My very wiered equipment

[Institoris]

Hi there!

first thread here, just wanted to share with you what gear I'm using and would be happy about some opinions, because its very uncommon, I guess.

Over the years I got this stuff and have a very nice sound for me ever since.

- Epiphone Emily The Strange G-310 or Ibanez SA 120 with D'Addario EXL 158 (picture is showing the Bass of a friend)
- ZOOM G5X (Extreme Distortion, Exciter, Noise Gate and ZNR)
- Behringer Europower PMP530M with 300w as preamp (some very light reverb and EQ concentrates on mids)
- Peavey B 260 Booster (transistor, built 1976 I think, very old, my VU is missing before I had it,)
- Peavey three way speaker ( I disconnected the horn, because of the distortion, using only its 12" and those two little but powerful mid range drivers)
- a cheap Thomann 2-way monitor (powered from behringer so I can decide myself how loud I need to hear myself, depending on location, practice room etc)

Pros:
-My sound is dynamic and brutal imo
-ZOOM G5X allows me to have fun with so many different pedals fx and so on.
-Behringer can have up to 5 instruments at the same time with each a volume-, fx-control +low/high eq. + aux etc
-I can change my monitor volume without dependance on the peavey top.
-old (but gold)
-loud as hell

Cons:
-It's ugly asf
-autistic tube and analog fetishists think its garbage mostly
-hard to get technical information about the Peavey parts (I've send an Email to Peavey Europe with some pictures and that I'm in lack of information... they said it's so old they have no data about it LOL)

I'm playing death(-core) metal, djent, progressive and mostly groove metal stuff. I'm fully satisfied with my tone. Very agressive, bright, but low smashing sound. Loved the sound of Black Dahlia, Rob Arnold of Chimaira, Gojira and ofc Meshuggah.

Please note that I'm not the richest guy and I really don't want to hear what cheap stuff it is or something. Give me your opinion, constuctive criticism or what I could do better/did horrobly wrong for example.

Thanks in advance and I'm looking forward what you say guys!


Here is the picture:

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

That's a pretty sweet setup. I love those old peavey PAs and such. That speaker box is a monster!

 

[DudeManBrother]

If you’re happy with the sound, don’t worry about what anyone else has to say about it. Write some music and enjoy your gear.

 

[odibrom]

^^ All of the above, however, one can only know what one feels and sometimes it is important to confront our knowledge with other's. This to say that besides your own taste, sometimes it is important to hear what other might say about your sound. The problem is to whom you are asking opinions from and how you do that. If you're going the dad rock route, they'll smash you because of everything (not fender/gibson, not valves... blah blah blah)... Try to record your tones as faithfully as possible and show others without any reference to your gear. Only then you'll have less biased opinions (dad rockers don't appreciate heavier tones). Only after hearing the opinions you may disclosure the rig used. If you do it before, the opinion will be biased for sure.

Old school rocks as well as new school, mix of both is generally not consensual, but also a door to different tones and expressions... can you hear your tone in the 3rd person? Can you analyze your tone in matter of what you hear versus what you want to hear? Experimenting gear at shops or at friend's is also an interesting way to question your own sound. When doing so, try to take your guitar, so there's a common reference point to evaluate the experience.

Other than that, you can reply to those tube snobs that, if they're focusing themselves in the gear, they are loosing the music...

 

[NateFalcon]

I fucking LOVE unorthodox gear...the ugliness compliments the tone. Play the hell out of it...it reminds me of Peavey Butchers and Ampeg Vh-140c’s -they may be “outdated” but good luck replicating their sound with newer gear...if it sounds awesome for what you’re trying to do with it then there is no right/wrong

Ps, welcome!

 

[lurè]

The cons you have listed are not really cons.
I mean, if you are happy with how your gear sounds there's no need to change it just because is "ugly" ( which is not imo).

Just play the hell out of it and have fun.

 

[Bentaycanada]

Here is the picture:

View attachment 63897

I like it! One of my ex-students had that Emily The Strange guitar!

 

[Seabeast2000]

I too think that rig is cool AF.

 

[Institoris]

You guys are awesome. Haven't expected such good response I grabbed my git and played like a freak for some hours because of that, thank you very much.

I had several bands but none made it to a point where we could play live unfortunately. Mostly because the other musicans just wanted to chill and make party, not making progress on the songs, to play properly or lack of motivation/money. I just remade all that stuff with FL studio to keep my level without a band, but right now I don't have the time for a band. I have the feeling, after 10 years of playing in mutiple bands, that most musicans in my area consist of 15 yrs old with a 10w amp or very old blues guitarists whose search for friends. I think being in other countries or a very rual area is much worse.

I like it! One of my ex-students had that Emily The Strange guitar!

Yeah got it by random from one of my friends as my second guitar after a no name stratocaster. It's such a wonderfull allrounder guitar with good handling. I really love it!

The cons you have listed are not really cons.
I mean, if you are happy with how your gear sounds there's no need to change it just because is "ugly" ( which is not imo).

Just play the hell out of it and have fun.

You're right, the cons are just side effects. Most friends like my sound. Just had the dad rock guys (as odibrom said so well) around me some time and they were too conservative in their taste of guitar sound and equipment. Also alot of young guys play stoner and think they're in the late 70s, also following the dad rock mindset. I guess they just have problem with the digital ZOOM G5X.

To odibrom, you're totally right in every point and thanks for your advice! I played alot of different rigs from friends and of course in the local music store. Never took my guitar to the music store. That's a brilliant idea.
One of these tube snobs said it's to digital, electric and not "real" form him. I replied that every audio is an electrical signal, no matter if WAV, MP3 or FLAC. So is this all "not real"? ... Loved his confused look.

That's a pretty sweet setup. I love those old peavey PAs and such. That speaker box is a monster!

You're right too! I noticed that some 4x12" boxes couldn't stand up against this Peavey three way speaker.

I will consider to rerecord my music, since I made some progress on the songs and the recording itself over the last years and if I do so, I will let you guys know.

Really feeling welcomed here

 

[odibrom]

@Institoris glad you feel at home here... Dad rockers do have some points in their approach to sound and gear, but I also don't appreciate elitism, which is how they mostly present their ideas... I was a digital guitar player until I bought my Triaxis (Mesa Boogie Tube rack preamp) followed a few years later by a 2:fifty. Couldn't be happier. I do have a digital FX processor in my signal chain. What I've learned was to "fear" too many A/D conversions with low quality converters. That did kill the tone. I used to have a 4 cable method with an 16bit FX unit and when I changed to the G-Force using only the Triaxis' FX loop, it was night and day for clarity and deepness in the tone. I used to have EQ blocks to dial in and adjust the overall tone and not anymore. This to say that quality gear does change the tone (which is one of the Dad Rocker argument), but that doesn't mean one can't find good tones with more affordable stuff. All this gear I use at the moment was bought 2nd hand, so with patience and focus on what you are looking for, you can find good stuff at affordable prices. Nothing wrong with what you have/use...

On a side note, you can call a user to the thread/post by writing "@"+[username], like I did in the beginning of this post. Users will get notified in the upper right corner of the forum, as an "Alert".

 

[TedEH]

Only downside I can see is that it looks heavy.
Sound clips?

I once got a suuuuuper nice clean sound out of a wacky combination of stuff: I had an Ltd Explorer with a piezo "power bridge" added to it. The piezos went into a Randal 150 G3 head, which then went into two Peavey PA column speakers (lol). The neck pickup then went into a Behringer combo with a chorus effect on it. The two sounds blended together and filled the room in a really cool way.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

My favorite solo lead tone I've ever had was a boss super overdrive into a chorus into a 70s or 80s peavey solid state PA head with matching 412 column speakers. Big, fat, creamy, and delicious. Like a dessert.

 

[cGoEcYk]

Respect. My only suggestion would be a second matching cab.

 

[Gmork]

Not only am i a total peavey fanboy but i also love weird old gear & absolutely LOVE weird frankenstein setups so naturally i adore your rig!
Ive had people scoff at my more peculiar rigs throughout the years but sometimes you get the odd person who loves it.
One of my favorite pieces of gear that i own is my traynor PM300 (300w poweramp) which ive ive thrown my peavey rockmaster pre rack through or crate xlp pre rack or preamp pedals into. Heres a pic

 

[odibrom]

Things with history have a special mojo to them that somehow excite us to do different stuff. It's beyond the quest of a "better than or worse" tone and more into the "what can I do with this", "where does this stuff takes me to"... and not necessarily to old school tones, must I say.

 

[NateFalcon]

It’s got a cool Frankenstein factor that no Kemper or Fractal will ever have...