Category: Generic

Amplifier Comparison

Song #1 here is through my ’65 Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. The rhythm guitar is through the bass big muff and the little solo is through the tone wicker big muff. The rhythm sounds okay, but the lead… doesn’t.

Song #2 is through my Marshall Valvestate VS265. Same pedal configuration. Everything is much toppier. Isn’t the norm for Fender vs Marshall the opposite? At least through the Marshall the wicker big muff sounds okay. I think I might have toned it down a little too.

So the moral of the story is maybe to not use two fuzz pedals and just crank the fuzz on one and use it all the time. Oh, and turn up the bass on my Marshall amp (if it’s not full up already).

Next practice is Sunday. No dicking with gear allowed as it’s the final run through before my first bar gig in 11 years. The goal is to just blow through everything we know in as short a time as possible.

And the Winner Is

I brought my new Fender Deluxe Reverb amp to practice last night. Plugged it into the wall, and then plugged my Les Paul through the newly rearranged pedal board into the shiny new amp.

Two hours later I unplugged it and plugged my Marshall back in.

It sounds phenomenal at low volume. At rehearsal volume… it sounded like an over-processed, mid rangie slop. I know I can fix it, but there’s no mid control on the amp’s EQ, so maybe an EQ pedal. I’ve been thinking about that anyway. Maybe overdrive instead of fuzz too.

The Marshall sounded clear and mean and filthy and awesome. So now when our gig comes around in July 1st, I am going to be playing through my old, trusty, reliable (so far) Marshall.

Come October’s gig though… We’ll try the Fender again.

What is That Sound?

I was in the cellar tonight, working on my pedal board. I took everything off and then rebuilt it (in a new signal order) one pedal at a time in the hopes of finding where the awful noise I was hearing last Sunday came from. I never found the noise, but that may be because my amp was down as low as I could get it and still hear it.

The first pedal I put in place was my tuner. I plugged it in and played through it, knowing that it wasn’t the culprit, but also wanting to be methodical. I started noodling around because my ES-335 going clean into my Deluxe Reverb sounds pretty wonderful. To my surprise, I did hear a weird noise. What is that sound? It was a high pitch sort of rattle. It was intermittent. Is there something wrong with the spring reverb? Is it related to how hard I pick the string? What is that? I stopped playing. The noise stopped. I started playing again. The noise came back. Okay, I’m getting pissed off now. I stopped playing again and the noise stopped… for a second, then it came back without me playing.

It was not my amp. It was not my guitar. It wasn’t even in the house.

It was a bird.

Singing along.