Let’s talk Guitars!

Sprkslfly · October 21, 2018, 7:55am

Amps will have to wait… As well as many of the other effects. chuckles But I did manage to dig out a few of my main favorites (that I still own) when I dug up an Anvil case I tucked away here with me.

I planned on bringing a guitar and DAW, as well as a Boss rhythm station to practice with, etc. But the majority hasn’t made it over yet sadly.

The chain order (connection, for those that don’t play) is top right to bottom left.

As most of you know, I go for quality and function first. Music gear is no exception, and obviously, with sound, even more so.

The Pearl compressor is a very transparent comp, with a pretty wide range of control. I have another I like better, but it’s ultra rare, and NOT something I’d risk carrying around in a general “gig rig”. Not that I’ve played out in years. But anyways…

The Carbon Copy is currently pulling short delay duty (usually for cleans).

The Distortion III is a nice modern update on the classic MXR Distortion, and will do sounds all the way from the original and Plus, to modern metal.

The Delay 585-A is an ooooold 18v classic that rocks the Panasonic MN3205 chip IIRC. It powered many venerable and revered old stomp delays (in the day), and because of the 18v supply, has a huge amount of headroom, with a very reasonable noise floor for its age. Very organic, without the DM-2 price tag. Great for medium delays with a ton of body!

Ahh the old orange ROSS. Back when they were still made in Chanute KS, USA. As noisy as these can be, this one is pretty quiet. Primarily thanks to giving it the TLC it demands. ROSS had a unique way of doing things back in the day, and the biggest reason for problems was the fact that they tied the audio into the PSU ground. So it has to have it’s own isolated PSU for starters.
As for sound, there’s just nothing else that will get the same sound this does, thanks to a very customized chip that’s long since NLA.

The BF-2 is pretty much a legend to itself. Monstrously deep jet flanging for classic 80’s stuff.

The CS-505 is another old school classic, that runs on higher voltage, has greater headroom as a result, so it can dish out heaps of lush, rich chorus. (Think original Japan Boss CS-2, but quieter, and just as lush, if not more so!)

The last one, and I’m sure some are scratching the head about “two phasers?” but this is my secret weapon. This one happens to do a highly respectable Vibe, at least to my ear. (Think Uni-Vibe, not the typical vibrato) And I’ve had the privilege of working on a couple of the real deal, wooden Leslie’s, bone stock. Unfortunately though, I didn’t own it at the time to compare side by side. So take the above with a grain.

Anyways, there’s many others I’ll be able to share in the future… But I’ll throw these up for now.

Sprkslfly · October 23, 2018, 3:34am

No doubt! From what I’ve seen/read, the schems on that and the old Grey ROSS compressor are very close (if not identical), but it’s been several years since I looked into it. I always wanted to build that circuit. But the original chip used in them is so hard to find.

Oddly enough, when I was doing routine maintenance on an old signal generator I have, I learned that it’s actually got the chips I need to do just that! Lmao
The only problem is, I need to buy another signal generator in order to repurpose the chips in that one. So far, that hasn’t happened. chuckles

I’ve read some good things about them. Though never had the opportunity to use/hear one in person.

The Studio 22 is definitely a nice pre. I like that one and the Quad pre (and of course the Tri-Axis). But the Quad is so hard to find, and the Tri-Axis is not cost effective and largely overkill (at least for my needs). Though I’ve gotten much closer to doing a full blown midi rig (for home “studio” use) in the last ten years. For the simplicity of interaction with a DAW and cakewalk/sonar/reason etc…

Nah. Not at all IMO. But then I’ve long embraced custom environments. So I’m not exactly in the majority in this arena either (of course).

To me, I’ll do whatever it takes (within my finances) to get the sound I’m after. Funny looks don’t bother me. grins

adary · October 23, 2018, 8:30pm

My all time favorite pickups in general are Bill Lawrence, specifically L500XL in bridge position (big dimebag fan)

For non metal I really like lindy fralin ones, and lace sensors

Sprkslfly · October 23, 2018, 8:46pm

Tough call.
Off the cuff I’d have to go with the JB by Seymour Duncan.

Sprkslfly · October 23, 2018, 8:50pm

The original Lace Sensors were incredible! But things dropped a few notches when they redesigned them.

Speaking of Fender though, the original Texas Specials were bad asses! And then they took them to being custom shop only…

I’ve always heard nothing but great things about Fralin. Never had the chance to own any though.

adary · October 23, 2018, 9:01pm

Sensors I’m talking about are from 1982-ish. I think it’s before the redesign

Texas specials are also great. I have one strat-a-like that has a fender body and peavey neck, and H-S-H pickup combo with seymour duncan pearly gates in neck and bridge, and a texas special in the middle.

On the other hand, pickups started losing their value nowdays. You can take literally any guitar, plug it into a Kemper, and get any sound you want

Sprkslfly · November 5, 2018, 3:12am

Some of the amps I’ve owned…
(from meh, to decent, to really good, to “really fucking sweet!” lol)

Meh.

Next one is not bad, but not my style.
(“Decent”)

Had a very creative circuit that could blend between both the clean and dirty channel though which I haven’t seen since.

The Next is Peavey’s rendition of a JCM800. And honestly, it could accomplish it pretty damned well!! (Really Good)

I actually hated getting rid of this one (as they aren’t seen often), but as is frequent among musicians, it was one of those “need the money” situations.

Mean as you wanted to make it! (short of death metal etc).

Mmmm tuuuuuuuubes…

Now for some REALLY nice tone machines…

First up, the Fender Bassman 50 (AA371 circuit, that had been recapped to be more inline with a 60’s BF), with original matching dual 15" cabinet, casters, and mating “piggyback” hardware.

This thing just saaaaaang. Dripped with tone, and was just an ever-loving JOY to play.
Selling this one just about ripped me apart.

Next is IMO the modern “Mother of all 70’s Rock” creations. Nails The Doobie Brothers and MUCH much more…

I love many of Mesa’s creations.

tubes…

I’ll see about getting some guitars up later…

adary · November 5, 2018, 4:31pm

What do you guys think of Kemper?

I’m thinking about getting one, and ditching the two amps I have right now.

The amp that I actually use nowdays is a line6 spider 75, and I also have a slightly modded fender blues junior. All the ‘big’ gear I had was sold after i stopped playing in bands, and going to gigs.

I used to have an old Ampeg SVT, with the legendary Ampeg 8x10 cabinet that was my main rig for almost 15 years of playing bass in an actual band.

For guitar I had a self-assembled ceriatone JCM800 2204 50w clone, and a Marshal 1960A box. I sold both a few years ago. No point powering those up in the apartment without an attenuator (never liked those) and They do take up too much room

SmilingOgre · November 5, 2018, 4:34pm

I use two Hartke’s. A 250 at home and a kilo at work. Simple devices. The tone comes from my fingers.

adary · November 5, 2018, 4:38pm

Hartke are great amplifiers. Fingers can do a lot, but a good amplifier does add a bit

But with the bass I never used any effects. Bass direct to amp, and just a slight boost on bass and treble, and a little cut on the mids

SmilingOgre · November 5, 2018, 4:43pm

I’ll use a little eq to match the speaker characteristics but that’s it. I don’t use pedals either. I do cut over 2k on fretted basses. I may never bond with the sound of metal strings against metal frets.

SmilingOgre · November 5, 2018, 5:40pm

Lol, you got that right. I started out on cat gut and wood.

adary · November 5, 2018, 5:44pm

i forgot to add that i’m a shit player to begin with

Sprkslfly · November 6, 2018, 12:23am

LMAO! Sounds like an old friend I used to work with (fellow repair tech). We had a standing agreement. I worked on all the Crate, and he’d do all the Peavey (for just the reasons you cited lol)!

I couldn’t stand (still can’t) the clusterfuck way they tended to route wires/bundles. Their stupid choice of molex connectors. The penchant they had for stacking PCB’s (and again, the connectors).

I’m with you on some Mesa’s… The Mark IV was an absolute clusterfuck to work on (and I expect the V is the same, if not worse). They just crammed entirely TOO MUCH shit into too small a space. The Express 5:50 is a diamond though. As are the MK I’s, II’s, and II’s. Love the Studio pre, and the Studio Quad pre. Among a few others (the Lone Star comes to mind as well).

Absolutely!!

Totally agree here as well.
Give me a Bassman (non-master volume) over any tweed! But then again, I’ll take an old Vibrolux over any of the other Fenders.
I had the pleasure (luxury) of playing through two of these that customers brought in (bone stock) to have retubed and biased, and I was just dumbfounded. Seriously, completely blown away. The most insanely full tone, combined with an enveloping, rich and thick vibe… Just wow.

I still have a MK III Simul-class (my favorite Mesa, yes even over the MK IIc+) that I love because of the hybrid of EL34’s and 6L6’s. That amp (and the custom OT) just meets my personal style. It can pull a lot of different sounds with the right tubes in the right slots, though many hate it because it’s a PITA to dial in. Plus, because of the architecture, you honestly can only use two of the three channels (at a time) without having to make changes to the dials. At least that’s my opinion. But I could get anything from Eric Clapton to Iron Maiden/Testament out of it.
And it worked great with the EV-12L (original equipment “Black Shadow”) or into a 1960A Marshall (with my other favorites, Celestion G12T-75’s).

Thanks for the commentary!

SmilingOgre · November 6, 2018, 8:09pm

Just bought a french carbon fiber composite and horse hair bow. Mine has no hair left, lol. Wish me luck. It’s always a crap shoot on bows unless you spend 5G and that is just not in the master plan.

SmilingOgre · November 6, 2018, 8:59pm

I surely will. It is advertised to exhibit a number of the qualities you mention but in terms of transferring the vibration to the hand rather than sound to an audience. Per the consistency you mentioned it is also said to have excellent balance. I’m excited to try it. It’s another dimension we want to add to our shows. The upright has been well received by audiences and we have a number of songs that have “orchestral” passages. We’ll see what happens.

SmilingOgre · November 6, 2018, 11:09pm

I would love to see you dive into that. I’m pretty sure you are just the person to make something happen. Funny, I guess, but the main reason I don’t buy a lot of basses is because I sense that spending time with one instrument gives far better results. I do “feel” what I play in my fingers and associate those subtle differences to tonal qualities and intonation, of course along with my ears. And yes, frets block a lot of that feedback although some still transmits through the neck.

Sprkslfly · November 6, 2018, 11:14pm

Wow. What a great share!
I love this type of insight.

As would I!

SmilingOgre · November 7, 2018, 10:36pm

Wonderful explanation! Really diggin this!!! And of course the aggregate resonant frequencies of string and instrument materials determine relative strengths of the frequencies produced. Add in filtering from pick-up characteristics of electronic stringed instruments and you have quite the complex playground. We need to change your name or biline to Mr. Physics!!

woftam · November 8, 2018, 9:18pm

Thought you guys would appreciate this - while evacuating you should grab your most prized articles first.

TBH it probably isn’t real but the sentiment is there.