The Ever-Expanding Gear Thread

[Plasmatopia]

One can never have too many Strats I suppose.

That neck seems so weird. It's like the guitar is half Les Paul.


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[Onomatopoeic]

Check out this used Strat I picked up a few months back.

And not too different than the Fender & Squier John 5 Telecasters that came out a few years ago -- also with a mirror pickguard.

The Squier John 5 Signature Telecaster was actually a very nice guitar and *way* less expensive than the Fender (Custom Shop) version.

[rapidfirerob]

Just discovered this thread. I still have my 85 Alembic Spoiler. I had an Eve IONA made for me in Scotland and received it early this year. I've been looking for an ash bass for some time. Beautiful instrument. Active/passive and series/parallel. Sounds kind of Jazz like. Not crazy expensive. I had a tumor in my leg over four years ago. Had surgery and radiation. Could no longer lift more than 30 pounds. Had to sell my SWR Super Redhead. Luckily for me, Class D amps and neo cabs sound great and are very light. I picked up a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2 and 6.0 and two Gallien Krueger 1X12 cabs, 30 pounds each. Couldn't be happier, except that Fender bought and shut down Genz Benz. Jeff Genzler is back making amps and cabs. I'm sure they're great, though pricey. I have a pedal board with BOSS pedals, but playing in an Allman Brothers tribute band, it sits in the closet.
http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2014/11...ces-iona-bass/

[No Pride]

My latest acquisition, the Line 6 Helix. I think this is the most significant piece of gear Line 6 has created in over a decade. I feel like I need to explain why I got it: A few years ago, I bought a Pod HD500 and a DT-25 amp, both Line 6 products that were designed to work together (or apart). The DT-25 is a 2 channel amp with an all tube power amp and a digital front end and you all probably know what the Pod HD500 is, another update of their old invention, the Pod. So the two items work pretty well together via something called Line 6 Link. But when the leader of the wedding/corporate party band I work with decided he didn't want amps on stage anymore (to control the volume) I had to start using the HD500 by itself, straight into the board. I've never been satisfied with how it sounds like that (to put it mildly) and I've had to grin and bear it for the last few years, at least for that band.

Enter the Helix! Though Line 6 pretty much spearheaded the digital amp and effects modeling revolution, a company called Fractal Audio upped the ante with more advanced technology, resulting in more realistic sounding digital models. A lot of Line 6 enthusiasts jumped ship, even though Fractal's flagship product, the Axe FX II was considerably more pricey. So... finally Line 6 finally got competitive and fought back with their new flagship, the Helix. I think they must've learned a thing or two from Fractal Audio, like using dual DSP chips and higher grade components. They apparently worked on the Helix for 5 or 6 years before finally releasing it. A buddy came over recently with his Axe FX II and we A/B'd both it and Helix though a powered monitor, using the same amp models and cab sims and dialing them to identical tone, volume and drive settings. The differences were so subtle that they were barely perceptible! But even my friend had to admit that Helix was way more intuitive and easy to program.

This thing can be used in a myriad of ways for live or studio performance, by itself, with an amp (or two), a powered monitor or for DAW recording. I won't go into the details, suffice to say that I'm getting MUCH better tones than I could dream of getting with my Pod HD500. And I can program patches so much faster because the digital models sound great right out of the box.

Check out L.A. studio and touring artist, Pete Thorn demonstrating the Helix. It's a long video where he goes into details of how he got the tones, but at least check out the first 2 and a half minutes, where he performs a song he wrote to demonstrate Helix, layering 9 different guitar tracks. I'd been interested in the Helix for months, but seeing and hearing this vid closed the deal for me! Of course, it helps that he's a great guitar player and rather decent composer!

[Gizmotron]

My latest acquisition, the Line 6 Helix. I think this is the most significant piece of gear Line 6 has created in over a decade. I feel like I need to explain why I got it: A few years ago, I bought a Pod HD500 and a DT-25 amp, both Line 6 products that were designed to work together (or apart). The DT-25 is a 2 channel amp with an all tube power amp and a digital front end and you all probably know what the Pod HD500 is, another update of their old invention, the Pod. So the two items work pretty well together via something called Line 6 Link. But when the leader of the wedding/corporate party band I work with decided he didn't want amps on stage anymore (to control the volume) I had to start using the HD500 by itself, straight into the board. I've never been satisfied with how it sounds like that (to put it mildly) and I've had to grin and bear it for the last few years, at least for that band.

Enter the Helix! Though Line 6 pretty much spearheaded the digital amp and effects modeling revolution, a company called Fractal Audio upped the ante with more advanced technology, resulting in more realistic sounding digital models. A lot of Line 6 enthusiasts jumped ship, even though Fractal's flagship product, the Axe FX II was considerably more pricey. So... finally Line 6 finally got competitive and fought back with their new flagship, the Helix. I think they must've learned a thing or two from Fractal Audio, like using dual DSP chips and higher grade components. They apparently worked on the Helix for 5 or 6 years before finally releasing it. A buddy came over recently with his Axe FX II and we A/B'd both it and Helix though a powered monitor, using the same amp models and cab sims and dialing them to identical tone, volume and drive settings. The differences were so subtle that they were barely perceptible! But even my friend had to admit that Helix was way more intuitive and easy to program.

This thing can be used in a myriad of ways for live or studio performance, by itself, with an amp (or two), a powered monitor or for DAW recording. I won't go into the details, suffice to say that I'm getting MUCH better tones than I could dream of getting with my Pod HD500. And I can program patches so much faster because the digital models sound great right out of the box.

Check out L.A. studio and touring artist, Pete Thorn demonstrating the Helix. It's a long video where he goes into details of how he got the tones, but at least check out the first 2 and a half minutes, where he performs a song he wrote to demonstrate Helix, layering 9 different guitar tracks. I'd been interested in the Helix for months, but seeing and hearing this vid closed the deal for me! Of course, it helps that he's a great guitar player and rather decent composer!

Very cool. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I will check out the video later.
It is an excellent option and gives the guitarist so many possibilities with a minimum of gear.

I have various, earlier Line 6 products but recently got a Hughes & Kettner amp so I am digging the more traditional approach for now.

[Sputnik]

My latest acquisition, the Line 6 Helix...

DUDE, You're psyched! Awesome piece of gear, and I know you've been using the Line6 stuff successfully for a while, so this is awesome! The most surprising thing to me that you said is how "intuitive" it is to program. Historically, this is definitely not a Line6 strength. So it's interesting to hear how they may have taken that to heart as well. Couldn't be happier for you, this is a big purchase, big investment, and I know you'll use it. Hope it works for you, and I sense it will!

Bill

[Gizmotron]

DUDE, You're psyched! Awesome piece of gear, and I know you've been using the Line6 stuff successfully for a while, so this is awesome! The most surprising thing to me that you said is how "intuitive" it is to program. Historically, this is definitely not a Line6 strength. So it's interesting to hear how they may have taken that to heart as well. Couldn't be happier for you, this is a big purchase, big investment, and I know you'll use it. Hope it works for you, and I sense it will!

Bill

I think Line 6 realized that their older gear was a bit hard to program and they certainly knew the Fractal stuff wasn't easy either. Smart designers know that gear needs to be intuitive.

[Supersonic Scientist]

WOW. pretty cool demo. sounds fantastic.

[Plasmatopia]

I was just reading Helix reviews a couple days ago. I have a friend who got one a few weeks ago, but I haven't heard how they liked it. I wonder how it works on bass...

[Yodelgoat]

Juts picked up an old Court headless Steinberger replica. Cheap (150.00) but I really enjoy playing it. For some reason I can really fly on this thing. It makes the Geddy Lee parts I'm learning much easier to play. Great sound too through my effects box. Strings will be a little bit of a pain because you cant use the Elixirs, that last for decades on my other bass. I guess I'm back to the old trick of boiling my strings to get some longevity out of them.

[No Pride]

The most surprising thing to me that you said is how "intuitive" it is to program. Historically, this is definitely not a Line6 strength. So it's interesting to hear how they may have taken that to heart as well.

The interface is pretty different from previous Line 6 products. Funny, I had heard about how easy and user friendly it was supposed to be and on the first day, I thought it couldn't be further from the truth! But I was trying to figure it out by myself. It comes with a two sided "cheat sheet" which quickly explains the most essential functions and after looking at that, I found the unit pretty easy to navigate. There were a few things I had to look up in the manual, but not a lot. I'm really grateful that programming is so quick and easy on the Helix, because I gradually got very burned out on tweaking their other products and really didn't want to go through that long process again.

I was just reading Helix reviews a couple days ago. I have a friend who got one a few weeks ago, but I haven't heard how they liked it. I wonder how it works on bass...

Well they do have about a half dozen or so bass amp models and cabinet simulations; mostly Ampeg and Mesa/Boogie amps.

[Sean]

What amp are you playing this Line 6 through, Ernie?

[Plasmatopia]

Well they do have about a half dozen or so bass amp models and cabinet simulations; mostly Ampeg and Mesa/Boogie amps.

Now I'm really going to need to do some investigation. And sell off some things I don't need.

[No Pride]

What amp are you playing this Line 6 through, Ernie?

Well, it hasn't been out of my home yet, Sean. I'll mostly be using it directly to the mixing board and I've been programming it with headphones and/or my in-ear monitors. I did get to hear my Helix through an FRFR (full range flat response) powered monitor and it sounded great! I may use it with one of those in the future, or maybe with the Mesa Triple Rectifier half stacks that my touring band rents for me (in which case I'd probably only use it for effects models); we'll see.

[Plasmatopia]

I found some decent YouTube demos of the bass presets. Sounds really nice and I can imagine this would make recording bass direct much easier. I've struggled to get good recorded bass sounds with what's currently available to me.

The only problem I see now is that I will probably have to sell my Mini Rectifier 25-watt head to finance this purchase. I probably won't need it, but I have sort of developed a strong like for the thing in recent months. I would likely need to then start thinking about what I would use for my bass and guitar rigs in terms of power amps.

[kid_runningfox]

Has anybody here tried Joyo pedals? They're, in effect, cheap Chinese clones of classic designs from yesteryear, but built like tanks and with true bypass, too. I've using one of their graphic eq pedals in my main (now in storage) guitar rig for quite some time now, but I picked up a digital delay and phaser pedals whilst at home in the UK over the summer as stopgaps until I return permanently. Both are excellent and unbelievable value for money. The phaser is especially good, as it's in essence an MXR Phase 90 for about a third of the price of the real thing. Warmly recommended.

Incidentally, now I am back in China, I've decided to pick up an amp, as playing through PAs (even with the speaker-compensated out on my Blackstar HT-Metal pedal) is becoming increasingly dissatisfactory. As they're in remarkably abundant supply here, and I need something I can easily put in the back of a taxi, I've decided to buy an Orange Tiny Terror. It's been warmly recommended to me by a couple of people whose opinion I generally trust on matters of tone, but I wondered if anybody has experience of them. I will of course try before I buy, but comments of those with familiarity would be welcome.

[Plasmatopia]

I've never tried one and ultimately that's what I would recommend - use your own ears. But all I can say is that I wasn't impressed with the demos I heard on YouTube (take that for what it's worth). The demos I heard struck me as a bit cold and harsh, which was also my experience in hearing a particular guitarist in a live situation (using a much larger model Orange amp) making unpleasant sounds. I've also seen them (larger models) used to great effect as well, so...it's obviously a lot down to the skill of the user.

[Thebigdipper]

Has anybody here tried Joyo pedals? They're, in effect, cheap Chinese clones of classic designs from yesteryear, but built like tanks and with true bypass, too. I've using one of their graphic eq pedals in my main (now in storage) guitar rig for quite some time now, but I picked up a digital delay and phaser pedals whilst at home in the UK over the summer as stopgaps until I return permanently. Both are excellent and unbelievable value for money. The phaser is especially good, as it's in essence an MXR Phase 90 for about a third of the price of the real thing. Warmly recommended.

Incidentally, now I am back in China, I've decided to pick up an amp, as playing through PAs (even with the speaker-compensated out on my Blackstar HT-Metal pedal) is becoming increasingly dissatisfactory. As they're in remarkably abundant supply here, and I need something I can easily put in the back of a taxi, I've decided to buy an Orange Tiny Terror. It's been warmly recommended to me by a couple of people whose opinion I generally trust on matters of tone, but I wondered if anybody has experience of them. I will of course try before I buy, but comments of those with familiarity would be welcome.

I'm OK with these. I've not got anything with Joyo written on it, but I've got a Fulltone OCD clone (can't remember the brand name) which can produce similar (but not quite the same) sounds and a MoSky XP Boost which is a clone of the Xotic EP Boost and that is very good indeed. I'm positive these different Chinese brands all come from the same factory, just with different labels on them, as they all look identical.

I've used a Tiny Terror at rehearsal studios. For crunchy sounds and beyond, I think they're pretty good. I didn't like the clean sound much and it didn't have a lot of clean headroom. It's not an amp for my musical tastes but, as you already know, many people love them. (I'm not sure I'm helping you here, but anyway... ).

[Onomatopoeic]

Has anybody here tried Joyo pedals? ...

I've played three different used Joyos last year. They functioned and sounded okay. Nice appearance and plenty tiny for deployment onto cramped effects boards.

Other than that, I suspect they can't take much abuse, such as the on/off switch.

[Yodelgoat]

I just upgraded my V-drums. Getting rid of the TD-3 and replacing it with a TD-12, It will play through my TD-11. Now I can have 4 tracks out and separate out my snare and kick from the rest of my drums. Plus the sounds on the TD-12 are a huge leap from the TD-3 I may have to buy more pads, because its got 6 toms and 7+ cymbals. I think I'll be going a little bigger! The drums sound amazing and they make me a better drummer. I gave up on acoustic drums about 3 years ago, and now my drums do sound much much better. I have a kit that is huge and gives a not so great drummer more things to hit, which makes me sound busier. This is going to be fun! I dont know what I'll do with the TD3 - I may create a separate drum kit to play live with so I'm not tearing down my kit for any live gigs. I may keep it for really obscure sounds - triangles, bells wind chimes etc... Or I may just sell it. Cheap.

Drums are my fourth instrument - (Bass, rhythm Guitar,Vox then drums) and I'm not terrible - I practice just about every day, because its fun. Great buy! I picked up just the module for $500. I think I have all the pads I need.

[nosebone]

Just scored a 2016 historic Les Paul from Reverb.com

I'll post pics when it arrives!

[Supersonic Scientist]

Just scored a 2016 historic Les Paul from Reverb.com

I'll post pics when it arrives!

...drooling now......pix pls.

[Yodelgoat]

I am looking for a good Rockabilly guitar - any suggestions? Gretch perhaps? What about those Tele's? Love the one shown above!

[Gizmotron]

I just upgraded my V-drums. Getting rid of the TD-3 and replacing it with a TD-12, It will play through my TD-11. Now I can have 4 tracks out and separate out my snare and kick from the rest of my drums. Plus the sounds on the TD-12 are a huge leap from the TD-3 I may have to buy more pads, because its got 6 toms and 7+ cymbals. I think I'll be going a little bigger! The drums sound amazing and they make me a better drummer. I gave up on acoustic drums about 3 years ago, and now my drums do sound much much better. I have a kit that is huge and gives a not so great drummer more things to hit, which makes me sound busier. This is going to be fun! I dont know what I'll do with the TD3 - I may create a separate drum kit to play live with so I'm not tearing down my kit for any live gigs. I may keep it for really obscure sounds - triangles, bells wind chimes etc... Or I may just sell it. Cheap.

Drums are my fourth instrument - (Bass, rhythm Guitar,Vox then drums) and I'm not terrible - I practice just about every day, because its fun. Great buy! I picked up just the module for $500. I think I have all the pads I need.

Very cool. I didn't realize you drummed also, Yodel.
I am still very in love with my acoustic kit but between my synths and my Roland Handsonic 15 I have access to great electronic drum sounds. I also have two Roland mesh pads to interface with the Handsonic so i can do trigger things quite realistically.
But I'd love to hear/play a modern set like yours to gauge the improvements in sound and in the triggering tech.

So you perform on vocals and drums at least...don't you also play bass and/or guitar and keys?

[nosebone]

...drooling now......pix pls.

When I get it I'll post some pics.

I've played many historic's, and think 2016 is their best year so far. YMMMV