rockabilly69

You are going to laugh at this Kuz, because a few days ago I also bought an attenuator for my Marshall that I've been recording with. I already had an Ultimate attenutaor in my studio, but it is only for 8 ohm amps, and my Marshall is set up for 16 ohms, but I bought a Rockcrusher Recording for the house. Unfortunately it hasn't been delivered yet because i missed the postman on Saturday (I was day gigging). I'm sure the Tone King will sound great with your amps, it's a fantastic attenuator.

The guy is a monster player, and if this video doesn't sell some Heritage guitars, I don't know what will! At first he had too bright of a tone, but you can see/hear that he dialed it in pretty quick. Those Fishman pickups definitely have something going on. And at 15:05 he started to burn. The guy is truly a freak of nature guitarist.

One man's trash, another man's treasure. I've yanked alot of pickups out of guitars (ie PRS Dragon I pickups) that I could sell for big money, but I rarely sell shit.

There is definitely a difference for no covers, and that's been measured many times. Is it a positive difference? I guess that just comes down to taste. Typically, without a cover, most pickups are a bit brighter than they would be with covers on. And speaking of cover material... One of my favorite sets of pickups, is what I installed in my #1 Zemaitis metal top guitar, a set of 12 Pole Kent Armstrongs. These pickup are encased in EPOXY, and Kent even ships them with epoxy pickup rings. I have many traditional guitars with classic style PAFs, and since I use this guitar to play my original music, I wanted something that was unique. The reason that I bought them, was because I heard a demo of an original Zemaitis guitar which featured these pickups, and I heard something in that tone that I liked. So I called Kent Armstrong and asked him of he still wound them, and he said he still does, exactly like the originals that were in that Zemaitis. They required a little work to get them to fit into my Zemaitis. I actually had to make spacers to get them to the right height. I made the spacers by sanding down a set of larger epoxy rings that Kent sent me. It took me a long time to dial them in. It was a bit time consuming getting the pickups and pole pieces where they sounded best, which was a close to the strings as I could get them without the stings touching the pickup, and the poles set parallel to the strings. But it was worth it, because these pickups are great sounding. The clean tones are fantastic, and they sing through the dirt. I have them wired G&L fashion with a passive PTB system (individual volumes, low cut, and master tone). And making the spacers wasn't the only thing that was odd about these pickups I actually had to wire the pickups on the bottom specifically for how I was going to uses them (parallel humbucking, series humbucking, or switchable). Here's picture I found on the web to show this...

The Marv Wineburst that Kuz was kind enough to send on to me... And for you blasphemers, here it is with a proper pickguard...

The only time I used to bend down during a performance to adjust fx is with volume knobs, but I've switched to a volume pedal up front. During soundcheck, I set up my pedals for the room. After that, it's just riding the volume pedal. I'm the lead singer of our band so I sure don't want to be bending down to adjust pedals. I can change the rate of the delay by tapping it in, and I only use 2 tempos on my tremolo so I change that between songs.

I would NEVER use a modeler live in my original rock band. To me, there is nothing like a wound up Fender tweed or Marshall style amp reacting to your playing. And those amp sounds are what inspire me to write the songs for my band. It's the sound of the rock and roll that I love. And, none of the amps that I use live are that heavy, especially with the cart that I keep in my car. The amps I use live are just loud enough to get a decent clean sound that works with the acoustic sound of the drums. That said, I have one pedal board for my original solo acoustic shows where I have all the songs programmed, and I use a HX Stomp for all the time delay stuff, and even some dirt, and it works fine. But I run my guitar through an acoustic amp before it goes to the PA.

Great color combo, congrats on a cool guitar.

THat's a looker, congrats. I love the blocks.

pretty juicy tone, and if the second presence control works to control negative feedback I would be into that!

Good review Kuz, I would like to see a close up of the R9 top, love the color of the back on that one, love the top of the CC. I see mineral streaks too, running perpendicular to the treble side tailpiece stud running right through the checking and I love them! Both guitars are great looking. Odd though, the bridge of the CC looks more like a Nashville (wider frame) than the ABR on the Gibson. Was that before the switch, or is it an optical illusion. Would also love to hear some clips!

Maybe it's just that bridge, stranger things have heppened! As I said though, I've replaced more than my fair share of Gibson bridges with Fabers, and I've had nothing but good luck, and no "zingy overtones" The only thing that matters is that you've got your guitar sounding the way you want.

With Faber posts and thumbwheels? Or did you adapt it to what was on there? And what saddles? I've never had a Faber bridge not sound better than a stock Gibson bridge, except for one time when Faber had a bad run of bridges, and without even prompting him, Larry Corsa send me a new bridge free of charge.

Well if sounds better than the STR in the bass even better yet!!! I bet it records great. The guy makes some good sounding amps. Lately, since I've been playing with my rock and roll band, I've been playing bigger 50 watt amps and actually having the time of my life

Congrats on your new toys! Both great amps! A few years back my close friend Troy brought his Swart STR over to my studio with his custom shop Gibson ES-330 (an absolute monster of a guitar) and I was knocked out by the tone he got out of that combo!

Mark, right there, is why I went solo! I have a band band, and a duet, but I make most of my money as a solo! Good luck with your new drummer, and sorry to hear of your friend's passing.

...good to see things are rolling along. "New Dave" seems like a good fit!

I like 10's on my electrics (except my two banjocasters which use 9's) , 12's on acoustics, 12 or 13's on resos (if it will work without the cone rattling I use 12's). I play so much that anything heavier hurts my hands.

Mark, take this for what it's worth. Most musicians/bands that I go to see are playing too loud on stage, ESPECIALLY rock musicians. Learning to play to the limits of your PA is just as important as getting the songs down. And on top of that, learning how to not kill the audience with excessive volume is just as important. It's the mark of a true amateur when they are turning up their PA, to get over the already TOO LOUD guitar amps. You're on the right track rehearsing with your PA the way you intent to play. Maybe you can stage some practice performances for honest friends who can give you some feedback on the volume levels. I do think it would be a good idea to budget for some powered monitor speakers that you can add to you 600 watt PA. But you have to be very conscious of loud monitoring as the reflected sounds of monitors can wreak havoc on the overal sound! Good luck on the quest.

You've got the band rolling, you know what needs work, in the words of the Beatles, "it's getting better all the time". Keep at it Mark!