EliasMooseblaster

Well, I certainly would have assumed it was a Klon if you hadn't shown us the box! Does it sound the part?

I went and looked it up: sorry, I think I was mistaken! It looks like, for the longest time, Strats have had tone controls for the neck and middle pickups, but not the bridge. Apparently - and I think this is where my confusion stems from - more modern Strats have the neck & middle wired to the first tone, and the bridge wired to the second. Which is...interesting...I can't imagine wanting to use that bridge pickup without being able to roll off some the treble!

I always thought the second tone control was just for the bridge pickup on a typical Strat - I could be quite mistaken, especially as I've never owned one! I know what you mean about the tone, mind - I find I have to back off the tone quite a bit on my Tele whenever I switch to the bridge pickup.

I wouldn't worry: I have the same problem with Jazz basses. LOTS of players - be it people I know, or well-known bass-heroes - have played great basslines on them. But I can't seem to make the sound work with my playing style. Give me a Precision or a Thunderbird and I'll be happy as Larry, but for reasons I can't fathom, I've never been satisfied with the tones I get out of a Jazz. It's just something I've had to accept! That said, have you ever tried a "super-strat"? I've seen H/S/S setups, and twin HB setups - the former might do something for that "shrill" bridge pickup, and you still get the look and feel of a Strat.

Anyone interested in a little stocking filler for the guitarist in your life, before I list this elsewhere?

It depends a lot on the chords in the composition - and, to be honest, how big a role the slide guitar is playing. But my first instinct would be to tune your guitar to open G minor (DGDGBbD), then pop a capo on the 3rd fret. If the piece uses a lot of major chords (particularly the major IV), you might be better off using G major tuning, and fretting behind the slide when you need minor chords.

Looks like a nice bit of kit. Hope you have fun learning on it!

MARSHALL BB-2 Not to be confused with the original Bluesbreaker pedal, which was essentially a preamp-in-a-box - this is a dedicated, dual-mode overdrive pedal. "Boost" mode is a transparent-sounding clean boost, designed to push the front end of your amp harder, while "Blues" mode gives a much more shaped (and saturated!) tone, reminiscent of the original Bluesbreaker amps being dimed. I bought this pedal back in something like 2010. It was my main distortion effect for a while, and did a handful of gigs with me, but as I've experimented with new effects and different amps, I find myself using it less and less. I still have the original box and user's manual, which are a little worn in places (see pictures); the pedal itself is in excellent condition. Only one thing: the controls originally had black position indicators painted on them, which have mostly rubbed off over the years. Up to you whether you leave them as is, or paint some new ones on! Price includes postage to mainland UK. If you'd like it sent to a different country, drop me a PM. Open to sensible offers!

So after a few weeks, I have to say I'm quite pleased with the Hellbabe, BUT I have found the effective travel quite small. I saw somebody mention an easy mod for optical wahs which can fix this - anyone know how to do this? Got a short clip up here if anyone wants to hear it - NB can anyone remember how to post the link without it putting a massive embedded video preview in the post?

OK, well now I am tempted to try another...the Behringer does the job, but I wonder if a more faithful Big Muff clone might be closer to what I'm after!

I released a new single this morning - you can hear it here, if you like:

Damn...I've got a 2nd-hand Behringer arriving this week! Fingers crossed I don't end up with the same experience - might try the Joyo if the Hellbabe turns out to be a dud. (Thanks for that suggestion)

Though judging by its name, and the sheer range of additional controls up the side, can I assume this is Behringer's attempt to clone the Ibanez Weeping Daemon? ('cause if so, colour me very, very interested...)

Have you looked into... https://www.submarinepickup.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-submarine Haven't tried these myself, but I have seen fingerstyle guitarists with far more expensive versions of this solution! The idea is that you can position this to pick up your bottom two strings, and send that signal out to a bass amp or suitable effect/preamp/etc.

Big fan of your plant-based milk alternatives. Welcome to the forum!

UPDATE: my Behringer SF300 has arrived. Does the job just nicely! Really useful having the three modes, too: I can see myself using the more "vintage" sound of Fuzz 1 the most, but the scuzzier tone from Fuzz 2 has been quite fun to play with so far. Popping the guitar into drop D with Fuzz 2 certainly gives a nice All Them Witches-type vibe! Thanks again for the recommendation!

Just watched a good demo video of the SF300 - really solid recommendation, thank you! No snobbery around the ABS housings in this gaff, I'm glad to say - I've owned a couple of Behringer bass pedals in the past, and only moved them on because the tone wasn't doing it for me. The other contender I was eyeing up was the TC Electronics Honeypot. Also sounded good from the demos, though I'm tempted to try the Behringer first as it's so cheap!

No problem at all; happy to help where I can! The preamp in my signal chain is really just for tone, to make it sound a bit less sterile - level-wise it's comparable to the Fishman I pop in and out of my normal acoustic.

So I think the magnetic pickups are more like the soundhole pickups you can buy for acoustic guitars - mine has had no issues with bronze strings (other than wanting a preamp in the signal chain). Never tried putting electric string on it - though I imagine that would make it much quieter unplugged, so kind of defeating the point of it! I don't think there's a way to adjust the action at the bridge or tailpiece (a clever guitar tech might beg to differ). However you can always take it down at the nut end - depends how much you need to use the upper frets, I guess! Might be worth asking if you can talk to a tech in Andertons or GG - I use mine almost exclusively for slide, so I'm not the best person to ask.

It's quite a long time since I bought my resonator, so I don't have a very clear memory of which types I tried out on the day! My Ozark is definitely a single cone / biscuit bridge type; I remember also trying a couple of Stagg resonators which I believe were spider bridge. I seem to recall the Staggs sounding a bit mellower, but fundamentally still like a resonator - definitely some difference, but probably not enough that you'd mistake it for a "normal" acoustic guitar. If you are able to get to a shop to try a couple, it might be worthwhile to. But if not, I don't think the type would make too much difference - a biscuit, spider or tricone are probably all equally capable of making their presence felt against the accordion!

Mine - and a few others other I've seen - has a magnetic pickup, which definitely benefits from a pre-amp on its way to the desk. On the plus side, I have found it plays very nicely with a Joyo American Sound in that role!

A resonator could be just the ticket! My two acoustics are an Epi dreadnought and an Ozark resonator - and the latter is a lot louder! For context: when I play acoustic gigs, I pop both guitars into the PA for a bit of support, but in smaller venues I hardly need to bring up the fader at all on the resonator. (And I also play fingerstyle on these gigs.) It is a much more "boxy" tone, but it sounds like that might be a better fit with the accordion. And if you're playing Americana, it fits a similar space sonically to a banjo. If it's at all useful, this is the guitar I have: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/04112612521018--ozark-3515e-resonator-black-electro-cutaway

Thank you! Sounds really good from a couple of demo videos - being small is a plus as well. I might have to go searching for a second-hand one.

I'm in the mood to start experimenting with some heavier sounds - think stoner rock, Kyuss, Samsara Blues Experiment, Moon Wizard. And I think a fuzz pedal might be the way to go. I'm also a cheap Ess-Oh-Bee, so I've been eyeing up what Andertons and GAK have south of £50. Anyone got any recommendations from the budget end of the fuzzbox species? (Bonus points if it can also be dialled back for a Hendrix-y Fuzz Face type sound - but by no means essential, as I'm well set for bluesy overdrive tones from my existing gear.)

I didn't actually use it on a great many recordings, but the best example I've got is probably this one: https://youtu.be/-6DjBos-Yys?si=omBOz1zfFGcrvvef - this is my MIM Tele going straight to the amp's OD channel, no pedals in between.