The Steel Guitar Forum

Got this under one of them, not the "country" one.

Wow--what's that on the far right--it says Sho....something. Can't quite make it out. Is that one of those new hypogumbulators? Please stomp on all of those switches, turn all the knobs to the right and kick off Swinging Doors..................now! and a one and a two...

That's right, Ben---we've visited some of this before. That Goodwill suitcase reminded me.

Jon, I can make some serious noise.... -- chas

Mmmm..I love it when Chas puts up pics...does the glitch computer REALLY sound like 1 million crickets? I so need that...for cricket songs....


A

Cricket songs. Nothing to do with Buddy Holly, I suppose...

The glitch computer is unpredictable. I try to keep it in the "musical" range, but even then, sometimes it works and others, like last night, it doesn't. What I want it to do is the 'random' octave jumps with varying degrees of overdrive when I'm feeding it high notes and their harmonics. Last night it just made a low grindy mush, so it was a quick jump to the DriveOmatic. A light move of any knob makes a dramatic change.

Jon,
How do you have your rig wired ? ....Do you go into the PodXT to the Power Amp, to the speakers ??? You're using a power amp and seperate speakers , or are you plugging into a combo amp ? ...Thanks, Jim

Hey Jim--I'm currently running steel > passive volume pedal > XT > Crate Powerblock > Marrs cab w/ Weber Cali 15". I was running into the back of the Crate (FX return, bypassing the preamp) but after some email discussion with Jay Ganz I tried going into the front and I think I like it better--thickens up a little and puts more overall volume on tap. I'll tell you--I like the Powerblock enough that I've bought 2 more on ebay---since they are not making them anymore I want to be sure to have one that works, years down the line.
In a quick A/B/C test, I ran the XT into the Crate, a Mosvalve 962 and a Peavey 50/50 power amp, all into the Marrs Cali and I liked the Crate best. PV was warmer but more colored, Mosvalve was thinner. Probably more "accurate" but that's not my goal. "Charlie--we don't want tuna with good taste---we want tuna that tastes good!" Do I like the way it sounds vs. does it sound like a *** going into a ***, a la David's post above re: 'accurate' modeling. I'll get around to doing some comparisons with my various combos but the bottom line is that I am happy with this ultra portable rig so what kind of a fool would go out of his way to try to talk himself out of it and into carting a Steel King or something! Played my first set with this setup last week and was quite satisfied.

ok ok ok---so the FSK was sitting right there and I went into it and it is a good reminder of what huge power & headroom (and just a great sounding amp) does for you. The difference between the psycho-acoustics of something that delights you for how good it sounds compared with your expectations for such a small & cheap package vs. the real thing. The bottom doesn't compare. Rich & fat and nad rattling? No, it's not really there in the Crate. I will remember this lesson for when these attributes matter a lot. In my new band the current rig is easily acceptable and it's nice to know that there are definite sonic upgrades available should the need arise.

Check this out...hope the link works.

http://www.indyguitarist.com/bsm/807/bsm-pb-807.htm

Yes. I'm on his (Brian Wampler's) mailing list and I got that yesterday. That's a good one. I'm surprised though---for a top-of-the-line picker like Brent Mason and a guy promoting himself like Wampler, it's not up to the kind of high-end snuff I'm used to seeing. Computer printed paper labels scotch taped to the tolex switchboard?! But I always love to see non-boutique boxes on a pro's board. Helps to remind me that a certain percentage of the boutique market is occupied by the cork-sniffers. Not saying the high end stuff isn't good. Or great. Just isn't always triple-the-price-of-the-mass-market-Boss,Dod,etc. good.
Now if I can get Brent to buy the licensing rights to my fold-down legs......

...it's not up to the kind of high-end snuff I'm used to seeing.

Better be careful about mentioning that "high-end snuff" on the internets, they're watching you know....

Jon,
That's really surprising that the Crate is actually warmer than the Mosvalve ....Since you mentioned the BIG tone from the Steel King, I ran the output of my XT into the return on the back of the Steel King, and the tone from the XT was not near as good as the actual preamp of the Steel King ...I was really surprised at that also !!... Wonders never cease !!...That was the reason for my question on your setup ...I like the tone of the XT going direct, or thru the headphones, but plugged into an amp I'm not crazy about the pre or the EQ section on the XT...It's better as an effects unit , and maybe some of the distortion presets, but not so much the clean when plugged into an amp ...Not from what I have found anyway ...YMMV ...Jim

On all the different amp modelers, it really pays to experiment with something other than automatically reaching for "Fender Twin" and figuring that's got to be the best & only. Depending on everything else (of course...), I sometimes have really good luck with either the early Marshall models or the early Mesa/Boogie models. NOT the triple Rectifiers and JCM900's, but '68 Marshalls, Boogie Mark II's etc. You want the gain just barely off the notch (if at all) and sometimes dialing in a bit of compression will actually add tubiness. I always attenuate the signal from an 18k pickup for a guitar-based device, of course. It can't hurt to try some other Fender models like the "Bassman", and for a glassy, almost Peaveyish upper midrange the HiWatt models work well, turned down low.

This is HALF of my old guitar setup, which took up two Pedaltrain boards.

Now most of the stuff is on one board, with a pedal upside-down under the steel. And a few loose. And...oh, heck - might as well set up the other board again!

If you haven't already seen it, check out the servicable way Robert Randolph handles his stomps: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=110664

Hey Sliff,
You need all them pedals, and there's only four knobs on that little bitty amp---You think you're Robert Fripp????

Jon,

Uh...wow...that's some pedalboard. And the drum mounts for efx? Wowie zowie! To each his own...

Have you ever considered going to a rack system?

Oh, and "cork-sniffers". I love it!

Drew

Hey guys. Just ran across these MODboards. Since we were talking earlier about custom building something a lil more light, compact and accessable for the psg pedalboard I thought I'd share this with you and see what you think. These are tiny effects designed to be onboard your guitar, but they could easily be monted in any casing you choose. Distortion, amp modeler, chorus, tremolo, etc... of course none of it matters if they dont sound great and there are as of yet no samples but check it out anyway...something to think about (since we love to think about gear)

http://store.guitarfetish.com/modboards.html