The Jam Room Blog Thread.

[showdown]

Got one of our songs played on national radio last night!

[moose23]

Jake you're doing it wrong.

Case in point Slomatics use a Matamp 4x10 on guitar and it sounds amazing.

[liquidsmoke]

The tone quest is driving me crazy. I might just have to get a Mesa Studio preamp, hit it with a boost for more distortion, and be done with it.

[RacerX]

I have 3 words & a few numerals for this "10" guitar speakers" topic:

Rory Gallager's 2x10" Bassman.

[Lumpy]

The tone quest is driving me crazy. I might just have to get a Mesa Studio preamp, hit it with a boost for more distortion, and be done with it.

If you know what sound you want, and there's specific gear that will do it, you're usually not saving money by experimenting with less expensive options. "Buy once, cry once" - in other words, if you splurge on quality items that you really want, you won't be replacing it every couple years when it breaks, and you won't be unhappy about compromising.

[liquidsmoke]

The tone quest is driving me crazy. I might just have to get a Mesa Studio preamp, hit it with a boost for more distortion, and be done with it.

If you know what sound you want, and there's specific gear that will do it, you're usually not saving money by experimenting with less expensive options. "Buy once, cry once" - in other words, if you splurge on quality items that you really want, you won't be replacing it every couple years when it breaks, and you won't be unhappy about compromising.

Good point but when it comes to amps I'm not necessarily having quality issues with stuff, more tone issues. Part of it is that I don't play enough amps but I'm not often in situations where I can crank someone's amp super loud "to see how it sounds when it breaks up" and what not. And how it sounds through their rig might be different than it would sound through mine. I suspect a Mesa Mark IV or 5 might do me right but that's big bucks to spend on 'suspect'. I'm currently very curious about how the clean channels on the Ultra, Ultra Plus, XXX, and JSX take distortion pedals because they tend to be lower priced used. I know someone who has a XXX, might see if I can borrow it for a few hours. She gets a very heavy tone live running a pedal into it. When budget gear works why not use it? And on that note..



My first impression of the Douglas Shadow 6 string baritone. Looks very nice, love the 'tribal' green design although I don't see anything tribal looking about it. The neck looks straight and the frets seem relatively flat. The neck isn't as thick as I was expecting it to be and that is a good thing. It's probably somewhere between a '50s style Gibson neck and a 'slim taper' or whatever they call the thinner ones. Heavy guitar. I don't like that but knew about it and will deal. The strings have a sticky/gritty feel on the frets when bending. I assume this will go away with time but will look into polishing. I was expecting the electronics to be cheap and two of the knobs are too close to the body where it is carved making them harder to tune than they should be. The bridge pup stopped working after about 5 minutes. I'm not going to send it back because of this but will send an email. The pickups sound okay so far but the standard E tuning makes it harder for me to evaluate them because I'm not used to it anymore. The longer 27" scale feels pretty much the same as a 25.5 to me which is nice, I was for some reason thinking it might feel more like fretting a long scale bass. It does not at all which is good for my not so big hands.

Overall I think it's definitely worth $150. Might take it in as early as tomorrow for a setup in F# standard(68-17) and to have the electronics looked at. I don't have the tools to widen the nut slots and I'm pretty clueless about wiring. If the guts are just pure shit I'll have them replaced.

[VOLVO)))]

#0000 steel wool for the frets.

Use the string to hog out the nut material.

[BrianDamage]

The guts won't be pure shit but they aren't the best stuff.

[Lumpy]

Got one of our songs played on national radio last night!

Cool! What's the name of your band?

[RacerX]

Through my cl ad, I have met a dude around my age who seems to be very compatible with the kind of material I've been creating lately.

May be the start of a new project. Think I'm gonna need a looper, though—what's a good one that won't break the bank? Digitech Jam Man Express? TC Electronics Ditto? Boss?

[liquidsmoke]

#0000 steel wool for the frets.

Ah, makes sense. I used to have this super strong magnet that would probably work really well for collecting the debris but I seem to have lost it.

Use the string to hog out the nut material.

I've had some luck with this approach in the past but it seems to take a lot of time and feels like sawing a tree down with a piece of barbed wire. With Nanowebs it might not even be possible but I may have close enough sizes in regular or better yet all steel strings.

[RacerX]

#0000 steel wool for the frets.

Ah, makes sense. I used to have this super strong magnet that would probably work really well for collecting the debris but I seem to have lost it.

If you find it, don't get it too close to the pickups.

[moose23]

Masking tape over the pickups.

[Mr. Foxen]

You don't really want the slot to be exact same side as the string, it makes it grip through contact, wants to be slightly oval/parabolic so it always centres itself, but has minimal contact area. http://www.edgeguitarservices.co.uk/rout_serv/nut_geom.htm

[liquidsmoke]

You don't really want the slot to be exact same side as the string, it makes it grip through contact, wants to be slightly oval/parabolic so it always centres itself, but has minimal contact area. http://www.edgeguitarservices.co.uk/rout_serv/nut_geom.htm

Thanks for the link.

[liquidsmoke]

They don't seem to go for cheap cheap but I think 240 watts of tube amp might offer enough tight headroom for me: I have been told of the Peavey Classic 120/120 power amp. Also very curious about the Rock Master preamp.

[mutantcolors]

Double the standard wattage will be like 10% louder. I can't fathom a hundo not being enough, and I like to play fucking loud, but to each their own.

[Lumpy]

I'm trying to find bro prices on used pedals, the universe is not cooperating. Everybody thinks their stuff is worth more than it is. IMO, try starting your prices at 50% of retail new and adjust upward from there, if you are not the first owner. I also see people charging 90% of a new pedal, for like-new pedals... why wouldn't I just pay the extra 20 dollars for a warranty and a return policy? And why do people put velcro on pedals, before they are certain they'll be keeping them? That one always surprises me. "I bought this a week ago, but I'm not bonding with it" (but I already put velcro on it, so I hope you like velcro).

Also, what's up with airplane food?

[the diddler]

Whatchoo lookin' for, pedal wise?  I should put a buncha shit in the buy/sell thread but am lacking motivation.

[liquidsmoke]

Double the standard wattage will be like 10% louder. I can't fathom a hundo not being enough, and I like to play fucking loud, but to each their own.

headroom... ?  So actually even an SVT at 300 watts isn't much louder than a 100 or 120. Just seems like 240 at 50 or 60 lbs and $400 or 500 seems like a good idea. I can tell you that regarding solid state amps I've noticed a serious difference between 150 and 350 watts even for guitar.

[RacerX]

Double the standard wattage will be like 10% louder. I can't fathom a hundo not being enough, and I like to play fucking loud, but to each their own.

headroom... ?  So actually even an SVT at 300 watts isn't much louder than a 100 or 120. Just seems like 240 at 50 or 60 lbs and $400 or 500 seems like a good idea. I can tell you that regarding solid state amps I've noticed a serious difference between 150 and 350 watts even for guitar.

Just get a Fender Twin, already. 

[liquidsmoke]

Double the standard wattage will be like 10% louder. I can't fathom a hundo not being enough, and I like to play fucking loud, but to each their own.

headroom... ?  So actually even an SVT at 300 watts isn't much louder than a 100 or 120. Just seems like 240 at 50 or 60 lbs and $400 or 500 seems like a good idea. I can tell you that regarding solid state amps I've noticed a serious difference between 150 and 350 watts even for guitar.

Just get a Fender Twin, already. 

How much? What era? How's the low end at high volumes when palm muting in low tunings with loads of thick distortion?

[RacerX]

For you, a Silverface. Brutally loud: 100 or 135 watts, with only the slightest breakup when dimed. Low end should be tight as fuck.

Keep the master on 10 & don't use the push/pull distortion (if it has it).

[liquidsmoke]

For you, a Silverface. Brutally loud: 100 or 135 watts, with only the slightest breakup when dimed. Low end should be tight as fuck.

Keep the master on 10 & don't use the push/pull distortion (if it has it).

So just any era Silverface 'Twin Reverb' head? How cheap do they come?

The Blackface was the one with the farty low end right?

[Mr. Foxen]

They don't seem to go for cheap cheap but I think 240 watts of tube amp might offer enough tight headroom for me: I have been told of the Peavey Classic 120/120 power amp. Also very curious about the Rock Master preamp.

Stereo power amps means needing two cabs or stereo cab. Although fair chance you can turn one side off, that's half power.

Headroom comes from amount/sensitivity of speakers you are running.