Be Excellent To Each Other

Seeing the posts in the "Things I've bought thread" made me think we could do with a thread for playing music.

I bought this goober on Gumtree the other day. Yet to try it but am excited by its impending arrival.

I played guitar as a teenager, in a highly ignored prog-rock band, then ditched it when I went to uni. However, this xmas my parents bought my old Danelectro down and it's been a real pleasure noodling away in the evening. Finding it's an excellent way to unwind.

Am using the trial of Yousician to relearn the basics, though at around 17 quid a month, the premium version is too big an expense to justify at the moment.

That looks pretty cool. Multieffects?

I've gone down the more flexible but more expensive route of single pedals these days. I used to use a Line6 POD v2 which was pretty decent.

Now I run tuner, wah and overdrive pedals through my four-channel Marshall amp. On my list of pedals to get are: Boss RC-3 loop pedal, TC Harmonix SYNTH9 and Pitch Fork (synth simulation and pitch shifter, respectively), Xotic EP boost and a TC Electronic Hypergravity compressor pedal.

I have a Gibson Les Paul Menace and a Jackson Pro Misha Mansoor Signature Juggernaut HT 7. I also have a US Fender Precision Bass in arctic white and a green Yamaha electro-acoustic.

Like Mop there, I much prefer single effects (although put into simple valve amps. I dare say I'm generally trying to get a much cleaner sound than he is judging by his setup). Pedals include Ernie Ball Volume Pedal (A must, really), Dunlop bass wah, Mooer Blues Mood, Big Muff Pi, Bonamassa Fuzz Face, Boss DD5, Electroharmonix Small Stone, Boss BF3(I think) flanger, MXR Carbon Copy, Electroharmonix Worm, Boss bass chorus. Some other pedals that I have forgotten.

Although I do have a POD HD400 for flexibility too.

Guitarwise, I have a 2003 Fender Stratocaster (for typical single coil tones), 2013 Gibson Les Paul (For excessively dirty driven tones), Breedlove Acoustic (For acousticness), Farida something (With some PAF 57' style pickups, for that 60/70s sound) , PRS SE 22 semiacoustic (Generally very flexible. Probably overall the nicest guitar I own), PRS SE 277 Baritone Semiacoustic (For baritone sections, natch), Recording king slide guitar (For really grimy p90 slide tones). Missing guitars that I would like: Nylon stringed acousric and a 12 string
Basswise, a 2000 Schecter custom 4 (My first "good" instrument. fantastic neck to play on), Ibanez SR605 5 String, Schecter Studio 8 (For chimey 8 string goodness), Crafter acoutic Bass, 1985 Westone Fretless bass. Probably the only thinkg I'd add to that would be a p/j bass mix (P bass with a bridge j pickup and a j neck. Never liked p-bass necks, even when I owned one)

In addition to that, a Pearl Export Drum kit with a mixture of Zildjain K's and A cymbals and a tama snare of some kind, a Roland TD-17KVX, a set of flat drums, a yahama arius digital piano of some form. And enough studio equipment to record it all.

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Despite this, I have never told anyone what name I go under on soundcloud/youtube...

Dave has so many drum kits he offloaded one to me.

I forgot about that one.

I wouldn't call myself a musician, more "rubbish bedroom noodler". But I have a G&L Fullerton Deluxe ASAT Special, a PRS SE Torero, an Epiphone Sheraton 2 and a Jackson Minion at work. (And a couple of shitty acoustics).

Pedal wise, I have a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, a EHX Nano POG, a Tone City Golden Plexi, a Mooer Microdrummer and a Ditto Looper. Oh and a Boss TU-3 tuner. Amp wise Boss Katana 100.

A bedroom noodler with a PRS!

I think this is how my wife feels when I talk about computers with other computer folk.

Or how I feel when I venture into the car thread.

I do have one musical instrument - the guitar that came with Rocksmith, an Epiphone Les Paul Jr, but I only know that because I've just gone and read that off the box. I tried to learn to play it via the Rocksmith game, but when it got to the lesson on slides, I couldn't get the hang of them and gave up.

I have a couple of Mapex drum kits with some kind of cymbals. I used to break them quite regularly so I never liked spending much on them. I do have a nifty double pedal on it though... I think that was more expensive than the kit.

It looks like this.



I also have a Roland TD9 which has been upgraded to a TD9KX with an extra tom and cymbal.

And, since my dad passed away... I guess I now own half of a 60+ strong guitar collection.

I had a cheapo multi-effect pedal (a DOD something or other) when I was at college but I blew that up when I accidentally plugged in an NES PSU. Somehow I'd forgotten the time I'd done the same to my sister's friend's brother's Speccy...

Bought a big chunky used Boss thing in my early 20s which was great for a while, some really nice ethereal pitch-shift effects including one that made individual notes sound like crystal glass, plus a hard-wired power cable so no more expensive incidents. Only problem was at a certain point after not having used it for a while it developed a strange regular static click, every seven seconds, which would then be applied to every effect in the chain, completely ruining the pedal. Boss/Roland no longer supports or repairs this model so I've given up on it, as it looks a nightmare to re-cap it and that might not even fix it. (I am not an electrical engineer)

In lieu of anything I actually wanted or needed though an ex got me a couple of cheap Behringer stomp boxes for my birthday a few years back, tremolo and delay, and they're reasonably good so I've been slowly accruing a selection of them; overdrive, chorus, fuzz, plus a multi-function thing with pitch-shifting and tone-bending. I also got Behringer's "Hellbabe" wah-wah pedal but that turned out to be a bit shit so I flogged it after a friend bequeathed/long-term-loaned me a few of his old pedals including a proper Hendrix model.

Also, when I was in a band on bass a few years ago we were doing open mic nights a lot and I could never hear my bass through the PA so I got a neat little Vox multi effect pedal which has a few nice crunchy effects but also a load of weird 8-bit synthy sounding sounds. (plus a volume knob so if I was being mixed down by the guy controlling the PA I could nudge myself up again )

Isn't that who usually buy PRS guitars, according to their rep? Okay I'm not a dentist or lawyer...

Anyway, you should be having a pop at me for the £180 pedal.

I have nothing these days, as I've either sold or given it all away due to never using any of it. Regretting that obviously, and I often find myself wandering round a guitar shop, almost buying something...

I used to have a Washburn KC40V, a pignose travel guitar, and a few nylons strung classical acoustics.

In continuing adventures of "Shit MaliA doesn't Think Through" a piano now joins the tin whistle, electric piano, cymbals (fuck you, Uncle Kern) and kazoos

Do you live in a church?

Astounds me how heavy a proper piano is. I had one for a brief period at my previous house and it was a nightmare getting it in, and it was a nightmare getting rid of it too.

How is the smell?

This is a different one!

Excellent work, Uncle Kern.

Even a decent digital one weighs more than you'd think. Bastard thing killed my back putting it together.

I once painted the floor for a client who had a baby grand piano. Floor paint properly stinks, takes 24hrs to dry, needs 3 coats AND takes about a week to cure properly, lead to much mirth

I have a hankering for a half decent bass (once I get the ASAT paid off) Any recommendations?

When we rented a house, the previous tenant (a filthy pig of a person, it has to be said) left a piano, with one wheel broken, in the garage. It was not easy for the poor saps that the rental agency found to get rid of it.

What style are you after?

A fender p-bass is typically "the sound" when it comes to rock. Although I find the necks of them a bit chunky for my tastes. If/when I buy another bass I'd go for a p/j hybrid. (p bass with a thinner neck and a j bass Pickup on the bridge for a bit more tonal variety).

My usual workhorse, however, is an ibanez Sr 605. Sounds good, a bit more modern than fenders offerings, and I just like the feel of it, and ibanez tend to offer the best value/money.

I’ve been thinking about selling my 2004 US-made Fender Precision Bass in Arctic White as I no longer use it. It’s a great instrument—I played it in a rock and roll covers band for a few years.

It’s worth somewhere in the region of £500-£800 so I’d be happy to let you have it at the bottom end of that range as it’s been gigged so has some very slight wear and tear.

Wow, that's a beauty. To be honest, that's too much instrument for my inexpert fumbling, but if you can't get rid before I actually have money again, I'll take it. Don't hold it for me though.

Talking of selling gear, anyone had experience selling through Reverb?

I’m in no rush to sell (re: lazy) so if you’re still interested at a later date, I’ll probably still have it.