Quitting Hockey...

[JR97 2]

You want a good Les Paul, check out ESP's version. The LTD series version can be had for around $500 US. Well worth it. I've owned ESP's and swear by em, even the LTD's.

ESP's rock. If you're not a huge fan of EMG active pickups, there are "cheaper" Les Paul subs like the single cut PRS models, lower end Heritage, etc. But the best bang for the buck just might be the Xaviere's from http://store.guitarfetish.com/xaviereguitars.html. I've tried the tele and semi-hollow LP.. wow. You'd swear you were playing a $1000 guitar. Just have to watch the site because they sell out the LP's fast.

On the amp side, don't rule out the Fender Blues Jr. Easy platform to modify. The Epiphone Jr. is another that is killer tone, can be modded, and is dirt cheap. No need for 4x12's. I sport 2 4x10 cabs and usually just use one cab. I'll take both to the gig just for the coolness factor and backup though. Plus, if you do your research, develop a discerning ear, you can get into lower wattatage good tube amp heads for cheap. 100 Watters and up are so overkill. It's also worth picking up a digital modeler. Mine is used mainly for demos and headphone practice. They don't "feel" like a tube amp but the flava is there enough not to kill inspiration.

[Jarick 5]

Well.....100W amps are overkill if you want poweramp compression and sag. If you're using the preamp voicing to control the sound, usually anything over 50W is gravy. We used to have a Univalve with my old band and that thing could not compete with me on the drums, even running through a 4x12 V30 cab. But that was for metal. If you're playing blues or classic rock, a little amp can be amazing. I will say, if you're playing heavy music, a closed-back 2x12 kills an open backed 4x10.

Right before I sold off the rest of my guitar stuff, I was using a Roland Cube 30X. That thing sounded fantastic for the price and was very loud. Great value, especially for people who can't crank up loud amps in apartments or dorms.

Off topic a bit :D

[eric42434224 1]

I had a small rack (4 or 5 slots) with a Marshall JMP1 midi preamp, along with a wireless, tuner, and quadroverb. I ran it through the loop on a 1X12 mesa. That amp was so loud for its size. Remember, all you need to play in a band is something that will give you enough STAGE volume. You only ever need enough volume to have a mix on stage. Your amp will be mic'ed up and that will go to the board, and your PA. A really solid 1X12 is all you need. Any more and you are only paying for looks. The 1x12 will be plenty for practice (solo and with group) and plenty for stage volume at gigs. Nothing is more annoying than a guitar player cranking his half stack to the point it totally messes up the general mix coming out the main speakers. Plus, you have the very nice benefit of small size and weight....a benefit so important to anyone who gigs 3-4 nights a week.

[stick9 896]

To add to the amp fodder. I agree, 100W heads and amps are overkill. If you're playing metal or anything that's heavy, you want something that you can run just about wide open. It will break up quicker. You'll get better tone, more sustain and way better harmonics. Give me a 50W head and a 2x12 cab and I am thrilled. I'll be running the thing on 7 most of time...just letting it scream.

Even for blues it's a better option. You want to pump enough power through it to get those tubes warm. Warm tubes equal mad tone. ;)

If you're gigging. You're rig is mic'd, so there is no real reason to need a 100W head or combo.

BTW - I love the tightness of the 4x10 cabs. Not nearly as much punch as 12's though. I always wanted to mess with a sub for guitar, so I could run a 4x10 for leads and have a single 15 punching things out during rhythms.

[Chadd 916]

I had a small rack (4 or 5 slots) with a Marshall JMP1 midi preamp, along with a wireless, tuner, and quadroverb. I ran it through the loop on a 1X12 mesa. That amp was so loud for its size. Remember, all you need to play in a band is something that will give you enough STAGE volume. You only ever need enough volume to have a mix on stage. Your amp will be mic'ed up and that will go to the board, and your PA. A really solid 1X12 is all you need. Any more and you are only paying for looks. The 1x12 will be plenty for practice (solo and with group) and plenty for stage volume at gigs. Nothing is more annoying than a guitar player cranking his half stack to the point it totally messes up the general mix coming out the main speakers. Plus, you have the very nice benefit of small size and weight....a benefit so important to anyone who gigs 3-4 nights a week.

If you run a stereo effects chain a 2x12 would be needed. I'm not a huge effects guy but putting a mic in front of each speaker and running them through different sides of the PA can sound really, really good.

BTW - I love the tightness of the 4x10 cabs. Not nearly as much punch as 12's though. I always wanted to mess with a sub for guitar, so I could run a 4x10 for leads and have a single 15 punching things out during rhythms.

Best sounding rig I ever heard was a 1x15. Every sound just boomed out of that thing. Highs were clear and round, not thin or sharp at all.

[ean 0]

I quit hockey when I was 14 after playing for 9 years. Biggest mistake of my life. I don't think you should ever quit anything unless it's bad for you. I was undersized at the time and had a hard time finding a decent coach so I thought I'd stop for a year and then come back. Well I never came back and then 6 years later I decided to pick it up again. A lot of it has come back to me but trust me when I say this- you will never have a chance to be competitive in hockey again. Once you finish your youth leagues all that's left are the pros and beer leagues. guess which one I play in? Also you begin to take for granted how valuable practices are. I would love to have practices now so that I can hone my skills but the best I can do is play a beer league game once a week.

I say stick with it-if the time commitment is too much then play in-house or a rec league. But there is no reason for you to quit altogether.

[JR97 2]

Well.....100W amps are overkill if you want poweramp compression and sag. If you're using the preamp voicing to control the sound, usually anything over 50W is gravy. We used to have a Univalve with my old band and that thing could not compete with me on the drums, even running through a 4x12 V30 cab. But that was for metal. If you're playing blues or classic rock, a little amp can be amazing. I will say, if you're playing heavy music, a closed-back 2x12 kills an open backed 4x10.

Right before I sold off the rest of my guitar stuff, I was using a Roland Cube 30X. That thing sounded fantastic for the price and was very loud. Great value, especially for people who can't crank up loud amps in apartments or dorms.

Off topic a bit :D

Roland makes good stuff. I had a Roland JC-120 for 20+ years. Built like a tank and looked classy. I could go jazzy or through my Mesa Boogie V-Twin in front and go metal. I sold it a few months ago. I missed it the moment I walked it outside with the buyer. Dumbest move ever. Their little cubes are bad ass and one of the best kept secrets out there.

To add to the amp fodder. I agree, 100W heads and amps are overkill. If you're playing metal or anything that's heavy, you want something that you can run just about wide open. It will break up quicker. You'll get better tone, more sustain and way better harmonics. Give me a 50W head and a 2x12 cab and I am thrilled. I'll be running the thing on 7 most of time...just letting it scream.

Even for blues it's a better option. You want to pump enough power through it to get those tubes warm. Warm tubes equal mad tone. ;)

If you're gigging. You're rig is mic'd, so there is no real reason to need a 100W head or combo.

BTW - I love the tightness of the 4x10 cabs. Not nearly as much punch as 12's though. I always wanted to mess with a sub for guitar, so I could run a 4x10 for leads and have a single 15 punching things out during rhythms.

I've got a 2x12 Marshall cab that mates up to my 4x10 Marshall. Together they sound good. But the 4x10 on the bottom makes up for the lack of bass. Coupling effect and all that. Just something to consider. Still doesn't kick you in the gut like a 4x12, but not making your ears bleed and pissing off the neighbors is a good trade-off.

I think a single 15 might be ok if you put a crossover on it and had a seperate power amp. Otherwise, you might as well just got fart in a mic. 15's are really for low bass frequencies. You'd actually get better bass response out of 12's for guitar. Maybe a ported cab with x-over if you really want to experiment.

Best sounding rig I ever heard was a 1x15. Every sound just boomed out of that thing. Highs were clear and round, not thin or sharp at all.

really? what speaker and what kind of cab? how much power?

[Chadd 916]

I think a single 15 might be ok if you put a crossover on it and had a seperate power amp. Otherwise, you might as well just got fart in a mic. 15's are really for low bass frequencies. You'd actually get better bass response out of 12's for guitar. Maybe a ported cab with x-over if you really want to experiment.

A 15 will do amazing things to the high end signal, making it less shrill. Along with some heavy strings, it's the best way to get some of those SRV texas blues tones.

[stick9 896]

I've got a 2x12 Marshall cab that mates up to my 4x10 Marshall. Together they sound good. But the 4x10 on the bottom makes up for the lack of bass. Coupling effect and all that. Just something to consider. Still doesn't kick you in the gut like a 4x12, but not making your ears bleed and pissing off the neighbors is a good trade-off.

I think a single 15 might be ok if you put a crossover on it and had a seperate power amp. Otherwise, you might as well just got fart in a mic. 15's are really for low bass frequencies. You'd actually get better bass response out of 12's for guitar. Maybe a ported cab with x-over if you really want to experiment.

really? what speaker and what kind of cab? how much power?

Essentially, you want to stay away from adding a crossover to a guitar rig. Which is why I never went any further than thinking about it.

You can get 15's that have decent high frequency response, but they're geared towards PA use. Still nothing like you'd see in a 12 as far has mid and high end.

My fear with using a 15 was always about losing the crunchy tones....those pesky mid and high tones. B)

Chadd has it right. SRV bluesy stuff would do well through 15's. The 15's won't distort like 12's will and will add a booming effect to quiet lows found in that type of music.

[eric42434224 1]

The funny thing is, being a gear whore is very similar in hockey and guitar. In both, you spend a lot of money to have more than one thing you only really need one of; you are constantly looking to replace or add gear; and the difference in tone/sound, and in ice skill, due to the new equipment is usually negligible, and wont be noticed by the average person. ;)

[Jarick 5]

Yep, I had to get out of a few things like guitar because of the gear whoring!

I'm better about the hockey equipment though. I think.

[JR97 2]

The funny thing is, being a gear whore is very similar in hockey and guitar. In both, you spend a lot of money to have more than one thing you only really need one of; you are constantly looking to replace or add gear; and the difference in tone/sound, and in ice skill, due to the new equipment is usually negligible, and wont be noticed by the average person. ;)

That is so true. But I found with guitar gear, once you've found the "sweet spot", you can be set for life. If I need a wide variety, I'll try and make up the difference with my hands, volume knob, tone knobs, etc. instead of adding more gear. Plus, even though the audience can't tell the difference in the minutia of good tone, they can tell if your playing is uninspired. For me bad tone or unplayable guitars kills inspiration right off the bat. So 95% of my electric playing is on one guitar that I absolutely love playing. (Musicman Sillouette Special H-S-S setup)

I went from having a lot of guitars to having 2 electric (Musicman and a PRS clone with h'buckers) and 2 acoustic (steel and nylon). I'll probably add a tele because it's pretty unique and difficult to emulate. Amp wise is a different story, but I think I can get it down to two as well. A marshall, and a fender'ish tube. If I need mesa tones, I can go to the V-Twin even though it isn't really rectifier'ish, it's still got that dark Mesa flavor. I can get Fender'ish tones out of my Marshall and Musicman guitar. I've never really tried to get heavy tones out of a Fender amp.

[Chadd 916]

The funny thing is, being a gear whore is very similar in hockey and guitar. In both, you spend a lot of money to have more than one thing you only really need one of; you are constantly looking to replace or add gear; and the difference in tone/sound, and in ice skill, due to the new equipment is usually negligible, and wont be noticed by the average person. ;)

That is so true. But I found with guitar gear, once you've found the "sweet spot", you can be set for life. If I need a wide variety, I'll try and make up the difference with my hands, volume knob, tone knobs, etc. instead of adding more gear. Plus, even though the audience can't tell the difference in the minutia of good tone, they can tell if your playing is uninspired. For me bad tone or unplayable guitars kills inspiration right off the bat. So 95% of my electric playing is on one guitar that I absolutely love playing. (Musicman Sillouette Special H-S-S setup)

I went from having a lot of guitars to having 2 electric (Musicman and a PRS clone with h'buckers) and 2 acoustic (steel and nylon). I'll probably add a tele because it's pretty unique and difficult to emulate. Amp wise is a different story, but I think I can get it down to two as well. A marshall, and a fender'ish tube. If I need mesa tones, I can go to the V-Twin even though it isn't really rectifier'ish, it's still got that dark Mesa flavor. I can get Fender'ish tones out of my Marshall and Musicman guitar. I've never really tried to get heavy tones out of a Fender amp.

I had V-twin number 50. I sold it when I had the Dual Recto half stack and have regretted it every day since I sold the Dual Recto. I've been trying to keep an eye out for a good deal on the rack version but that hasn't happened yet.

[JR97 2]

I had V-twin number 50. I sold it when I had the Dual Recto half stack and have regretted it every day since I sold the Dual Recto. I've been trying to keep an eye out for a good deal on the rack version but that hasn't happened yet.

Good luck finding a reasonably price rackmount version. I've seem them on ebay occasionally, but they must be made of unobtanium or something. I used to keep mine on top of my rack hooked up to a Rockman Octopus so I could use my midi control board to channel switch it along with my amps. Kicked ass. I could create all sorts of combo patches. But being dumb I sold the Octopus. Actually, I sold two of them with 3 of the loop connectors. Now those were definitely made of gold. I made bank. But I need them back, damnit.