Shelby GT Standard Stratocaster

Wow, sounds kinda like here (North Central Wisconsin).
Lot's of 'so-called' roads here.
I was a truck driver and the company had me drive in a city south of here.
One place I delivered to apologized to me for their out dated loading dock.
I had to laugh at that, and told them that I was on loan from up North....
No loading docks - we had to drive down dear paths to get to most of our places
and unload right out the doors into the mud!!!! LOL

As far as lifting goes - I'm not a huge fan of that with small trucks.
They have narrow widths that, when lifted give a terrible center of gravity.
A bit too dangerous for my tastes.
My Toyo has 31's on it. That's plenty good.

I also have a '76 Bronco.
Best 4x4 I ever saw.
Never gets stuck. Looks the coolest (with rear wheel openings cut out)
Don't know if you can get yer hands on one - Highly recomended for the serious young
off-roader. :D
I would suggest 31's for the Bronco as well.
33's look really good - and that's as big as I would go.

As far as amps go - who has your favorite sound????

Ken

I would most likely only lift the truck enough to give it some travel-two inches at the most. I'd love a Bronco, but I doubt I'll manage to find one. I need something that I can drive every day too. I was thinking about an older Jeep, but they're too expensive and-according to my father-handle erratically. Plus, a pickup would be nice to cart around gear :wink:

My all-time favorite tone would have to be what B.B King and Gary Moore sound like-maybe a little more rough-edged than that. I like a nice, fat sparkling clean sound with some reverb and chorus, but I'm not particularly worried about built-in effects, as I already have a multi effects pedal that does everything I want.

Thanks and Rock On

Ethan

Yeah!!!!
B.B.'s the man.
Love his economical style.
Pure feeling :D - :cry:

I'm not much into Gary Moore.... Although, If you read my hello, you know that my favorite
guitarist is Peter Green from the original Fleetwood Mac (3 guitarists - No girls at that point)
P.G. had a 59 les paul that had a very coveted sound.
As far as I know - Gary Moore ended up with Peter Green's incredible Les Paul.
As far as Gary Moores tone goes - I don't know what he played through, though to me
it didn't sound as if he were going straight through the amp.

From what I know about B.B. -
Lab Series Amp
Volume full up
Reverb at 2
Treble at 8
Bass around 4
And the middle at 5

No pedals or nuthing

10's for strings

And that's quoted from the man himself.

From the sparkling tone you describe - I think Fender Tube amps would be a good choice.
I would suggest playing as many as you can before buying one. (as oppossed to thru M.F. online)
I have played thru many Fender tube amps myself and find most of them to be a bit brittle
and cold for my liking.

Ken

Have to agree with you there. I must say, I'm starting to like you :D

Thanks for the info on B.B King's amp gear. Lab series amps were made by Gibson, right?

I'll have to try that :D

Thanks again man

Rock On

Ethan

P.S: I wonder how hard it would be to get a hold of an Epi Lucille? :twisted:

LOL!!!!
Well, I guess that's good.
I liked you as soon as I saw you were into aviation.
I guess I'm just harder to warm up to. lol

Okay, so....
Yes, Lab Series amps were made by Gibson.
Not too many people liked 'em as I remember.
The L-5 model is what B.B. plays.
Believe it or not - A solid state amp.
100 watts (explains that cutting tone) and 2x12.
You'll probably have to buy a vintage 70's one.
I wouldn't imagine that they'd be too expensive.
Have you ever heard of HarmonyCentral????
They have user reviews there for all kinds of musical equipment.
Might be worth a look see about what they have to say about the L-5.

As far as an Epi-Lu goes....
You can pick one up on Musicians friend for $700.00
And have it shipped to your door.
The reviews on there look pretty favorable for that model.

Ken

Hey!
I checked out L-5's on HC and the owners seemed to like 'em pretty well.
They have the reliability of solid state amps going for 'em.
Pretty much agreed that it has a wonderful clean sound.
The onboard effects don't seem to be liked all that much.
The key though, is a good, loud clean sound.
If you have that - you can build anything you want from there with pedals.
The prices went from around 150 -350 bucks over the span of the last couple years.
Not too bad of a price for something that big.

Then I went on ebay.
There is an L-5 on there now. The compression effect doesn't work on it though.
Also a smaller L-3.

Just thought I'd tell ya

Ken

Lab Series amps sound perfect. I'm not worried about built in effects, and as long as I knew the amp worked I'd be willing to order one.

I think I'll pass on the Epi Lucille. I've found the guitar half of my tone, I just need to decide on an amp :D

I don't really use drastic effects, only reverb, chorus and delay to fatten it up. Sometimes I'll add the Wah pedal, and occasionaly I'll turn up the gain for a little fuzz

How do you think the Lab Series will sound with active EMG pickups?

And oh, yeah, I've liked you since you responded to my hello thread. You've been a sort of mentor to me since I joined this site :D

My father's an ATC here so it was kind of impossible for me not to get into aviation :D

Thanks again and Rock On

Ethan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqAuuIDU2sw

This would be the type of tone I like. Something between what Gary and what B.B sound like here. Somewhat cleaner than Moore, but a little more rough-edged than B.B King.

Thanks man and Rock On

Ethan

Well, thank you Ethan for your kind words.
I could see that you were a precocious lad (much like myself)
So I took to that right away I guess.
You're a fine young man, and your Father has done a fine job and should be proud.
I hope I do as well raising my four year old son. :D

As far as the Lab amps go - yeah, built in effects are nothing to get excited about.
I am however a little concerned about the compression effect on the one availiable.
It seemed to me that some of the HC reviewers said that effect gave it a sweet singing sustain.
So, I'm thinking that without it - It might not deliver that B.B. King sound.
I would hold off on that one and keep looking for one that everything works on.
I don't know how easily it could be fixed as that amp was designed by Moog.

Also - as far as the gain goes on the L5, it seemed as if it had something along those lines.
The owners didn't seem to be too happy with the amps gain sound. And for good reason.
I don't know how many amps you've been around, or what types....
I will tell you this though;
Solid State amp overdrive/gain/distortion is .... well, at a young age with ears not quite "tone" crazy,
that sound might be okay.
You seem to have a pretty good idea of what Tone you want though. (I'm impressed :) )
And even if you didn't quite recognize it yet, it wouldn't be too long before you would HATE Solid State gain sound.
The thing is, Tube amps sound SOOOO goooood because they send out an EVEN harmonic sound pattern that agrees with
the way we percieve pleasant sound to be. On the other hand - Solid State 'fuzz' is on an ODD frequency pattern.
So it doesn't sound quite right. Almost Not-Natural if you can 'visualize' that.
So, I would say try keeping the amp clean and using analog distortion or some pedals that have actual tubes in them to create a tube overdrive sound.

As for the pups -
For the longest time, I was into the passive sound.
Now though, for a great blues sound, I gotta have active. They're just so much more "alive"!!!!
I think they'll be just what you're looking for. :D

Ken

I'm sure you'll do great raising your son.

Thanks much for your kind words and all your help.

Well, I can get compression out of my multi-effects pedal, and I don't really use gain at all. Maybe some out of my pedals, but that's it. Would any compression give me that right sound, or would it have to be Lab Series compression? Compression is a huge help to an SG guy, because as nice as the guitars are they're famous for a lack of sustain.

I've never really even played through a tube amp as my last guitar instructor was a metal guy and played a Les Paul through a solid-state Crate

Also, I need an absolute tank of an amp when it comes to reliability

I don't think there's any chance of a tube amp in my future really.

An L5 sounds just about perfect though

Thanks much and Rock On

Ethan

Yes, my '63 had very little sustain. Even less than usual because of the vibrolla tailpiece, and a nut problem
that I'll go into some other time perhaps.

Like I said - mine was all mahogany - very dark. Very little high end and limited midrange (hard on the ears for a Fender guy :D )
It did do Clapton's "woman" tone from the Cream era dead on though.
(fyi - Neck pos. pup with the guitar's tone control at zero, guitar volume at 10)

Well, I'm sure that ANY compression would give it.... compression.
As I mentioned - that amp was designed by Moog, so I'm guessing that the effects were Moog's.
And I would imagine that, that would give it a signature sound.
On the other hand - if the price is right... go for it.
You can always get another (you can never have too much musical equipment :) )
And ya never know, you might figure out how to fix it.

Yeah, tube amps can be bothersome. And expensive.
Some 'Tank' tube amps though would be a Fender Twin Reverb. If you were gunna go w/a tube amp,
I think that would be pretty close to the sound you are into.
Orange amps are Tanks +. Great warm British tube crunch!!!! :D
VERY EXPENSIVE!!!!

I think the L5 is a great choice. It's what one of your tone champions plays, and is something out of the ordinary
at a decent price. And also something that can take a lot of abuse.
Like I said - as long as you aren't going to rely on it for S.S. gain crunch and play it pretty clean,
At 100 watts and those hot EMG active humbuckers - oh yeah. (%

Ken

Well, that's it. I'll have to get one now.

They sound absolutely awesome, and it should be a step up from my acoustic amp. :lol:

Unfortunately, though, I tend to buy gear VERY conservatively-I like to have as little wasted space as possible. Took me a year to get a floor stand :lol:

Also, I never use effects built into the amp, unless there's a chorus switch like on my current amp. What would be a good analog distortion pedal to look into?

Thanks again and Rock On

Ethan

P.S: I just noticed how badly this thread got hijacked :lol:

WOW!!!!
I just checked out that youtube link w/Gary Moore and B.B. King....
Bliss......
That was Peter Green's "Magical" Les Paul that G.M. was playing!!!!
I can't believe he takes it out!
It's PRICELESS!!!!

Well, as for pedals, I don't really use them myself.
You might wanna have a new thread just for that.
Although - most of the 'bluesy' guitar players I know use an Ibenez Tube Screamer (including My guitar mentor, the same
guy who now owns my '63 SG and got me into Peter Green - Uncle Bobby )
There's a pretty good write up about Tube Screamers on Wikipedia.
EDIT - Marshall makes a pedal called the Blues Breaker which might give some of that Brit. Blues sound (eg Clapton
from the BluesBreakers era, Peter Green from The Mac/BluesBreakers, Mick Taylor from the BluesBreakers/Stones)

Here is a Fleetwood Mac vid with Peter Green playing the same L.P. that G.M. was using in your B.B. vid.
Danny Kirwan is singing and playing as well. He has Impecable technique and finger vibrato. Watch him closely to get
some good tips on proper vibrato techniques.
He breaks a string during his solo trying to get a snarky sound by hitting the string close to the bridge and breaks it
at the pinchpoint on the bridge. Forced to keep going - he has to tone his solo down as he doesn't have that high string any
more. And notice the broken string fall back across the fretboard - you can see it looks like he's playing and no sound is
coming out. Broken strings are a major hazzard. :lol:

Also check out world keeps turning for some solo P.G. from the same show playing that L.P.

I wouldn't worry too much about the thread - It was never about what it started out as anyway. :lol:
Besides - anybody's welcome to throw in their opinion about what we're talking about.

Ken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ8AcEYTEFY

See, I knew Gary didn't have tone like that normally :wink:

That clip was awesome. I'd only ever heard of Peter Green, didn't know the rest of Fleetwood Mac, but I must say I'm impressed. B.B King is a huge idol for me, personally I think he's a much more talented musician then any metal player I've ever heard.

I've heard of those Blues Breakers, I'll have a look and see if that would be tone I'd like.

Also, I've written a song I'd love your help with, I'll post it soon

Thanks and Rock On

Ethan

I'd love to give ya a hand with a song.
Hopefully you mean more lyrically....?
You can always send me a personal message if you wanna work on it without posting it.

I just got back from Chicago about a week ago - B.B. was playing a couple gigs there at the time.
Unfortunately I could't make the shows.
My girlfriend is also Huge on the blues.
It's funny that you changed your signature to Little Wing.... That's our song.
Specifically the Derek & the Domino's version ( with the GREAT Duane Allman doing the heavy work on that one!!!! )
There's a youtube vid of Clapton doing it with Cheryl Crow - That's gunna be the first song we dance to after we're married. :D

As for P.G.'s L.P. -
Notice the neck pup???? The pole pieces are on the wrong side.
It was spun 180 in the mounting ring.
As any lover of Gibbo ES-295's will attest - that liitle bit of space away from the neck makes a huge tonal difference.
Also - that neck pup had the wiring wound in reverse - making it a passive (eg. my passive neck pup phase) out of phase
pickup.
If you ever did wanna swap out your EMG's - my suggestion would be Gibbo PAF reissues.

:!: EDIT - Just for you Ethan: B.B. uses stock Gibbo 490R & 490T humbuckers in his Lucille :wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5FMm6TtR9M - here's P.G.'s story, worth a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX_xi5CBO5E - and here's Oh Well, great shots of THE Les Paul and a light hearted Peter.

Ken