Getting back to the roots!

[Cliff Schecht]

Recently my band sorta broke up, or at least we haven't been playing together since our last gig on July 4th at all. I'm really to busy now with school to be in a band anyways..

But I need some sort of a musical outlet to stay sane, preferably with another cognizant being. Something about just playing with another person seems to elevate things and helps me get more into what I'm doing (which in turn relieves more stress). I do play a lot of fingerstyle acoustic ala Doc Watson, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed and the like but this stuff is all solo music which to me just doesn't get the music bug out anymore.

Luckily the drummer from said band lives across the alley from my house, literally a stones throw away. The past few nights we've been doing mini-jams where I am just playing Strat-->Fender 5C8-->1x12 SRO cab and he's on drums singing and banging away. Compared to being in a band where the pressure is on to keep adding new material (for a bar band at least), this has been an absolute blast and something I can really look forward to. Since I did one channel of the 5C8 as cathode bias and the other as grid-leaked (stock), I have my choice between a nice clean sound with a touch of grit and a full on dirty sound that does Zeppelin and any blues tune with some real authority (and no OD pedals needed, although I'm now tempted to add one!).

Just thought I'd share this and see if others have done something similar. I'm actually having fun making music again (why I even play in the first place!!) and am REALLY enjoying the tone I'm getting out of an amp that I built and really just set aside for too long. Now we just need a bass player so I can solo and the groove doesn't drop out!

[Reeltarded]

heh.. kinda. I do that. It's called WORK!

Starting back a real band for the first time in a very long time. B3, dobro/banjo, me sing/guitar/mando/theramin with bass and drums.

-gear portion of post-

.. it's glorious when I kick fast spin on the Leslie and add a dirty Marshall for the choruses... and everything under the -fast- Sun is in tune, but the Sun is eclipsed by the Mooooooooo -slow- oooooooon.. I shiver.

I need a 100 watt octal Reverb Rocket.. by the way.. peeps.. is there anybody out there? Hellooooo?. I'm thinking a Reverb Rocket would be the BEST EVER Leslie driver combo in a 2x12 Twinish sort of arrangement. SR hasn't a headroom to be fount.

I get to play all my fun guitars that just don't work so good when I am playing someone else's gig. I usually end up Strating the crap out of it. I have an Esquire that I love dearly (plays itself!) and a pair of alnico customs. Pebbles has a neck like a guy from Fender went to Gibson on an exchange program. Heh.. Soft V just like mid '56. Weird and awesome! I wish they all played like that.

Now, if I could just find a rhythm section that wasn't bazonkerd on cocaine... not looking too good. The clean and sober crowd around here aren't experienced, and I just want to think about the music.

I think I have been trying to finish this for like two hours but the phone keeps making annoises. Actually, I think I will go ahead in to work and finish up some things. OMG it's 4:30am... I am too dumb to sleep.

[xtian]

Similar story: I've been playing with two bands that have just gone on hiatus: Afternoon Bloom <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOckwT0d5g> and Bonny Scott <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbdim59V1s0>. The singer in AB has moved away following a job, and our "Angus" in BS is in SF for three months playing in musical theater.

So that leaves a monthly Christian rock gig at church, which is good, but nothing creative.

But rock must roll. Going to jam tonight with superabundantlytalented drummer Katie and amazing five-string bass player Mick. Funkpowerpop, I'm hoping.

[Reeltarded]

hah! I have seen you on YT.

[surfsup]

I'm jealous! I also like the banjo reference. I played banjo for years. Then I went on a sailing trip 5 yrs ago to Bimini and somehow came home with nerve damage on my fingerpicking hand. Never played guitar with a pick but bought one just before the trip to learn guitar chords. Well, I couldn't fingerpick anymore, so I learned to flat pick guitar. Now I play guitar - kinda. But guitar worked better since it works better for me with words so I wrote a bunch of songs. Turns out one of my buddies plays, so we started jamming about 4 yrs ago. Was great. Then he just moved 6 mos. ago to FLA. Plus I just had a kid two yrs ago which makes your single friends run, not walk, away! So I'm in a funk, but happy to hear some of you are having fun still!

[Structo]

Xtian, are you Malcolm?

[xtian]

Xtian, are you Malcolm?

Yes.

Loki Miller is "Angus," and his mother is the singer, thus "Bonny" Scott. Rock-n-roll family!

[rp]

Since I did one channel of the 5C8 as cathode bias and the other as grid-leaked (stock), I have my choice between a nice clean sound with a touch of grit and a full on dirty sound that does Zeppelin and any blues tune with some real authority (and no OD pedals needed, although I'm now tempted to add one!).

Cliff, a lot of time has passed since you posted this but in case you still haven't tried a gain pedal in the grid-leak side you should for crazy kicks. I have a Dunlop wah, stock circuit but rebuild with Wimas, mfs, a real Fasel and BC109Bs, it's now a very vocal and hard driving wah. I'll sometimes use it as a gain/scoop pedal leaving it in one position. With the 5C1 Champ and a 12" it sounds like a Wookie getting a colonoscopy. Haven't tried my DS-1 or EP Booster yet, but if you're into crazy sounds overload that grid-leak channel. W/ slide it might sound like a whole ward of Wookies getting colonoscopies.

[Reeltarded]

lol rp, love the wookie colonoscopy thing.

I have a few different wha pedals that are taped and numbered for how many times they were thrown. They become more microphonic every time you bash them onto a parking lot (or die outright!) but I rip the pedals off and make them into one trick foot switchable peaking filters. The more microphonic they become without going insane the better. I need to pull a couple out now that I think about it for a thing this coming weekend.

My favorite practice rig ever is a busted wha at full treble into a Bartolini Tube It full treble into a Peavey studio chorus with mids and treble at full cut and volume about to eat those poor little whatever those speakers are... Wookie butt doctors aside... Heh

[Cliff Schecht]

Since I did one channel of the 5C8 as cathode bias and the other as grid-leaked (stock), I have my choice between a nice clean sound with a touch of grit and a full on dirty sound that does Zeppelin and any blues tune with some real authority (and no OD pedals needed, although I'm now tempted to add one!).

Cliff, a lot of time has passed since you posted this but in case you still haven't tried a gain pedal in the grid-leak side you should for crazy kicks. I have a Dunlop wah, stock circuit but rebuild with Wimas, mfs, a real Fasel and BC109Bs, it's now a very vocal and hard driving wah. I'll sometimes use it as a gain/scoop pedal leaving it in one position. With the 5C1 Champ and a 12" it sounds like a Wookie getting a colonoscopy. Haven't tried my DS-1 or EP Booster yet, but if you're into crazy sounds overload that grid-leak channel. W/ slide it might sound like a whole ward of Wookies getting colonoscopies.

Actually I haven't tried this yet but I've been meaning to. My Blues Driver is probably the choice pedal for this, after the tweaks I made to the FMV style tonestack to increase the mids it's been my go-to distortion pedal. My buddy and I haven't jammed since I posted this thread for whatever reason but we're gonna get back at it soon enough. I'll post the results when I know, I'm betting it sounds phat as phuck!

FWIW I'm not a huge DS-1 fan but I bought the pedal pretty much new for $15. After looking at how painfully simple the circuit is I might get in there and ninjaneer in a better op amp (Boss loves SIP packages), tweak the tonestack and eliminate the clipping diodes. If anything I got a good enclosure and switching system to rig my own design into.

[Bob S]

Hmmm.
You've got me thinking now Cliff.
I've got a dead DS1 somewhere around here (I plugged an 18V supply into it...) I've never built a pedal yet.
Uh Oh! All I need is another addiction.
OK - which one do I start with ?