• This topic has 3,676 replies, 156 voices, and was last updated 2 days ago by plumber.
Viewing 40 posts - 1,641 through 1,680 (of 3,677 total)
  • Guitarists of Singletrack…
  • iffoverload
    Free Member

    if you like rotosound strings… made in ingerlend!!

    £5 a set + the dreaded

    https://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_080.htm

    jca
    Full Member

    Strings Direct – they stock the pure nickel wrapped Daddario EPN110 I like. LGS don’t stock any pure-nickel wraps.

    Superficial
    Free Member

    any reason not to go for an AMERICAN ULTRA STRATOCASTER®
    It seems like a solid no-nonsense choice.

    Kind of. Have you played one? The funky cut and the heel joint feel pretty out there.

    It’s nice but if you want a really modern guitar then IMO get a modern guitar. If you want the Strattiest Strat then the AmProIIs get great reviews and are a bit more traditional.

    But I’d want to play a few before deciding.

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    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    edhornby

    Full Member

    Ok quick poll time, where do you get strings and picks etc from -other than Amazon? I’d like to support a UK retailer ideally not an Amazon shop or ebayer.

    Hi Ed….hope all ok with your lot. 🙂

    Either of my local shops, tbh. Louandy’s in Colne or ProSolo in Burnley.
    Both cheaper than Andertons or PMT etc on strings, ProSolo cheaper on MXR pedals and accessories too.
    No, I’ve no idea how they do it either.

    It’s the LBS thing all over again. They give me great trade-ins and proper setups on new guitars, which ends up cheaper even if their headline price on new guitars is a few quid more expensive.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    If you want the Strattiest Strat then the AmProIIs get great reviews and are a bit more traditional.

    Or get a Limited Collection Japanese Fender.
    Nitro, USA Custom Shop pickups, flawless finish and build for a few hundred quid less.

    Be quick if you find one……

    Northwind
    Full Member

    edhornby
    Full Member

    Ok quick poll time, where do you get strings and picks etc from -other than Amazon? I’d like to support a UK retailer ideally not an Amazon shop or ebayer.

    Like everyone else- I go into my local guitar shop, play all the guitars, try out all the amps, maybe try on a strap or two, then after 10 hours in the shop I buy exactly 2 picks.

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    Had my first jam in a rehearsal room the other day – went better than expected!
    However, did find it a bit of a lottery about the guitar amps they use.

    So, I just ordered one of these:

    It’s so small I’m going to mount it on my pedalboard! Be handy as I normally walk to the jam so taking my other amps doesn’t work. Prefer to have my own amp so I can dial in the amp and pedals beforehand.

    Found a guitar shop knocking them out for £79 new which is a little less than a used one on eBay so I can’t really lose!

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    Wowsers! That Boutique one looks great. A couple of then could make for a cheap stereo or wet/dry rig,

    yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    Now you’ve got me thinking! My 4*12 is mono/stereo switchable. Though you get 2×8 ohms instead of a single 4 ohm so wouldn’t get any extra power (the power output is impedance related)

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    Though you get 2×8 ohms instead of a single 4 ohm so wouldn’t get any extra power

    Yeah, but wet/dry!
    Maybe even go for a lower gain version for the second one.

    yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    Wet/dry/wet is for true champs

    plumber
    Free Member

    I keep a tab of my ‘music’ spending

    It eye watering as an overall figure

    but at £20 a week over my lifetime since I started playing at 19

    Seems like a really reasonable hobby

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    Wet/dry/wet is for true champs

    So I’ve heard. Must stop looking at That Pedal Show. I do prefer the new logo.

    edhornby
    Full Member

    Thanks all for the tips on strings and the like – I like Rotosound 10s on my tele so that’s a bonus

    As per the strats, Pete makes a good point about the Japanese ones but definitely go and try lots because that’s a fair whack to lay out and details like neck carve and heel joint make a difference – also gives you a genuine reason to play all the cool stuff in the shop as you are going to actually buy 🙂
    The Ultra’s and AMII are poly finish and noiseless pickups whereas the Americal Original are nitro with the 65 pickups and 6screw bridge, depends on what you like really.

    (PS Hello Pete, yes we are all well thanks, hope you and Sue are doing ok)

    Superficial
    Free Member

    I keep a tab of my ‘music’ spending

    It eye watering as an overall figure

    but at £20 a week over my lifetime since I started playing at 19

    Seems like a really reasonable hobby

    Wow. ~£1k / yr. Not at all unreasonable for a hobby I guess, and less than I spend on bikes. In that vein, my guitars are extremely good value for money since I’ve probably spent no more than £250/year over my playing ‘career’ (lol).

    Having said that, some of those years I’ve barely picked up a guitar. In the last 12 months barely a day has gone by where I haven’t played.

    Perhaps I need to buy more guitars? I’ll have one of those new Epiphone 335s. Or maybe a Thinline tele.

    Edukator
    Free Member

    I was up the hill today where I leave the Harley Benton T-type I mentioned a few pages back and a first generation Mustang II. Here’s a chuggy take on Sharp Dressed man with an “British 90s” levels of gain.

    Here’s one Simon has already done with the same pickup but a clean Fender amp model. You inspired me to spend more time than I should have, Simon. 😉 I must have listened to one bit 20 times before I think I twigged what was going on.

    simondbarnes
    Full Member

    You inspired me to spend more time than I should have, Simon.

    Jolly good 🙂
    I still need to find some time to learn the rest of the song. I’m dreadful for just learning an intro and then moving onto something else!

    Edukator
    Free Member

    I always feel a fool singing Jagger so there’s no incentive to learn the whole song. It must be quite hard to sing and play at the same time, the time signature isn’t easy and then placing the vocals awkward. I’m stil trying to place the vocals on Pinball Wizard. I can remember them now but on a couple of occasions they run over the bar. Sharp Dressed man is really easy to sing, Gibbons keeps it simple when he’s singing.

    simondbarnes
    Full Member

    I can’t sing at all so all of my covers will be instrumental only 🙂

    You’ve just reminded me I was going to try the intro to Pinball Wizard!

    simondbarnes
    Full Member

    Nailed it 😉

    Edukator
    Free Member

    None of the Youtubers I looked at before having a go gets it right from the point the strumming starts after the initial run down the scale, and Townsend never plays it the same way twice, so I guess anything goes.

    Edit: now seen your vid, you’ve got the run down, now it gets interesting – keep going. Townsend is up there with the very best of the fast strummers with interesting strumming patterns.

    whatgoesup
    Full Member

    I keep a tab of my ‘music’ spending

    It eye watering as an overall figure

    but at £20 a week over my lifetime since I started playing at 19

    Seems like a really reasonable hobby

    Guitar gear seems to hold its value very well.
    If you take into account money back through selling gear and the accumulated value of your collection I suspect that it’ll effectively cost a lot less than that. (Modern digital amps excluded – they lose value.)

    Superficial
    Free Member

    This is true. The guitar I spent £120 on 25 years ago (MIM Strat) is worth three times that now.

    You could almost argue that’s a solid investment.

    plumber
    Free Member

    Guitar gear seems to hold its value very well.
    If you take into account money back through selling gear and the accumulated value of your collection I suspect that it’ll effectively cost a lot less than that. (Modern digital amps excluded – they lose value.)

    Thats a great point actually – I sold a lot off stuff during the pandemic and reinvested.

    As I’m getting older i’ve made a conscious decision that I will get rid of everything but 2 guitars, an amp and my pedal board when i’m 60 – 4 years and counting

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    That old VOX organ guitar of mine has comfortably outstripped inflation.
    The buying price was way too low. And I think the selling price was way too high. Got to have got it right for once.


    @plumber
    have you found a second L2M yet?

    Edukator
    Free Member

    Why does age make any difference?

    hopkinsgm
    Full Member

    This is true. The guitar I spent £120 on 25 years ago (MIM Strat) is worth three times that now.

    Also true that what it’s worth is a hypothetical figure and only really important if you’re looking to sell or if you need to replace it. I have a Rickenbacker 330 that’s probably worth quite a bit more than I paid for it, but it’s going nowhere in the foreseeable…

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    Why does age make any difference?

    I’m feelingless like I need enough gear to fill out the NEC these days.
    I have the Boogie still in storage but a Boogie MkIV with the 1×12 EV has to be loud to get the power amp distortion.
    I should sell that now they’re going for silly money and buy another small valve amp.
    My 25 watt valve combo is loud enough for most gigs I’ll ever amble through again and if I need more a powered speaker like the Line6 L2m will more than suffice.
    More often than not I have to turn down my 20W THR if anyone else is in the house trying to do other stuff.
    TBH really a Line6 Helix or Helix LT with a powered FRFR speaker is pretty much the ideal on any level other than old school nostalgia for me.
    Guitars are different though. Really want one of those mega cheap Harley Benton Teles to play with. They seem to be the current equivalent to entry level Yammy Pacifica’s back in the late 80s.

    EDIT. Just trying to think of any indoor pub gig I’ve made noise at over the last 20 years where the DT25 at full volume wouldn’t be pushing the levels of what is legally acceptable with the rest of the band making sound as well.

    ajantom
    Full Member

    I’ve considerably slimmed down my gigging rig over the years. Used to be such a hassle, there was always a buzz, or a dodgy lead.
    Now I have a smallish 1 x 12 cab, small head (and I’m looking at those Vox MV50s, so even smaller!), one guitar, and a Tech21 Flyrig instead of a pedal board.

    Especially now as I play keys and guitar in a band, so in addition to the guitar stuff I have a stand, keyboard, laptop, and a few other bits.

    I even went for a while in my old band of DI-ing a Line 6 Pod and relying on a monitor for stage sound, which was great 90% of the time, but not so good if the venue’s monitoring was crap 🙁

    I had one gig at a large Bristol venue, in front of about 3000 people where the monitoring was so bad no-one could hear what was going on. It was intensely embarrassing, and I may have told the sound engineer he was a see you next tuesday. Not my finest moment!

    edhornby
    Full Member

    I’m a sax player (who guitars on the side) and I can state with authority that no band member other than the guitarist likes a big guitar amp 🙂 if you really insist on a amp with a ton of headroom then please don’t crank the amp during the gig (and be careful with the volume on the guitar also) because it’s the reason that the horn players overblow and the keyboard player can’t hear anything out of their monitor and the singer loses their voice..
    [and breathe] I know that lots of guitarists appreciate this too, but ThatPedalShow do create a false position using SuperReverbs and TwoRock 50w and Plexi’s and cranked AC30s even though they caveat it during the videos.

    Sometimes the monitor mix is a nightmare on gigs but often as not it’s a result of some kit issue (dodgy patch bays, those unintuitive digital desks that are suited for DJ in a bar not a proper venue, worn out wedges, odd acoustics in the venue that create deadspots) rather than just an engineer that is rubbish. The majority of engineers I’ve met are decent, hardworking and underpaid.

    [EDIT]
    Ajatom that’s not a pop at you, just a general thought

    ajantom
    Full Member

    Sometimes the monitor mix is a nightmare on gigs but often as not it’s a result of some kit issue (dodgy patch bays, those unintuitive digital desks that are suited for DJ in a bar not a proper venue, worn out wedges, odd acoustics in the venue that create deadspots) rather than just an engineer that is rubbish. The majority of engineers I’ve met are decent, hardworking and underpaid.

    I know that, I’ve done a fair amount of sound engineering in the past, including a spell as the monitor engineer for a band.
    I’ve had to use my fair share of shite kit!
    I know quite a few people who still work (well, they’ve not worked for the last year:-( ) in live sound, and most of them know their stuff and are really conscientious.

    It’s the ones who can’t be arsed that annoy me.
    We played at Boomtown a few years ago on one of the medium size stages (1500ish crowd) and the engineer appeared to be having a nap during our gig!

    rickon
    Free Member

    Well, fitted my Brandonwound Wide-range pups in the Tele deluxe. The Brandonwounds are lovely. Gonna pop a 500k pot on the bridge, and a 0.022 cap to brighten it up a little.

    Still can’t get the fret buzz away with a normal/low action.

    I get fret buzz from the 9th fret up.

    I’ve a little relief, and a high action at the saddle, and the action at the first fret is about 0.7mm.

    I’ve levelled the frets twice now – and wondering if I’m doing it wrong!

    I’m getting the fingerboard totally level, as measured by a notched engineering ruler, and levelling with a levelling beam from Crimson, with some 350 grit double-sided taped to the beam, and finished with 2500 grit on the other side.

    Then polished with 3000 – 10,000 mesh, and a final polish with felt on a dremel.

    What could cause the frets past the 9th to be higher than each other?

    robvalentine
    Full Member

    Rickon,

    I’m not an expert, but is there a neck shim in there? might be worth taking it out if it is, otherwise I’d take it to a luthier. I’m not an expert so might not be 100% correct

    yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    Got the wee Vox MV50 today.

    Soundwise it’s pretty decent. Sounds great with my Les Paul, a bit meh with the Strat.
    A 3 way tone control might have helped.

    Volume wise it’s definitely got some grunt. Plugged it into one half of my 4×12 at 8 ohms (so 25W output) and it would be loud enough to be heard over a drummer. And a metal drummer at that, none of you namby-pamby stuff!

    Not quite sure if the sound quality holds up at high volume.

    Doesn’t clean up well with the volume pot on the Les Paul. Neck pickup is a P90 with a tone rolloff mod on it so normally works really well.

    Will do some further testing to see how it takes pedals and need to try it out in a jamroom too.
    Will also try running the line out into the power amp section of my Orange OR100…

    So, potential is there.

    £79 though!!!!

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    I get fret buzz from the 9th fret up.

    I’ve a little relief, and a high action at the saddle, and the action at the first fret is about 0.7mm.

    Is the buzzing worse when you bend a sting. Has the neck got a twist in it? When you measure you action do you capo at the first fret and measure the action at the 13th? I have 1.4mm on the top E measured that way and it looks huge with the fingerboard camber but in reality it is quite low.
    It sounds like you have done everything right and I’m at a loss to suggest anything more than the excellent advise already offered here by others. Maybe that action at 1st first fret is a bit high, mine is probably a lot lower than that, but it is an LP style guitar…

    Actually, thinking about it what happens when you capo at the first fret? Can you lower the action and get i5 feeling better? If so it sounds like it could be that nut being a bit high.

    ajantom
    Full Member

    Got the wee Vox MV50 today

    Do did mine 😎
    £79 is a proper bargain imo. Even if I don’t like it (and I do so far) I’ll be able to sell it on at no loss.

    The gain on full is really heavy, and running it through my 1 x 12 8 ohm cab, it’s definitely loud enough to gig with.

    Surprisingly good clean tone on low gain/high volume too. The single tone control gives a good range, and the mid boost on the back is a nice idea.

    Sounded really good with my homebuilt Musicman/Tele mashup with it’s active EMG pickups.

    Tele wasn’t quite as nice, sounded ok, but they’re quite cheap pickups, and heavy gain isn’t a Tele’s forte anyway.

    Next up is trying out my PRS, and my Tech21 Flyrig 5 for some reverb and see how it sounds playing with the tone and gain on that.

    Also I’ll try it through my 2×12 cabinet, which (I think) is 2 X 8ohm speakers wired in parallel, so 4ohms. Which should be very loud!

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    Which model amps did you go to? I like the idea of the boutique one as I mentioned above.

    yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    I got the high gain one.
    Gain range is actually very usable across the whole spectrum.

    Portability is ridiculous:

    The power supply is bigger!
    I wonder if any of the good PSUs like Voodoo Labs or whatever could power it.

    rickon
    Free Member

    Actually, thinking about it what happens when you capo at the first fret? Can you lower the action and get i5 feeling better? If so it sounds like it could be that nut being a bit high.

    I reckon you could be right. I’ve got a couple of spare tusq nuts, I’ll sand down the current one and see if I can lower the saddle action and increase the relief a little.

    I’m keen to get it right, not just so I have a Tele that plays awesome, as well as sounds awesome, but so I develop my skills!

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