NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO OUR NEW PROGRESSIVE METAL ALBUM "CORE VALUES" ONLINE! LINK: Listen to Sarcofaus "Core Values"

The passion for modifying and “tweaking” guitars has been as strong as the passion for playing them. As a kid in 70’s ADHD did not give me much patience so I ended up mutilating quite many now collectable and expensive guitars. The one I keep in the corner of my room as reminder of the virtue of patience is the mutilated Burns Baldwin Hank Marvin signature model (this appears on Motorbirds video and also in 2004 Web Edition Cover).

I have always had tendency for strange looking and obscure guitars. So I have had Bond Electraglide, American Showster (one of the original 57 hand made ones), Yamaha G10 midi guitar etc...

On this page I have pictures of the guitars I use and pictures of guitars I have had (so many...). I’m not collecting guitars anymore like I used to. Now I only keep the guitars I actually play. I also modify my guitars the same way so they sound pretty much the same and just play differently. For different sounds I have a 3 neck guitar and a Line 6 Variax.
Click the guitar pictures to enlarge
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
After some tedious testing I have found the perfect setup for my music. To find the best bridge pickup I bought all the usual high power humbuckers. I installed them into same guitar one after another, played and recorded exactly same riff with same effects onto different tracks. This is the only way to hear the real difference in pickups as the guitar body "effect" remains the same.
I then played the tracks to other people who did not know what I was doing and asked what sounds best. The clear winner was Bill Lawrence L-500XL. There’s Seymour Duncan “copy” of this pickup called SH-13. So, after this all my guitars have Bill Lawrence 500XL on bridge or Seymour Duncan SH-13 (2nd choice). Funny enough the Bill Lawrence original is almost half the price of the Seymour Duncan version!
SUSTAINER
The next “must have” thing is Sustainiac Stealth Plus system. If I’m not able to install one I use Sustainiac C System which can be attached to any guitar. The Sustainiac Model C will be introduced later on this page.

Sustainer is a electronic system with the special made neck pickup which magnetically starts to vibrate the strings creating a feedback effect, like what you get by standing in front of a stack of Marshalls. The only difference with the sustainer system is that you can repeat and control the feedback exactly the same way every time you play.

Sustainer system is the biggest invention since electric guitar! It was invented by Kramer in 1989. My first sustainer guitar was a re issue MusicYo Kramer Sustainer.

There are two main systems around Fernandes Sustainers and Sustainiac Stealth Plus. I have had both systems and by far the best one is theSustainiac Stealth Plus. Fernandes has the best selection of sustainer guitars. I have had a Fernandes Ravelle Elite which will be introduced later on this page.

You can buy the fernandes sustainer as a kit but the circuit board is quite large and requires a chisel to make room inside your guitar. The Sustainiac Stealth gives stronger feedback and is very small so you can install it into most guitars without modifying the body. The installation can be easily reversed if you decide to sell the guitar.

For detailed info and ordering check out Sustainiac WWW site: www.sustainiac.com

Alan Hoover at Sustainiac is very helpful guy who modifies the setups to your needs with affordable prices!


PIEZO PICKUPS

This is the third modification I do whenever possible. If you play anything progressive/experimental the piezo pickups are a must!

LOCKING MACHINE HEADS

I hate guitars that need constant tuning. I’m not also a big friend of the Floyd Rose locking/tuning system. So I prefer Spergel or Grover locking machine heads.
 
B.C Rich Ignitor Protype +
Seymour Duncan SH13 - Sustainiac Stealth Plus

This is the guitar on the new Core Values cover.
This is the best looking B.C.Rich guitar! Luckily I’m in the minority as the guitar has not been very popular and they are only custom made = rare! Yeah! This one is one of the two prototypes made for the NAMM Show.

The modifications are done without changing the guitar, so it can be reversed to original condition.
GALVESTON 3 Neck Monster (6, 7 and 12 String) + Bill Lawrence 500 XL(bridge) & L500 (neck)
(6 & 12 string) + Dimarzio D Sonic 7 (DP706)
(7 string bridge) + Midi + Piezo .

This is a strange guitar! For the Epic Project music I needed a 7 string guitar and a 12 string guitar. When I saw this I thought that’s a handy “all in one”. Again this guitar can only be ordered from USA and are hard to find. Galveston is a Korean company that has been doing slightly strange guitars for a long time.

This guitar plays very well! The original pickups were bad but that was easy to fix. The piezos on this one are acoustic guitar piezos; they are cheap and with pre amp gives you nice separate channel high frequency shimmering sound to be added on normal channel.

So when I want to go experimental/progressive I pick up this guitar and hook it to my Guitar Rig II.
Parker Fly Deluxe + Seymour Duncan SH13+
Sustainiac Stealth Plus

Parker guitars are the best. Ken Parker set to fix a lot of problems guitars have and he just did that. The tremolo can be locked or free floating and when used the guitar stays in tune!
This was a scary mod! Parker is an expensive guitar and the body is very thin. I ordered a special Sustainiac Pick Up for it as the normal one is too thick.
If thinking about doing this make sure you know what you are doing! (www.parkerguitars.com)
Line6 Variax 300

This is a swiss army knife guitar. It looks boring but it can emulate other guitars! I used this one on the Epic Project. My favourites are the Sitar Guitar and Acoustic models. I’m planning to transfer the electronics form this into my Switch Revolution X102 Signature guitar. This is a future project. I’m not planning to do this conversion myself. I will use a Variax Conversion Specialist to do it right.
Switch Innovo III Midi guitar +

This Midi guitar was again used for the Epic Project Music for all synth guitar sections. It is a great Vibracell guitar with build in Roland Midi Pickup.
It is pleasure to play; fast and accurate.
I also like the retro modern look of it!
Switch Revolution X102 Signature +
Ibanez Piezo Double Edge Pro Floyd Rose Tremolo + Bill Lawrence XL500 +
Sustainaic Stealth Plus +
Grover Mini Locking Machine Heads

The shape of this guitar is based on 70’s Burns Flyte. There has been several resurrections of this design and this Switch one is the latest and best. I like the shape of it very much but I know I’m again representing the minority :) I’m not sure about the R symbol but the plan is to add someday the Sarcofagus Eye symbol on it.

Switch guitars are fantastic! They are made out of stuff called Vibracell. This is some kind of resin material. The guitar is molded in one piece. This reduces dead spots on fingerboard and gives the guitar strong sustain. (www.switchmusic.com)
If you are into customising guitars Switch Guitars are great as they are very affordable; if you screw up it’s not a big financial lose. The modifications for this guitar cost three times the price of the guitar. Still in the end it costs just a little bit more than a Fernandes Ravelle Elite Sustainer guitar. It was REALLY hard to find a Floyd Rose Piezo Tremolo for this and the only one I could find was a second hand Ibanez one from USA.

The only problem with Switch guitars is that they are very hard to find in Europe. This one I ordered from USA with all the customs and long postal times hassle but it is worth every penny. It is an amazing guitar. VERY fast to play!


Steinberger Spirit +
Seymour Duncan SH13 + Bill Lawrence OBL +
Sustainiac

This is my travel guitar. It is so small that you can take it to airplanes as hand luggage. This was used on the new album " Core Values" on songs I recorded in Canary Islands.

This is a re issue Steinberger by MysicYo. I have been looking for an original Steinberger but they are very hard to find and expensive. There is a new Ned Steinberger guitar out called Synapse (www.steinberger.com). This does look really cool and also has a new Piezo tremolo system.
Ned Steinberger - like Ken Parker - are the true pioneers in improving and taking the guitar to the next level!

So these are my active guitars. Next update for this section will include guitars from the past including the FLAME THROWER GUITAR, so do visit again!

Here are some guitar related sites I find interesting. If you have guitar collecting/modification www site send me an email and I’ll have look and add them to this list.

If you have any questions about the modifications you can email me to guitars@sarcofagus.com and I'll try to help if I can!

COMING SOON! How to turn your guitar into a flame thrower. How to roast your Fender right...