Posts by Ibot39

  • What strings do you use?

    Quote from Karajan

    Thanks for your insight! :)


    You are right, I doubt we'll get some kind of official statement on this, but the combined experiences sound pretty convincing ... too bad, I really like those strings. :/


    My problem is this: I recently got a new guitar with pleked non-SS frets and the setup feels amazing. Naturally, I would really prefer preserving this state as long as possible. Since you seem to have some experience with these fretwear problems: could you suggest an alternative string that is protected against sweaty hands like mine, but is easier on the frets?

    I really wish I could suggest the solution, but I don't have it. Mostly it's not the wrapped strings that are affected, but the plain strings go black, rough and even rusty very fast. So coated strings, where only the wound strings are protected are not worth the money, if you have to change them quickley - because of the plains react to sweat as bad as before. If the treatment of the plains works (anti-rust plated...), it seems they cause more fretwear.


    As said, it COULD be (should be :D ), that polymer coated plain strings are nicer to the frets - but there are not many in the market (coated ghs boomers, DR Black Beauties...?). Reviews on these strings are mixed and they seem to be not as durable as Elixir strings. If anyone has experience here, please tell us!!


    It is a question of costs for me too. What I do at the moment: Buying cheaper strings I like (Fender...) in multi-packs and online, using Kyser string cleaner - and wash my hands with ph-level neutral 5,5 soap before playing.


    And I accept ordinary fretwear. Don't panic - on perfect new frets slight wear can already look pretty bad, but it usually looks much worse than it actually is!!

  • What strings do you use?

    Quote from Karajan

    Is this your personal experience or do you have some kind of additional source for this?
    I use Elixir strings and I really like them (I have similar problems as suseguitar) and I have noticed some fretwear under the b-string after about a year on a PRS guitar. I just always assumed this was due to my crappy technique :P I noticed the coating getting worn of the d-string especially so I would assume it's rather soft. So is this different for the plain strings, explaining the higher wear of the frets?

    The plain strings are not coated with polymer. They are "anti-rust treated".


    Yes, it is my personal experience - there is no official statement saying "we use harder material for our anti-rust treatment, that is pleasurable eating your frets 4 times faster" :D
    There are many factors involved (playing technic, regularity of use...).


    I do make fretjobs and refrets myself. Some companies use softer material for frets and some harder - Gibson frets are very long lasting for example, even before they introduced "Cryogenictreatment" in 2014 (but they are also wider and flatter dressed). Sometimes cheap brands use relative good material on one charge and crap on another charge - I have a few Harley Benton guitars that have nice, hard frets.


    Back to the Elixir plain strings: I tried them a several times over the years with different guitars. I always inspect my guitars when changing strings and for my there is no doubt, that I had considerable more freatwear after 2-3 months with Elixir strings (compared to years of use with normal tin plated plains). So one could think new and smooth Elixir strings are at least better to the frets than old rusty and rough "untreated" strings. But this is not the case I am afraid to say. It seems to be the hardness of the material that matters most. I also had more fretwear with Opitma chrome strings for example. These are just MY experiences! But "googling" in the www unfortunately confirms this thesis to me.


    What I did not tried out (regarding fretwear) are strings, where the plains seem to be coated as well (not "treated", but coated with thin polymer). I heard ghs Boomers are all 6 strings coated?! And I did not dare yet to use Elixirs with my Musicman guitar with stainless steel frets - those frets should withstand the test, shouldn't they? :S

  • Kemper Profiling Day in Tokyo Vol 2

    Preliminary conclusions and findings:


    - This Masahiro "Godspeed" Aoki guy is a crazy good player and composer - and Kemper user for a long time as can be seen in his videos.
    - These are merged profiles. At least they call it merged in the video. For example of the Triamp pack: I think they did 4 direct profiles of 4 channels and then combining each with 4 cab/mic combinations - resulting in 16 profiles.
    - The complete package covers a nice range of classic amps. Except for the Splawn Nitro, I am familiar with these and they did a good job to present very authentic recreations!
    - I think they did not intend to make single packs that represent necessarily the full potential of each amp in EVERY detail. It can be seen as a complete bundle that covers sweet spots from clean to highgain from different amps.
    - But although the packs belong together in my opinion, the purchase of single packs can still be worth it. I have to test more, but the Boogie and Koch amps are spot on and really sound as I remember them. The Koch KCC412 B Cabinet is great! Love it!
    - I guess they'll use external pedals (or Kemper stomps) with the profiles. At least this works better here as I did have experienced with other profiles - not only with clean rigs. For example the Boogie responds to (and benefits from) a TS pedal like the original amp. Very nice.


    Some of the profiles sound very close. I think they have a clear vision and just go for the guitar sound they need and like (even if it results in a few very similar profiles). It's more like a complentary signature bundle than a few neutral amp packs. If you like one of the sounds, you can be sure you like the others too. You can see this aspect also the other way around ^^


    I will test further ... but I have already some fun with them :thumbup:

  • Kemper Profiling Day in Tokyo Vol 2

    Quote from Locrain

    I bought the H&K Triamp MKII pack. I'm always on the lookout for MKII profiles, It's my favorite amp I've owned, and It's not profiled often. It's a decent pack, the tones are mostly good...they don't include any profiles of channel 3B, which is a very strange decision when profiling this amp. And there's only 16 profiles. I don't mind paying $13 for 16 profiles, but this a pretty simple pack. Looks like you get 4 different gain/eq settings and 4 mic/cab profiles for each gain/eq setting. There's probably 4-6 profiles I like, I'm glad I bought it, I'm not jumping up and down in excitement, buy it's not a bad pack.


    Edit: Unless my ears fail me, the four LEAD profiles are identical to the RHY ones...I can't tell any difference at all switching back and forth...weird.And it is odd that the LEAD profiles show channel 3A like the RHY ones, same gain and everything, when you would expect they use 3B, I wonder if they doubled up by mistake. I mean, they sound IDENTICAL.

    The LEAD rigs are not from 3A as you have written, they are from channel 2B - and that is correctly shown in Rig Manager! Channel 2B is perfect for lead tones on the Triamp - so that fits.
    It's also common to use channel 3A for riffs and power chords - even the manual from H&K says so.
    The TriAmp RHY 8 and the ViViX TriAmp LEAD 8 are noticeably different. You are totally right, the other RHY vs LEAD are very close in this pack! But I can hear sliiightly differences. To prove that these are not the same, do this: Set Definition on both corresponding rigs to 10 and compare. Or go for the extreme and set Gain and Defintion on 10. Now you see, that the profiles react and sound very different. That there is some kind of "sameness" between the channels was discussed with the real amp too. And when in this case the same speaker and mic (position) are used - that's the result. Ask Sinmix for this :thumbup:


    I give a feedback to the other packs after some testing.

  • Kemper Profiling Day in Tokyo Vol 2

    As some of you know, I have a nice "little" collection of profiles already, but today I found something NEW!! I was searching for profiles of Koch Amps and a pack of Suhr Badger. And then:


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    Amplifiers

    • Fender '65 TwinReverb...6 rigs (GAIN 0.0)
    • Hughes & Kettner TriAmp MkII...16 rigs (GAIN 0.0~6.3)
    • Koch Powertone MarkIII...16 rigs (GAIN 1.3~6.7)
    • Marshall JCM2000 TSL100...8 rigs (GAIN 2.9~5.0)
    • MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier...8 rigs (GAIN 4.8~7.5)
    • Peavey 5150II...24 rigs (GAIN 2.0~6.1)
    • Splawn NITRO...24 rigs (GAIN 0.0~6.6)
    • Suhr Badger 18...28 rigs (GAIN 1.4~6.9)

    https://gumroad.com/l/wsPr
    https://gumroad.com/vivix


    I think I'll purchase the complete bundle and give it a try - the demos sound nice. What do you think @ashtweth @Monkey_Man

  • Official Cameron studio merged profiles with cabs now available

    I have already bought the "Big Red" - cause of the cab option. Of course I would also love to try out the "Atomic Pumpkin" di profiles under these conditions :thumbup:

  • Guitar nut height

    Pretty sure the OP is talking about string slot depth.


    I know a lot of players, who do not care too much or don't want to mess with it. Guitarists seem to accept quite a lot. I always hear: "It was perfect out of the box bla bla..." ^^ Really? So why do the saddle screws on your custom shop strat are sticking out?


    Easy fix with shorter screws - nothing should stick out! But look around: People accept it.


    (Almost) every Gibson neck without binding has sharp fret ends. "Never noticed that on my Studio, Flying V, Explorer...bla bla". After a decent fret job the same people are suprised how smooth they can fiddle up and down the neck now :thumbup: There are many other "shortcomings" to talk about (saddle notches on tune-o-matic bridge...).
    Expensive guitars are often missing love to details too. What does surprise me: Often guitars with a really good setup and standard are produced in Indonesia ...or the headstock says Japan. They seem to have very skilled workers and better quality control?


    But I do not take me out, spending money on more expensive "made in the US guitars" for example (often asian and mexican workers here too) like Gibson, Musicman ... and accept some flaws (due to lacking quality control?) and the need to setup and upgrade myself.

  • Guitar nut height

    To get the perfect width and a nice rounded nut slot, I use this tool (I have a few of them):


    "Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner for Welder Soldering"
    [Blocked Image: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/615ILopZ7nL._SX425_.jpg]


    If you file the slot too deep, you can "rebuild" the slot with super glue. There are several recipes - like mixing glue with baking soda or use material scraped from the actual nut or bone dust... but in my experience it is more important to use the right super glue! They are different to work with and in the result.


    With some experience (and some study) it is possible to customize the slots to the individual needs of your guitar. With an (rounded) angle you can exactly control, how much of the string is resting on the material.
    A short contact point prevents from tuning issues through friction. But sometimes a bit more "contact area" (with plain strings) can prevent the string from vibrate in the nut slot (behind the contact point). To much can cause issues again.


    I do make my own bone nuts where needed, but I also work on already installed nuts, when the material is o.k. A few weeks ago I did a completly rework of the compensated nut of my Musicman guitar (de-compensated some and properly recut the slots). Compensated nuts are different story... a long story... in short: If your nut is proper cut, you don't need it :thumbup:

  • “Oh, a Kemper!”

    Usually, when my wife complains "my husband is spending to much time with his Kemper", people react like:
    "That's cool! We wanted one forever! You'll have niiice holidays, so be happy!"


    She: " 8| What?!? Really? I don't think so. I'll don't get him away from his beloved 'Toaster' - certainly not in the holidays :cursing: !"


    They: "O.K. - your husband IS strange! Don't get the toaster thing. But can I have a look at the CAMPER. Where is it?"


    Shown to them: "Oh, a ... Kemper! :||| "

  • (Soundside) - Big Summer Sale 2019 - ended

    yeah, to be exact, I did mention 3 different amps in my thread, but my question is to the Triple Crown. I already did read the pdf - but I didn't understand what "M = Default settings" does exactly mean. So my question - after reading the AMP manual too - was, if you could verify that the "M profiles" (rig-names ending with M) are based on the "Instant Gratification Settings" from the amp manual. Or what does default settings mean here? Thanks!

  • Guess the amp?

    Quote from Thumas

    it is through my rectifier 2x12 with heil pr20 mic.

    Cool! So does this have a speaker out mod? I have done that to my Marshall Master Reverb, but was to lazy yet to do it to the Rage 158. Mine also looks different - has silver stripe, instead red.


    There is a funny story: A work colleague has given it to me - it looked perfect, but she said it was used for years, but always had this clanky rattle in the sound. It was so annoying to her, that she gave it away for free on that day. In my homestudio I cleaned up the amp (although it looked nice already) and discovered that a coin (10 Pfennig) was sticking on the speaker in the back of the combo. Of course this was causing the weird sound all the years, but nobody noticed it :D

  • How to get a great sound

    Pickups DO matter - while setting up the amp before profiling. You would dial in an amp different when using a neck single coil versus EMG in the bridge. Of course, when using the rig dialed in for single coil with humbuckers it now will sound different (= like an amp already dialed in for single coils :D ). There had been sellers that made profiles at neutral noon position rather than sweet spots (for the used guitar). But thats not the solution, cause Kemper EQ than does not exactly the same as EQ dialed in on the specific amp.

  • Guess the amp?

    I did say the Krankenstein because it is the only tube amp that can sound like a transistor amp ;)


    Because of the gain structure, my second guess was Boss Metalzone - I didn't say cause it was later mentioned a TS was involved.


    I own the Peavey Rage combo myself - a nice amp, but mine does sound a bit different (other cab used here? Or of course mics....).


    I don't care at all if it is allowed to say :thumbup::saint::thumbup: but the gain structure sounds transistor!! Thats not a bad thing, I still use transistor amps when a certain high gain sound is needed - I especially like how palm mutes sound (they remain more "distorted"). But it sounds transistor!


    A lot of cheap clean amps with a Boss Metal Zone will bring you to that ballpark. But be sure, Ced will not stay long with this profile (as long as he did not switch to Death Metal :P ).

  • (Soundside) - Big Summer Sale 2019 - ended

    Armin, the UKGold JS pack has killer profiles!! And the Morning AC Sparkle is really nice too (I think, I'll learn the Chamberlin tune with those - the sound is there now ;) )!


    One question to the Triple Crown: Are the profiles with "M"at the end the "Instant Gratification Settings" from the manual?

  • What strings do you use?

    Quote from suseguitar

    just arrived at a point to switch to Elixir... when I started playing (some 25 years ago) I used Ernie Ball... pretty ok so far, but my (cold) sweat especially during first gigs must have been very aggressive, so the surface of the plain strings rapidly moved from even and slippery to harsh and raspy, my fingers seemed to be glued to the strings and my very limited playing was dramatically hampered furthermore...
    I then tried Maxima Gold Strings for a while, but the sound wasn't what I was looking for, too tough and metallic.
    Next station were Thomastik Power Brights: from a sound point of view a precisionlanding to my ears, also they seemed to have pretty good durability - untill to the day, when we played on a black schist terrace and more than 30 degrees... again the very new plain strings turned out to be black, harsh and raspy.
    since a few days I use the Elixir strings and I must say, I love the sound and expecially the slippery feeling of both plain and wound strings, lets see how long they will last ;)
    that's my "string-story" so far ^^ ...

    my father is a bass player and so he does not use his guitars very often. On one guitar Elixir strings are used since years!! I think 3 years now (I put them on for him). They are still usable!


    BUT: As said, they DO cause a lot more fretwear. It was not that bad on Gibson guitars, but horrible on Fender frets. I am not afraid of fretwear, cause I know this is part of the game (and I do fretjobs and refrets myself). But plain strings of Elixir is too much pain for me ;)


    Of course a lot of players use those strings and love them (but they do not care or notice the increased fretwear).

  • How cheap are your cables?

    Quote from nightlight

    Thanks for the vote, Nicky. I'll try out the Planet Waves ones.


    @ashtweth, I agree, in this case, seems like a weak link in my signal chain.

    @nightlight Be careful with the PW Amercian Stage Cable. They advertise, that the new form of the tip works with any jack. That ist not the case - my dealer took my cables back after he experienced himself in the shop, that the tip does not connect right to some jacks (forgot which ones). Planet Waves Custom Pro have been their best cable, but they are not longer available. God knows why?
    I am pretty happy with Cordial cables (Cordial CSI PP-Gold line with flexible CGK 175 cable and neutrik connectors).