mikhailgtrski

I was wondering if it was available premixed in a rattlecan ala ReRanch. But sure, I could mix my own if I had the formula. Forgot I have the StewMac book... I'll check to see if it has a recipe for Polar White.

Anyone have a source for Polar White (or something close) nitro lacquer? Fender Olympic White is available, but I don't know if it's a close match. I might be refinishing an SG in white under a nitro clear coat... thanks for any tips!

Actually, yes I am! Even if they're not breaking up, the tubes still contribute a certain roundness and warmth to the tone. I'll often use an attenuator (Ultimate Attenuator) to keep the volume down and still warm up those output tubes. Sometimes I'll use a clean boost/overdrive to push the front end instead, but it's not quite the same as winding up the master volume. I used to use a preamp - f/x - cabinet simulator rig. It sounded good to me at the time, but it doesn't hold a candle to a real old-school amp/cab rig. It's a bit of a load carrying two halfstacks, but that's why they invented hand trucks. It's really not much more than I carried before, with a large f/x + power amp rack, 2x12 cab and MIDI controller pedal. But whatever works for you! YMMV.

Nice! But where are the power tubes? I had a G-System for a few months - great f/x. I did notice that plugging into the input thinned out the tone a little. Sounded better when I bypassed the A/D converter by plugging into one of the stompbox loops. I sold it to finance another HIWATT head... I did end up buying the TC Nova delay and modulation stompboxes to feed the ((stereo)) half stacks.

Regular 16 - 14 ga. lamp/zip cord works fine, although I found a roll of Monster speaker cable (fancy zip cord ) at Home Depot that was fairly inexpensive and works well. As others mentioned, don't use guitar cable.

I would be careful (experiment on scrap first) using black with amber - you can easily end up with a funky greenish tinge. Very dark tobacco brown might be a better choice.

Usually, but definitely not always! Be careful - it's best to check the caps with a voltmeter to make sure they have fully discharged before you start poking around, even if they have bleed resistors installed. I've watched mine drain on a voltmeter, and it takes more than a -few- seconds to get to zero volts.

Metroamp Vintage Hiwatt Restorations WeberVST Torres Engineering Ceriatone Mojo Musical Supply

If they're just like the Gotoh 0648 they aren't locking AFAIK. String them up just like "standard" tuners, except poke the end of the string down the hole and wind 'er up. About 3-4 wraps should be plenty, methinks.

Like these? gotoh vintage locking tuners

For the wet/dry rig I'm using the HIWATT halfstack for the dry tone, and a line out from the speaker attenuator into the insert return on the G-System, which feeds a solid-state power amp powering the "wet" stereo 2x12 cab. It's different than a parallel f/x loop because it's completely post-amp. My experience tells me that digital time-based f/x usually don't do so well ahead of the power section of a tube amp (as in an f/x loop), especially if you crank it up to get the output tubes really warm and happy. Depending on how hard you run the V3 you might get decent results running your f/x (set to 100% wet) in the parallel loop. At least that way you're not running your entire signal through digital processors. But if the output tubes are pushed into distortion you'll probably get distorted/compressed delays and reverbs.

Even the really good digital stuff will muck it up to a degree... I went to a wet/dry stereo rig in order to have my cake and eat it too. Roadie not included.

I have its big brother, the e906. Found it on eBay for about $140, new but opened package. Excellent for micing speaker cabs, has less presence peak than (and is a nice complement to) an SM57.

Hughes & Kettner RedBox.

Just installed a pair of Smits humbuckers, the CC-2 set. Much, much nicer than the Seymour '59s I've been using for years. smitsparts.com