Sorry to hear that. Fuck cancer

Todge, you in a hat is weird? You actually look like someone i know from around here.

I don't like wearing hats. They're hot and uncomfortable

I have a cheap soldering iron, a shaky hand and a sharp knife.

I am looking for that particular angle, yes. And I noticed the pickguard thing (even with the cover off the Strat pickup is a tiny bit too large.) So I'mma hit up the guitar store on my way downtown and see what, precisely, they can offer me before I fuck up a perfectly good Tele pickguard.



Show's on a Saturday, which works well. The place is a questionable-smelling shithole (Docs are my footwear of choice for this venue; my nice dress shoes would be tempting fate) with a quality PA (Crest Century console, QSC amps, JBL mains and subs) and they always have Maker's Mark on hand at a reasonable price. Incidentally, the men's room is plastered with Garda stickers. Which would be funnier if they were Irish.

With a rusty iron dildo.

Sounds like my kinda place

Figured I'd just chuck this in here.

Thinking about possibly snagging this. Price looks good, but from what I can tell they don't have external speaker outputs? I also dunno if this is a newer or older one because my limited knowledge, ad don't say. Would modification be simple or even possible..? I am sure the single 12" speaker is loud enough on it's own, but I would like to be able to run it with the 2x10 simultaneously.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/msg/3306934241.html

It's a good place to catch a rockshow in Buffalo. Or a goth/'80s/indie dance night, for that matter. Also, they make a proper Manhattan with bitters, which most places around here do not do.

The guitar store did not have an appropriate Tele pickguard, sad to say. So I'll have to acquire one somewhere else. (They did have a nice tortoiseshell Strat guard with a humbucker bridge in their bocks o' pickguards... Now I just need a decent humbucker. Still kicking myself for not buying that Duncan Custom Custom for $35...)

...and the hardcore band next door to me decided to roll in and rehearse whilst I was gonna cut vocals. I need to show up at like 7 AM on a Tuesday or something for that, I'm starting to think. But, I did manage to get a few things done after waiting for the Rode NTK to warm up (and consuming delicious delicious black bean enchiladas). Like try out the HD201s as tracking 'phones (like the sound, but damn, Chris, they are quiet compared to my usual 'phones). And experiment with mic pres a bit. I set up something the other day and confirmed that I like it: running out of one of the modded AMEK channel strips into the line in on my ART DMPA (the big ugly 2-rackspace thing with the gold faceplate that actually sends a proper 300v to the tubes) with the old Sylvania 12au7 in there that I like better than the NOS Mullards. I didn't get the chance to fuck around with the gain staging like I'd like to here, but I get the very obvious coloration from the old t00bs- the two sound nothing alike separate even at very moderate levels not pushing the gear at all- and the ART used as a line amp... makes a nice "field expedient" compressor/limiter. Don't be scared to drive those VU meters into the red on the loud screamy bits now. I wish I had time to do more than warm up my voice and dick with the setup.

Doing shit like that makes me miss having a real console and real outboard. Even if it was just a boring old Mackie desk with my guitar rack and shitty live sound gear and I was too young/stupid/naïve to really know what I was doing anyhow. It also makes me want to cockpunch people telling budding recordists not to compress/EQ/add effects/whatever on the way in.

I am not 100% positive, but it looks a bit like it is prolly a CC1, and if i recall correctly(and i might not) i think they had a speaker out jack.

Aslo, snaxo, i fink that GFS has/had some tele-with-a-strat-neckpickup guards that weren't too silly on price. And i think that their new guards are supposed to be a decent fit on real fenders.

FUCKING BUY IT because of the price. Unless you show up and it's in decrepit shape despite the looks. (Unless it's an obvious tube issue.)

That being said: my AC30 doesn't have an external speaker out either. You have to disconnect the internal speakers, which are on a 1/4" plug, to run out to a cab. To use the internal and external speaks simultaneously, you'd have to do a bit of wiring work. There may be impedance issues here, but you are dealing with a tubemap and not solid-state, and you can get away with safe mismatches. I've done it intentionally for tone reasons (though not with the AC30) as have many others.

Re: the age of it, if it's older, it could be a real genuine score. Even one of the newer CCs or CC2s, at that price, is a sweet deal. If it is older, you just bought money. There's a plate on the back with the model number. You can date it by that and the control configuration on the panel. If there is no master volume, this probably falls into the "bought money" category and you can flip it for a gigantor profit even if you think it sounds like ballsack as long as it's in good working shape.

Also, if there is a blue speaker in there, you bought money as well.

Aslo aslo, RE: HD201 lowvolumeness. Yarr, i find that to track drums i have to push them a bit hard, actually hard enough that the shit headphone amp in the Alesis goes into overdrive(which, as an aside, is why i asked for the simplified version mix of that song that really someday i will actually track those drums to. really.)

I mean, i actually am semi-conflicted, because if i listen in normal circumstances to how fucking loud the headphones are set when i track drums, i wonder if that isn't really where my mosquito tone hearing might have wandered off to. Especially considering the isolation they provide, that is wayyyyyy too much volume.

But i do also wonder how much lower listening volumes i could record at if i didn't need to drive the headphone amp into dirt. Probably still too loud for my abused earholes though. I don't really expect to win that battle anymore.

I wish that new headphones were anywhere near visible on my list of priorities right now, because i would really like to try the 280s.

The CCs have Useful Modern Features like that. I never got inside one to look- they do sound alright though; best with Proper AC30 Speakers.

Were the AC15 CC1s tube or SS rectifier? 'Cause that was the big reliability issue with the CCs- the shitty rectifier tube. And, to Cam, an issue with ACxxs in general. Ditch the Sovtek for a JJ (current production, decent) NOS thing (if you have money) or even a solid-state rectifier that fits the socket. Otherwise... There is a perfect storm contributing to Vox's, er, legendary reliability, and it's mostly because they beat up tubes. Mine loves JJs, which are rugged for current production. Vox ACs are more fussy than other amps and need special care and feeding. The keeping of them is rewarding. Toan Goddess smiles upon thee for keeping one in running order.

Aye, if it is CC1 it will have a second speaker jack:

http://www.guitarnewsdaily.com/wp-conte ... c_only.pdf

And should also be switchable for 8 or 16 ohms.

Aslo, is/shouldbe SS recto.

Take your time. I keep procrastinating on finishing the record for myriad reasons. And I haven't even finished the lyrics for that yet. (I have a feeling the verses are screamy, possibly profanity-laced (something I generally avoid in lyrics, honestly, but given the violence of the song it fits) rants into the old ham radio mic + distortionbox)

My very non-scientific evaluation says the 201s don't approach the isolation of the 280s. I have actually used the 280s as hearing protection before more than once, and they spec out better than plugs. They are kind of scary isolation tank dead room, honestly, and they are a tight fit. (I am an actual honest six feet tall as well, for whatever my proportions matter in headphone-fitting.) The HD201s let in sound of the fan running for white noise in my bedroom. There is ambient sound with the HD201s on. The 280s, not so much. Perhaps that's why I was never able to really abuse the 280s- you'll hurt yourself before you'll hurt the 'phones, and they're so damn clean you'll know...

This reminds me: A) I never sent you the broken Metal Zone , B) I have spending money this month, and C) I have broken 280s that need their wiring replaced. And IIRC you can buy the wiring like everything else about them. (They're meant to be modular). If I can ascertain their fixability and acquire the necessary component(s) from Sennheiser, would you be willing to fix up some headphones in exchange for an indefinite loan of said? I figure if I have a couple hundred buxx to piss away on things like liquor and clove cigarettes I can send you a bocks of broken audioparts.

Edit/aslo: I should really hearing test myself. I haven't in a number of years. I remember I could hear (loud-and-clear) and hate that supposedly not-audible-to-adults cellphone ringtone that was going around a few years back. When I'm out on the street, sirens and air brakes make me block my ears. I used to have very good high frequency hearing for someone my age in general, musician/ear-abuse (I am a big headphone listener; I spent a significant portion of my 20s with headphones on/in... and my teens for that matter as well) but I haven't given it a czech in a while. I used to be super-vigilant about ear protection until I started singing lead live, and these days only our drummer uses the in-ears live because we don't have a consistent, reliable soundman to bring to every gig. He has a wired system and relies partially on stage bleed! I've been rolling with one-and-a-half plugs (one half in/out to get the mids right), one (closest to my guitar rig), or mostly none at all, which I know is so wrong.

You don't even have to ask. You know i love broken electronics.

Welp, I sent that dude an email asking what model/year it is and if the shiz is still available. I may have a new map soon. We shall see.

IN OTHER NEWS. It seems I am coming into possession of, by way of gifting, a Line 6 4x12 (with nonstock, from what I have been told, and so far unknown speakers) and some Line 6 head. A Flextone II or something else equally funny/possibly useful, I'm sure.

Currently drinking one of these guys.

Either way, Cam, unless the thing is fuxxx0r3d, you have at least a Good Deal.

I remember the Flextone II. I remember some actually okay metal bands touring with the things a decade ago, give or take. Lacuna Coil had them when they opened for Opeth on the Deliverance tour. They actually sounded pretty okay. (Would I still break metalheads' hearts by telling them I've met Cristina in real life and she doesn't really look like the pictures? But she and her band were very nice people. A friend of mine had a ton of pictures with them at various places. Their frontlady has to be pushing 40 now though...)

Curious to see what's in the Line 6 cab. At the very least, it's a 4x12, which is useful, and I remember the matching cabs for the Flextone II as having a cool-looking grillcloth.

I also think it's hilarious, if you wind up with a huge hulking halfstack old modeling amp and a pair of Voxes, that your physically largest amp is the most sensible practice amp by far.