Leaderboard

My rig at cost of £280 and man, it rocks!!

For most things, I don't honestly notice a huge differenced in 'feel' switching between Gibson and Fender lengths. That said, I remember when the Squier Supersonic first came out (in the Vista Series, made in Japan), I did consider Hendrixing one (I just LOVED that blue sparkle!), but I took fright at the much shorter scale length than I was used to. Felt somehow too small. Would like to try it again now, though I suspect what I'd really prefer I suspect would be a 68 spec Strat neck on that body style... For me, nut width seems to make a bigger difference fast than scale length; I'm so much more comfortable on a 42mm than a 43mm nut, it's ridiculous...

I used to have little chats back and forth with the lead singer, often going for innuendos. The trick is not to speak too quickly so that it doesn’t become gobbledygook for the audience.

And PRS are (mostly) in the middle with their 25” scale. IIRC Jags and ‘Stangs are 24” although the latter used to be 22”.

Interesting. Beyond the fact that Gibsons are shorter scale than Fenders (usually), I had no idea that short scale guitars were a thing. I’ll be intrigued to find out more (another YT rabbit hole for me to disappear down!)

The lead guitarist in our band has gone full FRFR and is using a headrush unit direct into the PA system. It sounds great. I have a GR55 guitar synth and an actual synth plugged into a small mixer which then goes to the main PA. Occasionally, I need to play the actual guitar rather than through the synth unit and so I’ve been looking at options. This included the Sansamp units (the GT2 probably) and the Strymon Iridium but the one I’ve settled on is the Humboldt Simplifier Classic. It models three classic amps and three types of cab, has an FX loop and XLR outputs to the PA. A lot cheaper than the Iridium and substantially cheaper than a Helix or Headrush* I’ll report back when it arrives but the video reviews look very good. * Which I appreciate do a lot more

It’s been a fun process so far. I have a guitar which is hooked up the the GR55 synth so it plays patches through that. I also take the MIDI out from the GR55 and send it to a keyboard synth which I sometimes play via the guitar, via the keys or in unison with the GR55. As things stand, the drummer has no idea what is making all these noises and it’s hilarious watching his reaction when suddenly a sax starts playing, apparently from nowhere. The Simplifier should arrive tomorrow so I’ll report back once I’ve had chance to play with it.

Ooh, new gear time, marvellous!* *Gets comfy in chair, lines up provisions and waits avidly for the next instalment.

Honestly mate, it was way over the top. She was obsessed. I would send her maybe two emails week and she would bombard me with emails. I was single at the time so put up with it. Once her husband mailed me I was angry at his attitude because he blamed me and I had no idea she was married. I had never even met her. After I had calmed down I cut right down on the mails because frankly it was making me very uncomfortable. She was a bit of a nutter I think. To be so obsessed with someone she had never met and had only watched a couple of videos of us playing was creepy. I still have the bass right enough

Lovely amp, the AC30. The hernia you'll get from carrying one, on the other hand..... definitely an amp for guys who have roadies...

So this married woman becomes obsessed with you and buys (and ships) you a bass? I’ve had a couple of stalkers over the years but none of them have bought me a bass. I wonder what I’m doing wrong?

I've never been a fan of the AC30, with its 'Top Boost' an'all. I know that there are plenty of fine players that use 'em a lot (Yes, you may now take a bow, Mr May ...), but for myself, or even the folks I played with, they seems agressive, tinny, trebly. Loud, OK, but not 'musically' loud. All this until, just a few weeks ago a friend brought his Vox in for repair. Easy enough (duff rectifier valve, fuses blowing; new valve and fuses, problem solved. If only they were all such easy fixes...). He was not available to come back to pick it up, so I was able to 'soak test' it for a couple of weeks. My, my... What a fine amp..! Not that I play all that well, but it really did make it sound as if I could..! When at last the fellow did return, I was able to go through all the settings and gadgets, to show him just how nice his own amp now sounded; he, too, was impressed, and he tottered off with it (OK, it's heavy...), leaving me bereft. An eye (and ear...) opener. My opinion has changed; they can be good, or even very good indeed.

I thought I would give you a quick tour and guide to my amps . Firstly I would like to say that I am addicted to valves , I have tried solid state amps and amps with valve emulation or a valve put in the circuit ( e.g. vox valvetronix ) , but for me the sound with a valve is just right . I would say that my guitars tend to be humbuckers and I do think that humbuckers sound better through valves , whereas with single coils there are benefits to both. As a side issue, many are concerned that valve amps by their nature are less reliable and robust , I have never found that to be the case , I always take a back up amp to gigs in any case , but have never had to use one. Valves were often designed for military purposes e.g. 5881 in jet fighters , and are designed to sustain extreme forces. Always ensure though that you use the standby switch to ensure warm up and warm down of the amp and do not move it until it has cooled. Valves last a long time , I tend to swap mine out every two years or so , and check that they are properly seated every three months - valve amps need a little more care but are worth the effort Marshall JTM 30 2X10 - the amp is 25 years old now but has never given me any trouble other than a jack socket needing replacing. It has a great clean sound but has a real Marshall crunch then growl when pushed. I chose the 2X10 , I like the compression that a 10" speaker gives over the 12" , and I would recommend listening to the differences before going for the standard 12" . Its a nice portable amp and is available second hand at a reasonable price (£200 ish) , I stopped using it for gigs because I needed a louder clean sound and a bit more flexibility. Mesa Boogie Mark IV 1X12 - this amp is 20 years old and is incredibly robust and reliable. Many are put off by the complexity of the controls of this amp , but I just went through the suggested settings in the manual and from online forums and tweaked from there. I have to say the the sound engineers love it for its DI output , both for recording and gigs , they and i were really impressed. I have to say that whilst capable of Bedroom level clean sounds , it is designed to be played loud and can get very loud. I do find the weight staggering though at 80lbs , plus it lives in a flightcase. For that reason it became a second amp as backup and for outside gigs. Mesa Boogie Express 5:25 1X10 - this amp is 10 years old and is my most used amp, not as flexible as the Mark IV , but covers most of the same bases with a more lush reverb and is less than half the weight. I can use it on all genres from Blues, Jazz , pop covers , rock . It is a lot easier to dial in the sound you want with this amp and again I chose the 10" speaker. AER compact 60 , after trying a whole range of acoustic amps , this is the one i settled on , despite its small size , it sounds great and projects well. I use it both for may acoustics but also for Jazz when I want a particularly crystal clear sound. Getting back to to my first point re my love for valves , whilst my valve amps do a great clean , in fact for jazz a little bit of valve warmth sound great , but for true clean I have not found anything as good as solid state. Best wishes Alby

I have a zoom multi-effects already (a 3030 from about 20 odd years ago) I ended up finding one of the Vox Valvetronix units as recommended by EdwardMarlowe and it's perfect for what i need, i've started buying individual pedals as well to build up a pedalboard just in case i ever get to gig again! I am on the lookout for one of the foot controllers for the Vox though. Matt EDIT - just had a quick search for the VC-4 floor controller and they're pretty rare and an eye watering 150 quid used! (about 3 times what i paid for the actual unit)

Stonking night at the Royal Oak! Great crowd, great playing from the band; two and a half hours no break. Awesome! That’ll take some time to recover from (I ache) and to come down from. Thanks to Raymundo from Basschat for dropping in, lovely fella, really liked our bass player. Hopefully we will be asked back. Gotta do it all again tomorrow! Its a lovely pub if you are ever that way