Guitar |OT| If you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded

treble · May 13, 2019

Solaire of Astora said:
Details/pics or it didn't happen.

Although I've heard of people getting Gibson to honour them before, so it may just depend on what kind of relationship your dealer has with Gibson.

It was this guitar:

I originally posted about it last year. This 335 developed a crack in the upper bout. It took me since about July 2018 to get them to honour the warranty, and I sent it out last week - complete with RMA, couldn't believe it.

Apparently I should get a brand new guitar in 3-6 months. I'm not going to believe it until it is in hand though ;)

Solaire of Astora · May 13, 2019

treble said:
It was this guitar:

I originally posted about it last year. This 335 developed a crack in the upper bout. It took me since about July 2018 to get them to honour the warranty, and I sent it out last week - complete with RMA, couldn't believe it.

Apparently I should get a brand new guitar in 3-6 months. I'm not going to believe it until it is in hand though ;)

Nice guitar. Shame you had to go through all that. How old is it? I believe some stores will facilitate a warranty replacement where you get your new guitar quickly, providing they have one in stock. Too late for that now, though.

Here's a little picture of my guitar collection. Crappy phone photo will have to do. I haven't seen our camera since we moved last year.

The white custom is a 2002 and is my favourite by some margin. Might just be because I'm a huge Randy Rhoads fan. It has yellowed really nicely on the back and sides, but the top has only yellowed a little. The black Custom is a new addition. I got it used for a song last month. Couldn't pass it up. It's probably my second favourite, but maybe I'm still in the honeymoon period. It has the dreaded richlite fretboard, which I can't really say bothers me. Just made it cheaper on the secondhand market. The Pelham blue classic is the best sounding by far, because P90s are amazing, but the neck is just too thin for my liking. The Cherry burst one is a 2003 standard. I bought it new back in the day and it has seen a ton of use, some mods and quite a bit of wear and tear. Don't play it so much nowadays because the neck is a little on the thin side for my liking. Not as bad as the classic, though.

Going to throw a PSA up in here. I've used Dunlop straplocks for 14 years and have never had any problems. I accidentally bought the wrong kind to put on my black custom and I ended up getting the fright of my life when the strap flew off the button on the upper bought, causing my custom to go flying towards the floor headstock-first.

Don't use these. ^^^

Use these ^^^. No problems with this design after 14 years of use on several guitars.

Deleted member 21411 · May 17, 2019

Rocksmith for 9 dollars was a steal so I went for it. So now I'm gonna be practicing with justin guitar, yousician (which honestly I find worth the money), and now rocksmith. I still have so much to learn, and I am terrible with ear training but I'm really enjoying this

Hero_of_the_Day · May 17, 2019

Solaire of Astora said:

Fucking beautiful. As much as I am a PRS guy, I am going to need a Les Paul Custom some day. That is what I always wanted in highschool. A black Epiphone custom was actually my first real guitar. I paid for half of it, and my parents covered the other half as my big Christmas gift for the year. I have some pretty amazing senior photos of me rocking a leather jacker, gelled up hair, and my Epi Custom.

I go back and forth between wanting a wine red or a white. I feel like I can't shred, so I am undeserving of a white one. All I think about when I see one is Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde. So, I feel like you are making a statement by pulling out a white one on stage.

Strangelove_77 · May 17, 2019

Ive been playing since I was a teenager and even to this day I am unable to 100% or somewhere close to 100% switch chords without fucking up and not reaching a finger or muting a string I wasn't supposed to. I'm even worse with barre chords, I can't even do a lot of them without looking down at the strings. My placement is almost always wrong. I just...cant.
I guess I should have gotten a teacher or something.

Kaiser Swayze · May 17, 2019

Strangelove77 said:
Ive been playing since I was a teenager and even to this day I am unable to 100% or somewhere close to 100% switch chords without fucking up and not reaching a finger or muting a string I wasn't supposed to. I'm even worse with barre chords, I can't even do a lot of them without looking down at the strings. My placement is almost always wrong. I just...cant.
I guess I should have gotten a teacher or something.

Have you focused any practice time specifically on chord changes? Justin's one-minute chord changes here are what helped me pin down chord changes that would trip up the flow in whatever song I might be learning. Also, are you playing acoustic? Maybe switching to electric or using lighter strings might make things a little easier.

Strangelove_77 · May 17, 2019

Kaiser Swayze said:
Have you focused any practice time specifically on chord changes? Justin's one-minute chord changes here are what helped me pin down chord changes that would trip up the flow in whatever song I might be learning. Also, are you playing acoustic? Maybe switching to electric or using lighter strings might make things a little easier.

Ill take a look at that site. I honestly haven't "practiced" since I was 14. I just felt that over time I would get it right. I guess I never took it seriously enough. Now that Im older I just wish I was actually good at a thing or two.
And I'm playing acoustic. Don't have an electric for the moment.

CrudeDiatribe · May 17, 2019

Strangelove77 said:
I just felt that over time I would get it right.

Most people have to practice. But it's pretty straight forward if boring: Play as slowly as needed to get each change right. Only increase the tempo when you are playing it cleanly.

Vas · May 18, 2019

Oh man, putting a noise gate after the Tube Screamer but before the Big Muff Op-Amp was the best choice I've ever made. It's whisper quiet when activated and as far as I've tested, no discernible effect on tone.

The best part is that the noise gate is a cheap Behringer... but it works absolutely perfectly. It looks good, too. It's got a matte finish on the plastic that isn't apparent in pictures. I've seen the comparison vids between (My) 100 dollar Tube screamer and the $24 Behringer copy and I got legit triggered at how identical they sound. Regardless, if it ever craps out on me or proves to be unreliable, I'll replace it with the Boss. Never had a bad Boss pedal, and yes, that includes the Metal Zone. That thing rips if you dial it in right.

I also got a real power supply for my board, instead of just running messy daisy chains. Everything looks a lot cleaner, and I swear my pedals sound a lot clearer. I don't think changing the power supply could make a difference in that regard, so it's probably just in my head. Glad I did it, though.

Solaire of Astora · May 20, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Fucking beautiful. As much as I am a PRS guy, I am going to need a Les Paul Custom some day. That is what I always wanted in highschool. A black Epiphone custom was actually my first real guitar. I paid for half of it, and my parents covered the other half as my big Christmas gift for the year. I have some pretty amazing senior photos of me rocking a leather jacker, gelled up hair, and my Epi Custom.

I go back and forth between wanting a wine red or a white. I feel like I can't shred, so I am undeserving of a white one. All I think about when I see one is Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde. So, I feel like you are making a statement by pulling out a white one on stage.

Haha. Thanks. For me I couldn't decide between the white and black custom, so I eventually just went "why not both?" I'm also a big fan of John Sykes, after all.

I bought both of them used, but I almost bought a white custom brand new back in 2004. I had enough money for it. Just. When I was in the store, two guys were looking at it and called it the Justin Hawkins guitar. That was a bit of a put off for me. In my mind, it was the Randy/Lindsey Buckingham guitar... I was still tempted to buy it, but it would've rendered me broke for a month. I opted for the sunburst standard you can see in the pic above.

The customs dominate my play time nowadays. They're just beautiful. The only criticism I have is the binding on the back of the guitar. It looks really nice, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but it makes playing around the neck joint a little uncomfortable compared to the slightly rounded back on the standards.

Hero_of_the_Day · May 20, 2019

I think I have only ever played a real Gibson Custom once in my life. Almost 15 years ago now that I think about it. It was a black one they had at a guitar center in St. Louis. It was absolute perfection. Definitely one of the best guitars I have ever played. Someday...

Right now, I want a Kemper, then a Taylor acoustic. Those are the two things in my immediate future.

treble · May 20, 2019

It's funny that so many people dis Gibson, but when you play a good one *chef's kiss*

Jupiter IV · May 22, 2019

I'm not a fan of Gibsons at all. I can't do the D shape necks, although looking it up just now it seems like not all Gibsons use that? I just know every one I've tried to play I can't get along with.

Vas · May 22, 2019

treble said:
It's funny that so many people dis Gibson, but when you play a good one *chef's kiss*

Sometimes you don't get to pick the guitar you like the most. I really, really want to be a Les Paul guy. But, my SG Std is my soul mate. It's funny, because I've played other SGs and never cared for them. This one, tho... just magic. It sounds particularly 'dark.' Not in a 'Swedish Black Metal" way, but more in a deep, warm way. It plays extremely well with the Big Muff focused setup I'm running right now, and this alone has my Les Paul on the sidelines.

Although, I think the LP does better with my Compressor>OD setup. So, there's still a place for it.

BTW, I've been reading and apparently people are saying that a Tube Screamer into a Big Muff Op Amp doesn't sound good. And I'm like... what are they hearing that I'm not? This is my dream sound! lol

Solaire of Astora · May 24, 2019

Jupiter IV said:
I'm not a fan of Gibsons at all. I can't do the D shape necks, although looking it up just now it seems like not all Gibsons use that? I just know every one I've tried to play I can't get along with.

Gibson make as many c shape necks as they do d shape necks. Look for guitars with a "60's slim taper" neck profile.

I actually have one for sale right now, if you happen to live in Tokyo and want a nice Les Paul with p90s and a c shape neck.

The odds are really small, but you can't blame me for trying.

Deleted member 21411 · May 24, 2019

I signed up for a free course in music theory, I'm committed to getting to a point I can write my own music. Right now I'm learning movable power chords and some arpeggios

Jupiter IV · May 24, 2019

Solaire of Astora said:
Gibson make as many c shape necks as they do d shape necks. Look for guitars with a "60's slim taper" neck profile.

I actually have one for sale right now, if you happen to live in Tokyo and want a nice Les Paul with p90s and a c shape neck.

The odds are really small, but you can't blame me for trying.

Not a P90 guy. Well, I guess I don't live in Tokyo either.

Evil Monkey DTT said:
I signed up for a free course in music theory, I'm committed to getting to a point I can write my own music. Right now I'm learning movable power chords and some arpeggios

I don't know theory for crap and I write my own stuff. I wish I did but it's not 100% necessary. My strategy is mostly learning songs I like to see what's going on and pull ideas from there.

Vas · May 25, 2019

Messing around with lil' Katana 50, and it has a RAT distortion emulation on it. Man, that thing sounds incredible. I love a fat, warm distortion. My current pedal is the TC Dark Matter and it's a bit too 'transparent' sounding. Although it's not an OD, sonically, it fills that role better than as a distortion. MIght have to get a RAT 2 for my main rig. Pretty cheap, too. I guess they are competing with the Boss Distortion.

Hero_of_the_Day · May 26, 2019

John Romero finally put out his new Doom level pack with Buckethead doing the music. I think this is going to get me into Buckethead. It is not at all what I expected his music to be like. This shit is awesome. Any fans of his here, hit me with your favorite albums.

Coolverine · May 29, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
John Romero finally put out his new Doom level pack with Buckethead doing the music. I think this is going to get me into Buckethead. It is not at all what I expected his music to be like. This shit is awesome. Any fans of his here, hit me with your favorite albums.

ha. he has like hundreds of albums. it's insane. the dude's output is insane. seen him live twice. he's so goddamn talented.

Vas · May 29, 2019

Getting a Proco RAT. I didn't know much about it, but there's a version of it on my practice amp and it stands head and shoulders above the other boosters on there. (Boss Katana). I love a fat tone. I need something I can use for warm sustain. My distortion pedal I already have is too transparent, even when boosted with Ibanez TS. And as for my fuzz, I like to use a fuzz on a 'fuzz song.' I think the jump from OD to Fuzz is too drastic for my tastes.

I love my Fender HRD. This thing has held up incredibly over the last 13 years. I was using a solid-state Peavey Halfstack for gigs and my other guitar player was using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I had one, but wasn't using it for gigs. And I watched a video of us playing and his guitar had this natural breakup that sounded so alive while my amp sounded so beefy. I can't explain it, but solid state amps sound 'out of breath' to me. Like it's singing a song but just walked up 7 flights of stairs to do it. Right then, I realized what an idiot I was to lug this giant monstrosity around when I could get a way better tone and be more than loud enough with an amp I can carry in with one hand. As someone who likes to go into a clean amp and put everything in front of the amp, I can't think of a better amp.

That being said, I need that wine-red Fender Deluxe Reverb. What a beauty.

Solaire of Astora · May 31, 2019

Jupiter IV said:
Not a P90 guy.

Boo this man.

I love P90s. Especially in the neck position. I have a job where I basically have a lot of time to daydream, so I was thinking about the next couple of guitars on my list today. If I had the money right now, I'd go out and buy two of the new 50s spec goldtop p90 standards. I'd play them for a month and try to figure out which one sounded better while in the bridge position. That one would remain stock and the other one would get routed for a humbucker in the bridge. I'd go with a Gibson 57 classic in the bridge. Zebra, naturally.

I think a goldtop with a humbucker in the bridge and a p90 in the neck would probably become my go to guitar. But since I'm thinking of selling the classic I have right now, I'd also need a guitar with a p90 in the bridge.

Good job my wife is so supportive...

Vas · May 31, 2019

Okay, so Mooer pedals are legit. I got their RAT clone. It has a turbo mode that utilizes LED clipping. I didn't know it had that, so when I saw the red light glowing from inside my pedal through the tone knob every time I played, I thought it was about to explode or something. lol But, very cool. RAT style is definitely the distortion tone I've been looking for.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 1, 2019

Newb question. I have kind of been thinking about getting some Bare Knuckle pickups. While looking at them it suggested capacitors for me:

In what scenario would I need those? I don't really know much about electronics and whatnot, always just had that shit done at a shop.

EDIT: Why does Reset hate imgur now?

teruterubozu · Jun 2, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Newb question. I have kind of been thinking about getting some Bare Knuckle pickups. While looking at them it suggested capacitors for me:

In what scenario would I need those? I don't really know much about electronics and whatnot, always just had that shit done at a shop.

EDIT: Why does Reset hate imgur now?

Your guitar already has caps (capacitors) soldered onto the pots so you won't need them. They look like tiny vitamin capsules or tiny buttons. Just change the pickups. You can change the caps if you want to - and there's lots of voodoo beliefs of tone surrounding this, just like tonewoods - but for the most part people can barely tell the difference. The main function of caps come in when you're rolling the pot down to low values. If you're like me and just play on all-10s all the time then changing the caps really won't matter at all.

CrudeDiatribe · Jun 2, 2019

Even if you do use your tone pots (highly recommended), it is their (actual) values and where they are wired in the circuit that matter.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 2, 2019

Thanks for the help. I think I am going to get them. To add an extra layer, I think I want to add a push/pull pot to add a phase switch. Looks like PRS sells one, so I guess I'll be able to stay on brand there.

Wonder how long it takes bare knuckle to ship to the US.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 3, 2019

Got my bare knuckles ordered. Card was declined due to it being a foreign transaction. Got that straightened out. Email says they currently have an approximate 10 day build time. Then have to wait for it to actually arrive to the US. So, probably by the end of the month.

Have a Mission Engineering Gemini 1 showing up tomorrow or Wednesday, though. So, that is exciting. Maybe by the end of July or August I'll get my Kemper and I'll be good on gear for a while.

CrudeDiatribe · Jun 3, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
I think I want to add a push/pull pot to add a phase switch

In case you didn't know: You'll want a separate ground (e.g. 4 conductors), without one you will get a buzz if you brush the metal on the phase-flippable pickup in one of the switch positions since you're turning the ground into the hot. Source: have this problem on a Les Paul with a phase switch.

treble · Jun 3, 2019

Sold my King of Tone for nearly four times what I paid for it.

Should be up for another on the waiting list by fall hopefully.

You should all get on that list!

III-V · Jun 3, 2019

treble said:
Sold my King of Tone for nearly four times what I paid for it.

Should be up for another on the waiting list by fall hopefully.

You should all get on that list!

...or don't game it

OldSocksAndShoes · Jun 3, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Got my bare knuckles ordered. Card was declined due to it being a foreign transaction. Got that straightened out. Email says they currently have an approximate 10 day build time. Then have to wait for it to actually arrive to the US. So, probably by the end of the month.

Excellent purchase. I absolutely adore my set of Aftermaths.

Solaire of Astora · Jun 4, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Thanks for the help. I think I am going to get them. To add an extra layer, I think I want to add a push/pull pot to add a phase switch. Looks like PRS sells one, so I guess I'll be able to stay on brand there.

Did you check what capacitors your guitar already has? You might just be swapping good caps for other good caps here. In that case, there probably won't be any noticeable improvement.

No idea what kind of caps PRS use, but a picture of the control cavity might help in identifying them.

treble said:
Sold my King of Tone for nearly four times what I paid for it.

Should be up for another on the waiting list by fall hopefully.

You should all get on that list!

You know, I was reading about those things years ago and decided to put myself on the list. I guess I forgot... Gonna be a bit of a wait.

treble · Jun 4, 2019

Solaire of Astora said:
You know, I was reading about those things years ago and decided to put myself on the list. I guess I forgot... Gonna be a bit of a wait.

Well first off, it's a great pedal, and it's worth getting for that reason alone! I used mine for two years, and it sounds great live pushing a tube amp (tried with a deluxe reverb and a champ) with clean boost, and the overdrive channel is also great into a clean platform like a Twin where it can be volume prohibitive to go for natural tube breakup.

I can't think of too many items you can purchase, use happily for two years, and sell for a very tidy profit to those who don't want to wait. That's why I gave you folks the heads up! Mike mitigates this by limiting to three King of Tone purchases lifetime.

For my second pedal, I'm going with the additional 1/4" jacks so that you can play around with the gain staging of the clean boost and overdrive channels. I did this on my Sun Lion that I bought from him, and it adds some nice versatility.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 4, 2019

CrudeDiatribe said:
In case you didn't know: You'll want a separate ground (e.g. 4 conductors), without one you will get a buzz if you brush the metal on the phase-flippable pickup in one of the switch positions since you're turning the ground into the hot. Source: have this problem on a Les Paul with a phase switch.

Again, I am a total newb with pickup wiring and stuff, so I might sound stupid here. But, I chose the 4 wire option when I put in my order. Does that cover what you're talking about, or is it something I should actually talk to the tech about at the shop?

They have always done awesome work at my local shop, and I have no interest in learning how to install pickups/pots myself, so they'll be doing it.

OldSocksAndShoes said:
Excellent purchase. I absolutely adore my set of Aftermaths.

I am pretty excited. I have always loved Seymour Duncans, especially an Alnico II in the neck. I just kind of randomly stumbled onto these Ragnaroks on youtube and thought they sounded awesome, and used it as an excuse to try something new.

I don't even listen to Periphery, so it's pretty funny to be buying their guitarists signature pickup.

Solaire of Astora said:
Did you check what capacitors your guitar already has? You might just be swapping good caps for other good caps here. In that case, there probably won't be any noticeable improvement.

No idea what kind of caps PRS use, but a picture of the control cavity might help in identifying them.

I was only going to buy the push/pull pot, not a capacitor. But, I guess now that you mention it, will I need to actually buy a new capacitor to go along with the new pot?

Solaire of Astora · Jun 4, 2019

treble said:
I can't think of too many items you can purchase, use happily for two years, and sell for a very tidy profit to those who don't want to wait. That's why I gave you folks the heads up! Mike mitigates this by limiting to three King of Tone purchases lifetime.

I just figured that it's a zero risk proposition. I get to try out a nice pedal, and if I don't like it, I can get what I paid for it back. If someone wants to buy me a pint as a way of thanking me for selling it to them, I won't stop them. Don't think I'd be comfortable profiting from it that much, though. The guys who make the pedals could probably add a couple of notes to the asking price, but they don't.

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Again, I am a total newb with pickup wiring and stuff, so I might sound stupid here. But, I chose the 4 wire option when I put in my order. Does that cover what you're talking about, or is it something I should actually talk to the tech about at the shop?

You weren't talking to me here, but you chose the 4 conductor wire pickups, so you're good to go on the push pulls.

But just incase someone else is thinking about doing the same thing but doesn't have four conductor wire pickups, it's not the end of the world. It's possible to modify pickups, providing you know how/know someone who can.

When I first came to Japan, I looked for a guitar tech who spoke English. The guy I found wasn't actually a guitar tech, but he was a guy with a very demanding job who just happened to also be highly regarded luthier and pickup winder in his spare time. I got to talking with him about Jimmy Page and my interest in his wiring scheme.

The guy gave me a shopping list consisting of good push pull pots and paper in oil caps and he converted the pickups to four wire conductor and did a bit of wizardry in the control cavity of my '03 Les Paul standard.

I'll be adding a bigsby to that guitar soon. I don't play it as much as my customs, but between the bigsby and the wiring, it'll be my go to guitar for the various things my other guitars don't do.

Hero_of_the_Day said:
I was only going to buy the push/pull pot, not a capacitor. But, I guess now that you mention it, will I need to actually buy a new capacitor to go along with the new pot?

You don't need to, but goodpaper in oil caps are cheap, and since at least one of the caps will need to be at least temporarily removed, you might as well just buy a pair of paper in oil caps and do it now. You've got ceramic caps in there. They do the job, but tinkering with a wiring cavity is always a good excuse to be rid of them.

CrudeDiatribe · Jun 4, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Again, I am a total newb with pickup wiring and stuff, so I might sound stupid here. But, I chose the 4 wire option when I put in my order. Does that cover what you're talking about, or is it something I should actually talk to the tech about at the shop?

Yes! The classic humbucker wire is a single conductor inside a braided shield which causes the problem I mentioned.

Hero_of_the_Day said:
will I need to actually buy a new capacitor to go along with the new pot?

No.

Solaire of Astora said:
[Y]ou might as well just buy a pair of paper in oil caps and do it now. You've got ceramic caps in there. They do the job, but tinkering with a wiring cavity is always a good excuse to be rid of them.

But why?

Vas · Jun 4, 2019

NPD!

I think it's going to replace my trusty Tube Screamer for a while. I like how bright and tight the tone is. My guitar sounds fairly dark so it needs a lot of help getting out of the mud sometimes. Tube Screamer is a very transparent and warm tone that I think would sound incredible with a single-coil pickup tele or strat, but wasn't quite getting my tone where I wanted it to be. I like playing mostly Independent rock, like shoegaze, and midwest emo. I recognize that when people tell you what the 'best' pedal is, they probably are coming from a blues/country background.

I get why they keep the price of the SD-1 and DS-1 so cheap. Get brand loyalty early by selling them 100 dollar pedals for 50 dollars when they go to buy what is likely their first pedal, an Overdrive or a Distortion. Isn't the DS-1 the best selling pedal in the world?

Solaire of Astora · Jun 5, 2019

CrudeDiatribe said:
But why?

Link doesn't work, but I'll assume it was a link to something exposing the pio caps as corksniffery.

I'll just say that enough builders/pickup winders swear by pio caps for me to trust them. Including one guy I know personally and have tremendous respect for. It's hardly an expensive "upgrade" either, and since at least one of the ceramic caps will need to be removed temporarily, it's a good opportunity to just replace it. Might as well do the other one too so you have a matching set.

In the grand scheme of incremental upgrades, this is on the lower end of the scale, budget wise. I have a friend who is a complete audiophile. He even bought those expensive stands to stop audio cables from touching the floor and swears that he hears an improvement... Paper in oil caps aren't looking so bad now, huh?

Grizzel Greedigut · Jun 5, 2019

My acoustic guitar group for beginners teacher asked me to bring in a song, what do you think I should bring?

I'm leaning towards Harvest by Opeth, but I'm open to anything.

This group mostly plays Beatles and CCR

Edit: I'm way more advanced than my group, but it's the only thing I could find on my day off and I'm sick of playing by myself in my bedroom. Its actually super fun playing a different styles than im used to with other peeps, I just don't want to be that guy

CrudeDiatribe · Jun 5, 2019

Solaire of Astora said:
Link doesn't work, but I'll assume it was a link to something exposing the pio caps as corksniffery.

Weird. Fixed now: The Truth about Tone Capacitors

Solaire of Astora said:
He even bought those expensive stands to stop audio cables from touching the floor and swears that he hears an improvement... Paper in oil caps aren't looking so bad now, huh?

Lots of people think lots of things, but coat-hangers are indistinguishable from expensive speaker wire in blind testing. Pretty sure the coat-hangers don't benefit from being off the floor unless you have a conductive flooring material.

Guitarists don't seem to be much less prone to magical thinking than golden-eared audiophiles even if they end up spending less money.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 5, 2019

Well, my Gemini arrived today. Box looked like it was kicked the fuck around, including a nice sized hole:

I could feel when I put it down that it didn't seem like there is any padding in there. There was actually some:

A little to the front and back, a tiny tiny sliver on the left, and bare ass speaker against cardboard on the right, front and bottom. At this point I am convinced this thing is going to be fucked from whatever made that hole in the front.

Pull it out, dude left the fucking plug in in. How that didn't get bent in shipping is a miracle:

After all that worrying, though, everything seems fine:

First impressions are very positive. The only bad thing is that is has a LOT of low end going on. But, there is also a knob on the back that they call the empower knob. It apparently kind of allows you to have it operate as a cab on one end of the spectrum, and a flat speaker on the other. I was mostly playing on full flat response, since I am using a modeler with IRs and everything. When I turned it to full cab, it sounded like shit, but I'm not sure I am using it correctly as it were. Gotta mess with mixing the two and maybe I'll find a happy medium. Otherwise, I'll just have to adjust my tones to cut out some of the bass, cause it is just too much.

Next up are my bare knuckle pickups hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Then the Kemper maybe next month or August.

Solaire of Astora · Jun 6, 2019

CrudeDiatribe said:
Weird. Fixed now: The Truth about Tone Capacitors

Lots of people think lots of things, but coat-hangers are indistinguishable from expensive speaker wire in blind testing. Pretty sure the coat-hangers don't benefit from being off the floor unless you have a conductive flooring material.

Guitarists don't seem to be much less prone to magical thinking than golden-eared audiophiles even if they end up spending less money.

While they may not sound different, I'm not about to start using them. I don't buy ridiculously expensive cables either, but I do buy some middle of the road cables. Learned that lesson many years ago. I've spent a lot of money on guitars, amps and pedals. There's no sense in cutting corners when it comes to little things, like cables/power supplies/etc. Again, I'm talking about $20 cables Vs $2 here. There might be no difference in sound, but I know which one is more likely to start producing unwanted noise or intermittently cutting out.

Now this doesn't necessarily apply to capacitors, but like I said, they're inexpensive as is, so I really don't see a problem.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 6, 2019

My bare knuckles shipped! Four days since I ordered, which is pretty awesome since the email said their build time estimates is currently 10 days. Now just have to wait for it to make it over to the states.

Neo0mj · Jun 11, 2019

Hero_of_the_Day said:
My bare knuckles shipped! Four days since I ordered, which is pretty awesome since the email said their build time estimates is currently 10 days. Now just have to wait for it to make it over to the states.

Congrats. They were generally pretty great when I bought my pickups from them.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 11, 2019

I got my push/pull switch today. Pickups got to my city late this afternoon. Unfortunately I work tomorrow, and they have to be signed for. So, I probably won't be able to get my hands on them until Thursday.

They dumb thing is, there doesn't seem to be an option to just tell them to hold it at the post office so I could just go get it in the morning. They have to try and deliver it first and fail, then I can have it held and just go pick it up. Dumb shit.

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 12, 2019

Ran into my post office the second they opened and got my package before it got thrown on a truck. Gonna drop it off at the shop tonight after work.

Hype!

RickPresk · Jun 12, 2019

They look sweet, what are you putting them into?

Hero_of_the_Day · Jun 12, 2019

RickPresk said:
They look sweet, what are you putting them into?

My PRS that is at the top of this page, at least if you use 100 posts per page. I am pretty excited to hear them. First time I have strayed away from Seymour duncans.

Guy at the post office plays guitar and got excited when he saw their logo on the packaged. Chatted it up about what I was putting it into and told me he has always heard they make awesome pickups.

genjiZERO · Jun 12, 2019

Vas said:
Getting a Proco RAT. I didn't know much about it, but there's a version of it on my practice amp and it stands head and shoulders above the other boosters...

Did you end up getting on? Honestly I've never been the biggest fan of them, but it sorta depends on what you use them for. Personally I think they just destroy tone for the sake of noise. If you aren't opposed to Aliexpress clones you might want to just pick up a Myamorpha. For a $20 Rat clone it's pretty decent.

Guitar |OT| If you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded

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