Have I mentioned...

[xxxMidgexxx]

that I recently bought a Fender Stratocaster?

I'm fairly sure that in my decades of owning guitars, its the best one (read: best action) that I've ever played.

Now to buy a Boss Heavy Metal distortion pedal this weekend and crunch things up.

[SamDBL]

When I played in a reformed version of Massacre, I was in the band with Steve Swanson, who also played in Six Feet Under. We toured Europe and played with a ton of death metal bands. Steve used one of these pedals (non-waza version) religiously. It didn’t matter what backline they had, he was able to get the clearest, heaviest, most perfectly eq’d metal tone I’ve ever heard. Sometimes we would be playing with bands on their own, very expensive gear. And Steve would still be the best sounding at the end of the night, regardless as to whether he was playing through a good amp or a rented piece of shit. It was nuts. He really had that little thing dialed in.

[xxxMidgexxx]

I’ve grown up in the late 70’s / early 80’s where Ozzy and Iron Maiden cover bands were on stage in every f’n bar in NY. All these guitarists always seemed to have a Strat with some sort of pedal to give crunch to those fender single coil tones.

I was always jealous but somehow I always wound up with a Gibson.

Welp…. Hell froze over and I’m working on a Jake e Lee backdrop, sans the wah wah pedal.

[version sound]

My first nice guitar was an Ibanez RG-something. It was basically your classic ‘80s super-strat with humbuckers and a Floyd Rose. I was dying for an SG for most of the ‘80s because that was (mostly) the DCHC guitar of choice. By the time I was able to upgrade, however, most of the guitar players I really dug were playing vintage Fender offsets (Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Mustangs). I got a ‘69 Competition Mustang first (looked freakin’ new and was like $700). That really didn’t do it for me, so I traded it for a ‘67 Jazzmaster. That was much better, but it wasn’t pre-CBS, so I wasn’t satisfied. I don’t remember what the next move was, but I eventually ended up with an all original ‘64 Jazzmaster. That was probably the best guitar I ever owned. Unfortunately, when I got into Drum & Bass, I forswore guitars altogether and sold it to a local shop for five hundred fucking dollars so I could buy tables and a mixer. Even then, that was easily a $1300 guitar (now it’s like a $5000 guitar), but there was no eBay, and I was stupid. When I got back into guitar a few years later (early ‘00s), I got a refin ‘65ish JM off eBay (which I think Jim Spellman ended up with), then upgraded to a refin ‘62. After my daughter was born, I sold off all my nice vintage gear in an effort to be financially responsible and have only had cheap guitars since (and no amp for like 10 years). Along the way, I also owned Jags (vintage and reissue), a Japanese Strat, a Japanese Goldtop, a Les Paul Special, a ‘70s Tele, and a couple of Gretsches, but I always come back to the Jazzmaster. I sure wish I still had that ‘64, or even that first ‘67.

TLDR: When you land on the guitar that is right for you, you just know it. Sounds like a Start might be that guitar for you.

[xxxMidgexxx]

I was dying for an SG for most of the ‘80s because that was (mostly) the DCHC guitar of choice.

Yuppers. I wanted the Ian/ Scott from Soulside, etc.. DC sound but the SGs ALWAYS go out of tune by the 3rd song.

[xxxMidgexxx]

When I played in a reformed version of Massacre, I was in the band with Steve Swanson, who also played in Six Feet Under. We toured Europe and played with a ton of death metal bands. Steve used one of these pedals (non-waza version) religiously. It didn’t matter what backline they had, he was able to get the clearest, heaviest, most perfectly eq’d metal tone I’ve ever heard. Sometimes we would be playing with bands on their own, very expensive gear. And Steve would still be the best sounding at the end of the night, regardless as to whether he was playing through a good amp or a rented piece of shit. It was nuts. He really had that little thing dialed in.

I only know From Beyond, but not this...

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2021/12 ... s.facebook

[xxxMidgexxx]

...

[SamDBL]

When I played in a reformed version of Massacre, I was in the band with Steve Swanson, who also played in Six Feet Under. We toured Europe and played with a ton of death metal bands. Steve used one of these pedals (non-waza version) religiously. It didn’t matter what backline they had, he was able to get the clearest, heaviest, most perfectly eq’d metal tone I’ve ever heard. Sometimes we would be playing with bands on their own, very expensive gear. And Steve would still be the best sounding at the end of the night, regardless as to whether he was playing through a good amp or a rented piece of shit. It was nuts. He really had that little thing dialed in.

I only know From Beyond, but not this...

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2021/12 ... s.facebook

Universally hated. Every time they got a little momentum, the dunces leading the band (Rick Rozz and Kam) would always steer the band to a more commercial direction. When they first reformed before From Beyond was released, they were doing the funk-metal thing that was popular at the time. After getting laughed off stage a few times, they went back to their roots for the album. They then released a stellar ep with Steve Swanson on second guitar. They even had Cronos do guest vocals on a Venom cover. So they were starting to do well again. And then they tried to do some Pantera/Type 0 Negative thing with this Promise record. It was pretty terrible. But both Kam and Rick are a couple of the biggest numbskulled dipshits I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. So it makes sense that everything they take the reigns of crashes and burns.

[xxxMidgexxx]

When I played in a reformed version of Massacre, I was in the band with Steve Swanson, who also played in Six Feet Under. We toured Europe and played with a ton of death metal bands. Steve used one of these pedals (non-waza version) religiously. It didn’t matter what backline they had, he was able to get the clearest, heaviest, most perfectly eq’d metal tone I’ve ever heard. Sometimes we would be playing with bands on their own, very expensive gear. And Steve would still be the best sounding at the end of the night, regardless as to whether he was playing through a good amp or a rented piece of shit. It was nuts. He really had that little thing dialed in.

I only know From Beyond, but not this...

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2021/12 ... s.facebook

Universally hated. Every time they got a little momentum, the dunces leading the band (Rick Rozz and Kam) would always steer the band to a more commercial direction. When they first reformed before From Beyond was released, they were doing the funk-metal thing that was popular at the time. After getting laughed off stage a few times, they went back to their roots for the album. They then released a stellar ep with Steve Swanson on second guitar. They even had Cronos do guest vocals on a Venom cover. So they were starting to do well again. And then they tried to do some Pantera/Type 0 Negative thing with this Promise record. It was pretty terrible. But both Kam and Rick are a couple of the biggest numbskulled dipshits I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. So it makes sense that everything they take the reigns of crashes and burns.

[Knutsen]

I was dying for an SG for most of the ‘80s because that was (mostly) the DCHC guitar of choice.

Yuppers. I wanted the Ian/ Scott from Soulside, etc.. DC sound but the SGs ALWAYS go out of tune by the 3rd song.

Got an 1975 SG in 1986, because my guitarist showed me, the bassplayer, how a barr chord works, and I thought, „wow, thats easy!“ Don‘t why I got that SG, probably because I knew the Gibson name. It was the real thing, with a repaired neck break and a dirty finger PU in the bridge position. For 1/3 of the original price. It kept the tuning ok, otherwise there is still a guitar tuner. Later I got a 1977 Ibanez, which was even better, for 350€. A great guitar. I never really liked the SG particuliarly, but I ended up with 2 that I will never sell. What I like about my SG are the metal tuners + the rectangle neck inlays. Plastic tuner heads look cheap to me.

I preferred the BOSS DS-1 distortion, but I also bought the Heavy Metal later just to fool around. A monster of a pedal, brutal.

I still manage to present a pretty good fake impression of a punk guitarist until now.

[kel]

...It didn’t matter what backline they had, he was able to get the clearest, heaviest, most perfectly eq’d metal tone I’ve ever heard. Sometimes we would be playing with bands on their own, very expensive gear. And Steve would still be the best sounding at the end of the night...

Barring AC/DC-like touring rigs, where you have a highly paid bunch of techs powersoaking fifteen spare heads and basically bringing a self-contained powerplant on the road with you, if you can live with the inorganic unrock uncoolness of solid state and digital, it makes sense. It's consistent, voltage-agnostic, and low-drama. Similarly, I'm using the models on Logic to record with more and more, instead of mic'ing up an amp. There's no "translation" through multiple chains of signal routing - if you like the patch's sound, you like the sound. You get what you hear on 'tape'.

I remember a sound check with 7 Seconds, where Bobby asked me if I noticed he was using a cheater pedal in his guitar chain that night (because something was 'off' with the tube amp power or somesuch...) He was legit concerned that it was taking the bite out of the rig. I'm like "No one in the crowd can tell, and you're getting the sustain without it going mushy, so... win." And this was probably back in the early 90's when pedals were all hissy.

Keeping it Dag-ish, I love those "rig rundown" videos. Noticed Brian had started bringing a modeling amp into the equation.

Compare AC/DC behemoth with modeling amp:

Forward to 9:20, AC/DC power overkill!


Forward to 2:06, Kemper modeling heads.


And the meta-like shoutout of a shoutout:
Forward to 26:42

[xxxMidgexxx]

SOOOOO...
I bought this.
I am futzing around with the tweaks. Not sure if I made the correct (read: more expensive) purchase.

[Gary]

I have a power stack. (Got it new/ display less the half price unboxed)
I've got a good sound going into a big muff then into a Marshall origin combo at home. Not had a chance to use it loud though. It can be very harsh on its own I've found