The Guitar Thread

[Blastronaut 1320]

You're looking at this the wrong way @Tom. This kids Dad has just fucked off. Blasting Hendrix riffs is morally the best thing you can do to help without getting actively involved.

 

[Tom 14002]

I honestly have the best neighbours a musician can have. I’ve lived in this house 11 years now I think and they’ve been great with me & my music. 
 

So if I can disturb their new tenant less and buy myself some critically acclaimed weird headphone amp what’s not to like?  

[Blastronaut 1320]

25 minutes ago, Tom said:

If I can disturb their new tenant less and buy myself some critically acclaimed weird headphone amp what’s not to like?  

 

I was about 7 when my folks split and wouldn't be half the layabout I am today if it wasn't for the bloke a few doors down that played guitar a bit and threw me some SLF tapes. If that prick had headphones I'd likely have went down a different path and wouldn't be here having this conversation.

 

Bollocks to headphones. Let them hear Hendrix. 

 

I do like those Katanas though. Even entry level digital stuff is now easily better (more versatile and consistent) than the ancient tech it's emulating.

[Tom 14002]

Yeh the latency on the older digital stuff was atrocious. Absolutely pointless & it sounded shite too. 

 

Tbh I haven’t played anything digital in about 10 years.

[Monkeys Fist 41407]

20 hours ago, Blastronaut said:

Bollocks to headphones. Let them hear Hendrix.

It’ll also stop the kid hearing Tom scuttling his Mam 

[Blastronaut 1320]

1 hour ago, Monkeys Fist said:

It’ll also stop the kid hearing Tom scuttling his Mam 

 

Took me way longer than it should've to realise you meant the kids mum. Thought for a second there might be some Oedipus themed in-joke wasn't aware of.

 

Back on topic to a few pages back and all this chat about the Steel String "Dumble" style pedals. Sure I outed Tom's NUX as a Tubescreamer and Andrew's whatever it was called as also another Tubescreamer but with with a bit more going on, so it's only fair I follow that up by taking a pop at Vertex. 

 

Their "Steel String" turned out to be two of Jack Orman's Mini Boost pedals in one box, with a big muff tone control tacked on (Jack is one of the old school legends of the DIY pedal building scene). Looks like they've revised the circuit more recently and are now marketing it to SRV fans but I can't find much on what they have changed. Then there is their other Dumble style pedal, the Vertex Ultraphonix Overdrive which is a a fairly straightforward ZenDrive clone. 

 

I appreciate nobody asked for any of this but I just stumbled on this worthless knowledge and it seemed somewhat relevant.

 

12 hours ago, Tom said:

Yeh the latency on the older digital stuff was atrocious. Absolutely pointless & it sounded shite too. 

 

Tbh I haven’t played anything digital in about 10 years.

 

I had a Cube about 20 years ago that had a great clean channel and decent onboard effects, the other amp models were a bit iffy but still usable. Then one of those Line6 Spiders which is up there with the stupidest things I've ever spent money on and put me off the whole scene. Its a whole new world now though and has me wondering if I should've listened more to my lecturers that insisted I was wasting my time obsessing over ancient analog tech.

 

[Gemmill 42881]

7 minutes ago, Blastronaut said:

 

Took me way longer than it should've to realise you meant the kids mum. Thought for a second there might be some Oedipus themed in-joke wasn't aware of.

 

Back on topic to a few pages back and all this chat about the Steel String "Dumble" style pedals. Sure I outed Tom's NUX as a Tubescreamer and Andrew's whatever it was called as also another Tubescreamer but with with a bit more going on, so it's only fair I follow that up by taking a pop at Vertex. 

 

Their "Steel String" turned out to be two of Jack Orman's Mini Boost pedals in one box, with a big muff tone control tacked on (Jack is one of the old school legends of the DIY pedal building scene). Looks like they've revised the circuit more recently and are now marketing it to SRV fans but I can't find much on what they have changed. Then there is their other Dumble style pedal, the Vertex Ultraphonix Overdrive which is a a fairly straightforward ZenDrive clone. 

 

I appreciate nobody asked for any of this but I just stumbled on this worthless knowledge and it seemed somewhat relevant.

 

 

I had a Cube about 20 years ago that had a great clean channel and decent onboard effects, the other amp models were a bit iffy but still usable. Then one of those Line6 Spiders which is up there with the stupidest things I've ever spent money on and put me off the whole scene. Its a whole new world now though and has me wondering if I should've listened more to my lecturers that insisted I was wasting my time obsessing over ancient analog tech.

 

 

I've got a Vertex Steel String, so I found this interesting. And to think that cheeky fucker Mason at Vertex was accusing Nux of cloning his Steel String.

 

[Gemmill 42881]

The new Line 6 Catalyst looks like their attempt to steal some of the Katana's market share. Looks decent. I just love how easy to use the Line 6 stuff is as well. Sounds great too. 

[Tom 14002]

I’ve got a NUX Steel Singer & for the money (£40) it’s absolutely exceptional. It works especially well with the Rangemaster made by @Blastronaut  

[Andrew 4666]

32 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

The new Line 6 Catalyst looks like their attempt to steal some of the Katana's market share. Looks decent. I just love how easy to use the Line 6 stuff is as well. Sounds great too. 

 

If it is essentially the Helix in amp form it'll be an absolute monster.

[Andrew 4666]

7 minutes ago, Tom said:

I’ve got a NUX Steel Singer & for the money (£40) it’s absolutely exceptional. It works especially well with the Rangemaster made by @Blastronaut  

 

I have one as well and absolutely agree.

[Andrew 4666]

TRIPLE POST!

 

Just got my annual bonus confirmed, stay tuned for the results of Andrew going shopping this weekend

 

 

[Tom 14002]

Can’t wait  

[Blastronaut 1320]

32 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

 

I've got a Vertex Steel String, so I found this interesting. And to think that cheeky fucker Mason at Vertex was accusing Nux of cloning his Steel String.

 

 

Ha, no way! I'd What model have you got? From what I can see the original was in a silver enclosure and looked a lot like the NUX, the "SRV mod" version is the same but black and then there's a "Supreme" model with a whole load of other shit tacked on. 

 

I'd normally jump to Mason's defence and say that's just how the anolog pedal scene is but he doesn't looks great in this to put it mildly. Graphics and name are quite similar (both things that can be trademarked and protected) but the circuits are totally different (even if it was identical would be the one thing that's really hard to protect legally).

 

33 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

I just love how easy to use the Line 6 stuff is as well. Sounds great too. 

 

Ive liked most of the Line6 stuff I've used bar their early Spider amps. the early pods and modulation pedals were really cool and the new stuff looks much better. I just made the mistake of buying a 2x12 Spider 2 and could even give that fucker away.

10 minutes ago, Andrew said:

TRIPLE POST!

 

Just got my annual bonus confirmed, stay tuned for the results of Andrew going shopping this weekend

 

 

 

Ignore everything I've just said about digital and message me for discount rates on 60 year old analog tech. 

[Andrew 4666]

I think a schecter Nick Johnstone seems to be on the cards currently.

[Blastronaut 1320]

51 minutes ago, Tom said:

I’ve got a NUX Steel Singer & for the money (£40) it’s absolutely exceptional. It works especially well with the Rangemaster made by @Blastronaut  

 

Nice. If you run them both as boosts (just dial back the gain/drive on the NUX) it's will likely be close to what the Vertex is doing, but with a mid hump rather than an mid scoop.

 

30 minutes ago, Andrew said:

I think a schecter Nick Johnstone seems to be on the cards currently.

 

Other side of the ballpark but I've been eyeing up a Schecter S1 Elite that's up for sale locally. Never knew it was a thing but I really want one.

[Gemmill 42881]

6 hours ago, Blastronaut said:

 

Ha, no way! I'd What model have you got? From what I can see the original was in a silver enclosure and looked a lot like the NUX, the "SRV mod" version is the same but black and then there's a "Supreme" model with a whole load of other shit tacked on. 

 

I'd normally jump to Mason's defence and say that's just how the anolog pedal scene is but he doesn't looks great in this to put it mildly. Graphics and name are quite similar (both things that can be trademarked and protected) but the circuits are totally different (even if it was identical would be the one thing that's really hard to protect legally).

 

 

Ive liked most of the Line6 stuff I've used bar their early Spider amps. the early pods and modulation pedals were really cool and the new stuff looks much better. I just made the mistake of buying a 2x12 Spider 2 and could even give that fucker away.

 

Ignore everything I've just said about digital and message me for discount rates on 60 year old analog tech. 

 

This is the one I've got:

 

https://www.vertexeffects.com/steel-string-clean-gold

 

It's identical to the first silver one inside, but it came in a gold "limited edition" casing - it was just cos this was on sale when I bought it. 

[Tom 14002]

10 hours ago, Andrew said:

I think a schecter Nick Johnstone seems to be on the cards currently.

Looks great! 

[Tom 14002]

10 hours ago, Blastronaut said:

 

Nice. If you run them both as boosts (just dial back the gain/drive on the NUX) it's will likely be close to what the Vertex is doing, but with a mid hump rather than an mid scoop.

 

 

I don’t know what I’m doing tbh but it sounds like Rory Gallagher or Joe Bonamassa at times so I’m happy  

[Tom 14002]

Waza Air Review - 

 

Short version, these things are the absolute tits. 

 

So I got em yesterday and the first thing I had to do was the charge the receiver, which was annoying. However the headphones had a decent charge so I had a play about with them and hoyed some tunes on. They are ridiculously loud but high quality for listening to music. 

 

I had to go out and by the time I got back they were charged so I grabbed a can and plugged them in. Fuck Me. It's a very weird sensation, it really does mimic the feel of a loud amp in a room perfectly, in fact it's unsettling because I have neighbours and it feels like I'm stood in front of a Marshall stack. The stage mode feels like I'm stood on a stage with one key difference - you can hear everything properly.

 

The tones and FX, reverb/ambience etc are fantastic. Not quite as good as what I get out of the amp but after a while it's more immersive. I'm often cautions when I watch reviews and the lads at Andertons are like 'WOW THIS IS MINDBLOWING & for just £799!' because it's seldom objective. However my first reaction to playing these was literally blurting out 'Fuccccckk'. They're pretty incredible. It feels like an amp and reacts like an amp, it's not like headphones which is weird. 

 

After a few beers I was shredding over some backing tracks like I was at woodstock or something. It's super immersive, you really lose yourself in it in a way you can't really do with an amp at home. 

 

Very impressive bit of kit and a lifesaver for the neighbours. 

[Blastronaut 1320]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Waza Air Review - 

 

Short version, these things are the absolute tits. 

 

So I got em yesterday and the first thing I had to do was the charge the receiver, which was annoying. However the headphones had a decent charge so I had a play about with them and hoyed some tunes on. They are ridiculously loud but high quality for listening to music. 

 

I had to go out and by the time I got back they were charged so I grabbed a can and plugged them in. Fuck Me. It's a very weird sensation, it really does mimic the feel of a loud amp in a room perfectly, in fact it's unsettling because I have neighbours and it feels like I'm stood in front of a Marshall stack. The stage mode feels like I'm stood on a stage with one key difference - you can hear everything properly.

 

The tones and FX, reverb/ambience etc are fantastic. Not quite as good as what I get out of the amp but after a while it's more immersive. I'm often cautions when I watch reviews and the lads at Andertons are like 'WOW THIS IS MINDBLOWING & for just £799!' because it's seldom objective. However my first reaction to playing these was literally blurting out 'Fuccccckk'. They're pretty incredible. It feels like an amp and reacts like an amp, it's not like headphones which is weird. 

 

After a few beers I was shredding over some backing tracks like I was at woodstock or something. It's super immersive, you really lose yourself in it in a way you can't really do with an amp at home. 

 

Very impressive bit of kit and a lifesaver for the neighbours. 

 

Well fuck. Now I'm going to need to find a way to sneak an £800 set of headphones into the house without anyone noticing. I'm a pretty self conscious player at the best of times and despite my rhetoric I actually hate playing at volume at home. My main amp even has a built in attenuator to take it down to from 45w to 1watt and it's still too loud through a 12" speaker for me to really feel comfortable getting the valves hot at home. Its not even my family that are the worry and I couldn't care less about my neighbours but I just don't want to be "that guy". I'd call it paranoia and blame it on all the grass I smoked in my teens and 20's but I'm told I was always a 

worrier.

 

£800 on headphones is a big purchase though. My good cans were bought around 2004 for £40 and still going strong. 

 

On 17/03/2022 at 06:01, Gemmill said:

 

This is the one I've got:

 

https://www.vertexeffects.com/steel-string-clean-gold

 

It's identical to the first silver one inside, but it came in a gold "limited edition" casing - it was just cos this was on sale when I bought it. 

 

I'll sound like a dick here but limited edition units on fire sale would give me the fear. I've got a lot of time for Jack Orman though, just shitty to see people pass off his work as their own without giving credit. A name drop in the sales pitch and I'd call it Kosher. Its an original design but only in the sense that someone has taken a few Lego blocks to build something without mentioning it was built from Lego.

[Gemmill 42881]

They're not £800 mate. I think I got mine for 350 or something. 

 

Now it's gonna feel like you're getting them half price. 

[Tom 14002]

£299 @ Guitar Guitar 

[Blastronaut 1320]

Holy fuck, that's fairly reasonable. Dunno where I got 800 from. So for 800 I could get this and 20 bottles of black label? 

[Tom 14002]

1 hour ago, Gemmill said:

They're not £800 mate. I think I got mine for 350 or something. 

 

Now it's gonna feel like you're getting them half price. 

Yes I’m to blame for that because I specified £799 - more a dig at Andertons who are fucking stupid when it comes to talking about value