Sup Y'all, It's been a while

[jackassrock]

What's up gearheads ? Haven't been around this part of the internet in a few months, so I thought I'd drop by and see what's up. Gar been banned yet ?

Well, since I've been gone I've been up to my old tricks, got rid of my Kustom Tuck and Roll Bass amp

and got an Ampeg SVT3 with some Eden cabs (a 2x15 and a 2x10), sorry no pic, but it sounds a whole lot better. I use it occasionally for one off bands where I get to play the bass. And of course the bass player in my band uses it as opposed to his 100w Crate.

On the band front, I'm now operating in a live band karaoke band that gigs weekly and let me tell ya, it wasn't easy finding the right amp for that job. Our setlist is over 150 songs that get picked by whomever is signing up to sing, so the JCM800 was kinda out of the question. I tried the Blues Deville that you can see half of in the pic of the bass rig, but Fender drive channels are lame. I tried my Marshall 6101, but with all the bells and whistles, there wasn't any reverb, and the clean sounds were not so good. Went back to fender by trading a Musicmaster bass for a Hot Rod Deluxe and guess what, Fender drive tones still suck.

Eventually I ended up buying a Blackstar HT40...

and I LOVE THE SHIT OUT OF IT !!!!!!

It's versitile, the cleans are chimey and sweet, just like a real Fender (meaning not the hot rods, which I was soooo disappointed with), and the gain channel is freaking awesome. Here's a clip of it used for a solo on my upcoming cd. The second half of the solo where it changes to C# is me with the Blackstar. Not too shabby tonally IMO. The rhythm is the trusty ol JCM and the guitar is a Les with an EMG 81.

Jackass - Wrong Place Clip

The best part about it is that I can carry my guitar and amp into the club in one trip now. This is the first amp I've used in over 10 years that sounds good enough to where I'm not missing my half stack at all, and that includes the 30th anniversary 6101. It sounds WAY better to me.

In even more news, the karaoke band has had me reaching into the guitar collection, cause everything doesn't have to sound "heavy" all the time. In fact I wouldn't use an EMG equipped guitar for that gig at all, so it's giving me the excuse to dig guitars out of the closet and dust them off for some playing time. This one has been my fave as of late. A '76 Ibanez IC210. The so called "Steve Miller" guitar. They say the fly like an eagle album was recorded entirely using one of these. And while that is not impressive to me so much, it's a really cool guitar and I dig playing it.



Up next is gonna have to be the Custom shop V that's been sitting so long the strings rusted. Anybody else got any cool new stuff ?

[jhale667]

Welcome back! Nice gear!

To answer your first question: YES.
SVTs rock, can understand why you dig it over the Kustom. The Blackstar sounds pretty cool in that clip. And I have a question for you - what the hell kinda pickup is that in the IC210?

[jackassrock]

Got me !
Some kind of Ibanez triple bucker. The rotary goes from;
1. single coil
2. something cool and out of phase
3. humbucker
4. all three coils

I've been doing a little research, and it's pretty rare. Only a couple hundred ever made this way. It looks like it's never been used except for the nicks on the front and some corrosion of the pickup cover. I bought it that way about 5 or 6 years ago. Other than that it's all original, there's absolutely zero buckle rash, and the made in japan sticker is still on the back of the headstock. Even the sticker looks like it was just put there yesterday. It plays grrrreat too, so much better than the 90s IC400 that still dwells in the guitar closet.

[indeedido]

That is an odd looking pickup on that Iceman. I dig the Blackstar too. Each one I come across I like more and more. I want to try out the HT60 club.

[jackassrock]

I bet the 60watter is pretty fuckin tough sounding. I went 40 cause of the nature of the gig. Can't really get too loud, cause the amatures have to be able to hear themselves sing really well. Even at 40w I don't have to turn it past 5 to play with drums, bass, and another guitarist.

[Nitro Express]

I was dragged off to see The Osmonds when I was a little kid. Their whole back line were those Kustom tuck and roll amps and cabs.

[indeedido]

I bet the 60watter is pretty fuckin tough sounding. I went 40 cause of the nature of the gig. Can't really get too loud, cause the amatures have to be able to hear themselves sing really well. Even at 40w I don't have to turn it past 5 to play with drums, bass, and another guitarist.

40 watts is a perfect amount of power. I just like the tone of two 2x12s over one. Very cool amps.

[Alvins]

are they customized once , cause they look like they are custom made . . . !!!
i myself prefer using custom made speakers .

[jackassrock]

It's a new company. First year of production I think.

Another cool thing about it is that it's a closed back cab. It's a lot punchier than any combo I've ever used. Eventually I'll swap out the Celestion Seventy80 that's in it for something with a little more color. Just gotta get through the wallet drain that is christmas time first. Also my other guitarist works at a music store and is gonna get me the extension cab at cost. FUCKYEAH !