Guitar Nerds Anonymous

When I was looking for a small tube amp, a couple I considered were the Vox AC4 and the Bugera Infinium V5, both of which have attenuators. Didn't try either of them, though, so can't recommend, but possibly worth a look.

I had an AC4TV and honestly the valveness of it did not come through at low volume. Cranking it was fun but with very limited use case because you ended up with an overdriven amp too quiet to play with a band.

Possibly a bit obscure but I had a Quilter Superblock US for a while and was really impressed with the sounds it could create, solid state so no difference if it was quiet or loud. Felt much more natural than my THR10 (probably wouldn't recommend that, though you've heard that already). Probably shouldn't have sold it but was trying to cut down on things.

FWIW, and as I think I've mentioned on here before, I have a THR5 and really like it. That said, I'm not playing loads and am reasonably happy noodling away unplugged anyway. For serious idea development im plumbed into logic anyway so its not mega important, but the THR is a nice to have in the living room.

Guitarists in my band us the THR10 which is definitely a huge step up in terms of sounds, and is still good at conversational volume. We use those to work through song ideas (I dont play guitar in the band but often use it to help figure out the shapes with them)

I've got a THR10 (the older model) and I like it. I can get it up to silly distortion levels at nice low volume. The only thing missing that would be ace is an inbuilt octave effect.

I’ve got a Nux headphone amp if you wanted something super cheap giving you a chance to find a desktop bargain elsewhere. £35 posted. Still have the box etc.

Oh, wow, people sure do love to mod things. Guess that makes it easier to match impedance of a cab at a gig venue. Have they added a whole metal rear cover on there?

Yeah, squeezing another box in there might be tricky.

Nah, just the box and an transformer upgrade. I guess it served their purpose.
I'd be happy to have the attenuator outside, but I have no clue where to add it with this mod. I'm thinking it's not possible.

Should be fine, pretty much the same as using the original speaker output jack. As long as you keep that ohm switcher to the same as the socket on the attenuator, shouldn’t be a problem.

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Haha, this is most excellent. Thank you for drawing this up.
I've done the same with how it is presently.
So adding an attenuator would mean:
Buying an additional jack to jack to run from the attenuator to the speaker box mod.
Also possibly a longer cable from the existing speaker to reach the attenuator if having it external.
The existing cables from transformer to speak mod obviously stay.
Then to ensure the headphone have enough power, buy a Behringer P2 and an XLR cable.

This makes sense, thank you!
What a faff.

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Exactly. Just remember the new jack-jack cable between mod box and attenuator needs to be a speaker cable, not normal guitar cable. Might get hot otherwise.

Got it. Given that attenuators soak by turning to heat.
Appreciate all the info mate, thank you.

This project might be on hold for a bit as I had a very interesting time in a guitar shop Y'day. Could be NGD...

Instantaneous pics here when you do or GTFO. 😋

I have finally purshased… a red coily cable!

Well sure.
There are so many excellent guitars shops in Melbourne, I'm lucky.
My local had a huge delivery of strats, all in a row for me to try. Skived off work and sat in the shop for an hour or so.

Didn't mind the MIA Standards which is what I was looking at, but it still felt a little chunky compared to the MIJ range.
I ended up getting 2016 Aerodyne. I'd never heard of them. Research tells me they're pretty sweet. High end MIJ > low end MIA.

All the specs aligned with everything I was looking for and more. It's the perfect shape for smaller bodies and it really fit me like a glove. So much easier to play than the PRS and the build quality feels great. Slim C neck is great.

The tone after a little dialing in [chef's kiss] I've turned off my EQ at this point.
About to run it through the pedals. Going to be a great night.

It's not letting me upload images, but it's this one (with a sweet discount) .

Trying again..

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Very cool, love a fender with binding.

That shop has my all time dream guitar. Musicmaster in desert sand 😍

Nice. I’ve had an Aerodyne Jazz Bass for 18 years, it’s a lovely thing. The shape and binding always gets comments from other players.

Great work, Jones! 🙏

I do love that shop, I very nearly bought a Ricky twelve string from them last year. Fortunately, common sense won the day and I bought a cheap Dano from MarketPlace instead. 🤑

Was in the same conundrum- I plumped for the orange terror stamp - which has a cab sim out for headphones. It’s a valve amp in pedal form. The cab sim is not great (noisy) but it sounded really good on the main speaker out through a 2x12 in the shop. Being orange it’s quite hot but can be cleaned up and apparently there is a gain dial inside you can tweak (also change tube) maybe worth a look.

I really love the small Vox amps, very nearly bought an AC4TV recently for absolutely no reason other than it was $150. Fortunately somebody else got there before me. They take pedals well and they look well cool, I reckon. But I'm an old fella now so what would I know?? 👴

Gumtree and MarketPlace are your friends/enemies.

Yay! Classy choice.

That’s a really good looking one, always had a soft spot for aerodynes. Are they 12” radius fingerboard though? I think that’s the only thing I wouldn’t massively get on with.

Thanks all, nice to hear the appreciation.
There was a lot of hesitation over getting a more 'classic' one, and I still have a bit of 'what if'.
But when they speak to you, what can you do.

9.5 radius, so spot on (IMO).

All specs here.
100% of what I was looking for.

Now, to work out if I want a trem arm or not. Didn't come with one so going to see if there's a block installed.

There was a lot of hesitation over getting a more 'classic' one, and I still have a bit of 'what if'.
But when they speak to you, what can you do.

I know that feeling, but I’ve never seriously entertained replacing mine because I love it for what it is. It’s a definite keeper.

Ah you have one? Awesome. What colour?

Question: does your trem arm sit at this angle?

UPDATE:
Apparently they're drilled at an angle so it's straight when it's not decked. This is correct.

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