I just bought a soldering iron and a bunch of small tools and things to work on guitars. Gonna get my skills going for setting up guitars. Hopefully, I'll save money on regular guitar setups, but mostly just doing this out of curiosity and the DIY spirit, inspired by my Warmoth build.

Been a lot of "In and Out" the last 2 months.

IN lately:

Travis Bean TB2000 - sent a low offer to a seller and they took it - NICE. Earlier serial number/body shape.
Travis Bean TB1000s - Bad looking listing on eBay, but much cheaper than what I'm seeing them go for on the reg now. Picked it up and put in a little work to get it into fighting shape, but it's pretty slick now. It maaaaaay be a good candidate for a refret sooner rather than later - it's a 50 year old instrument!
Traynor YBA-3 - Picked this up and it needed some work (missing a power tube, grounded power cable, etc.) - stoked to pick it up this weekend.

I've lost track at how much I've sold at this point, but it's nice to be lessening the "amount" of gear and just going all-in on a few select pieces here and there.

Fun family shot of the Beans and the TBD500 I picked up last year for a steal.

That TB2000 bass body is GORGEOUS. Agreed on the smaller earlier body being the best.

A buddy borrowed mine for a minute to see if he wanted to go down that route. He said playing it felt like trying to hold a street lamp and play bass, but I think that neck profile just feels perfect to me now.

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Thu Jun 05, 2025 1:59 pm

Beautiful

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Thu Jun 05, 2025 1:59 pmthe TBD500 I picked up last year for a steal.

Do these things twang? Like a Tele? I realize this is an insane question.

tallchris wrote: Thu Jun 05, 2025 3:15 pm He said playing it felt like trying to hold a street lamp and play bass, but I think that neck profile just feels perfect to me now.

Yeah, it's definitely different from a Fender, but the overall shape is so similar to my old Ric that it never felt "off."

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Do these things twang? Like a Tele? I realize this is an insane question.

Not quite? Bridge position is incredibly bright but missing some of the "body" that would make it twangy. Middle position is delightfully honk-y and the neck position tends to be my home base for rhythm stuff.

TylerDeadPine wrote: Wed Jun 04, 2025 12:01 am
Matched seller description?

(Congrats)

makes noise, poops, prevents sleep= as described
5 stars

thecr4ne wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 1:06 am

TylerDeadPine wrote: Wed Jun 04, 2025 12:01 am
Matched seller description?

(Congrats)

makes noise, poops, prevents sleep= as described
5 stars

Nice - capture the whole thing as an IR. They convolute so fast, before you know it they're flat and dry.

Joyo American Sound - $22 used
Basically a direct rip off of those Tech21 pedals from a few years ago. I have the AC Tone one and it's absolutely fine, albeit hardly a substitute.

Main goal is to have a direct guitar solution that's ok/realistic enough for a guitar player to track their guitar part direct in a live room and then capture the direct signal to reamp later (or overdub w/ an actual amp).

I tested the AC one out live earlier this week at the live venue I work at and yeah, it was absolutely fine! I'm more into fender amps for guitars though so hard to say no to a $22 pedal.

Speaking of direct, the bass player used my SansAmp Bass Driver (V1) and it was hands-down THE BEST bass sound I've ever heard in this room. The Century guitar didn't hurt either. IDK. Fire sale on all of my amps I guess.

Garth wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 8:00 pm Joyo American Sound - $22 used
Basically a direct rip off of those Tech21 pedals from a few years ago. I have the AC Tone one and it's absolutely fine, albeit hardly a substitute.

Main goal is to have a direct guitar solution that's ok/realistic enough for a guitar player to track their guitar part direct in a live room and then capture the direct signal to reamp later (or overdub w/ an actual amp).

I tested the AC one out live earlier this week at the live venue I work at and yeah, it was absolutely fine! I'm more into fender amps for guitars though so hard to say no to a $22 pedal.

Speaking of direct, the bass player used my SansAmp Bass Driver (V1) and it was hands-down THE BEST bass sound I've ever heard in this room. The Century guitar didn't hurt either. IDK. Fire sale on all of my amps I guess.

Man yeah - those things were always pretty great if you took a bit of time. I had a bass player that used one into whatever power amp was laying around and he usually sounded better than most

I have the Caline Americana pedal, which is an even cheaper version of the Tech 21 jawn, and it's a totally fine pedal. I use it as a front end when I play guitar through my leslie to get some more spank on it. Internet seems to think that the Caline version has a lower noise floor than the Joyo, but I haven't A/B'ed.