EdwardMarlowe

It's impressive how pedal amps have come on. I've several times seen a couple of musicak acts who play a cabaret night I frequent using what I realised to be pedal amps; I'd never have known, but the speed of change between them and the acts before and after.... takes longer for the stage management to pick up after one of the burlesque girls. Those little feet seem a neat idea. Obviously won't work with every pedal without adaptation, but a much more elegant solution than velcro, which I've always avoided for my pedals. I've also considered a large foam sheet, same dize as the pedalboard, with holes cut for each pedal, but not sure that's workable. I like the idea of having them all screwed down in place.

I've been picking up pedals here and there since I started playing back in the 90s. Never sold a pedal. Still have my early run Sovtek EH Big Muff Pi, in mint condition, in the original wooden box - last I looked those are selling for a surprising amount. I'll probably not use it again, but I'm wary of the idea of parting with it in case I regret it. Probably the only thing I've ever bought, guitar wise, that's now worth more than I paid, even allowing for inflation! I also have a DOD Phasor [sic] and a Crybaby - likely never use those again, but.... I suppose pedals - especially cheap used ones - are a cheaper habit than always chasing a new amp or guitar. And easier to store! These days, the effects I want to use are a decent overdrive (classic OD, not "distortion"), a clean boost, tremolo, echo, and a reverb for the option if there's none in the amp. After a long time of looking, I've decided to build my own boards - one for effects that can be used with any amp, then a separate one for an "amp" board - reverb, Joyo American Sound, Mooer Baby Bomb - that can be plugged into a speaker or, if ever needed, a PA. Thinking of also putting a headphone amp pedal on there so I can either manually switch between a headphone amp and the Mooer power amp pedal, or *maybe* adding an A/B box so they can all stay hooked up and I can flip between that way. Don't know if that approach might be worth looking at when grouping your pedals? Separate boards for bass and guitar, of course. (I'm not a bass effects guy; I do have a Boss BF3, though, which can be used for either bass of guitar if ever I fancy).

Thanks, that's helpful. I've looked at the Boss - Setzer is very much the kind of sound I'm after - though like the Sun studios pedal it's a bit pricey unless I ever gigged it (unlikely now). Might have a look out see what crops up used, though. Seems to be a short delay pedal is what I need.

Oh.... and I also have a Joyo American Sound. Bought it originally thinking to use it as a headphone amp , but then bought a Harley Benton headphone amp to go with it. I also recently fell in with a Mooer Baby Bomb poweramp pedal. I'm thinking of putting together a couple of dedicated pedal boards, one for only the FX I want with an amp (drive/boost / trem / echo), and one as an "amp" board - reverb, American Sound, baby bomb. So I have the option of using either, or, or linking them together. (The next trick will be to find a case for storage. Been looking for that, but most of the options appear designed only to accommodate an integrated board or a proprietary one. Artec make a hardcase that comes with a traditional plywood board, but the board is too big for me I think (I'd have space for every pedal I own on it!). Still hunting for just a case... What I have in mind is using Harley Benton Mounties - these - means permanent holes in the board, but plywood isn't expensive, and these are more secure than velcro, without having to stick velcro to my pedals.

Heh, I relate to your last comment. I think of myself as "not really an FX guy" now - I never use my fuzz, phaser or wah, but of course I'm keeping them in a box, "just in case" I ever end up "needing them".... The pedals I feel the need of now are simply: slapback echo, reverb (if not in the amp, though I'm increasingly thinking a standalone pedal is a better option anyhow), tremolo, a decent drive (instead of a two-channel amp) and *maybe* a clean boost. Inevitably, I have a whole bunch of drive pedals. I do have the Golden Horsey, though I'm toying with the idea of buying one of the model that has all the different variations in it for the board - as well as, inevitably, the Behringer Centaur Overdrive because I like its boldness in being so blunt about what it is. Oh.... and the Mosky pedal with all the different variations on the Tubescreamer in it as well. Then *maybe* a Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face, which I really only want because of the cool shape.... Amusingly, I found this selling on ebay: It's a Klon Klone, made by the guy who designed and built the original Klons. Inevitably, it's about £450 a pop....

If you're still looking.... Depending on budget, Gordon Smith would be my first port of call. Classic T from £199. I've idly specced out what I'd like (including things like glass body metallic finish and so on) - comes to about £1500, or £1700 with stainless steel frets. About half what you'd pay for the same thing from Fender. https://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/shop/guitars/classic-t/ Feline Tabby - https://felineguitars.com/pages/feline-tabby-models - though a definite break away from the traditional look owing to headstock. Would appeal perhaps if you fancied a Suhr style take on a classic. Another option might be the JHS Vintage Proshop https://www.jhs.co.uk/collections/vintage-proshop - They take the standard Vintage bits and build a guitar to your spec. They seem to start around £600 if you just want a few cosmetic tweaks, like a finish they don't have in the regular range (of course it'll get a lot more attention than a regular line model), and prices go upwards as you add your own choice of replacement hardware (to the standard Wilkinson), pickups and such. They do offer relicing if that's your thing, though inevitably it also pops the price up due to labour. I've not handled one of their outputs, but everyone I've spoken to who has worked with them rates them very highly indeed. The necks bodies and such are the regular imported items to begin with, but my understanding is all the work done from there is in the UK - https://www.jhs.co.uk/collections/vintage-proshop

He died in 2008, but he was still playing until shortly before that I believe. Great artist. Supported the Clash on a US tour back in the day when they were on the way up and he was not doing as well. Joe Strummer's doing, Joe was a big fan.

Anything pointy. I like Firebirds BUT Explorers, Vs, all the rest: ugly AF. Those uber-figured fancy maple tops like you get on a LP Supreme: UGLY AF. I think the ugliest guitar it would be possible to make would be a Reverse V with an AAAA+ Quilted maple top. With a Floyd Rose and HSH pickups. I feel quite ill at even the thought of it... Oh.... I DO like the Gretsch Billy Bo. I'd love eventually to get a guitar body that shape with a Telecaster bridge and a Filtertron in the neck, bolt on Telecaster neck... CAR, or metalflake red... that would be a cool guitar.

Ain't that the truth! I don't think the pound has topped USD1.31 in nearly a decade now. Long gone are the glory days of US2.20 to the pound. Back in 2008, I was buying things online from the US I could have bought in a shop here, but getting them for half the London price, even after including shipping and import. Not a chance of that now.

If this is right, https://www.mooreguitars.com/dating-fender-american-models , they had a Z on the start of US serial numbers from 2000-2009. I suppose they started with just numbers, then an A, then... and so on. No idea what they do post 2009, it's been a very long time since I could think of even looking at the US guitars financially.

It does look odd, though googling for photos of Fender serial numbers turns up these images: My best guess is what we're seeing is the difference between the template that appears on every guitar and that individual guitar's number added in. Not sure whether Fender maybe do that by design - is a fake likely to look all the same font all matching? A sort of double bluff to throw off the counterfeiters...

Probably a decent boost pedal that can be adjusted between getting a great crunchy drive out of the amp all the way down to a clean volume boost, as needed.

How do you find the flatwounds differ? I was thinking of trying some (the Harley Benton version, because jinkies are flatwounds ever way more expensive....) on an electric after I bought a Brandoni P bass a few years ago that came with them, and finding I very much liked those.

Interesting idea. New to me, but I like it. My pick journey started with cheap, flexible nylon Jim Dunlops. In my first few weeks playing I had a couple of those in .6 (neon orange) before settling on the .46 (neon yellow). A few months later, I discovered Tortex picks, very much enjoying the way they hold their shape rather than bend. Over time, I moved to a .6, through .9, then eventually to a preferred 1mm. Still have a few of those, though more often I nowadays opt for the 1.14. The reason I made *that* switch was a lot more arbitrary than your friend's drop-test - I just prefer the purple colour they are. I'd probably have gone *down* from the 1.14 to 1mm if that's what I'd been using, for the purple colour had they been the other way round. Sometimes I use those Dava picks with the flexible middle (great for acoustic).... there are days when a change of pick can be a fillip to how I feel about playing as much as a different guitar, pedal, or whatever. That I've never questioned, as it's a lot cheaper!

This just in.... the head plus 1x12" is gonig to win. It'll probably be the Summer before I'm ready to order (this is set as a reward for myself when I get our spare room cleared out and turned into a proper home office, which will also then be where I'll have my guitars kept; also need to sell a few bits to fun this and other new stuff), but I fell in with an ebay deal on one of those Mooer Baby Bomb 30w pedal preamps, which would combine nicely with the Joyo American Sound as a preamp - the idea being if I want a louder sound or ever play out of the house again, I can take the pedals and a speaker box rather than cart a heftier amp about. (Also allows for the 15watt head at home with the same speaker if ever I move to a house where that's an option).

I've been looking into sorting out my effects alongside revising my amp needs. Bottom line, a lot of the amps I'm looking at (including a couple on the way - in a moment of madness last week I ordered a B-Stock version of the Blonde Fly 3 LE stereo set on Thomann, as well as an HB minipedal headphone amp, and on eBay fell in with deal on one of those Mooer Baby Bomb pedal poweramps. None of these (and the tube amp I'm looking at buying down the track) have reverb. So in addition to my clutch of drive / boost pedals, I'm thinking a reverb pedal. I'm also looking for an echo and a tremolo (I already have a Guyatone Tremolo pedal from the 90s - I'm told that's vintage now - which is *lovely*, but I gather like my Sovtek / EH Big Muff Pi now becoming really quite collectable, so I'll probably pick up a cheap HB tremolo pedal to velcro to a board instead...). That's all the effects I want these days. Interested in hearing about what people would recommend for reverb and echo. For the echo, I'm looking for a short, rockabilly slapback-echo type effect, NOT a modern delay sound. Think the Johnny Burnette Trio, NOT the Edge! Bottom line is that Keeley Memphis Sunn pedal would probably (subject to the one drawback seemingly being you can't toggle between its effects with the footswitch?) be my ideal, especially sound-wise, but I just can't justify that sort of pend on a single pedal. Is there anything in term of the cheaper clones (Mosky, Harley Benton, et al) that would do the job? I've looked at the HB Sugar & Spice on Thomann - the reverb side of that would probably be good, but I'm not sure about the delay? The "digital" word they applied to it makes me wary, fairly or no. All steers gratefully accepted!

Mn, as I'd expect. I think when it comes to music you'd want a dedicated software designed for music rather than business meetings. I'm sure Zoom is fine for lessons which involve one person playing at a time, but syncing it up... Mind you, the fact we're even discussing this at all shows how far we've come since the days of Live Aid when they had to pre-record one half of the Bowie-Jagger duet because even with such an insanely expensive satellite link as they had access to they couldn't get the timing to work. Different world now!

Aye, but you're not a lefty, you're a turncoat. I'm a militant sinister!

It's a ways off yet and I need to clear out some stuff first, but I'm looking at the Tube 5. Torn between the Champalike combo version, and the head... I *do* have a spare Vox 2x12 I was toying with the idea of using with the head, then I thought I'll probably sell that became the cream 1x10" that they brought out looks so much nicer with it (I doubt at home volume levels the extra size and doubling of the speaker would be a huge benefit). Also toyed with the notion of trying to find out whether I could also, as an option, run the head though some sort of speaker emulation box instead of the speaker and use headphones occasionally. (I think the 15 has a headphone socket, but it's getting into a lot more capability I'll never use, and the simplicity of the 5 really appeals more.) Course, the attraction of the separate head and speaker also means I could 'trade up/ speakers at a later stage, OR if I ever did decide I had a use for the 15, use it with the 1x10 as well.... Trying to avoid buying a whole pile of amp stuff, of course, and not overdoing it as the whole object it to clear out a stack of unused stuff (Vox AD120VT & the VC12 footboard, matching 2x12, and an early 70s Silverface Bassman 100, as well as a few guitars. I'm halfway hoping I can shift all the stuff that has to go for enough to buy myself a Player II Strat, or maybe a 5xxx series Gretsch used as well). Thanks, that would work for me. I've got a whole bunch of EU adaptors lying around as I do a few runs in and out of Paris for work every year, but I seem still to keep having to rebuy the damn things every September, no idea what I keep doing with them...

Interesting. They look like they've revived the spec of the pre-Player Standard series at one point - including the poplar body. I'd consider trying one myself if they did left handers (looks like they don't, which is probably why they slipped my notice previously). I'm intrigued by the choice of certain details, though - particularly the 21 frets (the one, real flaw in the Player II series *for me* is they're 22 frets. Not a deal breaker, but for me a significant cosmetic mis-step for no functional gain. I sense I'm very much an outlier on that score...). And the lack of a skunk stripe. Now, if they would do a black one with a maple board and a big headstock in addition, I'd be looking very seriously at that as a base for a Hendrix project. Something I've looked into previously, but it always quickly became financially unviable, especially when it comes to the neck. Oh... And I'd want a six point trem too for that, but... I wonder how long they've had this series in mind - was it always intended once the Player Series was bedded in? Seems to me that the PS was a recognition of the increasing reality that the American guitars are rising out of the pocket of much of the market, and was largely about repositioning that as the sort of flagship model the American Standard as historically the direct line right back to 1954, while all the others above and below in the range are the variants at any one time. Sort of like how Levis have always had a 501 model which is their flagship brand, even if the actual cut of what a 501 is has evolved radically here and there over time. Maybe they had always planned to bring in this return to a 'Standard' once they felt they had the 'upgraded' Player model established? Seems to me this one has been built to the £500 price point. I'd imagine in part it's aimed at competing head on with other brands. This puts it very close to JHS's Vintage guitars that have developed a real foothold in Fender backyard, at least in the UK market. With a Player II chasing towards £700, there are gonig to be a lot of people looking at the sub £500 market who've ruled out a Player II but might be pulled back in with the lure of a Real Fender for £500. There are probably also people who will be happy to pay an extra £100 or so over the top end of the Squier line to get a "real Fender" - if it's the brand that maters most. For me, if they reintroduced the left handed 50s Strat in the Classic Vibe range, I'd much rather have that, but not everybody has the same vintage-style preference I do I know - and to a lot of folks having the Big F on the headstock really does matter. I also begin to wonder whether this was not a move quite as long in the planning. Did Fender get a whisper of something else they saw as a competitive threat coming on the market in this price range? Harley Benton or the likes? It's hard to imagine the Big Original Names being hit in the market by what are sometimes dismissed as "me too" brands making the classic shapes, but all the same, they're all chasing what seems to b a shrinking market of guitar players these days.

It's definitely a really cool idea, like a viable alternative to tubes that's still notionally tubes, given the nature of the guitar amp market. There was a time I thought we might have to see the end of tube production for things to move on (or them become unavailable in the West - given they're all made in China and Russia now, not unthinkable, though frankly if / when *that * war happens, I doubt we'll be worrying about something as minor as amps. Assuming we survive it). I suppose the big question with amp developments now is to what extent alternative to amps begin to replace them altogether. I expect we'll always see people who want to use an amp (rather than DI trickery) in the studio, but on stage where a pedal board replacement (subject to a venue having decent monitoring and the rest) has obvious practical benefits.... I'm imagining a lot of working musos would love to do a tour where the whole band's gear, including the drumkit, could fit in a Volvo estate. Maybe for the big acts what we'll see is them still having the walls of cabs for show, but pedals replacing the '15watt combo they're actually playing through' into the PA... I suppose what I'm rambling at is which of the competing techs we now see will be the mp3 player, and which will turn out to be the Minidisc (lovely idea, but got overtaken before it could really establish itself).

Query for anyone who has ordered an amp from Thomann to the UK. Do they ship the HB amps with a UK plug, or do you need to pick up a new lead / converter?

I can play a bit like that - all lefties can of course, because the obvious - but it's not something I've ever seriously tried to develop.

What makes me wary is it's still only Vox doing them. I'm a bit wary of being too dependent on anything proprietary, because if the company changes direction or folds, then you're stuck for spares... On the topic of bringing stuff back ,though, I wish Vox would bring back the T series solid state bass amps they did back about twenty plus years ago. I bought a well-used T25 for a song on eBay around 2004, and it's been all the home bass amp I've ever needed. They did them up to a 60 (Al Gare used a T60 live and in the studio with Palookaville and the original Imelda May Band, and it was superb). Cracking warm bass sound that defied the tube nerds with its warmth. No idea how it would cope with effects tbh - I don't use them with bass - but lovely stuff. I'd like to try one of the newer Vox bass amps with the plastic(?) shell. Demos all sound great and they look to be very practical for carting around, even if they've lost something in the cosmetic department. Again, something like that housed in a big, square tweed box would be my ideal for the looks...

Yeah, with eBay, best to run a search for 'completed listings'. I've found in the last you can get better prices with a 'buy it now' than an auction, but you sometimes have to be prepared to let it sit available for a bit longer...