The Gear Thread

[James Bond]

5 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

The video is funny, but I know it's lengthy. 

The TLDR - even though LPs are heavy, expensive and a lot of times uncomfortable, the sound is fucking great. And it's versatile too. And from the guitars I had, I actually find it more comfortable to play than any other I tried.

I used to do it more for the cleans. But I never use it besides that. It's kinda strange how this is just not something most people use. 

I like it on overdrive as well, especially on the SG. I can't comment on it on a Les Paul, but I find it helps combat that harsh bite typical of SG's and gets you into pseudo Brian May territory with the decreased output and added warmth. I'll use it for songs that are more chord based and I find I get much more clarity that way! Definitely an underrated and underused position.

By the way, with your continued Instagram output I must say I love the tone you are getting from your new Les Paul. I notice a huge difference from your Epi (which sounded great, mind you).

[Voodoochild]

57 minutes ago, James Bond said:

I like it on overdrive as well, especially on the SG. I can't comment on it on a Les Paul, but I find it helps combat that harsh bite typical of SG's and gets you into pseudo Brian May territory with the decreased output and added warmth. I'll use it for songs that are more chord based and I find I get much more clarity that way! Definitely an underrated and underused position.

By the way, with your continued Instagram output I must say I love the tone you are getting from your new Les Paul. I notice a huge difference from your Epi (which sounded great, mind you).

Hey thanks. That means a lot.

I'm trying hard to find ways to make the other end (amp and recording) sounding better. I've been trying to use less distortion and a slightly tweaked EQ preset on Garage Band called "Guitar sweetener", but I gave up on trying the cabinet simulation. Kinda leaning towards spending more money on a proper audio interface, though. 

At first I thought the SCOM intro was recorded with the middle position, but seems like that wasn't the case at all. I can't remember any Slash solo or riff using it. Nor any other LP guitar player, for that matter. I would like to hear a sample of your SG in this position because that harsh bite is actually what I don't really like much about SGs. 

[soon]

On July 20, 2020 at 8:14 AM, Voodoochild said:

Do you guys agree?

 

 

Also: does anyone really use the middle pickup position?

I enjoyed that vid. I like his editing style and humour! lol

I cant really speak like most of you can to the Pauls. Not that I havent played a bunch of em. Just never bonded with one as my own. And this video confirmed for me that I'm am 100% going with tea burst when I get one.

But your question about middle position is an interesting one. I had to think and really, no, I dont. The only exception I can think of is in some types of ensemble playing I use middle position. And thats for clean tone as already being mentioned.

I guess I do this because rhythm or treble are such pronounced 'types' of common guitar tones. So I guess Im going on the assumption that because its not commonly used, that its less descript. More anonymous. Not leading its self to sounds too rock, or too country, etc. The only time I can recall doing this is in a "praise band" at church. In this church that meant that absolutely anyone with the ability to play the material in a passible way would all get up on stage together. So like 5 guitarists  Axl would have loved it! lol

But the music, to my ears, didnt really call for a guitar tone associated with any genre. Just something to fill space behind the piano and synth. 

[James Bond]

5 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

Hey thanks. That means a lot.

I'm trying hard to find ways to make the other end (amp and recording) sounding better. I've been trying to use less distortion and a slightly tweaked EQ preset on Garage Band called "Guitar sweetener", but I gave up on trying the cabinet simulation. Kinda leaning towards spending more money on a proper audio interface, though. 

At first I thought the SCOM intro was recorded with the middle position, but seems like that wasn't the case at all. I can't remember any Slash solo or riff using it. Nor any other LP guitar player, for that matter. I would like to hear a sample of your SG in this position because that harsh bite is actually what I don't really like much about SGs. 

Yesterdays always sounded like the middle position to me for the clean part, but I could be wrong. I think Slash usually does his cleans on the neck pick-up live although I don't necessarily think that was always the case in the studio. SCOM is an interesting one. The intro is definitely neck pick-up, but then I always assumed the entirety of the main solo was played on the neck pick-up until I realized Slash switches it back to the bridge pick-up right ahead of that fast run into the second section. I think him rocking the wah for that half of the solo plays with my ears a bit, whereas for the first half of the solo he seems to only use the wah as a filter with some slight changes.

I've been planning on getting back to some Instagram recordings so I'll have to make some clips to show you. The middle position combined with the Rhythm Clip channel on the Jubilee can get some really nice, warm tones. On the bridge pick-up I typically roll the volume off ever so slightly (to 8 or 9). I've found that makes a huge difference. The Explorer is naturally much warmer sounding but even with that I like rolling the volume back a bit. I like the old school method of rolling back for rhythm tone so you're able to boost the solos a little bit without the need for a pedal necessarily. Depends on the song, though.

I don't have much experience with Garage Band, but how is it for compatibility with VST plugins? If you aren't totally happy with the Garage Band presets it might be as simple as getting a plugin like Amplitube.

[Voodoochild]

17 hours ago, soon said:

I guess I do this because rhythm or treble are such pronounced 'types' of common guitar tones. So I guess Im going on the assumption that because its not commonly used, that its less descript. More anonymous. Not leading its self to sounds too rock, or too country, etc. The only time I can recall doing this is in a "praise band" at church. In this church that meant that absolutely anyone with the ability to play the material in a passible way would all get up on stage together. So like 5 guitarists  Axl would have loved it! lol

But the music, to my ears, didnt really call for a guitar tone associated with any genre. Just something to fill space behind the piano and synth. 

Imagine when there's a moment for a solo and everyone fights to get the chance? hahahaha

I had that Yamaha strat with bridge humbucker and single coils for the rest, and I thought amusing that the toggle switch to some useless position such as middle/neck position. It's nice to have it, but nobody why?

14 hours ago, James Bond said:

Yesterdays always sounded like the middle position to me for the clean part, but I could be wrong. I think Slash usually does his cleans on the neck pick-up live although I don't necessarily think that was always the case in the studio. SCOM is an interesting one. The intro is definitely neck pick-up, but then I always assumed the entirety of the main solo was played on the neck pick-up until I realized Slash switches it back to the bridge pick-up right ahead of that fast run into the second section. I think him rocking the wah for that half of the solo plays with my ears a bit, whereas for the first half of the solo he seems to only use the wah as a filter with some slight changes.

I've been planning on getting back to some Instagram recordings so I'll have to make some clips to show you. The middle position combined with the Rhythm Clip channel on the Jubilee can get some really nice, warm tones. On the bridge pick-up I typically roll the volume off ever so slightly (to 8 or 9). I've found that makes a huge difference. The Explorer is naturally much warmer sounding but even with that I like rolling the volume back a bit. I like the old school method of rolling back for rhythm tone so you're able to boost the solos a little bit without the need for a pedal necessarily. Depends on the song, though.

I don't have much experience with Garage Band, but how is it for compatibility with VST plugins? If you aren't totally happy with the Garage Band presets it might be as simple as getting a plugin like Amplitube.

I'm not sure about Yesterdays. I believe he used the neck position live, as always. SCOM he does use the bridge pickup when the wah starts, but several youtubers switch it back to the neck position when the "Where do we go" starts. I don't think it sounds right when I play it, but I don't know. Same thing happened with Robin's This I Love solo, but seems to me there's less of common sense about which pickup he uses and if he switches when the drums kick in. When I recorded that, I used first the neck pickup, then the bridge.

Your Explorer sounds great, but I'm very curious about the SG now. The volume is very tricky to work with, and I've been improving on using it since I'm only using the distortion from the Katana mini. 

Garage Band is a good piece of software, Fiona Apple recorded her new album entirely with this thing. It has a lot of Logic's stuff, and it works fine with VST plugins. I do have the Amplitube, but it doesn't work well with the iRig I have (too much noise). That's why I thought about getting a new interface. 

[soon]

2 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

Imagine when there's a moment for a solo and everyone fights to get the chance? hahahaha

All five of us launched in to the solo. And not one of us should have tried! lol

[Gibsonfender2323]

Anyone mind loaning me 325 grand?

 

https://cartervintage.com/collections/gibson-electrics/products/gibson-les-paul-standard-1965

[ZoSoRose]

That's a grail piece. Carter's rocks. I played a real 58 before. It was great

 

 

My new guitar arrives Monday. I am so excited, I am anticipating it will eclipse my Les Paul in quality

[Voodoochild]

9 hours ago, Gibsonfender2323 said:

Anyone mind loaning me 325 grand?

 

https://cartervintage.com/collections/gibson-electrics/products/gibson-les-paul-standard-1965

Dont know why is that expansive (not ironic, I really don't know). But the bridge pickup got really damaged, there's a completely different wood there. 

9 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

My new guitar arrives Monday. I am so excited, I am anticipating it will eclipse my Les Paul in quality

Post some pictures and videos

[Gibsonfender2323]

Think I just blew my speakers  

[James Bond]

On 7/22/2020 at 10:32 AM, Voodoochild said:

I'm not sure about Yesterdays. I believe he used the neck position live, as always. SCOM he does use the bridge pickup when the wah starts, but several youtubers switch it back to the neck position when the "Where do we go" starts. I don't think it sounds right when I play it, but I don't know. Same thing happened with Robin's This I Love solo, but seems to me there's less of common sense about which pickup he uses and if he switches when the drums kick in. When I recorded that, I used first the neck pickup, then the bridge.

Your Explorer sounds great, but I'm very curious about the SG now. The volume is very tricky to work with, and I've been improving on using it since I'm only using the distortion from the Katana mini. 

Garage Band is a good piece of software, Fiona Apple recorded her new album entirely with this thing. It has a lot of Logic's stuff, and it works fine with VST plugins. I do have the Amplitube, but it doesn't work well with the iRig I have (too much noise). That's why I thought about getting a new interface. 

I also leave it on the bridge pick-up for the rest of SCOM as I believe Slash does the same. As a side note, one of my pet peeves whenever I see a local band do SCOM live isn't even the solo - it's those guitarists who play the intro on the bridge pick-up with a high treble tone. I get that it's to each their own and all that, but it truly just doesn't sound the same.

It took me years to really learn how to manipulate my volume control. I remember being very confused in my early days of playing on how Angus Young could switch to a relatively clean tone without switching amp channels. I was so uninformed.  

That's interesting about the iRig. I was actually thinking about getting one of those to improve on my Instagram quality, but if it's noisy than perhaps I'll consider another option. My Jubilee actually has a direct out so I think in theory I could run it through a small USB mixer interface so I could still use the amp tone.

[soon]

A line from that new GW article on TSI and Live Era stood out to me based off part of this threads conversation. Gilby talks about using the middle position! Albeit one pickup is single coil and one is humbucker, but still neat,

 

Quote

After getting the gig, Clarke hit the ground running. The Cleveland native was asked to learn GN’R's entire catalog, 50 tracks, in two weeks. His Illusion tour guitars included a late-Seventies black Les Paul Deluxe with full-sized Seymour Duncan humbuckers,'91 Les Paul Classic with “burnt" finish; and a couple of Telecasters including a red Tele with a humbucker in the bridge. “The middle position between the humbucking and single coil was kind of magical,” he says. “On 'Sweet Child O’ Mine’ during the verses and all that, that's always the middle, songs like ‘Don't Cry’.”

https://www.a-4-d.com/t5013-2020-09-dd-guitar-world-the-secrets-of-gn-r-s-overlooked-albums

 

[James Bond]

No kidding. Good find!

[Voodoochild]

On 26/07/2020 at 7:30 PM, James Bond said:

I also leave it on the bridge pick-up for the rest of SCOM as I believe Slash does the same. As a side note, one of my pet peeves whenever I see a local band do SCOM live isn't even the solo - it's those guitarists who play the intro on the bridge pick-up with a high treble tone. I get that it's to each their own and all that, but it truly just doesn't sound the same.

It took me years to really learn how to manipulate my volume control. I remember being very confused in my early days of playing on how Angus Young could switch to a relatively clean tone without switching amp channels. I was so uninformed.  

That's interesting about the iRig. I was actually thinking about getting one of those to improve on my Instagram quality, but if it's noisy than perhaps I'll consider another option. My Jubilee actually has a direct out so I think in theory I could run it through a small USB mixer interface so I could still use the amp tone.

You're right about SCOM intro. I mean, it's as clear sound as a guitar sound can get, there's no other instruments going on to make it difficult to understand the tone. 

About the iRig: let me stress it, I have the 1st gen iRig. I bought it 9 years ago lol. The current ones, as far as I know, are good enough for home recordings. Surely you may want a proper interface with more options for acoustic or microphone with phantom power.

20 hours ago, soon said:

A line from that new GW article on TSI and Live Era stood out to me based off part of this threads conversation. Gilby talks about using the middle position! Albeit one pickup is single coil and one is humbucker, but still neat,

That's a great find, thanks. I still didn't read the whole article, but I think it sounds cool. 

Thought the Tele he used were already bright enough. And he used that middle position for the clean tones in Wild Horses/Patience too, I guess.

[soon]

3 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

That's a great find, thanks. I still didn't read the whole article, but I think it sounds cool. 

Thought the Tele he used were already bright enough. And he used that middle position for the clean tones in Wild Horses/Patience too, I guess.

Agree he had a very bright clean tone. I thought that his tone was an improvement from the clean tones on UYI. The Wild Horses jam showcased a nice Gilby tone, to my ears. But still on that tour the cleans by both of them are sometimes a bit 'plinky' (thats the official musical term right? haha).

And yeah, its a cool article. For me it was just nice as a fan to get a normal article that doesnt cause any waves, about the albums a band released. Im starved for that as a Guns fan! It felt weird to get to have such a normal and enjoyable fan experience!

[James Bond]

25 minutes ago, soon said:

Agree he had a very bright clean tone. I thought that his tone was an improvement from the clean tones on UYI. The Wild Horses jam showcased a nice Gilby tone, to my ears. But still on that tour the cleans by both of them are sometimes a bit 'plinky' (thats the official musical term right? haha).

And yeah, its a cool article. For me it was just nice as a fan to get a normal article that doesnt cause any waves, about the albums a band released. Im starved for that as a Guns fan! It felt weird to get to have such a normal and enjoyable fan experience!

Didn't Gilby use Vox AC30's on the UYI tour, or am I remembering that incorrectly? If so, I suppose that would account for some of that "plinky" tone. I'm totally stealing that term by the way.

I always felt like he and Slash had a good balance of tone. It's a shame those were the days of the Guns rhythm player being far less audible.

4 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

You're right about SCOM intro. I mean, it's as clear sound as a guitar sound can get, there's no other instruments going on to make it difficult to understand the tone. 

About the iRig: let me stress it, I have the 1st gen iRig. I bought it 9 years ago lol. The current ones, as far as I know, are good enough for home recordings. Surely you may want a proper interface with more options for acoustic or microphone with phantom power.

That's a great find, thanks. I still didn't read the whole article, but I think it sounds cool. 

Thought the Tele he used were already bright enough. And he used that middle position for the clean tones in Wild Horses/Patience too, I guess.

Thanks for the info! A current generation might do me just fine. I don't plan on much in the way of home recording. I mostly just want to start up a second Instagram strictly for guitar and other music stuff. The ol' cell phone microphone just isn't cutting it!

[soon]

3 hours ago, James Bond said:

Didn't Gilby use Vox AC30's on the UYI tour, or am I remembering that incorrectly? If so, I suppose that would account for some of that "plinky" tone. I'm totally stealing that term by the way.

I always felt like he and Slash had a good balance of tone. It's a shame those were the days of the Guns rhythm player being far less audible.

 Plinky.. Finally Ive made my very own contribution to rock n roll!

In the same article Gilby says something along to the lines of 'when I started with Guns, I played a les paul through a 50 watt marshall half stack. Then I switched to Vox' (paraphrased). But I dont think he gave a timeline - like maybe he switched to vox before they started performing? I definitely have it in my mind just like you said. Like a wall of Vox, iirc.

It is a shame the rhythm players was so low in mix. I really liked the clean tones on Snakepit. And, if we can call it a clean tone, the the bits at the start of Cure me or Kill Me is a nice tone. Less plinky.

Edited July 28, 2020 by soon

[Voodoochild]

7 hours ago, soon said:

Agree he had a very bright clean tone. I thought that his tone was an improvement from the clean tones on UYI. The Wild Horses jam showcased a nice Gilby tone, to my ears. But still on that tour the cleans by both of them are sometimes a bit 'plinky' (thats the official musical term right? haha).

And yeah, its a cool article. For me it was just nice as a fan to get a normal article that doesnt cause any waves, about the albums a band released. Im starved for that as a Guns fan! It felt weird to get to have such a normal and enjoyable fan experience!

Plinky is way better term than chug, I should say 

I know it's a great article, it's just that I've been reading so much for my work these days, the pandemic really made me work a lot more. I totally understand how you feel about GNR being a normal thing for once. I've been having this fresh approach when trying to learn properly some of the old songs.

6 hours ago, James Bond said:

Thanks for the info! A current generation might do me just fine. I don't plan on much in the way of home recording. I mostly just want to start up a second Instagram strictly for guitar and other music stuff. The ol' cell phone microphone just isn't cutting it!

Totally get it. Even if you want to use your Jubilee, you would still need the iRig for that. So why not? Not sure how much it costs for you, but it's cheap:

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irighd2/

[soon]

23 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

Plinky is way better term than chug, I should say 

I know it's a great article, it's just that I've been reading so much for my work these days, the pandemic really made me work a lot more. I totally understand how you feel about GNR being a normal thing for once. I've been having this fresh approach when trying to learn properly some of the old songs.

I lol'd about "chugs" . Im really into onomatopoeia apparently, lol.

Sounds like a great way to get to connect with GNR fandom in a normal way. I might take your lead on that (meaning I will solo over top of you! haha). Nah, but Ive been trying to redouble my efforts in guitar rehearsal and that sounds like a great new routine to include, for the reason you say! 

Ive also been working on playing a Tommy Emmanuel song, Song of a Gun. Way over my head, but Im aiming to play it at 'concert tempo.' To relate this back to the gear thread, I will likely smash my acoustic in frustration and then come here to explore what I should replace it with!

 

[ZoSoRose]

Well, it was a spontaneous purchase but I now own a "grail" guitar. I discovered the brand, Teye, about 5 years ago and I am sure I have mentioned them on the forum before. They are very ornate, and the founder and designer, Teye, takes inspiration from Zemaitis. They are definitely an acquired taste, but I love crazy art. Even their base models are extremely expensive, but when I found this on Reverb at a low price, and the seller offered my "shot in the dark lowball", I knew now was not the time to be responsible! It is brand new, old stock. I had to take the plastic off of the pickup covers and everything.

The guitar looks a lot like a Les Paul, but it does not share a lot of similarities aside from that. The body is a lot thinner and it has a flat top. It has a 5- way switch, aside from the usual positions one is for a coil split single coil sound and the other is an awesome out of phase setting. The scale length is a lot longer than my LP, and the neck is quite a bit fatter. The guitar is a lot more snappier and responsive, and really soars for rhythm and cleans. It can definitely kill on lead, but I am faster (and probably sloppier) on the LP. Both guitars excel at different things. It also has a "mood" knob which seems to be like a more extreme coil split you can change to taste. There are a ton of different tones to be found.

Anyways, this is my new 2014 Teye Coyote,

Edited July 30, 2020 by ZoSoRose

[Voodoochild]

11 hours ago, soon said:

I lol'd about "chugs" . Im really into onomatopoeia apparently, lol.

Sounds like a great way to get to connect with GNR fandom in a normal way. I might take your lead on that (meaning I will solo over top of you! haha). Nah, but Ive been trying to redouble my efforts in guitar rehearsal and that sounds like a great new routine to include, for the reason you say! 

Ive also been working on playing a Tommy Emmanuel song, Song of a Gun. Way over my head, but Im aiming to play it at 'concert tempo.' To relate this back to the gear thread, I will likely smash my acoustic in frustration and then come here to explore what I should replace it with!

 

I think now is the best time to try to work on some of this trickier stuff. But don't smash anything lol. Try to find a new gear to match the tonality instead. 

The thing with trying to actually learn GNR stuff is kinda refreshing because you def hear the same music with different perspectives.

 

7 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

Well, it was a spontaneous purchase but I now own a "grail" guitar. I discovered the brand, Teye, about 5 years ago and I am sure I have mentioned them on the forum before. They are very ornate, and the founder and designer, Teye, takes inspiration from Zemaitis. They are definitely an acquired taste, but I love crazy art. Even their base models are extremely expensive, but when I found this on Reverb at a low price, and the seller offered my "shot in the dark lowball", I knew now was not the time to be responsible! It is brand new, old stock. I had to take the plastic off of the pickup covers and everything.

The guitar looks a lot like a Les Paul, but it does not share a lot of similarities aside from that. The body is a lot thinner and it has a flat top. It has a 5- way switch, aside from the usual positions one is for a coil split single coil sound and the other is an awesome out of phase setting. The scale length is a lot longer than my LP, and the neck is quite a bit fatter. The guitar is a lot more snappier and responsive, and really soars for rhythm and cleans. It can definitely kill on lead, but I am faster (and probably sloppier) on the LP. Both guitars excel at different things. It also has a "mood" knob which seems to be like a more extreme coil split you can change to taste. There are a ton of different tones to be found.

Anyways, this is my new 2014 Teye Coyote,

That's gorgeous. I'm very interested on how it sounds, especially with this "mood" knob.

[ZoSoRose]

I will try and record a quick sound demo next week! I am going camping this weekend so I only got about an hour total of play time on it so far. It almost feels too nice for me and it has some modern features I wish my LP had, like a volute in the headstock to prevent breaks and easier access to the upper frets with the way the neck heel is cut. Here is another pic-

 

[Gibsonfender2323]

Thinking of getting  a vintage SG prolly a 73. Those are the ones Angus plays.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Gibsonfender2323

[soon]

Im starting to really dig into what Tommy Emmanuel calls "Thumb and finger style guitar" or what I'd known more as "Chord and melody guitar." Solo acoustic guitar music.

Acoustic (or hollow body) players like Tommy, Chet Atkins, Joe Pass, Celso Muchado, Phil Keagy or even Dee by Rhoads are all in the ball park of what Im working on. But mostly the Tommy and Joe Pass.

What acoustics would folks recommend for this? Im looking for something crisp, balanced and fast playing. Tommy Emmanuel's tone, really - I will be using a thumb pick and fingers technique. Not looking to break the bank with this purchase. Cheers!

 

 

[James Bond]

9 hours ago, Gibsonfender2323 said:

Thinking of getting  a vintage SG prolly a 73. Those are the ones Angus plays.

His SG collection is all over the place but according to SoloDallas his preferred year (based on usage and photos) is 1970. Check out his website - it is a goldmine of information.

https://solodallas.com/angus-young-guitars

His main black one with the half pickguard is a '67 Standard according to his tech in the Rig Rundown from a few years ago.

My personal favourite is his modified 1970 Custom with the full white pickguard. I'm glad he's brought it out of retirement on the last couple of tours. I've debated about it on my SG but also don't want to add holes.