Pickin' & Shreddin' guitar thread

TigerTap

Senior
thank you sir.

now if only i could learn to actually play instead of just collect.

Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I got into collecting too. I suffer G.A.S. (Guitar acquisition syndrome) continuously. Pisses my wife off though! I can't blame her. ;)

I've got a '61 reissue too. I love SGs & Les Pauls. Lately, I've been playing a PRS with an East Indian rosewood solid rosewood neck & Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. I fell in love with the neck. It's unfinished & fits in my hand perfectly. Very fast neck.

I was wondering what kind of amps you're playing through?
 

Nutriaitch

Redshirt
Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I got into collecting too. I suffer G.A.S. (Guitar acquisition syndrome) continuously. Pisses my wife off though! I can't blame her. ;)

I've got a '61 reissue too. I love SGs & Les Pauls. Lately, I've been playing a PRS with an East Indian rosewood solid rosewood neck & Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. I fell in love with the neck. It's unfinished & fits in my hand perfectly. Very fast neck.

I was wondering what kind of amps you're playing through?

i have a Fender Mustang vII.
connect it to my laptop and i have access to thousands of presets.
or if i had the knowledge/ability i could make my own tones with hundreds of effects.
like tons of pedals, pre amps, multiple amps, post amps, etc
and each part has all the knobs and adjustments on them that can be manipulated.

i typically play my acoustic/electric through an Outback explorer speaker.
 

TigerTap

Senior
i have a Fender Mustang vII.
connect it to my laptop and i have access to thousands of presets.
or if i had the knowledge/ability i could make my own tones with hundreds of effects.
like tons of pedals, pre amps, multiple amps, post amps, etc
and each part has all the knobs and adjustments on them that can be manipulated.

i typically play my acoustic/electric through an Outback explorer speaker.

That sounds pretty damn cool! I bet you can get some amazing sounds. I guess I'm old school, I haven't used my computer yet to get into multiple sounds. I'm still just plug & play.
 

Nutriaitch

Redshirt
That sounds pretty damn cool! I bet you can get some amazing sounds. I guess I'm old school, I haven't used my computer yet to get into multiple sounds. I'm still just plug & play.

that’s the beauty of this thing.

there is a shit ton of presets online that you can download.
then the “app” for the amp opens those presets and BAM you playing with same tones as the artists who played the song.
 

TigerTap

Senior
that’s the beauty of this thing.

there is a shit ton of presets online that you can download.
then the “app” for the amp opens those presets and BAM you playing with same tones as the artists who played the song.

I'll have to give it a try. I've heard it's pretty easy to do. I know I'm behind.

I've got a friend that does it & he's even built a tiny studio in their spare room. He's got it completely soundproofed, lol. He's got so much different stuff, it's hard to keep up with. But he's running the midi stuff through his laptop. Hard to believe, but he can get a small Marshall combo to sound very close to a clean Fender amp. Amazing stuff.

What type of music do you play mostly? I know @Bengal B loves the Stevie Ray Vaughan blues style. I play mostly "Classic" rock & some metal.
 

TigerTap

Senior
i’m a blues based rock mostly.
but can’t really “play” anything. lol

LOL! It just takes time. I can play a little, but nowhere close to being able to say "Yeah, I can play guitar."

I can't figure out the guitar greats. How can they play that good & still chase tail? I know women have severely hampered my playing time, lol. Maybe they really did lock themselves in room for a year with nothing but a guitar & amp?
 
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Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
Gibson owns Epiphone.
so the Epiphone equivalent will be built to same “spec” as the Gibson.

meaning more size, shape, weight, neck profile, etc.
so it will look and feel like a Gibson.

the difference is the quality of woods, electronics, finish, etc.

if you buy an ultra low end Epiphone, you’re buying mostly junk. not terrible for a young child’s first guitar. but even a teen would notice the lack of quality if you bought them one.

mid-range epi’s are really well made guitars.
my SG, my 339 and my Les Paul Standard all fall in this range.
i highly recommend them in the “bang for your buck” category.
all are beautiful guitars, play very smooth, and have a very gibson-esque vibe to their tones.

then if you go top of the spectrum Epiphone....
WOW!

my tribute Plus was about the most expensive Epiphone available at time i bought it. Extreme top end for them, but still comfortably under $1,000.

it’s on par with Guitars well over that price range.
blows cheap Gibson out of the water too.

has all american gibson parts solid mahogany body, hard maple cap grover licking tuners, true Gibson USA pickups, etc.
it’s just built overseas.

Finish is a cheaper grade than the Nitro used in America, but is still gorgeous in person.

and she is powerful!

Fender makes the Squier, a copy of the strat. I started playing with a Squier I paid $150 for new. Seemed not bad until I got a real strat. I would hope Epiphone is a better Gibson copy than Squier is a strat copy.
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
i have a Fender Mustang vII.
connect it to my laptop and i have access to thousands of presets.
or if i had the knowledge/ability i could make my own tones with hundreds of effects.
like tons of pedals, pre amps, multiple amps, post amps, etc
and each part has all the knobs and adjustments on them that can be manipulated.

i typically play my acoustic/electric through an Outback explorer speaker.

I have a 20 watt Mustang II. Love it but only play it now and then once I got a 100 watt Marshall. I love the presets you can get online. Maybe I'll try to run the Mustang through the Marshall and see what happens.
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
I'll have to give it a try. I've heard it's pretty easy to do. I know I'm behind.

I've got a friend that does it & he's even built a tiny studio in their spare room. He's got it completely soundproofed, lol. He's got so much different stuff, it's hard to keep up with. But he's running the midi stuff through his laptop. Hard to believe, but he can get a small Marshall combo to sound very close to a clean Fender amp. Amazing stuff.

What type of music do you play mostly? I know @Bengal B loves the Stevie Ray Vaughan blues style. I play mostly "Classic" rock & some metal.

Not that I can play like SRV but it seems blues are easier to sound OK on than playing lead on classic rock songs. If only I could play like Duane Allman
 

TigerTap

Senior
Not that I can play like SRV but it seems blues are easier to sound OK on than playing lead on classic rock songs. If only I could play like Duane Allman

That's true! I like the blues too, more expressive notes & sometimes slower leads. I got caught up in 70's & 80's hard rock. When I first heard Randy Rhoads play, I almost put my guitar down for good. He was so good at like 22 or 23 years old, I figured I'd never play on that level. And I was right, lol. But I still have a lot of fun playing.

Just thinking back, for about a year & half, young guitar players everywhere were like Eddie who? Seriously, EVH became "He's ok" overnight, due to Blizzard if Oz & Diary of a Madman. And then RR was gone, like Buddy, Hendrix, Duane & SRV would follow. I'm not sure Eddie fully recovered, especially with SRV coming along big, right after RR..different styles, but still..
 

Nutriaitch

Redshirt
Fender makes the Squier, a copy of the strat. I started playing with a Squier I paid $150 for new. Seemed not bad until I got a real strat. I would hope Epiphone is a better Gibson copy than Squier is a strat copy.

well you get what you pay for.
Epiphone basically runs the gauntlet from cheap shit to pretty good. and hit all points in between. So they’re kinda like Squier, Mexico Fender, and low end American Fender all in one company.

my sons each had a really cheap entry level Epiphone SG special. Same price range as your Squier.
About the same quality level too. Cheaply made. look cheap, feel cheap, sounds cheap. Didn’t stay in tune, etc.

Where as you can get a Les Paul in the $500-$600 range that’s probably roughly equivalent quality to the Made in Mexico Fender. Lots of musicians gig with this level. Look, feel, and sound close to the real thing to get away with in bars and clubs. But much more affordable to put through the abuse of gigging than a full blown American. This where most of my Epiphones call home.

the $800 range is some really good instruments. and fits nicely into a slot in between Mexican and American Fenders. My Tribute Plus Les Paul was just over $800. All American woods and electronics. Came with a hard case too. For my personal taste, it’s the best guitar Epiphone builds. even better than their top end signature models.

Then you can get up near the $1,000 range.
Which is just shy of the starting pricing point of American made Fenders. Really and truly getting a quality axe now. Much less you can see it in the finish. Feel it in the weight and running fingers along edges of the frets on the neck. These almost all come with high end locking tuners, top of the line electronics, hard cases, etc. These are your Epiphone customs and artist signature models.

At this price range, if you buy an entry Gibson instead (Studio, Jr, etc) you’re just a snob paying for the logo on the headstock. Because frankly speaking the top end of Epiphone is simply better than the bottom end of Gibson.

of course if you got money to burn and get up in the $1,750 and above range, those Gibson’s beat the piss outta Epiphones. no contest.
 

Nutriaitch

Redshirt
That's true! I like the blues too, more expressive notes & sometimes slower leads. I got caught up in 70's & 80's hard rock. When I first heard Randy Rhoads play, I almost put my guitar down for good. He was so good at like 22 or 23 years old, I figured I'd never play on that level. And I was right, lol. But I still have a lot of fun playing.

Just thinking back, for about a year & half, young guitar players everywhere were like Eddie who? Seriously, EVH became "He's ok" overnight, due to Blizzard if Oz & Diary of a Madman. And then RR was gone, like Buddy, Hendrix, Duane & SRV would follow. I'm not sure Eddie fully recovered, especially with SRV coming along big, right after RR..different styles, but still..

the holy grail for me has always been David Gilmour.

not true, it’s Jimi. but he wasn’t human, so he doesn’t count.

But Jimi, Gilmour, Santana, BB King, Slash.
 

TigerTap

Senior
the holy grail for me has always been David Gilmour.

not true, it’s Jimi. but he wasn’t human, so he doesn’t count.

But Jimi, Gilmour, Santana, BB King, Slash.

It's funny you mentioned Gilmour, because I was literally thinking about "Wish you were here" & "Comfortably Numb" when thinking about expressive blues! All great players above. You're right, Hendrix can't be categorized..

People in Baton Rouge were seriously Pissed off at Ossie Brown for canceling Ozzy at the Centroplex, like a month or so before RR died.
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
Anybody ever use Band in a Box?

I bought it 2 years ago but I have recently started using it again to make backing tracks. I still haven't decided whether it's better than using all the ones I can find on YouTube.
 

TigerTap

Senior
Couple old/new guitar pedals found.

We moved back in '97 & thought I had everything. About 3 weeks ago, I was cleaning some junk out of the garage & opened a box of old stuff. In the corner of the box was a smaller box. I opened it up & found my old American Guitar Book, that I've had seems like forever. ( Oddly, I didn't miss it, I thought it was on my shelf...) Also found 2 odd guitar pedals, brand new..but old. (NOS) I remember buying them around '96, but never had a chance a play them. Not sure how I forgot about them. And there they where, all packed up in plastic, in their original boxes with not a scratch. Even the boxes are unscuffed. Lost for about 22 years....these are older than my kids..

Was never very big into pedals, just an old Tube Screamer, an old Big Muff Pi & a Wah pedal. Too bad it wasn't a old Strat or SG/Les Paul. ;) But still cool to find new/ old stuff you forgot you had. Like a time capsule of sorts.

Tech 21 XXL - Distortion

Danelectro -Cool Cat Chorus

Having fun playing around with these. Forgot how much paperwork & stuff used to come with just fairly inexpessive guitar pedal. Dano 9v battery adapter (new in it's own box) pretty thick booklet, warranty, a sticker & advertisement booklet. The Tech 21 XXL has an even thicker booklet, all very detailed. Then I remembered this was pre-internet days for most.

Oh yeah..these were inside the Cool Cat, 2 (9 volt) batteries still looking all shiny & new too. But sadly, I gotta give these batteries a lower rating...due to not having a 22+ year shelf life. But they don't leak! :D Damn, just found out they still sell these Dano's at Guitar Center. Who knew? Should I send in my warranty card?
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Still a very cool guitar book..
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