Well, we all survived the return of my music production journal, so let us see if we can recreate that chaotic vibe from Transmission 8! I won’t have to try hard. I actually quite liked chronicling my musical adventures through the equipment I use, rather than date and time stamping each section. This way feels more, I don’t know, organic and personal.
Let us indeed rock and maybe not roll as we can damage equipment that way!
EASTWOOD AIRLINE H59
I call him “Sparkles”, because his gold foil pickups sound sparkly! I had an Eastwood guitar a few years ago and, for reasons I cannot now recall, sold it. That one had four standard single coil pickups on it, which all sounded rather toothless, but when you switched it to its Jazzmaster/Jaguar-style “rhythm” setting, it created a unique tone that I would die for. So, yes, I could really do with one of those again. The H59 was an instance of love at first sight. Quite literally. I was in my local guitar shop, Rich Tone Music, purchasing my Jazz Chorus and a rare Epiphone amp when, lo and behold, there the H59 sat in their second hand area. I had noticed it for sale on Rich Tone’s website, but it wasn’t until I was stood there, basking in its presence, that I couldn’t take my eyes of it! I nearly grabbed and paid for it right there and then, but I realised I had two fucking amps to haul back home in a taxi. So I didn’t. But I did later on that day, once I got home and recovered from taking two electrical appliances up three flights of stairs. Not a job I would recommend doing by yourself! I’m now trying to think where I’d first seen gold foil pickups, but my guitar guru did recommend them, as they have a very unique tone. A Telecaster? Hmm, maybe a Gretsch model. I’m literally thinking out loud here. Well, more like thinking through my fingers. So not literally “out loud”. Anyway, the range of tones is like a Stratocaster gone nuts. Very hard and bell like to very light and sparkly. The novelty of having a volume and tone knob for each pickup is one of the things that endeared me to the instrument. Pictures simply don’t do them justice, as they just look hideous. But in person. I mean in person. Wow, you will fall in love like I did!
NEO VENTILATOR II
Still nothing. I have found the manual online though, so I shall be taking a look at that tonight. I seem to be having bad luck with this sort of thing anyway, as I can’t even get a chorus effect out of my Jazz Chorus 22 amplifier. And that sucker has it built in! It’s times like this that I switch everything off and go for a lie down. Which is happening now. Well, one day after the previous sentence I sit waiting for some workmen from the council to arrive, so I’m brawsing the user manual to fathom this baffling pedal. So far so simple enough, just like its reader. I’m understanding most of the terminology, so fingers crossed they keep it at a noob-friendly level. I will update you further in a later transmission, no doubt. I’ve just been watching videos of proper Leslie speakers and, hot damn, I really hope this thing recreates that sound like it promises!
ROLAND JAZZ CHORUS 22
It’s actually turning out to not be as loud as it seemed when I first tried it out, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting its potential. Sure, I’m not exactly playing it at music festival volume, but I am getting a nice tone out of it at “bedroom” level. I think it’s at about 7 o’clock on the knob. It also goes really well with the above gold foil pickups, as the amp is naturally rather sparkly too. I’m still not 100% convinced I have the stereo leads connected properly, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.
GRETSCH G6199 BILLY-BO JUPTIER THUNDERBIRD
Wow, what a mouthful! Now that has to be a record for convoluted guitar names. I shall just call him “Jupiter Boy”, or something. Okay, I’ll work on the name and get back to you. I’ve wanted one of these for years and years and years, but, gosh darned it, I’ve either not had the cash or they’ve gone out of circulation/production. Then, as I was idly shopping around for alternatives to the now-tragically-closed GAK music store, I found a Thunderbird on the Anderton’s website! I’ve shopped with Anderton’s many times before, and used to watch their YouTube channel (before they tiresomely got onboard with the whole “Please like and subscribe and share!” thing, which got real old real fast), so it’s not like they’re a complete GAK replacement. Anyway, they suddenly had 1 of these in stock and 1 only. So, what does a fat homo who’s single, childless, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drive, and just quit alcohol spend his money on?! Well he buys a Gretsch G6199 Billy-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird, of course! It arrived today and… WOW! This is dream tone stuff. A beautifully boxy sound, which some may consider ugly, but I adore it. There’s something for everyone! The overall look has that Gerry Anderson/Star Trek TOS retro-vision of the future, the one with all the grilles and dials and levers, which is one of my happy places. You may count this as another reason why I wanted one. The specs layout will take some getting used to, as the bridge is higher up the body than I’m used to. Where I rest my palm to mute the strings will need to change. It also appears to have a wooden acoustic part to the bridge, which is odd. I’m sure this part has an official name, but I’ll be darned if I can remember it right now. The guitar is very light, reminding me of my Guild Bluesbird. Chambered, basically. I believe a lot of Gretsch’s are, so that’s no surprise. I do have a Double Jet, which I should really give another go. Oh and a Junior Jet, which has only one P90 at the bridge. This Junior Jet I’ve setup for slide playing, by shoving a raised nut under the strings and over the original nut. Saves having to take it to a guitar shop to get modified! I have yet to purchase a Joan Jett, but I think that’s a person and not a guitar. So I’m more than happy to welcome the Thunderbird or “Jupiter Boy” into my broader guitar family. Am I running a fucking foster home here?! Well, nobody’s paying me to do it, so I’m guessing no. I shall report on this exciting new arrival once I have done more breaking in.
ELECTRO HARMONIX SOUL PREACHER
Ah compression, so important and yet so disdainful! I didn’t realise how key compression was to the recording process until I listened back to some of my older recordings. Clean. As. A. Whistle. Then I listened to this recording I made a couple of years ago. What. A. Mess. So I sat there and asked myself: “What’s changed in my playing?! I’m a better guitarist now than I was 15-years-ago, so why do I sound so uneven on this recent track?!”. Then it hit me - compression! I was actually using it in my first recordings without realising it. I fed everything I played through the Line 6 Floor Pod Plus, which has its own inbuilt compressor. To paraphrase Meat Loaf, you can get away with an uneven performance live, but when that mic is in your face or amp grille, you’re in trouble. I came to the revelation about the Floor Pod only recently, so I shall knowingly be using a compressor during recordings from now on. But which?! Out of the two pedal varieties I have, the MXR Dyna Comp works best with me. The Electro Harmonix (henceforth “EHX”) Soul Preacher hasn’t won me over yet. No EHX pedal has actually. Their spendy Attack Decay is impenetrably complicated, to the point where I almost believe mine is simply broken. I do have the East River Drive, which I believe is fine, but you’d have to try hard to make a drive pedal tricky to figure out. Even for me. So far, this Soul Preacher is popping all over the place, hinting at loose wiring, and the compression cuts the volume far too much. I fear I’d need to whack my amp up to dangerous volumes to actually get useable sound out of it. But, let’s face it, I’m not going to be using it for casual jamming sessions, which is all I’m doing at the moment. Compression does tend to make me feel travel sick anyway, so less is more! I’ll play about with the Soul Preacher and fingers crossed won’t have to switch over to the Dyna Comp. I believe in giving things more than one chance. I’m nice like that.
Well, I think that’s all for this second of my resurrected transmissions. They’re meant to be the sound engineering equivalent of my cultural digests, but hopefully they’ll still be fun to read for those without any experience or even an interest in music production.
If I can do it, you can do it.
I’ve got plenty of ideas for things to record, so it’s just a case of refreshing my software knowledge and waiting for a day when it’s cool enough to get going. Finding yourself surrounded by electrified musical equipment when you’re as prone to perspiring as myself is a terrifying experience indeed!
Do stay in touch, darlings.
Toodles!
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