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Messages - Guitar74

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31
The Pickup Place / Re: Michael Frank Braun HSX Circuit Impressions
« on: May 05, 2021, 07:28:51 AM »
Great review and analysis. I am going to check out the article link. Premier has had some good pedal modding articles that have proven to be a very good jumping off point for my personal pedal mods so I expect that the article you posted will be just as helpful.

32
Center Stage / Re: Center Stage? Then let's see some stage!
« on: May 04, 2021, 04:24:56 PM »
Nice. I miss Kix. Love that song.

A piece from when I played with a group in Tennessee. Was the last show I did with them. They told me to go out front and prop a foot on the monitor for the outro solo, so I did. They proceeded to complain about me doing what they asked me to do so I resigned at the next rehearsal. It was actually the last live show I did besides the orchestral shows. It was at the Palace Theater in Crossville, TN (a great venue by the way. Pay to play, but if you can fill the house like we did at $10 per ticket you walk away with $4000 for a 2 hr show minus the rental which is $250. That and there is no alcohol so the people show up to hear you play not for background noise while they get inebriated). I am actually still friends with those guys. We just couldn't play together without two guys fighting for leadership and nobody actually leading.

My trusty Big Apple Strat with the stock PG+ and '59. The outro is from an electric version of Guy Clark's "The Guitar".


33
Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: The Norton
« on: May 03, 2021, 04:21:59 PM »
I think one of the best descriptions of the Norton that I heard was "It sort of keeps everything you love about a Duncan JB and gets rid of the things you hate about a Duncan JB". I would tend to agree with that. It's like a JB with a little less of that upper mid spike that you either love or hate. At least to my ears.

34
I DID get pretty belligerent in defense of someone else who was sort of being picked on because he preferred a Duncan '59 over a Lollar and got brow beaten over it. So I sort of threw my dog in someone else's fight and was less than diplomatic in doing so. I was in a mood, and after seeing four or five snobby comments to the guy sort of peeved people off. Oh well, at that point it was mutual. 

35
The Pickup Place / Re: Bobbins cracked
« on: April 26, 2021, 06:22:20 AM »
That's crazy that it's characteristic. I noticed the biggest amount of the crack widening after we moved to TN from GA. It's much more humid in GA.

36
The Pickup Place / Re: Patent numbers gone...
« on: April 24, 2021, 10:55:13 AM »
I also like when said manufacturers use a design that DiMarzio invented and patented, and then go on an internet rant about how unfair DiMarzio is for getting bent out of shape when they call them out on claiming an invention or process that wasn't their own.

37
Center Stage / Re: Reborn
« on: April 24, 2021, 10:49:05 AM »
Yet another great tune. I loved the video as well. The only thing? The older lady looking back reminded me of the Denzel movie "Fallen" where the demon would pass from person to person by touch. It reminded me of the scene where it passes from person to person right in front of him and settles on a old guy who turns around confronts him and then looks at him with the same grin as this old lady. She creeped me out, man. I hope it's not a relative.

You do some very nice work, and I think the video suits your song, which I love. That would be a great tune to listen to while I'm cruising the back roads in my '68 Cougar. Just loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to drown out the sound of that small block v8 at full roar. Just a great I'm gonna take a drive and clear my head tune. You gotta keep them coming.

38
I get it. I just kind of get annoyed at the same old "story" you get from the endorsees about he newest product they are using. But hey, without that marketing there are a bunch of things that I love that I probably would have either missed or at least not tried. Worst marketing ever? The ads for the Boss Turbo Distortion. No description just a 80s metal chick in a shirt that didn't fit. Got my attention when I was 13, but I never had any idea what the Turbo Distortion actually did. Does it go from zero to fully distorted quicker than any other? I finally tried one and found it to be kind of a hidden gem in their lineup. footswitchable rhythm and lead settings.

39
Gear Closet / Re: And my present to myself
« on: April 24, 2021, 10:29:57 AM »
I had two rack systems at different times, and wish I still had both. I had the ADA, and I also had a Digitech Twin Tube preamp. They were both very good. I got the ADA for CHEAP ($75) and thought to myself, "Is this going to sound as good as I remember? Or I am looking at the past through rose colored glasses?" No. The ADA is that good. I think the Digitech was a tad more versatile due to the graphic EQ, but the ADA is a great sounding preamp. I don't think you'll find one for the deal that I got, but they can be had for a reasonable price. Just get the changeable battery mod for the memory.

I had to open it up and re-adjust the gain trim pots because someone had it so dialed back that you had to dime the gain which is not the case with an MP-1. But alas, I am here in Atlanta where everyone is seemingly trying to be the Allman Bros. reincarnated. Not a bad goal to shoot for, but it doesn't have to be VERY guitarist you see either. So I think someone dialed the trim pots way back instead of just adjusting the gain from the front panel. There are some very good in between, and semi distorted tones in these tings as well. It just takes a little experimentation.

Although I have never owned one, I have heard more than a couple of the Marshall JMP-1s and they sound pretty darn good too. I would say that you might also want to look at a Digitech Twin Tube as well. It's a pretty good sounding unit that also has delay, flange, chorus, and either a 7 or 9 band graphic eq. You can pretty much get anything from a Mesa Boogie to a hot rodded Marshall with it as well as some nice cleans and on the verge tones. The only problem I had when I first bought it was that I thought you could run the effects simultaneously. You can't. It's an either or. Oh well. Quadraverb to the rescue!


40
The Pickup Place / Bobbins cracked
« on: April 24, 2021, 09:10:52 AM »
So many moons ago, around 2010 I believe, I noticed the pickups in the trusty 'ole Big Apple Strat had what looked like black ink splats on the mtops of the bobbins. Upon closer inspection I found that the bobbins had cracked in a diagonal line from the high e slug to the low e slug. I called SD and they assured me that this was normal (never been the case with any other pickups in ANY other guitar), and that it wouldn't affect anything.

What's funny is as the cracks continue to open the pickups become more and more microphonic, as well as a subtle change of tone over time. Now when I listen back to recordings and use the same settings (yes I write them down in a notepad to keep things consistent), this guitar sounds nothing like it did 10, 12, and 15 yrs ago. Now I know that magnets will "soften" over time, but I can't help but think that having open areas around the slugs is contributing to the change.

So I would like some input on this if anyone has had this experience regardless of brand, as well as some suggestions because I also think that it is time for a pickup change (I know I had said in an earlier post that the '59 PG+ wouldn't leave this guitar, but after listening to older recordings, what endeared me to the tone is pretty much gone). I still want to go with a more vintage wind setup on this guitar to keep it versatile.

I am thinking PAF 36th in the bridge because at least output wise it seems to be in the ballpark of the PG+. I would like a suggestion for a neck pickup. Maybe not too far off of the '59 vibe. There is an almost single coil quality to this pickup that gets that sort of Yngwieish neck pickup tone that I love. I would, however not mind getting rid of a touch of the boominess that the '59 has. Also, aesthetically, I like to have pickups match (slug and screw). It's just an OCD thing for me. That last one isn't a have to, but it's what I prefer.

I don't want to high of an output because a) my amps have enough gain to compensate and b) This is my gigging desert island guitar so I need to have a good tonal compromise of humbucking and passable single coil tones. I am not that worried about too much volume drop when I split because I either run an ADA preamp, or when I drop the pedal board I pretty much have my compressor as an always on pedal.

41
Guitar Lounge / Re: Appreciation for Fret Work
« on: April 23, 2021, 12:17:31 PM »
I couldn't agree more. Fret leveling, recrowning, and just replacing them, at least to me, is a daunting task that I am neither patient enough for, nor good enough at to even begin to attempt it on any of my axes. I see why a re-fret job is so expensive compared to getting a new neck. It's work, skilled work, that justifies a premium price.

42
The Pickup Place / Re: Dimarzio tech support MIA?
« on: April 23, 2021, 12:12:32 PM »
Awesome to hear they're back! I think I need to send some coin their way.

43
I don't have one in anything presently. But everything that I have heard one in sounds terrific. I think the tone snobs are just trying to justify spending way too much on a magnet, coils, wire, and pole pieces. The other point that I would like to make is that many guys who were around during the early P.A.F. era all say the same thing: The only thing consistent about those vintage PAF pickups was the inconsistency. I always have to laugh when they try to wax philosophical on why the $300 slightly underwound PAF they bout that was wound with pixie dust farted straight out of a fairy's behind, and unobtainium magnets that were blessed by Gandolph the Grey, wound on someone's sewing machine that was dipped in the same pool that Achilles mother dipped him in to make him indestructible are SOOOOOO much better than a Dimarzio, or a Duncan. Aren't the same techniques the boutique winders are using being employed on the cheap overseas pickups that sound like garbage?

Sorry. That's why I got booted off of TGP.

44
The mini bar (off topic & misc) / Re: Good Therapy
« on: April 23, 2021, 11:34:41 AM »
Just got my recording pedal board back together with another bypass switcher so it is on this weekend!

45
The mini bar (off topic & misc) / Re: Peavey....WTF?
« on: April 23, 2021, 11:33:54 AM »
I still have an old Bandit 75 combo that gets used at rehearsals and small gigs. I just put a pedal board in front of it and let 'er rip. I also have a silver strip Special 212 that I use for other things. Sounds good, powerful, reliable and no having to deal with the obligatory tube issues, or drunks spilling beer on it. the expensive tube amps stay home. BUT.....I have had many a jazz cat around here try and offer me stupid money for the silver stripe. They LOVE that amp. I had no idea. What it became before they dropped it was a very low quality copy.

It was after I saw this happening as a music retailer that I saw the Undercover Boss episode. Hartley's son, I believe, inherited it when Hartley got out of it and basically started running the company into the ground. He made all sorts of promises in front of the cameras to employees who had been there since the 70s and earlier that they would never move manufacturing out of this country, etc. And then once the lights from the cameras weren't on him, he did exactly what he said he wouldn't do. It was then that I REALLY noticed the quality taking a nose dive. I still have my old Peavy gear, but seeing where they are heading, the lack of concern about actually connecting with customers, and the fact that they pretty much dropped their mid range gear in favor of trying to do more high end, and only keeping the crap that doesn't sound good to a beginner in the lower end is just a recipe for disaster. And at this point, Peavey's son deserves it.

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