Gearhead Thread

Other than Pearl Jam, who else is there?
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Strat
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Strat »

gardenparty wrote:
Strat wrote:
gardenparty wrote:just picked this one up a about 6 months ago and I love it. Needed a heavy duty flight case for travel and got it. Its not light but the actual pedal board pulls right out so you can store the actual case somewhere else if you aren't going anywhere.
my only major gripe is the dog house is tiny so don't plan on putting anything in there like your power supply. It cleans up cables nicely though

OSP case:
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Effects-Pe ... edal+board

T-Rex Fuel tank:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y3ASW0/ref ... ords=t+rex

I really like the idea of having a compartment under the board where i can hide/thread many o the cables and strap in my power supply. I also enjoy the vintage orange looking thin of this badaxx or whatever.

Says it can fit 8 pedals which I suppose is more than enough.

yeah, thats a nice looking board for sure. appears there is no cover though?

No cover. Im not out gigging though. If it shall come to that, i will have to come up with something for it.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by gardenparty »

Strat wrote:
gardenparty wrote:
Strat wrote:
gardenparty wrote:just picked this one up a about 6 months ago and I love it. Needed a heavy duty flight case for travel and got it. Its not light but the actual pedal board pulls right out so you can store the actual case somewhere else if you aren't going anywhere.
my only major gripe is the dog house is tiny so don't plan on putting anything in there like your power supply. It cleans up cables nicely though

OSP case:
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Effects-Pe ... edal+board

T-Rex Fuel tank:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y3ASW0/ref ... ords=t+rex

I really like the idea of having a compartment under the board where i can hide/thread many o the cables and strap in my power supply. I also enjoy the vintage orange looking thin of this badaxx or whatever.

Says it can fit 8 pedals which I suppose is more than enough.

yeah, thats a nice looking board for sure. appears there is no cover though?

No cover. Im not out gigging though. If it shall come to that, i will have to come up with something for it.
gotcha. it seems every board is always missing at least one key feature I want. And if not its ugly as sin, like the pedaltrains.

Guess I could always make my own but fuck that

let us know what you end up with
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Strat »

gardenparty wrote:
Strat wrote:
gardenparty wrote:
Strat wrote:
gardenparty wrote:just picked this one up a about 6 months ago and I love it. Needed a heavy duty flight case for travel and got it. Its not light but the actual pedal board pulls right out so you can store the actual case somewhere else if you aren't going anywhere.
my only major gripe is the dog house is tiny so don't plan on putting anything in there like your power supply. It cleans up cables nicely though

OSP case:
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Effects-Pe ... edal+board

T-Rex Fuel tank:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y3ASW0/ref ... ords=t+rex

I really like the idea of having a compartment under the board where i can hide/thread many o the cables and strap in my power supply. I also enjoy the vintage orange looking thin of this badaxx or whatever.

Says it can fit 8 pedals which I suppose is more than enough.

yeah, thats a nice looking board for sure. appears there is no cover though?

No cover. Im not out gigging though. If it shall come to that, i will have to come up with something for it.
gotcha. it seems every board is always missing at least one key feature I want. And if not its ugly as sin, like the pedaltrains.

Guess I could always make my own but fuck that

let us know what you end up with

I wish i was handier. I would totally build my own but I have no idea where to start as far as integrating the electronic aspect of it.

It is rather unfortunate the pedal train is so ugly because its darn near perfect otherwise. I hate the pedaltrain logo as well. Everyone has it as well, including everyone up here who plays "apres ski" and does the same 5 neil diamond and john denver covers with their shitty equipment.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by mf »

Strat wrote:[I wish i was handier. I would totally build my own but I have no idea where to start as far as integrating the electronic aspect of it.
Premier Guitar had an interesting article on the subject of DIY pedalboard builds with integrated electronics. Obviously you'd need access to some shop equipment for the woodworking but it seems to be pretty straightforward to integrate the electronics as long as you're comfortable using a soldering iron and connecting leads.

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/1 ... oard-build

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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

I've been meaning to build bass traps and sound insulators to deaden my recording space, but I haven't found the time or enthusiasm for such a project in the same way I've been meaning to build a solid pedal board. I don't play out so its hard to dredge up the desire to construct something that won't really be used, but I've always wanted to do stuff like that.

Lately, I haven't had the time to play music. Last year I recorded a bunch of demos. https://soundcloud.com/riotactor25/sets ... ed-demos-1

After some modest mixing attempts, it feels like I haven't touched a guitar in 6 months. Usually I'd find inspiration in the winter or spring every year to crank stuff out, but this past year, everything fell by the wayside. It sucks. Life gets in the way every time.

But lately I've been looking for a chance to dust and polish off all this equipment and work on something. It all starts with new drum heads. Remo Black Suedes. This isn't my kit, just a stock photo, but I hope these sound cool.

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I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

Bought a bunch of new switches for my Line 6 DL4 and new colored LEDs. Gonna take it apart and hopefully breathe new life into.
I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by mf »

Will wrote:Bought a bunch of new switches for my Line 6 DL4 and new colored LEDs. Gonna take it apart and hopefully breathe new life into.
have you considered any other mods? the DL4 is a pretty heavily modded pedal so there are tons out there

https://reverb.com/blog/7-best-dl-4-mods
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

mf wrote:
Will wrote:Bought a bunch of new switches for my Line 6 DL4 and new colored LEDs. Gonna take it apart and hopefully breathe new life into.
have you considered any other mods? the DL4 is a pretty heavily modded pedal so there are tons out there

https://reverb.com/blog/7-best-dl-4-mods
Yeah, I'd love to do them all if I could. There are some sick ways to enhance it all. I swapped out all the BS stock switches that inevitably crap out with soft touch SPST ones that are now used in the Line 6 M series pedals and it works like a dream. The only hitch is now the tap tempo light doesn't sync with my foot anymore, even after swapping the stock red LED back in. That, and the green LED I added isn't as luminescent as the blue, white, and red ones. Oh well. At least its fun to play again.

If I could, I'd add all the other fun switches. We'll see.

Guitar Center has a huge cut on pedals. I just ordered the MXR Variphase for $80. They usually sell for twice that at best.
I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

Has anyone ever had any tech work done on a tube amp? I had tubes replaced on my Mesa years ago. I swapped out the old generic ones for actual Mesa Boogie EL84's and while the amp works and produces solid sound, there's a faint burning/plastic smell coming from the back. Looking online, people seem to think its fairly common for this to happen or think the preamp 12AX7's have to be replaced too. I powered everything off in order to avoid totally screwing something up. Just curious if anyone has ever had any experiences or heard of anything similar.
I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Strat »

Will wrote:Has anyone ever had any tech work done on a tube amp? I had tubes replaced on my Mesa years ago. I swapped out the old generic ones for actual Mesa Boogie EL84's and while the amp works and produces solid sound, there's a faint burning/plastic smell coming from the back. Looking online, people seem to think its fairly common for this to happen or think the preamp 12AX7's have to be replaced too. I powered everything off in order to avoid totally screwing something up. Just curious if anyone has ever had any experiences or heard of anything similar.

I sometimes times get that smell running my Twin Reverb for a long period of time. Ive never really worried about it but its happened to me. I just let it cool off. Is the amp getting enough air flow through the back?
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

Strat wrote:
Will wrote:Has anyone ever had any tech work done on a tube amp? I had tubes replaced on my Mesa years ago. I swapped out the old generic ones for actual Mesa Boogie EL84's and while the amp works and produces solid sound, there's a faint burning/plastic smell coming from the back. Looking online, people seem to think its fairly common for this to happen or think the preamp 12AX7's have to be replaced too. I powered everything off in order to avoid totally screwing something up. Just curious if anyone has ever had any experiences or heard of anything similar.

I sometimes times get that smell running my Twin Reverb for a long period of time. Ive never really worried about it but its happened to me. I just let it cool off. Is the amp getting enough air flow through the back?
Yeah, its an open back F-30 combo. I know that amp smell sometimes comes from dust and tubes. Without taking the chassis out I can shine a flashlight in and see no sign of melted plastic or smoke. Its probably nothing. Maybe a bad tube. But buying new Mesa tubes (6 total) runs $100. I'll bite the bullet if I have to, but would rather save that. I'll put the generic tubes back in later and see what happens.
I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by mf »

Strat wrote:
Will wrote:Has anyone ever had any tech work done on a tube amp? I had tubes replaced on my Mesa years ago. I swapped out the old generic ones for actual Mesa Boogie EL84's and while the amp works and produces solid sound, there's a faint burning/plastic smell coming from the back. Looking online, people seem to think its fairly common for this to happen or think the preamp 12AX7's have to be replaced too. I powered everything off in order to avoid totally screwing something up. Just curious if anyone has ever had any experiences or heard of anything similar.
I sometimes times get that smell running my Twin Reverb for a long period of time. Ive never really worried about it but its happened to me. I just let it cool off. Is the amp getting enough air flow through the back?
Air flow is definitely important. And like others have said, it's usually good practice to replace all your tubes at the same time if you can afford it. Usually tube failure is accompanied by noise, microphonics or red plating. If you aren't getting any unusual noise then take a look at your tubes after they've been running for a while. A tube that is red plating will be fairly obvious. That could account for a smell since it's running a LOT hotter than normal and is probably about to fail. And they do tend to smell in my experience.

Image


If that doesn't seem to be the case and you're still concerned about it then you might want to either take it to a tech to have it looked at. Or if you're comfortable taking apart the chassis it might not hurt to get in there and have a look and see if there are any scorch marks on the PCB or components. Just be careful not to touch any capacitors. I don't know what kind of amp you have, but i can remove my Dual Rectifier chassis from the headshell with about 6 screws.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by mf »

Picked up a couple of new pedals over the past week.

A shockingly good digital delay from one of those ultra-cheap Chinese knockoff companies. My buddy was cleaning house of some pedals so I took this one off his hands for $25. I think i read somewhere that this was supposedly a clone of a Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay. If that's true, getting one for a tenth of the price is pretty cool.
Image

Also managed to score a good deal on a used Electric Mistress at the guitar store. It's a noisy fucking thing (like most flangers) and it's got a fairly noticeable volume drop so i don't know if i'll be able to play live with it without a mod or a volume booster but it is a still a nice sounding pedal. Might take up residence on my stay-at-home pedalboard. My live rig is pretty simple these days anyways. Wah, EQ, delay and reverb.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

Those are cool. Nice finds. This showed up in the mail the other day and I've been using it daily. I've always wanted a Rotovibe, or the Fulltone Deja-Vibe, but didn't want to spend close to $200 for one. This was the next alternative after a huge price slash. Its buffered, but its essentially the Phase 90/45 sound in a wah. Been playing a lot of Pink Floyd with it.

MXR Variphase:
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I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by mf »

that is friggin cool.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

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Picked up an Epi LP Special on my way home, tonight. I just stopped for some strings, but I saw it and it was $99. $99? I thought it'd be a piece of rubbish, but for that price I couldn't not try it. I was pleasantly surprised and didn't leave without it. Always wanted some P90s.

Got it in black... http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone/Le ... 1183322.gc
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

Self wrote:Picked up an Epi LP Special on my way home, tonight. I just stopped for some strings, but I saw it and it was $99. $99? I thought it'd be a piece of rubbish, but for that price I couldn't not try it. I was pleasantly surprised and didn't leave without it. Always wanted some P90s.

Got it in black... http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone/Le ... 1183322.gc
Sweet. P90s sound so good. :thumbsup:
I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Self »

Tuners are junk, but otherwise it's worth every penny. The range of tone is impressive, even with the single controls. It's got serious twang, if you want it.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by Will »

I don't really drum all that much anymore because of a bad back, but I saw a late holiday steal in a store and snagged this today.

I might be able to get to an E-bow.
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Re: Gearhead Thread

Post by mf »

Nice. I too snagged up a holiday deal. Because you can never have too many amps, especially when they are on sale for half price :bammer: .


Orange TH100. 100 watts switchable down to 70/50/30. Two channels. Simple and hopefully effective.

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