Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Hey nerds.

Whatsup up here is that I have borrowed a Republic resonator and been playing a bit of slide. Been tinkering with various flavours of slide and unexpectedly found myself getting on really well with this mahoosive ceramic thing called a Pork Knuckle. Who knew. Somehow the heft of it seems easier to control that the smaller glass and brass things I have. Progress from the video lessons and general increasing familiarity with the tunings and technique is super-gratifying.

Also dun a rehearsal with psych rock blues band and loved it. I took my SG and the Epi Riviera and my tweaked (reduced) pedalboard though the Vibrolux and had a whale of a time with feedback and whatnot. Oh man. So nice to be playing again!

Also been playing a bit of bluegrassy flatpicking style shiz on my acoustic at home which i'm really enjoying. What's next is that I'm going to sell some gear and try to save up towards my dream acoustic... but i keep getting distracted by the idea of 59 reissue tweed Bassman as a gigging amp. Must keep focussed.

Oh yeah! I had decided to get the frets on my 2001 tele levelled and crowned as i think 21 years of avoiding the dusty end has made it difficult to set the action that i'd like without some notes sitaring and choking out above the 15th fret. Found a local guy who had good reviews although his email demeanour was weird. He gave me one very exact time I could drop the guitar off with no options. I couldn't make that, so I replied with a load of alternative times. He replied with another specific time. Ok then.

On the day of the drop-off, having waited around all morning for the specific time he'd insisted on, he finally sent over detailed instructions as to how to find him. This was about an hour before the appointment. It included his address and where to park etc and lots of CAPITALISED warnings bout what NOT TO DO, including a very clear instruction about respecting his property and privacy and not bringing any children, significant others or friends when visiting.

Alarm bells.

I replied saying, "i'm going to have my 4 year old son with me, it can't be helped I'm afraid so let me know if that's an issue because i'm leaving in 20 minutes". I figured i'd be in and out in 5 minutes but... fuck you man, I can parent my children. While I was packing up to leave the tone of the exchange was giving me really bad vibes, so I decided to nope out.

Went back to check my email and he'd immediately replied to my email saying "That's okay, as long as doesn't touch ANYTHING and understands that THIS IS NOT A PLAYGROUND". So I sent a brief and polite saying; "On second thoughts, let's leave it. PS, maybe let people know bout the no-wives, no kids, no friends policy before you confirm appointments. Good luck.".

I'm sure he's just a nuero-divergant soul who probably comes across way worse on email than in real live, but nah man. I don't need to be dealing with that kind of shit.

Now researching the price and potential damage I could do with a levelling beam and fret files.

I'm sure he's just a nuero-divergant soul who probably comes across way worse on email than in real live, but nah man. I don't need to be dealing with that kind of shit.

Sounds like a grumpy fuckin’ boomer tbqh

My missus said “creepy incel” but I guess we’ll never know.

We went out on our bikes instead anyway. Meh.

Hi guitar people , I have a couple of volume pedals ( and possibly some other effects pedals to come ) that are sitting around not being used so thought I’d see if anyone on here would be interested in them … 1 x Ernie Ball Pedal … big solid original one . 6166 ? used but good. and a brand new never used Ernie Ball MVP pedal …. not too sure of prices but can research and they’ll defo be cheaper than available elsewhere …. pictures if interested - South London. Cheers …

Might be interested in a chorus or reverb pedal if you've got one going as mine have just packed up.

POtentially interested in the 6166 dependent on cost! Let me know how much you're after. Also, it suitable for use first in the effects chain?

Apologies in advance as this seems like the sort of topic that can easily open up a can of worms, but, audio cables. Is there a noticeable drop in quality caused by using adapters or thinner cables?

Basically I spend most of my time having my guitar plugged into a synth (via pedal) that is used as an audio interface, but it's a 3.5mm input. So currently I've got my 2 x 6.35mm male > 3.5mm female adapter from the pedal, with a 3.5mm cable going into my synth (occasionally with a 6.35mm adapter on the end going into a dedicated interface).

Is this likely to have a noticeable impact on sound quality, or is it so insignificant that it's an audiophile-only problem? I've got a drawer overflowing with audio cables and am trying to avoid buying unnecessary cables.

I was watching a video about studio wiring this week and it's surprising how they happily use long runs of cable, connectors, all sorts of wires...

If the pedal has a buffer of any kind it’ll be fine. It’s really only pre- any kind of buffer or active preamp that the signal from the guitar is very susceptible to degrading over longer cable runs.

Long runs are fine for powered signals as long as you’re using XLR or balanced cables as these cancel out any noise/interference that gets picked up.

Thanks for the input (no pun intended) folks! Thankfully my cables are all 2m or shorter so shouldn't run into interference issues as a result of that

Yeah as long as the jack adaptors themselves aren’t totally bargain basement trash quality it’s 100% fine.

Guitar nerds > audiophiles

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a significant crossover between the two!

It's probably sacrilege but I did very much enjoy this video I found a few months back:

https://youtu.be/n02tImce3AE

Bit of a pointless post but thought I'd share the joy. Recently bought a dummy load/power attenuator/line out gadget and been finally able to plug into the glass shattering AC30/6TB for the first time in years without anyone dying or getting evicted.

Jesus wept. I'd forgotten how glorious the thing is. Now getting really into the idea of building a Matchless/Marshally head because amps. Oh the rabbit holes we get ourselves in.

my band's last EP was all tracked with load boxes, it was amazing. Guitars tracked on Saturdays in a bedsit, no complaints.

Any recommendations for load boxes for recording with? I’d love a Waza tube expander or Oxbox but they’re (a lot) more than my amp cost.

So good, and some of IR's out there (including a free ones) work really well in finishing the job

@mmccarthy I like that vid. Not sure the scientific method is necessarily sound but it's food for thought and he's a likeable chap. The cabinet size one he did is interesting as well.

At this point in my post-kids, post-lockdown life I've basically completed "guitar youtube". I'm now operating on a one-in/one-out policy. If someone makes a YouTube video with guitar content I will watch it. FML.

Regal

Not tried one myself. I'm still in the put-a-duvet-over-it mindset myself. But I'm a knuckle-dragging retro-grouch when it come to this stuff. Not that I'm adverse to using modelling plugins when required . I do that all the time.

I just think if you're using a dummy load to trick the amp into thinking it's pushing a real speaker and taking the output of that and using digital modelling and IRs to recreate the speaker and the room and mic... is there much point in even having the "real" bit of the equation in the form of a valve amp at the front of that signal chain?

For me the magic of really great amp is air being moved in a real space and the complex interrelation of feedback and feel that influences the way you play. Maybe trying one would blow my mind but I'm not sure that taking a 59 Bassman and cranking it into an Ox into my DAW and headphones is going to come close to sticking a mic in a room on a cranked Bassman. I'm also not sure that former would be that much different to a good 59 Bassman plugin model when stuck in a mix and heard on cans.

This opinion is 100% suspicion and prejudice based on no evidence and I stand by it

alex_s

No such thing as pointless post here dude. Tell us more about it then> Is my luddite suspicion unfounded?

Yeah, I’m not sure. But I can buy into the idea that straining both the preamp and power valves and, crucially, the transformer, is where the magic™️ is, and that that’s probably the hardest thing to simulate digitally. Dunno. Did you see Josh Scott revealing he’d been using a Kemper in the JHS videos for a year instead of his valve amp?

I have the Torpedo Captor and CabM combo, which I really like. Now the Captor X is out and combines the two for a cost saving, I think. Good IRs and the software plugin is good. I’ve made IRs of my own guitar and bass cabs for when I want my own sound but silently.

I only bought the two separately as I had a resistive not reactive load at first which wasn’t very good. Benefit of the CabM on its own is it has a modelled Bassman preamp so it’s a reasonable clean headphone solution all on its own. Captor X may be able to do that, not investigated.