The Rex Bassking – 100 found in mint contition!

First 3 since 1970

The story of the Rex Bassking sounds like a legend, or at the very least a Da Vinci Code style tale of investigation, serendipity and discovery. The amp’s origins lie in the 1930s when the late Frank Lamberti arrived in Australia from Italy. Working at the Astor radio factory in Melbourne, where he assembled valve radios and communication equipment for the Australian military, Mr Lamberti transferred these skills to his own company in 1946 when he teamed up with his brother Anthony to form Lamberti Bros. The company’s North Melbourne workshop began producing valve radiograms, televisions and a range of guitar amplifiers beginning with a 6 watt amp released under the Rex brand name.

The company continued to make amps over the next 15 years, ranging from the original 6 watt designs to 50 watts. But rising labour costs led to the difficult decision to cease production in 1974. But before the doors were closed, Frank had his small team, working under the name of General Music Company, manufacture a final run of 100 the 20 watt Bassking amps, with an improved design. But these amps were never sold, and remained left in their shelves until they were discovered by Frank’s children after his passing in 1996. They resolved to release the amps in memory of their dad, and over the past two years, Frank’s son Joe has worked with one of his father’s original technicians to fine tune the design to be more guitarist friendly. Joe explains. “Originally dad designed the Bassking as a versatile amp which could be used for guitar, bass or keyboard. Dad started off as a radio technician. He couldn’t play guitar and simply tested his amps striking open strings. His aim was to amplify without distortion. Nevertheless, he designed some great amps and I’m sure he would be more than pleased with what we’ve done with his last 100.”

So this brings us to today. The Bassking is a simple but undeniably classy looking combo. The review model was finished in vintage red vinyl which was found in the workshop along with the amps. The two channels, Bass and Normal, each have their own dedicated pair of inputs, and controls for volume, bass and treble. A Celestion G12H twelve inch speaker has been fitted as part of the redesign. High quality electrolytic capacitors have been fitted, and matched valves from Electro Harmonix form the heart of the amp’s power and tone. The Bassking is driven by two 12AX7EH valves in the preamp and two EL84EH valves in the power section. There’s a jack on the back panel for an additional speaker cabinet, and I would love to see a matching extension cabinet built in the same cosmetic style.

I first plugged into the Bassking’s Bass channel with a Strat style guitar. The tone was extremely clear and warm, with a tight yet thick low end and a rounded high end. Nudging up the treble control added a little bit of musical sharpness to the signal, and plugging in my Telecaster I was immediately reminded of blues legend Albert Collins’s famous “icy” tone – clean, loud, sharp, expressive and musical. Bringing down the treble again, this channel was great for jazz lead lines and chords, and its high headroom ensured there was no distortion to muddy up the purity of the tone.

The Normal channel has a similar basic character to the Bass channel, but the low end is more subdued, the highs are glassier, and the midrange is a little thinner, resulting in an almost acoustic guitar style shimmer to chords and double stops. With a little experimenting, I managed to coax an authentic recreation of Mark Knopfler’s “Sultans Of Swing” tone from the Strat, while slightly edgy blues tones were also on tap in an almost Steve Ray Vaughan vibe. I then tried the amp with a DigiTech Bad Monkey overdrive pedal to see how the circuit and speaker handled dirtier tones. Again the sound reminded me of Stevie Ray, this time his slightly edgier tone from “Pride & Joy.” The absence of a midrange control on the amp didn’t prevent it from exhibiting a perfectly voiced midrange to fill out the pedal’s tone, and the combination of a particularly responsive overdrive pedal, playing dynamics and the Bassking’s great preamp meant changes in phrasing were reproduced with expressive accuracy. It’s great to plug into an amp that doesn’t just compress and distort every note, and by carefully choosing how hard you pick any particular sound, you can get a huge variety of sounds without even touching the tone controls.

In the 1960s a lot of amps, such as the Marshall Super Lead, had two channels with twin separate inputs like the Bassking, and players soon discovered that running a small patch cord between the inputs of the two channels allowed them both to be used at the same time. I set the Bassking up in this way, and the resulting tone was amazing. There was a pleasing natural compression, and the tone fattened up considerably. The ability to set separate bass and treble frequencies for each channel, then blend the volumes of each for the perfect mix, allowed me to create a thick and deep tone that still had huge amounts of treble. This sound would be particularly useful to bands with only one guitarist, because it allows you to stake out a huge amount of sonic real estate.

The 20 watt Rex Bassking is the great lost amp of Australian music history, and you can hear the history and heritage with every note. It’s fun to play, looks great and is built to a very high quality standard. It’s bound to be an Australian classic and I can’t see the limited edition run of 100 lasting long in stores before being snapped up by boutique amp collectors and blues and jazz guitarists.

SPECS:
POWER: 20 watts
ELECTRONICS: Bass and Normal channels, 2 12AX7EH preamp valves, 2 EL84EH power valves.

LINK

ariel hyatt

Ariel Hyatt gave a free seminar at APRA HQ in Richmond all about the music biz today and how to make a buck in it, especially via online resources.. she gave out specific websites that she reccomended to use like facebook, myspace, twitter, wordpress, reverbination etc.. What a delightful speaker.. Check her out when she comes to your town…

Ariel’s twitter

80’s Punk/Alternative Reunion in Melbourne – 3rd Oct 2009

Start Time:	Saturday, 03 October 2009 at 14:00
End Time:	Sunday, 04 October 2009 at 23:30
Location:	The Corner Hotel (Beer Garden)
Street:	57 Swan St, Richmond, VIC, PH:0394279198

…So have you ever wondered what happened to some of those people you used to hang out with back then that you have lost contact with?
It’s hard to believe it’s been so long…..but the time has arrived to get together again
So bring yourself along to the Corner Hotel and anyone else you can find from this time (cos not everyone’s on Facebook!)

Those of you who had babies back then….bring your grown-up offspring too! (They can drive you home afterwards haha)

p.s. we’re open to suggestions if you have any ideas on how to make this an even better event! The time is quite flexible so you can come and go as you please. Bring your cameras, partners, kids!

LINK TO EVENT PAGE

The Definition of a Bogan

The Definition of a Bogan

What is a bogan?

BOGAN (pronunciation boe-gn) is a term used primarily in Australia to describe a particular section of the working class demographic.  This derogatory slang word is a gender-neutral noun; this being important as many bogans tend to gravitate towards one another forming relationships and extended families.  A bogan family is not an uncommon phenomena in certain regions.  A bogan typically resides in either a low-cost housing estate, government housing or in the outlying regional areas of continental Australia.  Generally bogans tend to congregate in areas with little or no features & amenities.

Generally the bogan fits a particular stereotypical image.  The perception of what actually constitutes a bogan has been shaped over the years primarily by the media; notable especially are television programs such as Channel 7’s Today Tonight and Channel 9’s A Current Affair .  These programs regularly feature stories of harrowing boganism- including communities under siege from bogan terrorism, and bogans “rorting the system” in relation to welfare benefits and questionable practices.  A number of comedy programs have also featured bogans in the past, prime examples being Kylie Mole of The Comedy Company, Poida (bogan pronunciation of the name “Peter”) played by Eric Bana, and more recently Bloke Man of the Comedy Inc late shift.  Eric Bana’s portrayal of the character Poida gained him accolades within the industry and effectively launched his professional acting career.  This is one of very few examples of extreme boganism leading to success & wealth.

So now we have a basic understanding of the bogan, we may delve further into the mysterious world of mullets and long-kneck beer bottles in brown paper bags. Traits of the bogan can be summarised by the following points:

• A pronounced lack of dress sense in social situations.  Typical bogan attire consists of a flannelette shirt, King Gee stubbie shorts (either blue/khaki), torn or soiled jeans from the 1980’s or earlier, and of course double-plug standard issue white thong sandals with black rubber.  A bogan’s dress sense is not influenced by intended destination/occasion hence the line between workwear and formal wear is often hazy at best.  On rare occasions bogans may be spotted wearing enclosed shoes when entering the local RSL to “have a slap on the pokies” or to “get pissed wif me mates on the veebs (VB)”.  A female bogan will usually wear a matching ensemble usually consisting of second-hand fashions or products purchased from the discount retail chains Best and Less or Big W.

• A lack of personal hygiene.  A bogan will often allow his/her hair to grow into an attractive style named the “mullet” as popularised in the 1980’s.  A hair cut is a rare event for the bogan, and most styling occurs when the razor is brought out to either a) produce a “skinhead” style cut or b) a “frullet” (front-mullet).  Similar styles apply for females, however the female bogan frequently colours her hair auburn.  The bogan bathroom usually contains a bar of multi-purpose soap used to both cleaning the family, washing the hair, styling the hair and manicures/pedicures.  Whilst most non-bogans will use Eau de Toilette spray as a perfume, the most common boganistic fragrance is “Odour of Toilet“.  The bogan frequently rosters showers at irregular intervals such as once a week for males and twice for females.

• Distinct vocabulary.  The bogan language is somewhat foreign to most English-speaking people.  For example in boaglish, the word “shooting” would be pronounced as “shootun”.  Similarly, the word “look out” is pronounced as “look eet”.  The boaglish alphabet does not contain the letters “i” or “g”, hence the pronunciation of words containing the suffix -ing are simply pronounced -un.  Examples include “rootun” (rooting), “fishun” (fishing) and the common phrase “where’s me fuckun beer woman” (what is the current location of my alcoholic beverage dearest female partner).  The boaglish vocabulary is mostly limited to frequent curse-words and miss-pronunciation of common English words.  A common bogan trait also includes shortening words.  Locations such as the Wyong Leagues Club become the “leaguesy”, the Crown Casino becomes the “leaguesy” and females/males such as Sharon/Barry become “Shaz” and “Baz“.

• A particular choice in motor vehicle.  The bogan usually drives one of two makes of vehicle.  Typically this is either a Holden or a Ford .  Common bogan variants manufactured by each of these companies include the Holden Commodore (VB-VP models), Holden Kingswood and the Ford Falcon (all models up to the recent EF).  Other well known bogan vehicles include early model Datsuns and Toyotas .  Bogan accessories include anything HSV/HRT for Holdens, and FPV/FTR for Fords.  These vehicles tend to be more prevalent on the roads whilst the V8 supercar races are being held.  Drivers often attempt to imitate in heavy traffic their heroes Skaifey (Mark Skaife) and Ambrose (Marcos Ambrose).  Bogan vehicles are rarely detailed, and are serviced even less frequently.  Most bogan drivers hold animosity towards imported vehicles “farken rice” and are still bitter that the Nissan Skyline beat the Holden and Ford racing teams at Bathurst in the early 90’s.  Consequently, many bogans believe their VN Commodore has the ability to beat anything with the badge “Ferrari”, “Nissan”, “BMW M3″ or “Pagani”.  Click here for examples of bogan vehicles.

• Choice in music.  The bogan prefers either metal or pub rock.  A bogan would suggest that the song Khe Sanh by Cold Chisel would be a more appropriate national anthem than Advance Australia Fair.  AC/DC is also a popular choice.  Anything Barnesy. Midnight Oil is another classic example of the bogan genre.

• Employment status.  The common bogan is either a) not employed or b) a tradesman/labourer.  A bogan employee can be spotted kitted up in a fluorescent vest or polo shirt.  Unemployed bogans often frequent RSL’s/clubs for discount lunches during the day, before continuing on to the local Centrelink office to receive the hard-earned cash of the tax-paying public.  This will be followed by a journey to the most convenient bottle shop (“bottlo”) to purchase 2×24 cartons (“slabs”) of Victoria Bitter (“Veebs”) for $60.  Also included in this purchase is the all-important packet of Winfield Reds (“Smokes”).  The rest of this pension money is budgeted towards the “pokies” at the local pub.

• A poorly-maintained house or unit.  As previously mentioned, the bogan often resides in regions of a lower socio-economic standing.  Basically, in most cases the bogan is located some way inland from a coastal fringe or major waterway.  In the case of Sydney, this has lead to the term “westie” being coined in order to distinguish the boganistic population of the inland western suburbs from the more affluent residents of the east.  In the case of NSW/QLD and Victoria, the majority of bogans are located on or west of the Great Dividing Range.  Whilst this is not always the case, it is important to note that the concentration of bogans per capita is somewhat higher in these areas.  The bogan house usually consists of a number of elements (see below):

1. The bedroom (for rootun).
2. The balcony (for smokun/shootun).
3. The livun room (for watchun telly/smokun/gettun pissed).
4. The kitchen (for storun beer).
5. The combined bathroom/laundry (for washun shit) .
6. The shed (for rootun/smokun/shootun/gettun pissed/storun beer/workun on the commo).

All-in-all the bogan is seen as a top bloke by his mates, but is a menace to the rest of society.  Our bogan awareness campaign aims to expose the secrets of the bogan by delving into previously uncharted territory…. n shit

 

Frank the Bastard’s Bitchin’ Blog:

Frank the Bastard’s Bitchin’ Blog:

This is Frank’s more “frank” blog.. good stuff!

Ozzy frank’s blog

The Universe According to OzzyFrank:

Click the link above.. Especially you ladies, ‘cos Frank has a way with words…

Beavis and Butthead Quotes

“Hey Beavis, we need a chick that doesn’t suck. No, wait a minute, that’s not what I mean.” -Butthead

“Whoa. Is this like the weather channel?” “Yeah, eh heh heh, the forecast is partially cool.” Beavis & Butthead

“This is Joey Buttafuoco’s theme song.” Beavis & Butthead (about Winger’s “She’s only 17″)

“These guys are cool – for a bunch of mimes.” Beavis & Butthead (about Kiss)

“Drums, guitar and Death. They finally got it right.” Beavis & Butthead

“Bootsie!” “Yeah, Bootsie’s cool. Huh, huhhuhuh.” “Bootsie! He’s from outer space. Heh, henh, henh, henh.” Beavis & Butthead

“Tattoos are cool.” “Yeah, I wish I was born with one.” “You’re not born with tattoos, dumbass. You get them when you join the navy.” Beavis & Butthead

“Is this satanic music?” “Naw. It’s not cool enough.” Beavis & Butthead (about “Devil Inside” by INXS)

“I like to blow up lizards.” “Eh heh heh, yeah. And I like to burn things.” Beavis & Butthead

“Skulls are cool” – Butthead

“The future sucks. Change it.” “I’m pretty cool Beavis, but I cannot change the future.” Beavis & Butthead

“Beavis, I thought you were daddie’s little cutie.” “Shut up Bunghole!” Beavis & Butthead (while watching Aerosmith’s Ragdoll)

“That’s not funny, dumbass!” Beavis & Butthead

“These guys are pretty cool – even though they’re sixty.” Beavis & Butthead (about Aerosmith)

“I don’t like video’s that suck” Beavis & Butthead

“I’m there dude.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hey Beavis. Guess where his hand’s been.” Beavis & Butthead (about Germaine Jackson’s video)

“You’re a man? Eh heh heh, I don’t think so.” “He’s not even a boy.” Beavis & Butthead (about Boy George video)

“Calm down Beavis. You’re gonna soil your drawers.” Beavis & Butthead

“Where’s the explosion?” “They never show the good stuff.” Beavis & Butthead

“Whoa! It’s the President of England!” “Yeah, she jams!” Beavis & Butthead (About Queen Elizabeth II)

“Whoa! We’re there dude.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hey Beavis, let’s pretend we’re dead.” “Yeah, eh heh heh, that would be cool.” Beavis & Butthead

“Look, I’m strokin’ my wiener.” Beavis & Butthead

“These chicks look like guys.” “Yeah. That one’s not wearin’ a bra.” Beavis & Butthead (about Nelson)

“Hey Butthead, do you think I’m beautiful?” Beavis & Butthead

“If you’re not a cartoon, Stove gass will kill you.” Beavis & Butthead (Disclaimer)

“College music sucks!” “Yeah. I guess it’s only cool, if you, like, go to college.” Beavis & Butthead

“Everything I know, I learned from my Dad.” “Yeah. Me too.” “Really? You both have the same dad?” “We don’t know. It’s possible.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hey Beavis, let’s rock!” Beavis & Butthead

“I wish this video had some explosions.” “That would be cool.” Beavis & Butthead

“I wish this video had some explosions. That would be cool.” “Heh heh henh hmm heh. It does have some explosions. Heh henh hmm.” “Fairies grant wishes. Huh huh heh huh hunh.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hey Beavis.” “What?” “Your butt’s weird lookin’.” “Shut up!” “Heh huh, kinda looks like bologne.” “Shut up!” Beavis & Butthead

“He’s smiling at you, Beavis.” “Shut up, Butthead!” Beavis & Butthead (about George Michael in Wham video)

“I hate words.” “Words suck.” “If I wanted to read, I’d go to school.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hammers are cool.” “Yeah, I like to take hammers, and just break stuff, just break stuff.” Beavis & Butthead

“She beat her carpet.” “Yeah, we should do that.” “Yeah. It looks cool.” Beavis & Butthead

“He’s got a hair stiffy!” Beavis & Butthead

“I peed in the gym once.” “Really? Yer pretty cool Beavis.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hey Butthead, what is teenspirit?” “You mean you don’t know? Dude, then I’m not gonna tell you.” Beavis & Butthead

“This chainsaw is pretty cool. Pruning is cool.” Beavis & Butthead

“It’s that dude! The Grim Rapper!” Beavis & Butthead

“Rock! Rock dude!” Beavis & Butthead

“If you play this stuff backwards, it says ‘This sucks!’” Beavis & Butthead about INXS “The Devil Inside”

“His teeth are whiter than white.” Beavis & Butthead (about the lead singer for Winger)

“This is like a James Bond movie.” “Yeah. They need that short guy, HandJob.” “Heh heh heh, you said ‘Job’.” Beavis & Butthead

“Is this like an Irish Spring Commercial?” “A might bit stronger than I care to be!” Beavis & Butthead

“Ah, such a manly soap!” “Ah, manly yes! But Beavis likes it too! Heh heh heh eh he heh heh heh!” “Shut up Bunghole! I’ll kick yer ass!” “Heh heh heh eh eh eh heh heh heh” “Shut up, dumb ass!” Beavis & Butthead

“You callin’ me a liar?” “No ass-munch, I’m callin’ you a waste of bum wipe.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hey, we could get Butthead to sit on a glass and fart.” “What’s so scientific about that?” “Nothin’ until you light it.” Beavis & Butthead

“The angle of the dangle is inversely proportional to the heat of the beat.” “Whow! You’re pretty smart, Beavis.” Beavis & Butthead

“You asswipe! I was about to have a wet dream!” Beavis & Butthead

“Uhh, I have an injury.” “You do?” “Yeah, I have this great big crack in my butt.” Beavis & Butthead

“He complains too much.” “You’d complain too if you sucked!” Beavis & Butthead

“Today we’re going to explore the world of hiku.” “We’re going to explore the world of getting high? Cool!” “No, beavis, not *high* *cool*, hiku–the haunting japanese form of 3 line poetry.” Beavis and Mr Van Driessen

“That was cool, huh huh when we killed that frog, huh huh it won’t croak again.” Butthead’s Hiku for class

“Huh huh, huh huh huh huh huh mmm, uh huh huh huh huh huh, huh huh huh. Beavis’ Hiku for class

“Very good! You both get A’s for the day.” Beavis and Butthead: Mr Van Driessen about B&BH’s Hiku

“Anything?” “Nope.” “Are you sure you’re lickin’ right? uhuhuh.” “Uhuhuh, yeah.” “I don’t get, it’s supposed to pack an awesome buzz.” “Ptui! Hmmmmm, tastes like chicken. Here toadie, toadie.” Beavis & Butthead licking a frog

“Are you the boys that spray-painted my dog?” “Uh, no, that was some other guys, huh huh.” Beavis & Butthead

“Are your shakes made from ice cream and milk, or do you use that reconstituted shake mix stuff?” “Yeah, heh heh hmmh heh heh” “I asked you a question, are they real or shake mix?” “Yeah, heh heh hmmh heh heh” “Look, let me see your manager?” “Uh, huh huh, I’m an assistant manager, is there something I can help you with?” “I asked a simple question, are your shakes real or made from shake mix?” “Uh, we have vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.” Beavis & Butthead

“Uh… it’s like free, I guess.” “Heh heh, He’s gonna eat a fried mouse.” “And bugs.” “And he’s coming back later!” “I know where there’s a dead racoon!” Beavis & Butthead

“I hate when mimes get in your face and don’t say anything.” “Yeah, I usually kick them in the ‘nads and they say something. Usually it’s ooh…unh…aahh.” Beavis & Butthead

“Try the morphine, it’s excellent today.” Beavis & Butthead

“Okay boys, what do you have under your clothes?” “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Butthead

“Is he talking about humping a hound? Huh huhuhuh huh.” “Heheh henh henh hmm heh. Yeah, that’d be cool. Heh heh hmm henh.” “It would?” Beavis & Butthead

Background: (flush of a toilet) “Butthead! Butthead! Come quick! Bare ass on TV!!” Beavis & Butthead

“Trunks are cool. I wish I had a trunk.” “Yeah. You could, like, fill a balloon with snot and throw it at someone.” “Yeah, and it would get in their hair and get all sticky and they couldn’t get it out.” “Let’s go buy some balloons, dude.” Beavis & Butthead

“I wonder how Axl Rose would feel if he got his ass kicked by a couple of 14 year olds.” “Yeah, that would really suck. Getting your asses kicked by Kris Kross. Heh Hehheh, henh hmm, heh, heh.” Beavis & Butthead

“Hunguhhunguhruhruhruhruhrurhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruh!!!!!!” “Rurhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhruhrurh!!!!!!” Beavis & Butthead (Butthead trying to sing Ministry’s “NWO”)

“Hey look, he’s wearin’ a drive-thru headset! Maybe he works at BurgerWorld!” “(picks up phone) Uhh, hello? I’ll take a quarter pounder and a dozen chicks in tight shorts to go, please.” “Heh hehehehhehehheheheh heheheh.” “(simultaneously) huh huh huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh huhuh.” Beavis & Butthead

“Mr. Buzzcut! Mr. Buzzcut!” “Yes, Butthead?” “I can’t do this assignment. I’m dietetic.” Butthead

“We don’t know how to take care of a baby.” “Let’s give it a bath.” “I’m gonna slap you around like a red-headed step child.” “Uh oh…” “You drowned it.” “We’ll never get to see it grow up.” Beavis & Butthead

“And so it is with utmost regret that I must report that our baby was stolen by gypsies in the night.” “Yeah, sorry about that. Heh heh.” Beavis & Butthead

POD XT TWEAKS

PodXT Live Tips and Tricks – The Gear Page:

I’ve divided it into five sections: tweaks on the PodXT Live unit itself, amplifiers that have worked particularly well, specific pedals people have used with the XTL, tips on creating tones, and finally links to various tone bundles.

• XTL Tweaks: (Most of this comes from Scott P)
  • Use “Combo Poweramp” output mode to turn off mic/AIR sims
  • Try using the post eq to roll off the highest freq (9.3 k) by a few dB’s. This does a good job of taming the fizz on the distorted amp tones.
  • Use whatever amp you want to, but use the “Line 6 212″ cab sim. It’ll sound bright at first basically no matter what cab sim you were using before. Then adjust the knobs on the amp model and use your ears.
  • Set the reverb to “chamber” and the other parameters at 30/30/30 and mix in about 5% on heavier stuff and more on lighter OD and cleans to taste.
  • Global EQ (from MLT): Basic Low/Hi Rolloff | 50Hz -3.0db | 70Hz 0db | 4800Hz 0db | 7500Hz -3.0db |
  • From epluribus: I like a chorus rate of .08Hz, depth at around 45%, and about 10-20% wet/dry. Exceedingly subtle if all you do is listen like you’re auditioning an A/B shootout in a stereo. But try this and listen instead for what it does to your imaging onstage. Something about it kind of makes the amp materialize in an eerily 3D way.
• Amplification:
  • Crate Powerblock, EQ set to -20db lows, 480hz mid-focus, and -20db highs
  • Atomic 50-112, EQ set to -10db bass, 800Hz mid focus, and flat highs
  • Roland Cube, EQ set to -20db bass, 480Hz mid, -20db high
  • Tech 21 Power Engine
  • Full range powered PA speakers such as Mackie SRM450’s, JBL EON G2, and QSC HPR122

• Pedals:
  • (Scott P) Radial Dragster to “load” the pickups properly. “Basically I use a humbucker on full, then roll the knob from “less” to “more” until I hear it crushing the signal. Then I back off till I don’t hear it at all and that’s my setting. What I find is that it really lets the single coil pickups retain life and volume compared to without the Dragster.”
• Creating tones:
  • Scott Peterson model: “You have to do it at volume, less than 85db and it won’t work at volumes needed to gig with. Pick an amp model and shut off everything else. Use the default cab to start. Then put the knobs all at noon. Start playing and adjusting, using your ears more than your eyes. Once I get somewhere I like, I then try different cab models. Then I build from there. I tend to leave the volume up 100% on the Atomic. I set the output level on the back of the XTL to “Line” and crank it all the way up, then I set the output level of the patch using the channel volume in the preset. I use clean single coil presets to establish the overall max volume I’ll set the patches for, and then adjust all the higher gain humbucker stuff to match those volumes (my guitars are S/S/H).”
  • Removing Fizz, (epluribus): The first reaction to looking for lost detail is to crank the treble. That’ll get ya to fizz land in a hurry. Pushing up the Presence control is somewhat more forgiving, but it usually doesn’t address the root problem either. In either case, if you’re pushing a skewed EQ curve into distortion, you get exaggerated dirt and compression in the boosted parts, magnifying them, but those lost details stay lost. The culprits are several, depending on the rig, usually related to gain structure and signal degradation, IMHO, DSP being no exception. The first thing I look at is the guitar–will the pups and the setup cut through in the first place? Trying to get detail out of a bad setup, bad wiring, dirty strings, or an errant knob tempts people to try to “invent” detail later down the line. Ick. (IME, digital modellers are especially sensitive to setups that don’t cut through. I use slightly hotter setups for modelling rigs. Hence, I think, Scott’s experience with Radial Drag–theory is that DSP doesn’t load the pups right. Long suspected that. Gotta try one.)Comp pedals, or the comp FX in a modeller, can sap detail bigtime if the attack parameters are set “wrong.” (“Wrong” unless you have good reason for wanting them that way.) I often tell guys to think of attack parameters on comps as the “Detail” controls, because a lot of those pick sounds, percussives of all kinds, attack harmonics, and nuances of all sorts happen in the very early part of the note, IMHO. Easing up the squash of the compressor in the early going will let those details cut through–though now you have to watch the loud peaks and transients – which, conversely should be less problematic because the treble isn’t cranked up anymore. I always back the EQ on the guitar channel off about one notch at 2500Hz to keep the peaks and highs in line. Works great if you got a stout signal to work with.

    In amps of all sorts, DSP included, but especially the hi-gain variety, at demanding volumes, I see guys boost the bass and mid-scoop the daylights out of an amp wondering where all their bass went. My impression of the problem is that often the power section simply can’t produce the power it takes to put out that much bass, and everything fizzles when it runs out of gas–including the details. So now we crank the treble and presence, trying to reinvent the lost parts of the signal, trying to add boost to an EQ band when the amp doesn’t have any boost left in it. Flabby bass, blurry dirt, treble-screechy indistinct details–fizzy mid-scoop.

    The problem can usually be fixed by backing the bass off considerably and boosting the mids, which paradoxically sounds like tight bass. (Backing the volume off a bit can also help focus the amp, especially the small blackface types.) Once the power supply can keep up, the articulate grit and the details come back, so you can back off the treble as well, killing the fizz.

    Strangely enough, I’ve seen several modellers that model this behavior faithfully, including the Pod, the VAmp, and the CyberTwin, and they’ll just as faithfully fizzle if pushed too hard. IMHO, pushing a CyberTwin too hard, harder than you’d push a real amp, is the number one reason people say they’re “harsh.” Some of Fender’s presets are pushed crazy out of the box–doesn’t help. Bonus points if the Input Trim is set too cold, letting the littlest detail parts of the signal fall out of the amp’s range of “hearing.”

    Crucial for guys with pure DI DSP, mis-set gain on a channel strip on the board will often eat detail as well, and remember that notch at 2500Hz? Turns into a one-notch boost when guys start looking for that extinct detail, the channel still sounds muddy, and now it’s harsh and fizzy. Ouch. I refuse to sacrifice a stout, detailed signal anyplace in the chain, and mix all my levels with my faders, not my gain knobs. (Or pads. This is also why I normalize all my patches before a show, so my FOH’s gain settings don’t get trashed.) DSP with weak gain at the mixer will disappear in a big mix, IME–another gripe about digital. But the problem gets multiplied if the channel EQ screeches as well.

  • For Clean Boost (from MLT): Instead of the compressor for clean boost, I use Effects Boost + EQ set like this:| Gain | 70% | Bass 50% | Treb 50% | Mid 70% | Midfreq 46% |
• Links to tone bundles:
  • Andy Z: http://www.instituteofnoise.com/patc…2006-12-28.l6b
  • Rob Tognoni: http://www.robtognoni.com/line6.htm
  • Lincoln Brewster: http://benvesco.com/tonemonster/gearbox/2008/pod-lincoln-brewster-tone-study/

Victoria Market

I used to have a love/hate relationship with Vic Market.. On the one hand, it’s a cool shopping place ‘cos it’s very cheap, they have tons of variety and you can dart in and around to the stalls without all that mystique and fru-fru that shopping malls tire me with. On the other hand, I spent most of my pre-adult years working there every weekend on my dad’s record stall. So, while most of you well adjusted kids spent weekends with your families sailing boats and having picnics, I was selling crap commercial/continental records and tapes (and 8 track cartridges) to thrifty migrants! Thanx Dad!

Anyhoo, I was in West Melbourne today and decided to take a prance about the old digs. Most of the stalls were packed up, but I got talking to a couple of stall holders. Seems the place has changed since I last played Crass through my ghetto blaster while i packed up. For instance, it used to be quite common for stall holders to bribe the market’s employees, so they could keep their stalls. I knew a Jew who sold menswear in the 70’s and 80’s, and he paid them a cool grand every month. My dad never gave them anything except a dozen bottles of beer at xmas (which they thought was a joke). They did hassle us for bribes, but my dad said “fuck em”.

So the market officers were on the take, no biggie. Also the council’s drunk truck that collected bums used to shake down winos for their life’s savings
(I knew a Yugo who had 16 grand swiped while they broke his ribcage).  Anyway, apparently these days the stall holders have long term contracts that secure their stalls – Which brings me to the news that individual stall holders are now selling their stalls with contract for as much as $50k! (i remember when it was $5 to have a stall there).

So, going back to my trip down memory lane, I love Vic market. There are lots of cool clothes now, instead of just sweathog trackies, and you can even get a wheat-grass! Plus, it sure beats shopping malls and strips. The next time a retail clerk says to me “can I help you sir”?, I swear I’m gonna kick him in the ass!

Crisis garden-ing!

Survival Seeds – The Survival Seed Bank Provides A Lifetime Food Solution For Families.:

Check out this survivalist link above! They sell you a full acre worth of seeds! Enough to feed your family once the grid goes down and anarchy and havoc prevail..

They come in an “easy to bury and hide from confiscation” can.