(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg29/cactuskeeb/tube2.jpg)
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And of course --
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Did you get your Black Cat Vibe from CAE or Analogman?
I got it from this Finnish guy who got it from CAE.
By the way, if anyone is at all interested in the modifications I had done to my Fender Deluxe Reverb RI, please don't hesitate to PM or email me with your questions and/or general interest in knowing more about the mods done to Trey's amp. Alternatively, you could simply contact Eric--the electric guitar amplification genius who did the mods--at VikingAmps@comcast.net.
I have the digital conversion interface, dual-channel mic preamps (to hopefully get that hard-panned, big stereo image Paul talks about in an interview), and in a couple days I will have an AKG B-ULS condenser--which I'll be using in tandem with a dynamic microphone. Thus, if I can get all this to work :) ...well, at least if I do we'll be able to hear the difference between the stock Deluxe Reverb and the mod.
cheers
Nice! Thanks CK - I may take you up on that later this year if I get the opportunity to purchase a new amp, which is something I'm hoping to do.
Post audio clips when it's done? Love to hear it.
BTW, the settings on my amp have changed drastically since I installed a tailpiece and a tune-matic type bridge with brass saddles. The brass really changes things -- the highs, for one, are increased tenfold. Now I have the treble around 1-2 and the bass at the same level.
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Damn that's awesome !!! So, when are you getting the Super Tremolo and a Boomerang? How do you like those loop master switches? I have the exact same 2 boxes. I love 'em! 8)
I'm waiting for the new boomerang to come out, and I don't know when I'll get a super trem. I like the loopmaster stuff a lot; although, I like it even more now that I have the gigrig humdinger (ridiculous name!) to buffer the output signal. Running the signal through all that rack gear raises the impedance somewhat, and the buffer lowers that impedance.
OK, so apparently I didn't quite understand the concept of a buffered device; but now I do and if you care at all you might noitce that the white box with blue square that says "Humdinger" on it has moved from being connected to the output of the loop switcher (the large one); now it resides in the chain where it's connected to the input of the ls. I had originally thought that the buffered output simply lowered a received, high impedance down to a low one; however, what it actually does (the buffered out on the humdinger, that is) is *drive* the long runs and effects devices that follow it -- imparting a more robust, fuller spectrum, low impedance signal (as opposed to a weak, loaded down signal). Later on today, I'll have time to try putting the humdinger right after my guitar in the signal chain; the idea being -- among other reasons -- that since I have "true bypass" dirt boxes (two modded OD9's), I therefore (perhaps, maybe) don't have a buffer stage that could prevent loss of high end due to connection of high impedance guitar output.
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phucking ALLSOME!
Where did you get your leslie? Are they expensive?
I got the Leslie off Amazon. It was costly, to be sure. I'm still fooling around with the controls, trying to dial in the right settings. There was a huge increase in the sonics of the leslie after I switched from the following --
...Fender DR ext. speaker out --> CAE line out box --> Leslie aux 1/4" input
to this setup:
...Gigrig humdinger isolated out --> Trek II --(11pin leslie cable)--> Leslie 11pin input
As of now, it easily nails the leslie tone that's all over the Farmhouse album. I *would* run it the same way Trey does, but I don't have a singular unit to function as a transformer isolated out (as Trey does with the CAE ISO-1); yet I do have the gigrig humdinger, which has both the buffered out and transformer isolated out. The buffer is too important right now in the signal path (it comes after the Ross and before the loop box) to move it from its current place in the chain; nevertheless, I believe it's better tonally speaking *not* to have the leslie path go through the Korg DTR-2; although, it would still be cool to be able to mute and unmute the leslie with a latching footswitch connected to the DTR-2, as Trey does. I say this because when you power off the Trek II, there is a delay as the motor on the leslie slows down to a stop, the result being that the sound coming out of the leslie speaker(s) fades out (this is not as pleasing as it might sound in writing, to be sure). Then again, I believe that the leslie model I have might work with two footswitches (as it does have a 1/4" footswitch input), so I'll try that with a latching switch.
Btw, my new project involves building a Fender DR nearly true to the original specs. of the AB763, but with a mix of vintage and modern caps and MM transformers.
Wasn't the Leslie 21 what Trey had sitting on top of his rack for years before going to the 122? I wonder why he switched? We might need to ask Brian about that.
That leslie was custom made by Goff Professional, the same company that makes the Trek II. It only consisted of the horn and crossover unit of a standard leslie cabinet. So, yes, he had more or less what's in the Leslie 21; it was connected to one of the extension speakers outs on the Groove Tubes power amp. More than likely, he went to the leslie 122 because it's just better, period. It has its own tube power amp inside. Nonetheless, I *am* interested in hearing the real story about it from Brian.
crap, I sent some questions off to him last night and forgot all about this one. I just emailed him again and included the question about the Leslie! We will hear something before long.
You don't have far to go to have Trey's current rig! boomerang, whammy and super trem. I guess to be exact you would also need to CAE switcher and controls.
Actually, I think I have a ways to go yet; although, I'm working on it as we speak. I'm building new "vintage" deluxe reverb out of about a gazillion parts I've aquired through various online dealers and ebay. I came to the basic conclusion that the Deluxe Reverb Reissue sucks, and that was the reason for this build. Thank you for emailing Brian. I understand how to make a midrange control, it's actually easy to do; yet, I don't quite understand what Brian means when he says that they converted the vibrato circuit because you don't need to do this to make the midrange boost.
Bob's building the switcher. I'm not kidding.
One other thing that's important in regard to Trey's sound involves Paul's so-called modifications to the stock pickup wiring, first with the schallers and then with the SD PAF copies. Having owned a time guitar at one point, and generally taking an over-interest in the "lore" surrounding such things, I feel that there's a lot to be learned about the *unspoken* minor (major?) details regarding Paul's construction/wiring techniques. Here's an excerpt from the relatively new time guitar shrine on the web:
"The earliest pickups were from Schaller, but we stripped off the wire and wound the bobbins with our own wire. This wire was thinner than 'normal' pickup wire [I forget the gauge]. This gave more high end & sensitive output. We wound them by hand on a drill press! You would sit there for hours hand feeding the wire and hoping that it didn't break!
Later, I built a coil winding machine that ran on stepper motors controlled by an Atari 800. I never got this completely working, but it started me on my current career path. [...]
You will see a few guitars with different pickups. Around 1980, we were using Mighty-Mite parts before switching back to Schaller. MightyMite website.
There's also some DiMarzio equipped guitars out there.
The last guitars built had Stuart Duncan pickups with Floyd Rose whammies."
The point of interest in the above, to be sure, cannot but be the stripping of traditional, PAF style humbuckers, and rewinding with ultra-fine pickup wire.
If you're curious about the time guitar I possessed for a short period of time, look for the blue flying v on the above website; the one I had was identical, except for its explorer shaped body, orange (not blue) body color, and - my favorite - headstock being the same as Trey's first custom full-hollow.
Quote from: cactuskeeb on April 17, 2008, 03:23:57 AM
Actually, I think I have a ways to go yet; although, I'm working on it as we speak. I'm building new "vintage" deluxe reverb out of about a gazillion parts I've aquired through various online dealers and ebay. I came to the basic conclusion that the Deluxe Reverb Reissue sucks, and that was the reason for this build. Thank you for emailing Brian. I understand how to make a midrange control, it's actually easy to do; yet, I don't quite understand what Brian means when he says that they converted the vibrato circuit because you don't need to do this to make the midrange boost.
Bob's building the switcher. I'm not kidding.
what's the eta on the switcher?
lol, well now Bob should be back from the tour he went on right after I gave him the down payment several months ago, so I hope to hear from him shortly...
dont count on bob dude, he never does anything, but delay, and not return calls.
Yes, he takes a while. His gear is second to none. Take my black cat vibe, for example: if you look at the "guts" of the thing you'll see carbon composition resistors in key points, with carbon or metal film in non-tone-affecting points to keep things quiet (these design details are, in my opinion, the key to Analogman's TS9 mods as well; although clearly Bob was doing it long before Analogman). You'll see as well a single germanium transistor in amongst the garden variety silicon transistors -- that's something which I would categorize as being on the cutting edge, as it were, of current effects pedal trends; although, again, Bob clearly was doing it decades before everyone else. Finally, the workmanship -- that is, the quality of solder joints, spacing of parts and length of connecting wires, etc. -- of Bob's gear is better than anything I've seen, period. Not that any of this makes up for the haircut lol.
Bob Bradshaw & Martin Golub
(http://www.accountingcrows.com/images/crew/bob-mart.jpg)
Quote from: cactuskeeb on May 31, 2008, 03:25:02 PM
Yes, he takes a while. His gear is second to none. Take my black cat vibe, for example: if you look at the "guts" of the thing you'll see carbon composition resistors in key points, with carbon or metal film in non-tone-affecting points to keep things quiet (these design details are, in my opinion, the key to Analogman's TS9 mods as well; although clearly Bob was doing it long before Analogman). You'll see as well a single germanium transistor in amongst the garden variety silicon transistors -- that's something which I would categorize as being on the cutting edge, as it were, of current effects pedal trends; although, again, Bob clearly was doing it decades before everyone else. Finally, the workmanship -- that is, the quality of solder joints, spacing of parts and length of connecting wires, etc. -- of Bob's gear is better than anything I've seen, period. Not that any of this makes up for the haircut lol.
Well can you get him to make me a pair of ISO 1's, ill pay you? LOL He wont return my calls...
correct me if Im wrong, the actual ground control unit should make little to no difference which one you use, it is all in the actual audio switcher. The audio switcher is the only thing that your signal is running through, the actual ground unit does just as much as any other amp switcher or amp channel switch. I own a system like this. I have both GCX ground control and Audio Switcher products. Wouldnt I get the same sound using the CAE Audio Switcher and the ground control pro Unit?
I wonder if it is faster to get one from Pete Cornish, then from Bob Bradshaw?
The ground control uses electronic (FET) switching, exclusively. Bob's switching systems often have one or two features that use this method but for the most part his systems are hard wired. Hard wired switching introduces less noise, does not buffer the signal, and is more mechanically sound. Sometimes a buffer is good, like at the beginning of the signal chain or right before an effects rack.