***Trashed's Gear*** Splawn Promod KT88 METAL RIG

Thar she be. The freaking beast. Splawn Promod KT-88. The same as a Quickrod, just with KT-88 as opposed to EL34's. It is on top of my general go to metal cab (despite owning mesa, orange and a half dozen others). It is a Randall cab, Celestion T75's on top and a 15" Eminence Legend at the bottom. Massive bass, mids and balanced treble. For the record, my Splawns (this and a Nitro KT88) do not get along with V30's.

Scott Splawn has it going on. He is a brilliant SOB, has all of the features you need nothing more. You have a foot-switchable second master, a foot-switchable extra gain stage (OD1/OD2) and of course a foot-switchable channel switcher. Perfection. There are a couple of qualms about this amp though. It sucks at quiet. PERIOD. loud or louder. I have 23 tube amps at the moment, and this is just loud. I swear this is the loudest 100 watts I have EVER heard, and it cuts like a damn knife. No cutting through the mix issues here.

JJ 12AX7's in V1-V4, JJ KT88's in the power section.

The effects are stupid simple. The fuzz is my newest prototype so that is hush hush for naooo. Then a Korg Pithcblack, Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet, a Malekko Unity Fuzz, all out front, a Visual Sound H20 Chorus and delay, BBD loaded. The delay is pretty much always on. The chorus is occasionally used on cleans.

My main tone is with the OD2 selected and I use the FD-2 mostly for leads. Cannot comment on the prototype, the Malekko Unity is for the clean channel. Chorus if engaged, is only on the clean channel. Delay is always on. I have master volume 1 on as quiet as I can and the second master for the volume I play at during the day, which is definitely louder than I can play in the middle of the night.

The gain is beastly. The tone is beastly. Splawn has no disappointments.

Multipiece Bodies vs Multipiece Necks... Voodoo? or Haiku

Good Morning, it's Trashed!

Don't worry, no black magic or poetry here. Trashed is no poet.

When you spend a lot of money on a Gibson, a bookmatched maple top and a two piece of body is what you dream of. (Oh. Wait, nevermind Gibson kind of put themselves in the shitter, so lets say a LP-a-like). It has 'da tonez', right?

People tend to think that the lesser the number of pieces that a guitar is made of, the better. Fact or fiction, I indeed do not know... BUT I do know that I wouldn't buy a Gibson with a five piece body.

NOW, most companies are using multi-piece necks. Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple, or whatever-the-hell they feel like. Does a five piece neck have the same effect as a five piece body wood? HONESTLY, I do NOT know. There are indeed obvious benefits as the necks are more stable and less likely to warp, and that it looks pretty, and, yeah it looks pretty. NOW (yet again), if the bridge is attached to the five piece and is a neck through, does that change the game? No idea. NOT to rag on Gibson, BUT why have they yet to use a scarf joint (face palm). Does one more joint make the guitar so different that half the time you drop one the neck breaks? They have done quite a bit of stoopid shit (mini-tune being the most obvious) to make me never buy a newer one, but they can't fix the weakest point of the guitar being the headstock joint... Dumbasses. They have no issue chamber and weight relating, but can't change the neck joint? Bottom line is that "HOW MUCH DOES A WOOD JOINT MATTER"?

I don't really know, let me know if you do.

/Trashed out.

OMG So I got a new toob amp. What should I do now, Trashed?

Hey Trashed! I just bought my first proper tube amp! Whadda I do now?

There are a few things I would look into for most amps and just universally in GENERAL. I can't talk about every amp in all of hell and creation.

The first thing to do is to buy some tubes. I cannot advise on power tubes because that is too broad, simply due to different biasing methods for different amps. I don't want to delve in too deep. 

However, I will say that right now my personal go-to power amp tube is the JJ E34L. Read the last sentence again. E34L, not referring to EL34. E34L's have the British bite with a rounder and fuller bottom end. To illustrate how much I like them, I probably have TEN amps loaded with them. To take that further, I am POSITIVE I have over a dozen brand new ones in my shop.

I LOVE KT88's, but they are expensive as hell. I have them in my Splawn Nitro, Splawn Pro-Mod and Fryette SIG:X. They are quite ballsy. They are not as easily interchangeable as the others, or example with Splawn, it involves removing or adding a resistor (which requires draining filter caps and soldering). 

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING INSIDE AN AMP, LEAVE IT ALONE, PAY SOMEBODY IF YOU HAVE TO, MUCH BETTER THAN BEING DEAD.

For EL84, go JJ. They are cheap and sound great. Again, I swear by these suckers. I probably have them in every EL84 amp I own. HOWEVER,  I don't have many amps that take EL84's. IMO no competition for JJ here.

Preamp tubes are a bit easier. get how many of 12AX7 you want after some research plus three more, a combination of 12AT7, 5751, AND get a different variety.

"OK Trashed, I done got me some backup tubes. What now?

Clean out the tube sockets, jacks and tube sockets with DeOxit or another quality contact cleaner.

"Got it Trashed, what now?"

Now turn it on.

There is a common misbelief that you need to put the amp on standby and wait. That is not important. Flip the switches however you feel inspired.

Looking for a heavy or metal tone? Nine times out of ten you want an overdrive pedal (Tubescreamer, etc). Lotsa' options.

EQ's are always good to fine tune the tone in the effects loop.

Then just fire it up and raise some hell!

One more thing that is misbelief is that you can't touch tubes with fingers out or the earth explode. Don't worry about it.

Here are another few random thoughts.

Tubes are more sensitive to damage if you move/bump/jostle a hot amp.

NOS tubes can be great, but make sure you get them from a reputable place that tests them.

If you have spring reverb, be careful moving it and if you take it off, they can cause some issues. IF you are getting too much jangle, wrap it carefully in a towel.

Trashed OUT! Cheers to all!

The "what-the-hell-o-caster" and everything about it.

So what the hell is a what-the-hell-o-caster?

I am calling it this because it can be a lot of things. Complex, simple, bluesy, quacky, punk rockey, rock, OR country, are just a few things.

I am attempting to open your eyes.

One thing to me that is essential to ME, yes to ME about a stratocaster is the tremolo. BUT I always keep it blocked.

WHAT THE HELL TRASHED!?!?! You don't use it so you block it and YOU think it is essential? You have bloody hell gone mad.

What do I mean? The noise of the spring cavity and where the routed areas make me almost feel a reverberation in  a guitar. Can it be heard through an amp? Probably not. But I don't jazz (or rock) with hard-tail strats. I have played a bunch of them. Mostly mid '70's and a few '80's of what I don't remember, BUT the hard-tail strat killed the vibe for me.

Some people think that Strats are boring. I can reassure you that they are not. I must agree that the bland, boring, black strat,with the rosewood fretboard, white pickguard and chrome hardware is not the most inspiring, eye catching, or jaw dropping guitar ever made.

The good thing however is that YOU make the rules..

Pickguards are easily interchangeable, and the options are endless! Don't think you are stuck with Fender either, http://www. greasygroove. com can make totally custom designs of whatever you can imagine and with any pickup configuration you could dream of!

Strats allow for a huge variety of pickup selection. Most are SSS, the most flexible is the HSS. HH wired for a 5-way isn't bad either. There is some room in MOST of them. I stick boost circuits in some of my Strats and have room for a battery without any complications. HEADS UP though. There are a lot of different routing patterns, don't assume though that it is a swimming pool. Before you go all hog wild on its ass take a peek, that is all. (If you have a router, Dremel, or whatnot, it is an easy go, just don't go too far on the edge).

Can they get any better !?!?! YES.

EVERYTHING is totally interchangeable of the same model. A neck breaks, (which is a highly unlikely scenario), buy one. If I break the headstock off of one of my Gibsons hellfire would come down to earth. BIG money to get a good repair AND kills the value. Hardware is interchangeable too! (to the similar model).

OK Trashed, you have blabbered and bantered for minutes now, what is this what-the-hell-o-caster? It is a partscaster. I just do whatever the hell I want. You build whatever the hell you want.

COOL SHIT, RIGHT? I think so.

Cheers Brothers!

Troof 'Bout Floatin' Tremolos

Dear Fellow Six String Junkies,

Oh wait... I suppose some of y'all are on seven, eight, and nine stringers though. Thats OK we can still be friends, there is help. haha.

Tremolos are a love/hate relationship for most of us. They are necessary for some, pain in the ass for others. However sometimes, you can't get around them, this may help.

First off is that I am not going to be speaking of Kahlers or Bigsbys, as I have very little experience with them. I want to educate, not discombobulate peoples brains. In addition to that I will not be talking about differences on the variations. If you want to know the difference of a Licensed Floyd or a FR1000, there is Google for that. 

Here are some troofs:

You absolutely CANNOT change the tuning on a floating tremolo and maintain function without setting up the guitar. You can get by with going from E std to Drop D, but you will need to re-tune the guitar, possibly necessitating taking the clamps off with the nut and tune using the tuning keys.

Stringing them and setting them up takes longer. Period. Intonation is even more of a pain in the ass. ALSO, you need to have the string tension removed to raise or lower it without causing damage.

Trashed, Whaddaya do if you need multiple tunings with a floyd? BUY ANOTHER DAMN GUITAR. YES ANOTHER GUITAR. THAT IS A MUST.

I have five Ibanez Prestige with floating tremolos, yes, FIVE, for a damn good reason. Two in C#std, two in Estd, and the fifth is Estd also, but strung with .009"s for some five semitone bending and shredding action. (lol I hate the word 'shred' and 'shredding.' just sounds dumb).

Why get a more expensive floyd than a cheap one?

They are not created equal. On cheaper models the baseplate isn't hardened to the same degree. That is the worst offence, but everything suffers.

Whats wrong with that Trashed?

The knife edges dull and it doesn't stay in tune. YUCK! the whole point is to stay in tune and make crazy noises, right?

Also the size/material of the block on the tremolo is different, HOWEVER, THIS is an easy swap. You can find the blocks for relatively cheap and and in a variety of metals and alloys. The size is variable too. I have seen nice results from a new block.

SPRING TENSION = STRING TENSION. That is the unwritten law of a tremolos. If you change strings to a different gauge or change the tuning, OR both, you are going to need to to mess with the tension on the claw AND possibly the number of springs.

For example I use .011"s in standard on nearly EVERY guitar. I use five springs in every one of them. You can only get so tight on the claw with the three springs that typically come with. For my C# guitars i use .012"s with five springs as well, same deal.


This topic will be revisited at some point in the near future.

CHEERS! Trashed.

2017-04-13 RUN AWAY from COMPUTERS!!! TCE? RANT ALERT!!!

 This one will get some of you going for sure.

So today exists these wonderful pedals, that interface with computers. TC Electronics I am looking straight at you.

YEAH that is right, TC Electronics I am watching YOU.

But Trashed, "The Toneprint gives me so much versatility!"

To that I respond, "I certainly agree, BUT... (yeah big but),"

But Trashed "What is the but? I like mine a lot?"

In 10 years, all of my Malekko, Cmatmods, Fulltone, MI, Pigtronix, ZVEX,etc. pedals will be alive and the same, just as there are today.

In 10 years, do you THINK that your TC pedals will have current drivers to use then??? Will they have current firmware updates??? I don't. Technology is still growing very fast. In the last few years, Apple changed from Lightening to Thunderbolt (or the other way, I can't remember which, I am not an Apple guy), USB2.0 is being replaced by USB-3. Hell, even HDMI may be getting replaced by something else, who knows, but I heard rumor of it somewhere (I usually don't put much faith in rumors, so I don't completely stand behind that and made sure to clear that up with you guys).

The MFX world has been rocked a few times too, each time becoming obsolete. AXE-FX shook the world. Then AXEFX 2 really shook things up again a short while later. Then the Kemper Profiler changed the world with amp cloning, Then Line 6 was running behind with the HD500 series, and put out Then Line 6 put out the HELIX. Then a short time AX-8 came out. Then the Atomic Amplifire came out for $600 with a hell of an impact at a friendly price and extreme power. They released a new one too recently with more switches. These timelines may be off a little bit, but you get the point. Thangs are a chaingin'.

Personally I don't use modeling, but If i were to tell you that it isn't great, I would be a dirty rotten liar. If I didn't own 21 tube amplifiers (yes I know I have a lot of amps), I would be gunning at a Kemper or AXE to be honest. Saying they sound great would be an understatement.

"OK trashed, TCE just makes pedals, none of that snazzy SNAX shenanigans"

To that I respond, "Yes it is that same shenanigans."

Technology grows, the old is replaced with the new. That is a fact of life in our modern society.

Will TCE follow through? maybe they will for a while. BUT it won't forever. There are thousands of thousands of pedals STILL out there from the 50's and 60's. Way more BOSS and EHX and MXR and Ibanez/Maxon from the 1980's-ish. They still work.

Fact of life the the Toneprint WILL EVENTUALLY be UNSUPPORTED. My pedal board will live forever, TCE will be swept to the side.

/Trashed out.

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.

2016-02-27 How Much Do You Actually Need? RANT GET IN ON IT!

First off, this isn't referring to having how many amps and guitars do you need, because we all know that there is always another one.

This is referring to features on an amp.

"So Trashed... Isn't it great to have everything? More versatility?"

To that I respond with "Not always."

What sparked this thought was the Mesa Road King II. Four channels, switchable output tubes on the fly, four effects loops, yada, yada yada. It is nice, but is that what you actually need?

I have a Fryette SIG:X, Which has three channels, three modes for each and a million knobs and switches and a built in foot-switchable boost built in. It is a nice amp IMO one of the finest. HOWEVER... I don't like tweaking a million things, and I lost a little bit of interest in it. I have it dialed in like a champ and use just those settings. In other words, I hardly need any of the features it has, but it sounds good and it does its job.

I also have a Mesa mkIV which is a sweet amp. I love it, very versatile, and it has a million knobs too. i keep it dialed in, use the settings I use. The only thing i need with that amp is an OD, which makes it even more functionally. Again more flexibility than i ever use.

My Mesa Trem-o-Verb (Dual Rectifier), has two channels and two modes per channel. I have one set on the 'blues' setting and the 'Vintage High-Gain' mode. It also has built in reverb and tremolo. All I need with that amp to compete with anything is to put a Paul C. Timmy out front. It gets me everything I would need.

My most used amp is my Orange Rockerverb 50mkI. Two channels and Reverb. I run a bunch or pedals into it and through the loop (as it is my main amp at the moment), and I get clean blues, dirty blues, nasty high gain, and stoner metal. It is a royal beast. [off topic, but Oranges LOVE Zendrives). It kills.

I have a feeling that most of you all don't really get under the hood as far as amps go, and I would NEVER try to troubleshoot a SIG:X. Too much shit to deal with. I can pop open a Valve King or Blue Voodoo or DSL and usually can fix it without too much of a headache.

So, think before you buy. You very well may not need all of the features, and hell maybe an OD pedal or two would give your more functionality that plugging straight into a three channel.

I want to make one point, I do love amps packed with features. I have a few and enjoy them very much so. My point is that most people probably don't use half of what you have.

/RANT

Trashed out.

2017-02-03 Tuners, Tuners, and yes, TUNERS!

Hello dear brethren that wield the honorable ax known as a guitar,

Soooo. Tuners. Easy right? Maybe not.

There are three types of common tuners.

1. Clip-on tuners.
2. Pedal Tuners.
3.Shitty plug-in tuners.
4.AND, Don't for get your trusty smart phone!

"So Trashed, I like my tuner and its one of those tuners that are regarded as 'shitty' cheap plug in tuners. It works fine for me, Why do you call it 'shitty'?"

I respond with a simple phrase "I guess you are a little under informed or you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed." Mic drop. OHHH YEAH!

So what do YOU need? Well, you are damn lucky that I am going to take the time out of my busy day and tell you.

1. Clip on tuners. They are very handy to have. You can have it on your headstock and tune without needing to make noise, AND you don't have it in your pedal chain, so less shit you have to hook up. It is handy for every instrument, from ukuleles to cellos, which is very convenient if you play multiple instruments. The short comings? Two main ones, they can fall off and break. I have broken two of three falling onto the tile/stage/etc. The second is if you are trying to tune and there is a lot of bass noise from the bass guitar that is loud, they get all messed up. That only happened to me *once* and then I wised up a bit. The GOOD thing is that they are cheap.

2. Pedal tuners. They are, in my opinion the most flexible. Theyare what any person from a guy jamming at an open-mic to a pro touring the world. They are accurate, easy, fast AND nothing can interrupt them other than a shoddy cable [for the record I use Korg Pitchblacks]. The only downfall is that it needs to be on a pedal board. They are small, so its not a big deal, but it is adding another cable to the chain and you have to power it. That for me is not a big deal for me. I have a [Korg Pitchblack]tuner on each of my three big pedalboards. One thing you don't have to worry about the better ones is they are buffered bypass, so it WILL NOT kill your tone, and may actually help with keeping a true signal to the next pedal. One benefit is that some pedal tuners have is that SOME have a power out. That is nice because you can power a few pedals with it, but the power is different with different tuners. For example I could power my OD, chorus, and delay thorough it, so I didn't even need a second power supply. THAT is handy!

OK. Let us move on to those (to put it nicely) junk plug-in tuners.

3. Plug-in tuners. They can tune AND be accurate, BUT [you knew a but was coming], they have a HUGELY LIMITED range of use. You have to plug the damn thing in every time. If it has an output, it is junk and kills you signal. That is IF you are dumb enough to put it into a chain. MASSIVE tone-suck. They can only tune guitar/bass/acoustic-electrics, which won't help in some situations. AND they break when dropped.

4. Cell phone tuners. DON'T underestimate the convenience, but know the limitations. If I am sitting around my house playing alone, I use it all the time. They are extremely handy to have around. They have HUGE limitation though. If you have other noise, it won't be accurate, etc. I don't use them for recording either. Why? I trust the accuracy of other tuners more when it comes down to cutting a track.

"SO Trashed, what do YOU use?"

EVERYTHING but the shitty plug in tuners. They all have a purpose. Sitting around jamming? Smart phone. Gigging? Pedal. Acoustic instruments and emergency? A clip on tuner. Why? They are cheap and fit in a gig bag easily. I picked up five Snark clip-on tuners for $5 a POP on flash sales, they are nice to have around. I have three Pictchblacks, and they are what I use most. There are some other types of tuners that I did not talk about, rack tuners, strobe tuners, polyphonic tuners, etc. I am keeping this basic and for the common-folk.

Well, Cheers!

Trashed

Orange Dual Terror Power Tube Swap (maybe a little bit on the VLOG side ...

HERE Y'ALL GO! It's a new video. Kind of bloggy, little ranty, and just a walk through.



This is my first attempt at a more 'complex' video (that could be a little stretch).



ENJOY! a blog on this video will be up in a few days with some more ranting and info.

2017-01-11 - Sometimes Ya Gotta' Pay to Play

Dear Tone Brothers.

I have something to tell you of utmost importance. Some things in life aren't cheap. Good tone ISN'T.

I am not slandering those with a small budget, but if you stick with it, you will pay.

Those solid-state (also know as transistor amps) are not going to make you sound like your rock 'god'. I don't care how good you are if you are playing on a Marshall M10 watt combo, you won't exactly sound like a professional. WATCH THIS STATEMENT: You may PLAY like a professional, but it isn't going to SOUND professional (as in studio, or gig, etc.). Don't get me wrong, paying like a professional is definitely an achievement and something to be proud of, but so is good tone.

(Trashed kicks the dust off of his boots and continues)

Are tube amps the end-all for tone? No. 

Personally they are for me (I have 19 quality tube amps), and I love the suckers.

Do you need tubes to sound like a 'professional'? No. 

If you are on the way up, an amp is the core of your tone. $400 used gets you a great combo in the right market. I am referencing a Peavey 6505+ combo, Marshall DSL40c combo, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe combo, etc., but there are tons. That $400 will be WELL spent.

Lets talk about guitars. Your $100 Squier Strat, is a viable instrument with a little work. Your $100 Epiphone LP Special (IMO) is trash-can bound in time. It depends on what guitar to a degree, but at that price the quality is generally pretty low across the board.

So Trashed - WHY do you want to spend a little more on a guitar? 

There are a bunch of reasons. Typically mid-level instruments stay in tune better, are of higher quality regarding fit and finish, the fretwork is notably better, the hardware is a little better. They will just feel better in your hands, if you are transitioning form a cheap guitar, and you play a mid level guitar, you will feel the difference right away. It isn't something I can really describe, its just a vibe.

I am going to stick to the sub $400 used budget. Ibanez RG's (without tremolos), Epiphone Les Paul Standard, Fender Mexican Strat. They will all play well with a little set-up, and sound much better. If you are obsessive, you may want to get a new nut fit for it, maybe a fret-level and crown. However for me? I haven't done that on any cheap guitars.

Is $800 a lot to invest in a past time/hobby? To me, not a whole lot. I can probably think of a dozen more hobbies where you invest more in mid level equipment. Also for most of my readers, they are beyond the entry phase to be researching.

Pay to Play.

CHEERS BROTHERS, 

TRASHED.

*I have a bunch of disclaimers here. The guitars and amps I referenced are just really common guitars and amps that you can find anywhere. In most of those cases they can be found cheaper. I posted those for a broad audience, a basic 'metal' rig, a 'rock' rig, and more of a 'clean' amp for other things. However, they are ALL gig-worthy.

2017-01-09 Locking Tuners

QUESTIONS:

1. They sound handy, don't they?
2. Your guitar stays way better in tune than standard tuners, right?
3. You don't need a locking nut for Floyd Roses do you?
4. They are less likely to fail aren't they?
5. They are far superior, aren't they?

ANSWERS:
1. To some (who haven't experienced the bastards).
2. Not really. Maybe a *little* bit if at all. FYI guitar tuners are NOT the root of most causes.
3. Hmmmm... Sounds great,but unfortunately, NOPE.
4. No difference.
5. That is an opinion, and NOT MINE.

So now we have debunked some bullshit lets go on, Trashed is ready to rant.

To frame the experience with locking tuners, i have had Sperzels, Grover, Fender, and whatever came on a Charvel I had. That pretty much covers the turf. They don't stay in tune better, in fact my Sperzel's broke in a few weeks, the clamp that goes in the middle of the tuner got stuck in there and I could not even get the string out. I like Grover more than the other brands, and they are the most tolerable. Gotoh makes the best IMO, but I don't have a lot of experience with them on locking tuners, so I will keep my mouth shut. The Charvel ones flat out failed (sent the guitar back and didn't want another, so I bought something else).

Ok, Trashed, "So if they are sooooo bad, why do the make them anyway?

My smart-ass response: "Kia still makes cars, don't they?"

OK, lets be serious, people buy them.

Now for a disclaimer, some people do prefer them, this is MY OPINION.

WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT LOCKING TUNERS?

They make it faster to change your strings. Seriously. that is plus, a lot more wrapping and maybe a little less stretching needing to be done... but, is it worth it? Not for me. I have never had reliability issues with any traditional tuners, my preference is Gotoh or Schaller, and following those, Grover.

Glad that is over.

Be sure to add some hate-spam to my wonderful blog,

Trashed

2016-12-27 How to Mod Guitars and Sell them and Not Go Broke!

Here is a tip to save a hell of a lot of money.

When you buy a guitar, love it and start putting money into it, which I must say there is nothing wrong with doing, as I do it all the time. For example stuff like new pickups, maybe tuners, other hardware, bridge, etc. They can add up fast. 

For this discussion I will refer to a Fender Mexican Stratocaster on the used market. Why? Everybody has played one, a ton of us own them, very common and easy to find in any market. I have owned over a dozen over the years, paying between $175-$275 a pop. They are quickly bought and an easy sell.

For this we will say we paid $300. Its a killer guitar, plays nice, but the pickups are a bit bland. that adds up to $150 really fast, no matter if you go Lace sensors, or Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, etc.

What is the guitar worth? most certainly not $450.

You throw some locking tuners on it (which I hate and I promise I will do a blog on in the near future). lets say, $50.

What is the guitar worth? most certainly not $500.

Lets mix it up...

You find this beautiful American Strat that you are lusting over and want to buy it. However to afford it, you must sell the Mexican Strat, So you list it on Ebay/Reverb/Craigslist/Gumtree,etc. for $500 because it is 'heavily modded' and you have 'a lot of money invested' and wait. THAT IS YOUR MISTAKE.

Nobody in their right mind will pay more than $350 for that, even if it is perfect.

This is what you should have done: KEPT ALL OF THE ORIGINAL PARTS and swapped it back to the way you got it. Nobody is going to give you that astronomical figure for that guitar.

What you have is a guitar with the original parts in installed that your sold for $300. You also have three nice pickups that you could likely get $100 for (or to use on a different guitar OR your new American Strat), and a nice set of locking tuners, ~$30 or again future use.

You lose a LOT LESS MONEY $$$ this way. It is something that I have always done to any guitar i have modded. For the guitars I do have that were modded by me, I have filing cabinets FULL of parts. If I get rid of the guitar I open up the drawer it is in, swap it back, then photograph and list it.

**MOST used gear that is bought used smartly and in the same condition sells within +/-15% of what you paid. That is NOT a published number, just experience of buying and selling a lot of guitars and being glued to the community both on the net and online.**

2016-12-15 Fix up this POS!!!

I am up and running again! Time to do some bitchin'!!

So here you go, you buy this POS (piece o' shite) strat copy, and you want to upgrade it. and you say:

"Trashed, why not upgrade it?"

"I say because it is putting lip-stick on a pig. It just ain't right."

but Trashed, "I love this guitar, and I can make it sound better, I will replace the pickups, hardware, etc. etc."

I respond "I guess you are the type to not heed quality advice and have to mess something up yourself to learn, Good luck!"

So.....

$150 in pickups, sounds a little nicer. but not amazing. $50 on tuners, however, you will most likely drill for them to fit. In case you didn't notice, third world countries don't follow standard sizes as us civilized folk do (to a degree). $200 into a $100 guitar (running total of $300).

There are a couple of points to make to clear the last paragraph up. Tuners are typically not what causes a guitar to go out of tune, normally it is the string binding on somethin. However really junky, shitty tuners can slip and mess up your gig. Ya get whatcha' pay for sometimes. Also if you have a $100 guitar the other electronics are shit too, plan on new pots, jacks, switches, caps, etc.

"Oh shit, Trashed, I am into this guitar three times it is worth, but I love it."

The plot thickens: You develop as a guitarist, you play a nice guitar, and wish your guitar felt like that. $150 on a level and crown, you are getting close!!! Nope.

Now... you are in a running total of $450 into this piece of junk. It isn't worth anything, as YOU DO NOT GET YOUR CASH OUT OF UPGRADES. so there you are. That could have bought yourself something very nice.

*****

Disclaimer...

Not all $100 guitars are junk. Pretty much any current produced guitar @ $100 is junk, just in general. Some people love modding, I do, but its about the journey as opposed to the destination, but that doesn't mean that the destination is where you wanted to go. One thing is that you can find $1000 guitars that will need a fret level and crown, but generally they are much more playable that of the guitars we are talking.

*****

Disclaimer #2...

I am gearing this specific blog to newer or less gear savvy guitarists who don't have as much experience.

*****

Cheers Fellow Axemen, Merry Christmas.

Trashed

2016-12-01 Hoarding & What Trashed Hoards.

Cheers Gear Afflicted Junkies!


First off - I have a LOT of gear, and yes I have some [insert piece here] that I have in storage and haven't touched in five years. YES. I do. Hoarding gear can be a great thing. One good thing about gear is that most of it is pretty liquid.

If you buy it used for a good price, you likely won't lose much selling it on the used market and it typically goes reasonably fast.

If you buy new, that is a whole different situation, kiss your ass goodbye, you lost half of its value when you walked out the door of your favorite shop.

Either way, you get more money back from gear than you would a lot of other things, provided it is well taken care of.

With that aside, "TRASHED! WTF IS YOUR POINT???"

I would like to tell YOU all about what i like to hoard. Some of these things are more obsessive than others, some cheaper, and some not so much.

My most innocent hoarding is of Yamaha Nippon Gakki Classical guitars. They date back to the 1960's and they were made in Japan, there is a whole gamut of different models that they put out. I just happen to like their nylon string classical guitars. At the moment I believe I have five tucked away, one I take out regularly. I have spent from $10-$110 on them. They are very cheap, and I have scored at garage sales at least once.

My 'component' hoarding is tubes (duh!) at the moment I have roughly 90 brand new tubes, probably anther 40-50 that have been used and are good, and then i have 19 tube amps with functioning tubes in them. THIS may be a problem... lol. My second 'component' hoarding is BBD chips. I have a few laying around here and there that I am saving as they are no longer produced. I have at least five pedals with BBD chips in them (thank you Malekko!).

Ibanez Prestiges - this is the pricey one. I will have my sixth in January. They are just magnificent pieces of gear. They play so well, quality is top notch, perfect fretwork every time, GOOD trems that can take a lot before going out of tune. I think I may stop at 6, but don't quote me.

Two more notables!

Malekko Heavy Industry - I have at least seven or eight of their pedals, TOP freakin' notch.

Cmatmods - I have a growing collection of them, and every additional one I get even more blown away.


NOW FOR THE COOL PART. WHAT DO YOU HOARD? TELL ME!

Cheers, Trashed.

2016-11-27 9 Volt Batteries are from HELL!!!

Fellow Weekend Warriors,

Here is a pressing issue which seems to be greatly understood by a lot of people. -especially beginners.

"OMG Trashed, I don't want [insert active pickup here] because they will frequently need batterizz."

Well... I have had quite a few guitars with active EMG's (81, 85, 60, etc.) and I have NEVER had one battery die in less than a year. The Gibson SG I have them in now have had them for five years (granted it doesn't get a ton of play).

The secret - don't leave your cord plugged into your jack. The jacks are switched (known as 'normally open') and the plug when plugged in completes the circuit.

The obvious disclaimers: just like you keep extra strings, DO keep extra 9V batteries around. If you get the guitar used, you don't know how long it has been in there, so I (just my preference) swap it, as opposed to wondering when it will die on me. Also, batteries are not all created equal. Tread carefully.

NOW for pedals...

MOST pedals have switched INPUT jacks, (like the switched jacks on active pickups) and will NOT drain batteries unplugged. If you leave them plugged in, (especially on a higher current pedal) you will have a dead battery fast.

Another argument is (regarding pedals), why the hell would you use batteries? They are expensive and unreliable as you don't know when they are going to die. The solution to that is a $25 Visual Sound (now True Tone) 1 spot will power your entire board, and will do just about everything you need. [For the record, an ISO powered block is much better, but you are looking over $100 easily for such unit].

"So Trashed, when do YOU use batteries"?

I use them as sparingly as possible. The ONLY time is if I am going to a small gig or open mic if I am running only two or three pedals, and you don't have to fuss about power and related issues. I test the battery before I put it in the pedal, and take it out RIGHT when I get home.

Cheers,

Trashed.

2016-11-13 *BONUS RANT* Mic your Shit!

I am sick of going on Youtube and seeing video after video of absolutely shit tone. Yes, some of them are 'deplorable idiots' who do indeed use junk and sound like it and are in denial. Maybe some just really don't know.

If you are demoing a decent amp or pedal or guitar, and use a damn mic! You can't make even the nicest of amps will not sound good with a shitty phone recording or a shitty point and shoot camera with the mic on there. Period.

Mic'ing an amp is not hard to do, nor is it necessarily expensive.

"So Trashed why use a mic?"

Here are just a couple of reasons. Hearing the noise from you banging your strings blended with the noise from the amp is flat nauseating. Also, you pick up room noises from some (the real idiots) that have a TV on in the background or their mom yelling out of them telling them to get out of their basement (an unforgivable sin in my opinion). Do you have no pride in your craft? Also if you are recording, the STANDARD is the mic'd tone, that is what you hear on most recordings (especially small time), so don't you want to sound 'professional'?

Why record your amp without a proper mic? There are VERY few decent reasons. NONE of which I can think of at the moment.

Also, it is NOT nearly EXPENSIVE as people think. Even an outdated computer can reasonably hold it's own to a few tracks. $80 on an SM-57, a $100 interface, free DAW (Audacity), at a minimum headphones, and let it rip. The quality is immensely better than whatever you are using.

Video is a different animal, not nearly expensive as it seems as well, especially with how good some cell phones can record video (my cell will record in HD and do well). 

The biggest factor is lighting. You may need to spend a few buck on that. The cheap-ass way? take some umbrellas, spray the inside with a metallic paint, and shine a desk light in and arrange them to light the room.

So don't be an idiot, don't be lazy, do it right.

Here is what I use (and I am fairly new to it to be honest). I use SM57 for a mic for the most part, I use a Focusirte Scarlet 2i4 for an interface, Reaper for a DAW, and some higher end Sennheiser headphones and some KRK rockitt 6" monitors (they are my weak point at the moment, but i got them cheap). For Video I use a Nikon DSLR (1080p) and a Rode Video Mic for speaking parts. I use Adobe Premier Elements and go from there. It works great, I will be posting more videos in the near future when i have some more time to make them and get more familiar with the rig.

So if you do it, DO IT RIGHT.

That is it for now bitches.

Cheers, Trashed

2016-10-28 Whatcha need in your gigbag to survive?

Whats up my fellow weekend warriors?

This is a simple post, what do you need with you to survive out in the world of 'Guitar Land'?

However - I am NOT going to tell what you need.

"WTF Trashed, I thought you were trying to help us?"

"Well... I don't know what you need because I am not you, but what I WILL DO is tell you what I bring".

I am assuming that you have two guitars, and a tube amp that you are taking, although a backup amp is always good to have access to.

I have a tool bag that I got from Home Depot like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-12-in-Tool-Bag-82004N11/203224030. $10 and rugged as all hell. I own at least five of them for different things. They go cheap for Black Friday too, I think I got mine at $4 each last year.

There is one thing that separates a pro player from a new player: A beginner will bring enough in case ANYTHING were to go wrong. A pro will bring enough in case EVERYTHING goes wrong. 

That is it right there, take that as a word of wisdom.

I am not going to list the common things (picks/strings/etc). I am going to cover some of the lesser thought items, some are obvious, some a little less so. This is a combination of general, guitar related, and amp related.

1. Towels/rags - you want to be able to wipe down your guitar strings, body, fretboard, forehead. It gets hot up there.

2. Magic marker/sharpie, pen and paper -to get the bitches numbers right? Yeah, but ya' know there are other reasons. Set lists/marking knobs on amp/pedal. etc.

3. Flashlights - one of the most important actually. It can get dark on stage, and if you bump a knob, you need to see it. If you need to plug/unplug something during the set. If you drop something. etc. good for setup too.

4. Batteries - for EVERYTHING. 9V's for pedals and if you have active pickups, flashlights, wireless systems (if applicable), and even for your clip on tuner.

5. Fuses - usually there are two fuses on each amp that are accessible from the back panel, make sure you have the SAME value, and the SAME type (standard versus slo-blow).

5. Cables - that falls on the obvious side of things, but this is something that can completely impair your gig if one goes. Cable testers are a good idea overall too.

6. Extension cords and power strips - . Everything needs to plug in, and outlets are not always plentiful or not even in close proximity. I personally use a power conditioner, but that is a luxury to some degree.

7. Tubes - Here is another obvious one, wrap them in towels, have some of every kind your amp uses.

8. Extra power supplies - a 1spot is always good to have in case your iso-brick were to die. Or if you are using a power supply, bring a second.

9. Allan wrenches, screw drivers, a telescoping magnet on a stick. Tools in general.

10. Tooth picks and chopsticks - you can safely poke around your amp with chopsticks if something were to go wrong from the 'tapping test' on tubes, to if you drop something in there. Toothpicks are handy in case a strap button were to fall out (yes it happens), insert and screw the screw back in. Temporary fix.

11. Digital multi-meter - good for everything, especially continuity (set on ohms setting) which can quickly troubleshoot a dodgy cable or connection or short.

12. Second tuner. Period. It doesn't matter what you have, get an extra. If you can't tune, to a degree you are screwed.

I am assuming that you have a backup guitar and access to a second amplification source. If you don't have a second amp to bring, sometimes other bands will let you use yours in a pinch. It is always good to have something small that could go into the PA if needed, From a POD to an Orange Micro Terror. Personally I keep a Peavey Valve King in the trunk. I haven't needed to break it out yet.

Cheers, Trashed.

2016-10-22 BONUS RANT!!! Moral Dilemma

Here is a straight up rant. LET'S GO BITCHES!

It is well known that i am a flat out guitar and gear whore. Most of you know this. If you don't, maybe you should check this blog more often.

I have a collection of Ibanez Prestiges'. Number six will be here in January.

Ibanez Prestige's are Ibanez' flagship models- not cheap. They typically come with Dimarzio's (if you know that great, if not maybe you should do some soul surfing). All five of mine currently do have Dimarzio's. I love Dimarzio's and they make amazing pickups. I have a variety of Dimarzio's on them. Single coils and humbuckers of all sorts. Mid to high output. etc. etc. etc. They do what I want and I love them. but...

I want to get some Seymour Duncans,

HOWEVER I cannot morally put Seymour Duncans in an Ibanez. It just seems like I would spontaneously combust. I can't do it. It is like putting a Mustang emblem on a Camaro. They are both nice cars, can be fast, I have owned both, and would buy either again at some point down the road.

So... Want Seymour Duncan's... Can't put in Ibanez...

... Need new guitar for new pickups. Need Jackson?

Yes, yes, yes, need Jackson. They make fantastic guitars, good all across the board. THEY come with Seymour Duncan's (not cheap Jackson's, the nice ones), they are great with Seymour Duncans. I have owned three which are long sold (ironically for Ibanez'). High end Jackson is on par with Ibanez Prestige, and Dimarzio's are on par with Seymour Duncan's. They are just a little different. There are other reasons to get a Jackson, slightly beefier neck, but still really slim and fast. Slightly different dimensions and vibe to them. I am looking for hard-tail models specifically, because their tremolo's are a weak point (which is why I own the Ibanez', those fuckers never go out of tune).

I could never put Dimarzio's in a Jackson for THE SAME REASON that I wouldn't put Seymour Duncan's in a Ibanez. It would throw off the time space warp and open a black hole. Not a good thing.

So needless to say, next year will see a Seymour Duncan loaded guitar or two. Kind of excited.

So am I crazy?

Most likely.

I better go take my meds...

2016-10-09 Speakers: Part 1

Dear fellow Guitar-a-files:

Speakers?

Can you hear me?

Yeah that is right, speakers. Ya' need some.

Speakers are one of the most overlooked aspect to your tone. That little 8"er in your practice combo isn't going to get you anywhere (well at that rate you probably nee a new amp too). Nor is that Fender "Special Designed" speaker in your Fender Frontman going to enchant you.

There are several things to consider when you are picking out speakers. The impedance (notated as Z in Ohms), wattage, and the sensitivity (in dB 1w@1m). Size also plays a factor, but there are no laws for that.

Well maybe some of us get a little 'sensitive' on the topic, but man up guys this is for real.

What is impedance? Impedance to speak in layman's terms, is the combination of the of opposition to flow combining resistance and reactance. Now what does that definition mean to you? not much, it shouldn't.

So Trashed, what does matter? What matters is that your amp and speakers are running at the same load. Running a mismatch can cause you to blow a speaker, blow the output transformer in your amp (big bucks), and all sorts of other shit. Take my word for it and don't do it. 99% of what we see as guitarists is either 4 ohms, 8 ohms, or 16 ohms.[I am not going to cover it now, you have google for that], but the number of speakers and impedance of the speakers are what determines the load. The load is what you should match your amp and speaker(s) to. Is 4 ohms better than 16 ohms? or vice versa? Nope. Not at all. Just make sure it matches.

Wattage, hell yeah, need more! Right guys???

Maybe not. the Wattage of the speaker is basically how much power it can handle. It does not affect the volume. If you have a 20 watt amp, a 100w speaker (cceteris paribus) will not be any louder than the same amp with a 20 watt speaker. One general rule that I follow is to have the speaker wattage rating just a little higher than the amp. The reason is that some amps can put out more power than they are rated for... and... well, it makes me feel safe and warm inside.

From a technical standpoint, you don't just add the individual wattages up to get how much you have in total. What you do is [again not going into depth here, google is your friend] to take the speaker with the lowest wattage and multiply that by the number of speakers you have.

SO WATTAGE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE VOLUME OF THE SPEAKER.

Now, what does? The sensitivity. Lets get emotional guys.

Sensitivity, what could that mean? Well, it is simply the volume in dB SPL of the speaker being pushed by 1 watt 1 meter from the speaker cone. This makes a HUGE difference. A Celestion Vintage 30 is rated at 100dB, 1m away, being pushed by 1 watt, that is damn loud. A Celestion Rocket 50 is rated at a lowly 95 dB. To keep this brief, decibels are logarithmic. 10 dB is double the volume. So... you get the picture.

Size matters my fellow man...

Well we can't really find a rule for that... There are many other factors.

PART #2 COMING NEXT WEEK. We will get down and dirty with a variety of common speakers.

Fellow Axe-Men,

Cheers,

Trashed.