Reverend Charger. I was going to build a Warmoth custom Tele, but came across the charger that was basically the specs I had in mind and I even found one in a similar color that I wanted to get painted. It's got two humbuckers and even has Tele-style controls. The body is korina. It sounds similar to my Les Paul, maybe more "modern" and less vintage. The bass rolloff is a really great touch, making this guitar really versatile with OD and distortion pedals. The neck is roasted maple, feels amazing. This is everything I was hoping to get out of a second guitar and more.

This is the 4th Reverend I've owned: I've had a Double Agent, Sensei, and a Strat-style, I forgot the name. They are great guitars, I definitely say try them out if you're curious. (I regret selling the Double Agent!)

Mesa Boogie CabClone

You can plug your head in and run a line out or headphones without a connected speaker.

Seems good. The clean channel is very good. I’ve been struggling with my distortion and overdrive pedals. Still sounds better than most digital modellers.

If you want to plug your head in without a cab…. It does what it says on the tin.

I didn't buy it, but a friend dropped off a Traynor Voice Master with a cab this week since he doesn't have a space to play it. Is this at all comparable to Traynor guitar amps? Worth modifying?

flyinghouses wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 6:58 pm I didn't buy it, but a friend dropped off a Traynor Voice Master with a cab this week since he doesn't have a space to play it. Is this at all comparable to Traynor guitar amps? Worth modifying?

Assuming it's the tube version, yes, you can make a great sounding guitar head with that, especially since there's four channels of half-a-tube each to play with.

flyinghouses wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 6:58 pm I didn't buy it, but a friend dropped off a Traynor Voice Master with a cab this week since he doesn't have a space to play it. Is this at all comparable to Traynor guitar amps? Worth modifying?

Oh yes. I got one last year for my doom synths. Sounds great. Super loud

Being used to big ass amps and stuff in racks that you could half kick around… 500 stuff is a big change. It feels hefty and well-made, I would just be the idiot to screw it up.

cakes wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 5:25 pm

mdc wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 7:44 pm If you never change your strings and hate the sound of new strings, have you considered flats?

Flats sound so different and I don't like the way they feel.

If the coated doesn’t work out for you, have you ever tried pure nickel instead of nickel steel (which is sometimes called nickel-plated steel)? Pure nickel doesn’t have the super high end zing right out of the gate. It also changes its tone WAY less over time comparatively. Pure nickel is my personal preferred string type.

tommy wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2024 9:36 am

cakes wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 5:25 pm

mdc wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 7:44 pm If you never change your strings and hate the sound of new strings, have you considered flats?

Flats sound so different and I don't like the way they feel.

If the coated doesn’t work out for you, have you ever tried pure nickel instead of nickel steel (which is sometimes called nickel-plated steel)? Pure nickel doesn’t have the super high end zing right out of the gate. It also changes its tone WAY less over time comparatively. Pure nickel is my personal preferred string type.

I have never tried that, but I think I will now! Do you have a recommendation?

cakes wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2024 9:39 am

tommy wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2024 9:36 am

cakes wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 5:25 pm

Flats sound so different and I don't like the way they feel.

If the coated doesn’t work out for you, have you ever tried pure nickel instead of nickel steel (which is sometimes called nickel-plated steel)? Pure nickel doesn’t have the super high end zing right out of the gate. It also changes its tone WAY less over time comparatively. Pure nickel is my personal preferred string type.

I have never tried that, but I think I will now! Do you have a recommendation?

My favorite were actually Gibson Vintage Reissue when they made their own strings. The strings were super durable for heavy trem use and I like the 11-50 gauges. But I think D’Addario makes them for them now. The 11s are hard to find these days (10s much easier) and kinda pricey so I switched to Ernie Ball Classic Rock N Roll, which are fine. I don’t love the Fender ones, nor the DR ones. The Curt Mangan ones are good too if you’re feeling fancy. The Stringjoys I got took a long time to finally be stably in tune despite me always stretching strings when I change them. I’d say Ernie Ball ones are a cheap place to start to see if you like them. If I wasn’t cheap I’d probably always get the Curt Mangan ones. I have too many guitars for that to be practical.

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 9:34 pm

Being used to big ass amps and stuff in racks that you could half kick around… 500 stuff is a big change. It feels hefty and well-made, I would just be the idiot to screw it up.

Got to play around with the Sphere eq last night and it did exactly what I hoped. Background - the price was so good I figured I could try it and flip with minimal hassle if it didn’t work out. Sounds good, easy to use. There’s not a ton of info online and I’m not sure how wide the q is but the pots are stepped and everything moves up and down in 2 db increments. Supposedly people like them for mixing and mastering.

It seems like most cajun music has those high lonesome voices, and maybe it’s genetic or the pollen around here because that style of singing but way worse is most natural for me. Not so much that form, but you know, guys with higher voices. It’s a whole thing. I have a very very midrange voice, and when I’m singing and playing guitar the resonances can kind of get out of control. Like the Nnnn’s kill me. Way too goopy. I use to think my voice was sibilant, then I thought it was a high mid thing but I’m starting to understand that my problems start lower than I thought. Now I start cutting a little around 700-800 and then go from there. Depending on the track, I start looking at anywhere up to around 2000 after that. Cutting lower than 700 starts inviting other issues and I don’t think it’s as necessary. Still learning though.

The worst parts on a vocal track aren’t when I’m giving it a good level, but on the quieter parts, like if I’m not on the mic so good for a word or phrase. It’s generally nothing that would ruin a take unless something went wrong in other ways, but it’s kind of exacerbated when I sing and play guitar at the same time. That natural feel is impossible for me to replicate by doing the vocals later, but of course that’s got its own drawbacks w/ regard to mic technique. And then the wrong kind of bleed can cause phase issues which can fuck things up as well.

So I had been trying an Audioscape MEQ for this problem and it worked ok for that, but I’d rather save that for something else. I tried the Pultec trick on certain mid points and it didn’t really work for that. The Midas eq I posted about sucked for this. Just plain didn’t work. I think I miss the Audioscape EQP for the end of the chain but maybe just because I like the color of that.

The Sphere eq sounds very natural and has a lot of range for what I do. I had one pre compression for cuts cutting and one post compression for finishing. Mostly because I was just trying it out for the first time. Small boosts and cuts work great and though they’re subtle, they do what they’re supposed to without causing other problems. You can bring the eq in and out and the improvement is obvious without a lot of messing around.

Anyways, I’ve tried all sorts of mics and they all do job with their own idiosyncrasies. I think the only ones I ever truly hated was dumb stuff like a SM57 and a D112. The ones I thought I hated (KU5A) worked great the next time I tried them and I would use it for the next song. but I think I’m done trying to find a perfect vocal mic or whatever. Again, going vintage darker isn’t necessarily better, and finding a mic online based on how it handles resonances on a unique voice is way too specific. This is why people go to nice studios! Make it someone else’s problem.

Now I’m going to listen to Willie Nelson on headphones and stop fucking complaining. You know what also helps my voice? Adding other instruments. Practice.