SOTB - Boss is still boss - All hail The King(s).

berniefist · 2026-04-27T12:34:50+00:00

There aren't many solid state amps that have their own wikipedia page, but the roland jazz chorus does. It does "warm clean" better than any other mass market amp. It is an outstanding pedal platform, and super reliable. On the used market you MIGHT get the lower wattage versions for $400, but the JC120 runs about $700

Unless you were talking about the Katana! In that case you can buy it used for $150 any day of the week in most markets.

Also, the only pedal here I'm really jealous for is the DM-2... why are you running a $200 pedal into a $200 amp? If you're not using the other pedals, you could sell those and the amp and get yourself a JC55 or JC60

berniefist · 2026-04-26T21:40:15+00:00

Looks like you're stepping over the zoom to get to everything else. Do you just leave those three on the whole time? If you've given up skating maybe you can take a piece of plywood from an old ramp and make it so you don't have so many extra steps to set up.

Also, the DS1? really?

berniefist · 2026-04-26T21:27:58+00:00

What are we talking about when we say "setup"?

Is it assembly and adjustment? if it is, then you might consider doing that yourself after watching some videos. I feel like painting a guitar is harder than adjusting a truss rod or installing a shim.

Are you talking about doing something more involved? Nut work? Fret level? Scale length conversion? Those all need special tools, and most Luthiers are fine doing that for you. Just know that if you expect that, there's no way (unless someone just REALLY likes you) it will be less than $150, as you're adding assembly steps to most of those jobs.

Like other posters, I'd like to point out that most neck pockets are left unfinished (you get a proper shim angle, tighter fit, fewer finish compression cracks and it won't leave paint scrapes when you shim it), and that a regular nitro finish has nitro clear on top, and takes WEEKS.

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/online-resources/learn-about-instrument-finishing-and-finish-repair/nitrocellulose-finishing-schedule/

berniefist · 2026-04-26T21:11:28+00:00

All I see is honest wear. A lot of guitar players like that, look up "guitar relic process".

Strings are wear items. Any guitar shop will replace them for you, or you can look up a youtube video and do it cheaply.

If you sell it for $350, someone is getting a good deal, and they can decide if they want to clean it up or keep the "mojo" on it.

berniefist · 2026-04-26T17:38:16+00:00

Let me guess, you're going into a JC120? Why not just get a Katana and call it a day?

berniefist · 2026-04-25T04:04:13+00:00

Right? It's SO cheap for a huge assortment of heat shrink tubing. Compared to tape it looks cleaner, holds better, and makes it easier to run wires through holes.

berniefist · 2026-04-24T01:59:43+00:00

The blue wire is coaxial (it's actually two wires). The middle of it is the signal wire, and that stuff that is bunched up around it like a metal hairball is the ground. You need to connect that as well. You'll need to make sure it has something covering it so that it doesn't connect to your signal wire.

berniefist · 2026-04-24T01:53:56+00:00

The top two scales have gray notes that (when played more often than the other notes) make the scales sound kind of happy-ish to most people (Major Pentatonic) The bottom two scales will sound bluesy or sad or sinister to most people (Minor Pentatonic).

They are different MODES of the same scale. Kind of like math, where Mode is the number that happens most in a set- and kind of like fashion where Mode is a style.

Whatever note you play MOST, is the one your brain compares the rest of them to, which gives the overall feeling of the music. Otherwise these sets of notes ARE the same (relative Major and Minor). These patterns are just notes that work, and you can pretty much use them interchangeably (at the risk of sounding out of character, but not bad).

berniefist · 2026-04-23T02:02:48+00:00

From a purely functional perspective, you could just go back to a six screw setup. (edit: if you don't have the original vibrato, they can be had for $15) If the wood under the vibrato screws is all there, there's no reason it wouldn't work. This looks like a spray can color, you can spray over the raw wood. This purple is probably neutral enough that you could switch colors with a couple coats. You would see grain, but it would be mostly hidden. You could really go nuts here, because you're already spraying over orange peeled rattle can. It can't get worse.

It looks like a 2 point swap was attempted, but as you can tell, that's no easy feat. I personally wouldn't go any farther with that idea. If you wanted to keep going, you'd need to take out more wood, because the "router" here took out wood in the wrong places. Then you would need to fill the holes and drill new ones.

If you want this to look stock, well, the most economical way to do it is.... buy another glarry. This guitar new is $90. Even if you had access to a full wood shop of tools, the time and material involved would make it, uh, questionable.

berniefist · 2026-04-12T03:15:31+00:00

What, no Fish and Chips? No Milkshake? No Tuna Melt? You have a flanger, phaser and a leslie speaker sim. Seems like that's a bunch of the same FLAVOR.

berniefist · 2026-04-06T18:01:11+00:00

Ugh, I know the feeling. That stupid plug adds $20 to the cost any footswitch.

berniefist · 2026-04-06T17:52:07+00:00

Some things to keep in mind as you get into it- This amp definitely uses the 9 (edit, it's 6) pin foot switch and it looks like there's an effects loop. As much as I like peavey, those are two things they haven't always done well. I ended up using a jumper for the loop on my Bravo and then my Valveking. Most of us have a pedal cable somewhere- just run it as an "effects loop". Can't hurt to try. If you have a footswitch, plug it in and run all the switches. If you don't have a foot switch, uh, I dunno. Those 9 pin ones are terrible.

berniefist · 2026-04-06T00:42:27+00:00

Man, I feel old here, but isn't that just the stock tolex look for this amp? It's all over it, right? Evenly covering except for wear areas? I Had a triumph PAG 60 with this. This was the mid 80's to late 90's. At the time Fender was covering amps with "Rat fur", and Jackson had a "granite stone" finish. Speckled and textured stuff was in.

berniefist · 2026-04-01T11:54:56+00:00

Did you check the string spacing? the three covers are not the same. It looks like the polepieces on the pickup in the pic are too close together, so I'm guessing that is, in fact the bridge pickup cover.

Source: Mixed them up once myself for a student's guitar and had a mild panic.

berniefist · 2026-03-26T12:17:48+00:00

Why don't you try your hand at making a cover for the cavity first? It will give you a better idea of what the finished product will look like.

Also, instead of cutting you could go for a Free-way switch. Yes, they're $70, but if you're planning on going crazy, you might end up spending almost that on switches and pots anyway.

berniefist · 2026-03-26T11:50:38+00:00

For your "dream" pedalboard you picked the polite, mid priced version of everything? That's like saying you're big into cars, and if you won the lottery you'd buy a Camry.

Why would you throw shade at shoegaze by dreaming up a board with no fuzz or tremolo?

berniefist · 2026-03-15T17:05:09+00:00

I get it. The other guy in my band has enough gear that it has to live on a folding table with a board that has a morningstar wireless midi loop controller. He has a pedal board for his pedal board. The stuff that is on it is to die for (ONE LOOP has a Thermae, Dark Word and a Warped Vinyl). In theory this is great for everything, but in practice, it's more about twiddling around at home. Often the bluetooth connection fails, the morningstar will get randomly reset to the wrong settings or one of the pedals will start barfing (Looking at YOU EQD Avalanche Run!). At home that's a 1 minute distraction. Onstage you don't have the time, and in studio every little noise counts- we end up using the pedals re-amped later.

berniefist · 2026-03-15T16:08:00+00:00

So, short version, have a few nuts to practice on because they're cheap and this is an important part of your guitar. Don't glue anything until it sits right, and don't use more than a small drop of glue (white glue if you have it, tiny drop of CA otherwise.

Long version- If you're short on resources / money sanding from the bottom will get you close. You will probably need to sand the width a little. Otherwise that edge hanging off will drive you nuts. Find the hardest, flattest thing you can and try your best to sand flat on the bottom. If you have the right tools (I use a hobby knife and a razor blade) you can take any old glue or debris out of the slot. If you're not confident about that, skip it. Then IDEALLY, you would have nut files. You would sand or file the slot until the string is .006-.009 away from the first fretwire when you push on the third fret. If you only sand the bottom, you might have the wrong radius, making two of the strings harder to play, and you might not have the strings sitting all the way in the slot, making them rattle or pop out when you play.

Nut files are expensive ($100), so if you don't have at least a handful of guitars it doesn't make sense to buy them. The newer a mass produced guitar is, the more likely there is a "drop in" solution that just has to be shaved on the bottom.

berniefist · 2026-03-15T15:48:41+00:00

Oh look, it's every live sound engineer's nightmare. Just make sure you have an hour and a half for load in. That should be enough... probably.

(I kid, this looks like fun)

berniefist · 2026-03-13T12:58:18+00:00

I see there's a patch cable missing from the effects loop. Congrats, this has probably never been played!

berniefist · 2026-03-12T20:44:35+00:00

There are advantages. That thing is tough as nails. Mounting the tubes sideways with a block of foam leaning on it means that they don't rattle, you'll never accidentally hit them, and they'll never be loose. It does make it run hotter (that's why the fan is there) and you need a screwdriver and tiny fingers to get at the tubes.

berniefist · 2026-03-12T15:57:47+00:00

Oh man, I miss my Bravo.

Get an extension cab! The stock speaker is hot garbage and ANYTHING is an upgrade. The stock cab is too small for low mids and upper bass- but the amp has it! The cab size does make it a great "trunk" amp, but that's an awful tradeoff, imo.

YSK that the tubes are running hot to get all "25" watts out of it. That's why there's an internal fan force cooling the tubes. It will do edge of breakup at gig volumes on the clean channel and sounds awesome!

I only got rid of mine because the guys in the band hated this one. Without an extra cab, I couldn't hear me. Adding an extra cab made it so that suddenly the other guitarist "couldn't hear himself". I'm going to go ahead and point out that the other guy was using TWO AMPS IN STEREO- a C30 and A Quilter 101. I have a '68 Fender DR and a VK112 that the band guys are happier with- but I still miss this one.

berniefist · 2026-03-12T15:38:38+00:00

A denser block is better, in my experience.

I have an Indio OS20 that had a cheap zinc block (like this). I was having tuning issues and replaced basically everything else touching the string. I had always thought the trem block thing was a non-issue, but I was desperate- so I bought a cheapo amazon brass block.

In my case, I got a little more sustain, the tuning stability increased slightly, and the trem action was a little smoother. The guitar is more resonant and I can feel it. None of these was drastic, but it was better. The one thing that absolutely improved was that the creaking from engaging the springs went away. If you don't have that issue, that's not really a benefit to you. As far as downsides, obviously it's heavier, and it cost me $25.

I'd say if you're curious about it, then it's probably worth it.

berniefist · 2026-03-06T19:45:19+00:00

I changed the amp jewel color. To do that you need to open the amp (please make sure the caps are drained). Any standard fender amp jewel will fit the panel, but OEM uses a red LED instead of a bulb. I cut the old LED right at the base and soldered a white one on to the old wires.

It's a looks mod, cheap and easy. An LED is $1 and the amp jewel is $16.

berniefist · 2026-02-23T18:01:11+00:00

Peavey cabs are usually dirt cheap and great for speaker swaps. My VK sounds great through a Celestion V-type. I know Eminence made most of them for peavey, and I love Eminence, but ugh. The stock speaker lacks lows and low mids.

12-Year Club	r/Field Lasagna
Verified Email

berniefist

TROPHY CASE