Guitar Megathread - learn-share-talk-lessons-tips-fun

[rollerball]

If you're gonna spend that kind of money do you really want to spend it on something that was broken and glued back together?

[VTheKing]

If you're gonna spend that kind of money do you really want to spend it on something that was broken and glued back together?

if it plays it plays ya know? but I guess I can't actually play it until I buy it so you're right. I'd have to bring it over the border so by the time I have it home it'd be almost 1500 USD/2000 CAD spent.

fuk

Fender releases like three different shades of green for a given year's Telecaster lineup but you have to be a fukkin archaeologist to find a nice green Gibson SG.

[Dominik]

What was the preamp and the solid state amp?

Back in the day I used all kinds of stuff. ADA. Triaxis. Hafler. Marshall had a preamp. However what I always wanted was the Soldano X88.

This man has all the good stuff.

[Bando]

Would there be a simple fix to an electric/acoustic Ibanez with original built in pickups being scratchy and nasty? Amp and cable are fine. If I play the electric/acoustic through the amp for 1/2 hour, the static is 95% gone.

[Dominik]

Would there be a simple fix to an electric/acoustic Ibanez with original built in pickups being scratchy and nasty? Amp and cable are fine. If I play the electric/acoustic through the amp for 1/2 hour, the static is 95% gone.

I'd replace the preamp battery first and assuming it's static try a dryer sheet (same ones that are used for clothes) to see if that gets rid of the static.

As always there's a video. In his case it was pickguard static.

[Bando]

OK I'll that a try but it crackles even when not touching the pickgaurd, watched a couple other vids on deoxidizing the electrical components will likely be my last step before bringing to a shop. 1st thing I did was put in a fresh battery.

[Dominik]

OK I'll that a try but it crackles even when not touching the pickgaurd, watched a couple other vids on deoxidizing the electrical components will likely be my last step before bringing to a shop. 1st thing I did was put in a fresh battery.

What model is it?

[Dominik]

A few things that come to mind when it comes to troubleshooting noise. I've never had broken pickups but experienced everything else over the years doing all my own work.

• Noisy pots and switches that either need to be replaced or cleaned with a contact cleaner like Deoxit.
• Bad output jack. Dirty, corroded, or simply needs to be replaced.
• Grounding issues. Incorrect wiring or connections can short on conductive shielding. Loose bridge ground wire.
• Dry/cold solder joints that were poorly soldered. Poor quality solder, no flux, or wires moved as the solder cooled.
• Broken pickups. Single coil pickups are more fragile due to exposed magnets and in vintage designs exposed coil wire but any pickup can go bad especially in extreme conditions exposed to a lot of corrosive sweat, etc.
• Poor to non-existent shielding. Conductive paint can stop working over time or not work at all. I prefer 3M conductive copper tape with conductive adhesive inside the entire cavity and back of the cover with continuity between both and check continuity with a multimeter.

[SwimToTheMoon]

I've been obsessively learning SRV chit for the past week, dude was truly a one of a kind monster player.. Made me realize my hand stamina is chit and that i'm a pussy for using 10 gauge strings

[Dominik]

I've been obsessively learning SRV chit for the past week, dude was truly a one of a kind monster player.. Made me realize my hand stamina is chit and that i'm a pussy for using 10 gauge strings

Nothing wrong with 10s if you're comfortable with them.

People love to exaggerate the superhuman strength of the man's lumberjack hands. He played a pack of 11s tuned down half a step with a .013 on the top and a .058 on the bottom. Most of the big bending like all blues players was on the B and G strings which is not far off the tension of your 10-46 in standard.



In other words move up to 11-49 and replace the top and bottom with a .012 and .054 respectively and you'll be playing with similar tension. If SRV really wanted to play heavy he'd have used a 12 or 13 gauge set replacing only the 3rd with a plain .020-.026.

For some perspective Holdsworth and Malmsteen played 8s. Allan's tone in particular sounded huge and never thin.

[cjmadscientist]

I've been obsessively learning SRV chit for the past week, dude was truly a one of a kind monster player.. Made me realize my hand stamina is chit and that i'm a pussy for using 10 gauge strings

SRV's sound, with that gigantic tone on the bottom strings, got me hooked on 6L6 cleans. I've started putting light top/heavy bottom strings on all my guitars and I can't help but grin when you get down low and really hit those strings hard. He was amazing at doing that (amps cranked to abnormal levels probably helped too)

this video always gets me ready to play, and it's just him at soundcheck....force of f**king nature

[SwimToTheMoon]

Nothing wrong with 10s if you're comfortable with them.

People love to exaggerate the superhuman strength of the man's lumberjack hands. He played a pack of 11s tuned down half a step with a .013 on the top and a .058 on the bottom. Most of the big bending like all blues players was on the B and G strings which is not far off the tension of your 10-46 in standard.



In other words move up to 11-49 and replace the top and bottom with a .012 and .054 respectively and you'll be playing with similar tension. If SRV really wanted to play heavy he'd have used a 12 or 13 gauge set replacing only the 3rd with a plain .020-.026.

For some perspective Holdsworth and Malmsteen played 8s. Allan's tone in particular sounded huge and never thin.

Just ordered a chitload of different individual strings, gonna try that out

[Bando]

What model is it?

he headed out with it at 12:15 am last night and hasn't been home with it since, will check back when the traveling minstrel returns

[Dominik]

Just ordered a chitload of different individual strings, gonna try that out

Only issue with heavier wound strings might be the nut slots. I'd imagine that Suhr nut was filed precisely for whatever it came with.

SRV's sound, with that gigantic tone on the bottom strings, got me hooked on 6L6 cleans. I've started putting light top/heavy bottom strings on all my guitars and I can't help but grin when you get down low and really hit those strings hard. He was amazing at doing that (amps cranked to abnormal levels probably helped too)

this video always gets me ready to play, and it's just him at soundcheck....force of f**king nature

Awesome. The first song I heard was Riviera Paradise but it was on the radio late at night so I had no idea who it was until a year later when I got In Step and heard the last track. Today I can hear where he's totally lost after it changes key and keeps banging on the wrong note with conviction but somehow still makes it work.

Some people are firmly entrenched in the Gibson and Fender camps and only like their respective sounds. I love a warm fat LP into a Marshall tone just as much as a sparkly clean Strat into a loud Super Reverb. I guess the more important question is on quieter stages these days what would he be playing today?

We were talking about Soldano the other day. Here's the amp he built for SRV right before he died. 2:50



Edit: goes into more detail but damn how do you let this legendary amp builder kneel while discussing his amps? Cringeworthy.

[Dominik]

[VTheKing]

Whenever I see this type of straty instrumental I can't focus on the song because I keep wondering how much time the guitarist must've spent trying to settle on the right tone then mixing.

[Dominik]

Whenever I see this type of straty instrumental I can't focus on the song because I keep wondering how much time the guitarist must've spent trying to settle on the right tone then mixing.

Sounds great to me but there's a metric fukton of compression on that clean tone. Andy Timmons does the same thing.

She must be happy playing with Vinnie Colaiuta. They don't come any better.

[rollerball]

So I had originally purchased the used Friedman Small Box from Guitar Center for $1995 but then had that reduced by $200 bucks after it arrived with its faceplate malformed (which I subsequently easily fixed so it looked perfect again).
After that I noticed that it was having volume fluctuations which I emailed Friedman about and he basically insisted I send it over to him and he would go over it and make sure it was perfect in addition to giving it reliability updates.
Shipping turned out to be painful as two days in a row no one was at the shop to receive that amp. When the amp arrived the headshell was broken apart apparently, Friedman surmised, due to having screws missing in the headshell when it was originally sold to me, but I'm pretty sure Fed Ex didn't help things as I had packed the amp quite well. As one might imagine I was pretty stressed by all that occurred to this amp that I would have simply returned before going through these types of troubles.
So Friedman himself went over the amp to make sure it was functionally perfect, retuned it to current reliability specs as it was a 2015 model, retubed/rebiased the amp with brand new el34s, added a saturation switch mod that boosted both channels for higher gain, put the amp in a new head shell, and put it in a factory correct shipping box with padding all for just $200 shipping included. I'm pretty sure just getting new tubes and having them rebiased by a local technician can run close to $200 and the fact that Friedman did all this himself is really impressive customer service. And I had bought the amp used which Friedman had known beforehand.
On one side you have companies like Gibson and Echopark while on the other you have companies like Suhr and Friedman. It's pretty clear to me where one should be investing their money.

[Dominik]

Awesome service mang. Glad it worked out. I've watched at least 100 hours of his tone talk videos and he's in the business for the right reasons and has a real passion for it like Suhr. That's why it doesn't surprise me that both you and Swim have had great customer service experiences.

Edit: I had a great CS experience with Two Notes. It came with a faulty micro SD card for IR storage that stopped the unit booting up. Got back to me straight away with detailed answers and sent a replacement card from France even though I didn't need it. Never had to deal with the retailer.

[rollerball]

Considering how hot both companies are right now it really stands out that the owners of the respective companies are so hands on with customer service. They must be super busy at all times with customers and their needs.
Yeah, I can't imagine that sort of service without a passion for the work.
What sort of stuff does he talk about in his tone talk? Super technical things like "mustard caps" and stuff like that?

Also can I see your pedal board again? I'm probably gonna sell the HX Stomp for like $500 or so and put that towards actual pedals. Thinking of getting a Timmy to start with.

[Dominik]

Everything. Sometimes they're talking about their favorite scotch. The one with Suhr and Pete Thorn is worth watching. Some great stories and insights into the business. It's like hanging out with them for a few hours. Completely unfiltered.

Watch it in stages like half an hour here and there. I've learned a lot listening to that stuff.

Edit: re: board will post something when I get home.

[rollerball]

I'm trying to figure out what I need and what will fit on my pedal board. I'm gonna try to sell my OCD V1.3 pedal as well as the HX Stomp.
So far what I'd like is a Timmy, maybe a King of Tone, a small tuner that's true bypass, a decent delay pedal, a decent reverb pedal, and maybe that new boss synthesizer pedal for chits and giggles.

[ctgblue]

This is one of my favorites. Jess was 17 at the time, right after Jamtracks signed her.

[cjmadscientist]

Only issue with heavier wound strings might be the nut slots. I'd imagine that Suhr nut was filed precisely for whatever it came with.

Awesome. The first song I heard was Riviera Paradise but it was on the radio late at night so I had no idea who it was until a year later when I got In Step and heard the last track. Today I can hear where he's totally lost after it changes key and keeps banging on the wrong note with conviction but somehow still makes it work.

Some people are firmly entrenched in the Gibson and Fender camps and only like their respective sounds. I love a warm fat LP into a Marshall tone just as much as a sparkly clean Strat into a loud Super Reverb. I guess the more important question is on quieter stages these days what would he be playing today?

We were talking about Soldano the other day. Here's the amp he built for SRV right before he died. 2:50



Edit: goes into more detail but damn how do you let this legendary amp builder kneel while discussing his amps? Cringeworthy.

man, I can't even imagine the tones SRV could have gotten from a Soldano...everyone sounds huge using them, which means he would have been a goddamn bulldozer with it


but seriously, the man is in his 60s and shouldn't have to kneel to do an interview...wtf

[Dominik]

I'm trying to figure out what I need and what will fit on my pedal board. I'm gonna try to sell my OCD V1.3 pedal as well as the HX Stomp.
So far what I'd like is a Timmy, maybe a King of Tone, a small tuner that's true bypass, a decent delay pedal, a decent reverb pedal, and maybe that new boss synthesizer pedal for chits and giggles.

Look forward to seeing how you go with this. Sounds like a good plan. My 2 cents...

Spoiler!

Tuner: Turbo Tuner ST-300 strobe tuner would be my choice. I wouldn't even look at anything else personally. I have the mini version. The only difference is there's no buffer so it mutes the signal when it's on. There are ways around this.

Clean boost: Timmy, RC Booster V2 which is just a repackaged Scott Henderson model, Greer Lightspeed, TC Spark Booster. I like stuff that is built to last so I'd avoid TC. I use the RC Booster V2 and run it at 18V.

re: King of Tone the waiting list is now over 2 years. If you like that kind of Marshall Bluesbreaker circuit I'd go with the Prince of Tone or the Snouse Blackbox OD2 with the external switches. I got one at the start of the year before the waiting list blew out to 5 months. The good news is in a few weeks he's doing a run of them in white.

For a delay in an amp's effects loop I'd personally be happy with a Boss DD-2/DD-3. Of course if you want presets that's where you have to look at the Strymon Timeline, Boss DD-500, etc. Or just use your Axe-FX II for the ultimate solution and maybe just run an expression pedal out to your board to control the delay level.

Here's what my pedalboard looked like pre-Two Notes.



The Empress ParaEQ, Boss RV-6, and EHX power amp are all gone. EP Booster is now hidden under the board along with a 3 band parametric EQ.

They all made way for Two Notes x 2 for two double miked cabs in stereo, a stereo volume pedal, and another Strymon DIG.

[Dominik]

This is one of my favorites. Jess was 17 at the time, right after Jamtracks signed her.

It's just a pair of hands on some strings so it shouldn't matter but it's great that talented female players are getting attention and inspiring more kids to pick up a guitar. The other day I read that Ed Sheeran grossed some ridiculous amount from his last tour surpassing U2 and while I don't listen to his music I'm pleased that at a time when a lot of music is generated by computers there are still millions of people out there paying money to be entertained by only a guitar and a voice.

man, I can't even imagine the tones SRV could have gotten from a Soldano...everyone sounds huge using them, which means he would have been a goddamn bulldozer with it

but seriously, the man is in his 60s and shouldn't have to kneel to do an interview...wtf

Mike is too humble. Could you imagine PRS kneeling for an interview like that? He also made it sound like SRV had no idea who he was. Every guitarist back then had heard of Soldano.



You mentioned Warren Haynes who gets an incredible sound from them. Gary Moore played a SLO for a while in the 90s and Knopfler and Clapton had one. Would have been really interesting to hear SRV playing it. His style might have evolved to use more gain and maybe he'd be switching between amps like Eric Johnson with Super Reverbs/Dumbles for the clean stuff and then hit everyone with a big juicy SLO.

[SwimToTheMoon]

So I had originally purchased the used Friedman Small Box from Guitar Center for $1995 but then had that reduced by $200 bucks after it arrived with its faceplate malformed (which I subsequently easily fixed so it looked perfect again).
After that I noticed that it was having volume fluctuations which I emailed Friedman about and he basically insisted I send it over to him and he would go over it and make sure it was perfect in addition to giving it reliability updates.
Shipping turned out to be painful as two days in a row no one was at the shop to receive that amp. When the amp arrived the headshell was broken apart apparently, Friedman surmised, due to having screws missing in the headshell when it was originally sold to me, but I'm pretty sure Fed Ex didn't help things as I had packed the amp quite well. As one might imagine I was pretty stressed by all that occurred to this amp that I would have simply returned before going through these types of troubles.
So Friedman himself went over the amp to make sure it was functionally perfect, retuned it to current reliability specs as it was a 2015 model, retubed/rebiased the amp with brand new el34s, added a saturation switch mod that boosted both channels for higher gain, put the amp in a new head shell, and put it in a factory correct shipping box with padding all for just $200 shipping included. I'm pretty sure just getting new tubes and having them rebiased by a local technician can run close to $200 and the fact that Friedman did all this himself is really impressive customer service. And I had bought the amp used which Friedman had known beforehand.
On one side you have companies like Gibson and Echopark while on the other you have companies like Suhr and Friedman. It's pretty clear to me where one should be investing their money.

Post some recordings *******, nobody posting their playing anymore... I want to hear what that Friedman sounds like then try to copy it on my pod I mean axe fx

[rollerball]

Look forward to seeing how you go with this. Sounds like a good plan. My 2 cents...

Spoiler!

Tuner: Turbo Tuner ST-300 strobe tuner would be my choice. I wouldn't even look at anything else personally. I have the mini version. The only difference is there's no buffer so it mutes the signal when it's on. There are ways around this.

Clean boost: Timmy, RC Booster V2 which is just a repackaged Scott Henderson model, Greer Lightspeed, TC Spark Booster. I like stuff that is built to last so I'd avoid TC. I use the RC Booster V2 and run it at 18V.

re: King of Tone the waiting list is now over 2 years. If you like that kind of Marshall Bluesbreaker circuit I'd go with the Prince of Tone or the Snouse Blackbox OD2 with the external switches. I got one at the start of the year before the waiting list blew out to 5 months. The good news is in a few weeks he's doing a run of them in white.

For a delay in an amp's effects loop I'd personally be happy with a Boss DD-2/DD-3. Of course if you want presets that's where you have to look at the Strymon Timeline, Boss DD-500, etc. Or just use your Axe-FX II for the ultimate solution and maybe just run an expression pedal out to your board to control the delay level.

Here's what my pedalboard looked like pre-Two Notes.



The Empress ParaEQ, Boss RV-6, and EHX power amp are all gone. EP Booster is now hidden under the board along with a 3 band parametric EQ.

They all made way for Two Notes x 2 for two double miked cabs in stereo, a stereo volume pedal, and another Strymon DIG.

Turbo Tuner eh? I'll look into it, I was thinking about that Peterson Strobo Tuner.
I was thinking either the Timmy or the Xotic booster for a clean boost.
I actually got on the KoT waiting list years ago and my spot came up so I can order one now.
In terms of reverbs/delay - I'm a little green when it comes to these effects as I've only ever used them sparingly.

That whole setup and the Fender with the dark tolex chassis looks classy as fukk. What's the Magnum for though?

When it comes to the Axe-FX II my problem is simple but glaring one - physically where the fukk do I put it in relation to the 2x12 cab and the tube head? It doesn't sit well between the cab and the amp, and it looks retarded sitting on top of the head.

Post some recordings *******, nobody posting their playing anymore... I want to hear what that Friedman sounds like then try to copy it on my pod I mean axe fx

Listening to a recording probably won't make much difference, it's the FEEL of the amp and the way it RESPONDS in comparison to the Axe-FX II that stands out.
I'm still in my honeymoon period with the Friedman Small Box though, so let's see how it is after I've had it for awhile. Sometimes I get too distracted by the novelty of a new item to properly assess it.

[Dominik]

Turbo Tuner eh? I'll look into it, I was thinking about that Peterson Strobo Tuner.
I was thinking either the Timmy or the Xotic booster for a clean boost.
I actually got on the KoT waiting list years ago and my spot came up so I can order one now.
In terms of reverbs/delay - I'm a little green when it comes to these effects as I've only ever used them sparingly.

That whole setup and the Fender with the dark tolex chassis looks classy as fukk. What's the Magnum for though?

When it comes to the Axe-FX II my problem is simple but glaring one - physically where the fukk do I put it in relation to the 2x12 cab and the tube head? It doesn't sit well between the cab and the amp, and it looks retarded sitting on top of the head.

I'm a fan of rack gear but I get where you're coming from. Something I've found is with the right delay you can have a darker wash behind the notes that takes the place of reverb.

re: 44 Magnum pedal the cabinet in that photo is just a Fender 1x12 extension cabinet but it's made of pine and has the same speaker as the Deluxe Reverb. So I powered it with the Magnum the same way you'd power a cab with your Duncan PowerStage. About 20 watts of clean power. I designed that rig so I could run it into any modern amp with an effects return if I needed more power. Now with the stereo Two Notes setup I don't need a cabinet.

Getting back to your pedalboard I think you'd want a delay with presets like a Strymon Timeline or Boss DD-500. You could also squeeze a mini Ibanez analog delay in there as well. For reverb a Boss RV-6, MXR M300, or Neunaber Immerse would get my vote. I think those larger reverb pedals are overkill once you have a decent delay. Mine was barely on. re: boost you may as well get the KoT pedal because you'll make money selling it. Look at used prices.

[cjmadscientist]

Turbo Tuner eh? I'll look into it, I was thinking about that Peterson Strobo Tuner.

I can also vouch for Turbo Tuner. Thing is built like a f**king tank. I have a peterson also, but I prefer the TT on my board.