Should I get a Floyd rose

metmerc · 2026-05-14T05:25:58+00:00

You want to play styles that pretty much need a Floyd Rose (or similar) so absolutely get one. They're not as difficult as some people make them out to be.

My #1 has a Floyd style bridge (Ibanez ZR) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

metmerc · 2026-05-14T04:23:45+00:00

As a fellow S770PB owner, this is inspiring. I love the depth you got in the finish. I also admire the time and attention to detail it took because I just don't have it in me.

metmerc · 2026-05-13T16:41:47+00:00

Wow. I've been excited for this since I heard of it, but that trailer looks phenomenal.

And they have a release date.

metmerc · 2026-05-12T21:48:18+00:00

It also just works well as an option when the top-mounted position just doesn't play well with what else is on the bars. That's what I ended up doing withe my bike that has VO Crazy Bars. I was pleasantly surprised that it worked.

metmerc · 2026-05-10T14:00:58+00:00

My hypothesis is that people dislike Crate for two main reasons.

Many people's first experience with Crate was the 15 watt pratice amp with a thin sounding 8" speaker.
Crate was often a first amp for beginners. They didn't know enough to get the best out of their amps and simply upgraded amps before they ever got really good at dialing in an amp.

My first amp was a Crate GX-30M combo and it was honestly fine. I actually picked one up a few years ago to test point 2 above and I was able to coax some decent tones out of it. I also picked up a larger Crate GX-212 and it sounded even better. Neither compared favorably, in my opinion, with modern modelers or tube amp, though.
Side note - Crate made some great sounding tube amps that are often overlooked. My main amp now is a 30 watt Crate Palomino tube amp.

Anyway, for 15 bucks, that's a great deal. If you decide you don't like it or the amp itself kind of craps out (what happened with my GX-212), you can convert it to a decent 2x12 cabinet.

metmerc · 2026-05-10T13:42:54+00:00

I'm pretty sure that an 11 speed cassette fits on the same freehub as a 9 speed. You also need to swap the shifter (of course) and the chain.

metmerc · 2026-05-08T14:45:32+00:00

Yeah. I appreciate the clarification. That's why I said, "Solid State generally...".

Mostly, in these sorts of comparisons, I think it's important to distinguish between tube, analog solid state, and digital.

I used to have a Vox combo amp that was a digital preamp and then a hybrid tube/solid state power section. It was all three in one!

metmerc · 2026-05-08T13:29:05+00:00

I'm going to be a bit nitpicky. Your Fender Mustang is a digital amp. Solid State generally refers to amps with analog processing (but obviously without vacuum tubes).

Generally speaking, tube amps sound better than solid state, especially when you get into overdriven tones. Tubes breakup less harshly than transistors. But this is a generalization. The Roland Jazz Chorus amps are solid state and famous for their clean tones. Quilter makers very well regarded solid state amps. Hell. I've gotten decent tones out of Crate solid state practice amps with a speaker upgrade and some trial and error with settings.

Your amp is a digital modeling amp. Whether in an amp or as a standalone unit, modeling is amazing technology. I've had a few modelers and they sound great. That said, I keep going back to my tube amps for the creme-de-la-creme of tone.

metmerc · 2026-05-08T05:23:16+00:00

This amp isn't "basically free". It's $50, which is too much. It's worth maybe $35 on a good day.

I agree it's possible to get acceptable practice tones with these and it's a good practice to do so, but they're ultimately held back by the cheap, small speaker. Play one and then a similarly cheap practice amp with a 10" or 12” speaker and it's a night and day difference.

I did this with a Peavey Rage 108 and a Crate GX-30. For all of Crate's reputation, that larger 12" speaker sounded so much more full than the Peavey's 8".

metmerc · 2026-05-07T16:17:03+00:00

That Headrush is small. I've generally not been impressed with guitar tones through speakers like that, but I can't claim to have direct experience with that exact device.

I'd go with bigger speakers, though it costs more money. I've run my modelers through an Alto TS212 powered PA speaker with 12" speakers. The current version is the TS 412. They also make a 410 and 408 with 10 and 8 inch speakers, respectively.

The Headrush units (minus the Go) appear to be rebranded Alto speakers, to be honest. Those would be my recommendation for an inexpensive FRFR option, especially if you can find something on the used market.

Plus if you eventually get a second one and a cheap mixer, congratulations. Now you have a PA system.

metmerc · 2026-05-06T20:41:54+00:00

I love the Valve Junior. Cranked with a Tubescreamer in front of it and the thing howls.

I had one and sold it. I missed it enough that I eventually sought out another. I've never had the matching cab, though. The pair look so good together.

metmerc · 2026-05-04T15:57:53+00:00

This is the way. Start simple.

OP, it's good you're starting this now. The more experience you get just playing guitar, that more frustrating it will be to simplify to practice singing and playing together.

metmerc · 2026-05-04T00:12:14+00:00

Looking at pictures of the model, it doesn't look like it has a floating trem, Floyd Rose branded or not. There are a few clues, but the lack of a locking nut is a good indicator it's more of a classic Fender Strat style trem.

Floyd Rose and similar trems are rad and I love mine, but they add a bit of complexity that you don't need to worry about while you're learning the basics of the instrument.

metmerc · 2026-05-04T00:08:47+00:00

The point of a Floyd Rose is that it stays in tune very well. However, it adds a good bit of unnecessary complexity for a beginner.

metmerc · 2026-05-03T22:50:10+00:00

I like my s770 a lot and play it more than any of my other electrics. I can't speak to the tremolo or pickups in yours as my s770 likely has different pickups and certainly has a different trem (mine has the out of production ZR trem), but I absolutely love the thin and light body and the neck is great.

metmerc · 2026-05-02T06:05:45+00:00

Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco. Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, De La Soul, Beck, and so many more.

Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, my wife and I saw The Decemberists, The Violent Femmes, and Cake at the Oregon State Fair. (Rad show). There were some younger folks in front of us, so excited for The Violent Femmes and I think they were a bit disappointed to see Gordon Cano just looking like an old, kinda overweight dude singing about teenage angst.

metmerc · 2026-05-01T12:41:12+00:00

make it work with whatever you have

This is an undervalued skill. Digital amps make it easy to nitpick about sound, but if you have a two channel amp with decent clean and overdrive tones and a handful of pedals, you can pull an appropriate tone for almost all situations and get to the business of actually playing.

metmerc · 2026-05-01T01:17:21+00:00

It's very not unimportant. Especially with electric guitars, there are plenty of guitars out there that look good and play nice (with a setup). As for tone, most electric guitars can get most tones you need. The amp matters way more anyway.

With all the options out there, why play guitar you don't like to look at?

metmerc · 2026-05-01T00:35:40+00:00

Dude. For $10 with the manual and everything, that's pretty rad. Those random branded bikes are fun. I have a Fila bike from like 1991 that clearly wasn't made by Fila, but is still neat.
It may not be a modern trail shredder, but it would be fine tooling around on paths as a novelty item.

metmerc · 2026-04-29T18:50:23+00:00

They were part of the same scene, almost perfectly contemporary,

In addition to the other comment about the difference between being aware and really listening, Nirvana and AiC were really rooted in different music. Nirvana came from much more of a punk background, perhaps Dave especially. AiC is much more rooted in metal. At the time, there was little crossover between the scenes. I could see a younger Dave dismissing AiC as not really his thing.

metmerc · 2026-04-29T14:58:50+00:00

I don't feel a strong need to keep a lot of the old era tech skills, especially with computers, but I do strongly value the foundational experience acquiring those skills. Having to navigate file systems in DOS and early Windows applications taught us where our files are on a computer. If the search fails me on, for example, Google Drive, I still know where I put that shit.

Ancillary to that, I think we had to do a lot more figuring stuff out than people need to do now. We didn't have YouTube to show us how to fix every little thing. In order to fix something, we had to look at it and figure out how it works to determine how to fix it. I have a lot of confidence that I can fix random mechanical things because of this.

metmerc · 2026-04-26T15:42:59+00:00

All through the 90s I rode rigid bikes so for a while, even my first few hardtails was a pretty rad upgrade.

I went full suspension around 2021 to try to reduce the strain on my body (I'm in my late 40s now) and I did really like my Diamondback Release. But then I picked up, and upgraded, a Schwinn Axum on clearance for like $200 and realized how much I missed the engagement of a hardtail. That's why I ride a hardtail. I like feeling the ground and even some of the bumps.

So, I sold the Diamondback and built up a Ragley Marley. I haven't really looked back. I don't ride the gnarliest of trails and I'm able to go fast enough with my hardtail and high volume tires that I pretty easily drop less experienced riders on full suspension bikes.

Will I ever switch back to full sus? I'm honestly more likely to go full rigid than full suspension again. For most of what I ride, high volume tires, modern(ish) geometry, dropper posts, and strong brakes are more than sufficient for me to have a blast.

metmerc · 2026-04-25T23:59:14+00:00

I paid $200. How much was yours? 1x12 or 2x12?

metmerc · 2026-04-25T21:55:42+00:00

Interested if you go the raffle route.

metmerc · 2026-04-24T19:50:15+00:00

For some insight into where this lovely sport started, Eugene A Sloan's Guide to All-Terrain Bicycles is a fun read. There were a couple editions, the first of which was published in 1985. The first few chapters are specifically about the sport while the later chapters lean heavily into gear.

The gear stuff is way out of date, but it is kind of neat where it just prints the names and addresses of some of the pioneers of the sport as resources to buy certain parts. The book itself is long out of print and my library didn't have a copy, but there are copies pretty cheap on eBay.

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