In a little rowboat

I have been considering upgrading my studio with this particular mixer -- your endorsement may have just sealed the deal. Thanks.

I was surprised at how good this unit was for what it was, it runs seamlessly on my ibook with GBand and Cubase...i generally run pretty high end mics and preamps into it however

I learn something from all of your posts, Rowboat... It never occured to me that that "gain" on mixers is actually a cheap pre.

Always happy to share...i enjoy our little information collective...nice to have discussions with folks who dont think their opinions are definitive like some message boards

The best advice I have ever received is to listen to A LOT of music.

yup +1

Seriously, what the fuck is with the whole Radiohead bit...

I get the joke...but as i recall Radiohead all but endorsed Obama back in May...

...and for those that dont get the joke, another reason to the need to keep art out of politics

FWIW i use this http://www.alesis.com/multimix16firewire in my studio...i can recommend it almost unconditionally...they make a smaller version

in general i dont care for behringer products, their cheap prices yield cheap results, but yes it'll 'do the job'...i didnt find those reviews particularly helpful

that said id consider these factors:

firewire is generally a better way to go compared to usb

i use Garageband and Cubase...no reason to change that at this stage id say

those Xenyx preamps sound like hype, all mixers have preamps (usually called 'gain')...most comparable units have burr-browns preamps circuits which meet or exceed those in transparency...and most 'tuned' preamps like these xenyx are coloring your sound,

no clue what the hell 'british EQ' adds, usually at this price level, 'warmth' really means a small bit of distortion intentionally added...you get warmth from your microphone and performance

be aware, many mics need more clean gain than that board will offer in any case

preset effects are crap, not adjustable, and NOISY...you should record clean and add reverb, etc afterward with the recording software which offers fully adjustable parameters on all effects

All your EQ capability is really there for live applications, youll use EQ afterward with the recording software during mixing

Id highly recommend upgrading your mic (i dont know what youre using now) FIRST...an OK mic through cheap preamps sounds at best OK...a great sounding mic through cheap preamps will at least sound good and eventually when you upgrade your interface/preamp, will sound great...if you dont need more than 2 channels at a time, you dont need this mixer, get a dedicated interface

have your wife/girlfriend break it off with you

worked for me

j/k really, i often find the act of songwriting is in and of itself work, and so i will sometimes try to break the process down into any creative endeavor (random chords or melodies, stream of consciousness lyrics or words, draw or scribble, take pictures)...expose yourself to multiple stimuli, read blogs, engage in conversations...

then take these experiences, scraps etc, and record it in a manner in which you can later access them as inspiration or even just shots in the dark

when making up songs, melodies, extemporanious lyrics---get a minidisc or something and RECORD EVERYTHING! Might kick you into something later on

i also recommend keeping you instrument in your hand as often as possible...i watch movies/tv/news, surf the web, listen to music, talk on the phone etc, constantly holding my guitar...you never know when youll hear something or think of something...plus bonding with your instrument is key to bonding with a song

good luck!

right now, cars cant escape

i use flat wound jazz strings on my lapsteels and dobro...11's work well and nickel is fine

man...still jonesing for this...maybe i should fly out...did i mention i play lapsteel too

sorry i wasnt more specific...one 12at7 is for the reverb drive, one is for the vibrato...look at the tube chart on the inside of the amp and determine which is for the vib (id look for you but im stuck in New Orleans)...you wont hurt the amp by swapping the tubes around, but make sure you do it unplugged and that you keep track of which tube my be bad...

i suspect your amp was a demo/floor model? I would expect the fuzz is coming from a bad preamp tube (most likely), or the treble bleed cap between the 2 jacks on the vib channel...retube the 12at7

damn so far away...best i can do is jam out here and be there in spirit

I haven't had to replace any tubes in mine yet. What do you recommend for replacements? Price?

I was using JJs ($25 a pair), which sound pretty good to my ears (much better than the GT stock tubes), however i found an ebay deal for 8 old RCA and GEs, they sound terrific...if you dont mind spending more its well worth it to get NOS tubes, just be careful with the reputability of the vendor

That's what I have. It's awesome. It's only 22 watts, but it cranks out some volume.

Personally, i prefer this amp over all mentioned (the fender DRRI), i have 2 of them...eats up tubes like a fiend but its worth it in spades...i have a vox ac30cc1 and think the fender out performs it

Putting aside any issues of national pride, I think that if they made them domestically, the same problems that bother you in the first place would not exist.

that kinda what i was going for there, but didnt say it quite right...i was referring to the price issue more that the slack issue, and youre right, it would make a direct impact on those problems

thinking about making the trip...ive done valencia before and getting around from city to city is easy...venue info has been a little difficult

wouldnt bother me all as much if they still made them domestically..

im not real good at photobucket i guess

got a few of my own...enjoy:

The Blues and Pro Juniors arer 15 watt amps. The Deluxe Reverb is 22 watts. I would think you'd get almost as much volume out ot the Blues or Pro as you would get out of the Deluxe Reverb, making either of them kind of pointless as replacements.

 

Your best bet might be to keep the Deluxe Reverb and get an attenuator so you can get a good sound at a low volume. I've never tried one, but I hear they're an ideal solution for apartments.

+1 on this...im assuming you are looking for distorted sounds, because the clean at low volume on the DRRI is very good...ill never abandon my fender 65 DRRi, although i sure like the vox AC30cc1 i just bought

I will say that to get the Pro jr to break up at lower volume is easier that the DRRI, and the Blues jr has the 'hot' gain drive for this purpose, but tonally you will sacrifice a bit

Were it me id take $35 and build an insulated isolation cab for the fender to keep volume under control, but i like to build things so may be not your cup of tea

Oh and as for reverb pedals, what do you guys think? I guess I should just head down to the shop and try some out.

boss re20 with expression pedal works for me!

in my experience, when preamp tubes go, the amp gets fizzley and quieter

cant diagnose your issues without hearing them, but id say it sounds like a cap or diode going bad...tube issues are usually accompanied but blown fuses

i believe on that amp youd run guitar via an instrument cable to jack one, then run a short cable from jack 2 into the mic jack and crank the level on that channel

this process i understand really only works well with 2 channel fenders, but give it a ride...

yea sounds like bad wire to jack or bad jack...should be an easy fix...if your not clumsy you should be able to unscrew the retainers and open the pedal without damaging it, and check the wires going to each jack, and whether the cable tip makes proper contact with the jack, although if the circuit turns the light on, you should have good contact with the sleeve...

post pics here or send me pics and i can help diagnose it

j

hum is usually a power tube going...replace the tubes for @$30 and then swap the old tubes back in before returning it...then you have back up tubes for the new amp

j

Yeah, I'd swap it for a new one. Sounds like it needs to be re-tubed.

All the way...or make them retube it for you (better)...that is a light amp cab...if you still get similar rattle issues after, stick a rolled up towel atop the reverb tank, see if that helps

I don't think the nut slow would be as serious an issue as the saddle -- and impacting the saddle when you went to change back to the slightly lighter gauge.

 

Might be fun with playing with different tunings while you're procrastinating restringing :-P

 

I haven't tried it yet, but one guy suggested replacing the G string with an octive from a 12-string (it would actually be a .10 or .12 IIRC). He called it a Nashville set up. I love the octive ring on the G with a 12-string and have been curious how it would play together.

Well i wasnt implying recutting the nut just for the one temp string

as i said, the nut slot only impacts unfretted notes, but it is pretty serious in terms of proper string resonance, and yes you'd have to change the nut again if you went from heavy to light gauge again

Keith Richards is known for the nashville set up...again, nut and saddle adjustments needed to do it right