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Orange Rocker 15?
Switchable down to half a watt, can't get a bad sound out of it.
I did like the Origin as well.
If you've got drive pedals you like then the Origin 20 is a great shout, it takes them well. It's a bit clean for me unless it's really loud, but when you get that master up it does sound cool for old school Marshall tones (kind of like a tighter JTM to my ears) and with a boost and the right guitar can do classic metal stuff ok too. If you want to spend a bit more the new Studio JTM is great.
There's also the Laney Supercub which are nice little amps.
I suppose if I wanted a more modern metal tone I could go for a distortion pedal.
I have a fuzz and tube screamer already so could probably push an origin into an 80s metal tone.
I did wonder about the blackstars but they seem to have the most haters
Just made my first guitar purchase in about 30 years!
Saved up my pocket money for a long time to buy an SG when I was in school and still love the way it looks and feels. Unfortunately I didn't really learn to play in the intervening period, but i'm getting back into it now and trying to encourage my eldest to get stuck in.
Bought an Artist ST62II strat-a-like. Just arrived today. looks great for the money (I got an immaculate customer return and paid £137)
One issue - its got scratchy frets. Google suggests this isn't that unusual. Do i need to sand/polish them or will they smooth out with playing?
Polish them up with 000 steel wool next time you change strings. Make sure to mask off all the pickups and selector knob to ensure no bits of steel wool get in and cause issues
Someone mentioned Tele’s, and I was reading a review earlier about a new Squier Tele Thinline that Fender have brought out, with twin ‘buckers. It gets a very good write-up, it’s lighter than the original ones, which were all ash, these are maple.
£369 - amazing price for what seems like a very good guitar.
Yep, tried one as I'm looking for a Tele for permanent 5 string open G duties.
Poplar body, not maple but rather nice. Hmm. May be mine on Thursday...
Orange rocker 15 is a sound choice. The clean channel has shades of vox chime and takes pedals well. It has a bluesy crunch as the volume knob gets turned up but the switchable wattage lets you keep a decent amou t of clean headroom up to small venue levels. it does the proper 70's rock orange sound on the dirty channel. Best of all, it retains all this character on all the wattage settings unlike other switchable valve amps i've had.
It's "tv volume" on the lower settings but the full 15watt is proper loud. Ive been happily playing pub gigs with mine on the 7watt setting.
Vox ac10 is worth a look too if you want some vox flavor at house volume
My friend has a little Blackstar 1W valve amp -- the combo with the 8" speaker (I'm fairly sure it's a HT-1R).
For playing in his flat it easily gets too loud. It has a speaker out which will drive a 4x12 to a reasonable volume: I think he's used it in a band/rehearsal scenario like that and it worked out fine for him.
Slightly OT: IMO it's not really about "loud" so much as how the amp behaves as you turn it up. I've just gotten back to rehearsals with my band, which is now a three-piece for the time being. I played my VX Kraken in "low" mode (15w) with just the drummer, and that was fine. But once the bass player was added in, it was much better in "high" mode (50w). It seemed a lot more flexible having the extra headroom in 50w mode with the volume at about 25% v.s. being in 15w mode with the volume at 75%.
But once the bass player was added in,
You need more mid potentially see recent Thomann youtube on this subject
You should see my amp's eq settings 😂
But yes, maybe so. I'll have a look for the video 👍
If anyone is interested I've been dumping loads of stuff via Reverb but it is hardly worth sticking these two on there.
A pair of Behringer pedals, the Super Fuzz SF300 and the Vintage Tube Overdrive TO800. Are they any good? Well the Super Fuzz is a clone of the Boss pedal and the Vintage Tube Overdrive is a Tube Screamer clone that Danish Pete chose as the best in a blindfolded Andertons video (its a cracker as Lee Anderton gets increasing concerned as Pete continues preferring the pedal over the ones costing over ten times as much.)
Both pedals in mint condition: £30 including postage
An awful photo of two very very nice additions to our demo guitar arsenal here at work:
Bottom left is a Reverend Descent RA to fill our baritone/downtuning spot. And bottom right is a Reverend Jetstream 390 (Ron Asheton tribute).
Not had much playing time on them yet, but unsurprisingly this longtime bassist newbie guitarist loves the baritone but also, OMFG P90s sound so good, right where I want guitars to fit within my domineering bass sound! 😉
@eddiebaby (only a week late...) I'm getting a Boden Standard NX 6 Charcoal - because it was the cheapest one in the online store's 20% off sale. I reserve the right to change my mind if I love it and get a Plini neck-thru trem model instead... 🙂
A pedal question if anyone has any expertise to offer:
I have a Bass Big Muff nano which has recently started breaking the signal chain when I turn it off. It works fine when it's on, but about 30% of the time, clicking off cuts the sound completely rather than just bypassing the pedal.
I'm going to have to open it and have a look, but has anyone got any idea what I might be looking at? I'm sort of hoping I can spray WD40 on it or clean a connector or something, but equally could be something mechanical with the switch.
Thanks for any pointers.
Boden Standard NX 6 Charcoal
- let us know how it is
They are doing lefties again after saying they never would, hopefully I can sang one on the next release
I have a Bass Big Muff nano which has recently started breaking the signal chain when I turn it off. It works fine when it’s on, but about 30% of the time, clicking off cuts the sound completely rather than just bypassing the pedal.
To me that sounds like the switch on it's way out. It shouldn't be that hard to replace though, if you can solder.
Caveat: I've not seen the inside of a Bass Big Muff Nano: I'm assuming the switch is connected to the circuit board with some leads which can easily be detached and resoldered to a new unit.
@plumber - yes, looks like they've just started another run of lefties, just for you...
https://strandbergguitars.com/product/boden-lefty/
I have a gold top scratch that, one day, will no doubt demand to be itched…
Welllll, not quite, but a PRS SR SC McCarty 594 in black gold sunburst top 🙃
I even customer ordered it (local shop matched the internet ‘street’ price). The neck is a bit chunkier than I’d ideally like and even the splitting is a bit clunky (well compared to the ProII i guess). Selector switch is also a bit ‘stiff’ to normal.
I really like the low output pick ups, not disappointed with the finish (for a cut price Indonesian ‘knock off’). Lived up to its hype/promise.
Pretty pleased with it.
The GAS is strong at the moment… 🙇♂️
Does anyone here have any experience of the little "stero condenser mic" type devices you can get for field recording (e.g Tascam DR-05x)?
I want something to record with at band rehearsal to help with listening back to figure out arrangements, etc. To date we've recorded to a phone which is just about useful, but tends to be limited by the "omg we're recording" effect in addition to the microphone being less than ideal for capturing a live band.
I like the idea of something set-and-forget with better microphones. I'm thinking we could just record the whole 3 hours or whatever and just edit our the "best" bits for later reference.
Anyone done something similar?
Very nice, @metalheart!<br /><br />@tomparkin Re; recording your band with something simple, I've got a Zoom H2N, which I also use for interviews etc. It's super simple to use and the sound quality is excellent, with a handy record level dial and digi VU meters. They still seem to be about £200 each, which'll be more than you're keen to spend, but they come up secondhand. There's a very simple 'Press one button and you're recording' button, and it'll do stereo. Batteries last months and you can get hours on the SD card.
Can't see the H2N on the website, but the cheaper H1N is shown next to a drum kit. :-)<br /> https://www.zoom-europe.com/en/handy-recorders/zoom-h1n-vp-uk-version-uk-version
@chipps -- thanks, that's the kind of insight I was hoping for!
I've been looking on eBay: it seems you can get the simpler models for around £50 for a beat up one.
As ever, with a bit of reading around you can convince yourself that you ideally "need" something like the Zoom H6n which has the stereo condenser pair in addition to four XLR inputs 😮
I might just take a punt on a cheapo/simple device and see how it goes on. It has to be better than a smartphone!
I use a Zoom H4N to record my acoustic guitar. Easy to use and the quality is good. Look to be reasonably priced used.
I've developed an inkling to add a nylon string guitar to my collection.
Most weeks I pop down to a local pub where a group of us sit round a table take it in turns to play and sing, and there's a bit of joining in goes on. Half a dozen acoustics all going chunga-chunga can get a bit much and I want a bit of variety. Mostly I play finger-style (pads of fingers mainly) and I'm torn between a little steel string parlour style and a nylon guitar.
I've never tried one though. Is the flat fingerboard a pain for chording? But I've heard of crossover/fusion types with a narrower neck and a radius. maybe that's the way forward.
@BigJohn I’ve a couple of Yamaha nylons; a NTX (which is aimed at steel/electric players) and a sNCX (which is your classic classical type).
Funnily enough the NTX is comfortable, ‘familiar’ and is basically a nylon string that plays very much like you’re used to. Think it has a 48mm fret width I think? Definitely an easier option for trying out/transitioning on.
The NCX is wider (52mm?) and flatter and does feels different (but you can still fret ‘normally’, I can’t do the Hendrix style thumb fretting due to an old finger dislocation injury so can’t say how that compares). I was trying to learn Flamenco, thats’ why ‘ve both…🙃
I like them both. If you want to just play ‘normal’ stuff… but on an acoustic, the NTX ‘fusion’ style definitely would work for you. If you want to be play classical (or flamenco) then the NCX style is probably more appropriate. If you’ve seen proper classical players on YouTube, etc., they manage fine… The Yamaha website has some videos that run through both styles, might be worth a watch?
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/guitars_basses/cl_guitars/nx_2020/index.html
To me its kind of similar to the difference between a Fender and a Gibson…
Time to make a trip to Birmingham and pop into a couple of the larger stores there to try some out then.
Yeah you'll just have to try some out.. the necks are generally (or at least feel) a lot wider at the nut, but the strings are easier on the fingers, so it's difficult to quantify.
Maybe one with nylon thicker strings D,A,E and steel thinner E,B,G strings?
Its worth considering if it's fully nylon strung you may not be able to put all steel strings on it, unless they are super light guage due to the string tension, you may end up warping the neck etc.
You can certainly get some beautiful sounds out of nylon strings though...
Either way, if you do get one, as is the law, it must have a slotted headstock 😀
Ha! Yes, my repertoire includes a few Willie numbers, Always on my Mind (yes I know he didn't write it, but my interpretation is more his than Elvis or PSB) goes down well.
And even with steel 12 fret models, I'm strangely drawn to the slotted headstock. I wanted to put on on the blue Tele in the picture that I made from scratch but the luthier I had the 1 to 1 guidance from wouldn't entertain that nonsense.
Oh yeah... it's new guitar week here!
Yeah I've always kinda lusted after a 12 fret slot head type thing with steel and nylon strings.
Oh yeah… it’s new guitar week here!
I don't know whether I love it or hate it!.... It's a guitar all right! 😀
I don’t know whether I love it or hate it!…. It’s a guitar all right! 😀
Well, I figured I have, or have had, nearly every sort of guitar over the years, so why not go a bit weird? I mostly justified it for its size, as it's compact enough to play in my office chair (with armrests) while noodling along to Youtube jam tracks...
Any resonator players on here? I have a new set of Micheal Messer Newton phosphor bronze strings .013-.056. If anyone wants them message me your address and I'll post them to you.
Very pretty Chipps.
Does it have the trapezoid neck carve or is it conventional?
Old Guitar Day!
I dragged my first electric out of the loft and re strung it.
A Jedson bought from a gift shop in Blackpool from summer job earnings working at the Pleasure Beach in 1972.
I remember it was hung on the wall behind the counter and going in to look at it on my lunch breaks working out how long it would be until I could afford it. I think it was £27!
It still works and plays surprisingly well but the switches are a bit hit and miss, which pretty much matches my playing style.
It does bring home though how much better I perhaps could be playing now if I'd practiced consistently over those years rather than intermittent aimless noodling 🤔
Nice bit of relicing there!
Andertons will probably buy the rights to the name and reissue them like they did with Burns.
Nice guitar!
My mate persuaded me not to sell my first bass when I got fed up of its quirks.
1978 music master short scale bass. My bass teacher looked at it's totally gouged frets, massively reliced finish and said with a strained voice, "that's lovely" lies!
Looks like this with a black pickguard and a home made respray by me that is fine at a meter, but imperfect closer up
Its sounds ace ( with super fat strings) and is surprisingly light weight for a bass.
Picked up a guitar for the first time in a few months. Really need to start playing regularly again, my fingertips hurt now!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6Lduuzvr1zE
That picking sounds nice and fluid Simon!
I always found that song tricky to keep dialled in terms of timing when shifting the chord shapes around, it's too easy to trip over the strings.
Cheers Tom. Wanted something to make me work. I should probably try and learn the other 3 chord changes but might take a while as I have to concentrate super hard on the picking!
Does it have the trapezoid neck carve or is it conventional?
It has the weirdy trapezoid neck. It's less obvious than I thought it might be when playing, and for soloing, my thumb completely ignores the 'correct' place on the back of the neck and goes thumb-over just like my other guitars. For barre chords, I'm thumb-behind, though.
The best bit about it is that it's sooo light! And tiny.
Just like to say that the PRS Singlecut McCarty (from previous page) played straight through my re-issue Vibró Champ is currently hitting the spot nicely. Only slightly spoiled by the fact that guitarguitar are currently flogging it for only £799 in their autumn sale… Still think it was worth the £949 I paid for mine…
Also; I bought my first proper pedal: a Fender Shields Blender - which is mental. It will take a while to work out how it works (4 foot buttons, 8 knobs and a couple of other localised push buttons). Yes. It has a manual, but ****, its mental 🙃
Here is a taster: