# Ha. Alex Gregory is a moron.



## Drew (Sep 12, 2006)

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5113737.html

I found that while doing a net search looking yet again for a "parts gutiar" place that would do a 25.5" scale 22-fret neck for a custom strat-style guitar, when I stumbled upon this, his patent application for the seven string guitar. 

Alex Gregory talks a lot about how he holds the patent for the seven string guitar, like he's this big founder of the seven string movement. What he DOESN'T mention much is that he filed the patent on Dec 31st, 1990, almost a year after the Universe first hit the market.


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## keithb (Sep 12, 2006)

Not to mention the clumsy grammar + wording in the application.


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## noodles (Sep 12, 2006)

"The highest string is a "top A" string that provides the guitarist access to higher notes than is available on a conventional guitar."

So, completely different from how practically everyone strings it, eh "maestro".


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## XEN (Sep 12, 2006)

That's *Maestro* Alex Gregory to you! He is the all-time master of the heavy metal mandolin, and you will respect him as such!

Seriously, that guy is a complete idiot. He didn't invent shit. The 7 string guitar has been around for quite a long time, almost as long as idiots.

He also claimed to patent the Penta System, effectively killing the 5-string, tuned in 5ths, Schecters, not that they were super cool, but this guy and his lawsuits kill progress.

I guess it's like Stick Enterprises. Emmett Chapman refuses to license out his brand name and designs so offshoot companies can't make Stick type instruments without being sued out of business. Think Warr Guitars... How cool would it be to be able to get an import Stick?? Maybe one by Hohner for less than $1k?? All the hardware could have that "Licensed by Stick Enterprises" logo on it and we'd all be able to get into the instrument without having to part with custom guitar amounts of cash.

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic rant...


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## D-EJ915 (Sep 12, 2006)

> The guitar also has a vibrator


holy shit!


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## LilithXShred (Sep 12, 2006)

I never heard of him before.... but i already dislike him


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## XEN (Sep 12, 2006)

I'll add that Uli Jon Roth has been using the Sky guitar, 7 strings, 36-40 frets, high A, since about 1985. Gregory is a fraud.


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## scott from _actual time_ (Sep 12, 2006)

Drew said:


> ...while doing a net search looking yet again for a "parts gutiar" place that would do a 25.5" scale 22-fret neck for a custom strat-style guitar....


7-string, right? i've seen a 7-string strat-style neck, 25.5"/22 frets, in the catalog from either All-Parts or WD Music--whichever one has the neck model numbers like SRO. have you checked them out?

and yeah, alex gregory--only a maestro in his own mind.


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## giannifive (Sep 12, 2006)

There's ample prior art for the patent. Somehow with the current state of the USPTO I'm not surprised it was granted.


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## Drew (Sep 12, 2006)

scott from _actual time_ said:


> 7-string, right? i've seen a 7-string strat-style neck, 25.5"/22 frets, in the catalog from either All-Parts or WD Music--whichever one has the neck model numbers like SRO. have you checked them out?



Allparts. They only offer an ebony board, however, and I'm looking for maple.


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## noodles (Sep 12, 2006)

Drew said:


> Allparts. They only offer an ebony board, however, and I'm looking for maple.



If Drew was dying of dehydration in the desert, he'd refuse a bottle of water that wasn't the right brand.


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## Metal Ken (Sep 12, 2006)

scott from _actual time_ said:


> 7-string, right? i've seen a 7-string strat-style neck, 25.5"/22 frets, in the catalog from either All-Parts or WD Music--whichever one has the neck model numbers like SRO. have you checked them out?



Alex's design SUPPOSEDLY had staggered tuners to relieve tension on the high A or something like that. Perhaps a good idea. But he's still a douchebag. he said something along the lines of "My 7 is different than vai's because mine has a high A. Vai's has a low B. but only idiots want low B's, they sound undefined". 

after he realized nobody cared if he had an extra string on his guitar, he decided to move over to 4-5 string instruments tuned in 5ths and release CDs that no one cares about.


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## garcia3441 (Sep 12, 2006)

Maestro Alex Gregory, "Paganini's Last Stand"

_The Maestro appears on the cover of this album peeing on the graves of Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. _

And yet I had never heard of the prick, until now.


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## 2powern (Sep 12, 2006)

garcia3441 said:


> Maestro Alex Gregory, "Paganini's Last Stand"
> 
> _The Maestro appears on the cover of this album peeing on the graves of Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. _
> 
> And yet I had never heard of the prick, until now.



If that's supposed to be Vai's grave, he could've at least got the birth year right.

And a decent haircut.

Makes MAB look stylish.


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## Metal Ken (Sep 12, 2006)

2powern said:


> If that's supposed to be Vai's grave, he could've at least got the birth year right.
> 
> And a decent haircut.
> 
> Makes MAB look stylish.




And play decently.


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## noodles (Sep 12, 2006)

Metal Ken said:


> after he realized nobody cared if he had an extra string on his guitar, he decided to move over to 4-5 string instruments tuned in 5ths and release CDs that no one cares about.



You say that as if he ever released CDs that anyone cared about.


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## Metal Ken (Sep 12, 2006)

noodles said:


> You say that as if he ever released CDs that anyone cared about.


My bad. 

No one cares about anything he released.


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## Naren (Sep 12, 2006)

Metal Ken said:


> Alex's design SUPPOSEDLY had staggered tuners to relieve tension on the high A or something like that. Perhaps a good idea. But he's still a douchebag. he said something along the lines of "My 7 is different than vai's because mine has a high A. Vai's has a low B. but only idiots want low B's, they sound undefined".



Uhm...  "only idiots want high A's. They break easily"... damn, that comeback didn't come out well.

Yeah, this guy sounds like a complete douchebag.


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## LilithXShred (Sep 13, 2006)

garcia3441 said:


> Maestro Alex Gregory, "Paganini's Last Stand"
> 
> _The Maestro appears on the cover of this album peeing on the graves of Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. _
> 
> And yet I had never heard of the prick, until now.



My god.... have you heard the mp3 snippets? Most of them sound aweful! I can't believe that "Paganini's Last Stand" reached gold status in Japan! I didn't even find a wikipedia entry about him.

About the cover. Distasteful. Maybe it is weird british humour, but that guy is a douche so i don't consider this funny. I never heard of Vai or Yngwie (even though he seems a bit arrogant) being this distasteful.

All in all! Alex Gregory = no style, no tone, no manners, no brain.

But building a guitar with a "Vibrator Bridge" sounds kinda sexy


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 13, 2006)

urklvt said:


> I'll add that Uli Jon Roth has been using the Sky guitar, 7 strings, 36-40 frets, high A, since about 1985. Gregory is a fraud.



I don't believe that Uli had a 7-string Sky guitar until the '90s. His first ones back in the '80s (some of the Beyond the Astral Skies album) were 6-stringers.

Also, he doesn't tune his sevens with a high A from what I recall reading, but perhaps my recollection is faulty. Having 36 frets, he doesn't need much more range. Any higher than that 36th or 40th fret high E, and you're pretty much in dog whistle range.


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## XEN (Sep 13, 2006)

jacksonplayer said:


> I don't believe that Uli had a 7-string Sky guitar until the '90s. His first ones back in the '80s (Beyond the Astral Skies album) were 6-stringers.
> 
> Also, he doesn't tune his sevens with a high A from what I recall reading. Having 36 frets, he doesn't need to. Any higher than that 36th fret high E, and you're pretty much in dog whistle range.



You're probably right, since info on his guitars is hard to come by, but Gregory is still a waste of flesh.


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 13, 2006)

urklvt said:


> You're probably right, since info on his guitars is hard to come by, but Gregory is still a waste of flesh.



There is certainly no doubt about that. He seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth--his penta guitar thingy went belly-up, apparently.


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## b3n (Sep 13, 2006)

2powern said:


> Makes MAB look stylish.



I never thought I'd see that


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## scott from _actual time_ (Sep 13, 2006)

Drew said:


> Allparts. They only offer an ebony board, however, and I'm looking for maple.


ahh, i see. yeah, i've never seen a 7-stg strat neck w/ maple board. good luck, there.


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