Guitar players corner!

[Tom Bomb]

That's aluminum — light-as-a-feather Very nice, @ajkula66. Inspirational.

…

I have a couple of candidates for an after-market Bigsby (no SG), always had an inkling to go that way. Just can't bring myself to mess with a stock item. I don't trust myself. Never come upon an opportunity to land a genuine one (pure restraint on my part). Forever shy of all forms of whammer, truth be told. I was happy to come across the red one with the ebony block. Then I got another, this time without a block, made by the same cat, and that got me rolling.

The sound of each is precious, just the way they are, independently. No imitation. No effects. (A blocked Strat is a reliable unit, but underdone) The rolled Goldtop with the p90s would be my first choice, I think — going for a B7, etc.. I could always hack into the faux Special or the fraudster 335. … Too many choices. Honest to God, I can't make up my mind. Suits me. Never know what's around the corner

None of them need a whammy bar, necessarily, anyway (That's me rationalizing — I'll do that). I won't let that stop me
​

 

[Tom Bomb]

Goodness gracious me! Mark Knopfler's done well

This'n had an estimate of GBP 10,000 – GBP 15,000 — wound up selling for GBP 592,200. The others have more-or-less followed suit, by the look of it. He's made a bloody motza! Money for nothing. Good luck to 'im. Nice chap​

 

[Riff Ranger]

I just got my wee Marshall Lead 12 combo back from the doctor. This thing kept me playing through the lull in my early 30s and I hope having it restored to its former sonic glory will inspire me anew. (Photographs tomorrow when I can get any worth sharing, possibly sound or video clips down the line.)

I remember these having a reputation as a studio secret ingredient for Billy Gibbons, and a favorite bedroom amp for some other big name players. Other than turning up the same text about Billy using one of these to record “My Head’s in Mississippi” and maybe more of Recycler, and a still photograph of a young Kirk Hammett playing a Strat through one that just happened to find me through Instagram a few days ago, I’m not finding much about big name players recording or practicing with them. Wasn’t Zakk Wylde also a fan? Did I make everything but the Billy Gibbons part up?

 

[Tom Bomb]

What a cutie — sprightly little box-o'-tricks, I imagine. Some of the innards of a Guv'nor may have something to do with that, I'm guessing. (Go the Guv'nor, Daddy O!) Studio magic comes in all shapes and sizes. I know firsthand, that the microscopic MS-2 has been employed in the studio as a giant, and to good effect. Those babyish boxes have a similar following, no mistake They can cut the mustard, marshal some respect, grungy as anything — (trade secret, mum's the word)

I have one dusty old JCM-900, from the other end of the spectrum — bit of a Marshall fan, me — needs to see that same doctor, stat ("Tubes are tied." … "NURSE!")

We went well-and-truly into the danger zone together, a good while back, long story — turned some heads — before she gave the game away. … I just parked the blessed entity, pulled my head in — [Exit stage right] — continued on instead with a trusty old sidekick — another solid-state gem worth mentioning (still in the game). Plus I now have a very tidy tube-riddled YCV20WR, gets me there in no uncertain terms, and at a much more practical, homespun level (if it's not going straight into a desk, even better)

I did hang on to the Marshall head — an early iteration — pleased to say I'll get it (r)amped up again, one of these days. Still have the boxes — two Marshall 1922 cabs. They come in handy elsewhere, and not always teamed up I can practically strip this lot down to just one lonesome G12T-75. Very handy, sometimes.

I just got my wee Marshall Lead 12 combo back from the doctor. …

 

[Pocket Dave]

I did the trade deal for the 335 Saturday; It's done for better or worse. Was time to shake things up and move on.

Going to a for-hire home-studio recording session Sunday afternoon; Will be tracking rhythm as a whole band with some local guys I've gigged with over the years; Big ears and capable of thinking on their feet. 'Hoping to get in and out in plenty of time for the Super Bowl. Will see how the new guitar and I do together...

 

[Riff Ranger]

I just got my wee Marshall Lead 12 combo back from the doctor. This thing kept me playing through the lull in my early 30s and I hope having it restored to its former sonic glory will inspire me anew. (Photographs tomorrow when I can get any worth sharing, possibly sound or video clips down the line.)

I remember these having a reputation as a studio secret ingredient for Billy Gibbons, and a favorite bedroom amp for some other big name players. Other than turning up the same text about Billy using one of these to record “My Head’s in Mississippi” and maybe more of Recycler, and a still photograph of a young Kirk Hammett playing a Strat through one that just happened to find me through Instagram a few days ago, I’m not finding much about big name players recording or practicing with them. Wasn’t Zakk Wylde also a fan? Did I make everything but the Billy Gibbons part up?

What a cutie — sprightly little box-o'-tricks, I imagine. Some of the innards of a Guv'nor may have something to do with that, I'm guessing. (Go the Guv'nor, Daddy O!) Studio magic comes in all shapes and sizes. I know firsthand, that the microscopic MS-2 has been employed in the studio as a giant, and to good effect. Those babyish boxes have a similar following, no mistake They can cut the mustard, marshal some respect, grungy as anything — (trade secret, mum's the word)

I have one dusty old JCM-900, from the other end of the spectrum — bit of a Marshall fan, me — needs to see that same doctor, stat ("Tubes are tied." … "NURSE!")

We went well-and-truly into the danger zone together, a good while back, long story — turned some heads — before she gave the game away. … I just parked the blessed entity, pulled my head in — [Exit stage right] — continued on instead with a trusty old sidekick — another solid-state gem worth mentioning (still in the game). Plus I now have a very tidy tube-riddled YCV20WR, gets me there in no uncertain terms, and at a much more practical, homespun level (if it's not going straight into a desk, even better)

I did hang on to the Marshall head — an early iteration — pleased to say I'll get it (r)amped up again, one of these days. Still have the boxes — two Marshall 1922 cabs. They come in handy elsewhere, and not always teamed up I can practically strip this lot down to just one lonesome G12T-75. Very handy, sometimes.

​

As promised:

I hadn’t played guitar through an amp in months, as I have a surprisingly satisfying headphone setup, so it felt good to crank this today (and I wish I could do that at home with bass, but I try not to be “that neighbor”). I also rarely eschew pedals, but gave it a try today. The pictured guitar sounded a bit thin plugged straight in; my Les-Paul-ish thing (with Lace Dirty Hester pickups ) sounded good; both sounded better for my chuggy purposes plugged straight into my Mesa DC-2. I’ll have to poke around and see how to get the most out of my wee guitar amplifiers. I wish I had Billy Gibbons’s skill, budget, and connections

 

[Tom Bomb]

This has something to do with it, old chap. A swag of 'em, by the look of it

The Bionix Expandora.

​

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

This has something to do with it, old chap. A swag of 'em, by the look of it

The Bionix Expandora.

The name sounds like a "magic spell" out of Harry Potter

 

[Tom Bomb]

I hope not I used to see them all the time, up for sale at the mighty U-BOX, back when klons were going for a few hundred apiece. Always tempted. I failed to claim either one. Gave up on the klons when they hit $800. That was a mistake. And no bionixc expandoras came my way either, worse luck. …

[Staring intensely, expectantly, at the soundtank tube screamer.]

"CAPACIOUS EXTREMIS!"​

…

Didn't work. Doesn't matter. Can't complain. We live and learn. Never too late — you never know. We'll get by, in the meantime. Worse things happen at sea, you know.

The name sounds like a "magic spell" out of Harry Potter

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Didn't work. Doesn't matter. Can't complain. We live and learn. Never too late — you never know. We'll get by, in the meantime. Worse things happen at sea, you know.

​

Cheer up, Brian. Always look on the bright side of life.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Some things in life are bad monkeys,

They can really make you mad professors,

Others they just make youse wear a potter curse,

When you're chewing on life's gristle king,

Darn't rumble, give a death whistle,

And this'll help things turn out for the beast,

And, …

You know the rest

CRANK IT!

​

 

[Pocket Dave]

A live bar-band clip from around 12 years ago when I was fronting/playing guitar: This was an on-stage audible we hadn't played before; Video starts right after I finished talking everyone through the progression/changes, followed by the common requisite, "watch me for the breaks" - Players were all local pros used to this kinda thing.

Guitar was a Japanese Orville-by-Gibson '58 Les Paul reissue, one of the best playing/sounding Les Pauls I've owned, despite its heavier weight at 9 lbs, 8 ozs.

Amp was a 112 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with the drive channel modified Dumble style. No pedals other than tuner:

 

[Tom Bomb]

There was movement at the bass station, in this direction — looking at the JMP2-AL-R. Pleased to see these guitars also getting some love. And the price has shot up, same as elsewhere. They are great guitars.
​

The P90s were a pleasant surprise. Late to the party. Just the ticket, if you ask me. If you haven't yet sampled the single coil hog of phrase and fable, you should give one a bit of a whirl.

These export models have a Florentine cutaway, whereas mine, stemming from the domestic line, is more traditional. That suits me. I got a ripping deal: a pristine axe and some fancy mods to boot. I'm onboard with the Venetian version. Smoother and more shapely, bigger bumper, more Rubenesque.

I shudder to think what they'd be asking here for one of these now. Doing the math, these American beasts, now with an asking price of $2567, would cost us as much as $3942. Let's see. No. Not so costly here, surprisingly. Still a fair whack. There's a cherry burst standard that's a little cheaper, but up they go from there. This one's $3267. Supplies are drying up again.​

Glorious creatures, apart from the pointy bits Not a deal-breaker.
​

 

[ScoobyDoober]

Finally got my guitar rig mostly done. Schecter Hellraiser Hybrid C-1, a DV Mark 60 watt head and The Jack tube preamp pedal and a Marshall 2x12, along with the various other pedals I've picked up over the last year. Ran out of patch cables on the bass board so I gotta re-up.

Love the tone I'm getting out of the Jack, nice classic distortion perfect for old Priest, Mercyful Fate, etc and all the rock tones i could want plus a nice warm clean channel that sounds amazing with a bit of chorus. Like the marketing suggests, it's kind of a jack of all trades and I'm digging it.

Got a great "open box" deal on the Marshall MX212, 45% off ($275) from ProAudioStar. Couldn't have been more than just opened and taped closed again. Cab was still factory wrapped, packed and tagged.

Overall, I'm very pleased with what I've cobbled together. Might have a buddy with a woodworking shop help me build a little rack to hold the head and preamp on top of the cab if Victory ever gets the footswitch back in stock

 

[Bard2dbone]

As promised:
View attachment 5345346

I hadn’t played guitar through an amp in months, as I have a surprisingly satisfying headphone setup, so it felt good to crank this today (and I wish I could do that at home with bass, but I try not to be “that neighbor”). I also rarely eschew pedals, but gave it a try today. The pictured guitar sounded a bit thin plugged straight in; my Les-Paul-ish thing (with Lace Dirty Hester pickups ) sounded good; both sounded better for my chuggy purposes plugged straight into my Mesa DC-2. I’ll have to poke around and see how to get the most out of my wee guitar amplifiers. I wish I had Billy Gibbons’s skill, budget, and connections

Like a lot of posts on TB and The Gear Page, this reminded me of stuff someone I knew back in the day used to have. He had one of those micro stacks with the Lead 12 head on top of a pair of tiny cabs shaped basically like a normal Marshall stack at maybe one-eighth scale. But they were pretty well beat when he found them. So he had a friend who worked in an auto upholstery shop. And he had her re-skin all three cabs, making them look literally better than new, And he pulled the solid state guts out of the head and swapped in a SovTek MiG50 head, or something similar. I think I remember it being the 50 Watt. The speakers were swapped with something moderately serious, but didn't really work with their tiny enclosures.

But, when he ran it as a stereo rig, with the cabs twelve or fifteen feet apart, it was MUCH more effective than it should have been.

Actually, I knew three or four guitar players back then that used stereo rigs with widely separated cabs. Was this a fashion for a bit in the late 80s/early 90s? Or did I just jam with weirdos?

 

[Pocket Dave]

Like a lot of posts on TB and The Gear Page, this reminded me of stuff someone I knew back in the day used to have. He had one of those micro stacks with the Lead 12 head on top of a pair of tiny cabs shaped basically like a normal Marshall stack at maybe one-eighth scale. But they were pretty well beat when he found them. So he had a friend who worked in an auto upholstery shop. And he had her re-skin all three cabs, making them look literally better than new, And he pulled the solid state guts out of the head and swapped in a SovTek MiG50 head, or something similar. I think I remember it being the 50 Watt. The speakers were swapped with something moderately serious, but didn't really work with their tiny enclosures.

But, when he ran it as a stereo rig, with the cabs twelve or fifteen feet apart, it was MUCH more effective than it should have been.

Actually, I knew three or four guitar players back then that used stereo rigs with widely separated cabs. Was this a fashion for a bit in the late 80s/early 90s? Or did I just jam with weirdos?

I gigged on guitar with stereo rigs during separate momentary lapses in reason in the early '80s, early '90s and again in the early '00s.

So yeah. You just jammed with weirdos.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Pics coming. I took the new-to-me cherry red 335 to a pro jam Sunday and sat in, playing and singing with some friends and awesome talents.

I plugged straight into a cranked Blues Jr - cranked mids, rolled off bass - and this thing had an incredible sweetness AND brutality.

I've owned and gigged five 335s since 1976 and this is one of the special ones.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Like a lot of posts on TB and The Gear Page, this reminded me of stuff someone I knew back in the day used to have. He had one of those micro stacks with the Lead 12 head on top of a pair of tiny cabs shaped basically like a normal Marshall stack at maybe one-eighth scale. But they were pretty well beat when he found them. So he had a friend who worked in an auto upholstery shop. And he had her re-skin all three cabs, making them look literally better than new, And he pulled the solid state guts out of the head and swapped in a SovTek MiG50 head, or something similar. I think I remember it being the 50 Watt. The speakers were swapped with something moderately serious, but didn't really work with their tiny enclosures.

But, when he ran it as a stereo rig, with the cabs twelve or fifteen feet apart, it was MUCH more effective than it should have been.

Actually, I knew three or four guitar players back then that used stereo rigs with widely separated cabs. Was this a fashion for a bit in the late 80s/early 90s? Or did I just jam with weirdos?

My guitar player in the 80s, once we started getting out of the shot-'n'-beer joints into bigger place, had two Marshall 4x12" that he would put on either side of the stage (as I did with my two "refrigerators"). We weren't going through the PAs, in that size place (200-500 cap.) and having the sound on both sides made all three of us happy.

 

[James Hart]

Late 80s I played with a guy that used a wide placed 2x12" set up. Played with another guy with his 4x12" cab split stereo.

 

[Passinwind]

OK, I'm about to flip my lone fretted bass for an acoustic guitar. Somehow I've never owned one, although I've shared living space with many nice ones and have pretty much always had at least one electric around ever since I started playing. I have a starting plan and a couple of candidates on hold in a shop 90 minutes away, but going to a few physical shops and just seeing what grabs me is a big part of the attraction. Any ideas on sleepers in the under $1K range would be much appreciated, bearing in mind that I don't want a classic dreadnought and prefer single cut, decent pickup built in, and need to cover a wide range of music at home and local jams, with no gigging anticipated.