Besides RPGs and Video Games, What Do You Do For Fun?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Re: pedals

My pedal collection might outweigh me. Lots of fuzzes, choruses, ODs, delays and reverbs. Plus other normal stuff. Plus weird stuff.

I keep saying I want to assemble actual pedalboards dedicated to certain genres, like metal, classic rock, instrumental surf/spy, prog, Sci-Fi…but I never do.

Re: other hobbies

I have been a visual artist for most of my life, mostly pencil or ink sketching, but also some pastels, acrylic paints, and the odd watercolor, plus a couple of abstract sculptures (some of which have been destroyed). MOST of the images for the first 20 years are superheroes, Sci-Fi, horror, or fantasy characters- many depicting important PCs & NPCs from RPGs. But the most active category over the last 20 years has been jewelry design. (I don’t actually MAKE the jewelry- I leave that to professionals after buying the materials.)

 

[Jahydin]

Theres an old trick to get an overdrive sound without a pedal. With the volume on your guitar to about 5, then turn up your lead channel to about 7 to the point to where the signal starts to break up, then if you crank your guitar volume all the way up and you'll get an overdrive sound, but the quality depends on your gear.

Intrigued...

How is that different than just maxing guitar volume and then slowly increasing the lead channel?

And I hear you about the gear. I made a deal with myself: If I really practice and learn a few more challenging songs, THEN I can reward myself with new toys. Extra points if the song I learned actually uses the pedal I want.

The nice thing about guitars, if you purchase gear used, it tends to stay at that value forever. Sometimes it even goes up! So that's nice.

 

[R_J_K75]

I keep saying I want to assemble actual pedalboards dedicated to certain genres, like metal, classic rock, instrumental surf/spy, prog, Sci-Fi…but I never do.

I thought about doing this myself but eventually decided on a just a generalized board. I always find it fascinating what early musicians and producers did to get various effects. IIRC Jimmy Page created the 8-track recorder, and before that it was just 4-tracks. One story I heard was that John Lennon actually pushed on the flange of a tape reel then released it to get a "Flanging" effect. David Gilmour plugged his guitar input into the output of a wah pedal and connected the input of the pedal into the amp, (basically the reverse of how you'd normally connect it), to get the sounds he did in the middle of "Echoes". This book is really cool, I never finished it but what I did read was very interesting. Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook by Dave Hunter.

 

[R_J_K75]

How is that different than just maxing guitar volume and then slowly increasing the lead channel?

It may produce the same effect, but I'd suspect there's a reason why it works the way it does. I believe that its probably just easier to control at the guitar volume rather than the amp and gives you a more reliable result. In the early days of rock n roll players would crank up their amps on the lead channel pushing the amps to their limit and if I'm not mistaken that's where the term Overdrive comes from. I'd bet modern amps can handle this better than more vintage ones, but I'm no expert. I'm pretty sure that Eddie Van Halen never used any distortion or overdrive pedals, he got his distortion from his guitar, amp and his fingers. Don't quote me on this because I don't remember the exact particulars but when he was developing his style kept blowing the power in his house. So he went to Radioshack and bought a "power converter" (not sure if thats the exact name of it) that stepped down the "amperage" which allowed him to play at a lower volume
and still get a distorted sound.

The nice thing about guitars, if you purchase gear used, it tends to stay at that value forever. Sometimes it even goes up! So that's nice.

In 1994 I bought a Guid S300-D off of a friend who just picked it up at a pawn shop. I made him an offer of $100 and he took it. That guitar was awesome, weighed a ton but had a great thru neck, and had a Sabbath/Soundgarden sound to it. Oddly enough when I saw Soundgarden in 2010 Kim Thyail was playing one. Out of all the guitars, amps, pedals etc I've gotten rid of over the years, thats the one I regret the most.

EDIT: Heres a link to the EVH "Variac" story

The TRUE Story of Eddie VanHalen Using A Variac With A Tube Guitar Amp | Warehouse Guitar Speakers

 

[BookTenTiger]

I've got a number of hobbies I rotate through, focusing on a few at a time...

I consider myself a "hobby artist," including sculpture and pottery, drawing, and photography.

I go through periods of writing a lot of short fiction.

I've been teaching myself ukulele for the last few years.

Video games used to be a bigger hobby but I just don't have a lot of time for them these days.

And my wife and I do a lot outdoors: hiking, biking, camping, etc.

Oh! And cooking and baking! My niece and I recently made a chocolate cream pie in an Oreo crumble crust and it was very yummy.

 

[payn]

If its a tube amp it may be as simple as changing the tubes. My current amp is a Bugera V22. It has 12AX7 preamp tubes and EL84 power tubes. I thought my amp was broken as it was cutting out here and there. I emailed their customer service and they said to change the tubes. I never owned a tube amp before this one and was always under the impression that tubes either worked or they just burned out, which isn't always the case. If you do change them out there's 2 schools of thought, one says you should wear latex gloves while changing them because the oils in your hands can damage the tubes, others say this isn't true, but I always have. If its a solid-state amp I'd remove back if you can and just check that there aren't any loose connections. If that isn't the case then find a local music store that isn't Guitar Center. Tube Depot is the cheapest place I found tubes, and Dan Erlewine has a series of books that are step by step guides to fixing and maintaining guitars and amps. I'll look tomorrow and see which book has what, I own 2 of them, may be something in there that can help you figure out the problem. I think he works at Stewart MacDonald, they're a luthier shop and sell all kinds of tools and parts.

Tube Depot
Dan Erlewine
Stew Mac

It is indeed a tube amp. An old Carvin head with pull out dual purpose knobs. It's fairly unique and sounds amazing. Cant much volume out of it and it heats up like the sun. Could be tubes, could be wiring. Maybe its affordable fix, maybe its cheaper to get a new head. Its low on the priority level to a lot of stuff at the moment. Also, I play mostly Americanna, blues, and folk so the acoustic is naturally a good place to be.

I did bust out my Billy Bragg live from BBC record the other night. So, I am developing an itch to get that amp going...

Edit: My embarrassing amount of pedals is just one...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Cool to see so many other guitarists on here!!!

I wanted "all the gain" so grabbed a Marshall half-stack and a Peavy 6505+. Waaaaaaaaaaay overkill, but does sound pretty terrific, even at "house" levels.

I've since picked up a Fender Hot Rod IV and committed to using less gain (overdrives only) and really practice getting better rather than just spinning my wheels playing the same punk/metal I'm already good at.

My favorite pedals ATM:
Dookie pedal (seriously my favorite Marshall tone), MXR Shin-Juku Drive (Dumble tone), and the Tumnis Deluxe (Klon clone).

I own an embarrassing amount of pedals...

While I wouldn't say I'm at "embarrassing," I do probably have more than I need.

Last year I crossed the streams of my hobbies and picked up this beautiful thing:

 

[R_J_K75]

It is indeed a tube amp. An old Carvin head with pull out dual purpose knobs. It's fairly unique and sounds amazing. Cant much volume out of it and it heats up like the sun. Could be tubes, could be wiring. Maybe its affordable fix, maybe its cheaper to get a new head.

I dont know a whole lot about working on or trouble shooting amps. But if the tubes are heating up then might probably be wiring. Could be something as simple as having to replace your 1/4" input cable? Just a guess. Might actually be something in your electric guitar too, but again just a guess. I checked those Dan Erlewine books but nothing on amps just strictly guitar maintenance.

I bought a used Crate 2 x 12 hybrid, it has pre-amp tubes and is solid state on the power side. I got it off Guitar Center.com, and It never worked. When they shipped it they removed the tubes but never gave me a key as to where what tubes went in which slots. It says on the back of the amp what tubes went where but I think it was modified as the tubes that came with it weren't the ones that originally came with the amp. I think a previous owner had it modded. When I first got it I bought new tubes and when I turned it on it just squeals a super high pitch sound. I didn't pay much so it wasn't worth sending back but still aggravating.

 

[R_J_K75]

While I wouldn't say I'm at "embarrassing," I do probably have more than I need.

Last year I crossed the streams of my hobbies and picked up this beautiful thing:

View attachment 290042

That is cool, but Im often amazed how companies get away with using other peoples IPs. I'd be surprised if they licensed Lord Soths likeness. Probably only a few made and not worth WotC effort to issue a C&D or sue. Was this a one-off or available as a limited run?

 

[Mad_Jack]

We have talked about taking the kids to Trans Siberian Orchestra at Xmas time; this might be the year that finally happens.

I've seen them seven times. I hope to see them at least seven more. Definitely worth it.