GarethFlatlands

Yeah, I guess there's a limited number of circuits out there that provide pleasing sounding overdrive.

[quote name='Jacqueslemac' timestamp='1471204050' post='3111269'] I recall reading that he covered the important bits up (wax or resin or something) so no-one could work out exactly how the amps were wired. [/quote] I heard a rumour (and nothing more) that someone took a peek under some of the covered circuitry and it was just a Tube Screamer providing the overdrive. No idea if it's true or not and my ears aren't good enough to tell if it's even plausible or not.

Loved the first 2 albums, bought the 3rd and was really disappointed with it and have pretty much ignored everything since then. The bass on the first 2 albums is excellent, really interesting playing that makes the sometimes minimal guitar lines into an actual song. It's a bit sickening to think bass isn't his first instrument and wasn't interested in it but still managed to come up with the great lines he did. Obstacle 1 or Say Hello To The Angels would be my suggested starting point.

They seem to be a holy grail as far as amps go and have price tags to match, possibly due to their rarity. I doubt I'll ever play or even see one in the flesh in my lifetime. They sound very nice to my ears but not a sound I'd use, too bluesy for me so no, no idea what the fuss is all about. There's a bunch of other amps for a lot less money I'd choose before a Dumble.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1469883028' post='3101745'] Presumably you can enjoy an evening out whether you use a compressor or not? [/quote] I see what you did there

Light compression always on for me in case I get carried away and smack the strings too hard. I like the evening out it gives me so I can concentrate on hitting the right notes and not worry about unintended volume spikes. As ever, each to their own.

A few interesting bits but I didn't make it past about 7 songs. "Blackstar" and "Always Crashing in the Same Car" were good but the rest didn't do anything for me. Any celebration of Bowie and an attempt to do something different gets my respect anyway, fair play to them for pushing the boat out.

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1469643064' post='3100016'] Cheers guys! Typically I have a Line6 M5 but use it on a different board. [/quote] I love my M5, not found a use for a lot of the sounds but there's a few absolute gems and I can always find something when I'm asked to "do something weird". I'd suggest getting a backup but a stand alone pedal might give you a better sound so the PH3 seems like a good choice. Hope it works out for you.

The Line 6 M model pedals have a setting called Barber Pole Phaser which sounds like it might be what you're after. Video below, starts around 4:29. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmfBorwRasI"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmfBorwRasI[/url]

Have you tried the comp on it's own to see if it's working properly? Might be the gain compensation on the pedal playing up. If you have and it's only with the buffer then I have no clue.

There's been a few of these threads so I'll just pick one from my usual list and say John Curley from the Afghan Whigs. Greg Dulli's rhythm guitar playing was hugely basic most of the time and Rick McCollum (an under-rated guitar player if we ever do a list of those) was usually off doing his own thing but Curley managed to wring a lot of melodic lines that sat nicely between the 2 and kept the beat while not being overtly flashy. The 3 players often seem to be doing completely different things but everything really melded together. Underrated band generally imo.

I guess it's not much of a problem these days but I've found some older songs have had their speed adjusted, altering the pitch and making it really hard to figure out by ear. A couple of Bowie songs gave me trouble for that reason. As for the moving your fingers around until you find the right note approach, it has it's uses. If there's no tab or chord charts, I've used it a lot to figure out the first notes of a riff or sequence and then taken it from there, using theory and experience to figure the rest out. If you're doing it for every note, then I'd advise refining your approach but it's a little churlish to dismiss it unless you've got perfect pitch, especially if you're going in blind.

Real shame, I was never an Elvis fan but I remember seeing a video of them playing live and being blown away by Scotty's guitar playing. Seems an appropriate time to go an learn some of his lines.

Tube Screamer - Weak drive and a mid hump I couldn't dial out. EQ didn't seem to do a whole lot either. I assume it works in a band setting or for bluesy stuff but I didn't get on with it as I don't play that kind of stuff. Had a Bad Monkey for a while and kind of liked it on bass but sold it for something a bit more dirty.

Caught a few bits here and there while channel hopping, nothing really grabbed me so far. I thought I was getting old but watching most of the stuff there, I think I'm not sliding into middle age quick enough as a lot of it seemed really bland. The girlfriend and I thought Squeeze were really good and were pleasantly surprised to find we enjoyed Last Shadow Puppets, not knowing their stuff beforehand. We're both Muse fans so that was the highlight so far for us.

Spent years not listening to them because I couldn't stand Moz but got a best of in recent years and really enjoy it. Not enough to become an obsessive collector but they had some great tunes. I got The Sound of the Smiths off Amazon, 23 songs which I guess is as good a place as any to start, should give you a good flavour of them and they're something you'd be interested in.

Realised I'd stopped being a fan when "By The Way" came out and largely disliked everything I've heard since but this was pretty good. The 4 chord chorus is wearing very thin but the instrumentation and playing elsewhere are different enough to past songs that I listened to the whole thing and enjoyed it. I'm not rushing out to buy the album but I'm not going to roll my eyes and dive for the power button when it comes on the radio.

Found one here, not sure if you've tried it already. [url="https://driverscollection.com/?H=Delta%20Audiophile%202496&By=M-AUDIO&SS=Windows%20XP"]https://driverscollection.com/?H=Delta%20Audiophile%202496&By=M-AUDIO&SS=Windows%20XP[/url]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1465578728' post='3069444'] Are you sure this wasn't like a fight club sort of thing, where it is actually you starting a competing group to get at yourself? [/quote] My memory is hazy so it's possible. It would explain all the soap.

Thanks Alan, my guess for the body was ash because of the light weight but I'd never have got the top woods. I've got practice on Sunday so I'll take it down to play through the guitarist's amp and see how she sounds.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1465472017' post='3068512'] That's actually a good band name. [/quote] [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Collapse"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Collapse[/url] Not a band name but track 7. Had this a couple of times. The second time we'd picked the name The Slow Blade and then found out there was another band at the other end of the country with the same one. We played different genres and I hate touring so there was little chance of running into them. If they'd asked us to change it we probably would have done but it never turned into an issue. First one was weirder. Another band claimed they'd also happened to come up with the name 65daysofstatic which was dubious. Really odd thing was, they were based in my home town of Chester and one of them was also called Gareth which left me with a few awkward questions to answer. They disappeared pretty fast.

You may have spotted ACG selling off some guitar prototypes in the affiliates forum recently and I'm one of the lucky few that got one. It arrived today and it's a beauty! Needs a very minor setup as expected but it already plays stunningly. I keep taking it out the case for one more noodle. Not sure what the woods are but acoustically it's bright sounding and has a strong attack which I like. Not had the chance to play it through an amp yet but that will be an exciting day. Side note but Alan was a pleasure to deal with.

Looks like the squeals are being done by a keyboard with some kind of ribbon controller. Might be worth getting a Korg Monotron (or a Duo) and trying that out? They're only around £30-40 so you've not lost too much money if it's not what you're after.

The M5 is by my PC but the power supply is elsewhere in the flat. I'll check for you tomorrow and let you know what the controls are and how tweakable it is.

[quote name='Left Foot' timestamp='1464819665' post='3062970'] Cheers gareth, can you slow the sequence down at all? [/quote] I'm 90% sure the speed of the sweep was something you could set but I can't find anything to confirm this. I'll dig my M5 out and check out how it works in more detail if you want to know.