Making Music

[Dr. Gonzo]

4 hours ago, Mel81x said:

On a side note, you ever use one of those famous drop d tuners? I forget what they are called now ... Hipshot thats it. I used to have one on my precision bass. 

I haven’t - I don’t think I’ve ever seen those for a guitar without a Floyd. On the guitar I had that had a Floyd, I looked into it but I think using one means your bridge is no longer floating. And on hardtail guitars I’ve always thought getting to a drop tuning’s pretty easy just using a tuning peg

[Dr. Gonzo]

Red nylon Jazz IIIs are the best

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Mel81x - what was the other Noise Gate you asked me about once on here and I said "idk I've only ever used a Boss NS-2?" I have bad news. My NS-2 stopped working again, I cracked it open once again and was like "I'll just fucking solder it again" but... everything looked fine internally. I changed the power supply a few times and that didn't do anything, I tried it with a battery and it didn't do anything.

RIP to that pedal. Was the other noise gate you asked me about the TC Electronic Sentry? Because that isn't much more than a NS-2 and it's looking pretty compelling to me. And it's a lot cheaper than the ISP noise gate my friends have

[Mel81x+]

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Mel81x - what was the other Noise Gate you asked me about once on here and I said "idk I've only ever used a Boss NS-2?" I have bad news. My NS-2 stopped working again, I cracked it open once again and was like "I'll just fucking solder it again" but... everything looked fine internally. I changed the power supply a few times and that didn't do anything, I tried it with a battery and it didn't do anything.

RIP to that pedal. Was the other noise gate you asked me about the TC Electronic Sentry? Because that isn't much more than a NS-2 and it's looking pretty compelling to me. And it's a lot cheaper than the ISP noise gate my friends have

Yeah it was the Sentry by TC Electronics. It's rated quite well too and it does have the sturdiness of the NS-2 as well. Just remember to get the full-blown one and not the multi-band one as that is also very good but you'll need your phone or a laptop to configure it and its fine if you've got something like that setup all the time but its a pain otherwise.

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Yeah it was the Sentry by TC Electronics. It's rated quite well too and it does have the sturdiness of the NS-2 as well. Just remember to get the full-blown one and not the multi-band one as that is also very good but you'll need your phone or a laptop to configure it and its fine if you've got something like that setup all the time but its a pain otherwise.

Oh shit - there's 2 types of the Sentry? They don't say that on the TC Electronics website  - it's got really good reviews. What puts me off it though is I've used the NS-2 forever so... familiarity seems compelling as fuck to me. It looks like the Sentry can do that 4 way connection the NS-2 does though and it's supposed to be great. But is it great enough to pay more than I would for a Boss?

No clue and tbh that you ended up getting another NS-2 makes me think "probably not"

[Mel81x+]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Oh shit - there's 2 types of the Sentry? They don't say that on the TC Electronics website  - it's got really good reviews. What puts me off it though is I've used the NS-2 forever so... familiarity seems compelling as fuck to me. It looks like the Sentry can do that 4 way connection the NS-2 does though and it's supposed to be great. But is it great enough to pay more than I would for a Boss?

No clue and tbh that you ended up getting another NS-2 makes me think "probably not"

I went with familiarity myself. I will say this about TCE products they are very good and at the end of the day its a noise-gate and honestly there are ones which you could probably invest in which are way shittier than what Boss, TCE or the exotics throw at you but price-wise Boss all day long. I have two pedals from them Hall of Fame 2 and Spectra Comp (Bass Pedal) and both of them are really really good. The Spectra-Comp is that new type of pedal where the computer does most of the work which is why I said look out for the second type which may seem cheaper but its so hard to use right if you don't have a device to connect it to (you can assign the switch but it becomes very limiting). Having said all that when you do hook it up the pedal turns from a simple dial-based machine into a studio of sorts because your customization goes off the charts.

[Dr. Gonzo]

4 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I went with familiarity myself. I will say this about TCE products they are very good and at the end of the day its a noise-gate and honestly there are ones which you could probably invest in which are way shittier than what Boss, TCE or the exotics throw at you but price-wise Boss all day long. I have two pedals from them Hall of Fame 2 and Spectra Comp (Bass Pedal) and both of them are really really good. The Spectra-Comp is that new type of pedal where the computer does most of the work which is why I said look out for the second type which may seem cheaper but its so hard to use right if you don't have a device to connect it to (you can assign the switch but it becomes very limiting). Having said all that when you do hook it up the pedal turns from a simple dial-based machine into a studio of sorts because your customization goes off the charts.

All of my guitar playing pals I jam with have the ISP Decimater II G-String. It's fucking absurd how expensive that is for a noise-gate. But if you want another ISP noise gate... then you won't get the ability to do a 4 way connection. Quite frankly, I'm not going to pay upwards of $200 on a noise gate, regardless of quality, for it to do something I'd expect it to do at half the price.

TCE is one of those companies though that's got a really good reputation. And I've used 2 of their pedals before (the Spark boost and... some delay that I forge the name of) - they were both really good.

[Mel81x+]

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

All of my guitar playing pals I jam with have the ISP Decimater II G-String. It's fucking absurd how expensive that is for a noise-gate. But if you want another ISP noise gate... then you won't get the ability to do a 4 way connection. Quite frankly, I'm not going to pay upwards of $200 on a noise gate, regardless of quality, for it to do something I'd expect it to do at half the price.

TCE is one of those companies though that's got a really good reputation. And I've used 2 of their pedals before (the Spark boost and... some delay that I forge the name of) - they were both really good.

I like the Decimater especially for the sheer simplicity of it as a peal. The price, as you said, is ludicrous and it doesn't help that they dont sell them here anymore so the price is literally almost double so I had to kiss that goodbye. I also agree that if its a pedal unless it has something so phenomenal (like something from Strymon or Darkglass) then you're literally getting a very good IC board with some special sauce. Can you get an NS-2 second-hand? I am sure you'd be able to find something out there?

[Dr. Gonzo]

47 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I like the Decimater especially for the sheer simplicity of it as a peal. The price, as you said, is ludicrous and it doesn't help that they dont sell them here anymore so the price is literally almost double so I had to kiss that goodbye. I also agree that if its a pedal unless it has something so phenomenal (like something from Strymon or Darkglass) then you're literally getting a very good IC board with some special sauce. Can you get an NS-2 second-hand? I am sure you'd be able to find something out there?

I can get an NS-2 second hand pretty easily & at a decent price... and I probably shouldn’t be afraid too because it’s a Boss pedal and I had mine for so long. But because it’s probably the pedal I will use the most in virtually any setup I ever use, I’m willing to spring a bit more to be the first owner of the pedal and have the warranty protection.

Also that’s mental about the ISPs being double their normal price over there! That’s a genuinely shocking price.

[Mel81x+]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I can get an NS-2 second hand pretty easily & at a decent price... and I probably shouldn’t be afraid too because it’s a Boss pedal and I had mine for so long. But because it’s probably the pedal I will use the most in virtually any setup I ever use, I’m willing to spring a bit more to be the first owner of the pedal and have the warranty protection.

Also that’s mental about the ISPs being double their normal price over there! That’s a genuinely shocking price.

I think that's the right approach too. I sometimes think I should get a second-hand pedal and let me say for the record there are some very nice second-hand pedals I have seen and some that I have bought and sold/exchanged for stuff I wanted myself but there are also some pedals I will never buy second-hand. The top of my list are Distortion pedals. I do not know why and I have no clue where I got this in my head but I figure a pedal taking that much of gain abuse is going to not be worth it second hand if its seen stage use so anytime I see someone selling one I always think twice to myself.

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I think that's the right approach too. I sometimes think I should get a second-hand pedal and let me say for the record there are some very nice second-hand pedals I have seen and some that I have bought and sold/exchanged for stuff I wanted myself but there are also some pedals I will never buy second-hand. The top of my list are Distortion pedals. I do not know why and I have no clue where I got this in my head but I figure a pedal taking that much of gain abuse is going to not be worth it second hand if its seen stage use so anytime I see someone selling one I always think twice to myself.

Do you feel the same about overdrive pedals? I actually feel like overdrive and distortion pedals are pretty safe to buy second hand because they've usually got the simplest circuitry. But I also have no idea if that simpler circuitry means that they'll hold up over time. I'd probably never bat an eyelid about buying a Boss SD-1 second hand, they're so fucking cheap second hand that if the pedal ever did fail you could just buy another one. I imagine with some distortion pedals, like the ProCo Rat, that's really simple circuitry that's been around forever and I'd trust that to hold up over time.

But again... I have no real idea.

For me it's actually the more expensive and complicated pedals that I'd be nervous about buying second hand. When you've got a lot more digital shite on the pedal compared to old school analog circuitry, I think that's where I'd be more worried about buying something second hand.

But with me and the noise gate, because it'd be a pedal I primarily always have on... I think it's more of a "constant use" thing with pedals. Which actually, with overdrives/distortions... a lot of people use them as pedals that are always on as well. Having said all that, I've just had a look on reverb at second hand noise gates and it's hard to argue against those prices.

[Mel81x+]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Do you feel the same about overdrive pedals? I actually feel like overdrive and distortion pedals are pretty safe to buy second hand because they've usually got the simplest circuitry. But I also have no idea if that simpler circuitry means that they'll hold up over time. I'd probably never bat an eyelid about buying a Boss SD-1 second hand, they're so fucking cheap second hand that if the pedal ever did fail you could just buy another one. I imagine with some distortion pedals, like the ProCo Rat, that's really simple circuitry that's been around forever and I'd trust that to hold up over time.

But again... I have no real idea.

For me it's actually the more expensive and complicated pedals that I'd be nervous about buying second hand. When you've got a lot more digital shite on the pedal compared to old school analog circuitry, I think that's where I'd be more worried about buying something second hand.

But with me and the noise gate, because it'd be a pedal I primarily always have on... I think it's more of a "constant use" thing with pedals. Which actually, with overdrives/distortions... a lot of people use them as pedals that are always on as well. Having said all that, I've just had a look on reverb at second hand noise gates and it's hard to argue against those prices.

I think my fear is 100% in my head and not in the pedal. Even with a more expensive unit the board isolation will be a exceptionally good to last a long long time. I think you summed it up rather well, you have to be intentionally destructive to destroy a Boss pedal and even then you may not succeed. It's also why I always ask the person I am buying the pedal from what they use it for, if they say home studio its an instant okay, if its been on stage or on the road a lot then I think twice because sometimes just sometimes people have the tendency to use an 18V with a 9V point on some pedals and its not noticeable in the short run but you run that for a long time and it starts to wear out the IC.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, Mel81x said:

It's also why I always ask the person I am buying the pedal from what they use it for, if they say home studio its an instant okay

Stealing this strategy - cheers! Noise Gate sellers of Reverb.com - prepare to be messaged by me asking what the pedals were used for.

[Mel81x+]

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

Stealing this strategy - cheers! Noise Gate sellers of Reverb.com - prepare to be messaged by me asking what the pedals were used for.

Be prepared to hear. "I tried to play Killing Me Softly for my girlfriend and the pedal did such a good job she said it was the best thing she heard all week ... silence"

[Dr. Gonzo]

21 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

Be prepared to hear. "I tried to play Killing Me Softly for my girlfriend and the pedal did such a good job she said it was the best thing she heard all week ... silence"

Looks like I'm getting a Sentry at a cut price let's hope the fucker wasn't lying about how he used it though.

[Mel81x+]

10 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Looks like I'm getting a Sentry at a cut price let's hope the fucker wasn't lying about how he used it though.

I am very curious how the Tone Print mode works with frequency blocking. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

10 hours ago, Mel81x said:

I am very curious how the Tone Print mode works with frequency blocking. 

I'll keep you posted, it gets in on Thursday. So I'll probably let you know my first impressions on Friday. I just downloaded the TonePrint app on my phone - but it looks like I'll need to download the separate software for my laptop for the really fine tuning. Looks pretty cool though.

Last night I got something I ordered while drunk as fuck on black Friday and totally forgot about  - I got myself another hybrid mini amp head (I may have a problem lol, both with drinking and buying guitar gear), I'm actually pretty pleased with Drunk Dr. Gonzo because it's more "my" type of sound than the orange where I found myself constantly making really extreme EQ tweaks with my 10 band - I've also found I like the Orange more for semi-clean stuff on single coils rather than for metal. But the Joyo Bantamp VIVO is a 5150/6505 sort of clone, pretty much in the exact same style amp as the Orange Micro Dark/Terror - a 20w hybrid amp with a valve preamp section.

I was seriously impressed with the Orange - and I still am (the nice thing about having mini amps and a speaker cabinet is I don't feel compelled to get rid of one now that I have another, now I've just got 2 nice cheapo little amps ), but these little Joyo amps that I'd heard good things about are even more impressive. First off, it's cheaper. Secondly, it's got a second channel... and I thought "well it's a 5150 style amp, the cleans might be shite" - nah turns out the cleans actually sound really good. Secondly, and this surprised me... it's got a fucking Bluetooth connection. Which tbh I love for a little practice amp - playing a song, a backing track, or just a metronome through the amp without any fucking extra wires because now that I'm using pedals again... fuck me there's wires and cables everywhere. Pretty nice. And just like the Orange... you turn the volume up and plug it into a bigger cab and holy shit it's fucking loud.

And for me personally, not having to make extreme EQ settings with my 10 band in the fx loop of an amp just sounds a lot better - I prefer more subtle EQ adjustments if I've got that pedal in the loop & tbh I quite like using it in front of the amp rather than use an OD/boost pedal for some reason. For about 90% of what I play on guitar... the 5150 sound sort of just fits me better and I was having to get pretty creative with the Orange to make it work (and I did and it sounded very nice). But I've also come to learn the Orange has it's own pretty unique and distinctive character... and it really really reacts differently with different guitars - I was absolutely blown the fuck away by how it sounds with single-coils.

On the one hand I feel like an idiot for spending so much on gear lately. On the other hand... I really like the shite I've picked up lately (and I'm looking forward to a working noise gate coming in soon) and tbh I've done a good job covering the cost in selling shite I'm not using. Plus I've got the money anyways, so fuck it 

But sometimes I feel like this thread should be "Gonzo wastes money on guitar gear and then tells his football friends about it."

[Mel81x+]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'll keep you posted, it gets in on Thursday. So I'll probably let you know my first impressions on Friday. I just downloaded the TonePrint app on my phone - but it looks like I'll need to download the separate software for my laptop for the really fine tuning. Looks pretty cool though.

Last night I got something I ordered while drunk as fuck on black Friday and totally forgot about  - I got myself another hybrid mini amp head (I may have a problem lol, both with drinking and buying guitar gear), I'm actually pretty pleased with Drunk Dr. Gonzo because it's more "my" type of sound than the orange where I found myself constantly making really extreme EQ tweaks with my 10 band - I've also found I like the Orange more for semi-clean stuff on single coils rather than for metal. But the Joyo Bantamp VIVO is a 5150/6505 sort of clone, pretty much in the exact same style amp as the Orange Micro Dark/Terror - a 20w hybrid amp with a valve preamp section.

I used to have this nasty habit of wanting to try pedals and over here finding stuff second-hand as a bass player is a mess. So, I'd go out and buy pedals and then sell them to people in music schools . Thankfully I have stopped eventhough I could easily start it up again but I have that other disease "Buying guitars to experiment with their setup" and I don't sell any of those unless I am really forced to.

[Dr. Gonzo]

33 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I used to have this nasty habit of wanting to try pedals and over here finding stuff second-hand as a bass player is a mess. So, I'd go out and buy pedals and then sell them to people in music schools . Thankfully I have stopped eventhough I could easily start it up again but I have that other disease "Buying guitars to experiment with their setup" and I don't sell any of those unless I am really forced to.

It's very hard to not want to try out pedals before you actually buy them. It's one thing to see a demo video online, it's another thing to see how it'll sound with your hands, playing your instrument, through your amp.

[Mel81x+]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

It's very hard to not want to try out pedals before you actually buy them. It's one thing to see a demo video online, it's another thing to see how it'll sound with your hands, playing your instrument, through your amp.

Yeah the problem is that a lot of stores here dont carry a lot of the pedals I want so I can't even go to them and get a feel of what they are like. I will say the new Strymon I purchased (The Timeline) is definitely a pedal you can drop into any setup with no issues.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, Mel81x said:

Yeah the problem is that a lot of stores here dont carry a lot of the pedals I want so I can't even go to them and get a feel of what they are like. I will say the new Strymon I purchased (The Timeline) is definitely a pedal you can drop into any setup with no issues.

I really want to try a Strymon pedal sometime soon - especially the one you've got, it looks like the holy grail of delay pedals. The reputation they have is just outstanding - the only companies I can think of that have similar reputations where it just seems like nobody can say anything bad about them are Darkglass Electronics for bass & Revv Amps for guitar (I'm sure there's probably other companies out there I've left off).

It's all well and good though not being able to try out those extra premium brands - but for the stuff where it's cheaper and you've got a lot more options at the price point, but they're not always going to be the best options for certain applications... that's definitely where being able to try things out is the best situation.

But even then, it can be very hard to try things out - like for instance, the pedal I just ordered off Reverb yesterday - I think my favourite shop here has one or two of them in stock currently. But it's a noise gate and part of the reason I want the noise gate isn't just "I need a working noise gate" (which I do), but also because when I'm playing upstairs in my little music loft and I've got my computer on there's about a 65% chance I'll get a shitload of interference noise. Whereas if I'm playing downstairs, basically anywhere else in my house there might be some pre-amp hiss that needs taming... but it's not that same awful interference feedback noise - so I can drop the threshold down a lot if I'm downstairs.

I can't really test how well any noise gate compares to my now dead (RIP) NS-2 for the exact situation I'd actually need it for. I will say that I'm pretty lucky in that the group of people I jam with have pretty nice gear and always let me try stuff out and... you may have noticed from some of my posts on here... we let each other borrow gear we aren't using pretty regularly. Too bad they all have the most ridiculously priced gate pedal... so when I tried that (it works really really well, btw - but you can get fucked trying to sell me a gate pedal for that much ) I knew I wasn't going to be buying it.

So if your pedal selection's fairly limited there... how's the instrument selection? I know a few brands I like have factories in India... but how available do those brands make those made in India guitars there?

[Mel81x+]

9 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

So if your pedal selection's fairly limited there... how's the instrument selection? I know a few brands I like have factories in India... but how available do those brands make those made in India guitars there?

Lets not get to instrument availability because that's another road that pisses me off even more. Most instruments I try I only get to do so because of my time with the music institute I visit. So many artists come and visit so I get to try a lot of what I want with those groups. But, whenever I travel anywhere I make it a point to step into a guitar store and give atleast four instruments in a run. You'd be shocked to know this and I am sure someone on here will laugh but over here if you want a Precision bass you will be shit out of luck. They don't carry them and if you find someone with one its way more expensive than it needs to be. Keep in mind this is not even elite standard basses. 

As for local manufacturers there are some nice ones. DGC (Darjeeling Guitar Company) is nice and I have played two of their three guitars which is just fantastic. We get most Asian manufacturers here like Ibanez, Cort, etc but even those we get the more limited models and if you want to actually play one to see how it is its better to just catch a flight to Singapore or Japan and just try it out there. 

Then there's the two kill approach on pricing. Firstly, the import price which already makes you think twice about buying locally. Then, the state govt. drop its GST on top of that import price. Now, vendors can't cut deals with customers to give them better pricing (They still try god bless them) so the natural inclination is to not try and get the more pricier instruments down even if there is a market to buy them. The only way I got my JEM I wanted is because I know the person who deals directly with Ibanez and I said I'd be willing to pay for it before they had it shipped here because if I had done the store price id have gotten fucked on the 40% markup from the original price. (P.S. I am going to go with a JEM JR and then mod it to what I want finally). I am thinking ill post pics in here of the entire process and how I go about it incase anyone wants to do it themselves. 

Edited December 4, 2019 by Mel81x

[Dr. Gonzo]

8 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Lets not get to instrument availability because that's another road that pisses me off even more. Most instruments I try I only get to do so because of my time with the music institute I visit. So many artists come and visit so I get to try a lot of what I want with those groups. But, whenever I travel anywhere I make it a point to step into a guitar store and give atleast four instruments in a run. You'd be shocked to know this and I am sure someone on here will laugh but over here if you want a Precision bass you will be shit out of luck. They don't carry them and if you find someone with one its way more expensive than it needs to be. Keep in mind this is not even elite standard basses. 

As for local manufacturers there are some nice ones. DGC (Darjeeling Guitar Company) is nice and I have played two of their three guitars which is just fantastic. We get most Asian manufacturers here like Ibanez, Cort, etc but even those we get the more limited models and if you want to actually play one to see how it is its better to just catch a flight to Singapore or Japan and just try it out there. 

Then there's the two kill approach on pricing. Firstly, the import price which already makes you think twice about buying locally. Then, the state govt. drop its GST on top of that import price. Now, vendors can't cut deals with customers to give them better pricing (They still try god bless them) so the natural inclination is to not try and get the more pricier instruments down even if there is a market to buy them. The only way I got my JEM I wanted is because I know the person who deals directly with Ibanez and I said I'd be willing to pay for it before they had it shipped here because if I had done the store price id have gotten fucked on the 40% markup from the original price. (P.S. I am going to go with a JEM JR and then mod it to what I want finally). I am thinking ill post pics in here of the entire process and how I go about it incase anyone wants to do it themselves. 

That’s a bit shit mate 

[Mel81x+]

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

That’s a bit shit mate 

Its okay honestly. I just travel and buy stuff or ask someone who is coming down to pick up what I want. Its how 70% of what I own has really found its way to me. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Mel81x the TCE Sentry came in a day ahead of schedule (which is weird because USPS is usually spot on with their delivery estimations). So I'll mess around with it a bit tonight - I'll let you know how it is tonight or (more likely) at some point tomorrow.