Post Musical Equipment Here....

[|iR|Focalor]

Ugh. This shit pisses me off. They're trying to sell me pickups with these demo videos, and then they over-produce the living shit out of it by making the drums too loud, and more importantly, by compressing the living dog shit out of the guitar signal to the point that you hear fucking clicky-poppy sounds from the compression activating so hard. That's an effect some people use in certain styles of blues and jazz lead guitar, but it has no place at all in a demo video where I'm trying to hear what the fuck these peoples pickups really sound like. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAytZU2VOWk

[|iR|Focalor]

Been looking to get a good sounding flanger pedal that could approximate some of the sounds I've heard on Robin Trowers later 70's albums, especially In City Dreams, which has become my favorite album from him. He used lots of Uni-Vibe sounds earlier in the 70's, but when In City Dreams came out, it's almost like he completely replaced his Uni-Vibe with a couple of EHX Electric Mistress flanger pedals. For an example of the sounds I'm talking about...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Jt-LfVRf8


And my favorite from the album. Sounds kinda like he's using a mixture of electric mistress flanger and uni-vibe, not sure.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRfiHGHQUfk

Ideally I wanted to get one of the late 90's early reissues of the Electric Mistress, the ones that had the power transformer IN the pedal and a non-detachable hardwired cord. And one came up for sale at a store in Knoxville or Nashville or Chattanooga, I forget. But before I could complete the order, it said it was already sold. I think they wanted $135 for that one too, which was a pretty good deal, you don't usually see the older ones listed under 200.

Then I noticed the little TC Electronics Vortex flanger. From the demo videos I saw, it sounded like it got pretty close to the more organic sounding Electric Mistress flanger while also being able to do the more wacky wooshy stuff that the other kinda shittier sounding flangers always do. And it was cheaper and smaller than the current Electric Mistresses and certainly smaller than the older Mistresses, so I said, "I'll try one, what the hell, I can take it back if it ain't right." NOPE. Out of stock until fucking late April! Seems like everything I go to order from Guitar Center these days is always out of stock.

But they also had what looks to be a post-1999 model, the ones that had external power through a detachable wall-wart cord. As far as I know, both models should sound about the same, I dunno. All I know is that the original early 80's ones were all analog, and apparently the late-90's reissues used digital IC delay chips in place of the old analog bucket brigade delay IC chips that were no longer being made. So apparently there's some difference in the harmonic content of the sweep from the 70's and 80's models to the 90's and early 00's reissues. And the new commonly available XO sized ones are ALL digital and sound quite a bit different from the old ones. I thought about getting one just because it was a nice convenient size and it would be brand new, but I figured it would be best to at least TRY an older one. Because before much longer, these old ones are probably gonna shoot up even higher in price and I'll wish I would've gotten one when I had the chance. Right now, the old green faced ones from the 70's are fetching 600 to 1000 bucks, I'm not even really sure, they're so hard to find these days to even know what the current going price is.

Anyway, I paid 200 for this one, 226 with shipping. It's coming all the way from Washington, just a stones throw from Seattle. So it'll probably be a good week before it gets here. The page claimed it was an 80's model, but as you can see in the pic, there is no cord coming out of the top left corner of the pedal, and the knobs being the hockey puck style, it looks more like a 2000-2005 version. Also from the note they had about the pedal, I don't think it could possibly be a 1980's one. The note said "Circuitboard reads EC1000 REV-B Made In:United States", and I think only the 90's reissues had that on the boards.



Looks pretty clean, very little scratching, maybe a slight dent in the black area beside the switch. Didn't say anything about coming with a power cord, so it might come without one, I hope not. From what I've read, these things don't take regular old 9v adapters, most of them ran on at least 18v to accomodate more headroom, and I think the one I bought runs on 24v, not sure.

An interesting video comparing a 1970's Electric Mistress, an early 80's Electric Mistress, a 1999 reissue Electric Mistress, and a cheap little mini-sized Mooer Elec-Lady mistress knock-off. Interesting that the 70's model goes all wonky and ugly when you crank the rate knob too high, like the depth and feedback is somehow jointly controlled by the rate knob. Makes me think I'd rather have a later version of it no matter how much more the older one is worth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeqS2K3boDU

[|iR|Focalor]

My mistress came today.

 

Sorry.

But yeah, it did. And it came with a power cord too, was worried I'd have to go buy one. It's DEFINITELY NOT a 1980's version like the Guitar Center listing said. No biggie though, I kinda didn't expect it to be from what I saw in the picture.

I remember test driving one of the first 1999 reissues of the Electric Mistress back when I started college in 2000 I guess. Between classes on one particular day a week, I'd have about 5 or 6 hours with nothing to do but sit in the student center watching TV, so I'd go around town to guitar stores and such. I guess for only a year they made the corded ones with the internal transformer. And from 2000 onward, they took the transformers out of the chassis and just used an external one in a wall wart adapter, which I prefer. If the transformer craps out, you have to take the pedal to a repair shop and pay them to replace it. If the wall wart craps out, you just get a new 24v 100mA adapter, which isn't too hard to track down. I haven't found anything definitive, but I think they stopped making these big reissues back in 08 or 09, because I've seen a ProGuitarShops video demoing one that published in 08, so I guess they still had to be on the market around then.

It's actually in really really good shape. Certainly worth the 200 I paid for it in my opinion. And being a legit Electric Mistress with a classic circuit, it'll only go up in value later. Only a couple of very minor scratches to the paint, and no dents at all unlike I thought originally. The dent I thought I saw in the pic was just a smudge or something. If it had ended up being a 1980's version, I probably would have resold it, as I think those early 80's models are actually worth about 600 and up these days. And it would be cool to have an 80's one I guess, but for playing purposes and convenience down the road, I'd rather have the one with the external power supply.

Got reading up a little more about these pedals on a David Gilmour gear nerd page, and they mention two things he used a lot on his first solo album from 1978 was an old green font Electric Mistress and a Yamaha RA-200 rotating leslie speaker.

It may not be that easy to tell the difference but the intro lick on Mihalis is the Mistress alone, while the intro on Raise My Rent is the Yamaha RA-200 rotating speaker.

So I checked out some video about the Yamaha RA-200. It sounds really cool, but it's certainly not something I want to buy. Too big.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ZmGC86uzQ

[|iR|Focalor]

Not really into Ola Englund's music, althought I haven't really listened to any of it and don't really know if I'd like it or not. But he makes great gear demo videos, like his "Will It Chug?" series.

He's got this video of his visit to Dimebag Darrell's old house, which I guess is still just like it was when Dime was still alive. I've seen other videos of Dime AT the house, and it looks exactly the same as it did back then. He goes through the guitar closet with Dime's old guitar tech and looks at a lot of his old guitars.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vULwfpOZ-jk

[|iR|Focalor]

Dunno if I've talked about it before. But back in 2000, I had started college and didn't have a job and the incoming cash that goes along with having one. My folks said that as long as I passed all the classes, they'd pay for it and I could go full time and not worry about having a job. But... instead of focusing on school, I got busy partying and hanging out at strip clubs. Me and a friend were going to go to one and I needed at least 50 bucks to pay for a few table dances. I didn't have any money, so I took what I thought were my 2 least important guitar effect pedals and hocked them. I got 25 bucks each for them I think (maybe just 20, I dunno).

1 pedal was a vintage mid-to-late 1970's Morley PFV phaser that my old man had bought me for my 16th birthday. He paid about 70 or 80 for it back in 1996. In 2000 it was probably worth around 80 still. Now they probably bring about 200 or 300, and most you'll ever find for sale don't work right anymore either (thats been the case with the only other two I've ever seen for sale).

The other pedal was a mid-90's Boss CH1 Super Chorus. It was either a 15th or 17th birthday present, can't remember. Sold it for the same as the Morley, 20 or 25.

And pretty much as soon as I walked out of the music store I hocked them at, I regretted it. Being that they were birthday presents, they were kinda special. Especially that vintage Morley pedal. But one day in 2005 I think it was, I was in the same store looking for some rackmount gear. I was asking if they had the foot controller to one piece, and he began digging through these plastic drawer bins behind the counter, and THERE SAT MY MORLEY PHASER. I knew it was the same one I sold them because it had the one peculiar red topped knob that I bought from Radio Shack because one knob was missing when I got it in 1996. I immediately bought it back for 85 bucks I think.

Chorus pedal, nah, that thing was long gone.

Been wanting another one though. So I just bought a Boss CE5 chorus ensemble, looks to be in nice clean scratch-free shape, $47.99. Paying shipping on it when it's coming from Kennesaw, which is totally within riding distance, but... I'm lazy. Been looking around online trying to see what the difference is between the CH1 Super Chorus and the CE5 Chorus Ensemble. I still have no fucking clue. Nobody really has any good comparison videos. One uses a mic on a camcorder and 60% of what you hear is pick flapping on the strings. Another one uses a bass, and maybe the CH1 sounds like it has a bit more harmonics to it, I dunno. Supposedly chorus and flanger are the same effect just with different general delay time ranges, and it must be true. I tried out an old late 90's DOD Ice Box chorus the other week and it sounded kinda similar to my Deluxe Mistress flanger, so similar that I didn't want it.

Also bought one of the new MXR custom shop Phase 90 script logo with LED pedals. Also used, paid $71.99, they go for $99 new. From the videos I've seen online, the modern regular Phase 90's are all really dramatic and heavy sounding. The script LED and 74 reissue versions sound a bit more pleasant.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqEBdyIAKbY

[Config.sys]

here is a piece out of my home studio, probably my fav synth too! waldorf Q! i ended up selling it, but software synths are so much the same now and at a fraction of the cost!

[Config.sys]

some more stuffs i used..

[|iR|Focalor]

If you'd be willing to sell or trade that Rocktron Voodu Valve, how much would you want for it?

I sold off my old Marshall JMP1 preamp and Peavey Classic Series 120/120 all-tube poweramp in order to buy this expensive assed made in England Orange head I'm using now, but I'm thinking about throwing together another smaller rack rig as a secondary amp that'll probably play a little friendlier with some of my effects pedals. My Fulltone Dejavibe univibe clone used to sound really good with my old setup, but sounds less dramatic and more subdued with the new Orange Rockerverb head.

I'm thinking I'll put together another smaller rack rig, probably with a lower powered solid state poweramp this time, maybe a little 1x12 cabinet, then record from something like a Focusrite 2-in interface running two Shure SM57's in front of both amp rigs at the same time.

[Config.sys]

Hi Foc! sadly i do not have that unit anymore. I don't even remember what i sold it for, maybe 450 ish...... if i had to guess... its been years, i now use marshall code amps and esp axes but i wish i could get my mitts on a gibson! I'm not 100% certain but i do believe the voodu valve is the unit Rob zombie used for astro creep 2000. i know i heard that from several people. but ill tell you if you can score one  DO IT! the overdrive is unreal - compression too! converters are ok but not as great as the kurzweil..(nothing you could hear tho that would make a difference its all in recording etc etc)

I rarely ever ever use guitar anymore i just do noizey sequenced industrial glitchy music now. so i parted with it ( years ago ) and it was a beast! now days i just use software as its basically the same and now days modeled quite well. i use izotope trash2 the most.. and izotopes' trash can be heard all over earlier NIN tracks and mansons antichrist superstar cd. software is good!

[|iR|Focalor]

Yeah, a lot of folks probably used them. I know Kerry King of Slayer at one time (probably around the "Diabolus in Musica" period) was using a Marshall JMP1 into Rocktron Gainiac 2 and I think he had also been using a Voodu Valve too, and maybe a few other Rocktron preamps to boost the Marshall. I'm not sure if he was also using his old stock of JCM800 heads as well, but he probably was and just running them clean with all the dirt coming from the rack preamps.

I still have my Digitech GSP2101 which has 2 tubes in the preamp and "sort of" gets some tube-y sounds, mostly in cleaner tones. At some point I was gonna try putting a pair of JJ 12ax7's in there to see if it would liven it up some more. So I have a sort-of- tube preamp still. Not like the Marshall JMP1 I had though, which was also only 2 tubes, but was decent at cleans and JCM800 kinda dirty tones using the OD1 channel. In the OD2 channel, I think it boosted the gain with opamp chips like a JCM900 and didn't sound as good. I only used OD2 for direct recording. Through a cab, OD1 sounded pretty good. And I think I've figured out now that however many stages of gain 2 tubes can produce (usually 4 stages) is more than enough for my needs.

I'd prefer to find another Marshall JMP1. But I'd also settle for a Peavey TubeFex,... another one that is hard as hell to find anymore.

At some point I'm going to retube just the preamp gain stages of this Orange Rockerverb 100 mk3 head I have. At first, I thought I'd go with some JJ's or Mullard tubes to get more of that midrangey sizzle, but now I'm thinking I wanna get whatever has the lowest gain ratings possible to hopefully knock off some of the high-gain hum as well as dial back the fuzziness of the overdrive to something less metal and more classic sounding.

[|iR|Focalor]

If you want a cheap Gibson, it depends on what you want. But for a cheap SG, you can't go wrong with one of the SG Faded's. New ones have steadily risen in price over the last 3 or 4 years, but you can probably find a lightly used relatively new-ish one for 600 to 800. They have a non-gloss thin almost-not-there matte laquer finish, but it's basically the same body wood selection as the SG standards. They have Gibson 490 humbuckers just like the SG standards too. They have dot inlays rather than trapezoid inlays. So it's a poor mans lookin' kinda SG, but they still sound and play okay.

As far as FEEL... an SG Standard is the better made and better performing guitar. But as far as sound alone, you can really get the same sounds from the Faded. No shame in playing one looking like a poor fucker. It still sounds like the blues rock beast that it is.

As far as a cheap Les Paul, I can't recommend the old Les Paul Studio Faded's enough. I have one, a 2016 model I think, the last year they were top quality bargains. The ones they make now are crap, crappy fret polishing, crappy fretboard edges. But the 2015 and 2016 models were killer. They had that matte finish in ugly brown or red, but the pickups were the Burstbucker Pro's like they used on the Les Paul Standards at the time. The necks were the fatter "59 rounded" shape rather than the slim-taper shape, and the fretboards had trapezoid inlays to look like a real Les Paul. With the "faded" finish, it makes the guitar sing a little different from a typical Les Paul, with a little brighter and more open sound to it. I LOVE mine (pictured below). As ugly as it is, I still wouldn't trade it for a brand new Les Paul Standard in cherry burst.



Guitar Center in FT Collins CO has a 2016 one right now in red for $699.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Gibson/2016-Les-Paul-Studio-Faded-Solid-Body-Electric-Guitar.gc?rNtt=gibson%20les%20paul%20faded&index=1

The cherry burst Stratocaster beside it is my 2017 ash body Fender American Elite strat. I love it too, but I can't exactly "recommend" it. It's a unique animal. The Gen4 noiselss single coil pickups along with the good quality ash body they use gives it a VERY bright sound. Almost a PIERCING sound. It's a LEAD guitar in every sense of the word. It doesn't do subtle rhythms, it's at the front of the mix demanding to be heard. If someone's looking for an all-purpose Stratocaster, they'd be better served playing either an alder body Elite or one of the American Standard/Professional models. Still, it's an AMAZING guitar. The necks on these American top shelf Fender's are a thing of beauty. I spent so many years playing cheap shitty guitars that by the time I got one of these with a well made neck, it actually made me play better. I was not aware of how much a shitty guitar can hold back a players full potential, but it's TRUE!

[|iR|Focalor]

Dunno what the hell is going on with Guitar Center, but suddenly their main distribution warehouses appear to be out of almost everything. I was waiting on one last $25 e-giftcard to process through to have enough to buy this Catalinbread Talisman 70's plate reverb pedal that I've been wanting for a long while. I was gonna buy a discounted "open box" item for $195 (it's $220 if unopened). It was there on Thursday night, and they also had boxed ones. By Friday night, it said they were out of stock until May 11th. I've looked at a hundred other things all over the site, and a HUGE number of items are out of stock. Acoustic guitars, pedals, even patch cables.

Kinda pisses me off. I go looking online a minute ago trying to find out what the deal is. I don't find the answer, but I do find a retail news site describing how Guitar Centers credit rating was downgraded back in late Feb to pretty much "shit" status. These assholes bought out their competition like Mars Music and others, and in the process killed off all the old small town music shops, including all the ones I used to shop as a kid, and now they've gotten too big for their own britches and are on the verge of dying themselves.

https://www.retaildive.com/news/guitar-center-downgraded-as-gains-fail-to-reduce-debt-load/572822/

[QuakeDuke]

Yah... Last time I was in our local GC here (several years ago and it's gone with the wind now...following all the 'good' shops they killed off) I was looking for a Les Paul standard with P90's for my nephew. The guys there couldn't be bothered to give me a hook up so I told my nephew with me we'd drive to Little Rock, Tulsa or KC if we needed to but I would NOT go back to the GC - my nephew knew one of the guys and told him later lost out on a few k of sales because they were too busy (shop was empty) to bother... Not sorry to see them go... If I can remember how to do pics right, I'll post what I ended up with....
QD

[|iR|Focalor]

Been kinda wanting something with dual P90's myself, something that can kinda approximate a telecaster sound, but with a little more bite. I've tried several tele's and most of them don't have pickups powerful enough. I want the twang, but I want some scream too. Tried a few things, and so far the Fender American Professional Jazzmaster was my favorite. I've seen a couple of P-90 Gibson guitars, but for the money they're asking for those things, I just think spending the same amount on a Fender is a better buy. Fender necks just feel better, like they CARE what the finished product is.

Although I did find another guitar I liked almost as much as the Fender Jazzmaster. I can't remember if it was an American model or a chinese/korean/whatever model, but I was at Atlanta Vintage Guitars a week or two before the Coronavirus hit and tried out a G&L with an ASAT/Telecaster style body, two P-90's, and a Gibson style tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/GL/Tribute-ASAT-Junior-II-Electric-Guitar-Brazilian-Cherry-Fingerboard-Trans-Red-1500000230199.gc

Looked kinda like that, but I think it had a sunburst color to it and was used. Only thing I didn't like about it was it didn't have a tremolo bridge.

[|iR|Focalor]

Like I said before, I dunno WHAT in the holy fudge-packin' funk balls is going on with Guitar Center lately, and I still haven't found any insider info online anywhere spilling the beans about things. But as best as I can figure, they must have a couple of different main distribution warehouses and they had to temporarily close one. Because the reverb pedal I had been looking to buy has recently come back as "in-stock" ahead of the May 2nd or May 5th dates they had previously listed, and the open-box item has also reappeared. Rather than taking a chance on the open-box one being a broken return, I ordered a brand new one. And they've also reduced the price from about $235 to $203, so I got one. I put in the order early yesterday morning, and so far I still haven't got a tracking email saying it's en route. Unfortuntely they don't offer 1 day or 2 day shipping as an extra option anymore. So,... it'll get here whenever the fuck they feel like it, I guess.

Not really sure how happy I'm going to be with it, but whatever, I ordered it anyway. And I say that because I learned something interesting lately. I've seen so many review videos for this Catalinbread Talisman reverb pedal, and they all make the pedal sound absolutely glorious. But if you do a little searching yourself, both for this specific reverb pedal and any other reverb pedal from any other maker, you'll notice that they always use an amp with a clean tone to demo it. Very very rarely will you see one ran through an amp in high gain screamer mode. Probably because it'll sound like complete shit.
I discovered this one video showing how this pedal plays through a cranked Marshall style amp. It doesn't appear to react how I'd want it to. The lowest setting SHOULD be very subtle, but it isn't.

He's got the "time" (reverb amount, pretty much) all the way down, and it's still sounding very pronounced. Not entirely unusable though, almost like a slapback kinda sound, which is fine, it's within the range of 70's inspired sounds I'm looking for. But on longer reverb settings, it sounds kinda muddy to my ears. Hopefully that won't be a problem. Since I'm not looking to make death metal anymore, I'm gonna be using a wide variety of overdrive amounts, so if this thing can handle the moderate sounds appropriately, then maybe I can get away with using the amps on-board spring reverb for anything with the gain past 60%.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ5UA1rn_V4

And just for fun...

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boj0vJ_VkR8