Any guitar players out there?

[Skycastlefish]

Hey guys,

I'm a guitar player before any of my hobbies, including pyro, and about a year ago I began modifying guitar pedals. DS-1s, Tubescreamers, Rats, Danelectros, Electro harmonics, Bad Monkeys, about 25 pedals in all. I have confidence that I can modify another fifty or so that I have schematics for but no experience. Although each pedal is different, essentially what I do is replace several cheap stock capacitors with Metal film capacitors of different values (lowers noise), replace key resistors with higher quality/change values, and some pedals benefit from replacing clipping diodes with LEDs. Anyway, if you are interested, beginning around September I tentatively plan on up-sizing from my local music scene to whoever on the internet whats them. I'll give you guys first dibs on my fall schedule. I haven't worked out prices, but I'll give any APCer a discount. If your interested, either send me a PM or post what pedals you have and what kind of sound your going for. Just a heads up, there are some pedal mods that are so labor intensive that they aren't economical. For example, true bypass on boss pedals takes many hours and frankly, you'd pay me more than double what a true bypass switch would cost you. I'm not saying I won't do it, I just haven't decided yet. Anyway, let me know.

Skycastlefish

[Skycastlefish]

Oh yea, I am totally willing to barter. If you have 2 pounds of Ti at $20 a pound, I'll do a $40 dollar mod for ya, no problem. Also, I'll post a thread in the Agora when I'm ready to work for you guys. Right now I'm just getting a feel for what kind of pedals you have and don't want to talk too much about money. Edited July 16, 2010 by Skycastlefish

[Cookieman]

I play electric guitar. I have a Les Paul classic with a Spider line 6 amp. I don't have any pedals right now because I play as a hobby.

[Peret]

I play electric guitar. I have a Les Paul classic with a Spider line 6 amp. I don't have any pedals right now because I play as a hobby.

I was a bass player in a showband for 20 years, but I don't have time for it any more so I too just play as a hobby. I have a Jazz bass and Strat, Brawley and Ibanez guitars, and a Carvin Belair amp. I used to have a Line 6 but it got stolen three years ago.

[Miech]

I play electric guitar for 8 years now. Mostly at sundays in church, sometimes with other people for weddings and such.

 

My setup is quite basic:

Guitar --> Morley PWA --> TC-electronics Polytune --> TS-9 clone with mods --> Koch Multitone -- FX send --> MXR Carbon Copy -- FX return --> Power amp.

 

Previously I've used a Behringer V-Amp, which was utter crap. Later I switched to a Boss GT8, much better but still digital modeling. Once I got fed up with digital modeling I switched to analog modeling. I bought a Tech21 Sansamp PSA-1 and put a G-major in the parallel loop. Way better sound, but it needs way more time to set up properly. This stuff got stolen, so I bought my current setup, using a Koch Multitone as amp and some stompboxes for additional musicality. It took me a while to get used to playing with the volume knob of your guitar, but damn, TOOONNEEEE!!! Two weeks after I got my current setup, my stolen stuff was found back and was returned, so I'll probably sell it.

 

My main guitar at the moment is a PRS SE Custom in translucent black. Awesome guitar for what I paid for it, but it's probably not the guitar I will play in 10 years. It has a glued on neck, so I'll get rid of it once the action becomes too high to correct for. I also play a Blade California Standard, but that one really needs a refret.

 

I have build a few pedals so far. Having a little experience with other electronics really helped when I started doing so . So far, I've build/cloned a Fulltone OCD, a TS-9, a Rebote 2.5 (tonepad.com thingy) and an envelope following filter.

 

I've also modified some pedals for friends. In my opinion modifying isn't needed for any pedal, unless you don't want it to sound like that particular pedal. Changing capacitors for a better type is inaudible (although it is measurable above 20kHz with sensitive equipment), but replacing resistors for metal film ones makes sense. Metal film resistors have way less thermal noise, which is audible if the pedal is placed in front of a high gain stage. Swapping IC's usually changes the sound of a certain pedal. A tubescreamer gets its sound from the crappy RC4559 inside, changing it for a much cleaner TL082 or even OPA2123 will make it sound very transparant and clean (which is exactly why I did that with my clone).

[Skycastlefish]

Nice setup! My bandmate just got a Carbon Copy and I love it as is. When you turn the pots while playing it gives some of the best space sounds and noises of any delay pedal. I agree that some pedals are great the way they are. I also think that many pedals benefit from a slight change in the character of their sound. For example, my Analogman TS-9/808 sounds very similar to the original. But if you play them side by side you can really hear the difference. I played both for some of my non musician friends, and had them close their eyes and it was a unanimous thumbs up for the 808 mod. The best way to describe it is that it sounds just like the original, only better. Whereas, the Keeley mod if for people who want a TS to sound different. Another few pedals that I think benefit very well from mods are the DS-1s and the Proco Rats. The newer, crappier, Rats are almost unbearably nasally without any mods. I guess it all depends on what you want to do. Gigging makes up about a quarter of my income so a dependable, clean pedalboard is important to me. If I jammed once a week in my room than I would just buy a $40 Bad Monkey (in my opinion, the best OD for the price) and be happy. If you have 8 - 12 pedals your running though, noise is a real issue and every little bit helps. I only replace capacitors with metal film if I'm changing the value already. I figure it can't hurt. Which IC did you use, the TL082 or the OPA2123? Let me know if you're ever selling some of the pedals you've built. I love good sounding and unique pedals.

 

[Miech]

I chose the OPA2132 (not 2123, my bad), which is even cleaner and more linear then the TL082. The result: a very transparent overdrive which still preserves the typical tube screamer sound. I use it all the time as a pre-gain solo boost, with low gain, medium-high level and tone at 12 'o clock.

 

Apart from the IC, mine is modded with a switch to choose between symetrical or asymetrical clipping, and clipping with the original diodes or with LED's. I also like to use a red and a green led (approximately 1.8 and 3.3 volts voltage drop) to get asymetrical clipping. That sounds pretty well for RAT like pedals (apart from that I don't like them at all actually).

 

I could actually build you a pedal, but it will probably take some R&D to create something new, and it has to be shipped from the Netherlands .

[optimus]

Just got one of these badass Haartke stacks and I need a nice distortion sound...

 

Haven't been playing bass for long so I don't really know what I'm looking for. Used to play guitar so I've got a Boss hyper metal and overdrive pedal but they're not much use.

 

Any recommendations?

[erid]

I play electric, I have a BC Rich mockingbird and a line 6 spider III amp. Optimus, try this: http://www.digitech.com/products/Pedals/BassDriver.php I've always used digitech and they give great distortion. They also have some processors for bass with hundreds of settings.

[Skycastlefish]

Just got one of these badass Haartke stacks and I need a nice distortion sound...

 

Haven't been playing bass for long so I don't really know what I'm looking for. Used to play guitar so I've got a Boss hyper metal and overdrive pedal but they're not much use.

 

Any recommendations?

 

What kind of music do you listen to/play? The Bass Big Muff Pi is a very versatile pedal - You could play metal, funk, strait up rock, psycodelic, the list just goes on. If you know how to solder you can turn just about any guitar pedal into a bass pedal by changing one or two capacitors.

[optimus]

Thanks for the recommendation erid

 

What kind of music do you listen to/play? The Bass Big Muff Pi is a very versatile pedal - You could play metal, funk, strait up rock, psycodelic, the list just goes on. If you know how to solder you can turn just about any guitar pedal into a bass pedal by changing one or two capacitors.

 

I play mostly metal (sludge/doom), and a bit of jazz/prog so versatility would be good.

 

Modifying the hyper metal sounds interesting, I wouldn't want to kill it though as it's out of production. Do you know exactly what capacitors I'd have to swap?

[Skycastlefish]

Thanks for the recommendation erid

 

 

 

I play mostly metal (sludge/doom), and a bit of jazz/prog so versatility would be good.

 

Modifying the hyper metal sounds interesting, I wouldn't want to kill it though as it's out of production. Do you know exactly what capacitors I'd have to swap?

 

Sure, changing C30 and C6 will give you more bottom end.

 

Replace C30 with a lower value like a .022uf.

 

Replace C6 with a 1uf metal film cap.

 

As previously stated, I prefer metal film capacitors and resistors. Its up to you if you want to keep it as is or not If I were you, I might keep it and get the muff or the wallet friendly digitech bass od. The Hyper metal is a high gain pedal with a sometimes muddy bottom end. The above mod will give you more bottom end, but it doesn't guarantee it will sound good. I've never modded one myself. Have fun.

[Lonekommie]

You guys seem to know your stuff, so I'd just like to ask a question, are you all self taught, because I'm keen to start learning to play the guitar,

 

If you are, please recommend a course of action for a total newbie to the guitar

 

 

[Miech]

I am self taught, but I'd really recommend you to find a teacher. This way you are assured of at least starting with the right base position and technique, although most people consider guitar lessons boring (which in fact they often are).

 

I would also recommend to get a good guitar to start with, not a 200 dollar starter pack. Some brands to check out are Epiphone, Squier and Vintage, or Fender or Gibson if you want to spend a little (uhm..?) more.

[jwitt]

I'm a self-taught guitarist, just upgraded myself from "beginner" to "novice."

 

I'm mostly into acoustic, but I like playing my awesome super-duper vintage 1992 Peavey Predator too. Seriously- that's a well-made USA guitar with cheap guts. When I get around to it, I'm going to put in new pickups, pots, switch, wires, caps, and bridge. Nice neck, perfect intonation, and got it for super cheap.

 

I finally got serious about learning a couple years ago, so here's some tips.

 

1. Start with chords. This is one thing acoustic is really good for over electric for beginners, IMO. Open chords just sound muddy and uninspiring when played by a beginner on an electric, but you can really hear when you hit the sweet spot on a decent acoustic.
2. Somehow, begin tackling basic music theory and where the notes are on the neck. This takes a long while for a self-taught player. It's also no fun. However, it's critical for jamming and playing in general. If you like the blues, you're in luck- I-IV-V progression teaches you scale intervals and starts shaping up your sense of timing.
3. Hand strength and dexterity develop slowly. Don't injure yourself...seriously. If it hurts too bad, lay off a bit. (Electric takes less force than acoustic)
4. Try to focus on putting as little pressure on the strings as possible to get good tone. This is an important habit for many reasons.
5. After a couple/few months, you should have all the major open chords and most of the minors under your fingers. Transitioning between them is the tricky part- it comes with practice. So in the beginning, pick tunes to learn that use really basic stuff, but make you do transitions you aren't used to. This helps program your muscle memory.
6. Time to continue working with barre chords.
7. Also, use that basic theory knowledge to put power chords to use, and use power chords to make learning the neck more interesting.
8. During this time, keep re-reading basic music theory stuff when you're bored. It will slowly sink in. Slowly. Ugh. You'll also introduce yourself to reading music. Ugh.
9. Now, time for scales. No fun, but necessary to gain that functional understanding.
10. Obviously, you should have been paying attention to your picking technique the whole time too. Now you'll start getting tighter on that end.
11. Also, you can start messing with 7th chords after a couple/few months. Those blues progressions sound a lot better now.
12. Start doing pyro and wonder why you don't practice 2-3 hours per night anymore. Oh, you already do pyro. Good.

Lonekommie, what kind of music do you like? my most rediculous action of beginner guitar playing was trying to learn "valse a bamboula" at about 1/4 speed- a really cool old jazz manouche aka gypsy jazz tune. I'll never be able to play it properly, but it got those fingers limbered up and helped with expressive playing.

[pyrokid]

I am an amateur guitar player. It is some very fun stuff.

 

When I was just starting out I saw this segment of a paul gilbert video that really helped improve my coordination. He is unbelievable though.

 

Check it out: