Gearhead Thread

[mf]

i really dislike strats.

Ha. I just put up a seven guitar stand and its pretty much all strat bodies, all rewired and tweaked for fun. I feel a small sense of accomplishment and happiness looking at it. If anything, it gives me pause to say that its time to move on and get into different models and start collecting the really cool guitars I've had my eye on for a while. I never thought I'd ever be one to sell gear I've collected, but when space becomes an issue, all these POS strat projects will probably eventually disappear.

my buddy is the same way with the tele. he's got 3 or 4 squiers with a slew of different mods done and another 2 that he built himself. and another 2 that are works in progress in his shop including this thinline build:




and he's also building one for me that i posted about earlier. i'm just waiting for the neck and some hardware and a pickup to show up. the guy loves his teles.

[Will]

That's cool. If I have one complaint about the Telecaster, its the general weight compared to a strat, and I have a bad back so its difficult to play mine for extended periods of time.

In starting to browse through sites online looking for other oddball guitars, I'm finding that the ones I had my eye on a year ago are now discontinued or their price has exploded beyond my means. FML.

[Birds in Hell]

Swapping digital for analog.

OUT: TC Electronic Alter Ego
IN: Malekko 616 Ekko (Mk II)

[Oh, Jimmy]

Swapping digital for analog.

OUT: TC Electronic Alter Ego
IN: Malekko 616 Ekko (Mk II)

Those Malekko's sound sweet and I like how you can control the modulation and kick in the buffer for cleaner repeats.

And analog is so much sweeter sounding. I keep my Boss on the board for all the different delay types, but unless I want the reverse or hold function, I step on my Analogman every time.

[Will]

Any part time bassists around? I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on a new pro bass. I've got two POS low-end Squiers that pretty much suck. One gets the job done on recordings, but the neck is terrible.

There's a Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI Bass out there that's a 6 stringer, practically a baritone guitar. The upper strings give you the baritone sound, the bottom end feels like a real bass. But I just found a limited run short-scale Gibson Flying V 4 string bass. Its made for playing standing up and while its a little neck heavy and dips towards the ground with a strap when you're not paying attention, its got a great neck. I've always wanted a baritone guitar, but I dig Flying V's too, despite their playability issues. I'd always thought I'd just end up with a Jazz Bass, but I like the idea of getting a good bass while also checking off another desire at the same time, the baritone or the Flying V. Thoughts or suggestions?

[Birds in Hell]

Swapping digital for analog.

OUT: TC Electronic Alter Ego
IN: Malekko 616 Ekko (Mk II)

Those Malekko's sound sweet and I like how you can control the modulation and kick in the buffer for cleaner repeats.

And analog is so much sweeter sounding. I keep my Boss on the board for all the different delay types, but unless I want the reverse or hold function, I step on my Analogman every time.

I actually thought about getting the Analogman! In the end, I chose the Malekko because I also got a good deal on an Analogman Chorus and wanted both. Waiting for them both to arrive now.

Next purchase will (hopefully) be a Foxrox Octron.

[Birds in Hell]

Any part time bassists around? I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on a new pro bass. I've got two POS low-end Squiers that pretty much suck. One gets the job done on recordings, but the neck is terrible.

There's a Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI Bass out there that's a 6 stringer, practically a baritone guitar. The upper strings give you the baritone sound, the bottom end feels like a real bass. But I just found a limited run short-scale Gibson Flying V 4 string bass. Its made for playing standing up and while its a little neck heavy and dips towards the ground with a strap when you're not paying attention, its got a great neck. I've always wanted a baritone guitar, but I dig Flying V's too, despite their playability issues. I'd always thought I'd just end up with a Jazz Bass, but I like the idea of getting a good bass while also checking off another desire at the same time, the baritone or the Flying V. Thoughts or suggestions?

The short-scale V sounds pretty cool (and you could always sell it if you find it isn't working out.)

I've long wanted a baritone guitar, I may end up putting one together from parts one of these days.

[Strat]

Im going through a pedal order crisis again This happens every couple years or so.

[Birds in Hell]

Im going through a pedal order crisis again This happens every couple years or so.

Tell me your troubles, fellow sonic traveller.

[Strat]

Im going through a pedal order crisis again This happens every couple years or so.

Tell me your troubles, fellow sonic traveller.

Its just hard to find that sweet spot with a tube amp when you live in an apartment. You know? My Twin Reverb II has a master volume on the back, a channel volume and another master volume on the front. So there are a million variations of volume control that can be done

Add on top a Ts808, another overdrive, a fuzz, wah, and some phase/trem/delay shit...



My usual go to set up is:

Guitar - Wah - Color effects - Distortions - overdrive - amp

Id put the 808 at the end of the chain because THAT is the tone That i love the most. I use the distortions ont he back end to boost that.

But now im questioning it. I believe - your typical setup - is the opposite of what I do but the coloring affects dont sound as good up front (end of chain) in my opinion.

Ho hum.

[Oh, Jimmy]

I've always had the best luck going wah>vibe, chorus or phaser>dirts going from dirtiest to lightest od>flanger>delay>reverb

Putting the modulations earlier help soften them up. I found my vibe sounded harsh and sort of generic when I sent a distorted signal into it and had similar experience with my phaser.

I've read it's risky to put a wah pedal into a fuzz, but I've never encountered any problems with it.

I've read quite a few articles(one from Keeley is pretty good) on the subject and those are a great starting point and I've always got by on that with a few tweaks.


If it has to do with the different amp volumes reacting to pedals differently I'd recommend trying out some attenuation. I've got a Z-brake and my amp and effects controls are pretty much set and forget and I control the volume with the attenuator. Comes in real handy, instead of having to find a good amp volume then going through pedal by pedal and getting a good base any time I take my rig from jamming back to the bedroom.

In my limited experience Twin Reverbs are pretty f'in sensitive beasts.

[Strat]

I've always had the best luck going wah>vibe, chorus or phaser>dirts going from dirtiest to lightest od>flanger>delay>reverb

Putting the modulations earlier help soften them up. I found my vibe sounded harsh and sort of generic when I sent a distorted signal into it and had similar experience with my phaser.

I've read it's risky to put a wah pedal into a fuzz, but I've never encountered any problems with it.

I've read quite a few articles(one from Keeley is pretty good) on the subject and those are a great starting point and I've always got by on that with a few tweaks.


If it has to do with the different amp volumes reacting to pedals differently I'd recommend trying out some attenuation. I've got a Z-brake and my amp and effects controls are pretty much set and forget and I control the volume with the attenuator. Comes in real handy, instead of having to find a good amp volume then going through pedal by pedal and getting a good base any time I take my rig from jamming back to the bedroom.

In my limited experience Twin Reverbs are pretty f'in sensitive beasts.

They are very sensitive which is why I love them. They react how they should react to the guitar, the playing, the approach and everything. I like that - forgive me - organic sound they have.


When i go wah - fuzz ...

The wah is damn near inaudible. Its really fascinating. I take the fuzz out of the change and the wah is very noticeable.

[Strat]

I've always had the best luck going wah>vibe, chorus or phaser>dirts going from dirtiest to lightest od>flanger>delay>reverb

Putting the modulations earlier help soften them up. I found my vibe sounded harsh and sort of generic when I sent a distorted signal into it and had similar experience with my phaser.

I've read it's risky to put a wah pedal into a fuzz, but I've never encountered any problems with it.

I've read quite a few articles(one from Keeley is pretty good) on the subject and those are a great starting point and I've always got by on that with a few tweaks.


If it has to do with the different amp volumes reacting to pedals differently I'd recommend trying out some attenuation. I've got a Z-brake and my amp and effects controls are pretty much set and forget and I control the volume with the attenuator. Comes in real handy, instead of having to find a good amp volume then going through pedal by pedal and getting a good base any time I take my rig from jamming back to the bedroom.

In my limited experience Twin Reverbs are pretty f'in sensitive beasts.

Interesting you separate the coloring effects like that (vibe, chorus or phaser>dirts going from dirtiest to lightest od>flanger>delay>reverb) what prompted you to attempt that and why? I honestly have never thought about splitting those up :\

[Will]

In terms of pedals I pretty much run everything through my FX loop. I hardly ever place anything in the signal between the guitar and input jack. Even though its best for modulation and delay, everything sounds better plugged in through the back. The distortion colors are actually quite nice.

[knee tunes]

my guitar hole is broke. just recently when I plug it in it's all loud static and it's a brand new chord.

help

[Strat]

In terms of pedals I pretty much run everything through my FX loop. I hardly ever place anything in the signal between the guitar and input jack. Even though its best for modulation and delay, everything sounds better plugged in through the back. The distortion colors are actually quite nice.

I should test this....

[Birds in Hell]

My amp doesn't have an effects loop, but I think I'm more of an everything-in-front guy anyway.

[Will]

My amp doesn't have an effects loop, but I think I'm more of an everything-in-front guy anyway.

Try the backdoor sometime, Spenno. Its a jolly good time.

[Will]

my guitar hole is broke. just recently when I plug it in it's all loud static and it's a brand new chord.

help

Could be the input on the amp or the wiring has come loose on one of the lugs on the guitar's connector jack. Try the guitar on a different amp and see what you get. If its the same, its probably the guitar wiring underneath the pickguard in which case you'll have to take off all the strings, unscrew the pickguard and look for loose or disconnected soldering joints. Depending on your guitar, you should be able to Google Image that instrument's specific wiring diagram and use it as a reference to touch up the joints on your own. If that's too daunting you can have a local tech do it for a few bucks and a few weeks of your time.

[mf]

My amp doesn't have an effects loop, but I think I'm more of an everything-in-front guy anyway.

i've always been an everything in front guy as well. my dual rec has an FX loop but i've never been happy with how things sounded through it. it's a parallel loop and a lot of guys mod them to be a series loop which i've been meaning to try. most of my playing is loud and high gain so it's not that important for my pedals to sound their best since their job is just to make noise anyways. i've got a few effects on my board (dig delay, analog delay, reverb, trem, flange, phase, wah) but i mostly just use the delays, wah and reverb. the rest is just there in case i want it.