Random guitar junk, interviews and stuff

[KevinD]

Thought i'd bought a guitar on ebay...... reserve not met Just been relisted - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402481520634

My winning bid was £165

My first LP style was an EC. It was a 401 fm with factory dimarzio 36th pups. Actually was a great guitar. Iirc, I gave $600 for it new as it was a factory second. Very small dent on the back under the finish. I gave it to my brother in law when I bought my gibson.

[DemonGeminiX]

I'm still slumming on the Epiphone LP with the baseball bat neck.

I've been looking at the ESPs, the Harley Bentons, and a Canadian manufacturer called Prestige Guitars. They all make LPs that seem to get rave reviews.

[DemonGeminiX]

I dont know why people bother with things like coil taps these days Those were old innovations that were useful before the pedal world really came alive. I wouldnt be surprised if a poor job at that was the reason it had output issues. (or if the tap is on a push button pot, those are notoriously flimsy and if you whack em too hard while playing...)

the bends choking out as he describes is similar to what I was talking to Kev about the other day - if your truss is too slack and you try to lower the bridge as a fix...

doesnt look like too bad of an instrument tho!

If the coil splitting (humbucker) or coil tap (single coil modern high output to half wound vintage output) is decent, then you don't need to waste space on your pedalboard attempting to get those types of sounds with pedals. It saves you from the tap dancing involved. My Epiphone splits both humbuckers and the sounds resulting are quite useful... and also something I wouldn't bother thinking to look for without the coil split.

[FBD]

If the coil splitting (humbucker) or coil tap (single coil modern high output to half wound vintage output) is decent, then you don't need to waste space on your pedalboard attempting to get those types of sounds with pedals. It saves you from the tap dancing involved. My Epiphone splits both humbuckers and the sounds resulting are quite useful... and also something I wouldn't bother thinking to look for without the coil split.

I guess if you find it useful, I've had guitars with it before and I basically found that I never, ever, ever used it. Its like hmmm, where's a good time to halfass your gain like that, and I dont ever find an application

[Goofy]

Been having a shot of my neighbours old Ibanez tonight, strangely enough it has coil tap



Satriani series, lovely bit of kit tbf - was getting some really nice tones both in single coil and humbucker modes (no pedals, just straight into my valve amp)

Right boys, a bit of advice required - given that i've predominately been an acoustic guitar player all my life, what should be my "must have" pedals for putting together a pedal board? Only thing i've ever used before was an old Zoom multi-effects unit when i played/sung in a band nearly 20 years ago Since i've been playing a lot more of late, and playing the electric a lot more i've decided to buy some pedals, likely a few of those cheap Behringer units (which are just Boss clones in a cheaper housing - at least with the analogue units). I've already got a Vintage Tube Overdrive (Ibanez Tubescreamer clone) - i'm thinking a delay pedal for sure, reverb pedal maybe.......... fuzzbox......... compressor.......... so fucking many to choose from

Lets say i was to buy 4 pedals and i'm mostly playing stuff like AC/DC, Maiden, ZZ Top, etc - what would you boys recommend? Cheers Planning on putting this small board together and buying either an ESP or Epiphone Les Paul standard (twin humbuckers either way) later.

[FBD]

Been having a shot of my neighbours old Ibanez tonight, strangely enough it has coil tap


Satriani series, lovely bit of kit tbf - was getting some really nice tones both in single coil and humbucker modes (no pedals, just straight into my valve amp)

Right boys, a bit of advice required - given that i've predominately been an acoustic guitar player all my life, what should be my "must have" pedals for putting together a pedal board? Only thing i've ever used before was an old Zoom multi-effects unit when i played/sung in a band nearly 20 years ago Since i've been playing a lot more of late, and playing the electric a lot more i've decided to buy some pedals, likely a few of those cheap Behringer units (which are just Boss clones in a cheaper housing - at least with the analogue units). I've already got a Vintage Tube Overdrive (Ibanez Tubescreamer clone) - i'm thinking a delay pedal for sure, reverb pedal maybe.......... fuzzbox......... compressor.......... so fucking many to choose from

Lets say i was to buy 4 pedals and i'm mostly playing stuff like AC/DC, Maiden, ZZ Top, etc - what would you boys recommend? Cheers Planning on putting this small board together and buying either an ESP or Epiphone Les Paul standard (twin humbuckers either way) later.

I would recommend something like a pod that has a crapton of effects on it instead of buying a million individual pedals. Boss' multi effects have always been good. I traded my pod for hihats and that bass pod I found with corroded grounds cheap, fixed and gave to my son, that was some good shit too. My buddy had the Korg multi effects pedal, that was very good too but not quite as durable (but you're not playing shows far as I know, so the beadown is less...)

things like fuzzbox, reverb, delay, compressor are pretty common and pretty standard and you can get a great amount of tweakability on those particulars in the multi effects pedals, and then have a dozen other cool shits on top of 'em.

where you can get really good and thick sounding stuff from a pod is when you blend two dissimilar amp mods together, like one warm and one scratchy - they dont even have to sound good alone, but the blend...being able to do shit like that is also another plus for multi effects pedals, even the old pod pro floorboards did all that and pretty well.

[Goofy]

Was telling my dad i almost bought another guitar today, he asks me how much, i tell him how much i bid and how much they are new.......... guess who's getting an ESP 256 for christmas? My dad's a musician too, apparently he was a fucking savage drummer when he was younger but gave it up after i came along After that he played bass (quite badly ) in a covers band who only really played at our local club for friends (birthday parties and the like) - called themselves The Fossils of Funk I've had the pleasure of playing on stage with them too, actually pretty tight tbf although somewhat limited (except Gogsie, great guitar player and family friend, that's his guitar above that i've been playing tonight).

Anyhow, my dad had also played a little bit of guitar and decided near the start of the covid lockdown crap to buy the cheapest electric guitar on amazon after watching a youtube video This strat-clone is the worst POS i've ever played, uneven frets, sharp fret edges, cheap shit pickups, you get the idea! So, i spoke with my mum the other day and asked her if she had any plans for dads christmas, she didnt........ so i suggested we each chip in and get him a decent guitar Looks like we'll be jammin' on christmas day

[KevinD]

Just so we're all clear, I didnt drop $2k plus on a gibson. I found a floor model 2018 Gibson LP "tribute" series. (Think studio, with a maple cap) it was marked wrong at $990 (should have been $1050) had some scratches, bumps, etc. Got it for $800 including taxes. Fret edges needed some work, but after that, setting it up how I wanted (top wrap ftw) I changed the pickups and wiring harness. The 2018 tribute series was the only recent one with no weight relief, mahogany neck, etc. Other years had modern or 9 hole, and/or maple necks. I may still swap the bridge pup again. Not sure.
Goof, that's awesome your pops bought you the EC.
My wife just surprised me with a Harley Benton DC jr fat in cherry red. $250. Surprisingly good fret work. Decent finish. I'm going to change the tuners and the bridge, and try some spacers order the dogear p90

[DemonGeminiX]

I'm gonna hold my tongue here, because I'm a hopeless pedal junkie with a fuck ton of pedals. If you can get a multi-effects unit that has everything and does it reasonably well, then go that route. It'll save you a ton of cash.

Here's a listing of basic effects you might want to play around with if and when you find your unit:

Boost
Overdrive
Distortion
Fuzz
Compressor
Wah/Envelope Filter
Delay
Reverb
Tremolo
Vibrato
Chorus
Phaser
Flanger
Univibe
Rotovibe
Graphic Equalizer
etc...

Maiden, you're gonna need distortion and delay. Starting with Somewhere in Time, they went completely digital.

AC/DC is a bit dryer, but they need a nasty crunchy OD/Distortion. Think a 70s era Marshall Superlead Plexi cranked to crunch to hell. That's Angus all the way. From what I understand, he owns 50 of them. But you can duplicate that easily with a single distortion that's tuned correctly. Any effects unit should be able to get that sound.

ZZ Top... is complicated. Which era? Cause Billy is all over the place with his tone. Kevin and I have talked about this in the past. Gibbons likes a bluesier kind of crunch to a nastier hard edge. He's been known to mess with fuzz boxes from time to time. He's also been known to plug directly into a mixing console and lay down tracks that way. Which song do you think of when you think of ZZ Top? What tone from which song?

[KevinD]

I've got 2 pedals....a tc looper, and a EHX Soul Food. Thinking of buying a BD2 at some point. For now, when I'm after a specific tone (that I can't really get with the 2 tube amps) I just use the Katana. All the boss effects are there. Can usually get "close enough" especially with my limited ability. So far I'm a much better guitar and sound tech than player. All my friends bring me their stuff to work on. Haha

[DemonGeminiX]

When I want to sit down and practice, I don't plug my guitar into anything. If I do, 10 hours will go by with me just dicking around with pedals and knobs and such. I've been doing it for decades.

[Goofy]

ZZ Top... is complicated. Which era? Cause Billy is all over the place with his tone. Kevin and I have talked about this in the past. Gibbons likes a bluesier kind of crunch to a nastier hard edge. He's been known to mess with fuzz boxes from time to time. Which song do you think of when you think of ZZ Top? What tone from which song?

La Grange, was playing that tonight, fucking love that tone he has there!

Well, thanks for complicating things more guys I'll do some research and watch some demos Kev, nothing wrong with dropping £2k+ on a good Gibby, those things tend to go up in value over the years so it's a good investment My neighbours current #1 is an anniversary model Gibby Les Paul, cost him near £3k a few years back He reckons he'd get £5k for it right now!

I had a Gibson LP Special when i was younger, and an SG at one point......... neither had great necks tbh, and the SG was a replacement for a US strat that i wished i'd never sold so when i was playing the SG i was constantly wishing i still had my strat Guess all guitarists have those regrets!

[DemonGeminiX]

La Grange is a '69 Marshall Superlead Plexi and a Strat. Nothing else. High volume and bass, low treble and mids. Presence a bit up.

[DemonGeminiX]

If your effects unit has amp modeling capabilities, you should be able to come pretty close to it.

[Goofy]

I would recommend something like a pod that has a crapton of effects on it instead of buying a million individual pedals.

Like this - https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-d...e-6-pocket-pod

I have an older model Zoom multi-effects pedal (probably made in mid 90s) and i always felt it sounded a bit "fake" compared to a pedal-board of analogue boxes.......... i guess tech has moved on a fair bit in the last 25 years though