Materialism: What have you bought recently?

[Carnivore Chris]

I've never been a fan of those style of trainers and usually get Air Max 95s, I generally always have done, apart from a period where I was buying Adidas originals.

One thing I will say though is that I don't half know how to look after trainers nowadays and they last me ages. I've got 3 pairs of Air Max 95s, which I've bought in the last year, and all are still in like-new condition, unlike as a teenager where you'd completely fuck them up within a month . I suppose when you get older, you get tighter and something which costs you £130 is going to be looked after.

Something I don't understand is this apprentice plumber I know, who buys these Prada trainers for about £500, if not more. I could understand, but they look absolutely shite and I don't get why you'd waste money on them simply because they say Prada on them.

 

[Beelzebub]

This

[MUFC]

Last week I ordered the following, they should arrive this week.

Smok species kit in green, plus an additional tank.

 

Also the Dell G3 gaming laptop - https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops-notebooks-and-2-in-1-laptops/dell-g3-17-gaming-laptop/spd/g-series-17-3779-laptop/CN37727

 

 

 

[MUFC]

What a load of fucking bollocks, got the e-cig and an additional tank. Problem is the tanks only work via 70/30 and liquids I use are 50/50. Basically the liquid just leaks through all 4 air-holes, problem now is finding a tank for the liquids I use and with the same performance. The few drags I had, the taste and flavor is like nothing I ever tasted. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

10 hours ago, MUFC said:

What a load of fucking bollocks, got the e-cig and an additional tank. Problem is the tanks only work via 70/30 and liquids I use are 50/50. Basically the liquid just leaks through all 4 air-holes, problem now is finding a tank for the liquids I use and with the same performance. The few drags I had, the taste and flavor is like nothing I ever tasted. 

That's shit.

My idiot kitten somehow managed to knock my TV over despite it weighing more than twice her weight... so I had to buy a new TV and I'm irritated as fuck by the whole situation.

[Lucas]

I bought two coats last week as there was a sale on and the cold was getting to me.

Since then, the weather has been absolutely amazing.

[AMG]

A pair of new spectacles.

[Rab]

25 minutes ago, AMG said:

A pair of new spectacles.

Not sure if counts as materialism?

[Mel81x+]

After loads of thinking and probably taking a year to do a lot of research and hearing sounds of these I decided to go in for Rickenbacker. Going to have one shipped over and pray to god that the shipping does nothing to the instrument. It's been a pain in the past where I'll get something shipped and you open the box post the arrival only to find that the bridge has gone through some torture and the instrument is a bit warped. Not the end of the world really but its better to not have to deal with any damage if possible.

[Dr. Gonzo]

5 hours ago, Mel81x said:

After loads of thinking and probably taking a year to do a lot of research and hearing sounds of these I decided to go in for Rickenbacker. Going to have one shipped over and pray to god that the shipping does nothing to the instrument. It's been a pain in the past where I'll get something shipped and you open the box post the arrival only to find that the bridge has gone through some torture and the instrument is a bit warped. Not the end of the world really but its better to not have to deal with any damage if possible.

Ooooh a Rickenbacker! Fancy!

Yeah getting damaged instruments is shit - you getting it from somewhere with a decent return policy? Thankfully the guitars I've ordered online (it's been a while, and I've sold them all at different points in my life) all came from places where returns were easy and you had a long time to decide if you want to keep it. And I've only had to deal with a warped neck once - which was my only return because of a damaged instrument.

[Mel81x+]

15 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Ooooh a Rickenbacker! Fancy!

Yeah getting damaged instruments is shit - you getting it from somewhere with a decent return policy? Thankfully the guitars I've ordered online (it's been a while, and I've sold them all at different points in my life) all came from places where returns were easy and you had a long time to decide if you want to keep it. And I've only had to deal with a warped neck once - which was my only return because of a damaged instrument.

Im deciding on taking it from Sweetwater as I have heard their return policy is rather good. As for warped instruments I had such a horrible time with my Fender Precision they sent me the bass and you can tell right away that something is wrong (especially a bridge warp) when you hold it because you'll feel offs in the way the frets run but thankfully they took it back and sent me another which had minor intonation problems but not the end of the world. 

As for the Rickenbacker yeah it took me almost a year to decide on it and I was jostling between this and another precision that I have wanted for a very long time (over a decade). In the end I figured I can do with the current Precision I own and went with an off-beat choice. I have only played this one once and I really liked the fact that it had the option to switch tones on the instrument itself and use the capacitor touch when you're playing. It comes in handy when you're trying to get those real vintage tones which is what I seem to be playing these days with the band. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

28 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Im deciding on taking it from Sweetwater as I have heard their return policy is rather good. As for warped instruments I had such a horrible time with my Fender Precision they sent me the bass and you can tell right away that something is wrong (especially a bridge warp) when you hold it because you'll feel offs in the way the frets run but thankfully they took it back and sent me another which had minor intonation problems but not the end of the world. 

As for the Rickenbacker yeah it took me almost a year to decide on it and I was jostling between this and another precision that I have wanted for a very long time (over a decade). In the end I figured I can do with the current Precision I own and went with an off-beat choice. I have only played this one once and I really liked the fact that it had the option to switch tones on the instrument itself and use the capacitor touch when you're playing. It comes in handy when you're trying to get those real vintage tones which is what I seem to be playing these days with the band. 

Sweetwater’s got a great return policy

[Eco]

Got drunk last night and bought 2 kits. 

One with Jovic on the back, the other with Kostic. 

 

[Mel81x+]

3 hours ago, Eco said:

Got drunk last night and bought 2 kits. 

One with Jovic on the back, the other with Kostic. 

 

Like the first one its clean and simple.

[Eco]

1 minute ago, Mel81x said:

Like the first one its clean and simple.

I love simple kits, and these are fantastic. 

[Mel81x+]

Got rid of the Precision I had and got someone to get me one of these nice things on their trip to the US with the understanding that it was the only way they'd get the Precision. I will only say this, if you play bass or like hearing stuff from Jaco, Pino Palladino, etc this thing sounds like it means business. Even the Rick I own pales in comparison to this thing. Tad bit heavy and the pictures dont really do it justice but this is my first ever natural body bass and I quite like it.

P.S. Its a Fender Jazz Bass 70s Ed.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Fender Jazz Basses are great

[MUFC]

Falcon king tank for my e-cig.

[Mel81x+]

14 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Fender Jazz Basses are great

I concur. Used to have a mutant P/J when I was growing up and couldn't wrap my head around why anyone would do that but it was very versatile and learning on it was a pleasure too.

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Mel81x I sold my Mooer GE200 and went to the local guitar store for a replacement. Had a Helix (or Helix LT) in mind when I went into the store, tried out a few different modelers as well as those two - the Boss GT-1000, Fractal AX8, a couple different Headrush ones (they were fucking shiiiiiiite). The Mooer wasn't bad... it was just limited (which you'd expect at that price point). 

Ended up leaving the store with the Boss GT-1000. I thought it was really, really, really close between the Boss and the Helixes. And the workflow on the Helix/Fractal is more open, but to my ears the Fractal sounded worse than the Line6/Boss (which actually surprised the fuck out of me, considering that's the most "pro-audio" option, with arguably the best reputation in digital modeling) - it still sounded great, but I had a much easier time dialing in tones with Helix and Boss. I also hated the Fractal UI.

The sound for both my remaining options was a really tough decision. They both sounded fantastic in terms of ample models. They were really, really close. On some amps, I think the Helix had superior tone, on others the GT-1000 had it beat. And the Helix I think has the most intuitive UI. Boss (unsurprisingly as an effects company) had the better effects imo and also polyphonic tuning. So really what it came down to me was a sacrifice for a slightly worse UI/less flexible workflow for better sounding effects and a more practical tuner. And the Boss was slightly cheaper and had the best output connectivity options as well. They've both got the option to where you can upload third party impulse cabinets - which is pretty important I think in a modern day amp modeler; sometimes the stock cabinets are shit (they were on the Mooer, for the Boss/Line6 they are actually fantastic so I think it's less of an issue, but I've got some really great Marshall cab IR files that sound fucking fantastic).

Really tough choice to be honest... I don't regret getting the Boss, but the Line 6 Helixes are fantastic units and the UI was seriously so fucking user friendly that I wish Boss just infringed IP and I could have that too. Both are incredible units, on another day I might have chosen the Helix, but I'm happy as fuck with the Boss.

So my Peavey 6505+ & my pedals/pedalboard are also now for sale... because I'm well impressed with the tones I'm getting from this thing. It's pretty remarkable that I've effectively replaced a big and expensive rig with just one unit and a pair of studio monitor speakers. Extra convenient, wish I'd done it sooner tbh.

[Mel81x+]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Mel81x I sold my Mooer GE200 and went to the local guitar store for a replacement. Had a Helix (or Helix LT) in mind when I went into the store, tried out a few different modelers as well as those two - the Boss GT-1000, Fractal AX8, a couple different Headrush ones (they were fucking shiiiiiiite). The Mooer wasn't bad... it was just limited (which you'd expect at that price point). 

Ended up leaving the store with the Boss GT-1000. I thought it was really, really, really close between the Boss and the Helixes. And the workflow on the Helix/Fractal is more open, but to my ears the Fractal sounded worse than the Line6/Boss (which actually surprised the fuck out of me, considering that's the most "pro-audio" option, with arguably the best reputation in digital modeling) - it still sounded great, but I had a much easier time dialing in tones with Helix and Boss. I also hated the Fractal UI.

The sound for both my remaining options was a really tough decision. They both sounded fantastic in terms of ample models. They were really, really close. On some amps, I think the Helix had superior tone, on others the GT-1000 had it beat. And the Helix I think has the most intuitive UI. Boss (unsurprisingly as an effects company) had the better effects imo and also polyphonic tuning. So really what it came down to me was a sacrifice for a slightly worse UI/less flexible workflow for better sounding effects and a more practical tuner. And the Boss was slightly cheaper and had the best output connectivity options as well. They've both got the option to where you can upload third party impulse cabinets - which is pretty important I think in a modern day amp modeler; sometimes the stock cabinets are shit (they were on the Mooer, for the Boss/Line6 they are actually fantastic so I think it's less of an issue, but I've got some really great Marshall cab IR files that sound fucking fantastic).

Really tough choice to be honest... I don't regret getting the Boss, but the Line 6 Helixes are fantastic units and the UI was seriously so fucking user friendly that I wish Boss just infringed IP and I could have that too. Both are incredible units, on another day I might have chosen the Helix, but I'm happy as fuck with the Boss.

So my Peavey 6505+ & my pedals/pedalboard are also now for sale... because I'm well impressed with the tones I'm getting from this thing. It's pretty remarkable that I've effectively replaced a big and expensive rig with just one unit and a pair of studio monitor speakers. Extra convenient, wish I'd done it sooner tbh.

Excellent stuff. About five years ago I remember being at a gig (when i was playing bass less and more into guitar) and talking to someone about what a pain it was to sit down and actually build a pedalboard because of all the little nuances that hit you when you're setting something up. Placement of pedals, are you happy with the signal chain, what happens when you find something new you like and the fucking pain of using velcro, I fucking hate sitting down and using stays and velcro it just ruins the experience of building a pedal board but unfortunately thats how it is. Then fast forward to about 10 months ago and I go to a studio and met a guy who came in with a Helix LT. Let me only say this, I was gobsmacked because I was thinking to myself that my cupboard would gain back all its space if I ever got one of these things.

I don't think you made a bad choice at all going either way for me. I can't understand why Fractal has such a poor output but then again its all in the ears and how you want to set things up. I am saving up for an LT personally because as you said the UI is ridiculous and the banks and the patch blocks are so easy to setup. The only downside is that I have some pedals I am totally attached to like the two I have from Darkglass Electronics and the Hall of Fame from TC with that ridiculously good Sentry Noise Gate they sell. Still, this is the world of music we live in and a modeler like the Boss or imo the more versatile Helix are such great options for people who want to gig, record or just learn that its harder for pedal makers to really make a name for themselves. 

What pedals do you have? I might just hit you up for one haha.

Short list of pedals on my side

• RC-3 BOSS (King of the mobile loop hill)
• DS3 BOSS 
• BD2 BOSS (Blues Driver)
• Darkglass Electronics - Vintage Deluxe Bass Pedal
• Darkglass Alpha Omega Ultra
• TC Electronics - Hall of Fame 2
• TC Electronics - Sentry Noise Gate
• TC Electronics - Spectra Comp
• Dunlop MXR - Chorus
• Dunlop MXR - Phase
• Augilar - Filter Twins (Envelope Filter Pedal)
• TC Electronics - Sub N Up 
• Two Tuners from BOSS (I mean these guys are the kings for plug-in chromatic tuners)
• Joyo - Dual-Seed Delay
• About 12 more exotic pedals from companies like Earthquaker, VOX, etc

In about three months time I'll go your way and just ditch them all and get a modeler its just so much more easier to build the sounds you want and there's room for more patches too. Sorry for the long post haha.

[Dr. Gonzo]

31 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Excellent stuff. About five years ago I remember being at a gig (when i was playing bass less and more into guitar) and talking to someone about what a pain it was to sit down and actually build a pedalboard because of all the little nuances that hit you when you're setting something up. Placement of pedals, are you happy with the signal chain, what happens when you find something new you like and the fucking pain of using velcro, I fucking hate sitting down and using stays and velcro it just ruins the experience of building a pedal board but unfortunately thats how it is. Then fast forward to about 10 months ago and I go to a studio and met a guy who came in with a Helix LT. Let me only say this, I was gobsmacked because I was thinking to myself that my cupboard would gain back all its space if I ever got one of these things.

I don't think you made a bad choice at all going either way for me. I can't understand why Fractal has such a poor output but then again its all in the ears and how you want to set things up. I am saving up for an LT personally because as you said the UI is ridiculous and the banks and the patch blocks are so easy to setup. The only downside is that I have some pedals I am totally attached to like the two I have from Darkglass Electronics and the Hall of Fame from TC with that ridiculously good Sentry Noise Gate they sell. Still, this is the world of music we live in and a modeler like the Boss or imo the more versatile Helix are such great options for people who want to gig, record or just learn that its harder for pedal makers to really make a name for themselves. 

What pedals do you have? I might just hit you up for one haha.

Short list of pedals on my side

• RC-3 BOSS (King of the mobile loop hill)
• DS3 BOSS 
• BD2 BOSS (Blues Driver)
• Darkglass Electronics - Vintage Deluxe Bass Pedal
• Darkglass Alpha Omega Ultra
• TC Electronics - Hall of Fame 2
• TC Electronics - Sentry Noise Gate
• TC Electronics - Spectra Comp
• Dunlop MXR - Chorus
• Dunlop MXR - Phase
• Augilar - Filter Twins (Envelope Filter Pedal)
• TC Electronics - Sub N Up 
• Two Tuners from BOSS (I mean these guys are the kings for plug-in chromatic tuners)
• Joyo - Dual-Seed Delay
• About 12 more exotic pedals from companies like Earthquaker, VOX, etc

In about three months time I'll go your way and just ditch them all and get a modeler its just so much more easier to build the sounds you want and there's room for more patches too. Sorry for the long post haha.

Sorry for long reply, but talking about this stuff is fun.

Yeah, re: the Fractal... I was actually really surprised. I've used the AxeFXII before, actually the last time I was back home I went to my mate who actually taught me how to play's house and checked out his (pretty remarkable) home studio he'd put together. And the tones on that were absolutely outstanding.

Honestly, I think I probably could have gotten the best tone out of it compared to the other modelers I used from the Fractal. But it was, hands down, the most complicated UI of the 3 I tried. I didn't even bother to mess around with a Kemper because I've heard that while they're fucking great, they're pretty.... whatever the opposite of user-friendly is. User-unfriendly. The Fractal would probably take me a long time to figure out what I was doing, but I'm sure it's great.

But for ease of use, I don't think anything can beat the Helix. That and the Boss were just... so easy to dial in great tones. By the way, with any of these modelers we're talking about - you should still be able to use (at least) the Hall of Fame with the effects loop of each of those.

To be honest, I'm still not sure if I want to keep the GT-1000 or go return it and get the Helix LT , I'm quite happy with the GT-1000, but I do wonder if I'll regret not picking the easier UI to deal with. I sort of want to have... both... but that's a waste of money - they're so similar. I think they've both got their pros and cons, like you and I said - I don't think there's a "wrong" choice. But that UI is great. Ease of use is always important with shite like this where there's so many options, you can get option paralysis. I've always liked Boss stuff though and I'm pretty fucking happy with the tones I can get, so I'll probably stick with it. Either way, very happy to have gotten a "premium modeler."

I had a Boss/JHS AngryDriver pedal, basically the Boss BD-2 BluesDriver on steroids - it's a BluesDriver combined with a JHS pedal called "Angry..." I can't remember what the second word is in the name. Excellent overdrive pedal though. You might want to look out for that over the BD2 (or maybe not, as I think it's notably pricier). I'd offer to sell you that, but once I got home with the GT-1000 and texted my jam buddies the good news, one of them immediately offered to buy it from me. I've got the EHX Small Stone as a phaser & a Dunlop Crybaby that I've modded the fuck out of with my dad when I was a kid (so I'll be keeping this pedal). I used to have the Boss chorus pedal, but I have no idea what happened to it - I may have traded it for beak at some point when I was at uni

I've just got the Boss NS-2 - not the most exciting pedal in the world, but it does it's job. And then I've got a DigiTech Whammy pedal, but I think I'm going to keep it because I've always loved that pedal. And while the GT-1000 has a built in expression pedal, I'll probably have that set to a volume/wah pedal and have the Whammy pedal running with my new modeler.

I've got a tubescreamer (nothing fancy, just the basic Ibanez one, TS-7 I think it is) like 95% of guitarists. I used to use it in the traditional signal boosting way every metal guitarist who uses a tubescreamer does, up until I got the ESP with active pickups. Then I started using it as a boost for solos. Then I got the AngryDriver and that was just so much better for every application of overdrive I would be using it for - then the tubescreamer was basically removed from my board and I only use it when I'm using a guitar that isn't my ESP (which nowadays is pretty fucking rare tbh). I got it used for cheap and I'll be selling it for cheap, I feel like everyone's got a tubescreamer or a tubescreamer variant.

So not the fanciest pedalboard in the world, pretty simple. And the vast majority of my pedals were Boss pedals, so makes sense that I liked the Boss EFX in the GT-1000.

On the topic of modelers, though, have you tried any of the Headrush stuff? If you ever want to feel incredibly underwhelmed, I suggest getting a chance to try a Helix, a Fractal, this Boss all back to back... and then immediately trying the Headrush shite. It's fucking noticeably more shite, even the salesman who was helping me try stuff told me "yeah, you're not going to like this one" before I plugged in, before adding, "nobody likes this one, but let's try it just to be safe." I cannot express how much you should not buy a Headrush modeler if you're looking into buying any of them. My Mooer sounded better at a fraction of the price... and all of these other expensive modelers absolutely blow the Mooer away.

[Mel81x+]

On 01/06/2019 at 02:03, Dr. Gonzo said:

Sorry for long reply, but talking about this stuff is fun.

On the topic of modelers, though, have you tried any of the Headrush stuff? If you ever want to feel incredibly underwhelmed, I suggest getting a chance to try a Helix, a Fractal, this Boss all back to back... and then immediately trying the Headrush shite. It's fucking noticeably more shite, even the salesman who was helping me try stuff told me "yeah, you're not going to like this one" before I plugged in, before adding, "nobody likes this one, but let's try it just to be safe." I cannot express how much you should not buy a Headrush modeler if you're looking into buying any of them. My Mooer sounded better at a fraction of the price... and all of these other expensive modelers absolutely blow the Mooer away.

Funny you mention Headrush. We were practicing on Sunday for a gig this week and I was talking to a band member who has a POD 500X (another superb modeler) and he told me that when he was strapped for money he went out and got a Headrush product second-hand with the only stipulation that when he had the money he'd get rid of it and get something better. Even he said its so horrible that creating tones on it felt like he needed a degree in rocket science and the sound was horrible too. I can't attest to it as I have never seen them in live action but I'd imagine that once you get past the ease of use the next most important thing is being able to switch blocks and get the easiest setups for running longer gigs (say 2 hours) without having to reinvent the wheel. The other thing we were discussing is noise in the line during performances and for some reason with a HELIX he's never had that problem which I find odd because that has nothing to do with your own gear and more to do with line grounding, capacitors, etc. Either ways I am dead-set on a Helix LT as I can't justify a Helix for what I do and the fact that it has a great acoustic block for modelling makes it an even juicier purchase for me.

[Dr. Gonzo]

4 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Funny you mention Headrush. We were practicing on Sunday for a gig this week and I was talking to a band member who has a POD 500X (another superb modeler) and he told me that when he was strapped for money he went out and got a Headrush product second-hand with the only stipulation that when he had the money he'd get rid of it and get something better. Even he said its so horrible that creating tones on it felt like he needed a degree in rocket science and the sound was horrible too. I can't attest to it as I have never seen them in live action but I'd imagine that once you get past the ease of use the next most important thing is being able to switch blocks and get the easiest setups for running longer gigs (say 2 hours) without having to reinvent the wheel. The other thing we were discussing is noise in the line during performances and for some reason with a HELIX he's never had that problem which I find odd because that has nothing to do with your own gear and more to do with line grounding, capacitors, etc. Either ways I am dead-set on a Helix LT as I can't justify a Helix for what I do and the fact that it has a great acoustic block for modelling makes it an even juicier purchase for me.

Aren’t the Helix and Helix LT pretty similar? It’s the exact same software I think so I don’t think you’d be missing much, maybe output options.

The Helix LT was the one I’d have gotten too

[Mel81x+]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Aren’t the Helix and Helix LT pretty similar? It’s the exact same software I think so I don’t think you’d be missing much, maybe output options.

The Helix LT was the one I’d have gotten too

You're right its only the outputs but if you want to do the 6 way connection when you head in to run mic inputs as well its a better option then you aren't crowding the stage space with two of these plus the LT doesn't have it. Otherwise they are pretty much the same thing.