General Music Chat

I've got a little tiny Marshal that clips on my belt and works fine. Will run from battery or adaptor. Would it hold up against NYC street noise? Not sure...

Today I purchased a prac rig that plugs into my bass and runs into headphones. Blew up my first attempt at that - hoping this will work so I don't have to lug my amp head up the stairs to my office just to work a few scales...

Talbot

Slacker, don't you run a compressor pedal ?

yes Mike, that is exactly what I am worried about on ALL the internal rechargeable batteries amps.. what do you think of the Fender Mustang Mini amp that runs on C batteries? buy a charger and NimH batteries and never worry about the internal expensive Crate or Pignose battery shelling out in 2 or 3 years? all the guitar forum busker threads are saying good things about the Fender Mustang Mini @ 7 watts

Most knowledgable people say the Mini has no bottom end whatsoever, so if this is just so people can try out a guitar and understand it works, it'll do fine, just don't expect good sound (even the bigger Mustang 1 and 2 don't sound too good!)
If you have 2X the money (the Mini is only $100), try the Yamaha THR5.

Slacker, don't you run a compressor pedal ?

I pre amp all my power amps with a Zoom G2 or a G2.1u (Same but with a swell pedal) I used to only use my own design pre amps but the Zoom is clean and runs 8 hours on a set of 4 AA cells. My pre amps use a dual polarity 15vdc supply. The Zoom has a headphone out so the power is adequate to drive a 100-200 watt power amp without a built in preamp. The first power setup I used with it was a 200 watt Radio shack car stereo amp. They ended up being crap so I started using my own power amp design with a PWM supply to boost the rail from 12 v to *- 40 volts.

The Zoom has a compressor, but I don't care for the sound of compression so I don't use it. I noticed it on a couple of times but I had it set so low that I had to listen close to hear it. I don't like the squashed attack when I pick a string hard.

I like the hall reverb and the slap back echo for rock a billy, but for everything else I just use the hall or spring reverb settings. I like it because the noise level is something like 100 db down. It's the quietest commercial stomp I have ever not heard when it is on line. I don't use a noise gate because I like the note to die out naturally.

Test drive one of these:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... OCUBE-LIST

A surprising variety of good guitar tones and just enough sound for a little busking on a boardwalk at the beach. Not designed to run with a full band but I think it has a line out so you could run it through a PA in a pinch. $139 new, $50 on CL.

Here is one in your area and he has a nice cord and AC transformer to go with it. Bring $80 and offer him $60 if it checks out in good working order. These amps are pretty bulletproof but if it was dropped hard it could have issues. Trust your ears.
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/msd/3837034421.html

thanks J7, I am still shopping, the CL ad was in Kansas City which is over 180 miles away, everything used on ebay as far as MicrCubes go kinda high? and at time of writing I see no good deals on MicroCubes in used condition..80 dollars plus for used when you figure in shipping.. an outfit out of Brooklyn has a "used " one but basically prolly a store demo, for 99.00 w/ free shipping, another New York dealer has new ones in the box never opened for 109.00 which is tempting.. I bid on a Lectrosonics Mouse today, but did not win the bid.. I am patient when it comes to getting a deal..maybe Slacker will build me a Custom model?

I've got a little tiny Marshal that clips on my belt and works fine. Will run from battery or adaptor. Would it hold up against NYC street noise? Not sure...

Today I purchased a prac rig that plugs into my bass and runs into headphones. Blew up my first attempt at that - hoping this will work so I don't have to lug my amp head up the stairs to my office just to work a few scales...

Talbot

I have got a tiny Johnson amp runs on 9VDC battery and is the crappiest thing I've ever heard amp wise..it is actually hindering sales, and you would be surprised at the number of people frequenting swap meets looking for a deal on any kind of guitar..pawn shops seem to have ridiculous markups on crappy guitars anymore, the good ones they sell on ebay..10 years ago you could snag quality guitars in pawn shops, not anymore.. I got a Morris guitar that's priced right but sounds like crap thru that tiny Johnson amp..

Slacker, don't you run a compressor pedal ?

Sorry GT. I have been wondering what gave you the idea that I used a compression pedal. Yesterday it hit me that you were referring to my Canon camera videos and not my sound click page or the Bandmix mp3 files. You can see that there is not any compression on those.

Last night I remembered the compression on the videos. It is coming from the auto gain that all those lousy cameras have built into them. (So that proud parents can hear the kids screaming in the background of their vacation vids)

What brought it to mind is a video I made last night with my Nicon. The compression is HORRIBLE on it. What a piece of crap that turned out to be. No way to set the record volume on that junker. The compression sounds like it is 100 to 1.

I love a natural decay with no compression. I guess I won't be getting that with either of those cameras.

settled finally on the VOX MINI3 ..at that price (99 bucks shipped)you are buying a lot of effects "pedals" and the amp is basically free..
the you tube video of this "German" guy was the kicker..LOL is that you GLENNY? LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIY3_2f3zJw

DAMN.! I didn't realize you researched all the foreign videos too...

Achtune mein kaumpf. You have caught me at my very best. I shall be grateful forever for your attentions.

(by the way that was a secret code vid for a 20 million dollar meth deal)

Sorry, you missed that one...

Dane - hope it helps you sell some more gutiars!

Slacker - too right about the built-in compression in video cameras. I used my Sony to video me on acoustic and my wife on tambourine, the 'jangles' of the tamb were kicking in the compression (turning volume down) enough to make it sound like the whole audio track had been put through a tremelo.

and if I do get some youngster wanting to pay for lessons after watching me at the swap meet I might be able to work them in.. the problem with the loud busking amps in my opinion is they tend to get the whole busking community shut down from their loud amps interfering with other people not necessarily wanting to watch a show off street musician.. and like one busker said, If I can hear you from 100 yards away, what makes you think I will walk over to your tip jar to put some coin in ?.. I am getting entertained for free from a hundred yards away.. if you are a crappy player then you simply are pizzing off a lot of people at the festival..

and if I do get some youngster wanting to pay for lessons after watching me at the swap meet I might be able to work them in.. the problem with the loud busking amps in my opinion is they tend to get the whole busking community shut down from their loud amps interfering with other people not necessarily wanting to watch a show off street musician.. and like one busker said, If I can hear you from 100 yards away, what makes you think I will walk over to your tip jar to put some coin in ?.. I am getting entertained for free from a hundred yards away.. if you are a crappy player then you simply are pizzing off a lot of people at the festival..

Most of the time people come close to watch my fingers just as much as they do to listen when they hear me picking. My amps are powerfully loud, but I seldom play any of them at full volume. In fact, I never play them above a level that people in front of my amp need to raise their voiced to communicate.

and if I do get some youngster wanting to pay for lessons after watching me at the swap meet I might be able to work them in.. the problem with the loud busking amps in my opinion is they tend to get the whole busking community shut down from their loud amps interfering with other people not necessarily wanting to watch a show off street musician.. and like one busker said, If I can hear you from 100 yards away, what makes you think I will walk over to your tip jar to put some coin in ?.. I am getting entertained for free from a hundred yards away.. if you are a crappy player then you simply are pizzing off a lot of people at the festival..

Most of the time people come close to watch my fingers just as much as they do to listen when they hear me picking. My amps are powerfully loud, but I seldom play any of them at full volume. In fact, I never play them above a level that people in front of my amp need to raise their voiced to communicate.

I also have a 40 watt RMS? I think Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (I think once I erroneously said I had a Fender DeVille but it's a Hot Rod) and I can never get the tone out of it I want with set volume at 1 or 1-1/2 ..otherwise it is too loud.. to get the tone I desire it has to be set at 5 and that will allow people from a mile away to hear me since my twin brother told me to turn the amp down once playing outside and he's right at under a mile.. he said the neighbors will call the county mounty possibly with it that loud.. think the law is on my side though out here in the boondocks.. I ain't in the city.. in the city you can get arrested for playing too loud..yes, a law called "disturbing the peace"

and if I do get some youngster wanting to pay for lessons after watching me at the swap meet I might be able to work them in.. the problem with the loud busking amps in my opinion is they tend to get the whole busking community shut down from their loud amps interfering with other people not necessarily wanting to watch a show off street musician.. and like one busker said, If I can hear you from 100 yards away, what makes you think I will walk over to your tip jar to put some coin in ?.. I am getting entertained for free from a hundred yards away.. if you are a crappy player then you simply are pizzing off a lot of people at the festival..

Most of the time people come close to watch my fingers just as much as they do to listen when they hear me picking. My amps are powerfully loud, but I seldom play any of them at full volume. In fact, I never play them above a level that people in front of my amp need to raise their voiced to communicate.

I also have a 40 watt RMS? I think Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (I think once I erroneously said I had a Fender DeVille but it's a Hot Rod) and I can never get the tone out of it I want with set volume at 1 or 1-1/2 ..otherwise it is too loud.. to get the tone I desire it has to be set at 5 and that will allow people from a mile away to hear me since my twin brother told me to turn the amp down once playing outside and he's right at under a mile.. he said the neighbors will call the county mounty possibly with it that loud.. think the law is on my side though out here in the boondocks.. I ain't in the city.. in the city you can get arrested for playing too loud..yes, a law called "disturbing the peace"

The problem is that most small amps are predominately "Midrange" amplifiers. Those cause the sound to carry a long way without many lows or highs. When the amp is rich in high and low harmonics, the volume can be higher without being irritable sounding. And you can actually hear the full response out doors.

most records you here like a Led Zeppelin as an example, what you are hearing are 10 watt amps giving the listener that signature Stairway to Heaven lead solo... very deceptive as to why they are not using 40-100 watt amps recording in a studio.. small amps just do it..