It's not the finish I care about though, it was just funny a while back when my neighbor kept posting about Suhrs and that one was one he liked. As far as finishes go, that's my biggest weakness...I have several bodies doing nothing (yes, my own little morgue) that I can practice on first so I want to do my own on my next project...if I screw up I'll just send it out for a solid color. If I were to rub in a dye finish like above (though perhaps not that color) or do a sunburst I do have a couple of old high school buddies with a place to do professional gloss coats or for that matter do an entire paint job.Your next guitar?
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- Rad Grandad
- 38041 posts since 6 Sep, 2003 from Downeast Maine
I already got one that looks like that It's not the finish I care about though, it was just funny a while back when my neighbor kept posting about Suhrs and that one was one he liked. As far as finishes go, that's my biggest weakness...I have several bodies doing nothing (yes, my own little morgue) that I can practice on first so I want to do my own on my next project...if I screw up I'll just send it out for a solid color. If I were to rub in a dye finish like above (though perhaps not that color) or do a sunburst I do have a couple of old high school buddies with a place to do professional gloss coats or for that matter do an entire paint job.
It's not the finish I care about though, it was just funny a while back when my neighbor kept posting about Suhrs and that one was one he liked. As far as finishes go, that's my biggest weakness...I have several bodies doing nothing (yes, my own little morgue) that I can practice on first so I want to do my own on my next project...if I screw up I'll just send it out for a solid color. If I were to rub in a dye finish like above (though perhaps not that color) or do a sunburst I do have a couple of old high school buddies with a place to do professional gloss coats or for that matter do an entire paint job.The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.
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- KVRAF
- 16741 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
Well, as a break from all this "suhr" this and "vintage strat" that, I give you, my, as promised, next guitar, although, it's not yet finished, it's a work in progress. As a bonus, I've included my current guitar rig worthy of the ghetto name.
So, a few pages back, I talked about the pick guard and was debating between an orange and yellow body, yadi yadi. Well, I decided to first just get the electronics right, so, yes, it looks like crap on this body, but, it's the body that I have and I'm trying to figure out what I want, exactly.
So the guitar was $75 and was somebody else's project. The body has been refinished and the electronics were redone. The pickups that came with it sucked, however. At any rate, I gave it a small swimming pool route so that I could play with different pickups. Initially I made a pick guard out of cardboard but went ahead and ordered this one with some GFS pickups. The bridge and middle are "texas" overwounds with the middle between a reverse wound. I really like these pickups, they have that twang/spank that I was looking for in the clean but don't get all thin when you kick on the distortion. Total cost there about $60. The neck pickup currently is a mighty mite pickup that I payed $12 for years ago and has just been sitting around. Truth is, I love the pickup, but, it's too hot for this guitar, and, I suspect that it's a reverse wound as well because I get no hum canceling from with the middle. So, it will go, and something else will get put in it's place.
When I get that right I'll figure out what I want to do with the tone control as I pretty much hate guitar tone controls. At any rate, the body is really beat up and initially I was going to just buy a new body, but, I think that I'm just going to try my hand at refinishing this one myself. It really shouldn't be "stained" as the body has a few filled in dings that are obvious. This is a body that you want to hide the wood.
The amp setup is just some experiments with stuff that I had lying around. I was really frustrated with getting good clean tones out of guitar rig and my little 57 rebuilt magnatone with a 6" speaker just doesn't have any oomph for that. So, I dug out an old ADA MP1, damn thing hummed, but, a few hours on the bench and new caps in the power supply fixed that. I coupled this with an old EV spring reverb that has two tanks and a reverb return EQ. The tanks allow you to balance between a long and short decay, I really like it as a guitar reverb.
The amp on the floor is an adcom hi-fi amp that was gifted to me and it really amazed me at how transparent it sounded. So, I paired it up with some MCM cheapie 8" speakers that had a reasonably nice sound in an open baffle to see how it would work in an open back cabinet. Of course, I didn't want to make a cabinet only to find out that they sucked, so, yes, that's an old igloo cooler that was headed for the trash. Yes, it's midrangey resonant as all hell and I had to really back off on the mids to get it to sound decent. But, the point was, whether it would work volume wise for clean tones. As a test, I consider it a success and I plan to knock up an MDF cabinet for four of those 8's that I have that I got for another project which never happened.
MP1 $50 (+$10 in new caps)
EV REverb $10 ( actually, I got two for $20 at the flea market)
Adcom Free (I had to replace a fuse though, so $2)
MCM Speakers $8 each,
There you go, the shittiest guitar rig on KVR, that's right, I'm bragging about how ghetto my rig is.
So, a few pages back, I talked about the pick guard and was debating between an orange and yellow body, yadi yadi. Well, I decided to first just get the electronics right, so, yes, it looks like crap on this body, but, it's the body that I have and I'm trying to figure out what I want, exactly.
So the guitar was $75 and was somebody else's project. The body has been refinished and the electronics were redone. The pickups that came with it sucked, however. At any rate, I gave it a small swimming pool route so that I could play with different pickups. Initially I made a pick guard out of cardboard but went ahead and ordered this one with some GFS pickups. The bridge and middle are "texas" overwounds with the middle between a reverse wound. I really like these pickups, they have that twang/spank that I was looking for in the clean but don't get all thin when you kick on the distortion. Total cost there about $60. The neck pickup currently is a mighty mite pickup that I payed $12 for years ago and has just been sitting around. Truth is, I love the pickup, but, it's too hot for this guitar, and, I suspect that it's a reverse wound as well because I get no hum canceling from with the middle. So, it will go, and something else will get put in it's place.
When I get that right I'll figure out what I want to do with the tone control as I pretty much hate guitar tone controls. At any rate, the body is really beat up and initially I was going to just buy a new body, but, I think that I'm just going to try my hand at refinishing this one myself. It really shouldn't be "stained" as the body has a few filled in dings that are obvious. This is a body that you want to hide the wood.
The amp setup is just some experiments with stuff that I had lying around. I was really frustrated with getting good clean tones out of guitar rig and my little 57 rebuilt magnatone with a 6" speaker just doesn't have any oomph for that. So, I dug out an old ADA MP1, damn thing hummed, but, a few hours on the bench and new caps in the power supply fixed that. I coupled this with an old EV spring reverb that has two tanks and a reverb return EQ. The tanks allow you to balance between a long and short decay, I really like it as a guitar reverb.
The amp on the floor is an adcom hi-fi amp that was gifted to me and it really amazed me at how transparent it sounded. So, I paired it up with some MCM cheapie 8" speakers that had a reasonably nice sound in an open baffle to see how it would work in an open back cabinet. Of course, I didn't want to make a cabinet only to find out that they sucked, so, yes, that's an old igloo cooler that was headed for the trash. Yes, it's midrangey resonant as all hell and I had to really back off on the mids to get it to sound decent. But, the point was, whether it would work volume wise for clean tones. As a test, I consider it a success and I plan to knock up an MDF cabinet for four of those 8's that I have that I got for another project which never happened.
MP1 $50 (+$10 in new caps)
EV REverb $10 ( actually, I got two for $20 at the flea market)
Adcom Free (I had to replace a fuse though, so $2)
MCM Speakers $8 each,
There you go, the shittiest guitar rig on KVR, that's right, I'm bragging about how ghetto my rig is.
Last edited by ghettosynth on Fri Aug 16, 2013 6:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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- Rad Grandad
- 38041 posts since 6 Sep, 2003 from Downeast Maine
GS about tone controls on guitars...I so agree with you but I dont anymore 
It use to be that passive tone controls were frustrating as all hell imo because by nature thy only took from the sound. I put Orange drop caps in several guitars (mostly with passive pups) and also on passive guitars I put in a treble bleed...however my treble bleed instead of a fixed resistor has 500k trimpots...I go ten for under ten dollars and the Orange Drop was a couple of bux and the caps for the treble bleed were like ten for under ten dollars...worth every PENNY 
The guitar looks cool and I like the cooler cab...I also have been close to getting an MP-1 because this pawn shop up the street seems to get them every few months. Have fun with it, when do we hear it (like I can talk ) and no, it's not the shittiest rig on KvR...in fact it's right up my alley 
It use to be that passive tone controls were frustrating as all hell imo because by nature thy only took from the sound. I put Orange drop caps in several guitars (mostly with passive pups) and also on passive guitars I put in a treble bleed...however my treble bleed instead of a fixed resistor has 500k trimpots...I go ten for under ten dollars and the Orange Drop was a couple of bux and the caps for the treble bleed were like ten for under ten dollars...worth every PENNY The guitar looks cool and I like the cooler cab...I also have been close to getting an MP-1 because this pawn shop up the street seems to get them every few months. Have fun with it, when do we hear it (like I can talk
) and no, it's not the shittiest rig on KvR...in fact it's right up my alley The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.
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- KVRAF
- 16741 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
Yeah, so I agree that the treble bypass is a good idea for limiting the impact of volume controls on overall tone. I haven't decided whether I want to do something like make the second control simply a volume knob for the lead pickup, implement a more complex tone control, or even put in some sort of active electronics. For me, guitar knobs MUST be something that I'm willing to adjust on stage to solve some tone issue. To that end, I may just install a very small valued cap so that rather than give a wide range of tone, it simply shaves off a bit of high end when necessary. For now, I'm just tying to get the basic tonal balance among the pickups where I like it. I have a few pickups to try in the neck, but whether I want to use them is partly related to another guitar project. The other project is not a new guitar, however, it's one I've had for about ten years, I'm just whipping it back into shape.Hink wrote:GS about tone controls on guitars...I so agree with you but I dont anymore
Well, you'll probably never hear the cooler cab, as I said, it is just a short term experiment to make sure that the volume and the bottom end of those speakers would work for me. Friends that have seen it also seem to like it, but, unfortunately, it really is resonant in all of the wrong ways and I don't think that I could ever tame it easily. If I were truly committed I'd take it apart, pull out the foam, and fill it with concrete, that would settle it down, but, I'm not quite that dedicated. Also, to really sort out the guitar tone issues I want to make sure that I'm not adjusting for a bad cabinet. I'm probably going to knock up the new cab this weekend, but, we'll see.The guitar looks cool and I like the cooler cab...I also have been close to getting an MP-1 because this pawn shop up the street seems to get them every few months. Have fun with it, when do we hear it (like I can talk
Now, as far as hearing it, well, hmm, uhhh, well, yeah, that means that I have to play guitar and put it out there for everyone to hear. I'm a pretty crappy guitar player and I haven't played seriously for over ten years. Now, I've been playing lately, of course, and my calluses are coming back. I also feel like I'm getting past the noodling stage back to a place where I feel like I'm making music when I pick up the guitar. Still, while I'm not shy about playing on stage, the thing that's different about recording is that you can play back the recording and hear the mistakes over, and over, and over again.
So, maybe not for a while, but, certainly not until I get the technical problems sorted. The MP1 still has some issues with the volume pot, the reverb controls all have to be cleaned, and of course, I have to knock up the cabinet for the speakers. The guitar has to be shielded and I probably won't do that until I've refinished the body, the wood grain against that pick guard really doesn't look good, in fact, it offends my sense of aesthetic enough that it could impact my playing.
Yes, so, well, soon, real soon now.
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- KVRAF
- 20765 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
At the Winter NAMM show, our booth was next to RS Guitarworks and they had this cool amp rig consisting of 3 x Vox Brian May Specials (cheap 10W solid state practice amps) and 6 x 6.5" speakers (these were the original 3 speakers of the Brian May Specials + 3 more that he found on eBay), all packaged together in a badass anvil-type case. That's a seriously budget setup - the case itself probably cost more than the cheap components - and yet it sounded closer to Brian May's tone than anything I've ever conjured.ghettosynth wrote:As a test, I consider it a success and I plan to knock up an MDF cabinet for four of those 8's that I have that I got for another project which never happened.
btw, that Adcom amp looks almost identical to the one I use in the studio. You can get amazing passive speakers for next to nothing these days (the studio next door to me would probably let his KRK 7000's go for around $250) that would be comparable to $2K+ active monitors when mated with your Adcom.
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- KVRAF
- 20765 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
My favorite wiring mod is a blend pot:ghettosynth wrote:I haven't decided whether I want to do something like make the second control simply a volume knob for the lead pickup, implement a more complex tone control, or even put in some sort of active electronics.
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- KVRAF
- 16741 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
That's not lost on me, when I first plugged it in to some little radio shack pro-7s (cheap metal bookshelf speakers), I was quite surprised about how transparent, for lack of a better word, it sounded. That said, my monitoring environment is untreated and will almost certainly remain so, so, it's not clear to me that it would make that much difference. My choice for monitors is driven more by practical decisions than any sort of absolute barometer of quality, as, well, a better setup would probably just result in different, not necessarily better, mixes. Which brings me though to a question: are the KRKs front ported, from pictures on the net it seems that they are?Uncle E wrote: btw, that Adcom amp looks almost identical to the one I use in the studio. You can get amazing passive speakers for next to nothing these days (the studio next door to me would probably let his KRK 7000's go for around $250) that would be comparable to $2K+ active monitors when mated with your Adcom.
The adcom is only temporarily in my guitar rig. Again, though, this too is more about practical concerns, I don't think that it's road worthy in any sense of the word. It's built to sit politely on a nice wood shelf where it will be played moderately and dusted occasionally.
More than likely my plan is to build a combination stereo amp and "hot lamp" cabinet simulator into a 1 u case to fill up the remaining spot in my carpet covered rack. In fact, I was going to do this before I thought to just use the adcom so I could get started without having too many yaks to shave.
http://www.richardbrice.net/hot_lamp.htm
I have no idea what sort of amp, but, probably one of the recent chip amps will fit the bill. Those speakers are not efficient so tube amps are really not a good choice. In fact, it's interesting in that not only are they not efficient, they do not handle all that much power, so, they sound decent if you give them enough power, but you really need more of them to be able to crank them. Like I said, though, they were cheap and they also have the most important property for any project, namely, I actually have them.
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- KVRAF
- 20765 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
Tube amps and ineffecient speakers is the sound of rock 'n roll! FWIW:ghettosynth wrote:Those speakers are not efficient so tube amps are really not a good choice.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIFI-tube-6N2-E ... 35c9db3bae
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- Rad Grandad
- 38041 posts since 6 Sep, 2003 from Downeast Maine
a jerk I grew up with who also happens to play guitar bought a sound city head and 4x10 cab when we were kids...that head sounded terrible and the cab worse...he sold the head and got an Ampeg V4 w/matching 4x12 (old style, metal knobs and bad ink)...last time we jammed was in 98 and he still had the cab (but not the ampeg) because it sounded so bad...and yes we always called it the sound shittyUncle E wrote:Tube amps and ineffecient speakers is the sound of rock 'n roll! FWIW:ghettosynth wrote:Those speakers are not efficient so tube amps are really not a good choice.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIFI-tube-6N2-E ... 35c9db3bae
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.
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- KVRAF
- 16741 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
Oh yes, 5 watts per side with chinese transformers. Well, they can probably handle 5 watts, heh!Uncle E wrote:Tube amps and ineffecient speakers is the sound of rock 'n roll! FWIW:ghettosynth wrote:Those speakers are not efficient so tube amps are really not a good choice.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIFI-tube-6N2-E ... 35c9db3bae
At one time I thought that I wanted an EL-34 push pull stereo amp in a single rack space. I was going to make it myself, sometime later Mesa Boogie came out with something similar. The thing is, tube amps are just a lot of work to get the mechanics right. Further, I don't really have any transformers, or any EL34s for that matter, right now to speak of and I don't want to spend a ton of money on this.
I have an ADA stereo EL34, two rack space amp, that also needs some power supply love, but that amp always sounded very strange. Super compressed and it had an odd tonal character. If I were to bring that back to life I'd probably have to rebuild it and it's a bit of a pain to work on. Actually, I should fix that thing and sell it, other people seem to like them but it's not my cup of tea.
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- KVRAF
- 20765 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
I imagine you could sell it together with your MP1 for around $700. Some 80's metal freak would be in hog heaven over that setup.ghettosynth wrote:I have an ADA stereo EL34, two rack space amp, that also needs some power supply love, but that amp always sounded very strange. Super compressed and it had an odd tonal character. If I were to bring that back to life I'd probably have to rebuild it and it's a bit of a pain to work on. Actually, I should fix that thing and sell it, other people seem to like them but it's not my cup of tea.
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- KVRAF
- 16741 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
Yeah, except, I'm not letting the MP1 go. I have one 12AX7 replaced with a 12AT7 and I get a much more controlled and useful distortion out of it as a consequence. It sounds a lot less like a metal-head's wet dream this way, but is more to my liking. Although I'd prefer to have knobs to adjust for the tone section, I do like that it's midi controlled. I'm putting my digitech programmable foot pedal back together so that it's easy to switch patches while playing.Uncle E wrote:I imagine you could sell it together with your MP1 for around $700. Some 80's metal freak would be in hog heaven over that setup.ghettosynth wrote:I have an ADA stereo EL34, two rack space amp, that also needs some power supply love, but that amp always sounded very strange. Super compressed and it had an odd tonal character. If I were to bring that back to life I'd probably have to rebuild it and it's a bit of a pain to work on. Actually, I should fix that thing and sell it, other people seem to like them but it's not my cup of tea.
I think that I will fix the ADA amp though. In fact, I could probably get about as much for it as a Mesa 2020 would cost, seems like a fair trade to me.
I used to have a marshall 1966 (not from 1966, the model number) 2x12 cabinet to go with the setup. It sounded very "marshally" all together. I sold the cabinet long ago, one of those sale regrets actually, it was really a nice cabinet. I've never felt the need for a 4x12 by I do like stereo cabinets. I was never quite happy with it as a live rig, however, and then the ADA developed those power supply problems and I used the effect/preamp setuo with a combo.
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- KVRAF
- 20765 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
Once you've got it working, I wouldn't mind trading it for my 20/20. The only thing is mine needs help, one day it worked great and the next day it wouldn't turn on, I have no idea what changed.ghettosynth wrote:I think that I will fix the ADA amp though. In fact, I could probably get about as much for it as a Mesa 2020 would cost, seems like a fair trade to me.
btw, if we do this trade, I'd turn around and sell it together with my Voodoo-modded MP1. That's the ultra hair metal solution.
