Boost it with a Metal Zone.

Do eeeeiiiit. Its an odd amp to say the least. Pre TS MV, low(ish) voltage on KT88s and so much interstage attenuation and frequency shelving.

I've done that for years, it was my Envenomation tone. Shit works.

But I think the Laney is my non-br00tz maplifier. In fact the more I think about it the less tempting turning it into a Nitro (as if I could even pull that off) seems.

It seems that I am about to own a handwired Vox AC15.. I put down almost all the payment today at a guitar shop, it sounded brilliant. I think sitting on top of my 2x10 it will be perfect, as it's gotta greenie in it. Jangle+warm-ish. I think it will be gnar fo sho. It will be a baby stack of toan, this thing sounded so fucking crunchy and warm when they let me blast it for a short few seconds. Multi mic'ing the fucker will be great, I think. Stoked to play with the positioning on that.

To Cam: NICE.

I found another guitarist for Dead in 3 Hours today. Fucking stoked.

God damn Cam... The mics, the map... You bastard!

I am getting sort of carried away a little, yes. I intended to go get a C1, but the HW had my card. Sounded so much more like what I'm looking for at loudish for solo bedroom volume levels, and at jammable with drummer levels (which I only got to do with the HW) it was too gnar to deny. I only got to open it up for just under a minute, but it sounded righteous. BTW, this white bastard is so much bigger than the C1, and quite a bit heavier.

It seems my friend and I are going to create a humorous poster advertising my wish to record bands in the area for free. We will plaster Belltown and Capitol Hill with them, I think. Should yield interesting if not fantastivally offensive text messages.

To Curtis: it's about time we heard some good news from you for a change. Cong-rats.

To Cam: you'll now be That Guy We Know to a bunch of loacal youf. At some point the committee responsible for these things will get you your honorary Golden 4-Track.

You are going to mention you have a snazzy mic collection and a pretty killer drum room, right? (Assuming your folks are cool with you bringing strange musicians in there.) Those are selling points that make "free" sound like it may come out actually sounding pretty good, and it would be silly not to mention. Having grownup maps is a plus, too.

Make sure you have extra cables (1/4", too. Someone will have a busted-ass cable and ask for one.) and stands. Stuff breaks. And mark your shit so it's less likely to... walk with Jesus, as it were. Also, useful to have: an extra pair of headphones, preferably loud and probably cheap. (And the 1/8" to 1/4" headphone adapters. They get lost easily.) And one of those headphone extender cables- gets used every session outside of a real studio by someone somehow, because someone will want headphones and the interface/mixer/headphone amp is too far away. If I can think of anything else, I will mention it.

Oh, also, this: http://tapeop.com/subscriptions/ Free is the best price of all.

I think I will be able to convince me parents not to give a fuck.. I am going to do a bit of research into people before I have them coming over to my house to be doing anything. I will include that "No, this is not a scam where I murder and eat you", and that I also will want to confirm that they are not going to murder and rob me. I will have them friend me on facebook or some shit so I can see that they are not some hoodlum.

Also, I think that I will indeed include said items of my possession. I am hoping I can get some dudes who already have a live deal put together and have their shit straight, where I will just be able to fuck with mic positioning and levels. Just engineer a session, rather than sitting in on some strangers fucking around with instruments. I think I am going to specifically mention my want for bands who already have solid material ready who just want to record their shit.

I, uh, might now have a Nady RSM-5 on the way here soon, too. I wanted to have something for a dedicated room mic where I could have the M179 free to be used in either uni or omni at any given point, on whatever instrument.

And I am now subscribed to Tape Op.

Excellent choice.

I had a big long diatribe ready to go, but I mistakenly decided to type it on my laptop, which doesn't function for more than an hour or two without overheating these days. It is not long for this world, I fear.

In short, the important bits: Getting acquainted with at least one of the band members is a good thing. Pre-social networking, I had to know at least one of them in person. And it never hurts to pick their brain to find out what bands they like, what records they like, who they like the sound of, etc.

And any dicksmack can go to GC and buy a 57 and download Reaper and record to their heart's content. You're selling you, and why you're better than that. Which is why you should mention what your resources. The point isn't that they know what it all is or means, it's showing you do and that you care. The words "handwired Vox" and "5150" should catch the attention of the guitar players, the words "drum room" implies a better sounding recording, and a third of a brain can figure from the rest and how it's put together the guy is not a total dipshit. And like playing shows, if you do half-decent work and aren't a dick, you build a rep. And the "aren't a dick" is the more important of the two. It beats chops by a good margin. There's always a guy with those somewhere. Because you are, essentially, becoming a member of the band for a brief moment. Bands are insular little micro-worlds of people making art because something compels them, and you are let in on that and how they interact with each other. And on a different-but-related (separate-but-equal? ) level, you will drink their beer and eat their pizza and tell the bassist to go fart in the other room and three scruffy dudes will hassle him about it or similar. See the previous sentence.

On a similar note, re: being the guy people want to work with, gear is fun. Random gear. Sounds inspire people. Having all the random junk- pedals, keyboards, whatever- visible means someone will want to use them eventually. I've wound up playing on shit fairly regularly, too, even for just a little part.

And TapeOp is great. I know at least Chris and I subscribe. I believe Mr. newholland does as well. They cover everything, and they aren't shills for gear, either. (A caveat re: their gear reviews- they openly state they don't bother printing reviews for gear they dislike- it's not worth the copy space, but they are also not afraid to mention what they do not like about something either or when something broke down, etc. They'll review anything from dirt cheap to mad expensive, and often write reviews for random shit they found and liked- like, earplugs, cheap headphones, mic stands, whatever.) But that's only a few pages at the end. Most of it is articles with real substance and they cover whatever genres, and split their time between establishment and indie, with probably a bias toward the latter. It's worth it cover to cover. The stuff I'm not into or aware of is often what I learned the most from. And the indie/DIY ethic is strong with them.

that feel when customs releases a guitar after only 1 day of inspection. ITS COMING!

Ah, man. It is fucking ballsloud with the 2x10 connected, got it home yesterday and played with it for a couple hours. With just the Greenie it can jam with a drummer pretty easily, definitely some break up though. I am not sure how clean you could get it while being comfortably loud in the mix, but I don't really ever use super cleans, so it don't matter. It definitely adds a whooole 'nother dimension of sound when you hook up the 2x10. It is quite a bit louder than the single 12", but the two tones compliment each other well. Kinda makes up for not having the Blue in terms of general EQ, but does it a little differently. I can get some pretty crunchy and gnar drive tones, quite punchy as well. The 10" speakers especially seem to be real quick and responsive with the attack of the guitar, when I just ran the Greenback it was a lot more loose. Will probably do some multi mic'ing speriments on it today, should answer a few things and get me started on tackling justly recording this beast.

H-F'n-NAD, good sir!

Re: volume, sounds like my experience with 15w. And if you don't need cleanycleans- which you don't- then you should be golden. Vox is where it's at for not-really-clean-cleans anyhow.

And I'm glad to hear adding the 2x10 does something cool. I've been running a Blue and a Greenback together for a couple years now.

But for want of a shredder guitar, you have a Tele, a Vox and a 5150, so you have most of the Official Maps Approved™ rig.

Black spaghetti.



Thar she blows. Broke the D string on my Tele a couple minutes after plugging in, was truly sad. But the Frankenstang is an equally odd guitar, so it worked just as well. Both are humbucker guitars that really sound more like SCs (atleast in the case of the bridge bucker on the 'stang), it is kinda weird. And yeah, I guess I do, don't I? They are all sort of mostly barebones or atleast simple contraptions that get the job done the right way, aren't they? No bells and whistles, just the right tool for the job.

That cab has traveled so far.

Yeah, thing is third gen Maplitonian, kinda crazy.

Just bought the new Whatever Brains.

so gattamn awesome.

I am about to go see Converge and NAILS.