jimmarchi1's forum posts 8022

my mother tried to make me pay for college by selling my instruments. i said fuck off.

I had to pay my way.... it limited where I could go and instead of getting to attend some of the A list art schools I was admitted to and getting to move to NYC I went to the state school's art school that had its own campus back then. So I wound up commuting, living at home the first 2 years, working at a recording studio and falling out of love with illustration and graphic art in general and it was a wasted education I never use. But thanks to a pretty comprehensive scholarship and the low in-state tuition my loan debt was so small I paid it right off in 1 or 2 big lumps and was done with it.

what about.... umm, those American guys, who are young and rock and sold a lot of records and and and.... oh wait, I guess you guys are right. I can't think of any new mainstream rock bands from the states.

I have a real thing for double cuts.... its not so much that I use the upper frets but that I like to know that I can. I wanna get some off-brand new doublecuts, like a revstar and a reverend sensei and/or manta-ray. I think they make a silver sparkle sensei so I kinda need that. And I really want an inca silver hardtail strat. I said I'd never buy another stock fender but the Robert cray signature model really hits the mark. Comes in silver, hardtail, rosewood fingerboard.

I'm liking 20 as a number though so I might dump the harmony I bough at a flea market recently. She's fixed up okay now and is probably worth good money to some hipster doofus. I could probably turn a hefty profit on a guitar that I bought for 100 dollars and invested maybe 20 bucks of parts and labor into repairing. I'm kinda back and forth on this epi bonamassa signature firebird I impulse bought at sam ash. It has all the appointments I want in a firebird, 1 pickup, big neck etc, but I have only played it twice and one of those times was yesterday when I reviewed it. I hate that its a bonamassa. Even though he and I agree on stuff in theory I think he's such a tool bag. There's something about that guy's face, and style and inexplicable popularity that rubs me the wrong way. But its the only non-custom-shop current production firebird I, right? Nashville doesn't make one! And I want a firebird like Clapton played when he was in blind faith. Thing is, its a 700 dollar axe that feels like a 700 dollar axe, not like some guitars where they feel much nicer than you expect based on the pricetag. And Bonamassa is a tool bag. Decisions, decisions.

i wish i lived in the uk so i could go to college and drop out in band and nit have to pay back 20-60k and the guitar music scene there is still alive and well unlike in most of the us where hip hop and electronic is the current scene

you know they'll subsidize your band there? Not only can you be a college drop out but if you fill out the proper forms you can get paid by the fucking Queen to attempt to make it. Of course if you do happen to make it Britain taxes its entertainment industry at around 50%, so the queen makes it back.

have you been to England? dance music is bigger than rock there and ahs been for years, its like their hiphop to a certaine xtent.... their rock music is more of a state-sponsored export commodity like jazz here

and I don't think I plan to thin the herd subtantially

about fucking time. they've been that way in Canada and Australia since... always.

there's definitely a year or 2 of tuition in my whole home studio if not the guitars.

not an esp guy or I would buy it

y'know whats fucked up is that I haven't played some of them since I bought them! the hamer I bought with IRS cash, but the rest have bee piling up unused for a year.

But I genuinely like all of them. GAS is a sickness. I need the cure! I will die with hundreds of guitars, amps and synths! I have 8 tube amps sitting around...I have problems.

I had to use my EB list to enumerate, but I own 20 guitars.... shit. I don't use them all so frequently... oh well.

and if you count all my ac30s I am at 9 tube amps

my guitar speaker horde is in effects pedals but they've always been there for whatever reason. I'm okay with it since its consistent.

yes, but I edited it to be in the right category because it is NOT a modular synth piece, its a tabletop monosynth with a sequencer, a 303 clone? like, I already edited a number of items that were miscategorized, VSTs in studio gear and studio gear in effects pedals? but when I save this one it reverts back to modular for some reason

and yeah, I forgot Lex mentioned the top 3 pieces problem.... its irritating having strings and a stand showing under my user pic though and I just got all hot and bothered for a sec

this categorization has prompted me to really fill out all my gear in all my free moments and review EVERYTHING, so all in all its a great thing beyond the clean look. I had really slugged off on reviews, especially of plugins.

Speaking of reviews I got 4 packs of elixirs Friday and I restrung my #1 SG and #1 tele with them and need to reintonate a little more before starting the review. They feel damned nice. Want me to put the other 2 sets on 2 other guitars? Maybe my strat and Yamaha 335?

even the Japanese made, current production models are pretty high end and you won't see them in every local music store or even every GC or samash.... just the fancy ones. You have to like Gretsch. They have a slim nut width, very round neck shape and either hot dearmond singles or fitlertrons and filtertrons are a very unique humbucking design that's very jangly and pretty low DCR but they have more apparent output than your ear ehars at first because they rbeak up in a really trebley way like a strat. The dearmonds are more like an early tele bridge crossed with a P90. They are not for everyone. Gretsches are weird and the bigsby models are finicky with vintage correct bridges, either having intonation issues or tuning problems depending on the bridge style. They do ebst with a roller bridge or a pivoting tuneo-matic style but for some models the classic melita bridge has a ig influence on the sound because of the bakelite saddles. Anyway, I am a huge gretsch guy, but I don't have one anymore because they're very impractical. Some where between gretsch and Gibson you find guilds with the HB1 pickups... earlier guilds used various dearmonds including the same 200 models as gretsch used so definitely in the ballpark and way more stable even with a bigsby. Not as cool looking at all though :-(

good one... what year? the early ones with dearmonds are sweet but my favorite falcons I played were the later double-cutaway ones (and they're worth less, hahaha, maybe I could actually afford a vintage DC falcon from the 60s)... still not a knock on an original 335 though.... or even the better custom shop reissues like the 59 fat neck and the amazing Rusty Anderson signature. Wish I had 5k to drop on one guitar but not right now

how do I fix my top 3 pieces of gear now? I really don't want ernie balls and a tama cymbal standstand to be my image

also? my x0xb0x won't recategorize from modular to just keyboard/synth when I edit.... all my other miscategorized stuff was easy to fix, this is effed up though

Procol Harum's Novum. Although they're not that progressive rock type of band they used to be

they were more like symphonic rock leaning towards Andrew Lloyd weber style braodway LOL... Salty Dog will always be their most interesting song

if the tickets were cheap enough and they played a venue with a bar I might go see Milli Vanilli

I wonder what those 2 are up to these days? lip syncing has mae quite a comeback from what I hear, maybe they should do a nostalgia tour!

do you have any hardware synths? or any drum kits? or both? what about samples of pele kicking a soccer ball? have you sampled yourself smacking a baking sheet with a rubber malllet? there's a lot more options when it comes to dance kicks than 808 and 909 samples or some of the VST kick drum generators.

EDIT:

A lot of dance music and professionally created hiphip mixes use very layered kicks. Go look up kicks on pensado's Place for an introduction, but his ideas are tame by my standards. He's Mr 808+soccer ball (although that's probably not the sound you're looking for here, justs aying that its an example of making the sound you want from some drum machine, maybe a sample of a non-musical source that is percussive or an analog synth patch all mixed).... also keep in mind that you can drastically change the feel of your kick with dynamics control. I'm sure you know some basics but there are things you can do with roland samples that really mutate them if you're willing to deviate from the old parallel VCA techniques that will round those samples more. Do you have access to any older roland samples that are softer like a dr55? My dr55 is a pretty limited device but it has the softest electronic kick of any drum machine.... in a good way. Its not great on its own but compressed carefully with a sample or two to add a little punch and click without compromising the furry analog goodness? might eb what the dr (pun intended) ordered.... also look up bedroom producer blog, that blog had an article awhile ago that included some analog drum amchine samples that were compressed and recorded hot to tape softening the edges of even the harder machines. Do a google search for 'tape 909 samples'

I hope the ideas I added to my original post help you find the sound your looking for without lifiting it from the track you're referencing... or maybe inspire you to create a sound that's even better than the reference sound.

that sounds right, I got mine second hand around 93 for 50 bucks or so as a backup to my 60s fender

the amp in question is a practice amp from the 80s, I don't think its been in production since I took up the guitar seriously

you ever been working on music with all this modern technology or be watching Netflix or something and reflect on how drastically the world has changed since we were kids? Its actually eliminating the need for cleverness in the arts. Everything's a preset if you can spend enough money.

made, I don't think they've made them since the 80s or early 90s.

the lead 20 is marshall's best solid state amp including the valvestates... its really an all time great solid state amp in there with the jazz chorus, polytone minibrute etc

you have a 200S? that's a classic, man. 69 is prettye arly. I forgot to put sunn on my lsit of old tube bass amps. The 200 and 2000 are both meant to be bass amps actually and sound pretty good in that role though better for guitar.... all the dedicated guitar amps from sunn have trem or reverb and wonky 'contour' controls that are sort of like presence but not... they sound good, but the bare bones bass models sound better.

I don't really like the modern oranges... they're all just AC30s or JCM800s with darker voicing and more gain. I miss the old oranges that sounded like nothing else and I wish they would reissue one of those models or at least make something similar with the baxandall 2 band tonestack and concertina PI

I'm still on the lookout for those strings so I can start my review... I am kinda stoked about getting to test drive a new product for free I hope the enxt review is for something bigger... like maybe you can get behringer to send me their Model D clone for a few weeks to review it!

it depends if you're a bassist or a bass guitarist... anyone who plays bass with a pick will generally sound better through a tube amp. In most situations I like to hear some DIed bass into the desk, compressed and EQed sympathetically with a fairly dry microphone signal carefully placed in front of a tube amp about 50/50 give or take a few dB.

My favorite bass guitar amps are:

blackface fender dual showmans

Ampeg portaflexes, SVTs, V4bs and B25bs

silverface bassman 50s and 100s

Hiwatt DR104s

Orange OR120s

Traynor Voicemasters and Bassmasters

wanna be even more rockin'? run any of those heads but the SVT through a 4x12 with the stock speakers up top and some dedicated bass 12" drivers down below for rumble.

But if you're going to play pop or funk or whatever you will probably be better off with a good transistor amp and a dedicated bass enclosure that's ported. I m really partially to Ashdown's MAG amps and cabs for solid state bass. I think they're hybrid actually but I never used them that way, always set them loud and clean. Eden makes good shit.... I sued tog et a nice clean tone with a sans amp RBI and alesis 3630 driving an enormous crown power amp and a mesa cab with the four 10s and a 15.... anyway

for 'feel it' bas nothing beats the old Acoustic folded horn cabs and the matching early solid state heads, sooooo nasty

OMG! it worked, it looks so much better.... I have never loved a man as much as I love you at this very moment, dude!

I am so hooked on Guitar Moves.... anyone see the Keef Richards one? Or the Josh Homme one? Josh seems like a great guy based on thatepisode (and the recent HBO EoDM doc as wella s sonic hwys).... Keef I have actually met through a mutual friend and he definitely is the nicest, most down to earth rockstar ever. And he's always drunk or working on becoming drunk.... what a great dude. But yeah, Dan Auerbach seems like a fun guy to ahng with.... still doesn't make him a musical original but I'm not sure anyone is anymore. Jack White is certainly the pot calling the Kettle black.... actually, that's funny, black keys, white stripes, pot calling the kettle black....

no, for real, I didn't even notice I was drunk until I got sleepy later on.... I just had like one too many after dinner. I was just kickin' it enjoying the May weather, drinking some wine puttering on the laptop and.... bam, it becomes a lot of wine and I start typing the horrible things I think in a massive thread hijack. Jeez. Oops. I don't think I can get drunk enough to say stuff like that IRL at a party or something, I would pass out first, but man, the internet doesn't require more than a righteous buzz for em to take down my social filter and start trying to freak people out with the strangeness of my life. things have actually been really quiet since the wife passed though. No more commotion.

wow, no more drunk posting!

without reading it is it because Dan's band is a total knockoff of the White Stripes with a little Raconteurs thrown in and Dan acts like he didn't do that on purpose to make a buck? I actually prefer the black keys, or at least I like 1 song a lot and that's more than I can say of the white stripes.

EDIT: that was interesting that the conflict was first leaked via disparaging emails white's hot-ass ex took to a hearing about getting a restraining order.... it doesn't speak well of you if your former spouse is filing for a restraining order as part of the divorce, I've been the one filing for one and I can tell you the court doesn't wanna hear it unless the defendant is a psycho who won't calm the fuck down and move on.... its also very interesting that jack is mad about being ripped off when he has personally ripped off so many classic bands and songs to create his own records. The guy's first hit was just an amalgamation of Kinks tropes with a cool video.

okay, I had way too much to drink, are you actually expecting sense from me? and why can't I be a bit tipsy at al times? I am much happier like this and I actually play better

I'm sorry more people aren't usheltered... I hate how little perspective most folks have.

just kidding, totally spinning tales here.

of course.

plus, why the FUCK would anyone with sense want to fuck with you?

i sure as hell don't, and i'm the guy who manages to get into a fight with at least one drunk guy a month.

I put forward quite an image from experience not brains... I can tell you what blood looks like coming out of your friend who took the hit too, its not like 300, its more like a dusting of red snow and dude will act like he's been punched by Godzilla rather than punctured by a projectile

wanna know about overdoses too?

honestly? I am not dangerous, but I am probably more dangerous than you just by dint of being utterly unafraid at this stage of my life.. and having very little to lose anymore

I have to talk myself into every morning... it would be easier and more convenient on some levels to take a hot shot of morphine or heroin and just be done with this bullshit!

this is my cheery side too, you don't wanna know how I feel on a bad day. Just fuck this.

but its real... 20 years removed I am happier but if you fuck with me? well, don't

...okay then. moving on, I really like high end Fenders.

righty-o then! cheerfully withdrawn

somebody fucking shoot me

no offense, but your user picture is more frightening than a mugshot (and my deceased wife had many mugshots and there's a few of me from the 90s when I was badass so I know) ... something abuot your 'smile' scares me.... its like your happiness stems from putting the bad touch on my inner child!

and there are les pauls and les pauls, be specific

The most expensive instrument I've ever touched (exluding pianos and such) was a $3000 Gibson acoustic.

ah, I forgot the 30s gibson and martin acoustics I've played as wella s the 20s Selmer Mccafrey (Django gypsy jazz acoustic).... all good, still not a '58 335, but I am an electric guy

I always used to really enjoy my Fender Rhodes Mk1 stage when inhad it.... great electric piano, top 5 isntruments I've played...

oh, my son's piano teacher has a 20s steineway NYC baby that's quite impressive.... probably one of the best years of their 20th century run. Its wasted on me thogh, I am a mediocre piano player, all ideas and no skill.

in the top 10 I'll throw in a 1st year Firebird 1 I played about 5 years ago at a guitar show and a Guyton copy of Brian May's red special, totally solid guitars easily worth honorable mention...

I also played an original 61 "les paul" SG in Maryland when I lived there, maybe top 20, great axe but not so far off from my modern SG, just a better feel and tone by 10%

my dad's $10k giambattista classical guitar ain't no slouch either nor is my uncle's Ramirez

I've played some original d'angelicos that will knock yer socks off if you're good enough to coax the jazz outta them but I am not

interstingly I have played many original les pauls from every year 52 to 60 and they are just okay... great tone but not usually remarkable players

why not build one to spec in lake placid blue? buy a fender leftover neck from a reissue and have a body done up by king bee or someone similar

I think 58 to 64 apart from the 59s with the top loading bridge are really the jam for rosewood teles...

the 2600 is so fun, I wish Korg would reissue it like they did the Odyssey. I love my Odyssey but its fixed architecture, only 2 oscillators and no spring reverb... the tie fighter noise uses a healthy amount of the reverb between the oscillators and the filter if I recall

your pedals will mainly work best into a high impedance input like a guitar amp, if your interface doesn't have a "HI Z" or "Instrument" input or button then any quarter inch input are meant for balanced line level signals. Your pedals will work into this input but not every pedal will work as intended without a DI. A good work around is to put a buffer at the end into your TRS line level input though the signal wills till be unbalanced and may be prone to ground buzzing and other noise. You will also wanna watch your gain levels into an audio interface regardless of whether you going into instrument or line level or using a DI. I find recording too hot can cause modelling plugins to act a little funky and not sound like a legit amp. You can always ramp up the gain later assuming your signal to noise ratio is good, but if you hit the interface hard enough that the preamp and conversion is coloring the sound then no matter at what level you drive the recording into a modelling plugin it'll sound funny because your pedals are driving the electronics of the interface into subtle harmonic distortion that's going to be like another effect in-line. Try tog et the most neutral signal possible to your ears if you plan to do any virtual effect or amp processing later. Now if you just want a cool direct sound by all means try driving your interface's inputs with your effects chain!

I record DI guitar at home all the time with all sorts of effects, tis no big deal. Sometimes I use an active USB DI, sometimes a passive one into my soundcard's TRS inputs, other times I use the instrument input of my Eureka strip and I can then get some transformer coloration and use the opto compression and EQ if I want.... otehrtimes I will purposely mismatch impedances to shave frequencies off and get weird clipping artifacts, like running a rangemaster direct into a line elvel input, instant weirdness in a cool way.

there are a million free guitar amp plugins for your DAW of varying uality levels.... none of them are too shabby though. Guitar Rig Player is one options, yes, but you might as well do a google searcha dn download everything. Also, if you own a tube amp you can invest in what's called a reactive load and use the line out from that dummy speaker into the recorder and then just throw one of the million free speaker impulse responses over the recorded track to simulate a guitar recording that moved air. its a pretty good solution, though the better load boxes are pricey.