Music - Riptire song preview & love/hate the POD

I have a bunch of stuff on the go in my computer. I have a few working tracks and songs that I've been playing with. Essentially every time I sit down I'm working on a new songs, which must mean the stuff prior isn't sticking if I don't want to play them. That said, I really like what I came up with Saturday night.

I fired up my Telecaster and AC30 at "bedroom" levels and started to play around. The wife didn't text me or anything about being too loud, so that's a very good sign. I plugged in my favorite pedal (Crowther Hot Cake) and a Vox Delay Lab and just starting jamming away. I didn't really get a feel for anything with the delay that night. I also went in wanting to do something with a slower groove to it, but came away with a bluesy hard rocky riff at 140bpm...which seems to be my average as of late.

Here is the first draft and rough track jammed out.

"Riptire" is just a working title right now as I don't have any lyrics written, and it will most likely change. The bridge is probably the part I want to change the most, as well as the solo at the end. There is a chance it will get a bit longer.

This is where it gets interesting, the stuff I have been writing is very dry crunchy tones, no real FX use. I'm a huge FX user, I love filling out the soundscape with various effects that really add to the songs. I get very inspired playing with different effects, which is why I took out my delay pedal. I'm lacking in some pedals, and I originally didn't think I'd be buying back in... but I'm starting to do some head shopping to check some stuff out. I need a tremolo for sure, as it has been one of my most used effects. I'm also looking at a polyphonic octave pedal as I got a lot of use out of my POG 2 when I had it. But I cannot justify buying another POG2 at this time.

Guitar tones are interesting tho. I'm going to be exchanging the cab-clone for a 16 ohm version as soon as possible. I'm trying to use the POD for recording guitar and I'm just not happy with it. The track I linked above is recorded with my Rockerverb 50 going into the Cab Clone and using Wall of Sound speaker emulation in Cubase. I really like it, it sounds thick and full and expressive. The rest is all POD, and I really want to use my AC30, but will need a 16ohm version to plug it in.

It's not that the POD tones are bad, they aren't. They are very use-able, but I find I am constantly fighting with it. The more I get into this writing project the more frustrated I'm getting with this thing.

The first issue is when I'm trying to use it as a recording interface. One of the things I was doing originally was having it hooked up and running it as an interface right into Cubase. This allows me to edit patches on the fly on the computer. I guess I still could if I got another USB cable for it... but I will no longer use it for recording direct. I will now be passing it through my Audiobox. The main reason is that it is constantly glitching and giving electric static jolts. I assume because it can't keep up with Cubase.

The other issue I'm having is either not having enough output to the recording desk or clipping the front end. I've tried a bunch of different tricks, but ultimately it's just frustrating to have to be digging around and messing with things all the time. I don't like it, it's annoying.

Finally the tone. It's usable, it's workable, it sounds better than the Cab Clone before adding speaker simulation. But, it's not alive like a real amp, and it isn't as defined sounding as a real amp. Overall it's kinda muffled. The distortion models are complete crap too... but then again I'm used to using pedals like the Crowther Hot Cake, Empress Multi-Drive, Xotic BB Preamp, Diamond Fireburst...etc.

Once I get the 16ohm Cab clone and can use my AC30 I'll see if I need to start going any deeper, but I may also rent a Line 6 Helix to see how much better it really is.

So in the track above, can you hear which guitar is the Orange Rockerverb 50 through the Cab Clone into Wall of Sound vs the Line6 Pod HD 500.

Music - CLONE IT! part 1

Well I did it. I went to the place where the majority of my gear was stored and took my Marshall 412 box, a few pedals I got no use for, and an old bass to L&M for trades. I was treated with almost double of what I was expecting to get...which grabbed me some nice toys... two in fact.

So I brought home that American Pro Telecaster I mentioned in my last post, and I'm going to focus on that primarily here for reasons I'll explain later.

The factory strings, or I am sure they are factory because they were a bit rusty and gross feeling came off right away and I tossed on some D'Addario NYXL 11-49 gauge on. After letting it settle overnight I came back to it and just had some minor adjustments to make for intonation and returning. It's plays beautifully, no height adjustment needed as I got very little if any buzz, even when really digging in. It's a just a joy to play.

I booted up my POD 500HD and built something as close as I could to my optimum stage rig. Unfortunately Line 6 does not have a Emma Reezafratzitz distortion, Crowther Hot Cake, or Xotic BB/RC/AC preamps in their modeling lineup, so I had to figure something else out. I took a standard AC30, tweaked the EQ for taste and started adding pedals. I took a Proco Rat Distortion model and cranked the output and lowered the gain just to get a feel of tube drive from the amp model which was mostly successful. I actually really liked it for a low gain tone with some crunch. Then I took the tube driver model and made a big fat high gain tone out of it. Distortion done.

I hate Line 6's delays. I don't know why, I just haven't enjoyed them much if at all. I did put an analog delay together as a generic delay. I'm not happy with it currently, but will tweak. A script Phaser was added, easy done. MXR Flanger, easy done. A seek trem, and an opto trem we're also easily added. Finally a '63 Spring reverb for taste.

With the Telecaster I got some very versatile tones and some inspiration flowing right away. I need to actually finish a song, but I'm going to figure out which one of all the different riffs I've been jamming on will come together first. The Tele will probably be featured a lot in this rejuvenation of song writing for me as it will contrast nicely with my other guitars. Right now I'm feeling my ES-335 and the Telecaster will be my primaries for most of this project.

Speaking of the project, I'm finding a lot of inspiration from different sources... but not really feeling like I'm getting out of my "box". I'm wanting to push my musical envelope here. A lot of what I've been writing has been very generic for what I've done in the past, not really coming up with anything "new". I'm on the hunt for a few of my old theory books (Guitar Grimoire) to see if I can find anything tasty.

My other purchase was a Mesa Boogie Cab Clone 8ohm. It was a floor model so half price off retail, and only 8ohm which is kind of sad because it means I won't be able to use it with my AC30 at this time. But I can use it with my Orange Rockerverb 50! If I like it I may exchange it for a 16ohm in the near future. Alas, I forgot to grab a speaker cable, and while I have a few extra power cables kicking around, there is no point in firing up until I can do so safely. I do love this amp tho, very much. I've heard mixed things about the cab clone... some are saying it's awful, others are saying it's more than serviceable. Rob Chapman did a video with Andertons here and while the cab clone makes a much tighter and sterile sounding recording, I still found it pretty serviceable. It was kind of unfair too because the boys at Andertons were using a dual mic setup with an SM57 and a ribbon mic which really makes a very open and engaging sounding capture.

Devices like the Cab Clone, which is a speaker simulator that gives you a direct in to your PA or recording system without having to use a speaker cabinet safely. Normally running a guitar amp without a speaker cabinet is not healthy for the amp. This is perfect for me as I'm doing most of my writing and playing late at night. However, it does have limitations that I am very well aware of going into this phase of my creative journey.

The Cab Clone specifically is a passive box that has a bunch of circuitry in it to simulate the sound of micing up your guitar cabinet. The problem is, it's just a bunch of resistors that are putting a load on the amp head and changing the output signal into something safe that can be run into your computer. This is very much like a passive DI for bass, which has been a standard way of running bass live for years. so what's the problem?

First off, you loose the sound of the room. Even if you are close micing the cabinet you will find that if you move the cab/mic around the room it will change the tones. A live mic will always sound more open compared to a DI. Then there is the fact that all those analog resistors will suck the top end out of your tone. I am expecting a major drop in thump, top end response, and mid range openness from my amp. I am not expecting to be overwhelmed here, in fact I plan on "fixing" as much as possible in post with EQ.


Anyways, I mentioned my music inspirations as of late... here is where I'm drawing ideas from:

Thrice - The Weight 
Mary Spender - Melancholy Parade
Dinosaur Pile-Up - 11:11
Closure in Moscow - Sweet#hart
Protest the Hero - Drumhead Trial
Rx Bandits - Wide Open

Music - Memory Lane - My old rig

5 years ago we wrapped up recording on my last project with "The Blackhole Illusion". A progressive post-rock/metal quintet with crazy guitars, crazier effects, and nutty concepts. When we started out it took a lot of time to get to the rig that I used in it's final days, and it was a long journey to get the
sound where I wanted.

Amps

My previous rig, with Rolodex, was much simpler. I had a couple of guitars, my Vox AC30, and a modest pedal board with a few drive pedals, phase, trem, delay, and a wah. Nothing crazy. But with this new band... not much of that transferred over to the new sound we were chasing. My other guitarist dropped his JCM900 in favor of a Fender Tonemaster. Really cool meaty amp with a lot of bark and deep growls. I went on a different journey...

I first tried my Orange AD30 twin combo that I was using as a backup to my AC30. A lovely amp, really a darker and grittier sounding AC30. I love that amp, it has a very unique tone. But it had no top end sparkle or cut. So it wasn't doing to
well in the mix with my mates Tonemaster. It also wasn't handling the large array of pedals I was collecting for this project very well either. So I sold it to start my amp journey.

Being primarily a "vintage tone" style guy I like a lot of open and mid range growl to my sound. I'm not a Fender amp guy, too boomy in the bottom. The first amp I tried was a Marshall 2266B 50w Vintage Modern head through a Marshall 4x12 box with Vintage Century Celestion speakers. It sounded good, but wasn't very versatile. In fact, this was probably my favorite sounding Marshall I've ever played. It was essentially a single channel amp, and the best it sounded was just cranked! The cleans weren't bad, but sounded very sterile... So I ultimately decided to move on.

I grabbed the Mesa Transatlantic TA-15 next. My idea is that through a 4x12 15w should be more than enough, especially when the 30 watts of my Orange and Vox were killing it prior. Well, I was wrong. I could not get this thing to clean up enough. It was a wicked tone, had a great sound when I could dial it in. But it just couldn't keep up with the band. Also, no FX loop was really starting to become an issue. I loved the drive tones of these amps but couldn't use my FX properly with them...

So I decided on two different routes at this point and got the band together for an amp finding field trip. This new amp must be at least a 30w Class A or 50w Class A/B amp. Preferably English voiced for that mid range bite, but also had to have a tight bottom. Clean tone that could give my AC30 a run for it's money,. If no FX loop, single channel and a drive pedal that could give me a high gain tone similar to something like a Soldano SLO100.

We tried a few amps that weekend. I was really fond of a PRS two channel 50 watt amp. It sounded really really awesome. But the guys thought it was too similar in tone to the Tonemaster as it was more american voiced for sure. I then tried a Hughes & Kettner. I don't recall which model, I really liked it. In fact I thought it was pretty close to perfect.. but the guys we're not sold on it. I think it was too glowy. It was then that we fired up a Blackstar Stage 100.

The Stage 100 was a really cool amp and became my amp for the first half of the life with this band. It had a great clean, two really awesome drive channels, and it was nice and tight. The problem was, as it aged it quickly degenerated into a pile of garbage. Not just the tone, and I tried new tubes a few times, but the reliability was really poor. I got it fixed twice and a new floor board under warranty, but I was getting increasingly frustrated with it. So without the guys knowing I went out and traded it in for an Orange Rockerverb 50.

Why didn't I do this in the first place!

The Rockerverb 50 is still in my collection today, and I almost sold it twice due to not playing, but I won't be doing that anytime soon now. The amp is solid, it's incredibly reliable. It has a clean tone that is smooth and open. It has drive channel that is thick and crunchy with a lot of mid range bite and low end bump with just enough highs to cut through the mix but not destroy your ears. It really is my perfect 2 channel amp. I have a hard time deciding which amp I like more between my AC30 and the RV50 all the time (it's always the AC30!) it's just such a cool sounding (and looking) amp. I owned one before, and don't know why I never looked at it again when it was time, but I'm glad I did. I love it so much. I guess I am an Orange guy through and through.

Guitars

So what is the story behind the guitars?

Well I started with my usual, a Gibson ES-335, a Chinese Tokai Telecaster, a Gretsch Jet Pro, and Gibson Les Paul Standard.

My Tokai Tele, which I wrote about before, was my primary guitar starting out. I love my Es-335 and used it quite a lot during the project, but with this new project a heavier sounding guitar was needed. The Es-335 was just too smooth, not enough bite and grind. The Tele was doing a great job, but it's a chore to play, quite possibly one of the worst playing and one of the best playing guitars I've had.

Then there was my Les Paul, it was heavy (a back breaking 13lbs) and it was odd that it had no sustain compare to other Pauls I've owned and it just had no top end cut, totally a mud ball of tone. I swapped in some TV Jones pickups as I loved the tone of my Gretsch, but it was a feedback machine. That solved it the majority of the tone issues, but my back was killing me. So I ordered up what became my primary guitar for the group, my PRS Custom 24.

I've wanted a PRS for a long time, I longed for one! I wanted and SG and a nice Les Paul too... but I knew that with a PRS I would get exactly what I wanted when I placed the order. Gibson is so hit and miss with quality control since the early millennium that I just couldn't trust them to deliver a great product. So I put in my order for a Custom 24, tremolo bridge (my only trem guitar), whale blue finish, and bird inlays. I skipped the 10 top and artist package. Well, the guitar is still a stunner, just beautiful.

It plays like butter, oh my god. When I picked this thing and dropped off my Les Paul for trade I never looked back. What a guitar. My fingers are weak and locking up compared to where they were flying up and down the neck 5 years ago, but I was able to drop in and play this guitar as if it were a well worn in pair of shoes (and the guitar is well worn now, showing way more gigging damage than any of my others). It sounds amazing, it plays amazing... It is silky smooth. The only guitar I've bought that I've done NO mods too.

A year later, I got my second guitar that became my other "primary" for this band. A Gibson RD Custom from 1978. I've wanted a Gibson RD since I first saw one back in the 90's. They are such a cool looking guitar and this one was a maple on maple. It had the treble booster circuit and the active EQ like the other RD's out there, but a more stripped down look. Flat frets and a super wide neck. IT cut through the mix and clanged like a Telecaster, but growled and roared like a Les Paul. It's just fucking rock and roll man.

It took a lot of modifications tho. I ripped out the stock pickups as they had this really bright and brittle sound and threw in a Seymour Duncan P-Rail in the neck (and had it mostly set on the P90 mode), and then a Gibson Dirty Fingers in the bridge. The Dirty Fingers are often considered a muddy pickup, but with this full maple body they just dominated Alas, I did have to sell it when we started to build our new home. I wish I could have sold my Les Paul instead.

Les Paul? What. Yea, while we were recording I bought another Les Paul. I always wanted a Manhattan Midnight Les Paul. I had the opportunity to buy a 2005 model with white double binding (including headstock binding) It was trimmed out like a custom, but chrome hardware and pickups like a regular Standard. But I bought the Light burst standard I sold for the PRS instead.

When the Manhattan came back in the Traditional line I had to do it. I ordered one in, played it, and it plays perfect! A little heavy in the body for balance, and my heaviest guitar overall. Not back breaking heavy like my Lightburst was, but still chunky. I have yet to gig with it, but it is all over that album along with the PRS and my ES-335. I think even the Gretsch got a showing on that record.

Pedals

What a crazy road this was... instead of going through every variation of my pedal board as that would take a century, I'll just go through it's "Final Form". 

From the guitar we go into the EB Volume Junior. The vol pedal goes out to the TC Electronics Tuner. Then main signal to a Vox Union Jack Wah pedal, to an RC Booster from Xotic FX. Down to a compressor. From the Comp we goto a Crowther Audio Hot Cake (my favorite pedal) then to a Diamond Multidrive. From there out to the amp's front end.

FX Loop out comes into the EHX POG 2 (a major component of this bands tone) and into a Diamond Trem (also a major tone device). From there it reaches the T.C. Delay pedal. I eventually swapped this out for a Vox Delay Lab while recording and during our final gigs.

 Then we jump over to board 2. Board 2 started off with a Retrosonic Phaser. From the Phaser we drill over to the Line 6 M9, down to the Dr. Scientist Tremolo, Vox Time Machine Delay, and then back to the Line 6 DL4, and finally the Maxon AD999.

Jesus that is a lot of fucking pedals. Sure there was a bit of tone suck, but all wired with George L Cables sure helped. I also was using a "Pedal Snake" for running between the amp and the board. Made setup and tear down a breeze. never should have sold that thing.

So what was going on here?! Well The Time Machine and Dr. Sci trem were both setup for a very specific song and I didn't want to mess with them at all. The AD999 was also used pretty specifically, but I played it more like an instrument than anything. It was really cool for that. The delay box on the main board with the TC Flashback/Vox Delaylab we're my main delays and backups incase the first board died. The POG became a major part of my sound in places as well, really cool sound, but took over the mix in a lot of ways. The Diamond Trem was my main trem pedal that actually saw a lot of use. I secretly love trem more than anything. The Line 6 DL4 - looping, live looping! So cool, so much fun. check out Minus the Bear for my influence with this one.

The M9 was used for a ton of different filter and wacky settings. Then various drives as I needed them, but in the end I used primarily the Hot cake and the amps distortion with the Xotic RC as a booster when needed. The Retrosonic phaser was used very minimally, even though it was a major part of my Rolodex sound profile.


So that was my rig, pretty insane. Crazy that now I just want my AC30, my wah, AD999 Delay and hot cake. I'll be happy with that.

Music - Shopping list and production list.

Back when I cased my guitars for a while (almost 5 years ago!) I sold quite a bit of gear to help fund some furniture and home upgrades. Mostly pedals...but I did part with my 1978 Gibson RD Custom, an amazing guitar... sad day.  I'll get another RD one day, but it's not something I'm planning on grabbing short term.

After messing around in my semi-redone office this weekend I found a few things. out. First off, I downloaded the demo version of Toontracks EZDrummer and I am hooked. I love this software. I am still scratching the surface on it, but in what felt like 10 minutes I had a full drum track ready to go for my new song and it felt good. It is a pretty powerful software, and I'm sure once I learn it better I'll be able to do exactly what I need to create the sounds I want. So, my own copy of EZDrummer makes it to the top of the list really quickly.

I'm using my old copy of Cubase5 right now to produce on, and currently I see no need to switch out from that. I used to know Cubase pretty good, so I figure unless there is a real need to upgrade to the current version this should do me good for now.

For guitar tones I have most of my guitars at home right now, but no amp. I also live in a townhome and share walls, so I don't think cranking my Orange half-stack will win me many favors, especially since most of this will be done in the 8-10pm range. So I sat down and setup my Line 6 POD HD500.

It wasn't too bad, really I was getting very usable guitar tones, and without any of the fuss of micing cabs. They are heavily compressed, but they got some thump and definition so they will do for now. Eventually, when the money allows I will get a Helix from Line6 to replace the HD500. However, I am a lover of my Orange amps.

I went on a bit of a trip with amps for a while. My main amp for years was a Vox AC30 from 1973. I love this amp, it's one of my most prized pieces of creative equipment. My backup amp was an Orange AD30 twin channel combo. I also loved this amp, but it was terrible with pedals as it had no FX loop and the dirty channel was messy and full of crunch. Just what I love! So I sold it when my last band formed. I went through a few different amps at the time as we had a very different sound than my old band... I played Mesa's, Blackstar, PRS... but eventually ended up with an Orange Rockerverb 50 (original version). I really want to use this amp again... So I'm going to look into getting a speaker load/cab simulator DI box. Most likely either the Radial or Mesa-Boogie offerings.

Then I need to get a bass. I can only fake bass for so long using the POD's octave down FX. I have always wanted a Thunderbird. But a Gibson is way out of the price range. So I will keep my eyes open for a used Epiphone to show up. I will just rent a bass for now when I need to lay some bass tracks, but eventually I'll get my own.

Then I need to get a mic and some cables back into my life, not to mention restring my guitars...they need it badly. I'll probably drop a gauge to save my fingers, go back to 10's from 11's for now on most...aside from my PRS, that thing is so perfectly setup with 11-52 that I can't think of changing now!

So yea... to recap:
Step 1: Restring guitars
Step 2: Buy a copy of Toontrack EZDrummer
Step 3: Speaker Load/Cab simulator DI box for my Orange Amp
Step 4: good vocal mic and some cables
Step 5: a new used bass