What is your next guitar/gear purchase gonna be?

[H13]

I have drunk the "Tube Pedal" Kool-Aid

A tube pedal running into a tube amp just feels more natural. IMHO, it just plays nicer with an amp than a non-tube pedal. The thing that "convinced" me of this is my Mesa MkV. A "normal" pedal will be massively over-exaggerated by that amp. A tubescreamer into a MkV is honk city. Meanwhile, if it's tube powered, the Mesa likes the pedal and works well with it.

But I'm also very aware there's an awful lot of snake oil with tube pedals. As in many of them have a shiny pretty bit of glass that doesn't actually do a damn thing.

The Blackstar Dept10 Boost is a clean boost everybody is sleeping on. It's got a great EQ and it does great boosty things. Awesome for metal, but...just...kinda awesome in general.

What I'd LOVE would be a dirty version of that Dept10 Clean boost. 'Cos sometimes you don't just want clean boost, sometimes you want a bit of dirt. I like 90% of the dirt to come from my amp but yeah.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Lol this guy. I woke up this morning to a message from the seller calling me "disingenuous and low" because the amp I sent him also needs tech work. He told me 14 days ago that the amp I sent "didn't sound right" to him (17 days after he received the amp and 5 days after I sent him a video of his amp malfunctioning), never offered any information about it or took it to anyone to have it looked at, because I'm 100% sure he just didn't like the amp and was trying to not pay for the repairs on the Revv, then sends me this message this morning and blocks me

 

[sakeido]

Value : Performance, it's hard to be used E-II these days, although I haven't yet tried the recent Jackson MJ and USA "value" series yet-----I have no doubt they're at least as good as the early '90s MIJ that are going for crazy prices. I wouldn't spend a dollar more for the old ones unless there was a certain look I had to have. Admittedly, I strongly prefer binding and truss rod covers on the headstock, so I'd lean new MJ series.

I've been playing my E-II Horizon III quite a bit lately, and it is amazing. I can't imagine how anyone would play it and think "eh...not good enough, I need to spend an extra $2000 to reach my potential".

Ehhh maybe not, the Jackson MJ I played had a very tacky finish.. it was sticky all over, like the lacquer hadn't cured properly or something like that. I thought maybe it was just gross from sitting on the shop floor getting played but it had the sticky feeling going on parts of the guitar that nobody normally touches

The early MIJ Jackson's and current ones are too expensive (imo) and the early 2000s ones are currently far too cheap, although it looks like they're starting to pop off now too

 

[Marked Man]

Ehhh maybe not, the Jackson MJ I played had a very tacky finish.. it was sticky all over, like the lacquer hadn't cured properly or something like that. I thought maybe it was just gross from sitting on the shop floor getting played but it had the sticky feeling going on parts of the guitar that nobody normally touches

The early MIJ Jackson's and current ones are too expensive (imo) and the early 2000s ones are currently far too cheap, although it looks like they're starting to pop off now too

Well that sucks, although I hope it's not common for new MJs.

All of mine (4) are between '90 to '92.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Lol this guy. I woke up this morning to a message from the seller calling me "disingenuous and low" because the amp I sent him also needs tech work. He told me 14 days ago that the amp I sent "didn't sound right" to him (17 days after he received the amp and 5 days after I sent him a video of his amp malfunctioning), never offered any information about it or took it to anyone to have it looked at, because I'm 100% sure he just didn't like the amp and was trying to not pay for the repairs on the Revv, then sends me this message this morning and blocks me

Wow. Lol

 

[budda]

@MatrixClaw the phrase “some people’s kids” seems to apply

 

[MatrixClaw]

@MatrixClaw the phrase “some people’s kids” seems to apply

For real. I'm just glad that, in 17 years of using PayPal, this is the first time I can remember ever having to open a claim.

--

In other news, I built a slatted dog bed this weekend so our dog would stop laying on our patio furniture and getting her hair all over the cushions. I decided to try finger/box joints to see how difficult it was to dial them in tight. I think it came out pretty great, just needs some sanding!



The only logical progression from here now is - it's time to build a cab!

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

For real. I'm just glad that, in 17 years of using PayPal, this is the first time I can remember ever having to open a claim.

--

In other news, I built a slatted dog bed this weekend so our dog would stop laying on our patio furniture and getting her hair all over the cushions. I decided to try finger/box joints to see how difficult it was to dial them in tight. I think it came out pretty great, just needs some sanding!



The only logical progression from here now is - it's time to build a cab!

I'm sure the dog will love that... as it continues to late in its spot.

 

[thebeesknees22]

Found an open box bogner 3534 50 watt so i pulled the trigger on it to save a few hundred. I think that does me up pretty well for amps.

Next up is to get the roland spd-sx pro and i think that'll be it for core gear purchases outside of upgrading my audio interface at some point.

 

[MatrixClaw]

I'm sure the dog will love that... as it continues to late in its spot.

I'm sure you're right, but one can only hope. Gotta sand it and throw some weatherproof paint on it and then fit the mattress in. I'll probably put some low profile rubber feet on it too, to keep it from moving when she gets up and down. I already let her try it out and she seemed pretty excited about it, but we'll see how long it lasts hahaha.

 

[budda]

Found an open box bogner 3534 50 watt so i pulled the trigger on it to save a few hundred. I think that does me up pretty well for amps.

Next up is to get the roland spd-sx pro and i think that'll be it for core gear purchases outside of upgrading my audio interface at some point.

My dumb ass thinking the 3534 was 30w like the slo30 etc :/

 

[technomancer]

My dumb ass thinking the 3534 was 30w like the slo30 etc :/

There are 2 versions, a 35w and a 50w

 

[thebeesknees22]

My dumb ass thinking the 3534 was 30w like the slo30 etc :/

ha yeah it's super confusing tbh. I thiiiink the 35 watt came first.

You can't actually tell which is which by any label on the amp either.

The 35 and 50 watt both just say 3534, and the only difference visually is the 35 watt is black and the 50 is the tan(?) front. And the new new model of the 50 watt has "2/30 80’s "and "3gain" switches to go from the 100 to the 101 sound (I think). Not sure what the 3gain switch does. I'm not actually sure what any of the switches actually do since I haven't seen a manual lol

I haven't found any videos at all on what the new switches sound like, but Michael Nielson has a video comparing the 30 watt with the previous 50 watt.

30- more modern, little more compressed
50 watt - more 101b ish. "woody" low mid thing apparently. More switches. etc.

But they sound different. I was trying to find one locally to try out first before buying, but with that open box deal, I just had to go ahead and pull the trigger on the 50. (plus it sounded like the 50 watt was what I wanted after talking with Jorg at Bogner) So I feel pretty safe with this choice.

edit:
found more info on the new switches

"SB= changes where the presence frequencies are affected by the presence control
2/3 80's= adds clipping diodes to channels 2 and 3
3 Gain= changes the voicing on channel 3 from stock (101B), to higher md emphasis, or to lower mid emphasis"

 

[budda]

Good to know! Still havent tried one irl.

 

[Shask]

Tonight I removed my loadbox and SS reamping poweramp, and instead just plugged an amp into another amp, and ran them in stereo into the cabs directly. The feel was definitely improved from the reamping setup. Less fizzy and more thump.

Now I have to think about what I want to do about it.....


In other news, I plugged a reverb pedal into my daisy chain, and an EQ pedal I built got a weak sound. I opened it up, and the charge pump IC was burning up. Weirdest thing ever. I have never had that happen. Luckily I had another, so I just popped in a new IC chip and it worked again.

 

[thebeesknees22]

Good to know! Still havent tried one irl.

I've only tried the 35 watt one irl. XTC's are super hard to find in my experience.

I really dug it, but at the time I went with the soldano astro and friedman JEL20 'cause those two checked the boxes for core sounds for me. ie: plexi, jcm800, and the modern slo/rectifier-ish (if you scoop the mids) sounds

The 35 watt 3534 was great, but it totally has it's own thing going on. Way different than a regular marshall or mesa type which is why I started looking into one next. I don't really know how to describe it. Beefy and thick yet clear and chimey depending on the settings. But it has lots of tonal options that can cover a lot of ground. Honestly it was a little overhwelming just messing with it in a store, but I felt like I got really good tones.

I don't think the ecstasy would be for everyone, but I thought it was pretty cool. I could see it being really great for solo's.

@Rezamatix has some demos somewhere on his youtube of the 35 watt, and of an xtc with the pandora mod which were pretty cool.

I'll be curious how the 50 watt stacks up.

 

[MatrixClaw]

My dumb ass thinking the 3534 was 30w like the slo30 etc :/

Yeah I don't know why they didn't release the 50w version as the 5034. 3534 made sense for the original amp because it was 35w and had EL34s...

Would love to try one of these at some point. Have tried to trade for one a couple of times, but since I already own a 101b, I haven't been too aggressive in my trade offers to try and get one. Would love to A/B it with the larger Ecstacy, though.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Oh man, Kernom released a new pedal

ELIPSE - Modulation

Dive into the world of modulation with the ELIPSE. Seamlessly morph between lush choruses, warm phasers, jet-like flangers, and rhythmic tremolos. Create classic tones or discover entirely new textures—all in one pedal.

kernom.com

Been meaning to grab the Moho for a while as well, but Fuzz isn't an effect I generally get along with, so I've been waiting for a used one at a good price and its been slim pickings.