Guitar thread

[DangerMoney]

Originally Posted by PolyrhythmFX

They are good amps. I prefer it to the Dual Rectifier because it simply has more headroom. And you can pick them up for cheap if you look hard enough. I got mine for about 1/3 the price of a new one.

In the general case, the higher powered amps also develop more low end... because they have the power required to do so.

[crazydrummerdude]

Originally Posted by Chuck289

I see you have had a couple Frank Vignola models. Have you ever seen him perform? I saw him a year ago with Tommy Emmanuel, it was an amazing show.

Wow, what a coincidence!

I just saw Frank Vignola play a week ago here in Oklahoma City. That was all the inspiration I needed to get back into classical guitar lessons, and here I am.. fumbling over music as I find the right notes on the neck. I have a recital at the end of the semester.

[Chuck289]

Originally Posted by crazydrummerdude

Wow, what a coincidence!

I just saw Frank Vignola play a week ago here in Oklahoma City. That was all the inspiration I needed to get back into classical guitar lessons, and here I am.. fumbling over music as I find the right notes on the neck. I have a recital at the end of the semester.

Nice, was Vinny Raniolo with him?

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by Chuck289

Nice, was Vinny Raniolo with him?

Always! I've never seen Frank live without Vinny. What an amazing duo!

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by Tripped1

Tonal, that is what I meant I've heard it both ways.

Also the ability to stay clean isn't terribly high on my list of things . I have loud as hell already in the form of a old 120W tube peavey....and I mean old it predates the Ultra 120 Plus.

Like a Deuce, or a Heritage? Hell they (Peavey) made a Mace back in the '70's that had 6: 6L6 power tubes for 160 watts. Gary Rossington played one for decades.

[crazydrummerdude]

Originally Posted by Chuck289

Nice, was Vinny Raniolo with him?

Yup!

They played a bunch of the typical hits, and some old guy in the audience was whistling along during sing-a-long portion of one song, so during the next verse they let him whistle the lead.

The proprietor of the Banjo Museum accompanied them on stage for 2 songs as well.

Good show.

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Like a Deuce, or a Heritage? Hell they (Peavey) made a Mace back in the '70's that had 6: 6L6 power tubes for 160 watts. Gary Rossington played one for decades.

Its just a an Ultra. the blue and black faced one.

Its pretty much the same idea as an Ultra Plus, 6 12ax7 and 5 6L6s. All of which need to be replaced as soon as I can get a hold of the biasing values, those tubes have been in that head since I was like 19.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by Tripped1

Its just a an Ultra. the blue and black faced one.

If memory serves me well, that was the platform for the original 5150. That's the amp they took to Eddies studio to start the tweaking process.

Very cool.

I was using this JCM900 in the studio back in those days. This is actually 1998.

[PolyrhythmFX]

Originally Posted by Tripped1

Tonal, that is what I meant I've heard it both ways.

Also the ability to stay clean isn't terribly high on my list of things . I have loud as hell already in the form of a old 120W tube peavey....and I mean old it predates the Ultra 120 Plus.

In the case of the Mesa Recto it helps a bit. They have a fizzy distortion to them so the more you can tame that down, the better IMO. Some people like it, some don't. EQ settings have to do with it as well but with the Mesa Rectifier series they all the a similar distortion characteristic. Even with lower gain levels set, the amp still has a bit of "fizz" even if you lower the guitar's volume. Kind of the nature of the beast I suppose. On the flip-side, they have more distortion on tap than almost any other amp.

I wouldn't count out the Rect-O-Verb or Trem-O-Verb if you're looking into a Mesa. The sound between those, the Dual, Triple, and Roadster are all similar.

[Murphy Slaw]

Here's my Mesa.

The Blue Angel.

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

If memory serves me well, that was the platform for the original 5150. That's the amp they took to Eddies studio to start the tweaking process.

Very cool.

I was using this JCM900 in the studio back in those days. This is actually 1998.

I remember the myth about the JCM900 being the loudest half stack on the block.....I also remember a couple of those guys asking me to turn it down

But yeah the Ultra is mindbendingly loud, I blew up two cabs before I bit the bullet and grabbed the J4R, which I'm convinced is indestructible at this point. You can even get a decent clean from it, it just takes a bit of tweaking.

Pretty sure it was the Ultra plus that later became the 5150, both have more in common with the 5150 than with the 6408. The power stage on the 5150 is a different configuration from the ultras, where the the ultras are 1 power tube clean, 2 for crunch 3 for "ultra" and the 4th for the reverb loop, the 5150 uses five for gain and a 6th for the reverb circuit (if memory serves)

I believe the pre-amps are pretty close between them all.

[josjor]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Here's my Mesa.

The Blue Angel.

I play guitar.........sort of. My main skill is actually as a sound tech and I can't help but chime in: At a minimum get a mic stand and actually point that mic at the speaker. I don't see the model number, but it's a cardoid or hyper-cardoid and shooting at the side of it isn't doing the amp or mic justice.

Better yet, spend $100.00 and get a Sennheiser e609. A really good guitar cab mic for the money and it's designed to actually hang on your amp like that.

Sound guy rant over. My apologies.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by josjor

Sound guy rant over. My apologies.

You're gonna HATE this.......

[FPGT72]

In a past life I spent a LOT of time around real loud cars....my ears are shot, they ring all the time, I can hardly hear....my wife makes me wear ear phones as I have to have the TV and computer so loud she can't sleep.

Even I could tell that was not real crisp :)

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

You're gonna HATE this.......

[Josephvman]

I have to stay away from guitar stores! I came across this 2002 Custom Shop Esquire, which is Olympic White but the nitro finish has aged beautifully and it has taken on kind of a yellow-greenish hue that is really cool. I thought it was some sort of custom color until I saw the original hang tag. It appears to have been a guitar from the 2002 NAAM show. It has a subtle and beautiful flamed neck. The Esquire has a single bridge pickup and usually the body on the custom shop guitars aren't routed for a front pickup. The selector has a tone bypass position, a tone-in position, and a tone-in with a capacitor that thickens up the bottom end. The shop says it belonged they're rep from Taylor, and it really doesn't look like it's been out of the case. There is a spot just above the strings in the center of the body that looks whiter than the rest of the front, and they told me that was from the hang tag that was blocking the sun from yellowing that area. Makes sense to me, and since at the original price I'm sure this was a very hard sell and probably hung around from a long time!

It came with a gorgeous tweed case, all the original tags, strap, keys, manuals, tools, and a very cool custom shop suede gig bag. It has a pretty distinct character compared to a standard Tele, much thicker at the bottom and brighter at the top, and "quackier" if that makes sense. I've gotten some cool distorted tones with my little 8w Reason tube amp that I've never gotten out of my Tele. The neck is really similar to my '86, but the frets aren't quite as fat and the finish on the neck takes a little getting used to for me. It's not an easy guitar to play, pretty unforgiving, and it's a bit of a one-trick pony, but I think I got a great deal on it and it's pretty unique looking.