mikhailgtrski

Blue is my favorite color, except when it comes to guitars. I make an exception for this beauty.

Rush/Alex Lifeson - Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres - bridge between II: Apollo Bringer of Wisdom and III: Dionysus Bringer of Love

Rush/Alex Lifeson - La Villa Strangiato

Rush/Alex Lifeson - 2112 - VI: Soliloquy

Rush/Alex Lifeson - Chemistry

(are you noticing a trend here?)

Rush/Alex Lifeson - Xanadu

McAuley Schenker Group/Michael Schenker - I Don't Wanna Lose

McAuley Schenker Group/Michael Schenker - Rock 'Til You're Crazy

Dokken/George Lynch - Heaven Sent

Peter Frampton - Lines On My Face

Peter Frampton - Do You Feel Like We Do (the lines before he kicks in the talkbox)

It's basically in the same spot as the one on all my Telecasters, which works fine for me, I like it there.

And it's only slightly north of a standard Warmoth placement.

That bookmatch joint looks fine from here... good call on saving her from the WOD. Nice job on the blue.

If you're referring to the order of notes, A-C#-E (1, 3, 5) and A-E-A-C#-E (1, 5, 1, 3, 5) are both an A major chord.

The second one is an inversion (don't ask me which) with some added octaves (A and E). This is common for guitar, since it's not always physically possible to fret the notes in order. If a chord doesn't sit quite right, sometimes substituting an inversion will work better.

But he just bought a little box off a guy on ebay, it plugs into the effects loop and gives him better volume control. Not sure how it works, but he can overdrive the power tubes now, without the volume.

I saw a thread about one of those boxes, can't remember if it was here or another forum.

Glad it works for your guitarist, but it's unlikely that it's actually allowing him to push the power tubes any harder. The f/x loop is always pre-power amp (think about it - you'd fry the f/x with power amp voltage levels). That box is probably just a volume pot in an enclosure.

I used to do something similar with the input/output volume controls on an SPX-90 delay/reverb, inserted in the post-master volume f/x loop of a Marshall head. It was easier to dial in the volume level (Marshall volume controls are notoriously touchy at low settings) and it did seem to thicken the tone up a bit. But it certainly wasn't due to the power tubes working harder.

If it's just for practice, then I'd say anything 15 watts + should be plenty. A 1x12 would work.

A 2x12 won't necessarily be louder, but it will spread the sound better. Plus you can get some cool multi-speaker phase cancellation. Will you be miking it through a PA?

My 5-watt Lexicon is quite loud on its own, but I wouldn't hesitate to use a larger amp (hence the Hiwatt 100 build) because I use a load box and re-amp the signal so I have control over the volume (and I can place the f/x after the power amp).

Yes, there is a small separation between the halves, I was using CA glue to join them, usually I have a little time to do any adjusting I need, but those halves were only about 1/8" and dried almost immediately on me, but I think it looks worse in the pic than it really is, the guitar is 75% done now, and you really can't see that anymore.

Sounds like you are slipping Drak! A small gap, is a gap none the less. WOD it.

Say it ain't so! Obviously some "please don't trash it" newbie has somehow forded the moat, scaled the Castle wall, slithered past a slumbering WOD, and (horror of horrors) poisoned the mind of the Dark Master.

but maybe thats due to the cost. I say spend as much as you can and get a tube amp. You'll be happy you did.

+1

But for $400 your choices in tube amps are limited. You can find THD Univalves on eBay for $650-$850, great sound and good value. Of course, that's just the head - no cab.

If you have the electronics chops, you can always go DIY and build an AX84 or an 18-watt Marshall clone.

Or go for the gusto like I'm doing - a full-blown Hiwatt DR103 clone. It's costing around $650 + tubes and fancy faceplates.

Mike

The Music Man is a "combo" amp, power section is tubed (mine has EL34's) and preamp part is SS. However the earlier 210 Sixtyfive's used a 12AX7 vaccuum tube to drive the preamp.

Hmmm... I had always assumed mine was all-tube (it's been quite awhile since I parted with it) but now that I've researched it, I think it may have been the early version with the 12AX7 tube phase inverter (drives the power tubes, not the preamp). It still sounded pretty good.

My first real amp was a Music Man HD130 combo.

I used it back in the day with the garage band, playing Rush, Scorpions, UFO, MSG, plus some obligatory early 80's pop for school dances. It's pretty versatile, nothing like a Fender Twin. Crank up the gain and the master for some good crunch, and back off the guitar volume to clean it up. It has a 1/2 power switch on the back. I replaced the original speakers with Celestion G12-65s.

Anyway, food for thought if you want to go a bit old-school.

...Or you can just go ask Mike at KCA Tubes...

+1 excellent advice.

IMO - NOS tubes generally sound better and are of much higher quality than most of the new production available, although some of the new stuff is improving. A lot of guys at the metroamp forum like the JJ EL34 for their Marshalls/clones.

I have 3 sets of EL84s - Sovtek, Watford "Harma STR" (NOS Ei, I suspect), and NOS Tesla. They all sound different to me when the amp is cranked (the Teslas are my favorite). At lower power amp settings the differences aren't as apparent.

KCA is an excellent choice. I told Mike I wanted some slightly warmer sounding EL84s with a later breakup, and he turned me on to the Teslas.

You never know exactly what you're getting on eBay. Hit and miss.

You probably won't much in the way of low end rumble, but it should be perfectly fine for low-volume practice.

I've played my 5-string through my 2x12 guitar cab at low volume without hurting anything. Now, if I cranked it up and blasted away on the low B...

Mike

Thanks for the review... It does seem that most of the attenuators out there tend to sound better as a load box/DI than they do as bedroom-level attenuators. I'm guessing you don't have the eq compensation issues when you're re-amping a DI signal.

I've tested my Lexicon straight into the cab vs. the DI/slave output through my Valvestate power amp - don't hear much difference at all... if anything I prefer the DI setup.

Very nice. Can't wait to see it lacquered and buffed out.

I'm pretty happy with my Weber MASS.

I've been looking at those. Are you using it as an attenuator or a load box/DI? How does it compare tone-wise with the straight amp ---> cab sound?

It's a different ballgame now - my Lex is only 3 watts/side and its little built-in 5W resistive loads work fine. A dimed Hiwatt will probably pump out 180 watts.

a deep red figured finish

I was recently told by my guitar teacher that had used a ebony fretboard and would leave black crap all over his hands and felt chalky...

I love the darkness, and I might just blacken some rosewood if that really is the case for ebony..

I've never had that problem with an ebony board - maybe he had a lower-grade piece of ebony that had been dyed black - poorly.

FWIW I prefer the look, feel, and sound of rosewood (undyed).

I decided to go DIY... ordered a chassis for a Hiwatt clone this morning.

Figuring around $650 for all the components except the box, custom faceplates and tubes... that's about what I'd spend on a used THD. Nearly half the cost is in the iron - Hiwatt/Partridge clone transformers from Heyboer.

Of course, now I'll have to buy/build a load box that will handle all that raw power.

Mike

I'd like to get the bass out by the end of the year so I can tackle my wife's Les Paul. Having a beastie hung up to dry does nothing for my patience!

Lacquer the bass, hang it up, then start on the wifey's axe. No patience required.

I don't think so... you'll probably get increasing single-coil hum the farther from center you go.

.o47 cap standard for Humbuckers Ok thats cool now can I chang the cap and put something in that will soffen the twang? and truning the tone down makes the thing sound Flat and twangy

Sounds like a Corian nut, but that would only affect the sound of open strings.

Somebody correct me if I'm off the mark here, but the changing the cap won't have any effect if the tone pot is all the way up.

Changing the volume pot to a 250k should warm it up a bit. A different pickup could help. I'm guessing the 17k (wow) Ibanez has a ceramic magnet. An alnico 2 or 5 pickup should fatten it up some.

But, yeah, it could be just naturally bright due to the body/neck woods, and you can only do so much with electronics.

I think I'll sanding seal the body and use rattlecan clearcoat.

I started with rattlecan, then switched over after 5 coats when I got my compressor. You can get a good finish with the 'cans, it's just takes more work. Personally, I'd skip the sanding sealer and just spray some light lacquer coats to seal in the dye.

seven months?!? jesus..

I ment "3d" because no matter how I take pictures, that "3d" look to some flamed maple never comes out in pictures like it does in person.

awesome finish though..

That's seven months including experiments, downtime, and Other Things To Do. It really could be done in a week or two, plus a month + for curing.

I think that's about the best "3D" pic I have. Perhaps a video clip... or 3D glasses would help? The figure really shifts when you move it in the light.

Four months? More like seven for the finish, eighteen for the whole project.

Real Life and Other Things To Do conspire to thwart Progress.

(still not 100% - but it's getting regular playing time anyway. )

thats the exact color I want for my pick guard. let me get this straight,

you did a red/blackish stain sanded it back so it was just in the grain, then individual coats of red/brown/yellow? im confused..

have a reall 3D view to it?

like this?

There's no black at all... tobacco brown, cherry red, lemon yellow. The recipe is here in my tortoise shell thread. Depending on the light it either looks more reddish or more brown, kind of a cool effect.

Mike