The Guitar Thread

really poor right now so i'm trying to create the functionality of a couple pedals i want but can't buy. using ableton standard stuff plus some max utilities. i've gotten things sounding really warm tbh. i don't think there are many people out there who have figured out how to make ableton sound as much like hardware as i have mine sounding... humble brag....

the one i'm making now is the fairfield shallow water. really great sounding one.

  On 9/5/2018 at 2:08 PM, psn said:

I have the Jaguar Baritone Custom from 2006 or whatever it was. New Order and The Cure all day long.

 

 

@sheathe I like that new green guitar of yours!

thank you chef.

I've got an epiphone sg I bought at a music trade show for £80 that I quite like but I doesn't stay in tune.

I haven't really played enough guitars to honestly know it I'd notice the difference blind when I'm going into my interface direct and then Schuffham Amps SGear 2 (amazing!).

One day I'll get my dream strat though and spend ages trying to sound like David Gilmour...those string bends!!!

So lately I've been recording through a little, 10" JMF solid state practice amp from the 80s and then adding Airwindows Guitar Conditioner to the recorded tracks and it sounds kind of amazing.  Just in general, Guitar Conditioner is way better than it has any right to be for something so simple on paper.

I have a couple small (half watt to two watt) tube amps and a homemade isolation cab that work really ell but honestly, the sound I get from the JMF and Guitar Conditioner usually sound more convincingly "tube like" than the real tube amps do.

Back in the late 2000s a bandmate f mine was using a silverface Twin Reverb that the previous owner had put a pair of 80s Celestions (not sure what model) in and the solid state practice amp + SM57 + Guitar Conditioner combo is the closest I've ever gotten to that sound, having never owned a Fender amp myself (closest I've come to owning a Fender is a '68 Sunn that was my live amp for years, but that sounded totally different, the closeness is just historical).

EDIT: it sounds great on bass synths, too.

Currently pining for a bass, thinking squire SS jag. Played today and it’s gotta be the best sounding bass for $200 (though i was playing through $1k of amp/cab...)

Ne1 into squire basses? (NOT MUSTANGS, so ugly)

  On 9/12/2018 at 5:41 AM, sheathe said:

Currently pining for a bass, thinking squire SS jag. Played today and it’s gotta be the best sounding bass for $200 (though i was playing through $1k of amp/cab...)

 

Ne1 into squire basses? (NOT MUSTANGS, so ugly)

I like the Jag bass, nice to have the PBass pickup and a Jazz pickup on the bridge, lots of tonal options there. I was going to go for a Fender Modern Player, for about $600 or soemething on ebay not the squire, but never pulled the trigger. Play more guitar than bass. I did try the jag bass squires at Guitar Center and they probably are the best bang for the buck. We had a squire P- Bass years back,  the quality was sort of mediocre, which is not too surprising Actually, we still do have it, with some modifications.

A few of the guitars and basses my cousin and I share. We also have a fender 72 reissue telecaster deluxe and a G&L Tribute Fallout.

  On 9/12/2018 at 5:41 AM, sheathe said:

(NOT MUSTANGS, so ugly)

h8 u

  On 9/12/2018 at 7:45 AM, modey said:

 

  On 9/12/2018 at 5:41 AM, sheathe said:

(NOT MUSTANGS, so ugly)

 

h8 u

Lol I wondered if anyone would bite.

  On 9/12/2018 at 5:41 AM, sheathe said:

Currently pining for a bass, thinking squire SS jag. Played today and it’s gotta be the best sounding bass for $200 (though i was playing through $1k of amp/cab...)

 

Ne1 into squire basses? (NOT MUSTANGS, so ugly)

My downstairs neighbor has (or had, I haven't seen it in a while) a Squier bass with upgraded pickups ad it's pretty nice.  I don't have it anymore but Ipicked up a MIM Fender bass back in the mid 2000s (when that cost about what a Squier costs now) and it was really nice, but I went to the biggest shop in town and chose the one nice one out of about a dozen of them.  The rule of thumb back then was cheap to mid priced Gibsons are just not that great for the price across the board (and the high end ones are comparable to something you'd get from an independent luthier for half the price), whereas with some setup and new pickups the less expensive Fenders can be just as good as the high end ones but they're inconsistent so you want to try a few and pick the best one.  Definitely worked for me, I played out with that thing a lot for a few years and never had trouble; a friend of mine who was a much more serious bass player than I ever was had a mid 80s custom shop G&L and the MIM bass I had played a bit better and sounded nearly as good.

No idea what they're like today but they were a good deal ten years ago and the squiers I've tried over the years (mostly guitars) were usually just as good if they'd been set up well and taken care of.

I mean, I played a used jag yesterday that was $209, but I can buy a new one in the color I like (I’m vain) for $200, tax free and free shipping. Still, mighty be better to go with something I know sounds good, since a setup will be $50 anyway.

First things first, have to sell my epi lespaul. Anyone in satx/atx area need one?

I used to play guitar in high school and a little tiny bit in college. The idea to get a guitar or bass again, leaning toward bass, (I realize they're very different) has been in the back of my head for a while. I haven't played in maybe 10 years, I'm a total dilettante, and I have no delusions of ever being any good. Here are the reasons I am interested in getting a bass (or maybe a guitar) again:

- Developing a modicum of actual musicianship, particularly a sense of phrasing which I feel I'm sorely lacking in
- Improving arm/finger strength (I hate gyms and do not work out so I could use something there)
- Brain elasticity
- Sample fodder (burps, farts, screeches, and thwacks as much as actual notes)
- Keeping musical momentum without having to get bogged down in the bullshit that always comes with electronic music
- Running it through effects, live sampling, etc.

My questions are:

- Are these good reasons to play bass/guitar, and if not, can you help point me in a more productive direction?
- What are some good brands of basses for a noncommittal dilettante like me that are tasteful but not super expensive (let's set the ceiling around, say, $500)? I'm assuming I would like a J-type bass since it seems better for sample fodder. Also I've read/heard that there are some really nice Korean brands that are very reasonably priced.
- Is direct good enough for bass or are there significant benefits to an amp? I am not planning on playing in a band, but I might bring it to a friend's place for a jam alongside his synths, beatboxes, Ableton, etc.

I'm in no rush to buy anything. If I get one, it probably won't be until next year.

Direct is great for bass if you have a bass amp modelling plug-in.  I only go direct for bass recording because it's so much simpler.  Bass direct is fine for ableton live/equivalent fuckery, no modeller needed.    For what you want to do, prob don't bother with an amp.

All good reasons, but if you have weak arms they will remain that way.  No one gets buff via playing any instrument other than drums.  Good for finger strength though.

I seem to recall some Fender basses being both cheap and good sounding.  But I'm totally out of touch there.  Best to go to a second hand store or keep an eye on the craigslist music instrument equivalent sites for your area.  Some ridiculously good deal is bound to come up.

The expressiveness and note access of guitar instruments is the best part. It's easy to affect the tone or make percussive or otherwise crazy noises, and even elaborate chord shapes are really simple and easy to move around on the fretboard. There's a directness that music making just loves. 

I've been having a look at basses in that price range and I would suggest looking into the Sire Marcus Miller line, the jazz version would be the V7. I'm getting the P7 five string as I prefer beefy tones, but they're fairly versatile basses. Here's an awesome video of the V7 getting shredded :

Thanks for the hints! That V7 looks and sounds great (although the latter is surely 99% the player).

Too bad about arm strength. I'll have to find some other ways.

Ended up ordering an acoustic, a Taylor GS Mini. It got great reviews and I loved the sound in videos. I like being free of electronics as well as the smaller size. Seems like it could help psychically ground me and get my eyes off the screen, both of which I need right now.

After 25 years my Korean ES-335 copy was due for a replacement. So I now own a PRS SE Standard (that’s their bargain bin model) 24. Very nice to play indeed.

Still debating what do to about amplification. I have a license for Amplitube 4 and it’s ok, but I’m wondering if a small 5w Marshall or just a Line6 device wouldn’t be better (and would free me from the computer).

I finally tried carnauba wax on the neck, and I can't recommend it enough.

Ive been playing for years, but never got that good until I went blind for a year. Sounds like a blues folklore ,but it's true. I had nothing else to do. I always loved playing guitar. 

But being blind really taught me how to focus on short passages and playing over and over slowly until they were right.  You have to love it. That goes with anything. I got my sight back now. I just do scales. occasionally Ill hear a song I want to learn, and try and really go the distance. 

Bass; Yes, Direct and some compression. I have a spectra sonics console myself. This here is a video by someone doing bass direct into a very high end pre and compressor (spectra sonic) Neve is good api is still good. There is a great underground diy API pre community out there for 500 rack. I think it sounds amazing, but Who am I? 

Heroin by Lou Reed, his guitar was supposedly also direct into a pre. I don't know for sure. Sounds really good though.

  On 8/24/2020 at 6:09 AM, marf said:

Ive been playing for years, but never got that good until I went blind for a year. Sounds like a blues folklore ,but it's true. I had nothing else to do. I always loved playing guitar. 

But being blind really taught me how to focus on short passages and playing over and over slowly until they were right.  You have to love it. That goes with anything. I got my sight back now. I just do scales. occasionally Ill hear a song I want to learn, and try and really go the distance. 

 

Bass; Yes, Direct and some compression. I have a spectra sonics console myself. This here is a video by someone doing bass direct into a very high end pre and compressor (spectra sonic) Neve is good api is still good. There is a great underground diy API pre community out there for 500 rack. I think it sounds amazing, but Who am I? 

Heroin by Lou Reed, his guitar was supposedly also direct into a pre. I don't know for sure. Sounds really good though.

 

 

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A lot of classic recordings were done direct to the desk, actually.  Bunch of the guitars on What's Going On were direct, jsut off the top of my head.