This weekend we visited the Orlando International Guitar and Music Expo. It's always a good chance to people watch, see some cool guitars, and hang out with my friend Kelly. Meeting up at the show has been our thing for a few years.
The show attracts lots of out-of-town dealers, and they bring the good stuff–not much for sale below the $1000 mark. But if you want a particular PRS, Fender or Gibson, this is your show. You can find some photos on my Instagram.
My teacher/local dealer always has a spot up front. By the time I got there Saturday morning, he had already sold his early-'70s P-bass and a Rickenbacker. I've seen the P-bass before, but always cool to get another look.
He had his usual mix still out, but one really caught my eye: a '60s or '70s Hohner Tele-style, short-scale bass.
Price: just $250. Must have been the least expensive guitar on the floor.
I took some photos and continued to walk the show. I don't need another guitar, right? But I do dig those older Japanese guitars...
Finally Kelly goes, you're gonna pull the trigger, aren't you?
Darn it.
Not purchased - yet - but I have one I'm looking for.
For some years, I've pondered what a Les Paul would be like if it had Strat-style controls. Unbeknowngst to me, Gibson actually built such a guitar back in the mid-90's. Apparently using leftover parts from the poor selling M-III. The Les Paul Studio Lite M-III:
Apparently, it was equally unpopular and didn't sell well. But I want one.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Stripped-down Les Pauls–no pick guard, no frills–do have a very businesslike look about them.
Our local shop once had a colbalt blue Studio. It looked stunning.
And totally don't need it (or do I?) but I keep coming back to look at this: Geddy Lee YYZ Shape-shifter Signature SansAmp.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I think my old bass player is using a rack version of that pedal for his live rig. He loves the sound out of his SVT, but he doesn't love lugging it around, even with a road case with wheels.
My main Les Paul has been an '84 Studio model since 1988. It's been my #1 since then, although it could really use new frets.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I think my old bass player is using a rack version of that pedal for his live rig. He loves the sound out of his SVT, but he doesn't love lugging it around, even with a road case with wheels.
My main Les Paul has been an '84 Studio model since 1988. It's been my #1 since then, although it could really use new frets.
This is going to cost me money, isn't it?
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I really want to play through one. I've yet to find a bass pedal with distortion that I actually like.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
I'm using the Vintage Van Driving Is Very Fun from Animal Pedal with my basses and really like it. It's my standard. When the amp goes on, it goes on. I'm using it with a mid-'60s Univox bass amp. (I see that retail for the pedal is now $169. I paid $99 for mine through a dealer on Reverb in 2020.)
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
I used to love my Hartke Bass Attack back in my metal band days. Not too hot, gives a nice boost.
That Zildjian New Beat top I ordered showed up last night!
The cymbal was actually in better shape than I thought it would be based on the ad. It's a "hollow logo" cymbal, which is a bit of an oddity. They only made these for a few years in the late 70's-early 80's, and legend has it that when MTV got big, they filled in the logos again so you could see them better on TV. As metallurgy/lathing goes, they are pretty much the same from this era until today. Our middle school and high school used to have New Beats of this vintage on the drum kits there that I used to play, so the sound is complete nostalgia. They have a much darker sound than I remember, with a pronounced chick and trashy sizzle when slightly open. I didn't get a chance to fully test drive them, but I'll do that today.
While I'm at it, let's take a look at my other hi-hats, my 13" Sabian Hand Hammered set that I matched myself around 2003:
When I was regularly gigging, I needed to replace a set of Zildjian A Custom Projection Hats that I didn't like at the time, and I really wanted a pair of the Zildjian K/Z hats they used to sell. But at the time, the Z Custom line was going away, and they were scarce on the ground, and often costing around $350-400 for a set. So, I went down to the old Guitar Center in Boston which had a great drum section and talked to them about making a similar pairing with Sabian stuff. What we came up with was this: a HH Regular Hat top and an unlathed HH Fusion Hat bottom. These were about half the price as the K/Z's and they sound just as good, if not better! The interesting thing about the Fusion Hat bottom are the two extra holes. Much like the old Zildjian Quick Beats, the extra holes allow for quicker pedal action and faster attack. They are still my favorite sounding hi-hats ever. This is the first time they have been off my kit in nearly 20 years.
UPDATE: The New Beats sound absolutely amazing in the mix, and they play great. They just feel right. These are EXACTLY what I was looking for.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Woot!
So, is there anyone in here that knows about electric drums?
A few years ago, a friend gave me a used Alesis DM10 kit. It looks like this:
Well, mostly. It's all broken down in a box, and it has some extra bits and a Yamaha kick drum pad for some reason.
Later this year, I'm going to possibly be moving into an apartment while my house gets renovated for a few months and up to a year. I want to keep playing drums during that time, but obviously I can't bring my really loud acoustic ones into an apartment, so I will be bringing these. That said, I want them to be as silent as possible, and these have mylar heads like regular drums do. Anyone know if I can just replace those with quieter mesh heads? The heads need to be replaced anyway, as many of them are dinged up or broken. Later models actually come with the mesh heads, but I'm not sure if these will work with them.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
I would think same brand would be compatible, but for the cost of buying a set of pads you can usually get a new set... I had an Alesis Command mesh kit that was just fine. My only real complaint is just a universal "electronic drums are stale..." grumble. I like to feel the acoustic thumps or I get bored. Or scale down the acoustic kit and buy a set of L80 cymbals and mesh heads.. But both of these suggestions are from the guy in the apartment complex with a real drum kit in the master closet, so take it for what it's worth.
In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :
From the research I've done so far, I think it will work. Someone jammed a regular Remo head on one of the pads, and that works. Evans makes an affordable mesh head it says will work as a replacement for mylar e-drum heads, so I may try those. An equivalent e-kit these days to this one is near $1k! My acoustic kit is going into storage for a bit.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
I think my Alesis kit was $600 or so, the baby ones are like $350 or $400. My nephew has that one and it's passable. But new heads are way cheaper so that's the way to go for sure.
The local store in NH was good to me last trip:
The Ovation is a 1983 Anniversary model.
The Strat neck is from 1998 and has a similar neck profile to my favorite Strat. My plan is to get a Warmoth body with an HSH route and have multiple pick guard setups for it.
The pedals are mostly used. The DI box I bought for a friend's studio. I was in the store sending him pictures of the cabinets of pedals. He would then look them up online and let me know if it was a good deal.
The Harmonist is really neat. It works kinda like a Whammy pedal, but can do other things.
The Komet drive pedal I bought because we had never heard of it. It's a nice sounding pedal.
The Purple Plexi was used, but was such a good price I bought it on a whim.
The MXR Duke of Tone was the only new pedal of the bunch. Should be good for adding some punch to my JCM800.
I had a few minutes to mess around with some gear yesterday, so I decided to get this guy on the table:
This is a 1996 Ibanez Soundgear SR400 Active, made in Korea. I've had this bass for about 20 years now, and I haven't really played it a lot. I bought it from one of my close friends, and I was there when he bought the bass at the old Daddy's Junky Music near Berklee School of Music in Boston around Christmas in 1996. That same Christmas, I ended up getting an Ibanez TR70 bass from that same store, which I've since passed down to my nephew. I remember how we both played a bunch of basses, and we both fell in love with this Soundgear. It's a one-year only color, and it's oh-so 90's. It's lived a very hard life; he beat on it pretty good when he had it playing in multiple bands and painting it with paint markers (I was able to remove all of that), and it basically served as my backup for years and didn't get treated much better.
So, what's wrong with it? Like every other Ibanez I've ever played, the input jack was bad. I replaced that, set string height, cleaned the scratchy pots, and ended up testing it for about an hour after that. I never got around to changing the strings or cleaning it! It's my only bass with active pickups, and it sounds really great. These basses can be had really cheap these days, and I highly recommend them. The neck is super slim and it plays so nice. It's nice to have this one back.
As has been discussed, I'm rather fond of Peavey. Especially their live sound stuff. Back when I was gigging regularly we always used the tried and true 24 channel board, 2x1500 main amps and 3000 sub amp. Never once had an issue.
Anyway, my little Mackie USB mixer was great, but then I decided I wanted to start tracking my own drums. 2 inputs is insufficient. Sold the Mackie this morning, went into the local place and noticed a board behind the counter... "Aaron will be in this afternoon, he handles all the used/consignment stuff." Cool. I go back, still in box, no signs of use or wear, all the features I need. $380 new, $250 cash today out the door. Done.
Peavey. Should be sufficient for my needs. USB and Bluetooth capable. Now I have no excuse. Get to tracking.
So, here's a question for you guys:
I am temporarily relocating for about a year to an apartment while we perform some extensive house renovations. During this time, I want to stay active with at least the guitar and bass (drums are completely out for now). The issue is, this apartment complex forbids the playing of instruments with amplification. Bummer, dude!
I am planning on bringing at least one guitar and one bass, and my Digitech RP360 and Bass POD multi-effects pedals for headphone jamming.
That said, I'm way behind on tech when it comes to playing/recording via PC. Are there apps out there that would allow a laptop to act as an effects processor to play along to songs? I know about Rocksmith and have the cable for the Xbox One/360, and will likely be getting the Steam version for fun, but is there an app that allows for effects processing and playing along with tracks outside of the heavy duty recording apps out there? I also have a M-Audio interface box somewhere if that helps.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Yes! The one I've used is called Amplitube. Even the free version is rather impressive. You'll need some form of interface, or a USB capable mixer to get the guitar signal into the computer, but for the cost of a small used practice amp you can get set up pretty good. In the past I've used the Amplitube mobile app and a cheap iRig into my phone. Simple versatile headphone rig.
Plain and basic and the free software and you're rolling. I seem to remember the ability to play along to the music on my phone, either from the background or as an auxiliary input...
As for the recording side, I use Reaper. Free unlimited "trial" with full buy-in at only $70. All the available tools and plugins, and quite user friendly.
In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :
I'm not an Apple user, so the iRig stuff won't work for me. But I have this thing (or something similar):
I'll have to check out Amplitube and see if it's compatible with this thing. Thanks!
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Ah, yes. There is a PC version but it's more than double $.
That interface will work great. Amplitube is supposedly friendly with all the DAWs. Depending on budget, I'd also recommend the Headrush MX5. It'll plug straight into any computer via USB and has headphone and stereo outs. It's a bit rough at $399, but it's a lot of kit. Built in tuner and metronome, aux inputs, tap tempo, all the things. Just a thought.
In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :
My budget is pretty much "use things I already have kicking around". If I can make my M Audio interface do the job and use a cheap/free app to play, that would rule. Otherwise, I can use the RP360 and POD and go old school.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
I've been intrigued by this new pedal:
Products - Hotone Audio
Apparently, it can do a lot, including acting as a USB-computer interface and it has an Aux input. Not horribly expensive from Amazon.
Good video review of it.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
That thing looks cool, but not in the budget right now. I think I'd probably go with a Spark Positive Grid with the accompanying app for about half the price to have a standalone setup.
Also, I remembered that I do have a Mac and an iPad I can use. I can probably go the iRig route if I wanted to, if it does indeed work better than the M Audio setup I have.
