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Garth wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2024 9:20 am y'all are so brave buying instruments online, just can't do it (but also I'm well-stocked w/ zero lust or needs in this area). I did it once 15 years ago w/ an Ovation Magnum bass because the price was too stupidly low I couldn't pass. In fact I think that was my first post on this forum after several years of lurking only.

Well....

1) I know how to do the work so little setup stuff doesnt bother me, and is actually entertaining. As long as its described as being in good enough condition then its fine for me.

2) This was actually bought from CME used on Reverb, so that's a pretty trusted source and also probably the easiest to deal with if there's a problem.

Yeah, it depends how standard the guitar is too. Every guitar is a unique snowflake, blah blah, but if you've played enough medium C Fender necks with jumbo-ish frets you generally know what you're getting. Also that Squier looks fucking ace, goddamn those have come a long way.

Now that I think about it, the only guitars and amps I’ve bought in person in the last few years were unplayable project-type deals.

Everything else was years of following online listings until something showed up for a price I was ok with when I happened to have the money.

I’ve only ever bought one guitar/bass in person and played it before purchase. Everything else has been online.

The squier stuff right now is so good I would be %100 fine with buying it online, this is from a sample size of 10+ bought between me and coworkers

I'd like to make a more in-depth post in the DIY Projects thread but meanwhile:


LM386 low-power amplifier

I'm trying to practice my DIY assembly skills and learn some new stuff by sourcing/building input & output amps for the reverb tanks FM twelvepoint generously made available to me.

The end goal is to have a few reverb options I could use at home to make solo direct electric guitar more fun and interesting.
Pristine, natural-sounding reverb isn't really the goal. I've done some experimenting with the tanks and at times could get close to feedback, similar to playing in a room with a cranked amp, it was kinda cool. I'd eventually like to add some kind of Lo/Hi EQ adjustment before and after each tank.

If this amp doesn't work for the reverb project I can combine it with a salvage speaker to make a junky little practice amp thing.

I've never made much progress in teaching myself electronics but this has got me making (slow and plodding) baby steps in that direction which is a big reason for going this route instead of just finding a cheap reverb pedal or whatever. It's all about the journey, you see...

That’s a really cool idea. I bet there’s all sorts of ways you can exploit those tanks.

I’ve had amps with the wrong type of after-market reverb tanks installed - like, the reverb pan the amp called for was meant to hang down from the chassis, but whatever the most recent owner had installed was bolted to the bottom instead. It caused a lot of swells and feedback so that they were kind of useless for regular reverb sounds past a certain point, but had lots of ghostly potential

D’Addario short scale bass strings. Unremarkable other than the price : $21.99 at my local retailer, which was half what I expected to pay. Takes a little of the sting out of drum sticks being $17 a pair now.

I just bought a pair of PMC 6-02 for 1500... I have no idea why they are so cheap but the dude swears they work perfectly. Excited... nervous to see what shape they are in when they arrive

Kniferide wrote: Mon Apr 08, 2024 7:34 pm I just bought a pair of PMC 6-02 for 1500... I have no idea why they are so cheap but the dude swears they work perfectly. Excited... nervous to see what shape they are in when they arrive

No shit?! This is great : )

Score!