I use this site to get wiring diagrams: http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams/ I use the instructions that come with the pickups for figuring which color wires are what and the schematic from this site for the wiring configuration I want to do. I'm not so sure a stand with the clips will be too helpfull since most of the soldering will take place with parts mounted. A stand with a sponge to wipe the tip frequently is helpfull. I use rosing core electronics solder so I do not use flux. If you do use flux, make sure its for electronics and not plumbing flux. I would also recommend saving the hot-rodding until after hooking up everything and hearing how it sounds then move on from there.

Just recently picked one up for my ipod touch and this thing is pretty neat. I work nights and wanted something simple to plug into when I got home and the family was still sleeping. I purchesed the "full" AmpliTube version as well as the Fender app for it which gives me:

- 9 guitar amps and 1 bass amp (all the amp controls are there to adj to your liking)

- 16 FX pedals and you can use 3 at a time (all are fully adjustable like the real pedal)

- 10 speaker cab configurations with 2 mike choices

- tuner, metronome, audio demo, recorder

Being a beginner guitarist, one of my favorite capabilities is that I can play my jam tracks throght the AmpliTube software while playing the guitar. The other thing I really like about it is the choice of effect pedals. I get to play around with them to learn what I may want to purchase. Like all good software, you can save your configurations.

 

anyone have any good presets to share?

with smaller hands, I find it easier to use the pinky when trying to do cords across multiple frets. I use my pinky during my warm-up exercises to help strengthen it. I also just started adding the thumb in on the 6th string. It helps on certain cords and is good for muting it when needed.

Has anyone tried the Seymour Duncan P-Rails? I'm debating on putting the bridge hot rail and standard P-rail in my Epiphone Les Paul. I was going to put P-90's in it but kind of like the versitility of the P-Rails offer.

This post was edited by John Murphy at July 31, 2011 9:34:42 PM PDT

I am still a beginner at guitar but also really enjoy the aspect of modifying my guitars for the sound I am looking for and improved playability. On my ESP H-251FM I took out the stock humbuckers, replaced the bridge with a DiMarzio Super Distortion and installed a DiMarzio LiquiFire in the neck. I chose the LiquiFire to kind of tone down the chime of the high strings and the Super Distortion kind of explains itself. :-) New 500k pots were installed along with a 5-way selector switch. The switch was wider then the 3-way that was in the guitar so a little Dremel routing was required. I wired it so when the coils are split, I get the two front coils or the two rear coils in parallel. The strings are a bit higher off the body then my Epiphone Les Paul and I felt like I really had to stretch my fingers to keep them grazing the body when picking. I purchased a piece of pick guard stock and cut out a pick guard. I did not want to permanently modify the body so I installed it with double sided VHB (very high bond) tape. It worked out perfectly. My hand now feels comfortable while playing
I also had some fret buzz on both guitars at certain positions on the neck and figured it was my inexperience. I purchased a fret rocker and found I had a couple of frets that were too high. A fret file took care of that problem. Next up will be replacing the stock pick-ups on my Epiphone Les Paul Standard.

This post was edited by John Murphy at April 30, 2011 5:01:14 PM PDT

I currently live in Wilmington Delaware, just below the PA border, grew up in Broomall, PA. Also spent 16 years out in the NW suburbs of Chicago.

I am relatively new to playing electric guitar and here are a few things I have learned in purchasing the right guitar, at least in my case. I just recently purchased my fourth guitar and have now hit it right. The two main considerations for the "right " guitar for me are: relatively smaller hands and retraining 48 yr old mussels for cord fretting. Hopefully this information will be helpful.

My first guitar purchase was a bass guitar. My thought process was: It has less strings so it should be easier to play. The bass guitar has a longer scale length (neck) then an electric guitar, the neck is thicker and the string gauges are heavier. The short of it is, it is harder to press down (fret) the strings and the longer/thicker neck make it harder on training the mussels.

My next purchase was an electric guitar starter set. The included guitar was Kramer Strat style guitar. What I did not understand at that time was it had a 25.5" scale length and a Fat Boy neck. This pretty much lends to the same issue as the bass guitar, a long and thick neck.

My 3rd purchase was an ESP LTD H-251FM. I had learned about the thick neck at this point and this guitar has a slim taper neck. The scale length was still 25.5". Now I learned about a new concern and a new lesson in guitar purchasing. The new lesson was that I should have played around with the guitar longer at the store. I was kind of embarrassed about my playing ability when plugged into the amp at the store so I did not play it long enough to figure out that the strings on this guitar are much higher off the body. At home I was struggling to reach and pick the Low-E and A strings. What I discovered with this guitar is that they have the neck angled down away from the body. This raises the strings higher off the body. I verified the string heights were set to specs. I measured the string height off the body between the pick-ups and after another trip to the guitar shop, found out they were a solid 1/8" higher then other guitars. (On a side note: I really like this guitar and plan to move back to playing it after I become a more "accomplished" guitarist.)

My fourth purchased addressed all of these issues. I recently purchased an Epiphone Les Paul Standard top guitar. It has a slim taper neck which makes it easier to fret the strings. The neck scale length is 24.75" which means the frets are a little closer together then a 25.5" scale length guitar. The neck on this guitar is set more parallel to the body and the strings are about 3/16" closer to the body then the ESP-LTD which makes it much easier to reach and pick the Low-E and A strings.

The short version of my recommendations for a new guitarist with smaller hands and mussels that need to be developed are: Buy a guitar that has a slim taper neck, 23.75" scale length, verify the neck runs parallel to the body for lower string height off the body and most importantly, spend the time at the store and make sure you are truly comfortable with the guitar you are about to purchase. If you have concerns, talk to the sales rep about them. They may be able to put something else in your hands that address your concerns