together.

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