Pictures of your gear III: Pics or it's a Soldano

[Lord MFC]

That looks amazing JoshH, and the 002 - all aboard the jizzmobile!

[Dominic.]

I seriously want an acoustic like that

[Cyfo_Diaz]

new tele. It's got suhr pick ups and was put together and neck worked on by a local guy. Plays extremely well and the pick ups are great.So much better than the shitty american tele pickups . The hardware is a brushed aluminum and the saddles are brass for more of the tele twang. The relic ing was done but it's not over done and I really like it. This thing is a monster and picks are taken with an Iphone so it's pretty much 3D

 

 

 

 

Looks fantastic, whoever did the relicing got it spot on, like you said not over done.

[Impulse 101]

Looks fantastic, whoever did the relicing got it spot on, like you said not over done.

 

John makes my favorite singles. All of his offerings sound killer. He uses a proprietary magnet alloy that is vintage in character but still has all of the bite that you would get from a new set of pups.

 

Nice job on the relicing whoever did it. It's not over the top, which most relics end up being.

 

JT

[Impulse 101]

This is my little backup rig. I use the Guytron, like always, but I have a small rack and a Ground Control to control it. It works great for opening gigs or gigs where the big rig simply won't fit on the stage.

 

 

Here is a little closer look at the rack. The parts work like this...

 

Switchblade- FX Routing and controlling the amp channel.

MPX-1- Reverb and Delay

SDE-3000- Delay and Chorus

Comp 16- Compression

PEQ 16- Solo Boost with extra midrange

 

I will throw an extra pedal or two in front of it for certain gigs but as a mini rig it works great.

 

I also had this little surprise waiting at band practice today. My drummer's new baby, a one of a kind ESP Phoenix that was custom made for Raven's guitarist back in the early 80's. It's the only Phoenix that was ever built with the rounded headstock. It's a really cool guitar. I will borrow it sometime and record some clips.

 

JT

[james90]

Nice, what's the SDE-3000 like?

[Impulse 101]

Nice, what's the SDE-3000 like?

 

It's my favorite delay of all time. I like it more than the TC 2290 or the Korg SDD-3000. It's one piece of gear that I'm totally in love with and have been for nearly 20 years. The chorus is I have on it is a staple of my sound, I've never had anything that does the same kind of sound, no warble or noticable modulation noise, just sparkle and shimmer.

 

These old processors have great analog input and output sections that add something to the tone that you just can't get in a new processor. That's why I keep units like the SDE and the H3000 around.

 

JT

[Dave.]

It's my favorite delay of all time. I like it more than the TC 2290 or the Korg SDD-3000. It's one piece of gear that I'm totally in love with and have been for nearly 20 years. The chorus is I have on it is a staple of my sound, I've never had anything that does the same kind of sound, no warble or noticable modulation noise, just sparkle and shimmer.

 

These old processors have great analog input and output sections that add something to the tone that you just can't get in a new processor. That's why I keep units like the SDE and the H3000 around.

JT

In short, its good

[james90]

It's my favorite delay of all time. I like it more than the TC 2290 or the Korg SDD-3000. It's one piece of gear that I'm totally in love with and have been for nearly 20 years. The chorus is I have on it is a staple of my sound, I've never had anything that does the same kind of sound, no warble or noticable modulation noise, just sparkle and shimmer.

 

These old processors have great analog input and output sections that add something to the tone that you just can't get in a new processor. That's why I keep units like the SDE and the H3000 around.

 

JT

 

Sounds cool. I've not really looked into rack units before to be honest.

 

Can you tell me about that amp? I know you've had it for a while. I know there was one that you recommended me (think it had four channels) but I can't remember what it was

 

I'm not really using anything fancy as far as effects and amps go...but I'm happy with them (at the moment!)

 

From a few pages back:

 

 

I'm adding another pedal for tone shaping (dunlop Q zone), but that's basically it. I don't play those two guitars as often as most of the others though.

 

I might be switching to a different cabinet as well...recently got one loaded with scumback BH75 speakers. Sounds absolutely amazing - best cabinet I've played through. The speakers aren't even broken in yet and it sounds better than the other cabinet I have.

 

Also, you might find this interesting... the combo amp in the above picture started out as a butchered 70's Marshall artiste chassis (basically Marshall's attempt at making a twin style amp...apparently Jim Marshall thought this was a big mistake). I got it off ebay for $300 in semi working condition.

 

Intended on restoring it to stock, but then realized that it wouldn't be a great sounding amp...I don't know how the guy did it, but it now is this:

 

-40 watts class A running KT88 power tubes

-first channel is based on a vox AC30 top boost with cut control

-second channel is based on a blackface fender bassman with an added mid control

-tube reverb (currently needs a bit of work)

-new cabinet and speakers

 

It turned out great. Loads of headroom and it sounds amazing. The tech did tell me it would've been easier to gut the whole thing and start from scratch though.

[Impulse 101]

Interesting. I've never heard of that Marshall but I was never really a big stock Marshall guy, in fact I've never owned a Marshall head of any kind. I used Fender forever, then 10 years of Mesa stuff and then the Guytron which I've used for the last eight years as my stage amp.

 

The Guytron is a totally different kind of amp circuit. It has a Vox style 15 watt power section (2 X EL84) after the preamp that is running balls out and is dummy loaded into the main 100 watt power section. (4 X EL34) Because of that it sounds amazing at any volume and has the best mid gain grind that I've ever heard. It had mine modded by the builder and designer Guy Hedrick (now working for John Suhr) and it has a little more punch in the power section than most. It's my lifetime amp. It has only one weakness, it weighs as much as a small house.

 

JT

[james90]

Interesting. I've never heard of that Marshall but I was never really a big stock Marshall guy, in fact I've never owned a Marshall head of any kind. I used Fender forever, then 10 years of Mesa stuff and then the Guytron which I've used for the last eight years as my stage amp.

 

The Guytron is a totally different kind of amp circuit. It has a Vox style 15 watt power section (2 X EL84) after the preamp that is running balls out and is dummy loaded into the main 100 watt power section. (4 X EL34) Because of that it sounds amazing at any volume and has the best mid gain grind that I've ever heard. It had mine modded by the builder and designer Guy Hedrick (now working for John Suhr) and it has a little more punch in the power section than most. It's my lifetime amp. It has only one weakness, it weighs as much as a small house.

 

JT

 

That's pretty interesting. Does it burn up the EL84s quickly if it's running at full power all the time?

 

As for stock vs. modded Marshalls, I'm not sure what I prefer. The Friedman mod I have is probably one of the best amps I've ever heard, but at the same time... a "good" stock Marshall can sound unbelievable.

 

I'm really wanting to get a fully loaded Friedman amp though. His modifications sound great, but an entire amp designed from the ground up... I imagine it sounds that much better.

 

Have you heard of these before?

 

http://surrealamplification.com/

 

I have one of them on order (the CM 100). He's been getting lots of positive comments recently.

[Impulse 101]

That's pretty interesting. Does it burn up the EL84s quickly if it's running at full power all the time?

 

As for stock vs. modded Marshalls, I'm not sure what I prefer. The Friedman mod I have is probably one of the best amps I've ever heard, but at the same time... a "good" stock Marshall can sound unbelievable.

 

I'm really wanting to get a fully loaded Friedman amp though. His modifications sound great, but an entire amp designed from the ground up... I imagine it sounds that much better.

 

Have you heard of these before?

 

http://surrealamplification.com/

 

I have one of them on order (the CM 100). He's been getting lots of positive comments recently.

 

I've heard the Naked from Freidman. It's excellent but I don't know that I preferred it to the BE or HBE. A small box Marshall with those mods could cover 95% of most guitarists who are after a Marshall style sound. It's hard to deny that level of epic.

 

I've never heard of Surreal amps. I'll check them out.

 

The GT-100 eats a pair of EL84's in a year or less. I just order another set of them JJ's Doug's tubes whenever they start sounding too dark. It's the cost of doing business with that amp and it's more than worth the money.

 

JT

[cheddatom]

did you get your bass yet james?

[james90]

I've heard the Naked from Freidman. It's excellent but I don't know that I preferred it to the BE or HBE. A small box Marshall with those mods could cover 95% of most guitarists who are after a Marshall style sound. It's hard to deny that level of epic.

 

I've never heard of Surreal amps. I'll check them out.

 

The GT-100 eats a pair of EL84's in a year or less. I just order another set of them JJ's Doug's tubes whenever they start sounding too dark. It's the cost of doing business with that amp and it's more than worth the money.

 

JT

 

I've only heard sound clips of the naked, but I think I prefer the BE. Still has the sound of the best Marshall you've ever heard, but the naked sounds a bit more modern I guess.

 

http://www.tonemerchants.com/products/amplifiers/Friedman/brown-eye-premier-gear-award-winner/

 

The amp now includes BE, HBE, and simple clean as standard. I'd probably get all the other mods as well except for the FX loop...the modded JMP 50 I have has the BE, HBE, C45, FAT, SAT, and a 6 way high end cut switch.

 

I believe they have a small production line going on now for the amps, but the mods are still about 3 months.

 

So with the GT-100, does it retain the EL84 sound at all, or is that colored by the EL34s after that?

 

As for Surreal amps, I have two amp mods by him and a build on order. The modded ones are different amps (one is a sovtek mig-60, one is a JCM 800 clone) but they both have similar mods. They are amazing sounding, though they don't sound exactly the same as each other (which is expected)

 

 

And Tom, I did, but I'm relearning it basically. Haven't really looked into different tonez yet...just got it going directly into the amp for now.

[cheddatom]

cool, basschat is a great resource if you get into it

[Impulse 101]

It retains a lot of the EL84 tone, the compression and headroom are much more EL84 than EL34 but the bottom end punch and harmonics are far more open than any EL84 amp. It's very tight and very percussive and still has plenty of grind in the mids and the highs are not rolled off like a lot of Vox clones. It's a rare combination to have and it all works perfectly together.

 

JT

[james90]

cool, basschat is a great resource if you get into it

 

cool, thanks. I'm probably just going to use it to record with, but I'll check it out

 

It retains a lot of the EL84 tone, the compression and headroom are much more EL84 than EL34 but the bottom end punch and harmonics are far more open than any EL84 amp. It's very tight and very percussive and still has plenty of grind in the mids and the highs are not rolled off like a lot of Vox clones. It's a rare combination to have and it all works perfectly together.

 

JT

 

Hmm...any clips of this amp? really interested in hearing that EL84/EL34 setup.

 

Also, you probably haven't heard of him, but check out http://vikingamps.com/

 

He's the one who works on my amps, and also did the AC30/bassman mod. Really neat work, especially considering how it looked before. I've had him restore a few basket case JMPs actually, which now work flawlessly.

 

I also have one of his amps, which sounds great. There are some clips on that website.

 

I really only send my amps to him for repairs/mods now, unless I'm looking for something specific (like Friedman's mods)

[tomrulez]

Finally completed my effects/amp rig. Don't think this will change for a long time now.

 

 

 

 

 

[Will_]

Nice Tom. What's the Alu box in the middle of your pedalboard?

[sherpa_man]

New mission pedals have come :-)

 

 

Vert impressed with the whammy fx block and the wah fx block! just playing about with some pedal blocks now, may post a few videos this week.

[james90]

very nice, how are you liking the 335 so far? wasn't there an issue with one of the pots?

[sherpa_man]

very nice, how are you liking the 335 so far? wasn't there an issue with one of the pots?

 

the 335 is going well, had a small problem with the volume pots but the local tech sorted them, i love it though, sounds nothing like i have ever had before. If im being honest, i like the jazzmaster over the other 2, never been a fender fan, saying that if sounds and plays so nice, cleans are as good as the Anderson i have had.

[Dominic.]

New mission pedals have come :-)

 

 

Vert impressed with the whammy fx block and the wah fx block! just playing about with some pedal blocks now, may post a few videos this week.

 

I still love your fan

 

Guitar setup looks nice too

[tomrulez]

Nice Tom. What's the Alu box in the middle of your pedalboard?

 

The one next to the big muff? That's actually mounted in the rack and is controlled via midi but it's just a tube screamer clone. I don't actually use it for anything but it's nice to have another OD option if it's needed.

[MegaEBoy]

New mission pedals have come :-)

 

 

Vert impressed with the whammy fx block and the wah fx block! just playing about with some pedal blocks now, may post a few videos this week.

 

That rusty les paul made me quiver in orgasmic pleasure.... Jus' sayin'