The Gear Thread

[Gordon Comstock]

I got a ridiculously good deal on some hi-hats, they are used but in great shape (they were the seller's secondary pair). They're Paiste 2002 'Rock' Heavy Hi-Hats, worth probably $250~ CDN (they're $500~ new), and I grabbed them for $100. They sound killer, I'm very happy with them.

[ZoSoRose]

On 6/18/2018 at 11:14 AM, Gibson_Guy87 said:

I'm going after this as my next amp. It's the best one I could find on my budget, but I tried it at my local guitar store and I fucking loved it! https://shop.fender.com/en-US/guitar-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/mustang-gt-100/2310200000.html

Boss katana is better imo. Try one out

[Sosso]

 

This will be my next synth. Soon is the word.

[NeonKinight]

Here in brazil, when it comes to music, everything is VERY expensive. There's marshall's amps that costs the same as new car (Around 20k U$$). And we are not even talking about the worst gibson or epiphone you can get, that costs the same as motorbike. 

Thus said, I have to play in studios, 'cause in long terms, they're much more cheaper than the cheapest fender (amp or guitar) that you can find here ('round 1k U$$)

So, my type of sound is very doomish, sounds a lot like The Obsessed with flavours of Black Sabbath and even Electric Wizard. I love to play in Orange CR120 Pro, 'cause they have the sound I want to hear, very fuzzy, 70's sound-a-like. But sometimes, I'm "obliged" to play in Marshall JCM 900, wich doesn't sound as good as an orange, IMO. Marshall's and Laney's are very "stuffy" for my ears. I like it dark, I like it fuzzy, but I also want to hear EVERYTHING my guitars can make, and so, I want it to be very clear, in therms of Treble to Low Range. 
Speakin' about it, I have 2 guitars.  One is an Epiphone Les Paul Special I, 2001. With gotoh tunning system equiped, she's never out of tune. I know, everyone talks shit about this model, but the thing is : Yes, it doesn't sound as loud as a Gibson, or even Epi LP Standard, but it has a VERY BLUESY sound. I have one friend that said it was the worst guitar ever, i gave him the guitar, and within' five minutes, he said that was actually, pretty good.  Unfortunatelly, she's not that loud to play what i want to play, so i had to buy another guitar, wich an English "Golden GSD". They actually took a gibson SG, made an exact copy, and then, changed the headstock and pickups, and there you go. It sounds as good as any other SG, and is loud as fuck, specially with wilkinson humbuckers and Andreas Kisser's (Sepultura) strings. 
 

[James Bond]

I did the unthinkable - I traded the Jubilee.

I played through the new Vox AC30SI at my local shop and fell in love with that pure Class A drive. I’ve always loved the AC30 but in its regular form always thought it “too much” for my purposes. Now this is the best of the Vox AC30 in a condensed package. Toss an Overdrive in front and you can still match the Jubilee type thing, but I don’t play with a lot of gain anyways.

Spent two hours A/B’ing the amps with various riffs, pedals, and so on. The Vox won every time, China made be damned. In comparison, my Jubilee combo sounded very boxy with little room to breathe. Almost like a pedal was always switched on or something. The clarity of the Vox just astounded me.

So I’m a Vox man now with zero regrets. I’ve been playing the fuck out of it.

[ZoSoRose]

On 8/5/2018 at 7:10 AM, James Bond said:

I did the unthinkable - I traded the Jubilee.

I played through the new Vox AC30SI at my local shop and fell in love with that pure Class A drive. I’ve always loved the AC30 but in its regular form always thought it “too much” for my purposes. Now this is the best of the Vox AC30 in a condensed package. Toss an Overdrive in front and you can still match the Jubilee type thing, but I don’t play with a lot of gain anyways.

Spent two hours A/B’ing the amps with various riffs, pedals, and so on. The Vox won every time, China made be damned. In comparison, my Jubilee combo sounded very boxy with little room to breathe. Almost like a pedal was always switched on or something. The clarity of the Vox just astounded me.

So I’m a Vox man now with zero regrets. I’ve been playing the fuck out of it.

Wow! Hey man, its always good to find new gear that clicks! Id love a Mini Jub one day but I do think they are too expensive. AC30 is 2x12. Right? So that is definitely a huge sound

I also made the plunge and bought a Helix LT yesterday. I'm really in over my head lol

[SoundOfAGun]

12 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

Wow! Hey man, its always good to find new gear that clicks! Id love a Mini Jub one day but I do think they are too expensive. AC30 is 2x12. Right? So that is definitely a huge sound

I also made the plunge and bought a Helix LT yesterday. I'm really in over my head lol

I would love a helix.... just need to convince Mrs SoundOfAGun that it is essential I have one of them and one of these:

Edited August 9, 2018 by SoundOfAGun

[ZoSoRose]

7 hours ago, SoundOfAGun said:

I would love a helix.... just need to convince Mrs SoundOfAGun that it is essential I have one of them and one of these:

PRS SEs are really great guitars

I tried out the Helix today through a PA. Absolutely amazing piece of equipment

[SoundOfAGun]

42 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

PRS SEs are really great guitars

I tried out the Helix today through a PA. Absolutely amazing piece of equipment

Yeah, played one the other week and fell in love! Glad you're enjoying the helix, I have had about an hour on one through a powered FRFR speaker and it was immense. Would love to have one to play around with.

[AxlisOld]

I have an SE, and have played several more. They aren't as nice as the US PRS, HOWEVER (caps intentional) they seriously play about as well as almost any Gibson I've played. They are fantastic.

[SoundOfAGun]

On 11/08/2018 at 7:47 AM, AxlisOld said:

I have an SE, and have played several more. They aren't as nice as the US PRS, HOWEVER (caps intentional) they seriously play about as well as almost any Gibson I've played. They are fantastic.

Good to know, the one I played was very nice; I bet the US ones are something special though. 

[ZoSoRose]

I agree that the SEs are without a doubt some of the best sub $1000 guitars you can buy. 

[ZoSoRose]

3 hours ago, Wagszilla said:

I've been thinking about buying a keyboard / learning piano.

Any one have one they wanna give me for free?

You can come play ours. It's old and sucks

[ZoSoRose]

2 hours ago, Wagszilla said:

How many keys does it have?

Maybe 36? Id just give it to you but my gf juat expressed interest in learning it

[Silverburst80]

On 8/11/2018 at 2:47 PM, AxlisOld said:

I have an SE, and have played several more. They aren't as nice as the US PRS, HOWEVER (caps intentional) they seriously play about as well as almost any Gibson I've played. They are fantastic.

I'm looking at getting an SE as my next axe, gonna slap some EMG 57/66's in it which will give a fuller warmer tone, the stock SE pickups are a touch too bright and tinny for me. For the 6th of the price of a top of the range PRS i think spending a couple of hundred on some better pickups makes an SE massive bang for your buck.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Silverburst80

[AxlisOld]

On 8/14/2018 at 6:24 PM, Silverburst80 said:

I'm looking at getting an SE as my next axe, gonna slap some EMG 57/66's in it which will give a fuller warmer tone, the stock SE pickups are a touch too bright and tinny for me. For the 6th of the price of a top of the range PRS i think spending a couple of hundred on some better pickups makes an SE massive bang for your buck.

Check out an EMG 85. I have one sitting around and I'm contemplating swapping my 81 for it. A lot better rock tone that doesn't limit you to cranked up distortion.

[OmarBradley]

On 8/11/2018 at 2:47 AM, AxlisOld said:

I have an SE, and have played several more. They aren't as nice as the US PRS, HOWEVER (caps intentional) they seriously play about as well as almost any Gibson I've played. They are fantastic.

I borrowed a friend's SE for a few months. It was around $500 new I think. It was garbage tbh. Not anywhere near the quality of most USA-made Gibsons I've played. I know little about PRS, and especially little about the non-USA models, so perhaps there are higher tier SEs?

[AxlisOld]

1 hour ago, OmarBradley said:

I borrowed a friend's SE for a few months. It was around $500 new I think. It was garbage tbh. Not anywhere near the quality of most USA-made Gibsons I've played. I know little about PRS, and especially little about the non-USA models, so perhaps there are higher tier SEs?

Maybe he had a bottom of the barrel SE or had it set up shitty. Every one that I've picked up has been great. Also, as it has come up several times from me in this thread, I'm disgusted by the fall from grace of Gibson.

[SoundOfAGun]

4 hours ago, OmarBradley said:

I borrowed a friend's SE for a few months. It was around $500 new I think. It was garbage tbh. Not anywhere near the quality of most USA-made Gibsons I've played. I know little about PRS, and especially little about the non-USA models, so perhaps there are higher tier SEs?

Probably just an SE and not an SE Custom. The cheapest ones are made Indonesia and do not have good things said about them. The SE Custom range is from South Korea and built to a higher standard from what I understand.

[OmarBradley]

9 hours ago, AxlisOld said:

Maybe he had a bottom of the barrel SE or had it set up shitty. Every one that I've picked up has been great. Also, as it has come up several times from me in this thread, I'm disgusted by the fall from grace of Gibson.

I'm definitely not an extreme Gibson apologist. Much of what both USA and the Custom Shop have done in the past ten years (with some exceptions) have been disappointing compared to other eras of Gibson. Funny thing though, Gibson's never really had a 100% great era. '57-'60 was done in four years and was way before anyone was putting Gibson Les Paul posters in their bedrooms. The 70's were hit or miss, the 80's were a bit better, the 90's were a bit better than that, and the 2000's were pretty decent overall too. Gibson has never really been a consistent manufacturer, but when you do find the one or two that just feels/sounds perfect, it's enlightening.

Last time I went to GC (earlier this year I think), I played a recent R0 a recent R9 and a recent Traditional (II or IV or Pro, I can't keep up). The USA Traditional slayed the Historics. But my '01 68RI slays pretty much everything put against it. The more I play guitars (from differing manufacturers, not just Gibson), the more I realize there are great guitars, good guitars, okay guitars, and bad guitars. And little of what qualifies an instrument into one of those categories has to do solely with the name on the headstock. It's tough to talk about this in a scientific way since a lot of it is preference and build methods vary too. But this is the most consistent way of thinking about it, given my experiences at least.

7 hours ago, SoundOfAGun said:

Probably just an SE and not an SE Custom. The cheapest ones are made Indonesia and do not have good things said about them. The SE Custom range is from South Korea and built to a higher standard from what I understand.

I believe this was a Korean made one. But I should play a few next time I visit a shop just to see if the one I had was a dud. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by OmarBradley

[ZoSoRose]

2 hours ago, OmarBradley said:

I'm definitely not an extreme Gibson apologist. Much of what both USA and the Custom Shop have done in the past ten years (with some exceptions) have been disappointing compared to other eras of Gibson. Funny thing though, Gibson's never really had a 100% great era. '57-'60 was done in three years and was way before anyone was putting Gibson Les Paul posters in their bedrooms. The 70's were hit or miss, the 80's were a bit better, the 90's were a bit better than that, and the 2000's were pretty decent overall too. Gibson has never really been a consistent manufacturer, but when you do find the one or two that just feels/sounds perfect, it's enlightening.

Last time I went to GC (earlier this year I think), I played a recent R0 a recent R9 and a recent Traditional (II or IV or Pro, I can't keep up). The USA Traditional slayed the Historics. But my '01 68RI slays pretty much everything put against it. The more I play guitars (from differing manufacturers, not just Gibson), the more I realize there are great guitars, good guitars, okay guitars, and bad guitars. And little of what qualifies an instrument into one of those categories has to do solely with the name on the headstock. It's tough to talk about this in a scientific way since a lot of it is preference and build methods vary too. But this is the most consistent way of thinking about it, given my experiences at least.

I believe this was a Korean made one. But I should play a few next time I visit a shop just to see if the one I had was a dud. 

I was a hardcore Gibson apologist a few years ago. That is because I was just so stoked to finally get a Les Paul and was finally diving into good gear. I love the 2 Gibsons I own, a 2013 Les Paul and 2007 J100, but now I totally realize they are not a consistent company. I am happy with my 2013 LP, and you know, for all the dumbass features and controversy, I actually think the 2015s were really well built guitars. Too bad they had too many stupid design choices like the hologram and headstock. I haven't really played many 2016-2018s, since I usually go for different stuff than what I have when I'm browsing in stores. So despite them being hit and miss, I think most Gibsons that are over $1500 range from at least decent to very good, but my eyes are open to how hit and miss their cheaper stuff is. What really opened my eyes was when I picked up a really cheap Firebird. I forgot the model name, but it was clearly a piece of crap wood in a rough Firebird shape, with a cheap finish and the Gibson logo. It served only to give someone a USA made Gibson for dirt cheap, but it felt like crap to play. I think you are right, every era has their good and bad. I've actually played quite a few Norlin era Gibsons that I'd have liked to own, the year doesn't always dictate the quality. That being said, I'm pretty satisfied with the amount of Gibsons I have. If I ever bought another one, it would be many many years. 

As for PRS SEs, I originally didn't really dig them. They never felt or sounded bad to me, I was just comparing them to PRS' USA guitars which was completely unfair. As midrange Asian guitars, they are awesome. They look great, and they play and sound pretty damn good. When compared to other midrange Asian guitars they stack up great imo. Every bit as good as a MIM Fender or even an Indonesian Premium Ibanez, etc. I really dig them. 

Also, I've been diving into the Helix. I only have garbage Behringer headphones, and it still sounds better than my tube amp. I'm keeping my Fender and an analog board, but I am very happy with the Helix. Amp modeling has come a very long way since I started playing guitar. I am excited to try it in a reversal and live. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by ZoSoRose

[Rovim]

got a 2006 LP Standard. I wanted that classic tone., basically, a good one. it got the sustain and it looks real hot. it's fun to get really stoned and fuckin' wail on the thing which I did but got over excited and had some blisters on my fingers. it's all healed up now but my attack is too fierce for my own good sometimes.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Rovim

[ZoSoRose]

8 minutes ago, Rovim said:

got a 2006 LP Standard. I wanted that classic tone., basically, a good one. it got the sustain and it looks real hot. it's fun to get really stoned and fuckin' wail on the thing which I did but got over excited and had some blisters on my fingers. it's all healed up now but my attack is too fierce for my own good sometimes.

Post a pic!

[Rovim]

10 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

Post a pic!

thx for caring but too lazy right now. maybe later.

[AxlisOld]

On 10/23/2018 at 6:38 PM, ZoSoRose said:

Post a pic!

I forget because I drink, Is that Mockingbird in your avatar your guitar? If so, pics?