Music Forum / Instrument.

I currently play on a shekter omen series, in cherry red(left) and a jackson dkmg custom for left

I'm the proud owner of an ENGL invader 150w tube amp and hell yeah its sounds like its called^^

but my ultimate guitar would be this:http://www.blackmachine.net/f8a.htm

Too bad then don't come in left-hand under 3000euros :s

^Do you play korn and such stuff or are you just into 8 stringed guitars? I'd love a 7 stringed myself, so that I don't have to fake it with my effect pedal when playing dream theater stuff lol

Anyone know what the bridge pup in this thing is? Doesn't look like a standard single-coil, and it doesn't hum.

-ACE

What you've got there is a dual-rail pickup. It ought to sound more like a humbucker because that's what it is, more or less. Just a modified version meant to fit in a strat. I've never played one myself, but Billy Corgan put three of them in his signature strat, so there you go. Probably good for high-gain, distortion sounds like most humbuckers (though without the added benefit of being able to coil-tap or coil-swap or otherwise monkey around with the wiring within the pickup). It's probably an improvement over having a standard single-coil in that bridge position which tends to sound really thin and trebly.

Coaster Ed nailed it. That's a "Hot Rail" or single-coil-sized humbucker. Having one of those at the bridge position on a strat is a very good call because stock singles in that position sound very very thin (but have the benifit of cutting through anything if you need to and have the amp).

My strat still has the regular bridge pickup though I'm heavily considering replacing it with a Silver Lace or something...

Ride6

Cleaning up my Gibson and Epiphone Les Pauls', and replacing parts on both. Here are some pictures.

I'll go in to details if needed.

Edited by sixflagsfreak56, 07 January 2010 - 12:37 PM.

Styrofoam for the win!

Coaster Ed nailed it. That's a "Hot Rail" or single-coil-sized humbucker. Having one of those at the bridge position on a strat is a very good call because stock singles in that position sound very very thin (but have the benifit of cutting through anything if you need to and have the amp).

My strat still has the regular bridge pickup though I'm heavily considering replacing it with a Silver Lace or something...

Ride6

I've got a Red Lace Sensor in the bridge position of my main strat and it still sounds pretty trebly. Mellower than a regular single-coil would be, but not a whole lot different. Sounds great mixed with the Hot Gold Lace Sensor I have in the mid position though. If you have the option (with a push/pull switch or something), mixing the neck pickup with the bridge pickup creates a really cool sound too. I rarely use the bridge pickup on it's own. I've been thinking about putting a soapbar p-90 into the bridge in another strat, but I haven't tried it yet. It'd be nice to get that over-driven single coil sound you always hear from a telecaster bridge pickup somehow.

Oh and what's up Ride6! It's been awhile.

i've missed you, ride6.

Ride6

Thinking about replacing my amp in the near future. Utterly tired of the shit-ton of EQ adjustment it takes to get a half-decent sound out of mine.

Looking for something ~$150 that sounds good clean and overdriven and preferably with some kind of foot-switch to go from clean to dirt. Not really concerned with being loud -- I keep this 15w at quarter volume and it's still damn loud for playing to myself.

Does anything like that exist? Any suggestions?

-ACE

maybe try and shoot for a small fender verb, or even possibly a vox.

i'm not sure how much their smaller models are, but i'm sure you can pick up a footswitch for them.

If you want something purely for practice you want and itty-bitty tube amp, which isn't going to have channel switching (footswitching).

Your options at that point are:

1) Play the amp on 9-10, turn down the volume on the guitar for a nice clean sound and dime it for your overdrive (micro tube amps distort at volumes you can yell over that are much too quiet for drums. This is VERY likely to piss off your parents and the like if they're not 'conditioned' to it (mine are fairly tolerant of this sort of volume now because you can talk over it on the otherside of a closed door and the volumes I occasionally run my 2x12 monsters on... not so much).

2) Get an overdrive or distortion petal. These are a much better investment than the extra money to get a footswitchable amp anyway because they CAN be used with bigger amps, many of which don't have switchable gain (Vox AC14, AC30, Fender Deluxe, Twin, Bassman, certain really high-end Marshalls, etc). If you're a believer in Nels Cline (known best for his playing in Wilco, but also an acclaimed jazz guitarist) "you can never have too many overdrives". Most of these are also tanks and are easily/cheaply repaired even if they break. Ultimately it just expands your tonal arsenal, even if you move on to bigger amps soon.

Your amplifier options are:

Fender Champ - $150
Bugera V5 - $150
Vox AC4TV8 - $170
Epi Valve Jr. Combo - $160

The Fender Champ is the classic... basically in production (on and off) since the dawn of the electric guitar. I have a 1955 Oahu, made in Chicago, that's just a Champ rip off and I love it to death. In terms of features the Burgera is probably the nicest given that it's from a fairly unproven brand, which helps with value, and when it comes to maintenance and such you're usually more or less on your own anyway with guitars/amps unless you have a really kind local shop to pick it up at. Assuming the Vox has Voxy tones it'll be knifier, darker, and naturally distort a little nicer than the other three... The Valve Jr. acts basically the same as a Champ in my experience, though perhaps a bit "darker" in tone (but that's really grasping at straws).

The best thing you could do at this point is try to find a place that stocks all/most of these and try them out. The Fender, Epi and Vox are probably all available off the shelf at your local Guitar Center or similar chain store.

Now for the overdrives... Once you've settled on the amp you might want to try several of the petals with the amplifier you're about to buy, and petals are a bit more spotty in terms of who carries what... Most places have Boss and/or Digitech petals, and MAYBE Electro-Harmonix and MXR but that's about it for sure. I personally would recommend against Digitech in the distortion department, but that's entirely your call. Realistically Boss is always a solid choice; they're tanks, they're moderate in price (above a lot of weaker brands, but significantly cheaper than high-end boutique petals), I've never manged to break one and god knows I've tried.

If you're sticking to a budget:
Boss DS-1 - $40
Boss OS-1 - $40
Are basically your only good options... Of the two I like the DS-1 better. The SD-1 is kinda limp sounding and lacks the versatility imo.

If you're a little more open to saving up for a little while:
MXR Distortion III - $80
Boss BD-2 - $90
Boss OS-2 - $90
Boss OD-3 - $80

Of this group I like the MXR Distortion III and Boss BD-2 the best. I didn't list the Ibanez Tubescreamer because in my experience / opinion the Boss BD-2 sounds almost exactly the same with more low end and more gain available: so the same but better. Others may (and probably do) disagree.

Also try Big Muffs, RATs and other things... You might *think* you want an overdrive when what you really want is a fuzz or a good crunch. And make sure to play around with the settings knobs on all of them because they can makes HUGE differences in the personality of the petal (particularly on Big Muffs, which can be mellow and fairly thin or turn your guitar completely into a sheet of sound all Smashing Pumpkins style).

Ride6

Wow, thanks, Ride6. Really helpful.
(EDIT: on re-reading, that sounds sarcastic. It isn't.)

Few questions though...

I typically play through headphones (most of my practicing is at night, parents sleep down the hall... yeah.) I notice the Bugera has a dedicated headphone jack, while two of the others have speaker out lines. Would plugging headphones into a speaker out line work without destroying my headphones/eardrums?

Second, even with those amps I'd be hard pressed to afford them unless I stumble onto a used one. Would I be better off buying a pedal to layer over my current amp's clean channel? Really its the crunch/metal channels on this thing that sound like ass, the clean channel is just bland. (I suspect the answer here is probably just opinion, but...)

Think I'll try the other music store in town sometime this week, see if they have anything. (The one I usually go to has nothing but Ibanez and Line6 amps 'til you hit a grand or more.)

Thanks again.

-ACE

Edited by ACEfanatic02, 11 January 2010 - 10:31 PM.

typically the reason for the clean channel sounding 'bland' lies within the way your EQ is set up.
but if you would like to liven your clean sound up a bit, i would suggest maybe experimenting a bit with some effects pedals.
Delay is my all-time favorite, and i use it with my clean sounds and my distortion as well. this is what i would recommend the highest, though, its best used in moderation.
but other possibilities for making your clean sound a bit more interesting might include messing around a bit with some reverb, or some chorus effects.

i wouldnt focus too much on effects to enhance your sound though.
its all up to the one playing the guitar:]

but yeah man, ride6 pretty much nailed down the best options possible for you.
if i were you, i wouldnt settle for anything less than what he showed you, because if you do, its most likely going to suck pretty bad lol.


oh, and i may be wrong, but i dont think that running your headphones through your output channel would blow them.
what you should do is make sure your volume is turned down low all the way, put the headphones on, and slowly adjust the volume to a comfortable level for you.
that way you wont run the risk of blowing them;]

hope i helped in some way.


-josh

If you settle for anything less than what I was showing you it'll only be a parallel move from your current amp. Like, you might prefer the different amp but it won't be objectively better than what you already have.

Speaker outs can run headphones though you'll only get sound in one side... You should also look into the impedance rating for the headphones and the amp... tube amps require a load or else you run the risk of rapid tube burn out (replacing the power amp tubes wouldn't be horribly expensive on amps of this size, more of an annoyance). Finding impedance information for headphones isn't usually that difficult in the paper work but finding out anything like that before buying could be nearly impossible. The Bugera is probably your best option...

I would suggest staying away from modulation effects like chorus, flanger, or phaser on your normal clean, but that's just me (usually comes off sounding very 80s). Reverbs and/or delays are a good call though and definitely play around with the EQ. The clean channel on Spiders is still pretty plain and boring anyway. The best you can hope for is something with a decent core tone plus a nice reverb and a mild tape delay simulation.

Another good option to look into would be a Line6 guitarport or GX, or whatever the hell they're calling it now. It won't give you perfect tones but with PODFarm on the computer I can get decent tones for most of my demoing purposes... It also gives you a huge variety of effects and everything and all for around $100:

http://pro-audio.mus...Farm?sku=250006

It's not something I would use for a final recording or live but it makes for good bedroom / dorm room practice (which is why I got it in the first place).

Ride6

I bought a DS-1 today. Sounds really damn good compared to any of the Spider's built-in distortion.

Quick question: Music store has a Blackheart Killer Ant 1w with a 1x12 (I think) cab for $200. Is this a good deal? Anyone have any experience with these?

-ACE

Blackhearts are awesome from what little I've played through them. If you want to check if it's a good deal just search around and see what they're being sold for at online stores because they're a small enough company that people (I included) aren't going to know the pricing/value right off the top of their heads.

Ride6

Love me some bass guitar.

5 string, thus phail.

Ride6

Guys, check it out:



New Amp Day! $200 out the door. Spent the last hour or so playing Modest Mouse riffs... so nice. Not sold on the modeling and such yet, but the reverb is really, really good for a digital effect. Handles my DS-1 so much better than my Spider as well. Course, doesn't compare to the Twin I tried while I was at GC, but what does?

If it wasn't so damn loud I'd sell my Spider. Definitely worth the trip to get it. (Nearest Guitar Center is 2 hours away, ugh.)

-ACE