I’ve been away for 9 years. What’s new for ERG?

[RV350ALSCYTHE]

It’s been a while. Happy to see this community is still doing well.

Have there been any notable improvements to ERG construction or engineering/technology in the past nine years?

What about new techniques, such as the preferred way to set the EQ?

For context I’m playing a Ran Crusher FF8 I ordered a decade ago. I used to have a Dingwall Combustion and plugging that into my amp was a huge improvement over my regular scale basses, but I’ve been having a hard time getting a modern tight sound from my Crusher. I’m still applying caveman technology of Tube Screamer and random Distortion pedal into a tube head + 4x12 cab.

 

[Crungy]

What amp/s are you using? Have you tried different eq on it? Nothing wrong with a tube screamer, have tried any other boosts? Maxon od's and the Boss SD1 are still tried and true. The Precision Drive is popular and fortunately there are tons of od's to choose from.

Sick guitar! What does it have for pickups?

 

[somethingsomething]

Oh man, a lot has changed in the last nine years.

For example, everything is computer now.

And people don't write songs anymore. Instead, they record 30 second clips of mildly cool riffs to post on Instagram or TikTok. Mostly, it sounds like *weedly weedly weedly dee dee dee* or *BONG GONG BONG BA BA BA DONG*. Pretty sweet.

 

[mlp187]

Dude you have THE BEST instance of a crusher. Fucking awesome.

Anyway, Fishman moderns are the bees knees for 8’s in my opinion. Tight as can be through a Marshall Jubilee w/ tubescreamer in front. Not sure if that predates 9 years but feels like it to me.

 

[Grindspine]

Cool crusher. That corgi is awesome too!

Plugins and modeling are far more accepted than they were 20 years ago. I think they were coming around more 10 years ago, but now plugins are pretty widely accepted. Some of us still like physical tube amps, but I don't scoff at good plugins either.

Let's see... we had a pandemic.. everyone did home recording during the lockdown... Fear Factory got back together then broke up again, then got back together with a new singer. 4x12s are getting more scarce as many are realizing that 2x12s sound good and no one can afford a house big enough for a 4x12 anymore.

Djent came and went. Some of us still like it, but mostly joke about it.

 

[nightsprinter]

realizing that 2x12s sound good and no one can afford a house big enough for a 4x12 anymore.

I was going to say 'yeah this hits home' but I can't afford one either, so I guess your comment really "hits apartment".

 

[Grindspine]

That dog isn't a corgi, is it?

I was going to say 'yeah this hits home' but I can't afford one either, so I guess your comment really "hits apartment".

I got really lucky getting a condo in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. It is a townhouse rather than standalone, but with the housing market, I cannot see financially moving in the foreseeable future. My Mesa Mark 525 and Mesa 2x12 vertical handle any volume I need while home. There is no way a drummer is fitting in here. I guess that is what Superior Drummer / EZ Drummer is for though!

 

[ZeroS1gnol]

Not much has changed in the last nine years if you ask me... All the good stuff from then is still relevant now. We already had headless guitars (which have become somewhat of a big deal nowadays), AxeFX, Helix, Kemper. 8 strings are no more popular than back then. Other than the release of a few guitars, pedals, modelers that have added nothing spectacular, the world of guitar is pretty much the same. The only thing that really comes to mind for me is the expanded suite of Neural DSP vst plugins, that finally make it worthwhile using a plugin to track guitars. And perhaps that the Digitech Whammy is back in fashion lately, who would've thought that 9 years ago.

 

[GenghisCoyne]

Black 30 inch 6 strings

 

[kamello]

Offset 30 inch 6 strings

fixed that for 'ya


also: riffs in Metal are now prohibited, guitars now are only distorted pads that serve as a canvas for some angry person to scream over

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

Man, opening a thread to see photos of an 8 string RAN is an immediate flash flood of nostalgia.
But no, I don't think too much has really changed.

 

[teamSKDM]

an interface , monitors and a neural dsp plugin will get you a better tone than most budget friendly gear unless you get into helix/fractal/kemper/quad cortex which it would still be ideal to use that gear in a home studio environment.

if you wanna stick to a tried and true amp and pedal setup its gonna be a little pricier but a good place to start for modern and tight would be an evh el34 50w and a fortin grind and maybe something for effects in the loop like a zoom g6 or other similarly priced units.

also the podGO is a great budget friendly option to get into the helix

 

[laxu]

The only thing that has changed is that 7 and 8 string multiscale and/or headless guitars are more available nowadays. Cheaper options too.

 

[vark]

I would say the ERG stigma “why do you need more strings” has reduced alot