2017-03-27 HUGE NEWS!

Here you go. Here is a chance for you to purchase one of my early pedals for $10 USD shipped (only in the 48 states). 

They are based off of the bazz fuss schematic.

All I am looking to recoup is parts and shipping. I am still in the learning phase, just selling to buy more parts.

WHAT these pedals are? Nasty fuzzes. one pot two jacks and a 9V hookup. Good range and gain out of them, and once you plug them in hold on to your hat!

THESE  pedals are in sturdy industrial hard plastic housings with a metal plate on top.

THERE ARE NO SWITCHES. Why? One switch costs more than the price i have in parts invested in THE ENTIRE PEDAL already.

I figure about $6 in parts including housing and $4 for shipping sounds fair.

I am learning and these are what i would consider a basic PROTOTYPE. The money from these sales will simply be used to buy more parts.

IF you are interested email me at trashedengineering@gmail.com and i would love to get one of these out to you!

THANK you all to everybody who has read my blog faithfully and the TRASHED empire is only growing.

CHEERS AND THANKS!

2017/03/25 Nitrocellulose -vs- Polyester Finishes

Welcome to the world of the Trashed lifestyle, come in on the subject, I usually don't bite.

THIS IS GOING TO BE A HOT TOPIC.

The problem is that there are a lot of strong opinions. There is some cork-sniffers that will start bitching right away. BUT... maybe I am a cork-sniffer myself. Oh-well.

I am not going to get into the chemical makeup and application of either, you can Google that yourself.

There are a few pre-requisites on this though. First off, some are hand sprayed and some are done by machine. Some coats are thicker than others, some poly seem thicker, and some are really thick and i hate that. The 'stickiness' is irrelevant between the two, as you can go over the back of the neck with some #0000 steel wool to get it slipperier. *IF you do this make sure you have your pickups taped over so you don't get metal dust in there*

I own twenty-ish guitars at the moment and five are nitro (all Gibsons). What i love about nitro, is that feels much smoother and silkier on the back of the neck. Its a beautiful feeling to slide down the neck on a properly finished nitrocellulose neck. 

My poly guitars, (at this point mostly Ibanez Prestiges and USA Fenders), feel great too. In my opinion the best feeling poly necks are done on the Ibanez Prestiges. They play well, and applied thin. USA and fenders are pretty good too, but some i will take the finish off of the back of the neck and apply a rubbed on finish, which I love too.

So over a decade ago, I had this Washburn X-50 PRO. It seemed as if the finish was so thick that the body was suffocated by poly. It was dead sounding. A few months later, I chipped it. I will be damned if the finish wasn't as thick as truck bed-liner. I ended up selling the guitar shortly after, thoroughly disgusted. That is one reason I don't buy cheap poly guitars.

Nitro DOES WEAR though, and it can be fast. I do not have my former #1 Gibson (not on me at the moment), but a lot of the finish is through, but it got beat for EIGHT years. The only reason I am not using that guitar is that it needs a re-fret (if I get lucky I may get by with a level and crown). Nitro also checks/cracks if exposed to the harsh elements, I have that on there too. BUT the neck is just yummy. sooo damn yummy. One thing about nitro is that it is more breathable and to me it feels more natural, and only feels better with time.

Some say nitro is thinner SO it sounds better, I call bullocks on that. Poly is more durable on the surface and doesn't scratch on the surface as easily. Nitro is easier to repair, which IS a good thing. I have never seen a nitro finish as thick as a thick poly finish.

In conclusion, send your hate-spam.

Cheers, Trashed.

2017-03-18 Time to Get De-laid...

Brethren-

This is about delays. 

"Trashed, why the hell do I want a delay?"

I respond, "It doesn't delay you at all as you would think if you didn't know. Come on guys."

"OK Trashed, what does it do then."

"Strap on your seat belts ladies and gentlemen, this may change your world."

To that I hear silence echoing. WAIT! that is what a delays do!

There are two different types of delays. Analog and digital. What is the difference? The analog came out first and used a BBD chip. What is BBD? Bucket Brigade Device. Think of it like a bunch of people transferring buckets down a line to put out a fire. BANG! that is it. The good BBD chips have been long out of production. Thankfully, one of my favorite pedalbuilders, Malekko bought a metric-freaking-ton of them a few years ago. Most modern builders either don't have any and fake it (bad bad companies, shame on you). Analog delays decay naturally and the decay is the glory of it. They also commonly have some form of modulation to them (usually switchable). It is typically like a little bit of controllable chorus type thing. They flat out kick ass. 

Digital delays have pure straight repeats without coloring the tone of the repeats. Boss makes some nice ones, especially a some of the earlier models. DD-3, DD-6, DD-20, etc. They give you nice and clean repeats. Think the Edge from U2 (although he nauseates me), everything trails neat. There are a lot of digital delays that have a tap tempo. THAT is the best thing going for digital delays IMO. So you tap it a few times and it matches the tempo so you can get exactly that length of delay. Digital delays do have their place in most every rig.

"OK Trashed, so what do I need?"

To that I respond, a few of each.

Here lies the danger though. A LOT of companies make delay pedal with something like 'analog voiced' or 'analog simulated modes'. You dirty, dirty, bastards. That makes me want to vomit. That does me no good. You may like them, but that is a big 'no no' in my book.

I really like Malekko. Great builds, good guys who STILL have some original BBD chips. I have four Ekko 616's, a 616 Lo-Fi. Two really nice features on the Malekko's is that they have switchable buffered and true bypass. Also switchable modulation, speed and depth for the modulation - RIGHT OUT ON THE TOP OF THE PEDAL. That is what I call features! There is an internal trim-pot for volume as well.

EHX's older delays, Deluxe Memory Man, etc. are very nice too and some are analog with a digital trigger for tap tempo, which can be the best of both worlds. Another decent common delay is the MXR Carbon Copy. I just don't like MXR though (yes that is bias). There is only ONE modulation switch, but they are far from bad. Honestly I may pick one up if i need another delay.

Make sure to type some hateful/spam comments on the bottom!

Cheers,

Trashed.

2017/03/02 - Guitar Philosophy 1001- Be Prepared For the Situation

*WARNING TRASHED'S OPINION AND SOME TRUTH YOU MAY NOT WANT TO HEAR*

This is a post as to why I think and capable musician should be able to play on any guitar.

At the moment i have twenty-ish guitars, mostly high end type of stuff, but nothing too crazy, mainly Ibanez Prestiges, Gibsons and USA Fenders. I don't own any cheap guitars other then a Mexican Strat and a pair of Korean Fender Showmasters (sweet guitars by the way).

I can pick up any of my guitars (lets NOT talk about electronics now, that may come later, maybe not), and play any of them equally well. There are some obvious restrictions regarding how many frets/trem or no trem, etc, that do limit, but that isn't what I am talking about. I can (and frequently do) sweep arpeggios on Telecasters, and play blues on Ibanez'. Not a big deal, but ironically the Ibanez' are great for some SRV type of stuff. lol.

HEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM WITH GUITARISTS.

*IF* you are not able to pick up any guitar (again with some obvious constraints), and play on it well, my friend, you have a LONG ways to go.

I can show up to a gig or open mic or anything and get the job done with anything. It still lies true even if i don't bring a guitar with me, it doesn't matter what is there. The only case I wouldn't show up without a guitar is if I am just stopping at a dive bar and here some music and walk in and see what it is about. Most cases I know at least one person there. The dive bar scene is a small world around here. So there is ALWAYS somebody who would let me play their guitar if need be, even just for a few minutes or a song or two. It could be an ES335, a Rickenbacker, or a POS Squier whatnot, but I can get the job done.

You cannot call yourself a *guitarist* if you can only preform on one guitar, that makes you just a degenerate low level entry musician. The world is huge, and if that 'one' guitar is the only guitar you can play on, to put it nicely you are screwed and won't succeed. I just say that because that 'one' guitar is not always going to be with you wherever you go.

To sum it up, try some different guitars, own some different guitars, and be able to play on all and any of those guitars, then you will be successful.

Brothers, the philosophy is over, have a good weekend.

Thanks for reading,

Trashed.