Ultimate Guitar/Bass thread!

[mardigian]

Originally Posted by cKy1711

Well after countless hours of Guitar hero i've been inspired to actually pick up a real guitar, i think im going to go with the cheapest i can get and just learn and once i practice more and find out i enjoy it i will make a good investment in one. Would you say guitar is a hard instrument to learn?

that's good and bad. because you might get a guitar that sucks so much you'll hate playing. for example, if you buy a guitar with a bowed neck, warped body, or crappy tuning pegs it will be giving you a hard time. adversely, if you hate guitar, you would be glad you didn't invest too much into it. if I were you, I would look to spend around $300 on a guitar. you can get something decent for that price. look at the Epiphone guitars. I think you can get the Epi replica of a Gibson SG which is a great beginner guitar. I would also recommend a Roland Cube amp. it's a "modeling amp" which means it digitally changes the sounds drastically from one setting to another, so you can get a feel for what you like.

here's some links for the amp and guitar I mentioned. of course, you can always find them cheaper if you're willing to go used.
here's the SG, this is actually the better version of the model I was thinking off. it doesn't have a glossy finish, so it's $100 cheaper
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...tar?sku=518669
here's the Roland. it's 15 watts, which is definetely enough for a practice amp, and they're considered by many to be the best amp in it's price range and class.http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Amp?sku=487030

Originally Posted by Desolate Heart

I plan on playing mainly electric. I don't like how acoustic guitars sound.

listen to Johnny Cash to know what an acoustic sounds like. it's really all to it's own. there's digital effects out there that are supposed to recreate the tone of an acoustic for an electric, but they don't work that well.

[mardigian]

PS- Desolate Heart, that dark blue letter color on a black background makes it near IMPOSSIBLE to read without highlighting it!

[Desolate Heart]

I do listen and like Johnny Cash. And sorry about the colour. I Really Like Indigo coloured font!

[mardigian]

I've got the winning bid on a Peavey Valveking head on eBay right now. it still has 14 hours to go, so I don't know if I'm going to win it? it's a good head. nothing mesa-like, but pretty damn good for it's price tag.

also looking around at an Epiphone SG G-400. upgrade the pups and get a pro set-up and then it'll sound like Gibson country. they use all the same parts and woods.

[mardigian]

Classified

selling my Schecter Triple X guitar w/Hard shell case. check out http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...r/C-1+XXX/10/1 for full rundown of specs and user reviews.

the only reason I'm selling it is because selling this will probably be the only way to get into a price range to afford a Peavey XXX head.

the guitar is MINT. I'm a totall asshole about my gear. nobody touches it except me. it doesn't have any cosmetic damage or anything wrong with it at all.

looking to get $500 OBO. PM me for more detail.

[IV_Tear116]

Originally Posted by mardigian

don't bother with the acoustic. it's a cheaper investment, but will make learning harder. unless you buy a great acoustic, they're generally a little harder to play, plus there's virtually NO access to the upper frets.

All I have right now is a cheap ass acoustic. I let my bro use my Ibanez and try to fuck around with it to make the trem a little less bitchy, but I haven't seen him in a good year... Plus, guitar isn't my main instrument, but if I wanna learn something or come up with a new riff to bounce off the rest of the band, it works out great... I need new strings though... I always forget to pick em up, and I am missing my G... Oh yeah, I coincidentally forgot to mention they've been on there at least 1 1/2 years... Tee hee hee

[mardigian]

^invest the $5 in new strings. the G is very nice. lol.

checking out my tax return. firstly, I'm contributing most of it to getting a new car for me and my gf (mostly for her. her car is near dead). but I'm going to retain $300-400 for new equipment. I already have some cash in the fund for a new half stack. I think I'm going to go with a B-52 cab. new they're $400, which I can talk some douche at guitar center down to $300 on (presumably) and considering multiple choices on heads. if I can find a deal, I'm thinking a Peavey XXX or possible Mesa Single or Dual recto. if not, possibly a Peavy Valveking and maybe some cash leftover for a Fernandes Ravelle X (don't know what they are? check them out, they're fucking sick for $300!) and drop the patented JB/Jazz combo in it.

anyone else plan to use some/any/all of thier tax return to get some new gear? any opinions on my plans? feedback is always fun, like licking chocolate off a trash can lid.

[IV_Tear116]

Originally Posted by mardigian

^invest the $5 in new strings. the G is very nice. lol.

checking out my tax return. firstly, I'm contributing most of it to getting a new car for me and my gf (mostly for her. her car is near dead). but I'm going to retain $300-400 for new equipment. I already have some cash in the fund for a new half stack. I think I'm going to go with a B-52 cab. new they're $400, which I can talk some douche at guitar center down to $300 on (presumably) and considering multiple choices on heads. if I can find a deal, I'm thinking a Peavey XXX or possible Mesa Single or Dual recto. if not, possibly a Peavy Valveking and maybe some cash leftover for a Fernandes Ravelle X (don't know what they are? check them out, they're fucking sick for $300!) and drop the patented JB/Jazz combo in it.

anyone else plan to use some/any/all of thier tax return to get some new gear? any opinions on my plans? feedback is always fun, like licking chocolate off a trash can lid.

Our guitarist Ben has about $650 saved up for a half stack... We went to Henri's (the only local store) and they had a pretty good deal I wish he would have taken... There was a big ol' Crate cab for $300 (Nothing to show how many watts, but it was probably 150) and a nice head (fuck me for forgetting what it was) for another $300. Sucks that they went back the week after and the head wasn't on sale anymore, it went back up to $550... He is just trying to find a nice one, which we don't mind what he gets, as long as it is louder than the 15 watt Marshall he used to have to play with

[mardigian]

FUCK CRATE! don't EVER buy Crate! everything they make is ass! even thier "best" tube head, the Blue Voodoo is shit. I had one and it fucking burned up. I found out later it's pretty common place for those things to just fry out, and it's cheaper to just buy a new one at that point. fuck'em.

there solid state shit sucks too. crappy tone and they make the worst speaker cabs I've ever used. I will NEVER buy anything with the Crate name on it.

tell your friend to go Peavey. he can get a Peavey Windsor head for around $300, which is all tube. the overdrive is weak, but you can just get an Ibane tube screamer and your problem will be solved.

I extensively tried the Peavey ValveKing head today, matched with a Peavey 6505 cab and it sounded damn fine, especially considering the 6505 cab didn't have celestians or any notable brand speaker in there. I can understand why metal heads dog the amp. there isn't quite enough gain to play death metal, but it can easily handle hard rock/power metal tones. the gain boost wasn't very impressive but I didn't mess with it too much. when I stepped two feet to my left and tried a Peavey XXX, I really can't say I heard $800 of difference. of course the XXX has more features and wattage, but nothing I need. I just want good tone and ample headroom, the Valveking should be just fine for that.

also, my gf got me a Duncan JB/Jazz combo for my Ibanez Iceman. I'll try to get them set-up in there within a week.

[mardigian]

new amp.

I FINALLY bought a new amp yesterday! due to fund restrictions my choices were somewhat limited as I had a budget of about $800. my biggest requirement was that it was all tube, no solid state. and I was leaning towards a combo amp as it's really not necessary to own a halfstack unless you want features that may be exclusive to a head unit.

for the past month I've been trying to locate a Peavey 5150, XXX or 6506 combo but to no avail. either they sold for more than I wanted to pay on eBay, or I simply couldn't find them in the state.

so I went to the local peavey dealer and checked out the Valveking amp. at first I played the head through a 6506 cab, which was loaded with Sheffield speakers and it sounded damn nice. then I tried the combo and the overdrive wasn't nearly as defined. but I knew going in that the VK speakers are shite. it's the biggest slam on the amp.

but the cleans were quite remarkable. I thought it did that best.

so I ended up picking up the 212 combo for $520, more than $100 under sale price. honestly, I jewed the shit out of the salesman. I even made him knock another $15 off just for not having the original box in came in!

so the amp has it's pros and cons after a night with it.

pros:
-has gain, volume and brightness boosts via button on amp or footswitch
-shimmering cleans, blows away any high gain amp
-the combo is 100 watts! usually combo's power rating is cut in half, this has the full strength of the head unit
-A/B texture switch. it's a knob on the back that can scale back the output level of the head, so it will push harder at lower volumes, giving you sweet tube tone sooner.
-dual inputs, effects in/out the usual deal
-ohmage switch. it can be set to 4, 8 or 16 ohms in case you want to run into a cab.
-definetely a band amp

cons:
-does NOT come with a footswitch! WTF Peavey?
-footswitch costs $30! WTF peavey?
-stock speakers blow ass, must be replaced with celestians ASAP!
-too much power for a home practice amp. seriously, I had the master and level volumes at 1 apiece and the floor still shook!
-overdrive channel has something left to be desired.
-feedback...bleh.

so, the amp has it's faults, most of all being the overdrive. given, I haven't cranked it in a band setting, where it would sound better. I plan to retube it and install new speakers, so that should have a remarkable effect on it.

I am playing my Ibanez IC300 Iceman in it, which has the stock AX humbuckers in it. I already have a Duncan JB/Jazz combo, I just haven't gotten it installed yet. that will also pick up the tone.

the overdrive channel is odd. it's not that there isn't enough gain there it's that it doesn't sound balanced enough for me. hopefully the prior said changes will even that out, and I'm bidding on a Bad Monkey overdrive pedal (modded) and an EQ pedal to provide additional help there.

overall I would give the amp a 7/10. it isn't the best sounding amp on the market but it has a lot of features and is definetely the best in it's price class.