I can't provide full pictures of my gear, because half of it is in another state right now, but here's the basic guitar setup I use:
Fender Jazzmaster ('96 MIJ, SD Quarter-Pounder bridge, SD Hot neck) -> Electro-Harmonix Big Muff USA -> Electro-Harmonix Stereo Poly-Chorus -> Peavey Classic 30
Purchased the guitar for around $600 used a few years back, came with all stock hardware. The stock pickups weren't bad -- they were basically strat pickups shoehorned into the JM soapbar mold. Rewired it with some great Seymour Duncan stuff. I've since also replaced the pickguard (stock white, replaced with brown tort). And put a silver sticker on the painted headstock.
Our recording gig is one single studio mic, mono, hooked to a 2 track, then to a MacBook and Garage Band.
:P
You want a crazy drum kit do a Google Image search for Terry Bozzio. Every drum is tuned individually, and he basically plays solo songs on it that way.
Excess!
And yeah, I'm familiar with him. Big Zappa fan.
Bozzio, Levin, Stevens is a great super group. their album is definitely Black Light Syndrome is worth a listen.
So I have crappy equipment for recording and am getting promoted wednesday. the cover song contest has motivated me to get a better rig. Suggestions on starter equipment for recording?
'97 Cherry Red ESP Custom - This thing is both literally and figuratively the heaviest guitar I have ever played. Visually it's a Les Paul knockoff with one less tone knob for legal reasons. It packs hella low end and eats lesser amps alive.
'68 Fender Twin Reverb - After using some bitch 30 watt amp for years, I found this on ebay MISLABELED (mwahahaha). Got it in perfect condition with new Celestion speakers for $600. The actual amp is pre-CBS, pre-Master Gain. I've never played it past 3 on the volume.
'01 Fender Jazz Bass - Got it from a friend when he moved to the opposite coast. The input jack's a little buggered and gets quite hissy, but it's a real smooth sound overall. I too play it through a Big Muff when I want that Stoner Metal vibe, but generally I play clean. My bass amp is not worth mentioning.
Pearl Export 7 piece kit - Another great ebay find. 24" kick, Sabian cymbals, a real deep snare. I need some new heads though...
Theremax Theremin - A bandmate built this from some kit. I'm not good with it.
Mbira - Found it at a rummage sale. I like to mic it and run it through a rotary amp to get a sort of Vibrophone sound.
Taishogoto - An autoharp of sorts. From the '40's and not equal-tempered.
I also produce in the colloquial sense for my homey Doc Devil of Heavy Jamal.
For such business I rock Reason 4.0 and Ableton Live with an Oxygen 8 Midi-Keyboard.
I do all the audio engineering for my band, recording 8 tracks live through a Presonus Firepod into Adobe Audition. We're completely improvised, so this often entails extensive linear editing (as opposed to the non-linear nature of Teó Macero's work with Miles Davis), but I eschew any effects excepting necessary compression and equalization during the mastering stage. I mix through some sweet Flat-Response Event monitors.
I also have an assortment of tuned singing bowls, an ex-girlfriend's violin made by a local luthier that have yet to learn how to play, and a cumbersome sitar left in my care by a former boss.
So the guitars are a '93 Les Paul Classic Premium Plus and a 2001 American Strat. My rack consists of two rockman 100 Sustainors in series with a 2 channel dbx 231 equalizer in the effects loop for each. They lead into My rockman chorus delay, wich then connects to my Crybaby Wah. Everythings controlled by the midi pedal board. All this is feuled by my Mesa Boogie Nomad 45. Probably a much nicer rig than I deserve and I'm still working on getting the right sound out of it, but what can I say I've always been a gear head.
I'm a big classic rock guy. I really want to be able to play some Robin Trower but I'm still no where near good enough.
Fuck Mishra, no wonder i couldn't match your tone. Your rig is awesome. I have a Les Paul copy (mid range) and a crappy 10watt amp.
I've been eating packaged noodles and canned food for the last 2 months and im about halfway to a decent amp.
the red one's an agile valkyrie III from rondomusic who i heartily recommend to anyone wanting a solid, cheap instrument
not pictured: my frankenstrat monstrosity custom built from a squier strat, a lp studio, a fender jazz bass, and and ancient as fuck beat up old harmony acoustic
So the guitars are a '93 Les Paul Classic Premium Plus and a 2001 American Strat. My rack consists of two rockman 100 Sustainors in series with a 2 channel dbx 231 equalizer in the effects loop for each. They lead into My rockman chorus delay, wich then connects to my Crybaby Wah. Everythings controlled by the midi pedal board. All this is feuled by my Mesa Boogie Nomad 45. Probably a much nicer rig than I deserve and I'm still working on getting the right sound out of it, but what can I say I've always been a gear head.
I'm a big classic rock guy. I really want to be able to play some Robin Trower but I'm still no where near good enough.
Fuck Mishra, no wonder i couldn't match your tone. Your rig is awesome. I have a Les Paul copy (mid range) and a crappy 10watt amp.
I've been eating packaged noodles and canned food for the last 2 months and im about halfway to a decent amp.
Id take a photo, but i'm embaressed.
Eh It's wasted on me still, this is what happens when you have to much disposable income and a co-worker whose been playing 25 years and owns a 1958 Fender stratocaster. Thanks though. Craigslist is great for equipment. Everything there was had from craigslist except some of the rack stuff which i got from E-bay.
Mishra on
"Give a man a fire, he's warm for the night. Set a man on fire he's warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett
There was this friend of mine in high school, mark moore - he was a drum GOD to us - listened to Dream Theater and Helloween and the like. He had a rediculous Ludwig Vistalite set.
I just googled and found him in like 20 seconds on ultimatemetal.com - username rushzil2112.
Gonna get his ass on some RB2.
1ddqd on
0
amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited September 2008
I don't have personal pics, but this is my gear
First, the '71 Yamaha FG-200 acoustic
These things were about a dime a dozen, and this was my dad's, who then gave it to me when I went to college. The bass tones have gotten better over the years, it frets, bars, and chords easily, and just rocks because it's old. I also have my dad's hippie peace flowers guitar strap that I still wear with it.
Second, I wanted an electric guitar, but just something cheap to play around with, so I got this.
It's the peavey rockmaster combo. AC/DC (current, not the band) amp and the guitar has a single humbucker style pickup. It's got a decent little blues sound to it, but the nut doesn't hold the strings as tight as I'd like no matter how much adjustment and tuning I do. Chords pretty well and bars alright, passable for weekend jams and practice, but that's about it.
edit: I've also got a midi usb input for two guitars and two mics that came with a copy of cubase, but right now all I do is use it to make podcasts.
I've only got these pictures posted elsewhere; I'll take some full-room shots when I get home tonight. Hardly a gear-porn room, but I'm pretty happy with it. The big prize is a recent acquisition, picked up about a month ago:
With cats, for scale:
How I got it home (in our Corolla):
It's a Kay upright from 1955, not the fanciest bass but something I could afford. I moved up from an electric upright (which I used for taking lessons from 96-97), realizing that if I didn't have an acoustic upright, I would be bored with playing since I couldn't record it without it just sounding like a bad bass guitar. Now I've got a nice, boomy upright
I play a mix of classical while I practice some jazzy stuff. It's pretty motivating having a nice instrument that makes you want to play it, and I'm surprised at how my intonation and general skills have stuck with me transitioning from my electric upright (which had dots on the neck so I could see where I should be) to a regular upright (where your intonation is based entirely on your ear).
I should also say (since the guy that gave me advice on getting it just posted) that we've also got a Fostex MR8-HD for doing rough recordings of stuff, and a lovely Rode NT1-A condenser mic that I try to use wherever possible, because I love the sound you get off it when recording an acoustic guitar.
...and a lovely Rode NT1-A condenser mic that I try to use wherever possible, because I love the sound you get off it when recording an acoustic guitar.
People have such hugely differing opinions of Rode mics.
When I was in engineering class in college, we would do blindfold microphone tests regularly through the semester, and Rode mics would consistently be the least liked mic.
Sure, they would be going up against some ridiculous microphones (Neumann TLM49, AKG C414, some vintage ribbon mics, etc...), but they were getting beaten by 57's in every application!
But now on my own I bought a matched pair of NT5s for drum overheads because they were on sale and I love deez bitches.
I use them on my classical too and shit is just beautiful.
I'm gonna post pictures of my own gear later today or tomorrow but I was just reading up on how to get a sound as shitty and amazing as Neil Young has and I found out that he actually has a device that turns the knobs on his amp. It's called the Whizzer.
...and a lovely Rode NT1-A condenser mic that I try to use wherever possible, because I love the sound you get off it when recording an acoustic guitar.
People have such hugely differing opinions of Rode mics.
When I was in engineering class in college, we would do blindfold microphone tests regularly through the semester, and Rode mics would consistently be the least liked mic.
Sure, they would be going up against some ridiculous microphones (Neumann TLM49, AKG C414, some vintage ribbon mics, etc...), but they were getting beaten by 57's in every application!
But now on my own I bought a matched pair of NT5s for drum overheads because they were on sale and I love deez bitches.
I use them on my classical too and shit is just beautiful.
I'm no audiophile and have had absolutely no training or whatever (although I like to think I've got a good ear), but compared to the pickup we otherwise use, the Rode sounds gorgeous. Seems to pick up a really full, rich sound.
I'm gonna post pictures of my own gear later today or tomorrow but I was just reading up on how to get a sound as shitty and amazing as Neil Young has and I found out that he actually has a device that turns the knobs on his amp. It's called the Whizzer.
How fucking cool is that?
Do you mean to say that it just haphazardly fucks with the amp tone and shit while he plays or something?
I know my friend uses a bunch of pneumatic footswitches called "The Third Hand" that he uses to manipulate knobs while he plays, but that Whizzer looks all mechanical and whatnot.
It changes three knobs on his amp (volume and two others, I suppose) between different presets. He has a footswitch that changes it between a few different tones (from what I understand these are pretty much loud, louder, louderer).
Did a few hours of recording last night. I dunno if it's the preamp in my J that's causing it, but if it's too clean you can hear my fingers knocking the strings. I could play softer, but it's pretty difficult, and I can't just stand there pussyfooting around my strings when I play live.
When I had the Big Muff cranked up, the soundboard was picking up a completely different sound than what we were hearing in the room. Crazy.
Sheep on
0
Podlyyou unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered Userregular
Dammit, why didn't I see this thread before band practice, so I could have taken a picture of my kit. I'm so proud of my DDrum Punx kit that I've beat all to hell and back.
I do love my snare though. Reinforced piccolo snare with a Kevlar head. That thing kills.
my practice rig is guitar -> mixer -> computer with GuitarRig 2
not so great sounding, but better than my practice amp
my band practice/gig setup is
Jackson RR Professional/LTD EX-260/Douglas Fulcrum -> Fender M-80 Head (it's grey and fuzzy, which is awesome) -> Legend Cab (no idea when it was made, but it's got an awesome natural finish and is loud as FUCK)
not really a setup so much as plugging a guitar into an amp
I'm purchasing a new guitar on the 30th, so I'll make sure to update then!
So here I am, updating. On Tuesday I bought an Ampeg ADA6 (2006 Reissue). The body is made of acrylic glass (also known as Plexiglass, or Lucite). Maple neck, rosewood fretboard (sporting 24 frets, an added bonus) and rosewood bridge. I apologize for the bad photos, I'm not at my own computer so I don't have the means to effectively make photos smaller without losing quality. Also some are a bit blurry. Anyway! Ampeg is pretty smart and makes some great cases:
Note the neat checkered design, and the padded handle. You can't see it from any of these photos, but they've really padded the inside a lot and the guitar fits pretty snug. I like it more than the new Fender ones. And here I open the case:
As you can see I've got the single coil hooked up; the humbucker is in the compartment. I haven't had time to play much with either yet. Let's move to the garage where I usually practice (drums are in there). This isn't the location in the garage I usually set up, but I wanted to do this as quickly and quietly as possible:
My main setup: Ampeg ADA6, played through a Fender Deville 410. In between I've got a BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, Proco RAT2, BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone, MXR Phase 90 (this is the handwired '74 reissue), and a Zoom 5050 Choir (I guess it's a little multieffects pedal... does chorus, echo, delay, etc... I just use it for delay, really). The other one you can see is just a standard footswitch for Fender's Hotrod line.
I'm told the DL-4 is a great delay pedal, but the 5050 does everything I need, at least right now.
Some close-ups:
Zoom 5050, MXR '74 Phase 90, BOSS Metal Zone:
Proco RAT, BOSS TU-2, Fender footswitch:
The ADA6 (I assume it stands for Ampeg Dan Armstrong 2006). The strap was my grandpa's, and I use it for almost everything. It's hard to find a good strap nowadays:
The Deville 410. I was originally going to get an AC30, but the Deville was cheaper and did everything I wanted. If I ever buy an AC30, I'll be tricking it out:
And that is it for now. Tomorrow I plan to do some expirimenting.
James on
0
amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited October 2008
James, I've still got my dad's old hippie guitar strap too. That's awesome.
^^^--Taylor 314ce. I don't use an amp, really, but I'm pretty sure I have an old 10w from when I started playing... 7 years ago I guess. In my basement I think if it hasn't been thrown out. It's a Crate, IIRC.
^^^--Yamaha Baby Grand.
Used to have a Triton, found it to be excessive for my needs, sold it.
Posts
Fender Jazzmaster ('96 MIJ, SD Quarter-Pounder bridge, SD Hot neck) -> Electro-Harmonix Big Muff USA -> Electro-Harmonix Stereo Poly-Chorus -> Peavey Classic 30
Purchased the guitar for around $600 used a few years back, came with all stock hardware. The stock pickups weren't bad -- they were basically strat pickups shoehorned into the JM soapbar mold. Rewired it with some great Seymour Duncan stuff. I've since also replaced the pickguard (stock white, replaced with brown tort). And put a silver sticker on the painted headstock.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/endlessrevolt/Jazzmaster/gtr.jpg <-- helpful diagram of setup. the classic 30 is so classy looking, and sounds fucking great at the volume I play at (pretty much just a home hobbyist)
Some guitar pictures:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/endlessrevolt/Jazzmaster/a2j_PICT0034.jpg full view
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/endlessrevolt/Jazzmaster/a2j_PICT0031.jpg matched headstock, closeup
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/endlessrevolt/Jazzmaster/a2j_PICT0035.jpg body view
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/endlessrevolt/Jazzmaster/a2j_PICT0037.jpg closeup on hardware/pickguard
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/endlessrevolt/Jazzmaster/a2j_PICT0056.jpg old picture with the stock pickguard
Cover song contest?
I'm not gonna include pictures because I got too much stuff and that would result in a jumbled post of hell.
In my improv rock group I play:
'97 Cherry Red ESP Custom - This thing is both literally and figuratively the heaviest guitar I have ever played. Visually it's a Les Paul knockoff with one less tone knob for legal reasons. It packs hella low end and eats lesser amps alive.
'68 Fender Twin Reverb - After using some bitch 30 watt amp for years, I found this on ebay MISLABELED (mwahahaha). Got it in perfect condition with new Celestion speakers for $600. The actual amp is pre-CBS, pre-Master Gain. I've never played it past 3 on the volume.
'01 Fender Jazz Bass - Got it from a friend when he moved to the opposite coast. The input jack's a little buggered and gets quite hissy, but it's a real smooth sound overall. I too play it through a Big Muff when I want that Stoner Metal vibe, but generally I play clean. My bass amp is not worth mentioning.
Pearl Export 7 piece kit - Another great ebay find. 24" kick, Sabian cymbals, a real deep snare. I need some new heads though...
Theremax Theremin - A bandmate built this from some kit. I'm not good with it.
Mbira - Found it at a rummage sale. I like to mic it and run it through a rotary amp to get a sort of Vibrophone sound.
Taishogoto - An autoharp of sorts. From the '40's and not equal-tempered.
I also produce in the colloquial sense for my homey Doc Devil of Heavy Jamal.
For such business I rock Reason 4.0 and Ableton Live with an Oxygen 8 Midi-Keyboard.
I do all the audio engineering for my band, recording 8 tracks live through a Presonus Firepod into Adobe Audition. We're completely improvised, so this often entails extensive linear editing (as opposed to the non-linear nature of Teó Macero's work with Miles Davis), but I eschew any effects excepting necessary compression and equalization during the mastering stage. I mix through some sweet Flat-Response Event monitors.
I also have an assortment of tuned singing bowls, an ex-girlfriend's violin made by a local luthier that have yet to learn how to play, and a cumbersome sitar left in my care by a former boss.
I like to make music.
[Edit - this is still a jumble post from hell.]
Fuck Mishra, no wonder i couldn't match your tone. Your rig is awesome. I have a Les Paul copy (mid range) and a crappy 10watt amp.
I've been eating packaged noodles and canned food for the last 2 months and im about halfway to a decent amp.
Id take a photo, but i'm embaressed.
Some new gear I got? Proco RAT and an MXR Phase 90. I'm purchasing a new guitar on the 30th, so I'll make sure to update then!
gibson sg special
standard has trapezoidal inlays
edit: here's a better pic
the red one's an agile valkyrie III from rondomusic who i heartily recommend to anyone wanting a solid, cheap instrument
not pictured: my frankenstrat monstrosity custom built from a squier strat, a lp studio, a fender jazz bass, and and ancient as fuck beat up old harmony acoustic
Do you find it too neck heavy when playing standing up?
I don't find it heavy, but it's certainly heavier than the body so you've got to hold onto it all the time if you want it to stay still.
Eh It's wasted on me still, this is what happens when you have to much disposable income and a co-worker whose been playing 25 years and owns a 1958 Fender stratocaster. Thanks though. Craigslist is great for equipment. Everything there was had from craigslist except some of the rack stuff which i got from E-bay.
-Terry Pratchett
I've been playing two SG's lately. Gibson and Epiphone. I preferred the Epiphone. Lighter, thinner neck, sounded just as good.
What were they made of? Typically Epiphones are heavier and Gibsons have better craftmanship.
I just googled and found him in like 20 seconds on ultimatemetal.com - username rushzil2112.
Gonna get his ass on some RB2.
First, the '71 Yamaha FG-200 acoustic
These things were about a dime a dozen, and this was my dad's, who then gave it to me when I went to college. The bass tones have gotten better over the years, it frets, bars, and chords easily, and just rocks because it's old. I also have my dad's hippie peace flowers guitar strap that I still wear with it.
Second, I wanted an electric guitar, but just something cheap to play around with, so I got this.
It's the peavey rockmaster combo. AC/DC (current, not the band) amp and the guitar has a single humbucker style pickup. It's got a decent little blues sound to it, but the nut doesn't hold the strings as tight as I'd like no matter how much adjustment and tuning I do. Chords pretty well and bars alright, passable for weekend jams and practice, but that's about it.
edit: I've also got a midi usb input for two guitars and two mics that came with a copy of cubase, but right now all I do is use it to make podcasts.
With cats, for scale:
How I got it home (in our Corolla):
It's a Kay upright from 1955, not the fanciest bass but something I could afford. I moved up from an electric upright (which I used for taking lessons from 96-97), realizing that if I didn't have an acoustic upright, I would be bored with playing since I couldn't record it without it just sounding like a bad bass guitar. Now I've got a nice, boomy upright
I play a mix of classical while I practice some jazzy stuff. It's pretty motivating having a nice instrument that makes you want to play it, and I'm surprised at how my intonation and general skills have stuck with me transitioning from my electric upright (which had dots on the neck so I could see where I should be) to a regular upright (where your intonation is based entirely on your ear).
People have such hugely differing opinions of Rode mics.
When I was in engineering class in college, we would do blindfold microphone tests regularly through the semester, and Rode mics would consistently be the least liked mic.
Sure, they would be going up against some ridiculous microphones (Neumann TLM49, AKG C414, some vintage ribbon mics, etc...), but they were getting beaten by 57's in every application!
But now on my own I bought a matched pair of NT5s for drum overheads because they were on sale and I love deez bitches.
I use them on my classical too and shit is just beautiful.
Both my guitar and my e-drums sound fantastic through it.
I had to carry this giant fucking thing home with occasional rests to recover, but it was worth it.
What did you get?
Ahh, cool. Peavey is a good brand for metal.
I just shot you a PM, but I'm having trouble getting the WAVs up.
How fucking cool is that?
I'm no audiophile and have had absolutely no training or whatever (although I like to think I've got a good ear), but compared to the pickup we otherwise use, the Rode sounds gorgeous. Seems to pick up a really full, rich sound.
Do you mean to say that it just haphazardly fucks with the amp tone and shit while he plays or something?
I know my friend uses a bunch of pneumatic footswitches called "The Third Hand" that he uses to manipulate knobs while he plays, but that Whizzer looks all mechanical and whatnot.
When I had the Big Muff cranked up, the soundboard was picking up a completely different sound than what we were hearing in the room. Crazy.
I do love my snare though. Reinforced piccolo snare with a Kevlar head. That thing kills.
not so great sounding, but better than my practice amp
my band practice/gig setup is
Jackson RR Professional/LTD EX-260/Douglas Fulcrum -> Fender M-80 Head (it's grey and fuzzy, which is awesome) -> Legend Cab (no idea when it was made, but it's got an awesome natural finish and is loud as FUCK)
not really a setup so much as plugging a guitar into an amp
So here I am, updating. On Tuesday I bought an Ampeg ADA6 (2006 Reissue). The body is made of acrylic glass (also known as Plexiglass, or Lucite). Maple neck, rosewood fretboard (sporting 24 frets, an added bonus) and rosewood bridge. I apologize for the bad photos, I'm not at my own computer so I don't have the means to effectively make photos smaller without losing quality. Also some are a bit blurry. Anyway! Ampeg is pretty smart and makes some great cases:
Note the neat checkered design, and the padded handle. You can't see it from any of these photos, but they've really padded the inside a lot and the guitar fits pretty snug. I like it more than the new Fender ones. And here I open the case:
As you can see I've got the single coil hooked up; the humbucker is in the compartment. I haven't had time to play much with either yet. Let's move to the garage where I usually practice (drums are in there). This isn't the location in the garage I usually set up, but I wanted to do this as quickly and quietly as possible:
My main setup: Ampeg ADA6, played through a Fender Deville 410. In between I've got a BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, Proco RAT2, BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone, MXR Phase 90 (this is the handwired '74 reissue), and a Zoom 5050 Choir (I guess it's a little multieffects pedal... does chorus, echo, delay, etc... I just use it for delay, really). The other one you can see is just a standard footswitch for Fender's Hotrod line.
I'm told the DL-4 is a great delay pedal, but the 5050 does everything I need, at least right now.
Some close-ups:
Proco RAT, BOSS TU-2, Fender footswitch:
The ADA6 (I assume it stands for Ampeg Dan Armstrong 2006). The strap was my grandpa's, and I use it for almost everything. It's hard to find a good strap nowadays:
The Deville 410. I was originally going to get an AC30, but the Deville was cheaper and did everything I wanted. If I ever buy an AC30, I'll be tricking it out:
And that is it for now. Tomorrow I plan to do some expirimenting.
^^^--Taylor 314ce. I don't use an amp, really, but I'm pretty sure I have an old 10w from when I started playing... 7 years ago I guess. In my basement I think if it hasn't been thrown out. It's a Crate, IIRC.
^^^--Yamaha Baby Grand.
Used to have a Triton, found it to be excessive for my needs, sold it.
I hear they're coming out with a bass line. Interested.