The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread

Cafe Society
521

One of those guitars that makes me say Wow even while I am glad I can’t afford it. It is so minty sweet that one really shouldn’t play it - I had a 1955 Gretsch like that and really couldn’t afford to use it like the tool it needs to be. I have played a '54 Strat - as I have commented on here before - wonderful guitar; best Strat I’ve played, but different from what is considered a “typical” Strat tone…

As for tubes - Small Clanger nailed my basic understanding, and he understands more of the underlying electronics stuff than I do. I can say that an expert I spoke with - he runs one of the best high-end amp shops in the country - told me that pre-amp tubes can last 10+ years with no problems given the level of signal they process and heat they produce. The “rule of thumb” is that power tubes should be swapped out once a year if you are actively gigging, but I don’t know of anyone who really adheres to that. I haven’t swapped out any tubes in my amps and haven’t had any problems - but I transport them carefully; no bouncing around in the back of a van.

I can’t type long, but I continue to enjoy my new overdrive box, so I am comfortable writing it up - might as well give a snippet here. I got a Blackstone Mosfet Overdrive(link to their webpage). They retail for ~$225; I found a used one on eBay for ~$150. I ended up getting it because: a) everybody discussed how touch-responsive it was and how it was a great “always on” pedal; and b) it has two channels, one more overdrivey and one more distortion-y, so I felt like I could cover my existing Rat (distortion) spectrum while getting a better feel for overdrive. Here is a review by one of the founders of the Gear Page - doesn’t get much better.

Well, I love it, but not for the reasons I expected. When they said “touch responsive,” I was assuming they meant it would react when you changed your pick attack and intensity - and sure it does; but lots of good crunch pedals do this; it is something I love about my 30-year-old Rat. But, in addition, when this pedal is plugged first in your chain after your guitar (pedal order really matters for this box), it just opens up. In the OD channel, the spectrum as you turn your Volume knob on your guitar from about 7 to 10 transforms - at around 7 you get the solid crunch tone you want for classic rock rhythm, but the levels of musical overdrive lead tone you get beyond that are game-changing. Full, round, not buzzy or out-of-control noise, you get a really easy to control level of feedback that sounds warm and musical, not strident. I can dial it up to 10 for dedicated leads, or find a sweet spot between 7 and 10 (yes, twiddling the knobs like BB King does during a song) when I am flowing between a rhythm groove and lead fills. And it really is an always-on pedal - it doesn’t feel like a pedal; it feels like I have an excellent old 60’s Marshall amp that I am playing through at a manageable volume. Really, really inspiring - I have been digging into Keef lately since I have been listening to the recently re-issued Exile on Main Street re-master and a concert from ‘73 that a buddy sent to me. Playing Tumbling Dice, Happy, Can’t You Hear me Knockin’, etc - just so fun.

What’s interesting is that the distortion channel is one I haven’t been using - I tried it with my homebrew Blackguard Tele and it wasn’t a good fit. It is a great fit, however, with P-90’s and humbuckers; I tried out my guitars with those pickups and adjusted the setting and got a tone I really like. But I am concentrating on one guitar right now so I can get a feel for the pedal and not be tossed around by different impressions - and what is interesting is that I am hearing the difference between distortion and overdrive as effects - my Rat, the best box I have used, has an edgier high-end, I suspect as the result of its true Distortion circuit doing more “hard clipping” of the signal, cutting off some frequencies. An Overdrive circuit is designed for “soft clipping” leaving a different signal profile - I think that is why the fully-dimed Volume sounds so rich.

Gotta run - but a lot of fun…and I agree with **SteveG1 **- Chris has got to update his site; too hard to read.

522

Yes, the design is horrible, but those look like guitars sold by someone who knows what he’s talking about. And the reputation matches.

Whadda think of those stickers? It strikes me as a not-horrible way to visually separate my cheapocaster from the five million identical ones. (I think when I do the electronics, I’ll go for black pickups in a white plate, guitar itself is black.)

Edit: My stupid trick on a hard to read site? Ctrl+a to select everything, and presto, inverted text. Much easier to read.

523

I am not a big guy for fingerboard fanciness - I like a rosewood board, dot inlays, no binding. No nonsense. I hate non-standard inlays, like someone’s name or a dragon fighting an eagle - just :rolleyes:

If you go to The Gear Page, you can search on “stickers” and read up - here’s a sample thread: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=581501&highlight=stickers

524

Thanks. I was thinking going for maybe the playing card motif. Simple, just a little different: spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts, over the existing pips. Also maybe “This Machine Kills Ignorance.” :slight_smile:

Honestly, what got me started poking about was that I’m really thinking about getting a real Les Paul, a nice one… except I can’t stand that bar inlay. And then I noticed that the stickers also come in rosewood, for covering up inlays, for what’s his name who wanted a blank fingerboard.

525

Shouldn’t it be “this machine FIGHTS ignorance” like a true Doper? :wink:

You know, I have gotten so accustomed to the trapezoidal inlays on a Les Paul Standard that I tend not to notice 'em. Same with Gretsch thumbprintinlays - I just see these as “branded variants” of dots - kinda like brands that make sure they have a unique headstock shape - as long as the shape doesn’t get over-the-top or a distraction, I am basically fine.

There is a classic Fender lap steel inlay layout that includes card suits - GE Smith, the guitarist who led the SNL band for years, toured with a ton of top acts, etc., used that motif on his Signature Tele which came out a year or two ago…linkto youtube demo vid featuring the man himself…

526

Mmm. If I went too far away from the classic Guthrie reference, people might not get it. (It was also repeated in an author I rather like, Charles Stross’ novels, as ‘This Machine Kills Demons’)

Actually, I am, for no obvious reason, really attracted to a Space Invaders motif the man had in the store. They’re still dots, so the ‘not too fancy’ still works for me.

Speakin’ of Woody, if anyone’s in the New York area…

STEVE EARLE SHAWN COLVIN DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET PETE SEEGER JOAN OSBORNE BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO

And a lot more. 19th and 20th. I love me some Buckwheat Zydeco.

527

I’m curious about this. It’s a beautiful guitar, no question about it, but I wonder how different it sounds and feels from modern Stratocasters.

I’ve owned three Strats in my life. The first was a mid-70s guitar, bought new, when I was in high school. Maple neck. I wasn’t enough of a player back then to really get the most out of it, and I don’t remember much about it, except that there were some obviously quality-control issues. Neck problems, finish problems. I remember that the finish on the neck made it feel like it was dipped in plastic. I’m sort of amused by the prices Strats from that era command now – back then, CBS Strats were kind of looked down upon.

At some point in the late 80s I got one of those reissue Strats. Nice guitar. Maple neck. It played well and sounded great.

Then, in 2001, I bought an American Standard Strat. Also a nice guitar. Rosewood fingerboard. Easier to play than the reissue. The neck radius was different and the frets were different. The bridge/tremelo unit definitely worked better.

Of the three, I liked the Standard the best. Great sound, great feel, and excellent quality control.

Would I notice much of a difference between the '54 and the reissue? Or the '54 and the Standard (aside from neck feel)? Would I really be blown away by it? Are the prices commanded by these vintage guitars only based on their historical interest and value to collectors, or do they really sound better than current models? Does the current “reissue” model really sound just like a 50s Strat? And, parenthetically, what about Telecasters (which I actually prefer to Stratocasters)?

528

Sorry Saint, with all the different models and variations and signature/deluxplayer/notdeluxe/hot/cold/limited/not limited/HSS/Highway/notHighway/clapton/SRV, it’s gotten too much for me to keep track of. Too many variations.

I’d probably try for an early 80s “made in Japan” if I was gonna get any. Anything from Japan that is “after CBS”. Pre CBS probably is too costly anymore for many people.

Although for a little while I did have a CBS mid 70s Strat that was not bad at all. I guess the CBS suits forgot to fuck that one up :smiley:

529

Thanks, that’s all good to know. I remember some players get obsessive about getting the right set of tubes/valves, and there seems to be a lot of voodoo out there about them. It’s nice to know that they’re probably a set-and-forget part of the amp.

Can I ask, with that pedal, how are you setting your amp up and what is it contributing to the tone? You used to (I think) set your amp up with a bit of overdrive, then add the rat and control everything from the guitar, which it sounds like you’re also doing here. Is the amp still adding some warmth, or is it straight-on clean using the new OD pedal? How/what does the amp contribute in the new setup? If you ran straight from the new pedal to the mixing board, what would you lose? For that matter, what amp are you using?

530

Well, the big news today is Rock Band 3. It’ll have a Professional Mode. Where you play a Squier Stratocaster with a touch-sensitive neck. Basically, it looks like the game turns into Tab Band, with numbers floating down the ‘lane’.

And yes, I mean a real Fender Squier Stratocaster with strings and everything.

531

Okay - let’s see if I can get this right.

Hereis a thread on the Dope about this topic. It is supposed to connect to a thread on The Gear Page - but doesn’t any more for some reason.

Hereis a new link to the thread in The Gear Page. Not much to add, except maybe: isn’t the internet freakin’ cool? Not only can we have this kind of conversation, but when you ask “how do the older Strats sound?” there’s a vertical tasting through the years we can access on the fly. Crazy world.

  • Tweed Deluxes are funny beasts; they have two inputs: one Bright and one Dark, but they blend, so you can dial up the Volumes of each and adjust the amp’s tone that way. I have both set to about 6-7; Tweed circuits (mine is the infamous 5E3 Deluxe circuit, the VW Bug of classic circuits, with full websites devoted to it’s glory) are never particularly clean to begin with - my settings adds a bit more fuzz to that without getting farty. Your BJ is not the same circuit, but it is its own form of simple-circuit amp, based on EL84 tubes vs. the more primitive, earlier-gen 6V6 tubes in my Tweed.
  • The amp totally matters - I am not sure I am up to the task of articulating how. A good tube amp is the responsive “organ” - you remember that thread about tubes vs. transister amps - the point is that you try to dial up the amp’s threshold and use the dynamics of your playing to staying on the relative clean side of the threshold or to push into the distorted side. Tweeds do this really well - they have a simple circuit that is very responsive to changes in your playing. Well, any pedal you use sits “on top” of that fundamentally useful signal, so you increase the likelihood that the pedal will have increased responsiveness, too. So when an amp is described as “pedal friendly” that is a big part of what is being discussed - can the amp’s responsiveness make the pedal feel more organic?
  • Granted, many pedals fully impose themselves on the signal, so your amp type doesn’t matter - if anything you should go for a flat, clean tone for those pedals.
  • But many/most pedals are specifically designed only be a layer that sits on top of the amp’s characteristics. Finding that balance is why there are bazillions of pedals out there - everybody’s ears are different.
  • One other point - in terms of going direct into a board - that is a key difference, according to my book on pedals by Dave Hunter - between overdrive and distortion circuits. Distortion circuits apparently impose themselves enough on the signal to have a chance of sounding decent if you went direct. Overdrives are meant to act on the amp circuit and are more unlikely to sound usable going direct. I get this and also find it intersting - my set up for the Rat (considered the first commercially successful true distortion pedal - MXR Distortion +'s are actually overdrives) when I am using it is that the Distortion setting is dialed down as low as possible without affecting volume - maybe at .5 or 1 - and all of the tone I am after is by turning the Level control to 10 - it just pumps more signal into the amp, with enough edge from the distortion to give it a bit…more.

Does that help?

532

FYI - Gibson has put out a list of the Top 50 Guitarists here.

The Top 20 -

I place no stock in these lists - they are merely an excuse to discuss interesting guitar players - so I am not going to launch into a mouth-foaming attack because X is in the wrong spot or Y is rated too high. I like the fact that Keith Richards is: a) ranked so high; and b) ahead of Clapton - but not for any defensible reason.

Enjoy.

533

  1. Lou Reed

  2. Frank Zappa

  3. Steve Jones

  4. David Gilmour

. . . maybe they could have catagorised somehow, anyhow. Set some criteria? Had some sub-grouping? These guys really don’t belong together, definitely not in close proximity. Calling Lou Reed a “guitarist” in a list that includes Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and Les Paul is just sort of. . . wrong.

My browser at the gibson.com site is saying:

Done, but with errors on page.

Can’t argue with that.

534

Clapton is AHEAD of Robert Johnson? That’s just wrong.

535

Well, along the same lines, Keef is ahead of Chuck Berry which would be similarly back-asswards…

536

So yesterday afternoon, I sat down with my father’s acoustic–an early(?) 60s Gibson LG-1–and picked out the intro to Stairway to Heaven, which is what I’m working on at the moment. And then I did a little more with the basic little strummy part from the same song, and then a bit of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”* Such is my repertoire.

And this feeling came over me–a feeling of wanting to go get myself an acoustic guitar. A feeling like I needed to have an acoustic guitar, in fact. What is this strange sensation? No one told me about this when I decided I was going to learn guitar. Is there some remedy for it?

  • Incidentally, how do you guys keep your little and ring fingers from getting sort of… smooshed together in a bad way on this ‘cheater’ G chord? I guess you could just bar the first and second strings instead of using two fingers, but that felt pretty awkward when I tried it.
537

No - you have G.A.S. (Guitar/Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and there is no cure - except more gear. It ain’t pretty. The more you realize how a cool new (to you) guitar or piece of gear can affect/inspire your playing, the more you just need “one more thing” to chase the dragon and get another fix of inspiration.

Not to mention that, IMHO, everyone should have a decent acoustic in their guitarsenal (my favorite stupid word!). The more fluent you get on acoustic the better it serves your electric playing. Acoustic is kinda like learning to drive with a stick shift, even though you will end up doing much of your driving in an automatic - it somehow just grounds you in the fundamentals that much more.

Fun guitar - I have a 1946 LG-2. The biggest difference is that an LG-1 is “ladder braced” - i.e., more primitive and more likely to sound like an old blues guitar; whereas my LG-2 is “X braced” like most full-sized acoustic guitars. Your dad’s guitar has some collectibility and value - and while it sounds nothing like a Martin or Taylor, those little Gibsons have quite a following for those in the know. Any chance you could just use it for your acoustic for now?

eh - just keep faking along; over time it will come together. I struggled mightily with my various G’s over the first 5 - 7 years of playing; now I can grab an open-chord G about 4 - 5 different ways with equal proficiency. Sounds like you are doing the right stuff…

538

I noticed, they seem to be going for some STUPID prices right now, all things considered.

539

Thanks, that’s really useful. I think I didn’t state my question very well. I do understand what the amp adds. It’s just that in your old setup you’d use a RAT (set really clean but really boosted) to ‘push’ your amp’s preamp, and the rest of the tone came from the amp. So, given that, I wondered in the new setup if or how you set the amp differently compared to RAT-usage.

Basically I was going by this suggestion on your new pedal mfr’s site:

It sounds like this is not the approach you’re using, because you say

I think you’re trying to say some pedals do this, but not this one? The Blackstone folks feel that the Mosfet is entirely in that category of pedals, which I think is contra to how you use it, but I’m not sure. Hence my question: are you still using the pedal to push the preamp, not delegating (much) tone to the pedal, or following the BlackStone folks positioning that the pedal is primarily the sole tone-maker? I think the answer is the former, that you’re still using the pedal as an overdrive of sorts, not as the whole tone enchilada. Is that a fair summary?

540

Yes. I hear what Blackstone is saying on their website, but it is not like you would want to pump the Blackstone direct into a board - you need the “organ” responsive part of the amp. I have the level of the pedal maxed and it does add appreciably to the loudness of the amp, so I am definitely pumping up the signal a bit - there is amp grit in my basic signal since I am just on the sweet spot, and the level boost would add to that. Not sure what else I can add. I will say this - with my Rat, which, as a distortion, even at the absolute lowest setting, imposes itself on the tone a lot. When I play it through a little bullshit amp like a $100 Guitar Center starter, it still sounds pretty damn good. But there is something about a Tweed amp that is the DNA of rock - rides that line between rockabilly and hard rock and with the right pedal, shows how its circuit is what Marshall based his original copycat amps on.