The Hype

[rahimiiii]

Ok I will probably attract a lot of flames but here goes:

I think Callaham block is hype. I have played strats with reissue tremolo unit (with steel block) and callaham units and honestly I can't tell the difference. Some of the differences like machined bevel and extended string hole is purely functional but from a tone perspective I just could not tell the difference. I have a guitar that has the Wilkinson VS-100 which has zinc block and it doesn't sound bad either. I seem to get more sustain that I can tell by turning the volume of my amp up. Also I get better tone variation from different amps and pickup and strings.

Furthermore I don't like the whammy bar that the callaham unit comes with... they sit too close to the body and I cant grab it without hitting a volume or tone control.

If you want tuning stability with tremolo either use wilkinson or floyds.

 

[ZGOZZ]

Wow

This is a good thread. :icon_thumright:

 

[kboman]

nathan a/tfarny:
Yeah I feel like an odd bird here sometimes But that's just fine! We are all different, luckily.

I haven't had the time and money to go though all the stuff-stuff that some of you here have, so I kept my list/s limited to feel-stuff. Looking forward to trying out Warmoth, Sustainiacs and various whammys in the future!

 

[blue313]

That's the beauty of this thread.  It's based on your personal and first hand experience, not colored by other peoples opinions.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Maltozombie]

Personally Myself.....



:icon_biggrin:

Tube amps

Humbuckers in general (love those dimarzios)

Lace sensor hot golds (best single coil ever IMO)

Magical mexican strats that cut off heads :guitaristgif:

Avatar amp cabs (cheap and gooooooood)

TOOL 

Silverburst guitar finish

Monster cables (beautiful, great sound, lifetime warranty, screw the money get some!  :icon_thumright:

Dan Erlewine's existence

Eddie Van's existence (the king of rock, hands down)

Ipod...

the ever evolving muse within us all.





:tard: and the garbage.....


Solid state amps (fender princeton chorus was honestly the only tolerable tone ive ever gotten from one)

Guitar/amp/effects modeling (good for some applications, and ok for creating ideas, but its not the real thing, its just not)

standard strat tremolo, (garbage, i love fenders, but more of a hindrance than an feature to me)

CRT computer monitors (damn your photons ruining my recordings!!!! )

Musicians friend (great selection, decent prices, horrible retarded service...i mean....i ordered a 1x12 cab on two seperate occasions and BOTH times they sent me an amp head instead of the cabs...im not complaing  :cool01: im just saying...dumbarses)

Band Names (cliche garbage...straight up, stop trying to have deep meaning behind your music if you havent experienced the things you make music about!)

oh and myself, i dont even come close to living up to my own hype, but thats a personal problem haha  :laughing7:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Lived up to the hype:
-EMG 89 in the neck position
-Schaller Strap Locks
-D'Addario XL .011s
-Godin A6
-Boss Bass Chorus stomp box

Not lived up to the hype:
-BBE dual compressor w/sonic maximizer
-semi-hollow basses
-Rotosound Bass strings
-VOX Valvetronix
-Fender Cyber-Twin

Things that are cheap I didn't expect much out of that surprised me:
-Epiphone LP Special Bass
-Dunlop Bass strings
-Guitar Center Cables

 

[Nando Vallart]

humm what about the rotosound and dunlop strings?

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

humm what about the rotosound and dunlop strings?

Rotosounds, every set I've had goes dead prematurely.  I haven't been pleased with them.

The Dunlops, I bought them because they were cheap and they didn't have my usual set.  For $20 bucks if they last half as long a $40 set, that's good enough for me.  They sound bright, but feel like a half-wound.  After playing for 3 hours, my fingers aren't torn up like with other brands.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Half-wound sounds different than normal?
The sound of the Dunlops are the same or not? I bought a set for guitar (very hard to find .011"-.052" here in Brazil) but didn't use it yet...

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

On bass anyway, the half wounds are supposed to sound similar to round wounds but a little warner.  They really are just round wounds but are oval shaped.  I don't know if was the intention, but they are easier on your fingers.  I'm not a wuss with a P, but I work with my hands 40+ hours a week, so I already don't have finger prints as it is.  Gigging 3 to 6 times a given month, practicing, and any other farting around I do on the bass takes its toll on my hands.

Anywho, I was surprised at the value I got with Dunlops because I wasn't expecting much.  I think they are round wound, but they are either wound tighter or the valleys between the windings is smaller.  Don't know, don't care.  I just know after playing 3 hours again last night, I could play another three.  Round wounds tend to be brighter than flatwounds, with the half-wounds somewhere in the middle.  These feel like half wounds but are bright sounding.

So IMHO, they're not the greatest, but they're not garbage.

 

[artnaz]

Yea

Warmoth wood
Rio Grande pickups of any ilk
Deft and Mohawk finishing products
PW auto trim tuners
raw exotic necks


Nay

Stainless Steel frets
Sperzel tuners
Anything from Fender or Gibson Custom Shop

Tonar - Coil tapping any form of vintage style pickup like an SD '59 is a waste of time; I don't understand the hype there. Some, not all, higher output HBs will give you a decent SC sound, not dead-on, but usable.

What's wrong with the Sperzel's and SS frets?

 

[ognolman]

Lived up to hype:
Markbass amps  :icon_thumright:
Eden amps
Pete Hanewinckel basses
Conklin
Kinal basses
MTD (high-end)
DR strings
Elixer strings (for fretless basses)
Aguilar cabs
Bergantino cabs
Radial Tonebone
Sure SM57s
Hipshot bass hardware
Stewart Audio amps

Did not:
Thunderfunk amps
EBS effects
Ableton Live
Phillip Kubicki basses
Presonus Firebox
MTD (low-end)
Hartke

 

[dbw]

Schecter guitars
Fender basses


Ibanez basses

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Schecter guitars
Fender basses


Ibanez basses

I hear that more and more about Ibanez basses.  Every Sound Gear Bass I've ever tried out felt and sounded great.  Their neck construction is famous for being stable.

It's just opinions and preferences, but I'd flip flop your list totally.

 

[Orpheo]

Schecter guitars
Fender basses


Ibanez basses

I hear that more and more about Ibanez basses.  Every Sound Gear Bass I've ever tried out felt and sounded great.  Their neck construction is famous for being stable.

It's just opinions and preferences, but I'd flip flop your list totally.

same here. I love their bubinga/wenge necked 5 string bass. It even makes me wanna play bass. and I'm a diehard, hardcore guitarplayer.

 

[ognolman]

I hear that more and more about Ibanez basses.  Every Sound Gear Bass I've ever tried out felt and sounded great.  Their neck construction is famous for being stable.

It's just opinions and preferences, but I'd flip flop your list totally.

I've played some super-nice Ibanez basses and some pretty mediocre Ibanez basses.  The same can be said of Fender and Schecter as well, but, on the whole, I've played far more Ibanez and Schecter basses that were great than Fenders.  But I've played some really incredible vintage Fenders and even some amazing Squires.  And there are more great bass lines played on Fenders than any other single manufacturer.


JBD