Quite Late Wednesday LR, March 13

Thanks for your patience,
I was on the road today , freeways,flurries,ferries ...
It's good to be home.



I really need buy a new music computer /converter /software etc. My old mac G4 and PT digi001
stopped working reliably and even the software is useless since I no longer have the serial that was in the little 'getting started' book ( or it's buried in a box somewhere ).
So I've been trying to shed some gear to fund a new recording set-up. I've become a little wiser and
triple check gear in different configurations before I let it go, to lessen the chance that I'll be looking at pictures a couple years later thinking " How could I ever have let that go ?? " *see yesterday's LR...LOL

I try to remember that -

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If it's an amp I'll swap out tubes and speakers for a couple weeks, if it's a guitar or bass I'll play with strings a bit and A/B/C some amp combo's.
Well I figured I could let my cheapo import Ideal Hofner clone go for 75 bucks without any remorse.
I was wrong ...hehe.

One of my favorite amps surprised the hell out of me when I plugged in the Ideal bass (this is not a bass amp) and I found a killer organic very round comfortable bass tone.

The amp is a Dynacord Amigo, 2 - 8" speakers probaly about 10-15 watts . Killer for guitar, harmonica ( it reeeeely shines here, just the right amount of raunch )...and now the bass ; the flats with the simple microphonic pickups and hollow boy just gel perfect to make that Motown /reggae bottom end.

Moral of the story...make sure you spend as much time playing an instrument as you do thinking about it,
...thoughts are often a bit off the mark


I just started cleaning off years of crud on the Dynacord (dilute vinegar and a light touch is the trick),
so please ignore the crud that's still showing
Here's some pics:








...and like a smile, it can be understood in any language






I know Darwin was praising a newly set-up Tribby.
What instruments/ gear have you found to be way more musical than you expected ?

I'll augment this LR soon with some G&L content and pics, I need to get a quick meal in me
I think I'll try and post tomorrow's in the morning ( wish me luck ! ) in case I get pulled away again.

Elwood

Last edited by Elwood on Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hey Elwood, appreciate your dedication to the lunchtime report. I really like your advice play instruments as much as you think about them.Two things come to mind a cheap old Ibanez Martin copy I have had for a decade. I just don't need another acoustic. I picked up an Akai Deep Impact Bass pedal. Sounds out of this world . I must say I love my pedals , do they count as instruments?
regards
Anthony

Hey Elwood, appreciate your dedication to the lunchtime report. I really like your advice play instruments as much as you think about them.Two things come to mind a cheap old Ibanez Martin copy I have had for a decade. I just don't need another acoustic. I picked up an Akai Deep Impact Bass pedal. Sounds out of this world . I must say I love my pedals , do they count as instruments?
regards
Anthony

Oh yeah ,pedals count ! I've always wondered about those deep impact pedals...I see they never go for cheap.

My main player has a '77 ibanez silver series neck...it's just awesome. They knew what they were doin'

Did you research heat bends? I remember you asking about them re: your bass neck.
Best to leave that to the pro's...but it's worth it to bring back the playability.


elwood

Elwood, I have to hand it to you for some cool , old gear. That amp is awesome and I like the "vibrator" on the panel. Maybe that was a marketing ploy. I also like the add on control panel on the bass. The old Vox basses had that.

On the heating of the neck, are you referring to steaming a neck to straighten it? It can work. I had a Fender neck steamed and it fixed the bow.

Yes, I have been praising the Tribby. I just talked to Steve tonight and he is really baited on this one. It is really a player and looks new too boot. I will fess up as we like to make good buys, it was $250 with a hard shell case. At that price you can bust 'em on stage at a good paying gig. Keep it coming Elwood. I predict it will only get better!!! -- Darwin

For an amp a surprise came when I bought a Kalamazoo model two amp. Sound was great.
For a guitar it was maybe the best strat tone I have owned.....a 64 Fender Duosonic.

What instruments/ gear have you found to be way more musical than you expected ?

My biggest surprise was the SC-1. I was expecting a lot of fun, but the range of tones blew me away. My biggest pedal surprises were the Moogerfooger Lowpass Filter and Ring Modulator. I had very high expectations at their prices, but they deliver a lot more versatility than I ever dreamed of. The Lowpass Filter does wonderful things to the tone of a guitar or bass, much more "filter" than "lowpass". It's also a tremendous auto-wah, envelope filter, or even an extremely warm take on a wah-wah pedal with an expression pedal plugged in. Ring mods don't have a whole lot of usefulness on guitar and bass IMO, but the Moogerfooger turned out to be a phenomenal tremolo pedal at lower speeds. The two oscillators can give a pulsed, "tremolo through a tremolo" effect that's great on sustained chords or bass notes.

I picked up an Akai Deep Impact Bass pedal. Sounds out of this world .

Anthony, what do you think of the build quality on that pedal? I don't have any experience with Akai, but I've just started researching some of their drum machines and pad controllers.

Ken

Hey Ken, I'm not sure to the build quality I have'nt opened it up.I paid only$350 Australian for mine. Me and my mates , one who visits many 2nd hand shops obsessivly love pedals. He found me the Deep Impact and I am forever grateful.I'm a guitarist and singer who in a band situation switched to bass. I have a huge guitar rig pedal board. To cut a long story short the deep is in my top 3 pedals ever. It will always be my go to when I play bass . Every time I stomp on it people look around and say WTH is that incredible sound and where is it coming from. Versatile beyond belief, there are so many sounds . But only if you want to get your Bass to sound like a synth. my advice is hunt one down in a 2 nd hand shop cheaply and you'll have your one and only.
Anthony

"Amigo". "Vibrator". Brilliant.

Eleven years ago I paid $200 for an Ibanez Artwood dreadnaught that sounds almost as good as my $2000 Taylor. And back in '72, when all my gear was stolen, I would up buying a Univox Les Paul copy. I paid $200 for this bolt-neck cheapie, with its sunburst finish that was very pretty. The pickups were unique to this era, featuring open top coils. Obviously a budget guitar, but this guitar just had a wonderfully clear tone for humbuckers. Handle any style of music, through any amp. I used it off and on for many years even though I acquired better guitars. Oddly, it was also stolen.

Sometimes a guitar winds up being less than the sum of its parts...less than the spec sheet would indicate. And sometimes, a guitar becomes more than its pedigree. These guitars are truly a delight to find.

Bill

Sometimes a guitar winds up being less than the sum of its parts...less than the spec sheet would indicate. And sometimes, a guitar becomes more than its pedigree. These guitars are truly a delight to find.

Bill

Very eloquently put Bill

Hey Ken, I'm not sure to the build quality I have'nt opened it up.I paid only$350 Australian for mine. Me and my mates , one who visits many 2nd hand shops obsessivly love pedals. He found me the Deep Impact and I am forever grateful.I'm a guitarist and singer who in a band situation switched to bass. I have a huge guitar rig pedal board. To cut a long story short the deep is in my top 3 pedals ever. It will always be my go to when I play bass . Every time I stomp on it people look around and say WTH is that incredible sound and where is it coming from. Versatile beyond belief, there are so many sounds . But only if you want to get your Bass to sound like a synth. my advice is hunt one down in a 2 nd hand shop cheaply and you'll have your one and only.
Anthony

Thanks for the info Anthony! I will keep my eyes open. I think I've seen them used at my local shop before.

Ken