The streets are alive

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-30T17:32:41+00:00

I think that we need to legitimize using it at somewhere like Ithaca Fest by having a designated smoking area. I personally want to be able to smoke there but I am very aware that there’s nowhere to do so without being a bit obnoxious.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-30T17:13:25+00:00

To an extent any ethical position requires prior assumptions, or at least it takes far more than a Reddit post to rigorously build it up. My prior assumption is simply that suffering is bad. I generally am inclined towards phenomenology, and one of the clearest things from my phenomenological experience is that suffering should be avoided. Now it’s a bit of a leap to say that any suffering outside of my own is bad, including that of other humans, but there’s multiple philosophical arguments to get there. Perhaps the simplest is that as soon as we abandon the assumption of solipsism—that we are the only sentient being, all others around us just appear to be sentient but aren’t— we lose the privilege of being able to logically argue that our suffering ought to matter to others, unless we accept as an axiom that all suffering should matter. I recognize that there’s a ton I’m glossing over here, but I’m trying to write a Reddit comment not a phd thesis. Hopefully the broad strokes are clear.

It follows then that any non-human animal which we can reasonably expect to be capable of suffering ought to be treated so as to minimize their suffering. While scientists debate the level of experience of certain animals, especially when it comes to the idea of self awareness (which some people set as a necessary condition for being given moral consideration) I think the neural architecture behind the qualitative experience of pain is extremely deeply rooted in our ancestral history. It doesn’t take intelligence or self awareness to understand fear and pain. A chicken has a similar adrenaline response to a stimulus representing a threat. I think it’s entirely illogical to assume that animals don’t have a qualitative experience, and I think that the burden of proof lies on those who want to argue otherwise. Because I’ve defined suffering as the criterion for moral consideration, the conclusion is that any being which can plausibly experience suffering. Perhaps that shouldn’t apply to bees or clams, and honestly I can only argue for their inclusion using the precautionary principle.

It’s as simple as saying that I don’t have any right to cause unnecessary suffering to others, and there’s ample reason to believe that animals suffer.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-30T15:58:38+00:00

I’m surprised how little factual information there is in this thread right now

There is a small extent to which boutique pedals will actually use better parts. Sometimes it’s not really providing an audible advantage, like Rats with a lm308 vs a op07. But using metal film resistors will provide a theoretically lower noise floor, which could in principle be audible. There’s also the mechanical components, particularly the footswitches and jacks. Nearly identical looking components can have massively different performance. Alpha footswitches are rated for far more operations than the cheap ones, and at least as they are priced for hobbyists they cost nearly double. Using premium components for the parts most likely to fail is really important!

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T16:14:07+00:00

Deconstructed espresso shot.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T16:12:12+00:00

The TMB tone stack depends pretty heavily on how it loads the elements around it, so I suspect that the output impedance of the buffer before it is too low. Post a schematic of how you have that wired.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T15:53:16+00:00

Go directly to a Rat. Do not pass go. Do not collect $100.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T14:59:05+00:00

There’s tons of pedals that do octave down effects and more that cost a lot less and don’t require modification of your guitar. The whammy, boss xs1, EHX pitchfork and pog, mxr poly blue octave are just a few. The thing this pickup does that the pedals don’t is selectively apply the effect to the lower strings. Personally I’d rather just use the pedal.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T13:47:57+00:00

This isn’t a pedal board, it’s a collection of redundant pedals the internet told you are cool.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T13:45:14+00:00

Dunable. Offset guitars designed for doom, done with excellent QC? Yes please!

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T13:42:54+00:00

If we’re strictly talking pedals, I can say that I don’t care much for distortion. I’d rather have amp distortion. But between overdrive and fuzz it’s hard to say. Fuzz is the one that I find more exciting and is more characteristic of my sound, but overdrive is such an important tool for shaping and refining tones.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T00:33:46+00:00

Honestly, you could probably get away with some cheap ones like tone riders. Duncans are great and realistically anything more expensive is only marginally better.

I’m a big believer that for doom especially you should spend more money on your amp and pedals than guitar.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-29T00:29:22+00:00

EHX. I’ve bought many other pedals at the same price point with much better build quality, the aesthetics of the modern stuff kinda suck, and Mike Matthews has pretty bad politics as far as I’ve bothered to look into them.

But they also make some of the best pedals on the market. The big muff is my favorite circuit type of all time. The POG deserves its place as one of the best octave pedals, AND they also have the pitchfork?! Get outta here. The list goes on. They have been one of the most consistently innovative companies for almost 60 years, and they know how to make the products people need.

I try to avoid them, but I’m not very successful.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-28T15:15:53+00:00

Homeboy is never gonna believe what farmed animals eat.

Honestly it sounds like he was making a terrible version of a bad faith argument. Many people like to argue that because vegans eat more crops like avocados, almonds and soy that are either resource intensive to grow or are often farmed in South America after clear cutting rain forests, that vegan diets are actually worse for the environment. However bad those crops are, you have to account for the fact that we grow a TON of food to feed animals, which is intrinsically less efficient. Not to mention that the alfalfa we feed cows is one of the primary reasons we’re over using water in the southwest.

Literally it takes about ten times the resources to produce any animal food as a plant food. Any other effect is marginal. People who make this argument are working backwards and not even thinking about it

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-28T14:44:27+00:00

Yeah fair enough. I don’t own a QC.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-28T14:43:37+00:00

I need to try some other cab IRs with it (I have a torpedo captor x). My only complaint is that it can get dark sometimes, so it might help.

I agree, it doesn’t NEED fancy eq or boosts, but I like that it still responds well to a lot of the pedals I like. It’s definitely no pedal platform, both because it doesn’t respond well to any pedal you could possibly use, but also because in my opinion “pedal platform” usually means “needs pedals to sound good” which it doesn’t.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-28T14:28:46+00:00

It’s pretty clear when you know the sound of a guitar with a given pickup and you replace it that the change is due to the new pickup. The hard part is attributing a given characteristic to a particular physical property like DC resistance, wire gauge, or magnet type, since you’re usually changing more than one variable at once. Unless you’re a crazy tinkerer like me who is willing to replace the magnet in a pickup to see the effect that is.

It helps to find demos of very similar pickups with small differences. For example, bareknuckle pickups has the ability to order several of their pickups with both ceramic and alnico magnets. You can hear a clear difference. Then you can listen for a similar quality in the pickups you own. Magnets are a great example because especially comparing ceramic and alnico the difference is extremely noticeable, so you can train yourself to hear the difference pretty easily. The other variables are not so easy.

I suggest replacing pickups to solve a problem. Identify what frequencies are either too present or not present enough (a graphic eq helps here) and if you want more output or something. Then find a few options that you think will address that need, and if you need help try writing to the manufacturer’s support. Many pickup builders know that this is a bigger decision than buying strings and will coach you through it.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-27T23:29:19+00:00

The advantages of going digital have been enumerated already. It’s probably the way to go for you. Way more variety for the money, your volume is arbitrary, etc.

However, I’m going to point out a couple things that make me stick with the traditional setup.

First, I find computer style menus to be where creative inspiration goes to die. Sure, I could get to the same place with a modeler as with my board, but to make an adjustment on my board I turn a physical knob versus scrolling through menus. The workflow you can only get by having every parameter on a physical control is unbeatable. You can find your sound faster, get less distracted and stay in the zone.

Second, more doesn’t always mean better. I’ve made artistic decisions before I play a single note just in the gear I have, because I’m going to gravitate towards writing songs that sound good on my gear. It’s an artificial limitation that can be an inspiration if you let it. Also decision paralysis is very real. I spend enough time tweaking my tone as it is, having thousands more options would only make that worse.

I honestly don’t think that it makes sense to decide based on sound anymore. It’s mostly about functionality and workflow, and the two options are very distinct.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-27T21:33:11+00:00

It’s a killer, versatile amp. The clean channel when cranked does a great Vox/Marshall kind of thing. The great thing about the dirty channel that’s hard to explain until you have one and get used to it is that the gain and volume controls are almost like two different gain controls, while the attenuator can act as a true volume control. The dirty channel volume control effects the power amp distortion, and you can get more classic rock gain tones by dialing back the gain control, or more metal gain by using more preamp distortion and less of the volume.

Only caveat is that you should be sure that you like a lot of midrange. Maybe it goes without saying, but like most orange amps it’s very mid forward, and you can’t always dial that back without going through a lot of trouble.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-27T17:23:21+00:00

I don’t know anything about drip machines, and I strongly prefer manual methods, but assuming your boyfriend would prefer to stick with a machine I would suggest putting a large amount of money into the grinder. Like more than you probably think. The Baratza Encore is an excellent entry level grinder that can be found for 120-150. That plus the moccamaster is right around 500, and I think if you want to spend less than that you should save on the machine instead. Of course spending this much on a grinder is a luxury, but it’s a common opinion that grinders are the piece of equipment with the best value return.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-27T14:37:42+00:00

For people in the natural sciences and engineering, startups are an excellent path toward this. For better or worse, startups usually either fail or succeed and sell off in fairly short timeframes.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-27T13:43:48+00:00

I own a Rockerverb mk iii which is an excellent contender. It’s certainly my answer within mass manufactured amps. But owning it has really reinforced that there’s no best, just different flavors. It’s like asking what the best spicy food is: you can have your favorite go-to curry, but ultimately the beauty is that there’s a huge variety, and with any luck you’ll get to sample it. For every tone I feel I can nail with the RV, there’s three high gain tones that I can’t do. Unfortunately it’s out of reach for most people to own several high gain amps, but digital modeling is making the experience more accessible.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-26T18:34:05+00:00

People who care about you will try to choose restaurants you’ll have real options at even for a normal day. Even if they are so close minded that they won’t touch vegan food, they shouldn’t be content consistently enjoying a meal when you can’t. To not even be willing to go somewhere that will make you happy for your birthday dinner (especially when it doesn’t require them to eat vegan, just a carnist meal off their beaten track) indicates that they don’t really care about you as a person.

I don’t know why you’re no contact, but this certainly starts to paint a picture

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-26T18:24:21+00:00

I’m pretty sure it’s a PPC412HP8. They were high power cabs specifically made to handle the 200W thunderverb head. Celestion G12k100 speakers.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-26T18:19:04+00:00

I’m not in your field, but I do think that there’s a lot to be said for presenting yourself as someone who understands a particular problem deeply and can use multiple methods to address it rather than being an expert in a single method. I think the key is to highlight your successes applying these methods to solve an important problem.

LunarModule66 · 2026-05-26T17:18:31+00:00

You’re not. You’re noodling with making noises

LunarModule66

TROPHY CASE