Posts by Nikos

@PhilUK84

It is good that you are so sure about your decision..

For me personally live micing is a thing of the past and I like it this way.Great achievment.Just plug in into the singers PA or the small FOH and all good..me likes this..

That being said I am an absolute tube guy which hated his early modeler experiences (POD).I hated this so much that I never tried again untill the KPA and again a good friend of mine "urged" me give it a try since I was all "meh..just one more nice (digital) try.."

I spent a lot of energy for many years carrying around expensive and heavy tube rigs even to smaller venues and I went always mad when other guys questioned this mentality ("great sound first,bones second" was my answer)..

Anyway..whatever one makes playing better..

@PhilUK84

Can you really "do" the ampintheroom;I mean the venues you´re playing..can you open your 25w or 40w tube amp as loud as it needs to sound good;Will your drummer be allowed to play as loud as he needs to cope with your amp;I could go on asking but you already know what I mean..

Whenever I try to see the KPA as a tool it works and sounds great..

Whenever I miss my ampintheroom and try to compensate with the KPA everything breaks down..

For me it is all in my head.And at some point many years ago I realised that gearwise we sometimes have to "learn to love it" and to stop thinking.To much thinking kills rocknroll..

@MonkeyMan

Wow..this sounds very good.I will try and look out for a used newer model,thanks for your thoughts guys..

How good are the "stranger kind of sims" like the sitar or the banjo on the newer variax models;

I tried one in 2004 with a vetta and thought that I could do some work with these sounds but ofcourse only for some background "ambience"-kind of stuff in the mix..

So..have the newer variax improved sitar-sims compared to the older ones;Good enough to spend a few hundred bucks for one of them on ebay;

This all sounds to me as the only "right way" to do it is to try a normal miced "studio profile"..maybe you have sone friend who has a recording studio;I guess most recording studio owners would like to do something which such a nice & precious amp.Even if it is only to have their "own profiles" of the Welagen.

This DI-thing just dont sound and feel right.Just my two cents..

Or was it 54 overwounds..I have to look up in my mailbox but yes..I fully trust Bas.Ofcourse I will ive a review as soon as I have the Strat in my hands..but I guess it will take a few more weeks.So be it..no stress..

Bas recommended 58 overwounds(he mentioned a Eric Johnson type of thing)..I forget to ask him if these PUs are Mojos but I guess so..I fully trust this guy.It will be light weight alder two tone sunburst,maple neck(big headstock) and maple fingerboard.

It is my first "relic" kind of thing I ever tried though mine will be only very,very slightly reliced.Dont like that to much.But I also dont like to "pale" maple fingerboards..we will see..

greetings

What a bunch of nice guitars in this thread..I somehow "avoided" threads like this in the past since I mostly went for studio gear for the last 10-12 years..but right now I am waiting for my Folreden S-model as well and the review from @MaFaDiC gives me a lots of joy..cant wait to get mine..

@MaFaDiC

Man..what a beauty..what a beauty..And Bas is indeed a fantastic guy.

Mahogany has a "distinct baritone" that no other wood has.I can hear this.And I have not really "special ears".I took this two examples in the two videos because I believe that this "bariton slips on a ripe plum"-tone is so obvious that it screams..

With a stratocaster it is even more simple..most people do have experiences "with the twang" while really good LesPauls with the "distinct baritone" of the mahogany/maple combination (ofcourse together with scale,rosewood fretboard,PUs etc) are very (very!!) hard to find.And believe me..I searched for years before I found "my lespaul"..

I talked earlier about the hardware and specially about the nut.For the stratocaster the nut may not play a role at all but for the LesPaul I stay with my assesment that it is "more important" than for example the PUs.

If you can make any guitar sound like you want with "the right PU,the right amp & fx" then why did Mr Strat himself played the LP to record this song:

I call this a "distinct tone" and no player of this earth can change these distinct characteristics..not even a Mark Knopfler..but since he is a true master of tone he uses these distinct tones of wood to paint his beautiful pictures..

One question;

Which other woods/guitar/PUs than a "classical LesPaul" would you guys use to achieve the same(!!) solo sound like this(1:20-1:45)

Just curious..

I don like to offend anyone but are we really that strange as musicians;

Would a cook claim that his "basic" means like meat or vegetables "do not have such a big influence on taste like the sauce and the spices";

Would any car maker ever claim that the material of the chassis and the engine are "not as important as the paint and the electronics";

I would like to say that we maybe should care more about "basics" and "roots"..and what else is more "basic" than tonewoods & hardware (I mean bridge,mechanics,nut etc) on a guitar;

I would also like to bring the discussion more on the "chain"..an expensive vintage-guitar will indeed not sound "as pure" if we drown it in highgain and fx..would anyone pay that lot for handmade japanese noodles which have been made just a moment ago by the "star-cook" with mastergrade in a fancy japanese restaurant in little tokyo in duesseldorf only to put some ketchup on it;You can try this if you like.. ..but dont forget that the japanese cook has the knives and not you..

Only a musician will put a ton of sauce (highgain) and cheese(fx) on his handmade noodles aka custom made guitar which would sound great just with a top class amp with a little bit of overdrive and just a bit of spring reverb...just like the japanese cook uses hot water and a few vegetables/spices to underline the taste of his handmade noodles..

@lightbox

Nice..though my custom LesPaul has even better "twang" when I play both golden 50s "coiled" together..

Still for me it is "something like twang" but far from the twang I want to hear from a "good" strat..

But again it is just me and "my ears"..

Quote from CJGOMEZ

I think the wood, fret size, action plus radius plus string gauge, and our fingers (plus neck size and hand size) are all factors that interconnect somehow and influence both our tone and feel. I like maple, but rosewood feels good and is warmer, and I also have ebony in an acoustic and a Gretsch, and find it a bit in between maple and rosewood.

You are so right..all & everything does effect "sound" but for me a few things are "save to believe in" no matter that I have no problem to admit that I know jack shit about tonewoods..it is just...maybe your "own personal experience" and the knowledge what is good for the way you play electric guitar;And if so..what is wrong about this;

I almost dont dare to say it but since some 20 years I believe that maple fretboards on alder/ash-strats with maple neck deliever "more sustain" than rosewood or ebony.Can I "proove" this;No.It is just that my 77 Strat (which is very heavy btw) with all maple delivers an unbelieveable sustain.And most Strats with maple FB I tried have (again..just in "my ears" and with the way I like to play) "more sustain" or better said produce much faster and more controlable "harmonic feedback" than the ones with rosewood.Coincidence;I dont know.Maybe.

Sure some guys will come now and say that they have the same impression/experience with rosewood FBs and this is absolutely fine with me.Anyway..

Quote from Tritium

Indeed, there is no question of that. I have three Fender YJM Strats. Two have all maple necks, and the other has a rosewood fretboard. Besides the difference in fretboard wood, they are all identical. The all maple necks Strats are brighter, with a bit sharper "attack". The rosewood Strat is more mellow and "warm", with a bit rounder "attack". Now, don't get me wrong, I am not claiming these are super dramatic, "night-vs-day" differences, and one has to be somewhat attuned to this sort of thing. Nevertheless, they do exist.

Cheers,
John

We agree completely..I believe I can also hear the differences allthough in the meanwhile I am also "open" to the fact that it is "not as easy as it seems"..

Maple fretboard..my opinion is that it is great if you want "as much twang" as you can get out of the Stratocaster but (and this is a big but..) you need to know that you will have to play as much with your volume knob as you will play with the PU-selector..it is "a lots of work" only to control the brighteness..but you get a lot for this in response.I like to test any guitar (instinctively) with the "Mark Knopfler-stroke" playing several "percussive ghost notes" before I play the "target note" for a long and slow bend with a following slow and wide vibrato..this is where the Stratocaster alder/ash/maple/maple IMO excells..if you roll back a little bit the volume knob..playing also a little bit with the tone knob and you will get this characterstical "knopfler-universe" you hear on several intros of his with the red strat/maple fretboard...

The same with a rosewood and you get a little bit "darker & rounder" result which again results in the feel that you have to "strike harder" which again results in the need for stronger strings..and there you will find players like SRV..

It is all about what one wants to hear.

My ESP superstrat has lightwight alder,bolt on maple neck with a thick ebony fretboard..I got it custom made in 1989 and am not sure when the washburn N4 appeared on the market but this is exactly the same sound:Very percussive,every note is "there" playing chunky,funky rock riffs is fun..playing shred lead is even more sex..

I could go on for hours..

Again this is just my opinion,my "ears"..I changed some 10-11 different PUs on my ESP on the bridge position(the ESP-made "powerrail"-on the neck never changed),I started with a PG when it was built,then I got me a JB,later than several "hotter PUs" back to more "civil" PAF pro kind of stuff and in the end I put a "Invader" in there and it is still there (since 2001 if I am not wrong)..fact is that the "basic sound" never changed.Not at all.This guitar is still what it was from the start:Percussive,"fast" response,the perfect beast for shred.But a little bit "congested" (there it is again.. ) in the mids..not because of any PU but because of the Floyd.Easy as that.

@pamplemousse

I never would claim that the players who "believe" in the PU-thing are wrong..it is just that for me this story has never worked out.In my 20s I experimented with "everything" and most of all with Floyds..while most of my buddies went on the PU-experience trip..it did not worked out for neither of us.You cant cheat physics.

Today the problem is solved through the triple-guitar solution:Everyone has a LesPaul a Strat and a superstrat(plus the fitting tube amps).The best solution anyway..

@ElDoca

A great luthier many years ago told me that "all good wood is sold"..and when I asked "what now"; he answered "ofcourse we (he meant the luthiers and companies) will not tell anyone.."

Hi Michael..

I am a child of the 80s with all its "signature PUs" from the Jeff Beck to the Pearly Gates to the Malmsteen HS-3(btw a lowoutput piece of Sh** if you ask me) and so on and so on..I remember what back then was written about the "magic power" of PUs..it was almost an hysteria..

Then when people got more money all the "signature guitars" appeared..and the "signature PU"-stuff calmed down a lot..

Today we have the same with "signature amps"..

Looking back to this time when good guitars("vintage" gibsons & fenders) could be bought for peanuts while strange and bad sounding superstrats were the "big thing" today guitar players have learned their lesson I guess.One of these lessons learned is "you cant cheat physics"..

Sorry but I dont hear the "EQ-curve" between two similiar Humbuckers which have the same output.And I still wait for someone to explain it to me exactly and not "theoratically"..because in reality I never ever heard a difference.And btw..all the guys who bought back then all the JBs and PGs did neither...

Next question would be (always have been) why not using just an onboard-EQ/preamp;

The answer is simple and eternal..guitars are plain simple instruments.Nevertheless their sound is the product of all parts.Everything which can "resonate" will do so and the PUs will mic it..for me personally there is not much "magic" left in there.

@Tritium

I understand your argument ie the nut but "something" tells me that the whole instrument is "reacting" with each note we play and every part of the guitar is part of how the guitar sounds (cant describe it more accurate). ..does the PU only mic only the note you play on the 5th/10th or 20th fret;Or does the PU mic the whole guitar;I dont know..I only know that my "cheap" schaller golden 50s on my custom made lespaul do not sound "worse" than PUs I tried and which cost many times the money of the golden 50s..

But as I said.I am not sure if I am right with all this.I might be dead wrong.Definetly all this is food for thouht and I cant make it clear enough enough that my opinion is just this..my opinion..

As for the PUs..I never understood how (besides the difference in output) an PU should produce "more warmth" or "more highs" etc when it is just a "microphone" which may be "underwound" or "overwound" but the principle stays the same.Ofcourse it is important to put the right PU in your guitar..dont like to sound like a smartass but ofcourse I would not put a humbucker in my strat when I want the "twang" and I also would not put a higher output single coil when I want a "vintage sound" etc..but thats it IMO..

How can one single coil with the same output sound "more vintage" than another;Who can explain me this;Because I really would like to know..

I also believe that a one or even more parts of the "equation" can be replaced and a good luthier knows how to use the basic colours to create the nuances for the whole picture..

An ebony fretboard surely can be replaced by other tonewoods.

IMO tonewoods are "the base"..then the scale of the neck/kind of "connection" between neck/body,then everything which "touches the stings" (bridge,nut,frets) and finally PUs (ofcourse if we leave out the "concept" HB and SCs out of this equation)..something like this in this order..but again,this is just my view on things.

I am also the crazy guy who believes that the player forms the sound of his favorite guitars through his playing over many years (power of attack of the right hand/"vibrato left hand-shockwaves","bending-attrition effect on frets and many other crazy things I believe in..) but again..this might be just a crazy theory of mine.