Newest tonewood on the block: Cardboard! A fine blend of poplar, maple and recycled 20lb office paper. Pairs well with single-coil’s and P90’s for a mid to high bright tone. Does not go well with rosewood or ebony fingerboards - they muddy the tone too much.
Well, any electric, really. I love my semi-hollow Danos, constructed of poplar/masonite.
More years ago than I care to remember, a friend had a student model Gibson electric. It was shaped like an SG, had one black plastic covered pickup, and had a green glitter finish. I do NOT mean metallic, and I don’t mean the semi-tasteful glitter finish you’ll see on a drum kit. I mean 1/8" flakes. He talked with me about refinishing it and I told him before he starts looking around for a belt sander and the right grit belt, he should wait until the next time he changes strings Because with the strings off, he could unscrew the pickguard/pu mount and see what kind of wood was under there. Because he might want to reconsider refinishing if it was composite or plywood.
Don’t know how it turned out, but he never mentioned it to me again and he sat next to me in homeroom.
I have a Traynor YCS100h, it’s been a killer amp for a year, but it’s been flaky the last few days. When cold, it will sometimes have odd distortion as a note fades, and sometimes self-oscillate on the highest gain settings. After the power tubes warm up, it behaves itself.
But when this thing gets warmed up, you can use it as a slow cooker. The grille above the power tubes gets warm to the point where it would be painful to leave your hand there, and their plates glow. They’re cherry red on the edges, and orange toward the center. A camera phone pic of them can be found here. The phone threw the color off, everwhere you see white in that photo, it’s red. There’s no flash, the rear grille is being illuminated by the light they’re giving off. The amp is idling in that pic, no guitar is plugged in.
So, should I not use this amp until I get it re-tubed and biased?
I know NOTHING about amps, but yeah, you should. It doesn’t sound right and those are simple circuits so should be easy to check out by a tech. Don’t let it go bad and fry the whole circuit.
I remember reading a column in Vintage Guitar about those Traynors. I think they were described as “Canadian Marshalls” - ??
[QUOTE=WordMan]
Don’t let it go bad and fry the whole circuit.
[/QUOTE]
Word, man. 
Those output tubes are pulling too much current, and playing that amp is akin to driving your car without antifreeze in the radiator: it might go, but it probably won’t go far.
So I looked online and found a schematic for a YCS100to check out, just for fun (yes, I call that fun; you may commence laughing at me), and I noticed that the bias circuit is a bit more sophisticated than on those old Fenders and Marshalls we all know and love. And while there’s a legitimate argument in favor of that added complexity, it does mean more parts to bury in event of a catastrophic failure. And let’s not even think about the expense of a cremated transformer (versus the cost of repairing the current problem, which frankly, doesn’t look very challenging from the safety of the DC suburbs).
So hie thee to a repair shop, scabpicker. Is that thing still under warranty?
[QUOTE=WordMan]
I remember reading a column in Vintage Guitar about those Traynors. I think they were described as “Canadian Marshalls” - ??
[/QUOTE]
I wonder if that article was referring to the old, underrated Traynor YBA amps from the 60’s and 70’s? Those amps really had a lot in common with the old Marshall Plexi, except that Traynor has always had a rep (that we hope still applies, today’s topic notwithstanding) for building a really solid, almost bulletproof, amp - more so than Marshall.
Canadians can be proud of that tradition, no less so than of some other things they have to be proud of.
Hehehe, it was built in 2006, and I bought it second hand. The warranty is long gone. Don’t feel bad about perusing circuits, I downloaded that PDF before I bought the amp. If it was a simpler amp (like my 1484 Silvertone), I’d consider running it until I had spare time to take it in. Since I’d probably lose a circuit board and possibly a transformer if a tube completely failed, the power section will sit idle until I can get it re-tubed and biased, which it obviously needs.
Thanks for confirming my fears, guys!
It had to be referring to the YBAs, and they still make a couple of versions of the YBA-1. It’s a “Canadian Marshall” in that it’s another modification of the Fender Bassman circuit. The believable legend is that they’d test a design by throwing them off the factory roof, replacing the tubes, and then seeing if it worked. Even the later designs like the YBA300 and my YCS100 are relative tanks, designed with the intent of being reliable (the YBA300 can actually fail out individual pairs in it’s 12 tube 6L6 array). I think they’re a little more bright than a Marshall when overdriven heavily, but there’s an EQ if that’s not your thing. I’ll own one of those YBA-1s, maybe soon, but this isn’t one of those.
It’s a channel switcher. People who haven’t heard it think it’ll sound like one of the three channel Mesas, but it doesn’t. Channel 3 (the clean channel) is pretty dead-on for a Dual Showman or a Twin (it has the same reverb tank). Channel 2 is pretty Marshall/YBA-ish, but more JCM800 than JTM45. Channel 3 is pan-galactic gargle blaster levels of gain, with a flexible enough EQ to handle it. Three band EQ, reverb, effects return, and level per channel, master volume, presence and resonance controls. Plus, a separate solo boost. Really, it’s too many features to shake a stick at, and It’ll be hard to do without it while I wait for turn-around time at my amp guy. But it’s a lot of teeny components that can fail if something cascades in a nasty way. I’d rather get it serviced than shop for another one. Traynors are rare this far from Canada.
Anyone here using the Dampit humidity system? Its used in violins,cellos, guitars, and stand up basses.
I was thinking about using them in my acoustic guitars. Not much too it, just a sponge inside a green hose and a cover for the sound hole. They’ve been around for decades but I just learned about them recently.
http://www.elderly.com/images/accessories/ACC/D3.jpg
Biggest concern would be too much water. I guess you really wring this thing out before putting it inside an instrument?
I tried a Damp It but never felt confident I was getting all the water out. Not worth risking with my old guitars.
I haven’t broken them out yet, because my in-case hygrometers are reading in the 50’s % range right now. But much below 40% I just keep these filled maybe once a week.
I like the description of this product. Especially that nothing wet will touch the interior wood.
I wonder if the guitar must lie flat? What happens when its carried in the case? Sure hope that gadget doesn’t spill.
Thanks for linking Wordman.
I use them in cases that lie flat and that are on their side, leaning against a wall. No issues.
I get some ASAP. Winter is almost here and central heat dries out the house. Easily below 35% in the house. Inside the cases, it won’t be as low, but I want to monitor it carefully.
Why would you want to keep it in the case all the time? When can you play it?
That’s why I bought a guitar with cracks and got the price knocked down for that. I knew I needed it out so I could see it and pick it up, and that it would crack and I would be devastated if I had paid 1-3K for it.
On the other hand my old one has 7 cracks on the top and sounds like heaven to me. And I get to look at it all the time.
My new one (1972) was pristine except for little cracks on the soundhole at the neck. I need it out and you’re right about winter heat. It just got it’s first crack below the bridge, but I am not crying. I am playing.
Someday I’ll be a rock star and live in a humidor.
First of all: yes, whatever keeps you playing is a good thing.
Second of all: sure, I have a cheapy, laminate-body guitar that is okay to leave out for my son and I to grab as needed. We tend to still keep it in its gig bag, but no harm no foul if not.
Finally: so it is okay to leave a guitar out to the point of damage? Sorry, I disagree strongly. Yes, a relatively inexpensive, laminated Yamaha, Tak, Seagull, Taylor GS-Mini - fine. But any all-solid-wood guitar? Keep it in the case.
I have some excellent guitars. I have no interest in a humidor-room or those display cases they sell like wine cellars in Guitar D*Bag, er, Aficionado magazine. But keeping a nice old Martin or Gibson cased is simply common sense.
I’d love to have a Gibson or Martin but I need to play a good sound every day anytime I feel like it. It wouldn’t work for me to have a guitar I was worried about. And it wouldn’t work for me to have a laminated axe to work with. It would work to get a G or M that was cracked already and I didn’t need to angst over.
My philosophy is I don’t have it to look at or keep or resell. It’s too risky. I have played Guilds for over 30 years. I got my second one last June for $600. At that price point, I’m perfectly OK with it getting cracks as the price for my playing it.
But you should see what I do to it under the strings, anyway when I’m playing! I already know I can’t play a guitar and keep it in collectible shape, much less store it to prevent cracking.
I hear you, but I don’t worry about my Martins or Gibson because I keep them cased.
Whatever works, and if you can find a guitar you like that you don’t mind leaving out, cool.
You don’t keep it locked up in the case all winter. You take it out to play it, but you don’t leave it sitting out when you’re not playing it.
Damage is only part of the equation. I have one archtop that doesn’t play right in the winter if it’s not humidified, unless I re-do the setup. I prefer to try to keep things consistent.
ordered three OH-3 Humidifier and Hygrometer Combo Packs today. That will take care of my vintage acoustics. Sweetwater had the combo packs for $47.95 each and the combo includes a syringe to fill the humidifier.
My guitar tech told me to oil the fretboard too. (Dunlap Lemon Oil) Just to be safe that it doesn’t crack in the dry central house heat.
I checked prices and this seemed in line with other places. I wasn’t looking for the best bargain. Even Amazon was a no go. Didn’t want to risk getting a knock off fake at a bargain price. I trust Sweetwater and they sell legit branded products.
I…um…often remember to wipe the blood, sweat, and beer (yes, there is usually all three) off my guitars after a show. 
(This is why I can’t have nice things.)
I did take a family photo before loading out for last week’s show, though! Guitars looking clean and mean after a string change, intonation check (my one concession to the changing seasons), and polish.