So I'm getting a new guitar

[Poster]

i wouldnt bother with it dude! its already gonna be amazing, dont complicate something already so perfect

[Stiles12]

I wouldn't with that guitar. I had a jerry replica buffer placed in one of my old american strats and, when you played through clean without any effects it sounded nice, high pitch, strong full out put, really meshed well with the bass players Q5 when he would switch his pickups on active. but when you started doing trey esk things like running multiple effects and loops the buffer really takes away from what sound i was looking for.

I say dont do it leave it as is.

[strangedesign]

Got 2 new pics today - she's all loaded up and ready to be shipped minus one thing: I am debating over the Unity Gain Buffer and whether or not to install it.  I did have the FX loop bypass installed, but as for the UGB, I'm wondering if I really need it or not, and whether or not it'll be detrimental in the long run.  Here's what Tim (my luthier) had to say about it in the email today:

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Ben we are ready to ship.  I was just going through final notes on  
the guitar and saw in the sheet we had discussed using a pre amp in  
the guitar.  We spoke again about not using it and on Saturday we  
were just going with the loop and no preamp.  I just want to make  
sure that you are happy with the guitar when it arrives so here are  
the pros and cons.  A preamp is advised for long cable runs.  This  
would happen with many effects and a large stage.  What it does is  
give the effects unity gain.  ( or full signal were there is lots of  
resistance).  A pre amp does effect the tone of the guitar mostly by  
giving it a higher output. (making the guitar louder but not exactly  
as clean)  A preamp also means a 9 volt battery.    In my opinion  
this guitar sounds great the way it is and the loop will work  
effectively for your use with out it.   The general leaning of many  
of the guys using effect loops right now is to keep the guitar  
natural (no pre amp.)  There is also a few companies making and  
outboard unity buffer so it is not in the guitar.  Steve Kimmock is  
one of the guys i first saw bypass the whole pre amp thing but still  
have the loop.  We just want to be sure before the guitar gets sent  
to you.  If you are good we will send.  If you have questions please  
shoot me a email because i will be away from my phone or just call  
Pat.  Thanks again.   t

So what do you guys think??  Should I or shouldn't I?  I mean, it's not like I'm running 50 foot cables, but I do have 10 FX in my chain right now, and I can see adding another 2-5 in the future.  FEEEEEEEEDBACK please!

Pics = lighting & angle aren't great, but hey...

I don't think I would put it in. You can always add a buffer in your effects chain later if you need it. Man, the guitar looks incredible. Glenn at HT saw the pics and loves it. How much did it end up costing you and how long did it end up taking them to comlpete?

[Walker done done]

I wouldn't with that guitar. I had a jerry replica buffer placed in one of my old american strats and, when you played through clean without any effects it sounded nice, high pitch, strong full out put, really meshed well with the bass players Q5 when he would switch his pickups on active. but when you started doing trey esk things like running multiple effects and loops the buffer really takes away from what sound i was looking for.

I say dont do it leave it as is.

Thanks for the heads up Stiles12.  But one thing about this that may be different, and I'm not sure, so you tell me: the fact that they've installed an FX loop bypass....would that have anything to do with solving the problem you just mentioned or no?

I'm really stuck here.  I've got 3 \"no's\" on this site, and 2 on rukind, though I have 1 strong \"yes\" from a pro's pro over there too, so that is weighing on me.  I guess you're right though Scott, I could always add it post-guitar later on if I really want to, so that may be the right option.

God dammit this is not a decision I want to make - I just want to tell them to ship it and get it here by the weekend!  :?

[strangedesign]

I wouldn't with that guitar. I had a jerry replica buffer placed in one of my old american strats and, when you played through clean without any effects it sounded nice, high pitch, strong full out put, really meshed well with the bass players Q5 when he would switch his pickups on active. but when you started doing trey esk things like running multiple effects and loops the buffer really takes away from what sound i was looking for.

I say dont do it leave it as is.

Thanks for the heads up Stiles12.  But one thing about this that may be different, and I'm not sure, so you tell me: the fact that they've installed an FX loop bypass....would that have anything to do with solving the problem you just mentioned or no?

I'm really stuck here.  I've got 3 \"no's\" on this site, and 2 on rukind, though I have 1 strong \"yes\" from a pro's pro over there too, so that is weighing on me.  I guess you're right though Scott, I could always add it post-guitar later on if I really want to, so that may be the right option.

God dammit this is not a decision I want to make - I just want to tell them to ship it and get it here by the weekend!  :?

If you don't mind me asking, how much did that guitar end up costing you? About how long did i ttake them to complete? I might be their next customer!

[Walker done done]

Scott, check yer PM

[Stiles12]

To answer your question if the bypass loop will help the buffer. it will depend where the buffer is. if it is on one side of the loop and you could bypass the buffer i recomend it. then you could flip it on with effects that work with it also run clean, then, use the other loop to play through your pedal board, if it is going to buffer both channels then i would be weary. it is up to you, again like someone said before that is an easy instalation and you could always do it later,

question how long was the final process, and did you ever recieve that bicomp from mike at analog, my half rack black cat has almost been a year, getting a little rediculous with this guy

[Poster]

iam telling you what, analogman is waaaay over-rated, there are hundreds of guys out there that can do the same shit he does. and i guarantee itll cost you waaaay less time and their products will most likely be readily available instead of making you pay for something they haven't even fucking thought about doing yet. .. iam telling you, if trey was where we are today he wouldnt be buying shit from analogman because his stuff is waay over priced. iam not saying its all crap, but nothing is worth the prices they charge and the waits they have. furthermore, ive never heard an analogman anything that was superior in any way from other boutique pedals i like. my compressor from barge concepts is superior in so many ways to the analogman units. my clark gainster overdrive has better components that any TS9 and yet can replicate those tones no problem and iam not limited to just what you get with 2 x ts9's. his mods to boss pedals are great but overpriced, take too long, and garmopatmods can do the same work, more quickly, and with slightly superior craftsmanship IMO. any other gadget you can think of can most likely be built by deathbyaudio and even though there is a wait, their stuff is from fucking mars and i dont even consider their work effects, its more like getting a one of a kind audio chemistry set.

edit* i forgot to mention VEX as their stuff is incredible too, and something of another planet when used in conjunction with other stomp boxes.

edit#2* i also forgot Robert Keeley. Hes great, but almost in that same sphere as analogman in that legendary sorta way. but of course he fortunetly half as much of an asshole and doesnt over charge so badly all the time ;0)

[Stiles12]

I am starting to agree with you, but the units i orderd from him, was rackmount black cat, this is not made by him but by a guy named fred bradshaw, bob bradshaws brother. I love CAE gear the super tremo i have is by far the most advanced tremolo i have ever used. Full tone trem really cant even come close to this thing. I figured if this is a branch of CAE that is just being sold through analogman I might as well take advantage... problem i had was i got an email that said fred's shop burnt down and he dosnt know if it will ever get going...
In terms of the other gear i got from him, ross mini bi comp was replaced by the keeley 4 knob comp, one ts9/808 silver i replaced with a keeley moded ts9, i replaced his modded dd-6 with a Tc electonics D-two, I took the sunface out of my rig becuase it only runs on batteries, no option for a plug in (it does sound sick though) I have a Kot jammed in the back of my rack that is bypassed through by voodoo lab ground control unit and audio switcher which for hendrix like grundge sounds amazing. but for the most part i have been too thrilled with his gear.

[Poster]

that tc electronics thing is a delay right? is it true bypass? i looked at the nova's i think they were called and nobody seemed to know at the store i was in. .. anyway, id say get your money back dude. if it burnt down i wouldnt expect your order to become a priority for some time,  but who knows

[Walker done done]

Whaddup Stiles.  I ended up sending that AM Bicomp back - too noisy and popped when you stepped on it to engage it.  I am having him build me an Orange Squeeze instead, which I really liked as part of the Bicomp, and hopefully won't be as noisy.  The ROss side was very noisy, though.  I ended up purchasing the Keeley comp (4 knob) from a local guitar store last week and am VERY happy with it, it's everything I want in a comp pedal....so far.

So here's my current set-up right now, I'll post all new pics once the custom gets here:

Resurrection Languedoc Replica > Vox wah modded by Gary @ Garmopat mods (best thing I've ever done) > Emma DiscomBOBulator > TS9 silver > TS808 silver > Analogman Orange Squeeze > Keeley Comp (4 knob) > Boss TU-2 tuner > Visual Sound H20 (liquid chorus & echo) > Boss DD6 digital delay > Whammy (red reissue) > Fender HotRod Delux

Will be swapping out the amp as soon as my cash resevoir builds back up.  Also, Stiles - the guitar took about a 51 weeks to complete from the day I ordered, and the AM Bicomp took about 15 months from the date of order.  So not worth the wait, IMO, but if it wasn't so loud or didn't pop when engaged then it would be totally worth the price of $265, considering you're getting a 2-in-1 pedal.

[Stiles12]

wow, thats a long time for a bi comp, and the guitar is obviously worth the wait, wish i had the money to do that right now, but i am still in school, maybe when i get a real job i will invest in something like that.  
Regarding the D-two: The D-two in my rack gets initiated when I press number 6 on my buttons, after I press it on, the bottom 4 buttons let me control presets that i have set,  i can have almost an endless amount of presets with it by banking up on the button system, the d-two has multiple real time tap which is awesome, set up a f5-U and you could tap the delay up to 8 times making it fast in beging and really really long at the end of the delay or vise versa. how ever you tap it comes back. This 8 tap stuff makes it a rythm machine. Volume pedal attached to my buttons is used when i turn on my D-two, it lets me control the out put and feedback of the delay. I dont think its a real true bypass even though it has a bypass button on it, but when run through my ground control it makes it true bypass. I have that and the m-one XL (Tc-electronics) run through the same way. really advanced gear, that allows you to make some incredible things. plus Two Engines makes stereo output AMAZING.... if your looking at a reverb and delay unit check these out, I used to have a Lexicon reverb rack and the M-one just puts it to shame. noisy though, needed an ISO.
Jimmi herring has these two units set up very similar to what i have.

[Poster]

yeah that sounds like way too much crap even for me. ill stick with my stand alone delay box ;0)

[Walker done done]

SHE'S HERE!!!  Arrived today around 11 a.m.  Looks and sounds fucking beautiful.  This thing belongs in a fucking museum or on a wall or something.  Headed down to the jamspot now to fuck around with it, will post pics & audio when I get a chance.

Waaahooooo!  The wait is finally over!

[Poster]

congrats benny! be careful with her, I keep getting this mental picture of you shredding your new dream guitar and some wookie coming out of nowhere and snatching it from you! J/K but seriously though handcuff it to your leg.  :lol: