What is your next guitar/gear purchase gonna be?

[USMarine75]

FWIW… worth it.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

FWIW… worth it.

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The Grimaceburst looks awesome.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

.

 

[USMarine75]

Btw my 14 year old is an a-hole lol.

I managed to sneak it in and open it up and discard the packing. I was playing it on my couch because the wife was in kitchen (where she belongs) and not paying attention. I even pretended to go downstairs and brought an empty case up to cover for where the guitar came from.

A-hole is walking by and says “ooh did you just buy that?!” super loud. I’m like “no this old thing nah”. He says “no I’d remember that color it’s awesome that’s definitely new”. So I’m whispering “STFU don’t ruin this for me” and pointing at my wife. She just laughs and says “you’re both idiots” and that she knew it had to be a different guitar because the box said EVH and she knew the cheap one I ordered wasn’t an EVH, and walks away.

 

[budda]

Sounds like She Knew

 

[USMarine75]

Sounds like She Knew

Not my fault.

She knew what she married.

 

[USMarine75]

FWIW… worth it.

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BTW as a quick first-impressions review:

The satin finish is amazing. It’s kind of the opposite of a PRS or Kiesel in that it’s understated - not in your face. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything quite like it before. (The pic was taken with flash so it appears brighter than in person)

I like that there’s no body binding. Normally I prefer single or double, but I like that the whole guitar is smooth with that rubbed satin finish including the back and sides. It gives it the appearance that it’s not a top it’s one piece. They say it’s a basswood body with a quilted maple top but I wonder if it’s just a veneer? Doesn’t matter it looks great.

Speaking of the body wood, it is basswood/maple and tone pirates would tell you it’s snappy but I find it can sound very bassy / muddy with the wrong amp/pedal settings. It sounds like a chunk of mahogany to my pedestrian ears lol. Not at all the tone you would predict coming from a Kramer-esque guitar. It sounds like an 11 pound Les Paul.

On full guitar volume, the neck especially can get muddy (more so than any other EVH with Wolfgang pickups I’ve ever played). But it’s amazing for liquid legato with nearly any amp or pedal I tried. Roll back the volume where it’s set in pic (1/2-3/4) and you get this killer spanky to chewy Strat tone. It’s my fav the guitar offers. Sounds like Strat single coils more than my PRS with split coils. Killer for rock rhythms and 80s (Reb Beach / DeMartini) lead tones.

The bridge pickup is typical Wolfgang sounding. More bass than usual but… A quick change of amp settings and it had that bright and tight setting SSO loves.

Clean tones are killer. Watch Ola’s video it sounds exactly as advertised.

I love guitars with a D-tuna. I prefer E-flat standard and Drop-C# so this is perfect for both.

The matching headstock and ebony fretboard contrasted with rock maple neck completes the look.

Summary: For whatever reason I feel fastest on EVH and Kramer necks. This is a killer guitar if you want chonky rhythms or lightning fast leads. Surprising bonus is the overdriven lead tones I mentioned earlier. This is more of a do-it-all guitar than I expected.

Neg: The killswitch is cool but I definitely need to watch more Buckethead to find more uses. I literally know one cool button tapping pattern and I’ve already overused it in just one day lol. Otherwise it looks cool but I think I’d have more uses for a Fernandes Sustainer. Also, I prefer floating FR for my trem work (flutter and chord vibrato) these days, so dive only isn’t nearly as useful to me.

Neg-ish: I’ve had some issue keeping the guitar in tune with trem use but I think the trem needs to be decked more fully (tighten claw). It has a micro-float situation going on, so the D-tuna is causing it to go out of tune. I expect it’s that and an easy fix. (But I could see someone returning the guitar because they think it doesn’t stay in tune.). That said, the trem is usually flat when it’s decked. This one has a slight back pull. So it might need to be lowered as well. I’m going to wait for the neck to settle overnight just in case.

Additional: FYI it doesn’t come with a case (only the high end USA does now). And they got rid of SS frets as well around 2018 IIRC.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Put in a crazy offer on a de Lisle 4x4 Deluxe Amp/Cab Switcher on Reverb this morning and had it accepted, so... I guess I'm getting one of those

 

[Emperoff]

Since getting a cat I've been genuinely looking at some kind of wireless setup I guess the current "good" one is the Shure GLXD16+. If anyone has this (or the previous Shure GLXD16), have you had any issues using it with computer interfaces or Multi-FX units? I can't find anything about it at the moment but I recall people saying they had some issue using wireless setups in those contexts.

I can't speak for computer interfaces, but I've had ZERO issues with it on Multi-FX units for like 8 years (the original model). The only time I had an issue with it was because it suddendly started to pour mid-show and it was damaged somehow because of the water. It was still under warranty, so it was fixed and not a single hiccup ever since.

Nobody ever listens (fortunately my bass player did), but it's worth every single cent it costs. The tuner is also great and very visible on any stage.

 

[USMarine75]

Quick reviews of pedals...

Boss SL-2: Love it. Very musical noises abound. I haven't tried the additional online content yet. But great so far for stuff like this:




Boss RE-2: I'm not an ambient, spacy, swirling, self-oscillating, lover of noise rock. So maybe a mistake for me to buy? I like the more tame settings with only a smidge of reverb. So maybe a waste of what is possible? But I like the short repeat / echo / reverb settings.

Keeley Hydra: Kind of the same issue as the RE-2, but more musical. I think I prefer the Halo and the SD Vapor Trail Deluxe but it's definitely got promise. (If I didn't already mention, I love the Halo despite the awkwardness of the shared (dual ganged) knobs.)

 

[MatrixClaw]

Swapped out the speakers in the Krank cab. Wasn't digging them. Took the Eminence Wizard and Governor out of my Laney 2x12 and swapped it with two of the Legends on one side. Then I took the Veteran 30 out of my Iconic, swapped it with the Creamback 65 in my Port City 2x12, and put it on the other side of the Krank with an EVM-12L. Replaced the Creamback with a G12T-75. Now I've got two unused Legends and two 2x12s to sell!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Bought an Emperor 4x12

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Boss RE-2: I'm not an ambient, spacy, swirling, self-oscillating, lover of noise rock. So maybe a mistake for me to buy? I like the more tame settings with only a smidge of reverb. So maybe a waste of what is possible? But I like the short repeat / echo / reverb settings.

I guess this is a fair indicator of just how far down the rabbit hole I've gone. I demo'd one of these in the local shop a couple months ago in a "shut up and take my money!" kind of mood and had the exact opposite problem. Granted I was shopping more for reverb than delay and the mighty Quadraverb sets a high bar, but it just didn't have enough sauce.

 

[AltecGreen]

Buying pedals that no one has heard of.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Tonight I traded my beloved Music Man HD130 for a Fender Hotrod Deluxe III, and to be honest I was happy to see it go.

The Music Man was both a prize possession and a saga of disappointment, I paid way too much to have it shipped up here and it arrived with a pesky crossover distortion issue that the local tech was never able to get fixed. It was still totally usable, and I have played it plenty, but it was just never quite right. I traded it under full disclosure (hence accepting the above trade) and thoroughly demo'd the issues it was having before I even let the guy play through it.

We both left happy. The Deluxe III will make a great counterpart to my Lab Series L7 as a stereo pair for more modest gigs. While it's not quite the chest-crusher the 130 was, it definitely has some fire in it.

Now I just have to find something else to put on top of this stupid 2x15

 

[Chri]

Kinda not digging the Nazgul in my NT-7b at the moment. Something about it sounds weird and "smear-y" in the mids, if that makes sense. I may double check the wiring to see if something's up. If not, a Distortion or Black Winter may need to come in, even though those are both pretty similar.

I also want two guitars to keep in B standard and Drop F/C Standard. Decisions, decisions

 

[profwoot]

Kinda not digging the Nazgul in my NT-7b at the moment. Something about it sounds weird and "smear-y" in the mids, if that makes sense. I may double check the wiring to see if something's up. If not, a Distortion or Black Winter may need to come in, even though those are both pretty similar.

I also want two guitars to keep in B standard and Drop F/C Standard. Decisions, decisions

That's been my experience with the SDs I've tried. The Black Winter not quite as much, but the Nazgul in particular had a kind of thud in the low mids I couldn't get over.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Kinda not digging the Nazgul in my NT-7b at the moment. Something about it sounds weird and "smear-y" in the mids, if that makes sense. I may double check the wiring to see if something's up. If not, a Distortion or Black Winter may need to come in, even though those are both pretty similar.

I also want two guitars to keep in B standard and Drop F/C Standard. Decisions, decisions

Have you ever tried the D-Activator or the Titan?

For me they both do what I wanted the Nazgûl to do.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Kinda not digging the Nazgul in my NT-7b at the moment. Something about it sounds weird and "smear-y" in the mids, if that makes sense. I may double check the wiring to see if something's up. If not, a Distortion or Black Winter may need to come in, even though those are both pretty similar.

I also want two guitars to keep in B standard and Drop F/C Standard. Decisions, decisions

try wiring it in parallel first. That cleans up the overall sound with most pickups ime

The low mid bump is the same reason I dislike the Lundgren M series or Juggernauts. In the wrong guitar or with the wrong settings they get murky/muddy quicker than more upper mid centric options.

 

[youngthrasher9]

I kinda want to get a joyo argos or maybe another SD-1.