Elantric's Tips and Blog

Started by Elantric, May 27, 2012, 07:16:34 AM

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Elantric


Elantric


Elantric

#152
If your DSP Amp Modeler patches exhibit excessive low frequencies, they might sound great at low volume at home, but know this has the effect of minimizing the maximum sound pressure level available at your live gig for guitar frequencies from your FRFR powered PA cab. If you feed a lot of bass into your Powered PA cab, its power amp will work harder and generate heat and most modern Powered PA cabs have built  thermal management and compression  that kicks in and will minimize the possible max volume level. If you cut the bass, the PA cab will get louder SPL.     On your DSP Amp modeler,  create patches with more midrange and lower the Bass frequencies  - leave room for your Bass player to handle those low notes and your band's live  sound will improves and be less muddy with more note definition.     

The dbx GO-Rack set to Mid Boost inserted between your DSP Amp modeler and your FRFR Power PA cab might instantly solve your problems of being heard on stage at live gigs. 



or consider other EQ tools for guitarists 

Elantric

#153
I can judge ANY DSP TUBE AMP Modeller in a few easy steps.

1) crank the amp up to gig volume with a high gain patch , stand 6 feet away from the Amp with a well setup Les Paul on Bridge PU, Guitar Vol on "10"  and a straight 1/4" guitar cord plugged straight into the amp under review.

2 )  Fret an E power chord ("A" position at 7th fret) with open low E string  - ), and with one Pete Townsend style power strum hit all the strings once , and then

3 ) hold the chord with your left hand and spend the next full minute carefully listening to what the DSP Amp delivers as the strings vibration naturally decay


I analyze the following :

The initial Attack transient ( was it too spikey or too spongy with too much sag)

The sustain , (a good DSP Amp sustains just as well as the real tube amp)

Around 15-30 seconds after the one power strum and all string vibration decays to a low level and have less energy/ less amplitude delivered into the Guitar input jack is the key area of interest for me.
At some point specific to each Amp under review (with all noise gates disabled and off ) a poor designed DSP amp will no longer deliver the remaining sound of your barely vibrating strings , instead it delivers its own poor noise floor of hiss and noise , and bury the sound of the last remaining string vibration energy.

The best ones (like my AXE-FX into a QSC K12 cab, Boss Katana Amps ) will deliver a complete range of musical expression for nearly a full minute after the one power chord strum

The poor ones will begin to sputter and choke around 15- 20 seconds. Lacking good dynamic range makes it impossible to play many styles of music

Elantric


Elantric


Elantric

http://www.guitarworld.com/why-do-experienced-musicians-make-mistakes


Why Do Experienced Musicians Make Mistakes?
Posted 09/23/2016 by Damian Fanelli , photo by Damian Fanelli


Share5
Why Do Experienced Musicians Make Mistakes?
I spoke to Paul Jackson Jr. at a recent Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The talented Jackson used to be the guitarist in the American Idol house band.

"It blows my mind that you never make mistakes," I told him. "I couldn't do your job."

"Nah, don't say that," Jackson said. "You could do it. I make mistakes; it's just that no one can tell—unless I'm playing something like 'Reeling in the Years,' because everyone out there knows that guitar solo note for note."

He was just being nice. The guy is a machine. And if he does make a mistake, it's some incredibly tiny thing even other good musicians wouldn't pick up on—minor faults he creates or imagines—because, as a bandmate of mine once said, we (musicians) are our own worst enemies.

My band often performs at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill on 42nd Street in New York City. But I remember our first gig there really well. The place was packed; the band was well-rehearsed; the staff fed us well and poured red wine (and Red Bull) down our gullets, treating us like the swell blokes we are. Our friends were there, plus plenty of strangers. The sound crew did a great job. We even had chord charts right there in front of us. Yet we all made careless mistakes throughout the show. Now, before we get carried away, let me put this in perspective. I don't mean "regular person" mistakes (gigantic errors even your Aunt Paula and Uncle Ronnie would notice). I mean "musician" mistakes (errors other serious musicians might notice). These include playing a wrong chord or a bum note, coming in early, dropping out late, playing a quick E chord instead of a G, etc.

Why? Nerves! Well, that and unfamiliarity with some of the material or the situation. Come on, we were standing on the same stage where Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons have stood in recent years. And why the hell was the place so packed? Who are we, Gwar?

But, like anything else, mistakes fade with repetition. When I toured California in ancient times (2007), our first show—a radio station in San Diego—was a clumsy affair. Yeah, we were tired, but we also were distracted by the whole San Diego-ness of it all, and we let some errors (again, "musician" errors) creep in. But by the last show of that tour (a dark, moody place in El Segundo), we were perfect. I couldn't screw up if I tried. I even tempted fate by playing things I'd never even tried before—and I could do no wrong. All three of us sounded like the guys you hear on your favorite live albums.

And that's the point, really. The best live albums are recorded near—or at—the end of long tours. All the kinks have been worked out, all the uncertainty is gone. All the "Hey, Jeff Beck played this same note on this same stage!" is out of waaaaay your system (I mean, who gives a rat's ass?).

I'm not about to run to Best Buy, snatch up the first few seasons of American Idol and see if Jackson screwed up in the first few episodes. But, if I were to do that, I wouldn't be shocked if he played with a little less certainty back then. Ah, who am I kidding? The guy's a machine!

Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World.

Elantric

#157
Around this time of year 50 years ago the Sears Roebuck Christmas Wishbook would arrive and I'd review this page several times a day the whole month of December

And wishing Santa would leave one for me under the tree Christmas morning



More memories of 1966

http://192.185.93.157/~wishbook/1966_Sears_Wishbook/index.htm

Elantric


Elantric

#159
This Japanese site is following and translating my VGuitarforums posts in Japanese

I'm humbled



https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://d.hatena.ne.jp/mitsubamushi/20160205/p1&prev=search

Elantric

2016 and the clash have never been more relevant


Elantric

#161
Understanding your System Gain stage structure  is crucial for best audio performance and lowest noise and distortion. 

recently found an old 1980's Ramsa Mixer manual with a helpful signal level (Solid Line) vs noise floor (dashed Line)  diagram


Elantric


Elantric

http://hardway.quantum-foam.com/daf.html



This is an old, old, trick that I learned from a guitar store owner in the 1960s. If you take your solid-body electric guitar and press the end of the headstock against a door, it will amplify the sound of your playing very considerably.

I do this all the time with my Strats on 6-panel pine doors, but it works well with hollow doors, too.

This also confirms that the headstock and neck have a lot to do with the resonance and tone of a guitar.

I know a lot of people already know about this, but this is for those who have maybe never tried it.

I am not sure what the DAF (Door Amplification Factor) is, but I am going to do some measurements and get back to you. In my house, the solid pine doors are loudest, followed by the hollow slab doors. The metal entrance doors are not very good at all.

Elantric


Elantric

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153970586479308&set=a.10152286978279308.1073741850.772499307&type=3&theater



1972 - By the time of the Who's Next tour, the (Bob Heil) FOH mixing position had moved towards the back.

Here's a photo of (opening act) West, Bruce & Laing's backline from FOH position.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West,_Bruce_and_Laing

Elantric



Elantric

#168
Stock Gibson T.O.M style bridges have fixed 12" radius

Here are two Problem solver T.O.M Style bridges from Gotoh with adjustable radius to accommodate alternate radius fretboards






Gotoh 510BN Height Adjustable Saddles Tune-O-Matic Bridge
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191854458626?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT



and


http://g-gotoh.com/international/product/510fb.html
Gotoh 510FB Height Adjustable Saddles Tune-O-Matic Bridge

Elantric


Elantric

#170
You know you are getting old when


people you used to hang with are no longer around

I used to see him at Steve Lukather shows at the Palamino in LA 20 years ago.

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/miguel-ferrer-dies-ncis-los-211527976.html


Elantric

#171
Interesting blog from Byron Fry , an LA session player that I was recently made aware of

http://byronfry.com/2016/02/22/burning-electric-wheels-on-auto-tuned-horseless-carriages/




My exposure to and indoctrination into all of this was thanks to my having recently made the acquaintance of the aforementioned Don Ramsay, a very gentlemanly, unassuming, soft-spoken mechanical genius, who in turn introduced me to Thomas Nordegg, the mad genius behind some very audacious guitar-techery.  Thomas, Don and Steve Conrad (the most knowledgeable guy alive for guitar electronics, according to Don) kept feeding me hi-tech weaponry at the Bogner booth, ceaselessly flipping switches and changing sounds as I played, from various open tunings, to bass, to 12-string acoustic, to a piccolo mating with a canary.  I was so far outside my comfort zone I couldn't even see it from where I was.

In my world at least, these guys occupy the headwaters of the guitar invention river and the tip of the spearhead.  They have such a healthy and complete disregard for tradition, just to be around them I have to re-evaluate what is and isn't sacred between me and my instrument, and in a broader context, humankind's relationship with technology.  This last is of course a long-standing area of concern for me; I'm writing this piece as much to define my new personal boundaries as anything else.  That said, let's introduce the players and set the stage:



Thomas Nordegg with "Sonica"


Meeting with Mr Yoshihiro Ikegami ( Head of Roland / Boss Guitar products)
(with Thomas Nordegg)
https://www.vintageguitar.com/26857/thomas-nordegg/


Elantric


Elantric

#173