Garth wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 10:04 pm MD421 3rd party mic clip replacement

Well I mean it's fine. It doesn't feel super solid or anything and very obviously this is something out of a 3d printer.

But the price is completely reasonable and it works. I did not expect it to grip well w/out some sort of rubber or something grippy in there but I've left it pointing straight face down at a pillow for an entire day and it hasn't budged so, yeah, seems to be fine. I could put a small piece of gaffer tape on there if I really wanted to be double certain.

And also, it's black, not the blue shown in the default photo.

Update: over the upgrade window while the forum was down, I left the mic in the clip facing straight down for this past entire week. It's still holding. Recommended, especially for the price.

Garth wrote: Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:08 am

Garth wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 10:04 pm MD421 3rd party mic clip replacement

Well I mean it's fine. It doesn't feel super solid or anything and very obviously this is something out of a 3d printer.

But the price is completely reasonable and it works. I did not expect it to grip well w/out some sort of rubber or something grippy in there but I've left it pointing straight face down at a pillow for an entire day and it hasn't budged so, yeah, seems to be fine. I could put a small piece of gaffer tape on there if I really wanted to be double certain.

And also, it's black, not the blue shown in the default photo.

Update: over the upgrade window while the forum was down, I left the mic in the clip facing straight down for this past entire week. It's still holding. Recommended, especially for the price.

awesome. I cracked open the casing on mine because of that stupid original clip.

Yeah, I've got a cracked 421 that I tried to epoxy years ago and it still doesn't stay in the clip correctly. Just ordered that 3D printed thing.

I got a Korg Volca Sampler because all that Volca shit is like a hundred bucks, I like programming drum patterns and I'm feeling a weird pull to the dark side (i.e. synths and drum machines).

So far it's pretty cool. Of course all of the preloaded loops are garbage but the ability to tweak each sound's pitch, attack, decay etc are pretty powerful. I haven't gone so far as to get the computer software and make or download samples on it. I generally hate trying to sync hardware up with computers, firmware, blah blah, so I'll have to mentally psych myself up if I'm ever to do it.

We'll see if and when it ever makes an appearance on a recording, but considering it costs as much as a new stomp box it's already worth it as a musical rubix cube I can futz with and think of rhythm patterns in 16th note intervals.

Upgraded my interface from the relatively cheap Tascam 16x08 to an RME digiface with a Ferrofish 16 pulse.
It took a while to get sorted with adat cabling, routing, etc. i found the Tascam much more intuitive, but once I got the RME/Ferrofish going it seems like a big step up, sound wise. Just have to get the functionality down.
When I was finally able to get Reaper to see the input from the microphone I haphazardly mic’d my small bodied acoustic with a Pro 37 and I was really surprised. I know that guitar really well and it sounded like I was playing there in the room.
I had gotten really good lipstick baritone sounds with with the tascam, but there seemed to be something up with regular guitar and bass before where it didn’t really seem happening no matter what I did.
Latency was never an issue with the Tascam because I am monitoring everything through a Midas console, which also provides preamps and stuff aside from a one channel Daking I have and really like.
I don’t have any really expensive mics - just stuff ppl here say to get like the 4033, D112, Pro 37, some old version of the 57 i forgot the name of, RE20 but I thought they should have been plenty for what I was trying to do. Or it will have to be - aside from a nice vocal mic, I don’t really want to get very far into that world. When it didn’t seem to be the case, I looked into a new interface and right now it seems like just the thing.
So, I’m happy, but I should say right now is not a good time to buy a new interface. It seems like there’s a wait on everything people recommend

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:12 am RME digiface with a Ferrofish 16 pulse.

Thanks for this info - this definitely looks like a decent route for me to take if I ever decide to upgrade from my 10-year-old imac. It's starting to have issues so might be sooner rather than later unfortunately.

WEM Dominator MKIII update;

Bizarre shipping situation. UPS gave me a 2 hour delivery window on the 23rd and wouldn't allow an e-signature for whatever reason (probably since it was international, insured, etc.) so I left work a bit early to receive it. Delivery window came and went with no changes to the tracking info/delivery status. I hung as long as I could, but had to get to my folks house for holiday stuff. I happened to check the tracking once more at 9:30pm and saw that the huge box was delivered 4 hours after the estimated window, had been left on my front step with no signature, and I didn't get an alert or confirmation. I live on a really busy street and leaving a huge item like that on my doorstep for an extended period is not wise. I was able to get a hold of a neighbor who dragged it around and put it in my back porch. Got home the next night, unpacked it, didn't seem damaged or fucked up.

On Friday I got it up on my bench. God damn this thing looks awesome. Pulled the chassis and did some careful cleaning. The PT did have a 110v tap but unfortunately it was snipped so low that it doesn't even stick out of the hole in the bobbin. I'd have to dismantle or replace the transformer to try and make it work on 110v. No big deal, just thought I might get lucky. Powered it up with a step-up transformer I borrowed from work and just listened to each channel with nothing plugged in. Figured out the humming the previous owner talked about was just a microphonic preamp tube on channel 1. Replaced it and swapped some things around. The EL84 tubes were OG Mullards. The preamp tubes had been replaced at some point with a brand I was unfamiliar with, but there was another old Mullard in the PI position, so I used that for the channel 1 pre. Anyway, all sorted, it sounded quite nice and the self noise is not bad at all even without doing the caps yet. Played a bit, sounds good so far. Treble boost switch isn't working. Contact cleaner and a workout didn't help, this switch is apparently a common issue on these. Hoping to do the switch contacts and some more tidying up and getting to crank this thing over the weekend.

So I somehow let myself buy a new Squier Mustang HH on sale for $150 bucks. Sonic Grey.

After enjoying tinkering with my old Squier Strat (which my brother and his friends used for years) I thought it would be fun to get something cheap to mess around on and learn some set up skills. Heard folks liked these for that purpose. I always liked real deal mustangs so I bought it when it was on sale for less than many used listings.

I’m impressed. I wish these were out when I started playing instead of ubiquitous strat copies. It’s almost spooky how light it is. Mild neck dive, but I don’t care much. Sonic grey is a neat color. Sort of an ugly cool. This one is less blue and more greenish than some pictures I’ve seen.

Neck: I’ve heard their neck finishes were too raw, but this one feels nice and smooth satin. I don’t feel any rough grains or anything. It’s got that basic pale look, but whatever. Laurel fretboard actually looks pretty nice for what I expected. I played a really nice classic vibe jazzmaster a while back and the laurel fretboard looked pretty rough, big pores, ashy pale with white in the grain. Kinda a bummer for such a nice little guitar. But this one is smooth with a nice grain. Neck is tiny but not as narrow at the nut as I’ve seen on some Squiers from the 2000s. I like the short scale.

Haven’t plugged it in yet, but it sounds loud unplugged and sustains like crazy. E string intonation isn’t great in drop d but I’ll wait until I put some decent strings on before I tweak that and other setup stuff. I’m not too worried over the pickups or electronics. The idea is to put something weird or whatever in there eventually if I continue to like how it plays. Right now I’m liking it for sitting on the couch and relaxing. Nice to have something that feels unfamiliar. Honestly didn’t expect it to be so damned playable out of the box. Great first guitar rec for a kiddo.

AEA N22 is a really great mic. Plugged it in about a foot away from an old 2x10 amp, checked levels, played a bit and it just immediately gave me the sound I had been looking for.

Before that I had been trouble getting guitar sounds I liked at home with any combination of my other mics I have collected over the years:

AT4033, RE20, Pro 37r, SM57, NT1, 535, D112

In the past any of that was enough to get going with a basic rock guitar sound in a band context, but I am going for something different and could never really get it happening without a bunch of messing around. Bass and baritone were much less of an issue.

The N22 is a pretty expensive ribbon mic but I feel like it was what I needed

LBx wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:31 pm

VaticanShotglass wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:11 pm

LBx wrote: Fri Nov 04, 2022 4:59 pm Couple op amps I've been swapping in/out of an EQD pedal in place of the stock & kinda bright LM833:

LM1458 - Much darker than the above. Pretty much what I was aiming for when I thought I knew what I wanted.
TL072 - Maybe sits somewhere in between the two others. Plays better with the MXR bass Rat running after it than the 1458. The unlikely winner?

Still tweaking but old gear that is new again is the best!


Has me thinking about all the LM308 nonsense weekend pedal dorks blabber on and on about with Rats and all the variants but even ProCo say it's a thing , so...

But buying into that game is too rich for me.


And thx to FM DR. Balls for the IShouldHaveKnownThat tech stuff.

What EQD pedal?

Rats and LM308... I'm not sure. Been a while since I messed with it all. I still have a few LM308s (like two) from back when they weren't unaffordable. I've built and modded a few Rats. It's my favorite dirt pedal. Here's the thing, swapping between the LM308 and the OP07 now used by ProCo I recall telling a small difference. It's been too long to remember the details, but maybe a smidge more bass? Most of it can be compensated for by tweaking the knobs. I think a bigger difference happens between different particular rats. Rats have a part of the circuit that shapes the clipping and eq and is very sensitive to tweaks. It involves a few electrolytic caps, which have a pretty wide tolerance. Maybe that accounts for two Rats sounding different? I don't know. I just know one of my Rats sounds better than any I've played no matter which chip I put in it.

It's a White Light. Swapped an older Hoof for it.

I think the measurable difference is meant to be the amount of sag with the volume up a certain amount. To me that's a desirable thing to play around with but not for everyone for sure. I assume some of the newer doom-y Rat knock-offs get there a variety of ways.

So, eating my hat here... Found a good price locally on a reissue big box with the LM308 so I snagged it.

Difference is there no doubt. Kind of a grainer lower-fi break up compared to the "crisper" (?) OP07. It's slight but I noticed it straight away.

And they both sag just fine so a win/win with whatever ya got...