craig deadenstereo

I wouldn't say my guitar is a hog to play at all. I've yet to find an easier guitar to play. You just can't deal with it's raw power! I have yet to find a guitar that i don't knock out of tune... But the point is that Guitarist did a feature comparing a Yamaha SG2000 and a Gibson Les Paul Standard and found the Yamaha to be a better guitar.... Your idea of a proper SG is your brother's Epiphone SG 300 or whatever they are. I played one of those in a shop the other day. Craig's quick review: Piece of Shit! Nooch!

Yeah, I've seen ones that are the same as the black les paul Kirk Hammet uses for 500 on ebay...

Well, it was Guitarist magazine.... And I've played a few gibsons and didn't think they were any better than my guitar. Anyway, what are you talking about? Your strat is a hunk of shit that rattles and has pickups weaker than your spine, boyo! At least it looks decent after I put that black scratchplate on it..... Craig

Who's bigging up Japanese guitars? Talking about Yamaha SG's and Tokais. Any other guitars that are Gibson quality but without the price? Oh, yeah Fenders are banned from this thread as being a cover for a homosexual lifestyle!!!!! Craig

Oh, right. My amp is in a homemade box and you take the top off to get at it. Do you takew the back off normal heads? Never had enough money to afford one in a real box!

Look, all this electrocuting yourself bullshit isn't going to happen. Just change them yourself. I've done it hundreds of times, no probs. All this shipping it to Marshall stuff is a load of crap: it will be expensive and you'll not have your amp for a while. Just take the top off, put the new valves and close the top. it will take all of 5 minutes. The biasing stuff is bullshit as well, you're not really going to notice a difference, and putting in new valves will not blow up your amp. Plus, valves are going to need changed more than once in 10 years for a gigging amp. Craig

Changing valves is a simple procedure. Don't worry about lethal voltages. Unplug the amp and it'll be okay. You'll only be near the top of the chassis, the bit with the lethal voltages is underneath. Take the top or the back of the amp off. Make sure the original valves are cool (i.e not been used in the last half hour). The power valves are the big ones (there should be two that look the same). Take these out. Replace with the ones you bought. They will only fit in one way due to the pins. Don't worry about getting quad matched valves as you only need two, a matched pair will be fine. Don't worry about biasing, it's complicated and the amp will work fine without out being done. If you notice the amp sounds a little muddy or something in the future then it can possibly be done.

I don't agree. If you were selling a 1969 Les Paul, that would be different. But then, it's up to you how you advertise stuff you want to sell, so I'll butt out.

Taking spares: fuses for the amps. Plus, at least one spare amp (even if it's a shitty 30W job). It'll work. Other rules: If sleeping in a moving van, sleep with your legs facing forward. If you crash you'll only break them, not your neck. Plus, remember: what goes on tour, stays on tour. Not that I've ever toured like, but you know. Craig

You know, 1985 isn't exactly "vintage". I have an amp from the 70's, and I wouldn't call that "vintage". I think a more appropriate word is "original". When dealing with guitars and stuff, vintage is generally considered pre-1970. Just so you don't mislead anyone.

Destroy it. Then you might feel metal enough to go out and buy a real amp, like a Peavey 5150 or XXX. Do be honest, if you've experimented enough with it and still don't like the sound, get a new amp. Out of interest, what guitar do you play through it? If it's a fender telecaster or rickenbacker or something, it's a lost cause. Craig

A pair of big boots. You'll never look good on stage unless you've got good boots. A pair of Air Max or something does not rock'n'roll make. I wish i was getting head for Christmas. Oh, well, shame the girlfriend;s away!!!! Craig

I'm assuming it's a ULTRABASS BX3000T as that seems to be the only head they make. That puts 300 Watts into 4 Ohm according to the manufacturer's specs. So get a cab with the same specs as soundian said. This thread should really be in the Musician's Corner forum. Craig

The PRO bit refers to it being rackmounted and having lots of connections.

If you search for "mudhoney" and gear or pedals or something, you get to a site that shows you how to make a superfuzz.

bass distortion pedals have a mix control that allows some of the clean signal too. However, we've been using a Snarling Dog pedal for the bass, and it's good for adding a little meat, if not a fuzzy sound. Craig

You've yet to convince me you know what you're doing too! haha

Maybe you should just replace the speaker in it? Try getting a Celestion G75 or something. Probably cost you about 60 and whould stop all the rattles and shit. Easy to install as well. www.watfordvalves.com have good deals. I just bought a Celestion Vintage 30 and got it within two days. Only ended up paying 60. (VAT + Postage are not included on that site's prices) Still cheaper than anywhere else though. Would probabaly be more efficeint and therefore louder. The other option is to buy a closed back extension cabinet, a 2x12" or something. But I dunno if your amp allows you to link one up. As for Marshalls sounding crap with a pedal, it's operator error, seriously. Try the following (probably work with your laney as well): Set the amp up to a medium gain sound. Roll the volume knob on your guitar back until you get a clean sound (if it's hissing too much, turn the amp gain down a bit). Set the distortion pedal's level to full and the gain to about 2 or 3. Should sound shit hot That's the best way to get a good sound out of a pedal. If you want a really mean sound get a Big Muff and turn the tone down. And remember, not all Marshalls sound the same. Craig

I'm not really sure what it is. I wouldn't get too excited about it, it's not particuarly impressive.

The amp was actually a Stage 85, but it had the limiter section....

Yeah, sounded pretty good.

Been checking the prices and these things are well expensive, going for at least 80-100 since they are rare. So, if you can't offer me that then I'm going to find somne vintage gear nut to buy it! Craig

Dunno, how much would you give me for it?

I have a Shredmaster pedal. I'll sell you it if you want. It's not in very good (cosmetic) nick but works fine. Has some Meatallica/AiC stickers etc. Used to be owned by Justin of Risactonia. Funnily enough, there is a Fender Stage 80 in our warehouse, so I'm going ot band practice now to try this all out.

Time to get techinical. It's do with the quality of the harmonics in the distortion and your ear's ability to pick them up. A valve produces harmonics that are better related to the frequency curve of your ear, compared to transistors, they're something like 25% more efficient when heard by humans. What this means is that they don't have to work as hard to seem louder. The tranisistor amp has to have more power to produce frequencies you can hear. Does this make sense? I'll try and find something on the net about it later.... I may be slightly wrong, it might be to do with the amount of distortion and it's relationship to your ear... It's do do with the transformers are their effect on the tone. More windings etc. It's all very complicated, and I only know this stuff as theory, not having had lots of amps to try it all out on. Craig