1937 Martin Authentic reissue acoustic
https://inanotherlifetime.com/one-ring-to-rule-them-all-a-martin-authentic-1937-moves-into-place/
@bill_graham More than just a guitar or a guitar making company, Martin is an American institution. Although they certainly build more of 'em than they use to - they still (mostly) build 'em like they use to. Strong, basic design. Straight lines - no real "ornate-ness" to speak of. Compared to some American companies (are you listening, Mr. Gibson?), their purchase prices are still relatively working man friendly. This coming from a proud owner of a couple of Martins. 😉
Derek and the Dominoes Layla sessions
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/derek-dominos-historic-layla-sessions-050228763.html
@bill_graham I love reading articles like this, but for players at my level "off-the-rack" amp/speakers work just fine. It's like when I walk into a pool hall and see these guys carefully choosing a cue or bringing in a custom one in a case. I can take the mop handle from the janitor's closet and play about as well ($hitty) as I usually do. Custom pick-ups, speakers - all that jazz - might make a difference to a certified professional level player (Warren, Derek et al). I have never bought an after-market speaker because I know that it ain't gonna help me at all! Hell, I've even read where some seriously bodacious players took razor blades to their speakers to get a custom sound! Cool article, though! 😉
@bill_graham I love reading articles like this, but for players at my level "off-the-rack" amp/speakers work just fine. It's like when I walk into a pool hall and see these guys carefully choosing a cue or bringing in a custom one in a case. I can take the mop handle from the janitor's closet and play about as well ($hitty) as I usually do. Custom pick-ups, speakers - all that jazz - might make a difference to a certified professional level player (Warren, Derek et al). I have never bought an after-market speaker because I know that it ain't gonna help me at all! Hell, I've even read where some seriously bodacious players took razor blades to their speakers to get a custom sound! Cool article, though! 😉
I hear you Rusty as I am in the same boat in that with my playing ability changing a speaker probably makes no difference for me.
But being an electrical engineer I geek over technical articles so like to share with anyone who is curious.
If you read these tech articles maybe it gets you thinking about trying different stuff like speakers and tubes etc.
Speakers and tubes can make a big difference in a players tone so some may want to play around with trying different combos.
Regarding cutting speaker cones I think I read the Kinks did this to get the fuzz tone on the song You Really Got Me or another of their early hits.
Eric Johnson even claims he can hear the difference in battery brands in his pedals
https://missionengineering.com/inside-ejs-box-of-dead-batteries/
Here is another tech geek article about vintage 12AX7 preamp NOS vacuum tubes for your guitar amp.
https://medialux.blog/2021/03/25/the-sound-of-some-of-the-most-famous-ecc83/
Many think the old vintage tubes make a big tone improvement, reliability, and longer life over current Russian and Chinese manufactured tubes. But real NOS tubes are getting rare and are very $$$ compared to new production.
@bill_graham I once read that Duane used nearly dead batteries for his fuzzbox. According to the article, internal voltage regulators disperse the same amount of juice no matter what. Could this just be supreme rock star superstition?
I knew a guy who recorded with the late, great Johnny Sandlin. He was a drummer, and at one point Johnny halted the recording and told him that a small piece of tape had fallen off the underside of one of his drums. When I asked, "he could hear that?", the drummer told me, "he could look at a flashlight beam and tell you what kind of batteries were in it." Maybe producers and uber-great guitarists have senses that we mere mortals do not?
I'm still not laying out mega-bucks for replacement speakers! 😉
@bill_graham I once read that Duane used nearly dead batteries for his fuzzbox. According to the article, internal voltage regulators disperse the same amount of juice no matter what. Could this just be supreme rock star superstition?
I knew a guy who recorded with the late, great Johnny Sandlin. He was a drummer, and at one point Johnny halted the recording and told him that a small piece of tape had fallen off the underside of one of his drums. When I asked, "he could hear that?", the drummer told me, "he could look at a flashlight beam and tell you what kind of batteries were in it." Maybe producers and uber-great guitarists have senses that we mere mortals do not?
I'm still not laying out mega-bucks for replacement speakers! 😉
Yeah it could be a obsessive compulsive thing or a placebo effect but if that is what it takes for someone like Johnson to feel comfortable and make great music I guess there is no harm done.
I did replace the speaker in my 1975 Fender Deluxe Reverb with a new one from Weber which sounds great and is a bit more bright then the stock speaker Fender used back then but it was more to preserve the old speaker than because I was dissatisfied with the sound of the original. Those old speakers are worth some $$$ and can fail due to age if played now so I wanted to save it in case I ever sell the amp as it adds to the value.
My Boss Overdrive pedal produces a fuzzier tone when the battery is close to dying, but that's when it's just about to die. You wouldn't be able to sustain that tone for more than a few minutes of use before it powers off. He was using it to get a little overdrive effect at low volumes in the studio so I can't imagine the battery was significantly low. It could be he just thought the low-juice batteries made his Fuzz Face produce a different tone, placebo effect. Because how did Duane know the power level of the battery?
I have to laugh when I hear gear-heads talk about pots and wires in their guitar when guys like Derek and Jack Pearson barely bother, except to maybe swap pickups. Yeah, that can all affect tone and these guys have good ears, but better off focusing on your playing. On a rig rundown with Duane Betts and Devon Allman the host asked them what kind of pickups they had and they both were like, "uh I don't know". Clearly not something they concentrate on.
My Boss Overdrive pedal produces a fuzzier tone when the battery is close to dying, but that's when it's just about to die. You wouldn't be able to sustain that tone for more than a few minutes of use before it powers off. He was using it to get a little overdrive effect at low volumes in the studio so I can't imagine the battery was significantly low. It could be he just thought the low-juice batteries made his Fuzz Face produce a different tone, placebo effect. Because how did Duane know the power level of the battery?
I have to laugh when I hear gear-heads talk about pots and wires in their guitar when guys like Derek and Jack Pearson barely bother, except to maybe swap pickups. Yeah, that can all affect tone and these guys have good ears, but better off focusing on your playing. On a rig rundown with Duane Betts and Devon Allman the host asked them what kind of pickups they had and they both were like, "uh I don't know". Clearly not something they concentrate on.
I think musicians from Duane Allman's era were less obsessed with gear but remember Duane did swap out the pickups from his goldtop to the his new Burst before he got rid of the Goldie as he liked how they sounded more so he was aware that not all pickups sound the same and did have a preference.
But to your point accomplished musicians can make just about any gear sound great.
Good article on how a guitar amp works for anyone who is curious.
https://www.fuelrocks.com/how-does-a-guitar-amp-work/
I read a comment from a pro musician that he would rather have a crappy guitar and a good amp then a great guitar and crappy amp.
His logic was he could make the crappy guitar sound acceptable but there is no way to make a crappy amp sound good no matter how good the guitar was.
For sure they were less gear-obsessed, I mean, there was less of it. When you think about it, solid-body electric guitars were still pretty new then. Fewer guitar makers, fewer amp builders, fewer options, less to know about and futz with. And they were just starting to experiment with distortion, which most guitarists wanted to avoid. The first distortion and wah pedals hit the market in the mid-60s I think, Boss and Ibanez pedals in the mid-1970s. Now you have PRS buying up old Gibson pickup wire from the late 1950s.
Ever try out a Fender Tone Master? I've been hearing good things. Solid state, but the Deluxe Reverb is only 25lbs.
The rehearsal space my band has been using has gear on site, so I don't have to lug my 45 lb DR up the spiral staircase (WTF? What were they thinking?). But if I did have to lug an amp, a Tone Master is mighty appealing.
Watching this Eric today. Love this instrumental. He plays the electric guitar as if he also is a concert violinist. This is called Trademark.
Ever try out a Fender Tone Master? I've been hearing good things. Solid state, but the Deluxe Reverb is only 25lbs.
The rehearsal space my band has been using has gear on site, so I don't have to lug my 45 lb DR up the spiral staircase (WTF? What were they thinking?). But if I did have to lug an amp, a Tone Master is mighty appealing.
Never tried a solid state guitar amp as I have always played tube amps but the tech and DSP has progressed so much that I have read good reviews on newer SS amps. Not only lighter but more power in smaller packages.
I hear you about the weight of the DR amp. I only lug it around the first floor of my home and it is a beast. Can't imagine gigging with a Super or Twin Reverb.
They are now making excellent speakers using much lighter powerful neodymium magnets.Reviews I have read are very favorable. The downside neo magnets are expensive compared to old school Alnico or Ceramic magnets.
I have some friends who are in bands who swear by modeling amps being as good as the real thing but never tried one.
Watching this Eric today. Love this instrumental. He plays the electric guitar as if he also is a concert violinist. This is called Trademark.
Saw him on the Experience Hendrix tour before Covid and he isan amazing talent.
Joe Satriani was also on that tour with the bassist from Kings X, Dug, on vocals.
Highly recommended if Janie Hendrix organizes another tour.
@bill_graham Not great audio or video but interesting for us as Derek Trucks comes out an plays with Eric Johnson on the next to last song. It's way in there toward the end. .
Reverb list of best selling basses. Fender rules the day
https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2022/11/10/reverb-releases-list-of-best-selling-basses-of-2022/
Fender rules the day
Fender American vintage historics
@bill_graham Thank you Bill for those links. The Gibson ES-225 was very interesting. Gibson made a number of electric guitars that aren't well known even to people who were big ABB fans where Gibson is king. But they are fine guitars in their own right.
I always figured Fender had the bass market but man do they ever. Squire was the name of a string company Fender bought. After a few years, they decided to use "Fender" on their string line. Then they decided to employe the "Squire" name on their lower priced guitars just as Gibson does with Epiphone. It's surprising the best selling bass is Squire.
At the big music store here, the Squires I see there have "by Fender" also on the headstock.
The last link about the Telecasters and Strats was also interesting. No question Telecasters and Stratocasters made today are extremely well built and play smooth and well. Fender does a great job with their necks.
Those latest Fender amps Porkchopbob linked look fantastic.
I am considering one of those Fender Mustang Bass PJs - or even the Squire equivalent. Short scale bass - less finger stress and contortion for guitarists who occasionally play bass. When I saw the Ringo/Allstars show recently the bass player (Hamish Stuart) played one of these. When he swapped over to Telecaster for a couple of tunes, guitarist Steve Lukather played the same bass. I've heard many arguments over short scale vs full size bass. Many of the greats (McCartney, Bill Wyman, Jack Cassady and others) used short scale basses. The PJ features a Precision pickup (neck) and Jazz pickup (bridge).Reverb list of best selling basses. Fender rules the day
https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2022/11/10/reverb-releases-list-of-best-selling-basses-of-2022/
Fender rules the day
New Vox guitars look like Gibsons
https://www.musicradar.com/news/vox-bobcat-guitars
@bill_graham At an outdoor show a band played on a flatbed trailer and the lead player had a Vox that was similar to a Les Paul. Had a decent tone and sustain.
I chatted with him briefly and he said he liked it pretty good but would have a Les Paul but due to personal reasons he just didn't have that kind of money and actually sold his Les Paul two years ago.
He said he always liked some of the Vox guitars especially the Brian Jones model Vox which he said he himself played years ago.
I thought the Brian Jones Vox guitar wasn't very attractive to look at but the sound seemed good.
What happened here?? Epic fail just after the song Trademark is kicked off. To add to the embarrassing moment it was on TV. Austin City Limits.
Eric Johnson mess up or was it the drummer?
The rest of the song seems to be uneven.
How to sound like Eric Johnson in 30 seconds!! Anyone care to try this?
https://youtube.com/shorts/oSM9Icd3cNc?feature=share
I sold my blacktop P bass and got a Stingray Sterling short scale. Only used once in a while for home recording which I don’t do much anyway, hardly seems worth the effort for seven listens on Soundcloud.
https://sterlingbymusicman.com/products/stingray-short-scale?variant=31431302152307
