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Sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on the elements - one of the hugest keys is the one you've already discovered; namely, turn down the gain! Once you have that, you have the secret  Now don't tell anyone I do try to give advice, though because of the specific nature of what I do with guitar I'm going to be giving advice based on analogue stuff, not modellers. In your current situation, that might not be very helpful for you. I do know, having had them, that Bassmans are great with pedals Maybe it's time you started using that thing again! As for the presets, I looked through the list, and not having the device myself I'd guess the Boogie preset is likely early-santana; as for Gilmour, probably one of the fuzz lead or strat-stack settings  I'm just guessing, of course. If you ever need anyone to listen to the guitar tracks, lemme know. I'm always willing to give some commentary, and I'm sure I can be nice Finding your own voice is a very brave thing to do. Clearly I chickened out and chose a path where I wouldn't have to, but it sounds like you have the right idea. Don't be afraid to experiment! You might find that your voice sort of sneaks up on you
----- Do you love the Floyd as much as I do? If so, click away the moments that make up the dull day: www.canadianpinkfloyd.com
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Quote:
The roland V-guitar stuff is simply amazing. I find it too complicated for my tastes, to be honest.
rocky,
It's not actually that complex; it's just that you have to get at everything--and there is a lot of it--through that tiny little interface. There's a bit of freeware, the V-Editor (currently at v. 0.51), that brings everything to the PC monitor, where you can manipulate each piece in the chain as if it were before you. ('Course, all the FX look like Roland stomp boxes, but hey . . .)
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Quote:
I do try to give advice, though because of the specific nature of what I do with guitar I'm going to be giving advice based on analogue stuff, not modellers.
Josh,
The thing about emulators that most folks don't seem to get is that it might as well be the real thing--right down, sometimes, to amp noise and hum. Sometimes more real; I created a patch I call "HyperStrat". It's an idealized clean Strat with chorus, reminiscent of Craig Chaquico's acoustic sound.
Keep giving your advice; it's all valuable and valid.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Thanks, R I don't have anything personal against modelers - I simply don't have any use for them currently. That being said, I have ordered one of those nice Line 6 keyboard/interface thingies for jotting down song ideas at home, so pretty soon I'll probably be asking you for advice It's a fact that every year the technology gets better and better. As far as guitar playing mumbo-jumbo goes, I just don't "feel" it with modelers yet... But in time, I'm sure they'll figure that out and then I won't have to haul hundreds of pounds of gear everywhere I go ha ha. And don't even talk to me about hum  That is my personal nightmare (strat + a billion effects + multiple old amps = noise noise noise!). If they keep hum out of the models I'm happy!
----- Do you love the Floyd as much as I do? If so, click away the moments that make up the dull day: www.canadianpinkfloyd.com
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And don't even talk to me about hum That is my personal nightmare (strat + a billion effects + multiple old amps = noise noise noise!). If they keep hum out of the models I'm happy!
I still have an Ibanez NS-10 noise reduction stomp box. I used to use it on the Ibanez; now I use it on my Wish "Hyper" bass, with its low-end EMG "Select" (ha!) single-coil pickup. Enough with the having to stand facing just north of east (or just south of west) to minimize the buzz, already.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Oh, I've tried pretty much every stomp box. My next plan is to get my tech to put FX loops in my amps, and then get a nice rack-mount of some description. Onward and upward!  Funny about standing a certain way - I played a gig in Vancouver once where it appeared that the street-car wires running right beside the stage were causing problems. I had to orient myself _very_ precisely. Definitely a day where I wished I had humbuckers.
----- Do you love the Floyd as much as I do? If so, click away the moments that make up the dull day: www.canadianpinkfloyd.com
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As far as describing sound using regular old english words, Ryszard, I say go for it. Guitarists will know what you mean, and I don't think you can get it across any other way. I hate to disagree with Mac, but when someone tells me they want a "warm" guitar sound, I know pretty much exactly what they mean - sure, they might need to clarify a bit, but I know how to get in the ballpark. If you've been playing guitar for 40 years, you probably know too
Ah, but you SUPPORT what I said most definitely.
That last sentence says it all. You are able to interpret "warm" into the technical parts of the thing that you KNOW will translate to that, and it is due to those 40 years of experience.
Still, different guitarists will have something different to say (and do, equipment and signal-chain wise) when confronted with the "warm" request. Me, first thing is to get on the neck pickup. I have a good friend who can play "warm" on the bridge pickup, though, and that's due mostly to his abilities, which started at fast chickin' pickin' and branched out from there. I once joked to Stu that every guitar looked like a Telecaster to him. He retorted that every Tele looked like a Jazzbox to me. If you know what I mean and I think Josh do.
I turn 58 this September, darn, let's count 'em up, lessee, I was about 12 when I seriously started workin' out on the gutstring, by the end of that year I had my first electric plank. 'Twas a Sears & Roebuck Danelectro with the amp-in-the-case...
--Mac
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Not that it will help but for electric guitar I find the Line 6 amp is a real doozy.
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Quote:
Quote:
The roland V-guitar stuff is simply amazing. I find it too complicated for my tastes, to be honest.
rocky,
It's not actually that complex; it's just that you have to get at everything--and there is a lot of it--through that tiny little interface. There's a bit of freeware, the V-Editor (currently at v. 0.51), that brings everything to the PC monitor, where you can manipulate each piece in the chain as if it were before you. ('Course, all the FX look like Roland stomp boxes, but hey . . .)
R.
Maybe we are talking about two different boxes. I'm talking about a Roland V-Guitar box and a Godin that has the midi pickups built in. I don't know what model it was that he had. It's a table-top device, not a foot pedal thing. Glen has his mounted on a stocky cymbal stand.
The V-Guitar interface let's you move pickup locations along the length of the string, change pickup types, change tuning, etc. besides what you would expect with an amp simulator. Glen didn't show me the PC interface.
The number of parameters that you can change is mind boggling. It was incredibly fun auditioning the presets, but I didn't have time to study it in detail. It was WAY too tempting to just mess around. I fell into this 'just playing around' mode with soft synths several years ago.
Shoot, just the air controller (I don't know what Roland calls it) was way too fun to mess around with. The thing where you can wave your hand over the light controller and use it as a modulator, that was fun to play with.
We were going to practice something - pick a song and learn it, but we ended up just auditioning presets and patches that Glen had made. Pretty soon, it was time for me to go home for the night. Like a moth to the flame, that kind of thing with so many parms is too tempting to me to just play with instead of play.
-Scott
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Awwww, so you have to play with it. Poor baby! *g*
I have the VG-88 floor unit; he has the newer VG-99 rack/tabletop/mic stand form. Yeah, it's a guitar emulator--not just amps and FX. You can mix and match body types and pickups, create bodies and pickup placements that don't exist in the real world, create altered tunings which you can change at a touch, pan stereo strings, blah blah blah. There's nothing else like it.
The -88 will accept up to eight external switches or pedals in addition to the two onboard; his likely will, too. The -99 has a built-in pitch-to-MIDI converter, though, and mine doesn't. Just one more thing.
The air thingie is called the D-Beam, an infrared sensor built into the V-Synth and I guess other things, too. A friend of mine has one. He often sets up behind me when we play. I'll turn around and see him waving his right hand in the air and think he's conducting, until I connect it with the modulation that's happening. It's fraffly kewl.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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He can hook up MIDI controller pedal switches to the '99 if he so chooses, many live performers and studio cats do.
--Mac
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Quote:
The V-Guitar interface let's you move pickup locations along the length of the string, change pickup types, change tuning, etc. besides what you would expect with an amp simulator. Glen didn't show me the PC interface.
The number of parameters that you can change is mind boggling. It was incredibly fun auditioning the presets, but I didn't have time to study it in detail. It was WAY too tempting to just mess around. I fell into this 'just playing around' mode with soft synths several years ago.
rsn,
Have your friend look for the V-Editor ver 0.51. It's a graphic interface that lets you SEE most of what goes on inside the VG. For instance, I found several FX chains in which the noise suppressor was in the wrong place, so I moved it to the end where it belonged.
It's old PC freeware, it's a little flaky--mine crashes when I try to save sysex files, but it syncs and saves individual patches fine--but just looking at individual patches on your monitor gives a better understanding of what's going on inside that Black Box.
I had a little trouble getting it (I had to sign up on a board where the moderator never responded; I think someone here sent it to me in the end) so I can email it if either of you likes. It requires MIDI I/O to save, load, and synchronize.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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The noise suppressor is intended to be used in Front of the signal chain to clean up input noise. Putting it on the back will work if you've overused gain and distortion settings and created noise BUT if you've used time oriented effects such as reverb and delay you will effectively cut off their tails muy pronto.
I don't have a midi pickup but I wouldn't think they are noisy. Are they noisy? If not then the noise comes from the amp and distortions you are building. Many presets have noise because they're overdone for the marketing guys. Learn to develop your own by starting from scratch and you'll be much further ahead in the art.
DTuna
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