Thread: recent progress- post yours

in a small space tryin an amp out is tricky to guage output
i have dimed some real powerful amps in my office [3mx3m]
and after a certain point it dont get louder but things start to shake and rattle.

when i first fired up the 5e3 i thought its not that loud but at rehearsal next to a pretty solid drummer i am on about 3 with a fair way to go

get next to a drummer and you soon get an idea

i thought that might be the case with the small areas. thought there was a prob with the amp but then noticed that things were shaking more on the high output levels. im not sure what the next project for me will be. im throwing up between a single ended amp of some sort, and maybe a bassman styled amp with a different preamp. also considering a similar sized amp using el84's. after hearing how loud this got, i really dont think ill need a 50w amp. im deffinately turning that 200w holden/wasp into a bass amp (ill just change the bright boost into a deep switch, the bright boost is too bright anyway, even with the reble right down and the vintage style neck pup.

you have any plans for any other amps in the near future, or anyone else?

yeah 200 watts is a bass amp power wise
i am finding these days that a decent 40 watt amp on about 4 [fender blues deluxe] is way too much and end up being regularly jumped on by sound guys for being too loud. pity because that amp is wimpy till you get aroun 4-5 -
i recently sold a traynor YCV40 that was so ridiculously loud - easily marshall 50 watt loud and held its own with any marshall i ever played next too

i am find 15 to 20 watts about right for most applications these days and even that can be over load - i am tinking of getting a 5f1 champ for use in small rooms [6watts]

my next project is a cab and headshell for the Superdawg [5F4] and twin emi ragin cajuns sitting on the shelf here

I envy anybody who can muck around with building their own amps.
It's a heap of info to take in to even grasp the concepts of how these babies tick,
and I've come to the conclusion that my brain ain't wired right to take it all in .

I'll stick to guitars I think.

Old picker.................+1 with the Traynor.
( thats a rating of 5 smileys out of 5)

cheers, Stu

Originally Posted by oz tradie

It's a heap of info to take in to even grasp the concepts of how these babies tick,
and I've come to the conclusion that my brain ain't wired right to take it all in .

Maybe you have your tone pots wired backwards too

Sounds like interesting stuff guys. At my work they are pulling apart, fixing, and putting back together massive expensive bits of testing equipment (telecoms) every day. I have no ambition to mess around too much with a soldering iron after seeing what some of these tube powered things are like inside. Besides that, there are too many of them. EL34, 5L7, whatever, I can't even remember what's in my Marshall anymore.

I'm with Stu!

I have found that a basic understanding [very basic] of amps, valves and speakers pretty critical in getting the grail tone - i am there with one amp at the moment but its been a long search - you cant really talk about guitar tone without talking about amps...

a great guitar wiill sound as crap as a cheap guitar through a 6 watt solid state gorilla amp - put them both through a 59 fender princeton and you will notice a big difference -

i have found that a great amp will make most playable guitars sound good

for me a guitar is just mostly a delivery system for an amp
it has to fit and be comfortable, nicely set up etc - guitars come and go some are keepers and some ain't

i agree with that old picker, it has alot to do with the amp and the pickups. the guitar obviously effects playability, but is a fairly minor role in the tone. once i get the current guitar finished (the walnut one) then the only thing i can blame my tone on is my playing and the speakers im running it through, everything else will be made by me. kinda scary actually...

I have to disagree with the above suggestion:

...the guitar ...is a fairly minor role in the tone

While many collectible musical implements are grossly overpriced, there's still a core reason they are worth more than equivalent era amplifiers. Walking away from the "hallowed ground" and into more practical territory, there's still a darned lot a good guitar can do which flatters an indifferent amplifier.

My comments are made from the perspective of someone who has no vested interest - I do not sell guitars or amps, nor collect old ones. One thing that does suck a lot of people in is the feeling they "need" a certain piece of gear - frequently I'd suggest it's a commercially instilled insecurity.

Unless a guitar is the tool for earning a primary source of income, it's worth not getting too far away from just enjoying playing.

Cheers, Adam.

Originally Posted by addo

I have to disagree with the above suggestion:
While many collectible musical implements are grossly overpriced, there's still a core reason they are worth more than equivalent era amplifiers. Walking away from the "hallowed ground" and into more practical territory, there's still a darned lot a good guitar can do which flatters an indifferent amplifier.

My comments are made from the perspective of someone who has no vested interest - I do not sell guitars or amps, nor collect old ones. One thing that does suck a lot of people in is the feeling they "need" a certain piece of gear - frequently I'd suggest it's a commercially instilled insecurity.

Unless a guitar is the tool for earning a primary source of income, it's worth not getting too far away from just enjoying playing.

Cheers, Adam.

keep in mind that i did separate pickups from guitar. the wood and construction of the instrument does effect the sound, but the difference is not nearly as great as different amps and pickups (assuming it is reasonably well made.

if you had a tele, and were playing it through a 5e3 (or any other amp that sounds great) and then took the pickups and electronics from the tele and put it into a cheap chinese tele copy and played it the difference would be subtle, but change to a different amp or different pickups, and that nicely made tele will have a very different sound.

id say the reason the guitars are worth more than the equivalent era amp, is guitars being played are what you see. someone who see's roy buchanon (just an example to keep it on with a tele) playing his tele on tv sees him playing a tele. they dont see the tweed amp hes playing through. they relate the sound to a vintage tele. they dont see that and think "thats a nice sound hes getting with the ice picky highs from the bright single coil pup going into that warm vintage fender amp smoothing them out"

Originally Posted by addo

I have to disagree with the above suggestion:
While many collectible musical implements are grossly overpriced, there's still a core reason they are worth more than equivalent era amplifiers. Walking away from the "hallowed ground" and into more practical territory, there's still a darned lot a good guitar can do which flatters an indifferent amplifier.

My comments are made from the perspective of someone who has no vested interest - I do not sell guitars or amps, nor collect old ones. One thing that does suck a lot of people in is the feeling they "need" a certain piece of gear - frequently I'd suggest it's a commercially instilled insecurity.

Unless a guitar is the tool for earning a primary source of income, it's worth not getting too far away from just enjoying playing.

Cheers, Adam.

you nailed it in one "collectible"
people have been speculating in guitars as investment for quite a few years now and many examples of early gibson and fender guitars are locked away forever as a a piece of guitar art. atribute this to the lean years of the 80's when guitars went out of favor for electronics and the big 2 marketing jugernauts got the sales going again - i had those guitars and sold em - fenders gibsons gretsch etc - they were just ordinary factory guitars - some good some not - i have keepers left from the early days but no fender or gibson - i never found one i liked enough to hang on to - i liked the fenders best for some reason not that they were better than the others i think they reminded me more of the bands i liked when i was kid - the shadows - the crickets etc

I was around during that era, too. We used to laugh at a $6000 ticket for a 59/60 Les Paul "Who'd be silly enough to pay that?"... Agreed that the actual products ran hot and cold.

But really - this is why I describe myself as a "recovering luthier" - I seriously believe there is a culture that creates a nagging, unsettled feeling of dissatisfaction in people, with their present musical gear. It disappoints me because that has the tendency to make people overlook the good points of what they've got, and have a good time with it.

It's not much different to cars - there's always someone with a faster, bigger, newer, plusher car. In the end, (if you're a petrolhead) you settle on something that you enjoy driving without constantly feeling inadequate or fiscally stressed...

Aside from really cheap atrocities, most guitars have a character that can be flattered (and enjoyed) by a good musician. Certainly some do the "crowd pleaser" sounds more adeptly, but does a musician get further by being the same, or being different?

Regards, Adam (...two L/H Fiesta Red Marvin tribute Strats in progress)

adam why dont you post some pics??
are you doing one piece fatso 50's style necks?
this sounds like an interesting project to me

always nice to see some photos of someone's project

i finished sanding the walnut guitar last night and started oiling it with danish oil. did the first coat and rubbed it in with 400 grit wet and dry. the timber has a really nice colour and lustre when wet, and i think it may be the colour you get with the finish on.

ive also made the pickguard which looks nice on the guitar, gives a nice contrast.

i started making the pickup bobbin last night but got frustrated as i cracked the wenge top when drilling, so ill do it another time, maybe tonight, just need to cut another piece of wenge from my tiny piece.

OK, a few pictures. The lone neck is my brother's present for the festive season. I'll be scalloping it this week with the round Microplanes, as I've done with a couple of other necks he already has (Blackmore obsessive). It'll actually be installed onto a vintage 1986 Ibanez Roadstar that runs two DiMarzio "PAF Pro" humbuckers (red ones, at that - it was the era!). Nearly done; about three hours in the scallop, a couple on the resand plus topcoats then install time.

Headstock is Jazzmaster pattern, just a pleasant change from all the usual ones...

Red toys are my Shadows worship. They're to be fitted with gold hardware and Custom Shop pickups. Haven't got far on the neck for the rosewood one, but the maple unit is killer birdseye like Billy Carson's original red Strat. A friend is beavering away on some virginal white straps with gold hardware to match (for his own gear) and I reckon something like that would be just the ticket! Will borrow one for a mock-up.

.ylimaf eht ni stsiratiug dednah tfel owt era ereht ,sey dnA

Cheers, Adam.