Lets look at our guitars thread
Discussion
Escapegoat said:
No.
The only useful purpose of a Standby switch is to act as a between-set 'mute' for live, or studio recording.
Worse still, almost all Standby switches are general purpose mains switches, designed for switching a few amps of 110-240V AC, and not the very high DC voltages that they experience in their (typical) position in a valve amp circuit. So they frequently die from internal arcing, because people use them as instructed above. Better to leave it set to "On" and use only the amplifier's Power switch.
So you won't wear out valves quicker by running them super hot from cold, or killing the power to them when they're proper toasty? I thought that was pretty much the quickest way to wear a valve. Same as how you wouldn't thrash a car from cold.The only useful purpose of a Standby switch is to act as a between-set 'mute' for live, or studio recording.
Worse still, almost all Standby switches are general purpose mains switches, designed for switching a few amps of 110-240V AC, and not the very high DC voltages that they experience in their (typical) position in a valve amp circuit. So they frequently die from internal arcing, because people use them as instructed above. Better to leave it set to "On" and use only the amplifier's Power switch.
Pretty new to this guitar playing thing, but can already see how having a fleet of guitars can become an obsession!
Here are mine, I love my Casino probably the most, lovely tone too it, had the Bigsby put on a little while ago! Always loved Les Paul's too, no where near the position to justify replacing this one with a Gibson, but one day!
And then the other day, wanting an Acoustic smaller than my old crafter, which I struggled to get on with, and wanting something I could also plug in when I find the balls to play in front of some other people, I got carried away and bought a Martin X Series, still dealing with the high action on it, but going to persevere this time rather than just defaulting to having it trimmed down a bit, but it's a lovely thing!
Here are mine, I love my Casino probably the most, lovely tone too it, had the Bigsby put on a little while ago! Always loved Les Paul's too, no where near the position to justify replacing this one with a Gibson, but one day!
And then the other day, wanting an Acoustic smaller than my old crafter, which I struggled to get on with, and wanting something I could also plug in when I find the balls to play in front of some other people, I got carried away and bought a Martin X Series, still dealing with the high action on it, but going to persevere this time rather than just defaulting to having it trimmed down a bit, but it's a lovely thing!
Ekona said:
So you won't wear out valves quicker by running them super hot from cold, or killing the power to them when they're proper toasty? I thought that was pretty much the quickest way to wear a valve. Same as how you wouldn't thrash a car from cold.
No. That's just received wisdom. Read the link I posted. It's all about cathode poisoning vs cathode stripping.Yidwann said:
Pretty new to this guitar playing thing, but can already see how having a fleet of guitars can become an obsession!
Here are mine, I love my Casino probably the most, lovely tone too it, had the Bigsby put on a little while ago! Always loved Les Paul's too, no where near the position to justify replacing this one with a Gibson, but one day!
And then the other day, wanting an Acoustic smaller than my old crafter, which I struggled to get on with, and wanting something I could also plug in when I find the balls to play in front of some other people, I got carried away and bought a Martin X Series, still dealing with the high action on it, but going to persevere this time rather than just defaulting to having it trimmed down a bit, but it's a lovely thing!
Get the action lowered if it's too high.Here are mine, I love my Casino probably the most, lovely tone too it, had the Bigsby put on a little while ago! Always loved Les Paul's too, no where near the position to justify replacing this one with a Gibson, but one day!
And then the other day, wanting an Acoustic smaller than my old crafter, which I struggled to get on with, and wanting something I could also plug in when I find the balls to play in front of some other people, I got carried away and bought a Martin X Series, still dealing with the high action on it, but going to persevere this time rather than just defaulting to having it trimmed down a bit, but it's a lovely thing!
There's nothing to be gained from a poorly set-up (for you) guitar -
Lucas CAV said:
Get the action lowered if it's too high.
There's nothing to be gained from a poorly set-up (for you) guitar -
Yeah, I haven't ruled it out, its overly high, just on my previous as I was learning and I had reduced a fair amount, so just adjusting, its not been too much of a problem so far, just the odd, bum note being played, just see how it goes There's nothing to be gained from a poorly set-up (for you) guitar -
just managed to snag a doug rappoport knags,really impressed with it, lovely satin light finish on neck & body , so feels great, very nice neck carve too. Handy wiring as well, master volume, neck pup volume , master tone & the kill switch , which is nice for a bit of effect. Like the 78 SD pickup too, lovely tone
body is beautifully shaped, quite slender, feels really good, actually makes a les paul feel a bit of a chubster!..well done Mr Knaggs, reckon these will sell very well. Review is due in next months guitarist mag so will be interesting to see what they reckon
body is beautifully shaped, quite slender, feels really good, actually makes a les paul feel a bit of a chubster!..well done Mr Knaggs, reckon these will sell very well. Review is due in next months guitarist mag so will be interesting to see what they reckon
FreeLitres said:
Regarding the multi effects, I tend to use a combination of distortion, compression, amp simulation*, delay, reverb, etc.
So feeding this into the main input jack is best? It's what I have been doing with my old Marshall "Valvestate" (not true valve) but that didn't have an effects loop function.
Should I ditch the artificial amp simulator and run the effects into the distortion channel of the HT-5? I would always use the clean channel of the Marshall as the noise/hum was excessive on the overdrive channel. Might the higher output of the multi effects prematurely wear out the tubes or anything?
I don't want to knack this amp just from messing around so I'm keen to learn the boundaries before I blow something.
Dump the amp sim, run the board infront of the amp if you're getting distortion from the pedal rather than the pre amp of the Blackstar. The general rule is compressors and overdrive/distortion (and wah if you have one) between the guitar and amp, chorus/flangers/phasers in the loop and delay / reverb at the last point before it gets to the power ampSo feeding this into the main input jack is best? It's what I have been doing with my old Marshall "Valvestate" (not true valve) but that didn't have an effects loop function.
Should I ditch the artificial amp simulator and run the effects into the distortion channel of the HT-5? I would always use the clean channel of the Marshall as the noise/hum was excessive on the overdrive channel. Might the higher output of the multi effects prematurely wear out the tubes or anything?
I don't want to knack this amp just from messing around so I'm keen to learn the boundaries before I blow something.
As we dont have a GAS section, I've just bought myself a Digitech Trio plus pedal, which is a band in a box thingymajig. I'm a home noodler and have had some success with a looper but I find it a bit limiting at times. This thing does drums and bass too so should make for a more engaging practice session! Just waiting on delivery now!
Just got my 35 year old Squier Strat (one of the first in the UK, made in Japan 'JV' series models) back from a refret. I had it refinished 3 years ago as I'd done various resprays over the years and wanted it back to standard two tone sunburst. Now with the new frets (nice thin/low vintage ones as I'm too used to them to change) and an absolutely superb set up job it plays better than ever before.
I should take some up to date photos now I have a decent camera, but it looks just like any other two tone sunburst Strat, just with slightly aged plastics and a bit of wear on the neck. That last part is what seems to make it fit me so well; '57 shape/radius and 35 years of being worn in...any other Strat always feels a bit 'odd' to me and I've tried a few over the years. Even though I could afford a more high end model these days I'll stick with this one.
I should take some up to date photos now I have a decent camera, but it looks just like any other two tone sunburst Strat, just with slightly aged plastics and a bit of wear on the neck. That last part is what seems to make it fit me so well; '57 shape/radius and 35 years of being worn in...any other Strat always feels a bit 'odd' to me and I've tried a few over the years. Even though I could afford a more high end model these days I'll stick with this one.
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Wednesday 2nd August 22:38
Escapegoat said:
Ekona said:
So you won't wear out valves quicker by running them super hot from cold, or killing the power to them when they're proper toasty? I thought that was pretty much the quickest way to wear a valve. Same as how you wouldn't thrash a car from cold.
No. That's just received wisdom. Read the link I posted. It's all about cathode poisoning vs cathode stripping.I went to Guitarguitar in Camden yesterday. there was a visit from John Cruz (Fender custom shop master builder for those that dont know of him)
he gave an informal talk about the history of the custom shop and how he got into it, and had brought along a few of his recent creations, but mostly it was a Q&A.
interesting stuff for us guitar geeks.
i had a chat with him beforehand as I have a couple of nocasters one 1999 and one from Jan 97, with his stamp in the neck pocket. id brought it along and he had a look at it, and I showed him a 'neck off' pic with the dates and his name. said yep he would have put that together at the time and was from the Cunetto era.
took a pic of him holding it (I know sad GAS bloke that I am) which is failing to upload on my old imac...
anyway a different afternoon out...
Oops, I seem to have reverse-down-sized-up my collection.
So, 2 weekends, 2 "accidental" eBay purchases ... how does that even happen?
Well, it does if you spot a couple of evidently neglected "bought for teenage son who played them a little and then went back to sleep" items with starting prices under 100 notes and pictures of rusty strings and heavily tarnished frets that hardly anyone will bother bidding for... and punt the minimum with 10 seconds to go.
They'll not set the world alight but after about 4 hours each cleaning them up and re-stringing, they've turned out rather nice. Both have good necks and very playable. The SG's got a nice balance and sounds not unlike, well, an SG really and the Destroyer's only a basic model (DT120 I think?) but has a rich slightly-metallic red finish, and whatever pickups are in it have a lovely 80's bite/snarl to them.
This weekend I shall be mainly growing my hair and looking for spandex or a satchel and cap!
So, 2 weekends, 2 "accidental" eBay purchases ... how does that even happen?
Well, it does if you spot a couple of evidently neglected "bought for teenage son who played them a little and then went back to sleep" items with starting prices under 100 notes and pictures of rusty strings and heavily tarnished frets that hardly anyone will bother bidding for... and punt the minimum with 10 seconds to go.
They'll not set the world alight but after about 4 hours each cleaning them up and re-stringing, they've turned out rather nice. Both have good necks and very playable. The SG's got a nice balance and sounds not unlike, well, an SG really and the Destroyer's only a basic model (DT120 I think?) but has a rich slightly-metallic red finish, and whatever pickups are in it have a lovely 80's bite/snarl to them.
This weekend I shall be mainly growing my hair and looking for spandex or a satchel and cap!
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