Guitar
It's been about a month since my last post and it's not really laziness that prompted this extended break from the bloggin'. In the time since I last posted, I played a whack of gigs, exchanged my new Marshall Class 5 (not enough volume to be useful in a lot of gigging situations) for a Traynor YCM-20 (which I'm about to return as well - the reverb feeds back on the lead channel and the amp is generally uninspiring), seen Mike Stern and Bill Frisell live in clubs and have generally had my hands full with a variety of time-consuming musical projects.
Mike Stern was especially inspiring. I had never seen him play before, but I have been aware of him since the 80s, when he played in one of Miles Davis' late bands. My impression is that he just plays what he wants and doesn't worry too much about putting a label on what he does, or fitting in to current fashions. He's really a classic fusion player, with a constant outpouring of ideas, beautiful phrasing, and a quite nice tone from a Yamaha Pacifica, a stereo solid-state amp setup including a Pearce amp (no longer available but I coveted one at the Guitar Clinic in Hamilton back in the day) and an old Yamaha amp that I can't identify, along with the 'doubling' effect on the old Yamaha SPX-90 digital effects unit (which comes out sounding a lot like chorus).
That Mike Stern was able to coax such lovely sounds out of solid-state gear has got me re-evaluating my fealty to tube amps. I just don't seem to be able to find a usable small tube amp in the price range that I'm working in. I'm looking at the ZT Club 12, which is a digital amp that weighs 22 pounds and puts out 200 watts. My good friend and musical partner Alec Fraser just switched to digital for his bass amp, and I have to say that he is achieving a convincing SVT tone with the tiniest of high-powered amp heads. I'll probably do the exchange tomorrow and report back.
Oh, and I still have my Strat. Long story involving Eric Clapton. Another time.
- Fender Stage Lead Ii Solid State Combo In Hollywood For $100
I am not recommending we all rush out and buy Fender 1980's solid state amps. However, that said, this is a good deal on a big powerful and well reviewed SS Amp. The Stage Lead II's came out in 1985-86 and these are big heavy (80 lbs) LOUD stage...
- Univox Pro Verb U3r Spring Reverb Unit In Van Nuys Ca For $75
I am a fan of Solid State Spring Reverb - the way I figure it, if you are playing through a tube amp and the Reverb is going in the front it really doesn't make a difference if it is tube or not (a Fender Twin's tube driven reverb runs off the...
- Marshall Jcm2000 Tsl Half Stack In Cleveland For $700
You won't see me highlighting Marshall Stacks too often on this blog (just not my cup of tea) however, this one is a good deal and, of course, Cleveland Rocks! There is a ton of info online about the TSL and this is the 100 watt version it...
- Roland Jc-120 Jazz Chorus In Ct For $375
I guess these qualify as vintage amps now - I had one of these workhorse amps for about 7 years and put hudreds of playing hours on i both live, rehearsal and studio - and it never flinched. You could probably drop one of these down a flight of stairs...
- Marshall Class 5: My New Amp.
I bought a new amp yesterday. I've been using an early Fender Pro Junior for several years, lately with a Hughes and Kettner Red Box between the speaker and the amp so that I can run a signal out to a small powered PA speaker for more headroom on...
Guitar
Away for a month and still hunting for a small amp.
It's been about a month since my last post and it's not really laziness that prompted this extended break from the bloggin'. In the time since I last posted, I played a whack of gigs, exchanged my new Marshall Class 5 (not enough volume to be useful in a lot of gigging situations) for a Traynor YCM-20 (which I'm about to return as well - the reverb feeds back on the lead channel and the amp is generally uninspiring), seen Mike Stern and Bill Frisell live in clubs and have generally had my hands full with a variety of time-consuming musical projects.
Mike Stern was especially inspiring. I had never seen him play before, but I have been aware of him since the 80s, when he played in one of Miles Davis' late bands. My impression is that he just plays what he wants and doesn't worry too much about putting a label on what he does, or fitting in to current fashions. He's really a classic fusion player, with a constant outpouring of ideas, beautiful phrasing, and a quite nice tone from a Yamaha Pacifica, a stereo solid-state amp setup including a Pearce amp (no longer available but I coveted one at the Guitar Clinic in Hamilton back in the day) and an old Yamaha amp that I can't identify, along with the 'doubling' effect on the old Yamaha SPX-90 digital effects unit (which comes out sounding a lot like chorus).
That Mike Stern was able to coax such lovely sounds out of solid-state gear has got me re-evaluating my fealty to tube amps. I just don't seem to be able to find a usable small tube amp in the price range that I'm working in. I'm looking at the ZT Club 12, which is a digital amp that weighs 22 pounds and puts out 200 watts. My good friend and musical partner Alec Fraser just switched to digital for his bass amp, and I have to say that he is achieving a convincing SVT tone with the tiniest of high-powered amp heads. I'll probably do the exchange tomorrow and report back.
Oh, and I still have my Strat. Long story involving Eric Clapton. Another time.
- Fender Stage Lead Ii Solid State Combo In Hollywood For $100
I am not recommending we all rush out and buy Fender 1980's solid state amps. However, that said, this is a good deal on a big powerful and well reviewed SS Amp. The Stage Lead II's came out in 1985-86 and these are big heavy (80 lbs) LOUD stage...
- Univox Pro Verb U3r Spring Reverb Unit In Van Nuys Ca For $75
I am a fan of Solid State Spring Reverb - the way I figure it, if you are playing through a tube amp and the Reverb is going in the front it really doesn't make a difference if it is tube or not (a Fender Twin's tube driven reverb runs off the...
- Marshall Jcm2000 Tsl Half Stack In Cleveland For $700
You won't see me highlighting Marshall Stacks too often on this blog (just not my cup of tea) however, this one is a good deal and, of course, Cleveland Rocks! There is a ton of info online about the TSL and this is the 100 watt version it...
- Roland Jc-120 Jazz Chorus In Ct For $375
I guess these qualify as vintage amps now - I had one of these workhorse amps for about 7 years and put hudreds of playing hours on i both live, rehearsal and studio - and it never flinched. You could probably drop one of these down a flight of stairs...
- Marshall Class 5: My New Amp.
I bought a new amp yesterday. I've been using an early Fender Pro Junior for several years, lately with a Hughes and Kettner Red Box between the speaker and the amp so that I can run a signal out to a small powered PA speaker for more headroom on...