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Dark Fire is a great Guitar.


elantric

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Maybe its just me' date=' but the fake carbon look is my least favorite aspect of this guitar

[/quote']

 

I sort of knew before getting my DF that it would be fake carbon look. However much I would have loved to have the real thing (Think America's Cup / Formula One here). Which would be a) more solid and B) even looking good when wearing out.

 

I also thought, from the early pictures, that the bridge parts were actually some sort of anodized light gray, matching the carbon colour. And I actually liked that too. But classic chrome probably is fine.

 

 

So:

Can you simply remove the covers and play with bare pick ups (A la Jeff Beck 1954??), ... or not?

 

Thanks,

 

 

PS:

Warning: I am not that much into pick-ups, so potentially silly questions.

(I actually only once embarked, years ago (!), into digging holes into my 1978 LesPaul Deluxe, only to fit DiMarzios in there. Luckily I was stopped in time and sold a Hammer instead :-)

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Can you simply remove the covers and play with bare pick ups (A la Jeff Beck 1954??), ... or not?

 

 

I'll find out soon - the Burstbucker III may be potted.

But I'm going to see if I can put a Chrome cover on it

http://store.gibson.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx/en-us/hardware/covers-pickguards/prpc-015

and a normal black PU ring

http://store.gibson.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx/en-us/hardware/mounting-brackets/prpr-020

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Oh... so the back side of the cover is red almost like the from side?!

(how could i know' date=' since i have not received my guitar yet ...don't get me started with this issue again)

Thanks MCK this is the first thing i will try.

If it looks ok, maybe i'll also try to paint a black flame (or something ) in the center of the cover with some special marker, in order to give it a different identity...[/quote']

Yes. The back is also red but a little less shiny. You can use these permanent markers that come in various colors including gold & silver etc to do your markup and if you don't like it you can still wipe it with a solvent.

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I was thinking there is a simple way to "steal" the great idea of MCK about the carbon fibre truss rod cover (not as glamorous i guess):

1)Buy a gibson black truss rod cover to replace the standard red

2)Buy a good quality carbon fibre adhesive sheet and cut it to match the cover (i've seen some more expensive sheets, that at least don't have this "paper" feel)

 

It should at least match the fake carbon pick-up covers =D>

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  • 2 weeks later...

Black speed knob conversion complete. Singapore source turned out to be dry but I ended up buying them from a shop here in Japan. The shopkeeper thought me a good way of pulling them out. Use a piece of cleaning cloth or rag, get it under the knob, wrap around & pull. Safe & sound. Good luck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got my Speed knobs installed , and i removed the Pick guard - The Guitar looks far more integrated now that all 4 knobs match.

 

I have been using a Roland Cube Street Amp a lot lately - just pluging the Dark Fire straight into the Cube Street. I'm still amazed at the wide sonic spectrum of useable tones I get from the Dark Fire. I find I like to blend the Piezo with the Neck P90H PU. I was playing slide on the clean Instrument channel and had developed a tone that sounded remarkably like a nicely mic'ed National Resophonic Dobro. i was in Open E tuning and the sustain is just phenomenal.

 

Then switch the Cube Street to the "Classic Stack" and it was amazing the sustain i get while riffing old zeppelin riffs.

 

Then I hit the "Black Face" ( fender) channel and the Neck PU alone and played old Johnny Winter - just a great tone.

 

The Dark fire is just so versatile!!

 

And the Roland Cube series has a lot more dynamic range and sounds really close to tubes than a comparable Line6 Spyder - I've tried all of them.

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That's what I do for acoustic sounds since I got my guitar. I have always been more acoustic-oriented anyway, having these LP's as my first electric guitars. When I travel, I use the VOX equivalent to the Roland Micro Cube and also use the "clean" settings. I'm still amazed at the sustain too. And, even though it's been explained to me, I STILL don't understand why a person would need a volume control on piezo out. (I must be dumb). Anyway, I LOVE the acoustic blend!

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You need to see one in person and play a little while for the ultimate decision. It sort of grows on you over time. Then again at the end of the day there is no guarantee a DF will tick all the boxes for you. These choices are highly personal.

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