G.A.S.

[Bruce C.Fremont]

Gear and stuff....How about a thread on gear. We all Got it. G.A.S. that is. Personally I got so much I wouldn't even know where to start. Maby a thread on guitar tech would be helpful.

Well to start this off I'll just mention what I use for my main stay. Guitar would be a PRS custom 24, if I break a string I pick-up my Telicaster Fat. For most gigs and jams I plug into a stereo rig Line6 Flextone 11. If things get big I use a transformer controlled x-y box and add my Fender Super Amp. Love the Fender more then anything (nothing beats tubes) but for Jams and the like It don't get its tone until its on **BURN** so I find the Line6 to have more control, plus I dont need no stomp pedals.
OK step up. Who's next !!!!

[Bruce C.Fremont]

Barbara, sorry to hear you and Cliff are feeling low. I've had a cold for a while too. I guess it's that time of year. Last night the jam went really well, some new faces and everyone sounded great.

[Garth Osborn]

Hi Bruce. I also think a gear thread would be both fun and useful.

Yeah, your Line 6 rig sounds pretty good with the PRS.

I've had GAS since 9th grade. My list of gear is pretty small. When I show up to a jam (or a gig, for that matter), what you see is what I got. The Standard Strat, loaded with Fralin Vintage Hots, my small pedal board and my Laney VC-30 amp.

For acoustic stuff, I have a Breedlove AC25 (Korean built), which I absolutely love to play. I mainly keep it in standard tuning. For open tuning and slide stuff, I use an old "lawsuit era" Takamine F-310 with a Duncan single coil soundhole pickup. It sounds great for blues, but doesn't really sound authentically acoustic for fingerpicking stuff or chord work. But pretty close. For any acoustic shows I'd play (and I intend to get rolling soon), I really need 3 acoustic guitars, each in a different tuning. Standard tuning, open D for slide stuff and DADGAD for celtic style noodling.

Electric guitar-wise, I'd really like to have one set up just for playing slide. I'd play slide a lot more if I didn't have to constantly retune my Strat. I play slide in open G, basically. I simply drop my high E to D and there ya go. That way I can still do chord forms and play decent rhythm and get the appropriate slide licks in. I've tried playing slide in standard tuning but it's just not the same as good old open G.

Yeah, man, nothing beats a tube amp. I played a Peavey Classic 50-410 for 7 years or so. Loved that amp, but got tired of lugging the beast around. So I parted with it and after a lot of research, bought the Laney VC30. Class A, 30 British watts, EL-84 power tubes. I love EL-84 powered amps. The Laney is portable, has an awesome clean channel and gets LOUD if I need it to. 30 watts is plenty for a loud jam session, and the tubes get right up to the "BURN" level without blowing eardrums out.

Electric guitar-wise, there are a couple I wish I could afford. A Les Paul Deluxe, with the mini humbuckers. An ES-335. And a reissue Telecaster Custom. And probably a few more Strats for good measure!

But I'm really pleased with my minimalist rig. I've got the Strat right where I want it, it's a solid, great playing guitar, even for being the low level Mexican built variety. It almost never goes out of tune and the Fralin pickups are amazing.

[Bruce C.Fremont]

Hey Garth, glad you jumped in. Ain't nothing wrong with those MIM Strats and Fralins kick butt. Know what you mean about the Classic 50, my Fender must weigh 80lbs. Breedlove AC25 ......Cool !!!
So who else has ""Bad G.A.S.""""

[Bruce C.Fremont]

Hey Glen, Was that you last night playing that Airline through Jeff's amp. Now that was monster creamy tone and killer slide.

[Garth Osborn]

Hi Glen,

Thanks for your kind words. I, too have heard that "tone is in the hands." And I agree with that. I mean, a player's touch is the ultimate determination of tone. The mechanical things factor in, too...strings (new or old, gauge), pickups (single coils, humbuckers), amp type, cheap or good cables, etc.

Your Eastwood sounded awesome last week at Grover's. Maybe see ya there tonight.
Garth

[Garth Osborn]

I've always got a bad case of GAS. And since I'm kicking off the FRONT PORCH ACOUSTIC JAM & open mic at Grover's tonight, I'm gassing for a resonator guitar to give the blues some really organic and zingy tones.

Acoustically, I use my Breedlove AC25SM in standard tuning and the old Takamine F-310 with the Duncan soundhole pickup for slide and open tuning stuff. The Tak sounds great for slide, but not quite as organic as I'd prefer for the non slide acoustic stuff in open D.

Sometimes I tune the Breedlove to open G for an occasional slide tune, but I try not to change tunings on that guitar so much, as it tends to break strings if I retune too often.

Still getting over this nearly week-long illness that has kept me from feeling my best. I think I can sing okay. I'm hoping the smoke won't rekindle the congestion I"ve been fighting.

Ozzie G

[Bruce C.Fremont]

Garth, I played a resonator for some time. I would tune to open "E." Never could seem to get it together with other tunings. You sure can get "Old Timey" on a resonator. Listening to your style a resonator would be a good mix in your hands. Go for it.

[Garth Osborn]

Egads, a resonator!! Me wants one. I was watching the Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits guitar/vocalist) and Emmylou Harris DVD - All The Roadrunning. Knopfler plays a brass body resonator on a few tunes. An amazing player, he. If I had a resonator, I'd probably do my "semi-G" tuning, just drop the high E to D and pretty much omit the low E string when playing...open G. But I really like open D. Matches my voice pretty well. Open E is cool, too. But easier for me to tune a couple strings down than tune 4 up.

[Garth Osborn]

Currently, I'm really wanting a second electric guitar, one that I can keep tuned down for playing slide. I'd play a lot more slide if I didn't have to retune. I've played some in standard tuning, but it's much easier for me to play slide in open G. There are a couple of basic slide licks that I just can't get to sound right in standard tuning.

So I'm probably gonna try to get a Telecaster, so that when I switch guitars, I don't have to adjust the amp to compensate for a guitar with hot pickups. I had a real nice Samick SG for a couple years that I used mostly for slide, but the humbuckers were quite a bit hotter than my Strat's single coils, and it caused problems volume-wise for me a few times.

Yeah, a really RED telecaster with a maple fretboard...

[Bruce C.Fremont]

Garth, I just love Telis. Ive got a pretty nice one with a humbucking in the neck and teli style in the bridge. Action is to low for slide, Mapel neck. It does have great tone and plays like butta. I got a guitar you might be interested in. Its a early 60's cheepo Kay with a giant single coil pickup in the middle of the guitar. The action is very high and perfect for slide. It is solid body with a wooden bridge like the old Dan Electro's. This thing has the perfect Raw Electric Slide tone. I'll try and bring it to one of the jams so you can see what I mean about using old junker Japanese guitars for electric slide.

[Garth Osborn]

Hi Bruce,

I'm not gonna make it to the Thursday jam tonight (2/7/08). Really sore and tired from work and I have to be in at 6 am tomorrow, and have a bunch of laundry to do. Hell, maybe playin' some blues is REALLY what I need!!

Anyway, I actually prefer a fatter humbucker type tone for slide, but I want something that's about the same output of my Strat, basically low output single coils. And I might put a humbucker in the neck position anyway.

Your Tele sounds sweet. You oughta bring that one of these nights.
Garth

[Bruce C.Fremont]

OK folks. Fender "Super Amp" project. This is not a Super Reverb. This is 1994 Pro Tube series Super Amp. The same guts as a Concert Amp in a Super Reverb Cabinet with 4/10" Jensen Blue Devil Speakers. These amps were made in the Carona CA factory under the guise of Pro Tube/Custom Shop from 1993 to 1995. Very short run low number production. I bought one new in 1994. Around 2000 Line6 came out with the Flextone 2 series so I got one of those and sold the Fender. Lighter weight and built in effects was attractive to me. It didn't take long to realize that the modeling amp just didn't have the "" it "" the way the all tube Fender had "" it "" tone wise. I went on a quest to find another. After about 2 years of searching I found this amp on E-bay. Super clean, well cared for, looks like out of the box new. I contacted the seller, a pawn shop in Minnesota. We made a deal and by-passed e-bay. The spookie Part is this. When he told me the serial number it was one number past my old one. This amp was literally the next one on the production line. Found my original amps brother on the other side of the country. Ain't that a piece of toast. Well When I got it it just didn't sound the same. Treble to bighty, breakup sounded like a cheap stomp peddle, reverb totally sucked, could not find a sweet spot tone wise at any volume. OK this amp is designed around the old 4/10 bassman circuit with the addition of reverb, 2 gain stages, effects loop with mix control, and switchable 12db cut on the input 50watt output. Well I finally got around to dismantling the beast and found a broken spring in the reverb tank, bad reverb pot, two burnt resistors, leaking cap in the mid section of the clean channel and a lovely mix of tubes. Original Fender 6L6 power tubes, origional Fender/Sovtek in the reverb, JJ in the rectifier, and Electro Harmonics in the rest of the valves. What the heck it is 14 years old and who knows how many owners it has had. Made the necessary repairs and then consulted the great folks at Eurotubes in Portland, . Spoke to Jay Haygood and Bob Pletka from Eurotubes. These guys know tubes and tone. They were familiar with my amp and circuit and came up with a combination of tubes based on my descriptions of my playing style and desired tone. JJ 6L6GC for power, ECC83S gold pin short plate for V1, ECC83S for V2 and 5, ECC81 for V 3 and 4, and finally ECC83S Balanced for V6. Well what a difference. Great tone, sweet spot, predictable breakup, smooth creamy fat, great reverb, no more microphonics, no more ear splitting treble buzz. Well I used it at the Northside last night and the general consensus was the old girl sounded like a Fender should. This is a large and loud amp. The sweet spot is a little louder then I want. With the amp volume on 3 I can control clean to lead growl from the guitar and that is what I like. Volume on three with 4/10s and 50 watts is still a little loud for club work but this is the setting it needs to be on for the "sweet spot". The next modification will be a slightly lower output Hammond output transformer. The amp still has the original Jensen speakers so when I got the bucks I plan on installing 2/25 watt Weber Ceramic Speakers in the bottom Bass and Shimmer and 2/25 watt Weber Alnico speakers in the top for break-up and mud. I would also like to install Webber "Beam Busters" to smooth out the close in highs for the poor souls sitting in the front row. So far so good. I'll keep ya'll posted when I get the rest of the mods done. Might be a while though them transformers and speakers ain't cheep.