AArdvark's amplifier project

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 2:50 pm

Pulled out the jazzmaster tonight. Man, where have I been?

Too busy to cut loose, that's where. I was down in the (still unfinished) basement and saw the case sitting back in the corner. Felt guilty and brought it upstairs.

THE

AARDVARK

Jizaboz · Post by **Jizaboz** » Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:25 am

I'd still like an old Jazzmaster one day. The cheapest I ever saw one from the late 60s or early 70s was like 1000$ and it was beat up as shit.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Mon Nov 09, 2015 3:54 pm

just get a new one. All that collector/retro guitar demand is mostly just crap. I played a 1958 stratocaster at Stutzman's and it wasn't any better than any other strat I played, it was just older. And it was beat to shit. You hear that the great sounding guitars are always beat up because they get played so much and the pristine ones sound and feel crappy.
That's as may be but I think the best Fenders come out of the Custom Shop, one-offs for the one percent.

I still don't get what all the tone wheels are for.

THE
ADJUSTABLE
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Nov 09, 2015 10:22 pm

'Vark, I bought a Line 6 Spider IV 75. Can't recall if I told you or not. It's like an amp combined with a Line 6 digital modeler. It has a zillion different band and song sounds built in, so you can just dial in "Van Halen" or "Rage Against the Machine" or "Weezer" and poof, it sounds just like that.

I turned it up to 3 the other day and the dead complained, so it should be pretty loud for here inside the house.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 3:51 pm

Man , that's got all the stuff you'll ever need plus enough watts to break windows.
When I felt the need to move away from multiple stompboxes and get an all-in-one I considered a Line 6. Digitech was cheaper though so they won.
Can you control the effects through a footswitch? Or multiple switches on a footboard?

THE
BLAST O MATIC
AARDVARK

RealNC · Post by **RealNC** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:27 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:46 pm

I'm thinking about buying amp knobs that DO go 11. Just because of that movie!

THE
SMELL THE GLOVE
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 8:19 am

AArdvark wrote:Man , that's got all the stuff you'll ever need plus enough watts to break windows.
When I felt the need to move away from multiple stompboxes and get an all-in-one I considered a Line 6. Digitech was cheaper though so they won.
Can you control the effects through a footswitch? Or multiple switches on a footboard?

You can.

My old foot switchbox was a Digitech RP3 (I think) and I loved it. I just happened to run across this one around my birthday and decided it would make a good "all in one" solution. It also has a good line out for going right into the computer for recording.

[youtube][/youtube]

Jizaboz · Post by **Jizaboz** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:26 am

Those effects pedals with all of those settings pissed me off in the 90s. They look better these days.

The MetalZone 2 by Boss is still my favorite pedal followed by crybaby wah. Only 2 I use other than the reverb/vibrato switch for my amp. I would like a nice flanger pedal one day though..

I dunno, Vark. I still like the sound of my '69 Fender Mustang way over the newish Stratocaster I have. It's more "full" or "warm". Hard to describe. Though the Strat is a bit easier to play certain things due to the longer neck.

Oh and again on the subject of amps.. I'll probably never, EVER own another Marshall. Yeah they have a cool, nasty sound and all but holy shit you are fuct if you need repairs. I had a Marshall combo tube amp that ended up with a screwed up transformer. Shop had to order the part from Britain. Took months to get right.

Turned around and traded it in a couple months later for the 50's re-issue Fender Twin Reverb I'm still playing about 16 years later. The only problem I had with it was the footpedal gave out after a year so I couldn't toggle reverb or vibrato. Ironically, it was the only part of the amp labelled "made in Mexico".

Donald Ebinsen · Post by **Donald Ebinsen** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 3:26 pm

Jizaboz wrote:I dunno, Vark. I still like the sound of my '69 Fender Mustang way over the newish Stratocaster I have. It's more "full" or "warm". Hard to describe. Though the Strat is a bit easier to play certain things due to the longer neck.

Could the Stratocaster be a digital instrument? Your exact comment is why a lot of people, even now, still like, and why audiophiles still buy, recordings on vinyl (which is why companies still press vinyl records). The effect of analog sound often has certain aspects which are lost when converted to digital. A lot of people say there is a certain shall we say, "feel" to analog over digital.

Also, seeing the Fender was made back during the height of the hand-made equipment days (1969 was very primitive as far as developing automation), maybe the Fender is a hand-built wood and the Strato is a machine constructed plastic and/or composite (either condition could be a factor which changes the characteristics of the sound)? Or could one of the two be a partial or full steel guitar?

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 3:27 pm

I just threw up in my mouth and a little bit of my soul just died.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 3:36 pm

I like vinyl records because you have to go to where the music is being played rather than taking the music with you. It makes for a much more immersive experience. Psycoacoustics, man.

I wont go into the history of Fender guitars. I do like the fact that you didn't research this topic before posting. It's so much more organic this way. Sometimes it's nice to just post off the top of one's head and let it all out.
I think most guitars are analog instruments (there are exceptions!) but running them through various processors can change the signal to digital. The feel is still totally analog.

THE
OH WHAT A FEELING
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:55 pm

Donald Ebinsen wrote:
Jizaboz wrote:I dunno, Vark. I still like the sound of my '69 Fender Mustang way over the newish Stratocaster I have. It's more "full" or "warm". Hard to describe. Though the Strat is a bit easier to play certain things due to the longer neck.
Could the Stratocaster be a digital instrument? Your exact comment is why a lot of people, even now, still like, and why audiophiles still buy, recordings on vinyl (which is why companies still press vinyl records). The effect of analog sound often has certain aspects which are lost when converted to digital. A lot of people say there is a certain shall we say, "feel" to analog over digital.

Also, seeing the Fender was made back during the height of the hand-made equipment days (1969 was very primitive as far as developing automation), maybe the Fender is a hand-built wood and the Strato is a machine constructed plastic and/or composite (either condition could be a factor which changes the characteristics of the sound)? Or could one of the two be a partial or full steel guitar?

Yes. His Stratocaster guitar is a digital steel guitar.

Jizaboz · Post by **Jizaboz** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:57 am

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sat Apr 09, 2016 6:47 pm

Rewired the Jazzmaster tonight. Eliminated the tone control and made both pots volume controls. With both pickups on the tone is fantastic. Best it's sounded since I bought it. The neck volume control acts like a tone control and rolls off the blaring treble from the bridge pickup. Real mellow, man. I was gonna build a custom buzz stop like Robert Smith's but...eh. I already have a Whizzo so I put that back on. That's about as much as I want to mess with it.

THE
UNTIL NEXT TIME
AARDVARK

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:42 am

What is a custom buzz stop?

This is fascinating to read a thread where I do not know any of the jargon! I enjoy it, though!

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 2:36 pm

This is fascinating to read a thread where I do not know any of the jargon!

I feel the same way anytime someone posts an IT related thread...

On the Jazzmaster guitars the strings go over the bridge and down to the..oh, here...

The buzz stop pulls the stings down more toward the body, increasing the sustain and reducing string buzz.
This guy built a custom one that bolts on to the body

I think it looks like a toilet paper holder. I was thinking of making a one piece unit out of stainless round stock and putting that on my Jazzmaster. Once I saw how much work I'd have to do, and remembering that I already own something that works just fine, I gave up on it.

THE
DON'T FIX IT
IF IT AINT
AARDVARK

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:51 pm

AArdvark wrote:I like vinyl records because you have to go to where the music is being played rather than taking the music with you. It makes for a much more immersive experience. Psycoacoustics, man.

[PART DELETED]

THE
OH WHAT A FEELING
AARDVARK

You may find this hard to believe, but before they had 8-track players in cars, back in the 1960s some had record players in them. I kid you not.

I looked it up; they had them as far back as the 1950s. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news ... /index.htm

AArdvark wrote:THE
DON'T FIX IT
IF IT AINT
AARDVARK

I preferred the line, "If it don't fit, force it; if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway."

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sat Apr 30, 2016 7:01 pm

Just saw a Chevelle SS with an 8 track player in it. Very nice. I wonder how they kept the records from skipping when going over bumps.

THE
SKREE-BLURP!
AARDVARK

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:19 pm

I wrote three years ago.....

I'm thinking about buying amp knobs that DO go 11. Just because of that movie!

But these go to eleven.......

AArdvark's amplifier project

Re: AArdvark's amplifier project