Guitar Technical  Articles

Guitar Tech Articles

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Tech Article Title Tech Article Excerpt
7030TM  Body Finish System Coming Soon, This is something new for 2009, We are now offering a way for boutique high fashion guitars like PRS, Centurion, JET, Thorn, Quicksilver, McNaught & Abstract to look beautiful and sound up to 30% better.
Choosing Correct Scale Length  NEW This is one of the best tech articles on this site. I have been struggling with these concepts for years. Hats off to John Johnson for writing an article that illustrates the things I have been unsuccessful in doing in an article myself
Fret Material  NEW Gold-Tone Adamantium Frets.  Also the origin of this legendary metal whose name comes from the word Adamant.
Be Careful Before Buying A Guitar  NEW This page will be in constant flux. I will be adding things as I discover them or deleting things that may no longer be applicable.
1500 G Neck Modification The 1500G neck modification TM, is Ed Roman's secret recipe for unfinished necks. Originally conceived by...
22 Fret Necks Versus 24 Fret Necks This is a debate that many people avoid, In fact many companies just look the other way. Normally a progressive company looking...
Acoustic Guitars This page talks about Acoustics from a beginners standpoint. There is a map of the USA  to help with choosing a safe location for an Acoustic to be built in.
Adamantium Frets 2008 Gold-Tone Adamantium Frets.  Also the origin of this legendary metal whose name comes from the word Adamant.
All Access Neck Joint  1983 No other company offers this exclusive trademarked innovation on  this style guitar...
Babicz Guitars Technical 2006 Lateral compression is created by anchoring the strings directly to the guitar soundboard. The stored energy is released acoustically  e...
BC Rich Versus Abstract  2000 Ed Roman doesn't ever make same style guitars unless he can  improve them over the original.  
Bent Tops 1997 A bent top guitar is a guitar that has a totally artificial veneered archtop.  It is yet another way for the bigger...
Binding A Guitar  2005
The first step after making the basic body is to route out an edge evenly around the entire body...
Black Saddle Piezo System 1999 The New "Black Saddle" TM Piezo System is the first and only one I have seen that I have been totally impressed with. There are many significant...
Buying A First Good Guitar  2001 This article will help you to dial in all the things you should be watching out for when buying your first good guitar.
Buzz Feiten Tuning  1997 Since we started installing Buzz Feiten's revolutionary guitar tuning system almost fifteen years have passed. We have done countless numbers of them and...
Composites 101 A primer on why composite materials are superior in some ways to wood.
Color Perception 2000 Our eyes contain sensors which respond to different wavelengths of light. The human visual system works quickly to respond to all the potential...
Custom Guitars 2008    A brand new page to help the potential buyer understand the scope of our custom shop. You can see many of the different styles of guitars that we build in our shop.
Deep Set Neck Tenon 1997 A deep set neck tenon is an extremely stable way to build a guitar.   It also helps the tone and sustain...
Direct Coupling 1996 Direct Coupling will add tremendous sustain to your guitar, It will also give you up to 25% more audible overtones.  You can really hear the difference...
Ebony Fretboards Good tone is derived from combining different woods. We hang up fingerboards, & body woods and tap them for resonance and pitch. 
Floyd Rose Tremolo Say whatever you will about the Floyd Rose Tremolo. The fact is it is still the best straight ahead Rock n' Roll tremolo on the market. Ugly and cumbersome as it may be it's the only one that really stays in tune...
Floyd Rose Speedloader 2004 The Speed-Loader Tremolo offers all the versatility of the original Floyd Rose Tremolo™ with the ease and performance of the Speed-Loader System. You can still execute the most subtle...
Frets From Hell
Told tongue in cheek but the product is an awesome addition to your guitar
New revolutionary fret wire that sounds as good as nickel silver and has 80% the tensile strength of stainless steel, This Material is currently available...Gold-Tone Adamantium Frets.  Also the origin of this legendary metal whose name comes from the word Adamant.
Fretwork Fretwork is an art, there are few people who have the fortitude, patience, level of concentration and a steady enough hand to do fretwork. Personally I consider...
Gibson Les Paul Versus Baker Coming Soon
Gibson Les Paul Versus Maximus The Maximus is a totally custom made guitar it's closest competitors are production made cookie cutter models. Ed Roman's Maximus has been in development for 7 years and finally it has been released to the market.
Gibson Necks Breakage Problem Why is it, that one of the most expensive guitars on the planet is famous for the fact that the necks always break? Question: Is the headstock angle designed wrong? Answer:...
Heel Removal Currently I do this job on the PRS CE Models at least 10 times a month and the custom models about twice a month.  There has never been a single problem with one of these jobs to date...
Intonating a PRS PRS hardtail guitars have no intelligent way to set up intonation, there are no adjustments excepting for the outside strings. It is hard to believe that a company of PRS's stature could possibly...
Intonating a Rickenbacker 12 String If you are a Rickenbacker 12 string owner and you are having a problem with keeping the guitar in perfect tune this little tech tip will be of great interest to you...
Neck Construction 2001 A bolt on neck has a large flange that protrudes from the body. The neck is usually bolted onto this cumbersome flange.  On a "Bolt In" the neck is actually bolted through the back of the body...
Neck Mounting Myths 2005 Many players assume that to build a good guitar it should have a glued on neck. I for one definitely do not believe that...
Neck Stability A stabilized neck means that you are getting wood to wood contact all around at the base of the neck. A neck that has wood to wood contact is certainly going to sound much better...
Parametric Equalizer Onboard     NEW  
Parker Pickup Conversion The biggest problem with the Parker guitars has always been the sound of the magnetic pickups. Many people buy a Parker for it's rich deep piezo electric acoustic sound, and easy playability. However...
Pearlcaster Tremolo The new full floating Guitar Tremolo Bridge unites state of the art computer design and the highest quality materials with the new patent pending...
Preamp Information  
PRS Conversions & Upgrades Make Your PRS noticeably better, This page offers suggestions on how to improve stability, sound, looks & feel !!!
PRS Retopping Beautify Your PRS
PRS Vs Quicksilver Ed Roman doesn't ever make same style guitars unless he can improve them over the original. In the case of Quicksilver it was a monster challenge to surpass PRS. Ed originally started Quicksilver Guitars...
PRS Tremolo Over the years Paul Reed Smith has used a number of different tremolo systems.  The original was made by a company known as Mil Com. The original tremolos are sought after because they are cast from one solid...
PRS VS  Baker B1 In 2003 Gene Baker filed for bankruptcy, Ernie Ball was rumored to have bought the company. In actuality Ed Roman outbid Ernie Ball and purchased the name and all the rights associated with the name. Up until that time Ed Roman was a Baker dealer. Ed & Gene...
PRS VS JET Two contenders slug it out for who offers more options and which guitar is more versatile.
PRS New Models Vs Old Models The original PRS Models Versus what they are selling these days.
Poly Vs Nitro Finish Polyester Paint jobs are easy and inexpensive to make look very good. Most every company uses it from Ibanez to PRS. Polyester finishes are easily identifiable by the thick glossy...
Potentiometers (Plastic Conductive)  NEW  
Quicksilverizing Your PRS          NEW Make Your PRS noticeably better, This page offers suggestions on how to improve stability, sound, looks & feel !!!
Quarter Sawn Lumber Plain sawn (or flat-sawn) lumber has the growth rings of the tree parallel to the board's broad face. Plain sawn wood highlights the grain...
Scale Length Argument Settled This is one of the best tech articles on this site. I have been struggling with these concepts for years. Hats off to John Johnson for writing an article that illustrates the things I have been unsuccessful in doing in an article myself.   
Seymour Duncan Antiquity Pickups Seymour Duncan uses the exact same materials as Gibson did in the 50's when they built their original pickups.
Set Neck Construction: I'm not a fan Usually I am not a fan of set neck construction, Although I have found several (2) brands that are exceptions. Both these brands employ radiused tops. I wonder if that is a coincidence.
Spruce Tops On Electric, Jazz & Slimline Guitars Experienced luthiers & guitar players all pretty much agree that a solid spruce top is usually the best kind of wood for Acoustic Flat Top Guitars & Archtop Jazz...
Stainless Steel Frets Nothing sounds as good as pure old fashioned Nickel Silver Frets!!!  Stainless frets make your guitar sound less than natural...
Steinberger Necks The original composite blend was a mixture of Fiberglass, Kevlar, Strandular Carbon Graphite Fiber & Epoxy. This blend works quite well it is designed for stiffness reliability and stability...
String Problems Playing an outdoor gig can be fun. Most guitarists spend their time playing and practicing indoors. So, when the opportunity arises to get some outside fresh air and sunshine, many guitarists will jump on it. This is especially true...
Tone/Pros Bridges TonePros Sound Labs International is a company comprised of professional luthiers and sound design specialists with years of experience in the music production...
Tremolo Stabilizer No excerpt available.
Transposing Tremolo To my knowledge my shop "Ed Roman Guitars" is the only place in the world where you can still buy a brand new original Steinberger Trans Trem...
Turner Guitars Vs Les Paul The Turner & JET guitars are absolutely the finest guitars we sell at Ed Roman Guitars.
Van Campen Rickenbacker Mod This guitar gets my vote as one of the best guitars on the market for the price. It has all the right components...
What To Be Careful About When Buying A Guitar This page will be in constant flux. I will be adding things as I discover them or deleting things that may no longer be applicable.

 

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