Let's see your guitar and bass gear!

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

Pedal board build!  

In reply to 11GTCS :

Some day... I'll build a board eventually. I need to figure out something that is flexible since the pedals will likely change often. After some 30+ years, I have collected a lot of pedals and in general, the only constant might be a tuner.

Never get into fuzz pedals if you value money or your sanity.

I think I own over 20 now, and still want roughly 2 dozen more

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

No kidding. I have maybe a half dozen, but my old bass player at least 20 - he has a dresser full of pedals and many are fuzzes.  Of course, his bass sound is basically him into a SVT w/ a 8x10 (doesn't really matter what bass he uses, but right now he's on a P-bass kick) and his pedals are exclusively studio tools. 

I had a Blame Shifter pedal for years. It needs "amp" "guitar" and "pedal" settings.  As I've aged I've started to come to grips with my "sound" being "me" and just learning to live with it.  

You guys ever hear of Harley Benton?  Its the house brand for a big German music store. 

They have some stuff that looks cool and makes an affordable mod base .  The shipping is a little rough to the states but they had a Rick inspired bass that caught my eye and I figured I would roll the dice.  Some people report it taking a long time to get the stuff through customs.  Other people say their stuff came pretty quick.  I placed an order on Tuesday morning and it showed up today.  I was pretty shocked!

Tah-Dah!

Like any instrument it needs a little setup and fine tuning but my initial impressions are positive. 

In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :

The Ricky is strong in this one....   Tell us more, that looks sweet!

In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :

Damn, that looks nice!!!

I have heard great things about the Harley Benton stuff, especially their basses. They have some killer looking stuff.

In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :

Looks like a Ric with a shorter upper horn. How's it sound?

I was working in NH this week and a Motion Sound Pro 3 rotary speaker unit was posted by the local music store there for a really good price. My old bass player talked me into buying it since it's the desireable tube verion:

This week I plan to set it up and I'm sure I'll spend too long playing House of the Rising Sun through it. 

I've got a Harley Benton's Ric 12 string copy. I have no complaints and it was stupid cheap

I spent some time last night playing  the new Harley Benton straight out of the box.  Its hard to belive this was so affordable!  The fit and finish are quite nice.  The frets ends are smooth, the tuners seem fine, the nut is fine, the hardware is not top end but nothing screams "upgrade me now!".  It has a thick and wide neck with a very old school feel.  

The only real negative, and its pretty much the same as any lower price instrument, is the electronics.  The pickups are low output.  I have to turn my amp up higher (all the way to 12) compared to my other basses.  I knew this going in because I had seen it mentioned online for this model.  Right now they are adjusted pretty far from the strings.  I will move them up when I make my adjustments. Even if I replace the pickups I am very happy with it. 

While I like my Ovation deep bowl classical guitar, I've been casually looking for a more traditional example. When I was at the NH store to pick up the rotary speaker effect unit, I happened to notice a used classical guitar on the wall. An old made in Japan Takamine that looked well played, but not abused. For $150. Nice sound and plays well.

A made in Japan Takamine for $150? Sold.

And it came with a gig bag. 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

Nice score!

I, on the other hand, have been going down the rabbit hole of tube amps... fun to research and dream about, but outside my price range, for now. 

In reply to Recon1342 :

I have as well.  Over the past 6 months or so I've bought two: a Carvin X100B and a Marshall Origin 50 to go along with my old Fender Dual Showman and ADA rack amp. But before I buy any more I want to get an Ampete to make choosing between them a little easier. Maybe an Ox as well.

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

I've been looking at Traynor amps. Apparently they made some bulletproof Combos

In reply to Recon1342 :

I tend not to look at combos for some reason. I have a couple - an old Randall from the 70's that was my first amp - actually the first item I ever bought with "job money" when I was 16. It has a sound. Very solid state. I'll never get rid of it for sentimental reasons.  I also have an Ampeg combo that sound awesome when dimed - like Neil Young "amp exploding" sound.  Unfortunately, that also means the amp is exploding, so I try not to beat on it like that anymore.  I had a Carvin X100B 2x12 combo ages ago, but I seem to prefer the sound of closed cabinets. I have a old Peavey 4x12 cab as well as a Randall 2x12 cab.

Side note on the Takamine. I found the serial number.  Turns out it's actually a vintage guitar - made in Nov of 1978 when decoding the number.  The store put new strings on it and I have to tune it every time I play it since nylon strings take forever to stretch. Fun to play, though. I think I'll start taking it to NH along with some of the classical books I have.

Recon1342 said:

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

I've been looking at Traynor amps. Apparently they made some bulletproof Combos

What's the intended purpose and budget?

I've bought quite a few tube amps for under $100, they are out there

Recon1342 said:

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

I've been looking at Traynor amps. Apparently they made some bulletproof Combos

I know(or knew someone with one). I don't remember the details now, but I remember it kicked ass. 

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

I'll not likely be gigging any time soon, and I have a trashed house to fix this summer thanks to my sister-in-law, so the gear budget right now is nil. I'd really like to find some folks to jam with, but my spare time is going to be dedicated to house renovations  as well. It's gonna be a looong summer on this end of the state.  

I'll share this here, it's too funny not to; especially if you are into music and other nerdly pursuits such as D&D...

In reply to Recon1342 :

Mudbuckers are awesome, most the time an eb-0 is used in our band

Recon1342 said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

I'll not likely be gigging any time soon, and I have a trashed house to fix this summer thanks to my sister-in-law, so the gear budget right now is nil. I'd really like to find some folks to jam with, but my spare time is going to be dedicated to house renovations  as well. It's gonna be a looong summer on this end of the state.  

Youmight be surprised, hell I picked up a Sunn Beta Lead for $25

When stores first started closing for covid, my favorite local music shop sent out messages to their customers about any instrument being 30% off and I bought a cheap but functional (if boring looking) Cort 4 string P/J. Well, wife is a talented artist and I asked her to come up with a "mythical beast" and paint my new toy. 
It's still in the early stages, and she may holler at me for showing this before it is done, but:

From what I understand the white parts are just a base coat so the colors show brighter. I gave  her total control and she's knocking it out of the park. I saw the colors she's planning to use and I'm stoked. I'll post a finished shot when it's finished. 

In reply to barefootskater :

That's gonna look amazing when it's done!

I'm trying to decide if my white Yamaha needs a Euro racing stripe, and if so, what color? 
hmmm...