Our Mackie DL1608 Mixer has a frustrating flaw. And I have an inexpensive low-tech solution that works.
See that row of 16 gain knobs along the DL1608 back panel? They are super-low torque and easy to turn, which means that every time we transport the mixer between gigs and rehearsals, something gets bumped. More
In this article, Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars explains how the magnetic orientation and winding direction of single coil pickups affects their phase relationships and hum cancellation.
Thanks again to Pete for the permission to post this here!
Howdy!
In this newsletter I would like to cover how to “match” two single coil passive magnetic pickups. More
I’m often asked for advice on choosing volume/tone pot values for a particular guitar/pickup combination. My answer is usually “get a selection of component values, and experiment until you find what you like”.
I may also mention some general principals for working with passive guitar circuits: lower pot resistance will sound darker, while higher pot resistance will be brighter; larger tone capacitance will result in a darker sound; higher resistance pickups will be hotter but darker; etc, etc. More
I’ve been playing an Epiphone 1960 Les Paul Tribute Plus for the last couple years, and loving it. On a whim, I recently tried a couple of these unbelievably inexpensive Monoprice Route 66 guitars.
A couple weeks ago, my birthday rolled around, and I ended up purchasing a new Gibson 2013 Les Paul Studio. The Gibson is twice the price of my Epiphone and nearly ten times the price of the Monoprice. What are the differences? How do they stack up? More
A couple years back on my birthday, my family gave me a 2012 Epiphone 1960 Les Paul Tribute Plus. I love that guitar – and have played it nearly every day for two years. Aside from some cosmetic issues, the only real negative about the Tribute Plus is that it’s heavy- it’s a solid body with no weight relief. I’ve been playing many long gigs and rehearsals with my band the Drop Daddies, and the weight really does takes its toll. More
“Classic Vox Sound- standard on all Vox amplifiers” – Yes!
I saw this 2000 Vox equipment catalog on ebay, and had to share the pics.
They were going for a throwback, misogynistic vibe with this catalog. Amusing, horrifying, yes, all that and more. More
I mentioned in a recent post how frustrating it is to mix live sound with my band, The Drop Daddies. After helping a buddy’s band with their recent ballroom sound check and being stunned by how good their sound was- I became very motivated to research and assemble a new PA for our live rig. Well, the results are in. and the difference is astonishing! More
This was my old SKB PS-25 pedal board, mid-2012.
After the pedalboard power supply died last year, I purchased a Visual Sound 1 Spot, and continued using the old SKB just as a convenient velcro surface to hold my pedals.
As the Drop Daddies’ repertoire of cover tunes has expanded, so has my need to produce an ever-increasing variety of sounds. So my complement of pedals has gradually been expanding. I’m generally not a big fan of modelers, but I added the Zoom G3x for flexibility with delays, choruses and phasers, etc. It has a fairly sizeable footprint, so I pulled off my Ernie Ball volume pedal, since I could use the G3X for volume if necessary.
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As anyone who plays live guitar knows, the pedal board at your feet plays a big role in your performance. In addition to practicing your playing skills, you also need to carefully arrange the equipment at your feet and practice using them seamlessly in a performance. As the complexity of the pedal board increases, it becomes far more likely to make mistakes tap-dancing on the footswitches, or to get confused in the intensity of a fast-moving live performance. So anything that helps to simplify and better ergonomically arrange the pedals at your feet is going to improve the quality of your performance. And for my rig, a true bypass looper is just one of those things. Here’s why:
Modelers generally do a reasonable job with these types of effects, and it saves me having to fit a dozen single-purpose effects pedals on my pedal board.
Here’s a picture of my pedal board before the G3X. I had a noise gate, a couple types of overdrive, a compressor, wah. volume pedal, tuner, and a delay/looper (which fell off the side of the pedal board). I ran out of room for my chorus pedal, and I’m completely lacking reverb, pitch and any more esoteric effects. More