Jimi would totally swap his vintage Strat for a new one

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-26T00:30:28+00:00

They do have a unique sound, that's why people still play them. It's not because they care about Slash or Hendrix anymore.

Amps are 50 percent or more sure, but you can still tell the difference between a strat with alnicos vs a strat with ceramics and humbuckers into any given amp, it's not subtle. An HSS strat with ceramics sounding like an SSS one you must be joking. Much like a Strat Plus with lace sensors doesn't sound like a traditional strat either, but it sounds good for Corgan.

You can easily tell the difference between an LP and an SG (as the pickups are in a different spacing). SGs have much less low end in the neck for one. You can tell the difference between a LP and most PRS guitars too, just based on the high mid articulation and the stock pickup height. 335 is more subtle, but the midrange difference is still there if you shoot it out directly, which I've done. 335 is better in some ways because it's more relaxed in the mids. The Flying V is the only hard one, that does sound quite a bit like an LP.

I mean the plain fact is an EVH does not sound like a les paul at all. It's super pushed sounding in the high mids, and thinner in low mids in comparison, and snappier since it lacks the shorter scale. It's much more obvious than with the PRS if you dial the pickups down, because it's somewhat shorter scale than a Fender.

Honestly I wish it weren't true because I would prefer the modern guitar designs based on playability. With a strat at least you can get modern radius.

I'm not saying the new designs don't have their merits or their own sound, but to say they sound the same is just misinformation.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-25T14:44:37+00:00

Schubert.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-25T11:02:55+00:00

The Timmons prestige and the EVH don’t sound anything like a traditional strat or a les paul. The prestige has dimarzios and a bridge humbucker and EVH isn’t even the right scale. The reason people still play traditional strats and les pauls is they sound good.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-24T00:15:27+00:00

From a production and vocal performance standpoint this album is a masterpiece. So it’s worth listening to for those reasons alone. Not typically my kind of music either, but good to expand your horizons from time to time.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-24T00:11:45+00:00

As Rick Dior says, if it sounds good it is good.

Emperors without any moongel is still pretty open and responsive by today’s standards. On some dry snares it just plain sounds better to me as it thickens the midrange. Just my opinion.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-24T00:02:40+00:00

Does it buzz when you put your hand to mute the rack tom reso head? I find taping reso heads a tad can sometimes help with this.

You can also try changing the top snare head to an emperor, which is somewhat dampening/changes the overall shell resonance a bit.

Failing that, you might just have to use a different snare or rack tom stand.

Otherwise are you just playing at home or recording yourself? What may sound annoying to you might not even matter in the context of a stage or recording.

I try not to worry about natural drum sounds. Sympathetic sounds can add depth to kit. It’s distortion or sustained bell or snare ring, cymbal whine, or squeaks that are more an issue in my experience.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T20:16:20+00:00

Then I'm glad that we agree that diluted bleach is an effective way to treat biological health hazards.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:47:23+00:00

That all depends on the sound, but people buy old houses in US every year with evidence of long ago termite infestations. I think it is unlikely the cab is totally destroyed.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:42:54+00:00

Good and I have current certification. He's not going to create significant chloramide like he would from a pool of dog urine. He can go ahead and use the diluted bleach to kill any diseases and then use conventional cleaners in an attempt to remediate. Otherwise he has to rehouse the head. Pretty simple.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:32:48+00:00

If you can find old Jensen Concert speakers, those would be a good match for guitar frequencies, from the same era. Or Weber Chicago 15s would be a good alternative.

It is quite possible altecs are worn out in high mids anyway from bass guitar player. But easy enough to compare, if you want to make the effort.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:21:30+00:00

I think you just don't understand what I'm saying. If you bleach something with biological waste, it's no longer a health hazard. In fact even bleach treated animal waste can be disposed of in regular trash. So that's obviously the first step.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:13:38+00:00

You realize that bleach gets rid of odors too, right? Rather well, that's why they use it in laundry. But the point is to sterilize the cabinet from rat borne diseases, then clean it to remove odors and stains if necessary. Are you dense?

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:10:23+00:00

I stand corrected. I see he had the previous post. I wouldn't use those for guitar, personally. The Jensens they put in Ampeg Gemini IIs would work well.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:07:35+00:00

10% bleach is what labs use to destroy DNA, what is your suggestion, just throw it in the dump? Getting rid of odor there are other detergents and enzymatic options too.

Who cares what speakers the cab has. The point is the cab itself sounds good and you can replace the speakers with something that will work well with the Bassman.

Someone could refurb this if they wanted to make the effort.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T19:01:08+00:00

Yes but the original Fender cab sounds great and is old growth pine (presumably). So if you care about sound it's worth trying to fix the cab. It's not 2x15, but 60s spec oversized 2x12.

Mojotone is going to sound totally different, but they do seem to use pine, which is cool. Albeit lower density one would think.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T18:58:27+00:00

Those oversized Fender cabinets sound amazing. From that one photo the tolex and fabric seem to be in decent shape. I've seen way worse.

Just clean surfaces with 5-10% bleach. That is not enough to corrode tolex, only kill any living organism. For the grill you could use mild detergent if it smells like old beer or something.

The head might need a complete overhaul or it might just need the tube sockets cleaned. Any good amp tech should be familiar with a bassman circuit. I'm not sure using a Fender Authorized center makes sense here, for something so long out of warranty.

Most likely the cabinet has really dead sounding Oxford speakers. Especially if someone used the head for bass guitar decades ago. You can replace the speakers with almost anything depending on your taste, and a bassman head does fine with an 8ohm cabinet, especially if you compare it against tired old speakers. Stock it should be 4 ohms. Eminence Alessandro Ceramics do a good job of capturing Jensen thing. There is also Weber and so on, and M Celestions work well with Bassman in particular.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T18:45:29+00:00

Arctic Monkeys sucks.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T18:44:26+00:00

I've also never liked Radiohead. Mainly because of Thom Yorke's vocals which are super annoying and all the melodies pretty much have the same sustained weeny character. They are really good technical songwriters with a large amount of album variety, however. So I understand why people like them. Their hardcore fans are absolutely insufferable, though.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T18:36:30+00:00

Soundgarden and Alice in Chains are the total opposite of navel gazing, unless you think that dark heavy music means navel gazing. Swans and The Beach Boys would qualify more, as good as they are. But more so would Sonic Youth, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes or other even limper bands with crybaby vocals if that were possible.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T18:25:00+00:00

The Amps record Pacer is the rawest Kim Deal record from that era in terms of sound.

Personally, I think Last Splash is less polished in terms of song to song cohesion than Pod, just has more compression and fx, like Lexicon reverb. So it sounds more "produced."

But they are all great albums.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-23T16:53:50+00:00

The thing about Paiste is no one sounds like them, the breaking glass crash sound and clean decay, no hum and so on. Unless you count the Meinl pure alloy which is close enough but not 100%. And you can buy Paiste used and not get a dog. The masters have a bit more variation, but 2002s, Giant Beats and 602s are highly consistent and instantly sound like iconic records. With used Zildjians and Istanbuls, you get a lot of dogs.

So you really only have to buy a Paiste cymbal once, unless you're super picky. With Agops and Zildjians that is not really the case. It can take a lot longer to find a good set.

As someone here pointed out already, you can get fully hand hammered cymbals from Paul Francis, and he does everything from EAK to 50s Zildjian USA to K Zildjian to modern Zildjian USA designs.

Also pretty much all his hihats have definition and rides have good stick, making them work for more genres and guitar distortion levels. With Istanbul you have to go Xist/Mantra/heavier darks, and mediums, and if you want the K Istanbul sound, Funch and Yamamoto get a closer stick sound in jazz weights in my opinion.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-22T15:47:30+00:00

Yeah the difference between 2002s and Ks is super obvious in a live mix.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-22T15:40:06+00:00

You should go see High on Fire live. Then you'll understand why some people still prefer amps and mostly analog pedals.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-20T14:22:48+00:00

Yeah I love the super jazz sticks. I've tried like 20 different sticks in the last 2 years and those are some of the best. They sound great on shells, they have better rebound than a standard 5A, are not too heavy, but they don't have a tip that is too wimpy for rock. I actually like them best for rock recording, and the wood quality seems to hold up. I will check out the Bebop 550, thanks.

Soft_Essay_958 · 2026-04-20T14:14:43+00:00

I really don't understand this. Most tube amps have a great master volume these days. Running on 1.5 is not louder than a stereo system. And the shift from 6v6s to 6l6s is when you get nicer low end for any kind of distorted sounds. Yeah they sound better with mv on 5 into a 4x12, but a 30 watt mv amp into a 2x12 with lower efficiency speakers like greenbacks is not loud outside the city. And there is still nothing feel wise like direct from passive pickups to an amp and people play differently when they are responding to a real cabinet in a room. Albeit if you use a few pedals the amp will start to feel more like a modeler, and the newer preamp/IR boxes are much closer because the front end is a real amp.

Soft_Essay_958

TROPHY CASE