nodehopper

You can easily and cheaply experiment with bone pins and saddle. Get a saddle blank and bone pins at StewMac for $30 -$40 (you will need to grind and sand the blank to match the original) and see how you like the sound. Just save your originals and if you don't like the sound...swap the originals back in. If the Nut isn't already bone, wait until you know how the bone saddle and pins effect the sound of the guitar, then have a Tech or Luthier cut and install a bone nut. The nut will be more costly and requires some skill to remove the old and cut and install the new one. If the Bone is more efficient transferring string vibration to the top and you like that, but it is a little bright, you can then experiment with different strings to get a mellower tone. Again saddles, pins (as long as you keep the originals) and strings are cheap and easy to experiment with ...have fun!

Maybe a PM to the performer would be a good way to show appreciation ?

Ok...To start off. I personally change the saddle and pins on all my guitars from the factory plastic to bone. I believe bone saddle/pins/nut do enhance the sound of my guitars and is a fairly low cost/low risk upgrade. (A little bit of MOP inlay on the pins can also give a little bling). Saddle and pins are something anyone can DYI, cutting and installing the nut is probably something for a good guitar tech to do for you and should be under $100 A couple resources for this upgrade, but not limited to, would include: StewMac Saddles StewMac Pins Bob Colosi Custom Saddles and Pins Frets.com Steel String Guitar Users Manual has lots of info on saddles, pins etc. As far as strings go here is some basic info: Quick primer on strings I personally prefer coated strings such as: D'Addario EXP Coated 80/20 Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings Martin SP Lifespan Phosphor Bronze Coated Acoustic Guitar Strings While many here love Elixer strings ...I am personally not a fan. YMMV Coated strings last longer and some will reduce finger squeak a bit. Purists believe the coating reduces tone or some people tend to change strings so often the extra cost for coated strings doesn't make sense. And for small delicate guitars I love Newtone Heritage Acoustic Guitar Strings (They are designed to have a reduced and virtually equal tension on each string.) My general thoughts on string selection. If you have a guitar that is naturally loud and bright go with Phosphor Bronze strings to bring some extra sweetness and complexity to its sound. If you have a guitar that is a little on the quiet side or needs a boost in treble use 80/20 strings. Two properties of strings that have a lot of influence on sound are string gauge and string tension. Generally the larger the gauge the greater the tension, but not always. A couple websites like Just Strings have some information on string tension for a few of the strings they sell and it can be very interesting. Some manufacturers have the info on their websites. I wish this info was more easily available. I would say the average steel string guitar player uses what are called "lights". Lights are also called 12's because generally that is the gauge of the high "E"string, but buyer beware that this is not an industry standard and also many sets of "lights or 12's" can have the other strings in the set vary in gauge from brand to brand. Experimenting with strings is probably the single most effective, easy and inexpensive way to bring out the best tone of your guitar. Trying .11's .12's and mediums .13's can greatly effect the guitars sound. Most modern guitars can handle .13's, but make sure you refer to the guitars manual to be sure before stinging up .13's. (Warning - changing string gauge can change the action of your guitar. For example heavier strings will pull harder causing string height on the fretboard to raise and may require a truss rod adjustment) 80/20, phosphor bronze, coated and uncoated, custom strings sets where the low E A and D strings are heaver gauge to bring out a guitars bass response, etc...etc. The possibilities are endless and the fun of experimenting is Guitar Nerd Heaven!! Alright ....let's discuss! Agree with me....Disagree with me....

wish my little music room had those acoustics.....

I have the same LP Studio Premium Plus in Amber. I did swap out for original pups for DiMarzio PAF® 36th Anniversary Neck DP103 model guitar pickup and DiMarzio PAF® 36th Anniversary Bridge DP223. These pups sound great...and since I decided I wanted to keep the covers off ...I went with all black appointments. I think it turned out great with all the black. I also changed the original to a bone nut Question on if you guys think it is lame to swap the truss rod cover to one that says LP Custom. I am not worried that mine is a "lowly" studio, but felt that I had done so much to the guitar...it is a custom now. LAME?

Buc.....some very good and helpful points especially where you say not to be afraid to experiment with your voice. I would even go a step farther and say that in order to learn to sing you have to be willing to really sound bad. Once I gave myself permission to put it out there and sound really bad......my singing did improve dramatically. As you say "singing from the gut" ....I had to learn to just put it out there with some balls behind it. At first it was really bad and loud and terrible, but that is the process of learning to sing. Like when you see a beginning guitar play who plays really really softly ...like they are afraid of the guitar or it will self destruct if mistakes are made. You gotta put it out there warts and all !! One side benenfit to learning to sing that I hope will also improve even more over time is my ear. Recently, I had a friend over and he was cruising YouTube playing some of his favorite songs. I was sitting with my guitar and there were a few songs that he played off YouTube and I was able to quickly start playing along with them. He was pretty impressed and I tried to hide it but I was shocked myself .....I have never been able to figure out a song by ear before and I did it a couple of time nearly effortlessly. So my ear is developing ...slowly but surely! I think learning to sing is what has improved my ear. Learning to sing ...well except for those few lucky / gifted individuals does take as much time, effort and practice as it does to learn to play guitar (maybe more). In all honesty I feel like I am very close to "getting it", but just looking for any help /advantage I can find to help the learning process. "The Bathroom Sessions" ...I love it ..... would give a new meaning to the group name "Canned Heat" if they played on the toilet!

I have posted a few times about how I am trying to learn to play guitar and sing. Seems I can sing fair to middlin when singing along with original artist recording. But trying to make that jump to singing on my own with just the guitar as accompaniment and I lose some of the key pitch reference points and suddenly I am singing the wrong notes or sour bad notes. I have tried plugging in and mic'ing up and practicing through headphones or with an amp facing me to monitor..... But still getting mixed results. I have video taped myself and can really hear problems with my singing. I am starting to get discouraged, but the other night ( at the height of my frustration and about to completely give up) I grabbed my guitar and went into our bathroom. It has recently been tiled with a big tub/shower enclosure that is fake marble on all three sides. I sat down on the toilet because it faces directly into the very hard reflective surfaces of the tub enclosure...... Damned if it didn't help me to really hear myself. There seemed an immediacy to the reflected sound of my voice and guitar that I have never really felt and heard before. Suddenly because of the clarity of sound reflecting back to me I could "HEAR" myself and I felt my singing was improved by a lot. I have only had a chance to try this once, but want to experiment more with this. I am going to see if this will help me get over this plateau I seem to be stuck on.....who knows maybe from now on I drag my video cam and recorder into the bathroom with me for my next attempt at a YouTube video....Or I will post a "how to" on converting a Bathroom into a Music Room. Anyone know what the hell I am rambling on about here?

Acousticat --- you beat me by 3 minutes....... that is just too funny !!!

I have been using Guitar Honey for Fret boards and been very happy with it. In fact when I first got my Les Paul the fretboard was all white and chalky from being dry ....one application and it has looked great ever since !! http://www.gerlitzusa.com/prd_honey.html This is from thier FAQ's - The Guitar Honey won't hurt a nitrocellulose finish. Without giving away our formula, I can tell you that 'Guitar Honey' is a mineral oil based formula, which is blended with a very high grade of mineral spirits (for cleansing) along with other proprietary ingredients which give a smooth (not greasy) feel & finish to an instrument's fingerboard. It contains NO silicones or other ingredients which would be harmful to an instrument's fingerboard, frets, binding, finish, inlays or structural adhesives, when used as instructed. It is like $7 from Guitar Center for a nearly lifetime supply .....just buy it and why worry about doing something that might damage your guitar ??

My understanding is the Citric Acid in lemon oil, over the long term, can eat away and damage your fret board.