Jim's Analogue Noise Bunker - Report 6

It feels like, every time I broadcast from the Analogue Noise Bunker, I’m making excuses as to why I haven’t done so in a while. Well, hold on to your hats, because this time I have a doozy!

I didn’t have a computer to write on.

Ha! Take THAT!

But, yes, sadly my last laptop finally gave up the ghost and refused to ignite its operating system anymore. I nearly took it to a tech person, but reasoned that it was about five years old anyway and was very slow, so I may as well just buy a new one. Which is what I’m typing on now!

So, what’s been going on with my musical life? Not a great deal, to be honest, as being without a laptop and coincidentally experiencing a major low mood slump at the same time meant I was essentially living one day at a time. Just… surviving. The phrase “squalor” is the best way to describe my living conditions around that time. I made sure I practiced every day, though, and am very grateful to my friends for persevering with me while my behaviour became somewhat… erratic.

Anyway, misery aside, I’m back on form now and DOING STUFF! Let’s see what that is…

IBANEZ TSA5TVR

I’m finally taking action on this amplifier, which I bought early last year. It’s an awesome sounding piece of kit when it works but, sadly, it has a habit of popping and crackling unpleasantly when its pushed sonically. This seems unnatural. Things improved slightly when I played directly into it from my guitar, but I do like my signal chain, and don’t believe I should have to dispense with it JUST because this amp doesn’t play nice with others. I’ve been recommended an audio servicing company locally so, fingers crosses, this month (after the Christmas madness/shutdown) I’ll haul it down and get them to take a look at it. I partially believe I am to blame for the amp’s problems, as I disconnected the speaker so I could play quietly through the headphone jack (for some bizarre reason, the headphone jack doesn’t mute the speaker), but a few hours later, my friend messaged me (having read the manual that I should have read) and told me to reconnect it straight away. I’m not one of the world’s great engineers, you may have noticed.

VERYTHIN PROBLEMS

I’ve just not been getting decent clean tones out of my Hofner Verythin semi-hollow. Every time I play it, it’s been a battle to get something crisp and punchy from it, particularly out of the neck pickup. I do prefer playing through neck pickups, so this is obviously something I had to sort out. I tried raising and lowering the pickup’s height (using the screws at each length-way side), but that didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I have been browsing for better pickups, as I’m guessing these are the stock Hofner ones and possibly low/medium quality, and was fancying investing in some retro PAF-style humbuckers. These cost a lot of money, however, so I’ve kept up with my signal chain experimentations as a backup. What seems to work best is playing through my Old Blood Noise Endeavours Fault OD pedal, both as a clean boost and an overdrive. I’ve also rolled the tone down on my MXR compressor, but upped its volume. This, combined with using the gain channel on my Blackstar amp (with the level turned up oh-so-slightly, so it acts as just a dirty clean channel), seems to now create the tones I want. Yay! This will all save me about £300+ in a posh set of new pickups and their installation.

PRS 245 SE

I’ve been on the lookout for a Les Paul-style guitar ever since starting playing again after my 2010-2013 hiatus (after having to sell all my equipment due to financial problems). The closest I’ve gotten is my Epiphone SG Custom, which is lovely, but has some fret-buzz issues that I need to have looked at. Anyway, not having the money for (or actually being prepared to pay for) a real Gibson, I’ve been checking out more modestly priced alternatives. Through my own research, I’d narrowed it down to an Ibanez 420 double-cut and a Schecter E-1. The Schecter is really an Explorer, but I’ve been told you get pretty much the same tones as you would with a Les Paul, so hey-ho. A friend, however, recommended the PRS 245, one of which recently came up for sale 2^nd hand locally. It’s in a rather unpleasant platinum finish, but beggar’s can’t be choosy, as they say. I’m paying half price for this mother. Anyway, as of writing (Saturday 05 January 2019) I’ve still only put the reserve down for the PRS but, hopefully, after the weekend, I’ll find the time to pop down to the shop and try it out. I’ve never owned or even tried-out a PRS before, which makes the 245 even more tempting. Apparently, they shouldn’t sound as good as they do for the prices they ask, which is totally counter to the Gibson ethos. I shall report back!

COMPRESSOR #2

I’ve also put the reserve down for a new compressor. As mentioned in previous posts, I’m very new to the whole compression thing and still feel like I’m in the experimentation stage. Buying a second compressor to act as a comparison was something I’d casually decided to do straight after buying my MXR Dyna Comp. Since it wasn’t a priority, I’ve been happy to wait till a decent one turned up 2^nd hand, so along came the Electro Harmonix Soul Preacher Compressor/Sustainer. I’ve checked some reviews and it seems like a good one. Hopefully, after comparing it to my MXR, I’ll be in a better position to understand compression and tell you whether either pedal is good or bad.

That’s all for now, rock gods!

Peace out.