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@scapegoat there will be lots of things that will do it but the joyo amp sim pedals sound good and can be picked up on eBay for £40 or so
https://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/amplifier-simulation/
Run as last pedal on a board and plug straight into your mixer. I’m assuming your mixer has a built in power amp or sends to a separate power amp that feeds the speakers and amplifies everything you send to the mixer ( your bass, vocals etc) You won’t need a separate power amp for the guitar
Ps. £26 on eBay right now, does a very decent impression of vox ac30 top boost if that’s your guitarists sound?
Thanks very much, plenty to go at there, mainly confirming he doesn’t need a power amp pedal. Those Joyo pedals are great vfm too. I use a few of their bits and pieces (multi-power supplies etc) and rate them.
I know a few of us on here have PRS SE guitars. Amazon have the SE locking tuners at £81 currently, £18 cheaper than Andertons.
Dammit! I only have one SE now (a Hollowbody) and that's already been upgraded with locking tuners. It's a great upgrade BTW...
I had all the Joyo pedals at one time - only kept the American tone
Bought the tech21 blonde its was based on and didnt like it at all
or its type the UA ruby is the best overall i've found if a little bit more expensive
I've just read the bit about church, youll be needing a delay as well, I'd go for strymon Dig :0)
I’ve just read the bit about church, youll be needing a delay as well, I’d go for strymon Dig :0)
you should have seen the look on the organist’s face when I played a bass intro with octave, muff and synth pedal engaged …….. 🤟🏼
Can anyone recommend a low cost microphone that I can link to my phone (android) I am a novice and have no aspirations but do want to learn to play and sing just for my own enjoyment. I want to record myself (acoustic guitar) just to help me improve my playing and timing but just using the mic on my phone is rubbish. Don't want to to splash out much to begin with and not after top quality sound just enough to make it clear. Thanks!
I got one of these last year, seems to do the job but I'm sure there are cheaper options that would work too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B3LJVFJ
Well, my brief career as a French rock guitarist hero is back on ice again. Just had an apologetic text from the singer, saying that the drummer and bassist have put the band on hold and cancelled the gig in June. Presumably, they were worried that I wouldn't get to master all of the (complicated) tunes in time (I'm in the UK for three weeks right now, so obviously no time to rehearse with them). Boo!
Ahh well, it has, at the very least, forced me to do a great amount of playing practice, ear-learning a load of tunes and sharpening up my 'live' rig.
I'll just have to get out and find my dream gig elsewhere...
Anyone want to buy some silver sparkle platform boots and some Spandex trousers? 🙂
Oh that's a shame Chipps. Hope you find another one 🙂
I'm being badgered to play at an open mic on Thursday. Will see if I can find some confidence before then (or just drink a load of beer)
Where are you playing, Simon? I'm in Tod on Thursday/Friday... I can come along and cheer. Or play rhythm for you... 🙂
In other news... I'm shortly going to be ebaying my TC Electronic Plethora X5 and a Victory Copper V4 preamp pedal. Anyone want me to chuck them on the Classifieds instead?
I'm unsure if this has been asked here before, so I'll ask in case. Do you attach your strap to your guitar with the ladder lock facing out or facing backward?
I'm facing backward camp, so I, of course, think that is correct. It's deviant behavior to have it forwards 🙂
Alway back for me but I've seen so many permutation its what feel natural I guess
Having never considered this it's not surprising that on the first two guitars I checked out of curiosity provoked by you people one is forward and one back.
I'm going through an acoustic phase at present so don't have much to contribute here. Pick up, tune and play. I need a new bottle neck, having learned to play a tune with three fingers I need one for the pinky that doesn't flop around.
That was a tongue-in-cheek post. I don't care how straps are worn! But I've always worn it at the back because at the front, it tended to rub on my shoulder.
I'm in the final stages of a jag partscaster. The process has helped me learn a lot more than I expected. It's taken longer than I expected. And I don't think I'll try and make a pickguard again without a router. But even with the process yet to be finished, I'm keen to do another building project. It's been fun.
Been playinga lot but a change of role at work has meant I've moved onto the same work schedule of a fixed day off every week (Wednesdays for me) and alternate weekends off. Makes it hard to keep regular sessions with mates.
Been selling loads of gear that has been laying around unused and have really refined my gear to two pedal boards - the small one that actually gets jammed with and the occasional gig, and the enormoboard that never leaves the house.
I think I'm going to sell the Telecaster. It doesn't get played much since getting the PRS SE DGT and the final nail in the coffin was getting this
its a Strandberg Boden NX Standard.
Light, versatile, plays great and works for everything except judgemental blues gigs. Thats when the Goldtop comes out.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53707603524_c00711eaae_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53707603524_c00711eaae_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pPXvod ]In the wilds[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/146501625@N06/ ]John Stanley[/url], on Flickr
Back at the other end of the virtuousity spectrum, my guitar tutor suggested I replace the £4 G4M clip on tuner with a decent Korg one.
Roughly £16 later I was stunned by the difference between a guitar I thought was in tune and one the Korg thought was in tune.
Either I improved significantly or the sound of a reasonably priced 20 year old Yamaha acoustic did (ok it’s the sound of the guitar).
What’s the idea of the guitar with the tuners by the bridge? I can see it’s more compact (and looks cool!) but is there another reason?
When you do a bend the string slides in the nut and hopefully slides back to where it was when you release. On some guitares, notably Gibsons with high angle neck heads the strings stick and the things never stay in tune. The answer is a locking nut but that means you can't tune without releasing which is a pain on guitars which are sensitive to temperature change - anything without a balanced floating bridge. So put the tuners at the bridge.
You lose a lot of weight with a long moment around the co of g, so you can chop even more weight out of the body and still have it balance.
It weighs exactly 5 pounds.
The balance might be good but that long horn with the strap at fret 11 or there abouts feels cramped to me. the Tele strap is at about fret 16 which means a lot of neck sticking out that's comfortable to play without straining the wrist or bumping into the tummy, and I ain't fat.
A thinline Tele is pretty light with a heavy head and I don't find balance an issue.
Edit: I see you've removed the pic of the Renault Five green guitar so nobody knows what we're talking about.
Edit: pic's back, a glitch, not you
@tomparkin re flat wound strings. I use flatwounds on all my six string electrics. I play in a twangy alt. country, Dinosaur Jr , Neil Youngy Bigsby Tremolo style.
I usually replace the wound g with a plain though.
Olympia are good value and a good introduction if you want to give flats a try.
I also like Rotosound Top Tapes.
D’addario Chromes are okay but overpriced
Thomastik Infeld are my favourites but pricey. Low tension too.
This is the best access guitar I've ever played. The neck heel is practically nonexistent flowing into the body and combined with the endurneck it is stunningly comfortable.
Checkout the Strandberg website for a better description. And if you see one just grab a feel of the neck.
I tried one for half an hour, reserved it and sold a bunch of pedals to pay for it, it spoke to me that clearly.
Ah, thanks! I'd forgotten I'd asked about this to be honest 😀
I not long since put a fresh set of strings on my main doom guitar, I seem to recall when looking before on places like Strings Direct that flatwounds were pretty dear, especially for heavier-gauge sets. The Olympia brand look like a good steer though, for around a tenner it's something worth taking a punt on!
You've got me interested in that Strandberg, Eddie. Having Googled it I realise you can screw the strap on wherever you want as it's on the back. The fan frets would make thumb over chords easier, neck shape looks odd but I see the logic. I'm beginning to think it's the perfect modern guitar. Next time I'm in Paris or Bordeaux (not many dealers) I'll have something to do. Given it's different in so many ways it's definitely try before you buy and make sure there's enough left on the credit card to buy before walking into the shop.
Another Strandberg (er, actually two of them...) owner here. To be honest, the neck shape and the fan frets are super easy to get used to - and I can swap back and forth with my other guitars without issue. Although I do notice the extra weight of even guitars I considered to be light...
I do a lot of sat down (on the sofa or at my desk) noodling and the lack of size and choice of knee-rests is great. It's also small overall, which makes it a no-brainer when driving somewhere - I can just chuck it in the boot in its gig bag.
@eddiebaby - it was one of Strandberg's ResQ models - basically paint/finish flaw models that get repainted in a limited edition colour and sold off cheap (a great idea, by the way) - I justified it by the fact that it's a trem model, and SSH, so completely different, right? 😉
An essential purchase in my view.
I think there's a new Res:Q drop coming soon. Hmm....
From experience, the tasty ones sell very quickly, so don't dither if you're tempted. The 'would have been a Plini' models and similar swamp ash jobs. Same with the 7-string (I just wrote '7 speeds...') trem models. The 'would have been a regular Boden NX' models stick around a little longer, but it soon gets into single figures and then gone - apart from the misjudged colourways with oddball spec... Anyway, as you know, great guitars! And I need to remember to write a story for this site about the fold-up one they've made, welded by Italian bike makers!
I’m off on holiday next month and was thinking (obvs) of taking a guitar. I realised that I don’t have an amp that’s either small or quiet. I can rig up something with a Helix Stomp and a Bose speaker, but I was wondering about the Spark Go amp thing, or the Blackstar Fly or something. Any suggestions?
I can recommend a fender mustang micro.
The Spark Go is pretty cool (but you need an iPhone as it doesn't work with android) - there is nothing that comes close to the modelling aspect of it apart from perhaps the Yamaha THR5 (which also runs on batteries but not an internal rechargeable like the Go) but is physically a lot bigger and more expensive. I'm not sure if you can use a phone with it either, maybe just a laptop - my THR5A acoustic amp only works on its own or with a laptop for more complex patches (which you basically don't need with an acoustic!) Beautiful amp though - sounds excellent.
My work colleague bought the Blackstar Fly for his son and it looked like a toy in comparison to the two above, very plasticky. Not sure what it sounded like though....
I can do headphone stuff already, but I was thinking that if I wanted to play along to tunes or even, gasp, play with someone else, I'm going to need a speaker. Or I could just take an acoustic, I guess 🙂
Change of topic now...
Oh lordy... The next Gardner Houlgate auction catalogue is out. 1500 lots! And if you can't find something that you like there, you're a liar 🙂
There's everything from '50s Gibsons, through JEMs and PRSs to Bernie Marsden's guitar and amp collection... Luckily the auctions are on in the daytime, so accidental drunk bidding is unlikely. Well worth a browse though...
https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/auctions
@chipps the spark go is great for practice as outlined above. Only note of caution is that the speaker is pretty small and the quality of the sound you get out loud is “ok” but not like playing through a decent proper amp. I suspect that’s down to speaker size and anything similarly portable is going to suffer that way too. Through headphones it sounds great!
The Spark Go makes a very nice holiday/travel practice amp.
Just don’t let someone else prat around on your phone while you’re trying to practice.
Oh lordy… The next Gardner Houlgate auction catalogue is out. 1500 lots! And if you can’t find something that you like there, you’re a liar 🙂
Chipps you are a bad man 😂
Try out the Spark before buying, I thought it sounded absolutely terrible. A few ok clean or high gain sounds, but everything in-between sounded rubbish to me. Maybe check out a Pod Express which is probably going to be my next guitar purchase - close to Helix level modelling with a few FX, and an audio interface in a nice compact box for £190. Or if you need a speaker rather than headphones or monitors, the Yamaha THR10 series always sounded good to me. I've been hoping for Line 6 to use that Yamaha tech to put Helix models in a small desktop amp but nothing yet, unless it's completely flown under my radar!
@eddiebaby nice Strandberg! I've wanted one ever since I played my mates Boden. For most of my 20+ years of playing I've been on Les Pauls and SGs with fat necks, so the ergonomics and weight are pretty much the polar opposite but I really loved it. Most of the time when I try a guitar out my response is meh, but that one really stuck with me. Been tempted by the Boden Essentials but feel like I should probably go the whole hog with fan frets if I'm doing it.
Cheers for the thoughts @_tom_ I have plenty of headphoney type amps (HX Stomp and a Quad Cortex(!)) but nothing with a speaker that's less than 20 Watts. (Actually, I have an Epiphone Valve Junior, but that's now in a combo with a 12in speaker...) - the Yamaha THR10 seems to be very popular around here, though they've always seemed kinda pricey. The wireless one appeals, though, as I do already have have a Line6 wireless, but I think I'm looking more £100ish than £300-400ish, so Blackstar Fly and/or Spark.
As for the fan frets on the Strandbergs, they're not really that fanned - it's only 25in scale on the short end and 25.5in on the long end for the six string and it's barely noticeable. So, it's a Strat on the bass strings and a PRS on the treble. The fan only starts at the zero fret, whereas if you get the seven or eight string, the 'straight' fret is at fret 7, so it's far more of a two-way fan as the fan goes both ways from fret 7.
I've used a Line6 Pocket Pod for a long time, what with travelling to ships all over the world.
Really useful, but does need a ready supply of batteries. UI is a bit of a puzzle to get your head around, but even I got it figured in the end.
I had the Spark 40. Through headphones it was great. Sounds were fantastic, loads of tones available. The jam along thing was great. Basically load tracks from Spotify and play along with chords shown in the app. For most popular stuff you'd also get specific tones for each song.
The downside was the sound without the headphones. Unbelievably bassy. Impossible to dial out with the built in eq. They added a virtual eq pedal which did sort it,.but it used up one of the available FX slots. The app was also very temperamental. Didn't function logically. For example you'd be browsing the tone catalogue thing, find one you liked, play it for bit then decide to maybe navigate back to the main screen. At that point it stopped the tone you were playing and reverted to one of the four savable presets. An utter pain. Also if you happened to maybe look at an other app on your phone, the Spark app basically closed and you had to reopen it when you swiped back to it. It was very clunky.
The app problems will still persist on the smaller Go device and I did hear some comments about bass being prominent but won't be as bad as the 40.
I sold the Spark a few months ago and haven't regretted it once
Anyone here ever collect famous plectrums? OK, just me then... 🙂
I did a LOAD of small/medium gig going in the late 80s and would try to meet the band if I could and would always ask for a plectrum if I got the chance. Other times, they were thrown out in the audience and I would be the one scrabbling around on the floor 🙂
Anyway, I found my (not very glamorously mounted on a bit of kitchen paper in an IKEA glass frame) collection when at my mum's house last. Some are forgotten, but some are still very treasured...
Top row: 1. Mark Knopfler (yeah, I know, but he did use it live for 20 seconds of one track live in Shepton Mallet in 1985 and dropped it on the stage and I (hoarsely) asked the roadie for it off the stage.) 2. Jack Sonni, same Dire Straits gig. Wombled off the floor. 3. Jeff Healey. Met him after a Hammersmith gig. What a gent...
Row 2: Billy Bragg - saw him four or five times in the eighties and nearly always got to meet him and ask for a pick.
Row 3: Yngwie Malmsteen... Waited outside the gig in sub-zero temps, resorted to banging on the dressing room window until someone opened it... Got a plectrum - and probably hypothermia... The other two, I'm not sure. I think one might be Diesel, the other IDK...
Row 4: Phil Guy (Buddy's brother), and Neal Schon from Journey, who I bumped into in a guitar shop.
Row 5: Not sure. Philly? Tempted to say G. Love, but I'm not sure. The black pair, I think are the two guitarists from Saxon. Graham Oliver and, er, the other one.
Anyway, just wanted to share... 🙂
Nice tunes there! And 70-odd thousand followers on Spotify... one to watch then!
And that's a tasty Epiphone, too. What was the pedal, out of interest? 🙂
Nothing exciting Chipps - a Joyo Ironman Wooden Sound (acoustic sim). He cycled to my wife's work to drop it off for me though so he's obviously one of us!
He's local to me so I'll watch out and see if he's playing anywhere
@chipps yep I have a fair few famous picks. Work for an MI brand with someone who knows a lot of guitar techs which makes it a bit easier I guess! From what I remember I have Slash, Yngwie, Kerry King, Jim Root, Mick Thompson, Dan Hawkins, Paul Gilbert, Joe from Halestorm, Korn, Kirk Hammett, probably some others lurking around!
@_tom_ I loved the Boden so much after just 20 minutes trying it that I went home and ordered it after 2 hours of thinking I couldn't justify it.
After 3 weeks of owning it I now want another. Tried a swamp ash trem version yesterday but it didn't connect in the same way. If I can sell the Tele I'll get an NX Standard 7 string. Probably sell the baritone too...
Edit: While I was in Andertons I bought a Keeley Halo. Stunning and versatile echo.
My picks ae mostly older but
Ritchie Sambora supporting kiss
Stevie Salas
Andy Taylor - Duran
Danny Wilde - The Rembrandts
Mick and Dan TPS
Paul Warren- Richard Marx first UK your band
I have hundreds over the years but these seem to be the only ones I have left, definitely had Neal Schons at one time
I may be looking to trade my amp for something if anyone here might be interested in a Marshall Studio Jubilee 2525H? It's in excellent condition, did a few gigs with it before my last band broke up and it's just been sat in a cupboard unused for about a year. Probably not going to be in a band again any time soon so would be nice to swap it for something useful!
Very long shot as it's so specific, but would love to swap for a nice 54cm road or gravel bike. Other than that, something nice that's LP, Tele or PRS-esque could be cool. Or possibly something digital like a Helix LT.
On Tuesday I went along to Crimson Guitars and was confronted with this:
A "SRP" guitar kit for their three day course. Semi finished neck, body and a bunch of bits. Body was sycamore top, sapele bottom. Reasonable flaming on the top.
First was fret levelling and crowning, then finishing
Then lots of sanding, drilling, sanding, more sanding on the body.
To bring out the flaming, first there was a black stain, which was left to dry and then sanded back to leave this.
[/IMG]
Then the main colour - green middle, blue outer. Neck fitted (with help from one of their luthiers to get the height correct), then off for a satin top coat.
Rubbed down with paper to flatten, then electrics, pick-ups, bridge, tuners. Oh, making the nut too. Then set-up - something new for me - and finally...
Loved the course. There were a couple of people there doing a 3 month course, one of which was over from the US. Two people on a two week course making quite complex guitars, and one on a five day making a basic tele from scratch. I learnt a lot about how a guitar is put together and the set-up skills will come in handy.
Nice! I enjoy watching Ben's stuff on YouTube even though some of his creations are a bit much for my tastes 🙂
How much was the course?
£1200 including the kit. About £260 on the hardware, but can be cheaper - I went for the more expensive end - then I supplied my own pick-ups. Gotoh locking tuners, 510FX bridge (through body stringing), Schaller pick-up surrounds.
So not bad for a unique, carefully finished, properly set-up guitar. Except the front strap button, that should have been further over but I never play standing anyway.
Loft find whilst clearing out a departed relative's attic.
Suzuki 9705 "Hummingbird".
Started to clean it and new strings are on order.
My daughter has already claimed it.
Excellent discovery. She'll love it.
I know this is going to strike a low tone on this thread, but our younger son who is learning guitar at school, told us about two weeks ago that he was going to be playing American Idiot at the school’s end of year concert.
As the bassist.
Apparently he’d found a bass guitar in the school music room, taught himself to play in a few weeks and with a couple of mates was going to get on stage.
Which they did last night.
I’m not going to claim it was dripping with virtuosity and skill (or even a decent mix on the sound) but the punk attitude and energy was spot on.
His first time on stage. Proud dad.
Ace 😁
Top work!
There is nothing low about that! Anybody that gets up in front of an audience to play an instrument, sing or do something creative like slam poetry or comedy gets a round of applause from me. Its on my bucket list to achieve and I'm 55. I just wish I'd realised how important it is to DO this type of stuff as well as watch it earlier in my life.
One of my daughters friends fronted a band as the singer live for the first time at the weekend and it was so cool - NOBODY was taking notes on technique! Its all about the moment.
Three weeks without a post, we can't let this thread die! I'm still trying to make my fingers do fingerpicking. I still go to shit whenever I start recording!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AdLRVv3vW0M
Ok I’ll play…….
Hard to believe this song 30 years old. Near story about the effects on the actual recording - two tapes playing the same solo, one randomly slowed by hand to give the flanged effect. No idea how you get closer with a pedal!
https://youtube.com/shorts/1UkQVT3xyt8?si=5JEQ0nrbkf_192Ft
I'm considering buying an amp modeler pedal so I can travel more easily to and from prospective practices. Does anyone have any recommendations?
The Nu-X Amp Acadamy looks like a lot for the money but seems to have longevity issues. Strymon seems like a good option, but it is rather pricey and slightly limited in features. Boss IR-2 maybe?
How about the new ToneX One? Two different amps in a pedal and enough variation to go from clean to dirt and back. Definitely on my 'next tiny pedalboard' list...
Or the Mooer Micro Preamps? Pick the amp sound you're after and (I think) you get two versions to switch between.
The other guitarist in the band I play in uses UAFX pedals into an Orange Pedal Baby. He has two different ones but I think it's usually the Lion 68 that gets used for this band.
The UAFX stuff isn't overly cheap but it does sound good!
Well as it was a topic of conversation last week.
I made my debut at the local open mic night a few nights ago..... I was shocking and cleared the pub !! lol
Well maybe not that bad but the first song wasn't great, guess l got better as I went very very quickly along lol
Loads learnt and I enjoyed it (including the run up to it, had been practicing my 4 songs pretty hard all week)
Going forward I'm going to dial the guitar difficulty back and do "boring" 3/4 open chord songs, so that I can concentrate on the "singing/performance". Then once I don't feel like a rabbit in the headlights, I'll revisit songs that I really want to do.
Well done for getting out there @Ro5ey what did you play in your set?
Anyone got any experience of amps that can be used for both electric and bass guitar?
I bought a vox modeling amp to play guitar on. It has been up to practice room and gigging levels a few times with no ill effects. I mostly play guitar and bass through the fender bass man emulation.
Cheap-£50-£100 second hand
vox moddlery- something like this. I have the single 10 inch speaker version. This 2x10 would be easily enough for gigs
Pricey £1500
''Anyone got any experience of amps that can be used for both electric and bass guitar?''
Line 6 PodGo - with more than you'll ever use and some great Bass amps on there
Well, I pulled the trigger on the Tone X one. It seems like it would be a good option for my existing distortion pedal and give me what I need with an overwhelming number of amp options to program in!
Reading Ro5ey's comment above!
Most Tuesday nights I pop down to a pub where a bunch of us sit round tables with guitars and take turns playing and singing a song.
Last night I forgot to pack my music sheets. I used to think I only used them as a gentle prompt - how wrong I was. I was absolutely lost without them. I had to struggle to turn up UG Tabs on my phone, which I've not done before. I found a couple that fit on one page though so not all was lost. I did the slowest ever versions of Blueberry Hill and Pigs on the Wing to keep in time with the scrolling! Amazingly the "soulfulness" of them was quite a hit.
I need someone to tell me the best way for an old guy who's starting to forget things to learn songs by heart!
Because people join in with others' songs - usually good accompaniment, bit of bass, bit of noodle, somebody doing the chords up the neck, I've set up one guitar with Nashville tuning. Might take that next time (even though it's a solid with P90s and an Amplug. Nobody will mind...
Does anybody know any songs in open d tuning that I can try and learn? I haven't nailed Velvet Ring yet so don't want to go back to standard tuning!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AmQyPKUvyhM
Got a slide, Simon? How about 'Dust my Broom' by Elmore James. Pretty sure that's open D.
And with amazing timing, look what showed up today. Impulse buy (which took probably a year to make, so not that impulse...) from Thomann. The cheapest on display, steel (not proper brass, but whatever) shiny resonator guitar. No pickup, just acoustic. Nice MOP fretboard dots, nice pearloid headstock face, lovely art-deco tuners.
It's loud, it's very heavy(!) it's trebly and so far it's been great. I've got it set in Open E and I've got a fat brass slide to go with it. Wish me luck (or time to practice...)
(I also got a ToneX One pedal, but that's for another time. Haven't had time to look at that one yet...)
