Music Gear

[ldj]

Just bought a Green Russian Big Muff and the screws on the back won't come off grrr .

[Juggz]

Just bought a Green Russian Big Muff and the screws on the back won't come off grrr .

In Soviet Russia, muff screws you?

[Juggz]

I saw an ad on ebay a few weeks ago for a1989 Ibanez SR1000 for under €200, in Japan, with free shipping. Too good to be true, for sure, as the ad blurb read...

Please check photos that show the main damages and flaws on the item by pointing with a ballpoint pen. / This is a used item. There are signs of wear such as scrapes and scratches on the item. Please see all photos. / Screw for strap is missing. / Pre amplifier is faulty. Even after battery replacement, no sound is made from the guitar. The root cause is unclear. / Neck is bent upward. / Truss rod cannot turn almost.

I love these old SRs and the 1000 was the top of the range back then, so asked a mate what he thought as I was a little drunk at the time. He said "He who hesitates is lost" so I bought it. The electronic problem was just a wire had come off the jack lug, a two minute fix, and the truss rod was tight but working just fine and a little grease on the nut did the trick. After a light fret level and dress and a thorough clean - there are some filthy fuckers out there - this thing is a real player and sounds amazing. It's a fine companion for my 89 SR800.

[ldj]

After finally getting the back plate off the Green Russian Big Muff, and discovering it actually comes with a rechargeable 9V battery (nice touch), I've beenhaving a lot of fun playing around with it the last few days.

This is a fantastic pedal, and much more versatile than I was expecting. You can get some super filthy doom tones with it, as well as some tighter stoner rock type stuff.

I like to play a bit of blues too and I've found by rolling back the sustain and pushing the tone you can get some really nice lead tones.

[Pentagrimes]

Got a Gretsch G2622 streamliner off the brother over the weekend and I reckon that'll be my gigging guitar from now on,used to play one in Lurch. Perfect weight  and fret size for me,semi hollow and it actually sounds great with the lower tuning

[ochoill]

Been very quiet the last while but picked up a load of deadly stuff lately, the one I'm most shocked with being a little Trace Elliot bass head.  130w solid state, fits in the palm of your hand.  Disgracefully loud.  Also got a Bugera 5w tube head for home use.  Have only got brief goes off each so far but once I get a proper go off them i'll put a clip up online.

Also built an Acapulco Gold clone lately and it's pretty vicious.  Testing another with some changes and a mod on it this week, so will also upload a better sample of that version when done, but for now here's a phone mic test of the current one:

https://youtu.be/rPUt-d_REl4

[Pentagrimes]

Picked up a Whammy, Obscura Delay and on of those boyos to help rebuild the board..exciting times ahead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrTwHZxmcqE

[Hambeast]

I've been looking into a new guitar and I quite like matte black finishes but I've heard mixed reviews on them. Is it true they scratch easily and tend to go a bit shiny in the area where your picking arm rubs against it?

[Emphyrio]

I've been looking into a new guitar and I quite like matte black finishes but I've heard mixed reviews on them. Is it true they scratch easily and tend to go a bit shiny in the area where your picking arm rubs against it?

I had a Schecter Damien in matt black. It probably would go a slight tad shiny alright but really it'd only be noticeable up close. Spoderman will be able to tell you more. It's a gorgeous finish actually.

[Emphyrio]

I picked up a few bits recently. I sold the Whammy as quite frankly it's huge and would only use it sporadically. Replaced it with a TC Brainwaves which has all the same functions and you can even have 3 voices whereas the whammy can only do 2. The MASH switch isn't as precise as the pedal on the whammy but it sure does the job.

Took the M5 off the main board and put it on the synth board. And while I was doing that I got the notion to extend the synth board and put a few leftover pedals on it, enough that it'll be a fully up and running 2nd guitar board. For home recording I'll use this mainly now, I think. Ordered a few cheapo bits from Aliexpress, phaser, tuner, noise gate, expression pedal to use with the M5 (so I'll essentially have a Whammy on that board too) and power supply so happy with that. It also allows me to bring my Megalith Delta distortion pedal out of retirement.

In all this arsing around I now have space on my main board for stuff. Woo!

Also, the missus was going getting me a guitar for my 40th in Dec. Andertons or GuitarGuitar were doing a Schecter sale recently, so in the interest of saving her a few bob I informed her of said sale and got this one in silver...

https://www.schecterguitars.com/guitars/c-1-platinum-2014-10-27-1087-detail

And finally, I got an Orange Pedalbaby. For those not too fussed about playing through tube amps and get their distortion from pedals, this is the job. Ridiculously loud, simple, small. Will defo be playing gigs with it from now on.

Jesus, now that I see it all written down I got a fair whack of stuff. That'll be it hopefully unless Mr. Black brings out more in the mini pedal line. Without doubt my favourite pedal designer.

[Juggz]

"main board" 

I'm looking a the few pedals I have and thinking of structuring them onto something resembling a board and even the idea of one small board is melting my head as to how to go about it.

Fair play, you can't go wrong with a C1, great guitars.

[Emphyrio]

You're joining the pedal-buying club. I knew you'd eventually succumb!

And both boards together don't come close to d'other fella's.

[Spoderman01]

And both boards together don't come close to d'other fella's.

Not sure if that's aimed at me or not 

Figured out how to get around the MIDI issues with the Mooer Ocean Machine a few weeks ago. I had the  Ocean Machine and the Preamp Live in 2 of the loops of the Helix and was having the usual problem of the OM getting all mixed up with the other MIDI messages going to the Preamp Live. Anyhoo, I stuck a MIDI splitter cable between the Helix and the loops and now that it doesn't have to worry about forwarding other messages, it seems to behave.

Have entered the mobile-home market as well which is severely restricting my gear spend so I've resurrected my old Line6 JM4 and left that down in the mobile Kerry for the occasional night session.

Had my eye on the Boss SY-1 and a TC Eyemaster but then my Hercules triple stand collapsed this morning so priorities have shifted somewhat.

[Spoderman01]

I've been looking into a new guitar and I quite like matte black finishes but I've heard mixed reviews on them. Is it true they scratch easily and tend to go a bit shiny in the area where your picking arm rubs against it?

I had a Schecter Damien in matt black. It probably would go a slight tad shiny alright but really it'd only be noticeable up close. Spoderman will be able to tell you more. It's a gorgeous finish actually.

If this is the Damien 6 you're talking about, I still have it. Ended up with 2 of them for a while. Lovely finish, might eventually shine up a bit alright under the right hand but I've barely used this one as I'm not a huge FR fan. Still up for grabs if you were interested.

https://www.adverts.ie/electric-guitars/schecter-damien-6/9814166

[if6was9]

I picked up a few bits recently. I sold the Whammy as quite frankly it's huge and would only use it sporadically. Replaced it with a TC Brainwaves which has all the same functions and you can even have 3 voices whereas the whammy can only do 2. The MASH switch isn't as precise as the pedal on the whammy but it sure does the job.

Took the M5 off the main board and put it on the synth board. And while I was doing that I got the notion to extend the synth board and put a few leftover pedals on it, enough that it'll be a fully up and running 2nd guitar board. For home recording I'll use this mainly now, I think. Ordered a few cheapo bits from Aliexpress, phaser, tuner, noise gate, expression pedal to use with the M5 (so I'll essentially have a Whammy on that board too) and power supply so happy with that. It also allows me to bring my Megalith Delta distortion pedal out of retirement.

In all this arsing around I now have space on my main board for stuff. Woo!

Also, the missus was going getting me a guitar for my 40th in Dec. Andertons or GuitarGuitar were doing a Schecter sale recently, so in the interest of saving her a few bob I informed her of said sale and got this one in silver...

https://www.schecterguitars.com/guitars/c-1-platinum-2014-10-27-1087-detail

And finally, I got an Orange Pedalbaby. For those not too fussed about playing through tube amps and get their distortion from pedals, this is the job. Ridiculously loud, simple, small. Will defo be playing gigs with it from now on.

Jesus, now that I see it all written down I got a fair whack of stuff. That'll be it hopefully unless Mr. Black brings out more in the mini pedal line. Without doubt my favourite pedal designer.

Just an FYI  a regular expression pedal won't work with the Line 6. I got a Moog one when I ordered mine and then realised it won't work with it when it arrived. Bit of a pain as the EXP pedal with the line 6 is a powerful combination. They have their own one and I think Mission Engineering do one for working with the line 6 stuff too. I plan on getting a TC midi mouse to go with my M5 so I can switch between patches easier and get more use out of it.

I've not really gotten any new bits lately. I redid my board from scratch and swapped a few things around. I stuck an EHX silencer in there and put in a 1 button loop selector with the Moose delay I have into an EHX Holy Grail for a 1 button post rock/ambience/noise sound. Works great!

Been using 2 amps lately taking a split from the pedals in the front end. So now I have a JCM800 on 1 side running dry but with all the pitch FX pedals, then the Orange Rockerverb on the other with all my delays/verbs/chorus/loops only on this side.  Sounds big and give more clarity when there's loops etc... going on. This is the setup I plan on using with my 3 piece going forward!