BigWheeledWagon

I don't own one, but I have tried one out and wouldn't recommend it. Even in a budget studio, I've discovered (unfortunately through trial and error) that one shouldn't skimp on microphones. I'm not saying you need to spend $300 on one, but having a solid microphone is very important. If you need to save money in equipping your studio, I would skimp elsewhere. You can fix a lot in the mix, but you can't cover up a bad microphone.

If you already have some form of USB or fire-wire pre-amp or mixer (or sound card with mic inputs), you can still get what you want for not much more than the blue snowball. If you're interested in that mic because you don't have another way to get your signal into the computer, I'd recommend just biting the bullet and buying a solid input device and a good mic. You'll be glad you did in the long term.

I've got nothing against digital effects per se, but when it comes to multi-effect pedals, the problem always seems to be that the quality of the individual effects suffer in return for having a wide variety of effects. Generally none of the effects are comparable to their analog counterparts and tend to sound thin and cold. Some of the Line 6 digital modelers aren't too bad when they only have one type of effect (the distortion modeler in particular is pretty good if used with a tube amp). I guess a lot of guitarists are attracted to the lack of clutter and easy transport of a single multi-effect unit, but in the end it's not that difficult to assemble a good pedal board (as others earlier in this thread have pointed out, you really only need a few good pedals).

Aside from the subpar sound quality coming from most of these multi-effect units, many guitarists who get hold of one of these boxes tend to want to get their money's worth and thus pile on tons of effects for no other reason. Many also tend to think that a kitchen-sink effects unit will make up for having a crappy amp. When I was in high school, a guitar player in one of my many bands had a unit that was top of the line at the time, and he would load up everything he could think of (compression, chorus, phase, flange, delay, distortion, auto-wah, octaver -- all at the same time). It didn't sound like he was playing guitar. It sounded like a video game.

I'm not saying I'm opposed to using a variety of effects -- they can be great for adding a little tonal color (just look at Nels's board) or a little experimenting -- but all the effects in the world won't make anyone's playing any better.

It took a while, but Line 6 has won me over with some of their modeling pedals; HOWEVER, I would hesitate at a modeling acoustic guitar (or any guitar or amp modeler). The "digitalness" of the effect pedal modeling can be overcome by pushing them through a good tube amp (basically, you can use them to color your guitar tone, but not to define it), but the samples on the website of the acoustic modeler sound very digital and not very realistic. If you really need sitar and other exotic instruments for recording, there are sample-based MIDI programs that could probably do a better job getting those sounds into your mix. If you're just looking to simulate different varieties of acoustic guitars, well, that unfortunately just really requires a bunch of different acoustic guitars.

So, my wife and I live in a duplex (we're in the process of looking for house), and last week we got some new neighbors -- a young couple like us. As they were moving in, I went outside to introduce myself. It just so happened I was wearing a Wilco t-shirt. We spoke for a few minutes, and the guy looks at my shirt and says, "Looks like you've got good taste in music. My wife has actually accused me of having an unhealthy obsession with Wilco." I replied that my wife has made the same accusation against me. Small world, huh? I guess it's not as rare to run into a fellow Wilco fan as it once was.

I've got a 335 (no feedback issues for me, even cranking out of a 60's Fender Bassman) and a '52 vintage reissue Tele, and if I could only choose one (a choice I hope I never have to make), I would have to choose the telecaster -- of course my tele is my favorite electric. Choosing between the strat and the 335 would be much tougher choice, especially because the strat has sentimental value (my first big guitar purchase at the ripe old age of sixteen -- I've had it now almost half of my life). Sentiment goes a long way -- no amount of money (and people have offered some nice amounts) could part me from my '67 Gibson Dove passed down to me from my dad even though that model year had a somewhat annoying adjustable bridge.

Anyway, choosing a guitar is a very personal matter, and often time logic should be ignored. Go with your gut. When you get your hands on the right guitar, well, you just know it's right.

I haven't tried the Nord Klavia, but NI's Elektrik Piano can give really realistic Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer sounds. The B4 used with a good MIDI interface can come as close to duplicating a Hammond B3 as you can get without buying one. The most recent version comes with a drawbar-duplicating MIDI controller, I believe.

I think both of these VSTis come in at least one of the very expensive Native bundles (like Komplete), and they both come as single units. I'm pretty sure they are compatible with Pro Tools, but I haven't verified it. I use them with SONAR, and they do a great job.

Yeah, those are just screen captures of when you pull up the VSTi in your recording software. I have both programs and would recommend them with the caveat that you need a pretty good sytem to pull it off or you can get a bit of a weird delay between what you play on your MIDI keyboard and the software. I actually notate a lot of the parts in SONAR because I'm a pretty bad keyboard player and it's quicker to write it out than to get a perfect take. Anyway, they both have really nice sounds.

Nels is certainly a great guitarist, and I enjoy what he's brought to Wilco. Jay, however, was a good guitar player in his own right, and his real strength was his ability to shift effortlessly between various styles. He also brought the keyboards into Wilco's arsenal of sound, but Mike and Pat fill that role quite well now. Nels really imprints everything he does with his own unique style where as Jay altered his style to fit each unique song. For that reason, I find it hard to compare the two. I enjoy what each of them has brought to the band. If I were to judge them based solely on the output of the band while each guitarist was a member, so far Jay would win that battle -- but of course he also contributed to the songwriting, even if the extent of his role in this regard is open to some debate. I love "Sky Blue Sky," but after months of living with it, I would rank it below any Wilco (and strictly Wilco) studio album upon which Jay played. Of course, Nels only has the one album to use as comparison. In the end, I think we Wilco fans are lucky to have been able to experience both Nels and Jay and their sizable contributions to Wilco.

In my youth, I worked at a music store, and we would restring a guitar for free when you bought strings from us -- when you consider the mark-up on strings, it's the least any music store could do. I would recommend learning to do it yourself, though, and buying strings in bulk to save money. Once you get the hang of it, changing strings is easy and takes only a few minutes at most. Plus, it's extremely inconvenient to go to a guitar store every time you break a string. Here's a quick tutorial I came across online:

http://hobbies.expertvillage.com/videos/ch...tar-strings.htm

That list is a little weird. The two examples that bother me are the Nirvana/Boston one and the Sublime/Beatles one.

 

It's (I though) common knowledge that Cobain modeled his song after Boston's

 

And Bradley Nowell from Sublime used the melody line from Lady Madonna to write What I Got, among other things. Bradley borrowed a lot of stuff.

 

I thought Rolling Stone would know that...

The Nirvana/Boston one bothered me as well . . . not because of any idea out there that Cobain intentionally modeled "Teen Spirit" on more than a feeling (though, whether it's true or false, I've heard that somewhere, too), but because the only thing similar is the rhythm and strum pattern (which differs on the fourth chord anyway) of the four chord pattern -- the chord progression itself is different and gives the two songs entirely different feels. As with so many songs on the list, Rolling Stone found one common element between two songs and then decided that this made them almost the same. If that makes two songs the same, then the list could go on endlessly -- just think of every song with a I-IV-V chord progression or with a 12 bar blues pattern. I don't know why I'm acting so surprised at Rolling Stone, though -- it's not exactly the publication it once was.

Oh, welcome to Via Chicago, by the way -- I noticed that was your first post.

Several of the "sound-a-likes" on RS's list are pretty out there, but the Spoon/Wilco thing is the craziest. Both feature piano and similar rhythms, I guess, but the overall tone of the two songs are drastically different. I guess they share some similarities if you only consider the breakdown part of "Walken" towards the end, but even then the similarities seem slight at best -- certainly not enough to warrant being on this list (like say Pearl Jam's "Taken to Fly" and Zep's "Going to California.") I've always thought that "Sister Jack" from "Gimme Fiction" sounds like it could have been on "Summerteeth," though (but I'm not implying it's a sound-a-like to anything of Wilco's).

Speaking of Spoon, the new album is fantastic and has now displaced "Sky Blue Sky" as my favorite release of the year so far. The more I think about it, I'm amazed at the consistency of their output. From "A Series of Sneaks" to "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga," every album has been brilliant. Hell, even "Telephono" was pretty darn good.

I got mine yesterday. The cover of the 7" was ripped and then not all of the members signed on the same side. Sigh. I was going to frame it. not so much now

Mine arrived late, and the cover was all bent up but still framable. Not happy with musictoday. Great album, though.

I'd look around for a TS clone before I'd buy either the Boss BD or a newer TS-9 or rediculously overpriced new TS-808. If a shop in your area carries MI Audio effects check out their Blues Pro (has a built in fuzz option switchable by a mini toggle) or Blues Boy Deluxe, for just over $100 these are great boxes. The best TS clone I've ever tried is the MJM Blues Devil, all of MJM's stuff is freakin' great.

Another money-saving option, if you're electronically inclined, is to get hold of an older, cheaper TS-9 and mod it to the TS-808 specifications. There are plenty of sites out there that can help you with this. I tried this a few years ago, but I am not very talented with a soldering iron. I fried the damn thing. Still, if you have any skill in this area (I don't), you should be able to make the mod fairly easily. Of course, if you are proficient in such tinkering and have a great deal of free time, you could get a kit and make your own and get the exact sound for which you are looking. I've always thought that would be a pretty cool way to go. I'd also love to build my own guitar some day as well, but, as mentioned before, I lack the requisite skills.

Finally (although this would defeat the budget issue), I've had some success with digital pedal modelers (if you run them through a good tube amp, they can sound pretty good and offer a wide variety of sounds), though I still often just go with the tube screamer.

While I really dig The National ("The Boxer" especially), I'd have to go with Wilco. With the current line-up, seeing Wilco live is truly an amazing thing to behold these days. Seeing them at the Ryman last year was one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. I can't imagine that the National are as essentially a live band in the way that a band like Wilco or the Hold Steady are, but admittedly, I haven't seen them. I could be wrong.

Also, the previous poster indicated that Wilco's playing songs from "Sky Blue Sky" would be some sort of drawback, but even if you're SBS-hater, the songs really take on new life when played live.

At Jeff's January solo show in Nashville, he commented on last year's Ryman show being one of his favorites and said that Wilco should be coming back to the Ryman at some point in support of Sky Blue Sky. It could have just been idle chatter, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I prefer Anodyne, but still have a lot of love for A.M. I've always thought that had Uncle Tupelo stayed together for one more album, it would have been a classic. Imagine the best of A.M. and Trace on the same disc. Proposed track listings anyone?

And lots of folks use two tube screamers. Different strokes for different folks. I just personally think that while the two pedals are similar, the tube screamer produces a better sound.

"I'm Always in Love" is perhaps my favorite Wilco song (at least at the moment). Just last week, I ended up listening to it everyday on the way home from work. Great song.

Just curious -- how does this software compare with NI's Battery? I checked it out online, and it looks like they have similar prices. I've been using battery and like it fairly well, but it looks like EZ drummer might be a little more friendly to those of us non-drumers.

I've always found that video a little creepy. Jeff looks about half-dead, if I remember correctly, and he seems fairly disinterested. It was like seeing a zombie-movie version of Wilco.

It gets my vote as well. I've got an amp with no built-in reverb (an old Fender Bassman 10), and the Holy Grails fills in nicely.

The tele -- definately. Though, I have both a strat and a tele, and I honestly think there's a wider range of sounds to be brought forth from the strat. Still, I love the tele much, much more.

anyone got one of these, i desperately need an overdrive pedal of some sort..just a nice crunchy pedal

i know Ryan adams uses a blues driver with a holy grail (which im already using) and i love his tone so i'm looking into these or the Nano Muff Overdrive

I had one many years ago -- I recall it as sort of a poor man's tube screamer. Not a bad pedal, though. Still, I'd recommend getting a tube screamer.

Which bar?

The Greenhouse

I mentioned this in another thread, but a local bar I frequent here in Nashville played the entire album last week.