I never got very good at guitar, but I always really hated guitars that had a gooey finish on the back of the neck. I think about 10 years ago Schecter and B.C. Rich were guilty of this, as well as the few Rickenbackers I've touched. I would say this is more comparable to a piano on which the keys - and strings - have half-dried rubber cement on them, than a cosmetic issue.Geiginni wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:17 pmAs an adult, buying a grand piano was an entirely different wake-up call to the realities of what's truly important in an instrument. Rock-solid construction, stability, sustain, great scale design and pleasant overtones, and a great tech to can ensure the action rebuild would offer great playability and perfectly balanced keyweight, dip and wippen adjustment.
Didn't matter much what it looked like. They're all big black lacquered wooden horseshoes. All that mattered was the sound, action/playability, and tuning stability.
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
52Oh man. This thread makes me so angry at my high school aged self. OK:
Dude, stop "repairing" gear yourself and just buy better stuff. You know how you feel like your foot action isn't that great? Well, "fixing" that broken kick pedal link with a piece of scrap metal isn't doing you any favors. Buy a nice pedal. The difference will blow your goddamned mind.
Change your drumheads. I know you think there's "still some life left" on that that Remo pinstripe - but the top ply cracked and peeled off months ago, and the fact that the bottom ply still makes some vague sort of thud is not enough, little dude. You have a job. Buy some new heads. Again, the difference will blow your goddamned mind.
I know you think the blue sparkle drums you have aren't very "metal", but in your 40s you will realize they were 3-ply Ludwigs and you'll rage into the void that you sold them for a big ol' power tom / double kick setup.
Ugh. Just so, so many others.
Dude, stop "repairing" gear yourself and just buy better stuff. You know how you feel like your foot action isn't that great? Well, "fixing" that broken kick pedal link with a piece of scrap metal isn't doing you any favors. Buy a nice pedal. The difference will blow your goddamned mind.
Change your drumheads. I know you think there's "still some life left" on that that Remo pinstripe - but the top ply cracked and peeled off months ago, and the fact that the bottom ply still makes some vague sort of thud is not enough, little dude. You have a job. Buy some new heads. Again, the difference will blow your goddamned mind.
I know you think the blue sparkle drums you have aren't very "metal", but in your 40s you will realize they were 3-ply Ludwigs and you'll rage into the void that you sold them for a big ol' power tom / double kick setup.
Ugh. Just so, so many others.
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
54Same, but in 2009. Had it for 21 years and should still have it, if I was halfway smart.benadrian wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:04 am Keep that 2204 head that you're thinking of selling in 1995/6.
On the tour in 1993, leave the 1971 Hagstrom H2N Transition with coil split DiMarzios at home and take the MIJ Fender Jag reissue instead. The guitar will be stolen in L.A. and you will be thankful that you still have the Hagstrom, the best playing guitar you have ever owned.
Don’t buy the Traynor YBA-1 as you will spend too much having the shitty mods removed and you won’t like it as much as your Vox V125 Lead.
Formerly known here as chumpchange
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
55Tell us more if you have time.
Mine is "you don't need the Avid Native PCIe card but you must have Wavelab"
"There's a felling I get when I look to the west"
"When the meaningful words. When they cease to function. When there's nothing to say."
"When the meaningful words. When they cease to function. When there's nothing to say."
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
56My soundcard journey hasn't been too bad but I could have saved myself some money along the way and been more productive as a result of having a soundcard that just works and provides amazing latency!
My first soundcard was a EMU 1810m which had the same AD/DA as the then flagship digi design soundcard. I had this for serveral years but didn't understand just how good a piece of kit this was, we are talking 2003ish.
Second audio interface Steinberg MR816 which I got in 2011, great preamp's! However I had issues with firewire and this unit was nowhere near are performant as the EMU.
Finally found the one! 2015 after fighting with 2 mr816's (the first one broke) I got the RME HDSPe AIO and have never looked back. Great performance I use a 32bit buffer using larger projects running plugins like SD3 with all mics bleed on, reverbs etc etc. It is not fazed. RME provide great support (Which I have never needed), they are still supporting the PCI version of this card! RME provide you great software which if you bought standalone would cost hundreds (DigiCHeck, Totalmix FX).
I should have bought the RME instead of the MR816, we live and learn!
My first soundcard was a EMU 1810m which had the same AD/DA as the then flagship digi design soundcard. I had this for serveral years but didn't understand just how good a piece of kit this was, we are talking 2003ish.
Second audio interface Steinberg MR816 which I got in 2011, great preamp's! However I had issues with firewire and this unit was nowhere near are performant as the EMU.
Finally found the one! 2015 after fighting with 2 mr816's (the first one broke) I got the RME HDSPe AIO and have never looked back. Great performance I use a 32bit buffer using larger projects running plugins like SD3 with all mics bleed on, reverbs etc etc. It is not fazed. RME provide great support (Which I have never needed), they are still supporting the PCI version of this card! RME provide you great software which if you bought standalone would cost hundreds (DigiCHeck, Totalmix FX).
I should have bought the RME instead of the MR816, we live and learn!
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
57Advice to 19 year old me: Buy that goddamned Ampeg Jet for $170!!! You don't stop playing guitar after all.
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
58They write their own drivers too. Thank you for sharing!
"There's a felling I get when I look to the west"
"When the meaningful words. When they cease to function. When there's nothing to say."
"When the meaningful words. When they cease to function. When there's nothing to say."
Re: Gear advice for my younger self
59For home practice, a higher wattage amp turned down sounds better than a small, low wattage amp.