In a little rowboat

Id certainly upgrade the electronics...particularly if you change pickups...there are custom wiring kits available from online sources, however i figure if youre doing it yourself, but pots and wires to match the pickup choices you make...also, doing a rewire in a semi hollowbody can be a bitch, but tis very worth it with a korean made guitar especially, and I can walk you through some things to make the job much easier...

last gibson project I did, I used a seymore duncan Jazz in the neck, Gibson classic '57 reissue in the bridge...im very happy with the results--wide tonal spectrum, string balance and sensitivity...

when asked in my shop, I always advise strap locks first...then for you, id also suggest some gold Grover tuners...youll be glad you did

have fun!

j

Fender Tele deluxe reissue should be around $700, much cheaper on ebay...sweet maple neck with oversized strat headstock, two humbuckers, bullet truss rod, heavy and thick with lots of sustain and harmonics...Thom Yorke has a few Tele Deluxes, thats an endorsement in itself

j

One thing to consider is your amp...an all tube wont benefit as much from a volume pedal, because the signal going to the amp is still going to vary with use of the pedal...this results in a loss of bite and break up just like a knob turn down...so going up in volume is really the only way itll help you...solid state amps are different in that the signal going in doesnt vary the output as much, tonally anyways

Must guitarists i know rely on vol/tone knobs and changing pickup switch to go from solo tone to rhyth tone...those pedal boosts are pretty good if they stay clean...but even then your stage volume is going UP...which is what your stated problem is

Compressors and EQs are more of an option in your situation...Try changing tone and timbre instaed of volume and see if the transition between lead and lay is more apparent

j

Could you elaborate on these two points? I'm electricity-soldertarded

Yea sure... the tape i was referring to is the 2 inch aluminum foil tape used primarily for heating and cooling ducts...only a few dollars, easy to cut and use, and works well...

the second part gets a bit complicated, but...basically, if the metal of the tape is not properly grounded, youll get a ground loop (second grounding) when the pots, etc come into contact with the shielding material, which causes electronic noise internally...there are various alternate wiring schemes for dealing with this, but in my experience, just run a wire from your master ground (usually to the tremolo/bridge) to a flat contact on the tape.

A very good, but excessive site is this one...all youll ever want to know about shielding....while the info is technically correct, the wiring method is often unneeded... http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

shielding on my SG...

controls

pickups

pickgard and backs of pickups

your master ground should run to bridge, run a ground wire to every taped area

hope this helps

j

sounds like a great project!

On shielding...I do one of these jobs a week now...copper is terrific, the aluminum stuff from home depot works as well and is much cheaper...make sure you ground the tape with your wiring, or youll end up with a ground loop, which defeats the purpose of shielding...most of what youll lose is externally sourced noise (lights, radio stations, wall dimmers)...noisey pickups and 60 cycle hum wont be helped...many will tell its only good for single coils, but i have found it a helpful mod on any guitar...dont forget to do the pickguard...

j

Could be a Chet Atkins Gibson.

Nope...chets are much thinner, for one...and the bridge one the guitar is far different...

The bridge and the headstock shape are the tip off here...check the vid above, its a DY88

j

i can't find that modelo on their website

http://www.alvarezgtr.com/products.php

Its been discontinued for a few years now...Ill look for some pics for you...also, Yairi is a Japanese company that licenses through Alvarez (St Louis Music), and the guitar could be purchased overseas, making it a Yairi Dy88, not an Alvarez-Yairi...

heres a vid of Thom with a dy88... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjHwSi8i8c8

j

Nope...pretty sure that is a Yairi dy-88 12 string model Thom Yorke from radiohead had the 6 string model, id recognize that model anywhere...

j

I'd love to get one of those. Everyone raves about them. I've been considering trading in my Ampeg Reverberocket towards one. I like the Ampeg, but 50 tube watts is more than I'll ever need. Unfortunately, I'd probaly only get $200 or $300 in trade towards the Deluxe Reverb. Even a $400 or $500 trade-in wouldn't put me in a position to buy at this time.

After having a particularly enjoyable rehearsal, Im happy to continue to recommend one...Ive seen them go for $550 on the occasional ebay deal...you'll not regret buying one, although of course there are other options...those ampegs are nice amps, cool vibe, but not quite flexible or clear for me...im playing an SG i put together thru the DRRI and couldnt be happier with the results...

j

Funny every response (except the vox) is about fenders...

Definitely a good idea to play as many as you can...

Im currently using (and adore) a fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue...one thing it does not have is a overdrive channel, but once you hit about 3 it starts to break up nicely... it does have amazing reverb and vibrato, two channels with 4 inputs...terrific tone and touch response...22 loud watts all tube...one can be had for under a grand...

Those Hotrod fenders are not a bad buy but they are notorious for a) not having as nice a clean tone, and going from very soft to very load almost immediately with little inbetween...

j

Yeah store bought earplugs are terrible due to all of the resonance issues i've found in using them. One option is to see an ear/nose/throat doctor and have special ear plugs made by the doctor. They run around 100 dollars and are essentially a model of your inner ear cavity. I've had people in bands I've been in use them and they have nothing but good things to say about them. I am actually going to be getting them soon as well. Hearing is not something to be screwing around with. I already at 23 have been told that i have significant high frequency hearing loss. Scary.

I was going to post this exact idea...my pop is an ENT doc and they can easily fit personal plugs...many docs get sample earplug from venders, and they would be free...

j

cool surf green!!

I think you should buy good quality microphones, a decent audio input interface and/or soundcard and then use Audacity (free!). It sounds like you will pretty much just be recording yourself, and really when it comes down to it the trick is just good mics/mic technique. I run a setup similar to this and it'll give you plenty of listenable stuff at a very reasonable cost. Audacity will run most standard audio formats and I think the program is great given it's all free. You just want to make sure that the audio running into your computer doesn't sound shitty, so that's the key really. There's plenty of decent interfaces, so just take a look around. Good luck.

Id concur, good mics and interface are to two most important tools for my home studio...I while i use condenser mics for almost everything, having one dynamic and a couple condensers is the best for sound quality and variety...

There are some many software platforms out there, almost any will save in .WAV or other formats... I use Garageband for the basics and Protools for more involved projects...I have used Audacity on a PC worked very well, as well as being very easy to use...

Only thing id add is that for most of the projects i work on, having a top quality laptop is essential...then you have a studio pretty much anywhere...not to start a war, but Macs are simply the best...

Also Id consider shopping for a good microphone preamp, there are several out there that are really useful, have phantom power for your condensers, some have Db boosts and tubes, some are even USB or Firewire, but that connectivity is best left for the interface...

j

Your problem is common, although an 8 year old guitar isnt that old...I think youre talking about bridge pins, right...??

If a pin keeps popping out, the wood has worn in the hole and under bridge near the bridgeplate inside....most pins are plastic and dont hold so hot either...you can order new bridge pins, Id suggest spending a little extra and get a nice set of rosewood or ebony pins...theyll give the guitar a bit better tone (subjective, but all wood sounds better to my ears) and more importantly, wooden pins hold better and swell a bit, keeping the balls of the strings tight=better tone!

This can save you a possible expensive trip to the guitar tech, during which he'll likely tell you what i did unless the guitar is on the nicer end ( Im a guitar tech, Id usually charge $40 an hour)

one other thought, if your saddle is not real high/tall, you can get the wrong break angle on the strings...generally, looking at the strings, the more acute the angle, the better...

also, never skimp on the tuning machines, but its not always worth buying an $80 set of tuners unless the guitar is a nice one (or a favorite)...

j

Based on the amount and relative cost of your gear...i am guessing that you can afford my consulting fee on tone...

j/king

jobu

Id agree that string change should be a nominal fee, if not for free...however (and I am a guitar tech) most techs in stores are making 7 bucks an hour for the store, and are basically in business for themselves when they do guitar work...so dont expect the free string change if you buy the strings in store.

However, it takes nothing to change strings yourself and I look at it as a bonding experience anyhow.

jobu

Over on the Radiohead board, Pro Co rat and Marshall Shredmaster are the favs by far!

jobu

If you're looking at tube-based distortion pedals, the Ibanez Tube King is another possibility. I had one for a long time (Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth used one around the same time, so therefore I had to as well), but sold it, which I now regret. The vintage EH Hot Tubes seems to get a lot of love on the Internets, but I don't know about the new version. The Hot Cake is a great pedal as well.

i had an EH english muff'n for all of two days...the 2 tubes going into an all tube amp compressed the signal substantially...I couldnt stand it, so off to return land...

jobu

5. Crowther Prunes & Custard. This is one f'ed up pedal. The other guys in the band get nervous and start to sweat when they see me turn this pedal on. It's difficult to describe the sound because it can do so many things. All at once it can sound like your amp is dying a tortured death to the shrill of dropping razor blades into a garbage disposal. Probably best used in a controlled setting, such as recording, than in a live situation.

jobu

*Tones I really dig of Harrison's:

-slide guitar tones, early solo (My Sweet Lord, not the 2000 version)

-tone on the solo in the studio recording of Something (it's a slightly overdriven one)

-tone on the lead guitar in And Your Bird Can Sing (this may be a McCartney lead part, since the tone is similar to the Taxman solo, and given their studio recording procedures anyone really could have done it, but damn I love this tone)

 

thanks!

Im an Akai Headrush fan...looper, delay, tape head its nice!

A few things on George...a lot of his distinctive slidework was done on rocky, his strat...The AYBCS solo was done both by Harrison and McCartney, on SG and Casino, respectively...although the original (anthology version) solo was by George in the last Beatles use of Rickenbacker 360-12 string...

I bet your casino smokes!!

jobu

Jekyll and Hyde by Visual Sound...its a two in one overdrive + distortion...

http://www.visualsound.net/Pedal_jh.htm

jobu

rockinrob really nailed alot of it...ive got a 65 deluxe reverb ri (you can get a used one for under $600)...22 watts, super clean, incredible breakup, sweet reverb and vibrato, 2 channels For what i do it doesnt get better...

jobu

i suspect that youll get the closest to the sound you want by investing in a good tube amp that will break up naturally...effects are fine and fun, but will color your sound, and the classic tone youre refering to was generally accomplished without the addition of effects. You will learn alot more about the relationship between the guitar's pickups and volume/tone, and the amp, which is the most important combination in deriving tone. Sure, Hendrix used an octavia and a fuzzface and whatever, but for the most part there werent that many boxes around in 1969 (the high water mark for The Band and Duane Allman). Pedals are not the first thing to master.

jobu

do you live in Cerrano's locker?

wow never heard that one....

no, Persian parents...

jobu

Didnt see this anywhere else...the boot for this show is up on dime!!

jobu