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The neverending search for sofware amp and pedal sims led me to these guys.
not heard of them before and not seen them mentioned here.
www.kuassa.com
I have to say I think thier stuff sounds pretty good and I really like the simple interface.
free demos versions available and a couple of freebies too.
have fun
Help me choose a Big Muff?
After a couple of years away from playing my old six string and moving to the dark side by learning the bass I’ve had a bit of a renaissance. I scored an American Performer Strat on the ‘Bay and am having great fun but I’m now feeding my pedal cravings. I’ve got a few Boss pedals (DS3, SD1 and a CS3 plus a digital delay) but I’ve got a hankering for a Big Muff. Now , I wanna play Gilmouresque lead, and so of course I’m looking at a Rams Head reissue. The fly in the ointment is that for the extra cost of a round of drinks I could get a Deluxe Big Muff. Reviews and demos suggest that the Rams Head is the sort of sound I’m after…. Smooth, full, balanced, with scooped mids and articulate attack. But. The Deluxe has a mids control plus a couple of extra options which would make it pretty versatile. Is the Deluxe as versatile as the reviews suggest?
For the record I’m playing the chain direct into the clean side of a Peavey Bandit Silver Stripe. So far I’ve got it sounding pretty good with Boss style Distortion or Overdrive but that fuzz edge is missing.
check out this blog if you have not seen it already.
https://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=3389
try the EMG's set nice and low if you are using them i think it helps with the sustain and smooth sound, they are high output so no issues driving stuff
try the EMG’s set nice and low if you are using them i think it helps with the sustain and smooth sound, they are high output so no issues driving stuff
I did this with my EMGs. More than enough power and they do sound more Stratty that way. In the end I have swapped back to passive pickups, but am loathe to give up the actives completely just yet.
Wow, that blog is a rabbit-hole! I’ve decided I’ll get the Deluxe. A couple of demos show that it does all I want it to, and gives endless other possibilities for playing around. I can justify the twenty quid premium in my own head…..
I’m still enjoying the pups on the Performer so far, so no intentions of swapping them for EMGs just yet. 😀
Interestingly learning the bass has really accelerated my fretboard knowledge and playing speed, especially for rhythm playing. I also discovered that learning complex and fast bass lines has improved my tenacity to analyse and learn solos on the guitar. Whereas before I would get halfway through some of the longer stuff, lose patience and give up, I’ve somehow gained the Will to stick at it.
If you want the want the Mooer E-Lady flanger to go alongside it then I have one I'm selling cheap as I like the modulation pedals in the Kemper.
Replied.
If you want to read old music mags then this site has loads you can browse.
http://www.muzines.co.uk/
Does anyone hold any opinions on 7.25" (Fender) necks? In my continuing search for the 'One' (a Jazzmaster of some description), I am going to have a look at a Vintera 60's model (not the modified one). It looks great except possibly the traditional bridge (easily/cheaply swappable) and the 7.25" fretboard radius. I'm not a shreddy kind of player, but I think I want a guitar that will do a bit of everything.
I don't think I've ever played a 7.25" guitar, let alone owned one, but it's entirely possible I've done both over the years without realising.
If you want to read old music mags then this site has loads you can browse.
http://www.muzines.co.uk//blockquote >
Wow - a few titles there that take me back a bit..>!
i just ordered my first harley benton guitar one of these (and a gig bag for the grand sum of £348 inc delivery to uk) https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_fusion_iii_hsh_roasted_fbb.htm
eta 9-12 weeks but i have wanted to get one of these for a long time (i didn't have any way of buying online until now).
if it's anything like as good as people say about them (and harley benton guitars in general) i will be well happy (well i will be anyhoo as new guitar day).
9-12 weeks plenty of time to start learning some guthrie govan,steve vai stuff (not).
That looks rather nice. I bought one of their £200 PRS copies a couple of years back and it's still spot on. OK, I changed the hummy P90s for noiseless, graphite nut and locking tuners but yours won't need those mods, it's up a level!
That Harley Benton ticks boxes that even up market Fenders don't have: stainless frets and a graphite nut. I've got the most basic Tele they do, the "standard series", the neck in particular is much better than you'd expect at the price or even five times the price.
Excellent call. Looking forward to seeing pics of it.
expanding on the plugins, dug up this old gem, fair amp/cab job..
but such a bundle of fun with crazy stacking and modulation.
recommended for the experimental types!
http://nomadfactory.com/products/magma/
Just treated myself to a new bass... Haven't had one for at least 15 years!
On paper, nothing special, it's an '08 Squier p-bass special made by Cort. But, it's as close as I'm ever going to find to my first bass (and first instrument!) which i got in about 2001. It was the exact same model but in british racing green, and man I loved that thing. Traded it in, stupidly, against a MIM Fender Standard which was an uninspiring slab in comparison. This one is a slightly glittery black, and in fantastic condition. Just picking it up brought back memories, the muscles never forget...
https://imgur.com/ezPoSPg
https://imgur.com/CKkcN50
Bought from ebay but it turned out that the seller was STW'er oldtennisshoes!
nice bass enjoy
an update i have changed the guitar that i ordered for a different harley benton fusion model from the original one i ordered (have changed to an hss fusion pro iii in daphne blue satin finish but with a roasted maple neck and ss frets 24 fret still).
it is on its way so hopefully in a few days it will turn up (really looking forward to getting it, hopefully it will all be ok and no damage etc) .
will try and post some pics of it when it arrives.
Thommen have been really good for orders for me lately but it does seem to take a week to arrive the pricing usually great though. Consistently cheaper than Andertons.
couple of recent acquisitions, the Lowden sounds spectacular...
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Wow that Lowden is stunning @sailor74. Used to work in a music shop in the 90s that stocked Lowden so was lucky enough to play a few but never rich enough to own one.
Not an acoustic fan but the Lowden does lol wonderful.
Did you like that Fender strap btw?
Yes, very much so. I bought two, one for the Strat, the other for the Tele.
What model of Lowden is that?
They're all lovely looking guitars.
After @Edukator pointed out the misalignment of my Tele saddles I ordered a new set from Gotoh.
Decided to stick with brass rather than Ti as it is bright enough already and had a spare 20minutes this morning to swap them over and re-intonate everything.
I’ll probably drop the neck by a fraction of a turn on the micro tilt to get the action a bit higher without raising the saddles but otherwise it’s pretty darn good. Twisted Tele pickups arriving soon as I found a secondhand set on a US forum. Tried them on another Tele and liked the neck pickup a lot.
That Tele colour is smokin'!
🙂 I've got the matching Strat too, also in Miami Blue with a maple neck. Very pretty. Prefer it to Lake Placid Blue now.
I like those Gotoh saddles. They cure all the problems with trad Tele saddles: intonation, zitar effect and string position stability.
Thanks for pointing out the problem with the original saddles. I hadn't noticed it, but once you mentioned it I couldn't not see it.
They do seem good and do intonate well.
Lowden sounds spectacular
Watch out for the Lowden over winter. Mine had to live in it's case as the house gets too dry and the saddle has pulled off twice :(. Not sure it can be repaired again :(. It's fine if it's in it's case with something to humidify it slightly
Got the guitars out for a bit of sunshine and to clean the usual storage room so thought i'd take a shot. The blue of the Strat and Tele really pops out but hard to photograph correctly.
The Variax is ticking along nicely whilst the Kemper Stage is great but benefits from a few extra pedals.
I find it hard to get by with out the Cali76 Stacked Edition compressor. It instantly improves things. The Revival Drive is great and the J Rocket APE does help for that vintage Echoplex tape preamp sound with the Flashback2.
The Trelicopter at the end is just because I really like the wave shape control for the trem modulation.
very nice setup there
That blue telecaster looks beautiful!
apologies for the copy/paste from fretboard forum
well my fusion iii hss just turned up about an hour ago.
if this is a mark of the harley benton guitars i can assure you i will definitely be buying more of them at some point
it's bloody awesome i have to say
yes there are a couple of issues with it but nothing major at all and easily fixed by a guitar tech (i am not a guitar tech lol).
man the neck on it is lovely both to look at and the feel. also the whole guitar looks lovely to me and feels great (nothing feels cheap on it i have to say.
this is both my first harley benton guitar and order from thomann and i have to say am very happy with it (also bought a gig bag too that feels very nice quality for the money).
all in all i am a very happy chappy i have to say.
i will try and upload some pics and playing report (am not a good player though so will be a crap player report lol).
now i'm off to play it again.
Sounds like a win! Pics please.
i hope these worked (apologies for awful pics from my el cheapo phone)
specs here for it https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_fusion_iii_hss_roasted_db.htm
i paid £344 inc a gig bag and delivery (took just over a week because of hols).
i love the guitar i have to say 🙂
I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on a Harley BentonCST 24, it's just justifying to myself as I hardly play these days.
Nice colour. Got a bit of a Charvel vibe about it.
Had weird day of lots of time waiting for clients to clear work so had a lot of time playing in an empty house with a bit of volume. Main aim was to see what gear I want to get rid of before the market tanks.
Played the JTV59 Variax convinced the Tele and Strat would be standouts. I was wrong. It really does sound and play great, even without the modelling switched in.
So it's just amps and FX to let go.
Grrr.
I do like the blue colour on that tele.. Just seems to really suit it.
See one in the flesh, the colour really pops.
@sailor74…… that looks awfy like my Lowden S10….. just a beautiful guitar.👍
Any particular reason you think the market is about to tank, @Eddiebaby?
I have a couple of guitars I need to shift when I can be bothered. You saying I should pull my finger out?