Conference napalm::guitar

    Karen,
    
    My opinions:
    
    Ibanez and Kramer make excellent guitars, and they also have "low end"
    guitars.  You get what you pay for, it's up to the amount you want to
    invest.
    
    Guitars with Heavy Metal/ Hard Rock sound......depending on your amp
    and effects, MILLIONS of guitars can sound like you want!  Buy what
    feels and looks good to you.  My Fender Strat has single coil pickups
    which do not respond as well as humbuckers for "that" sound you want,
    so you might want to go with double coil pickups on your guitar.  Both
    Kramer, Ibanez, (and Gibson), as well as many other brands can help ya
    there.
    
    Locking Tremelos.....once you learn the routine, they're easy. Once
    your axe is tuned and locked, you shouldn't have to mess with it; as
    you can fine tune at the tremelo on most models.
    
    I've used all kinds of electronic tuners...the chromatic are nice
    'cause ya don't have to move a switch for each string.  My tuner isn't
    chromatic and I don't mind.
    
    Color was a BIG influence on my last purchase of a NEW guitar. If yoyr
    shopping for a used axe, and you see a killer deal, you might
    compromise on color, but if you're gonna invest in a new instrument,
    GET WHAT YOU WANT!!
    
    IMHO,
    
    Steve
    

	Well.....I'm not too sure about the Peavy/Ibanez set up as 
	regards the sound but they're both reputable makers & should
	enable a suitable overdriven sound for your purposes.  The amp 
	& guitar operate very much as a pair, the sound that you make is 
	combination of the two and, of course, yourself.  There's a note 
	in here *somewhere* about Marshall micro stacks...they seem to 
	be very highly rated & Marshall gear is very metal (I have a 50watt
	combo & it really screams).  

	I don't think you can go far wrong with Ibanez, they've been around 
	and are generally well thought of, BC Rich make some pretty good & 
	reasonably priced metal machines,  I played a Heavy metal strat that 
	was pretty good too, Kramer do some good modles, personally I'm trying 
	to balance an Ibanez Roadstar versus Charvel 650XL custom, the Charvel 
	is winning at the moment.

	Try loads & loads & don't be embarased by the speed demons that 
	gather in stores on Saturday afternoons, they started off just like 
	you.  Another thing is to ask a sales person who can play to demo 
	stuff for you, this way you can get an idea what your prospective 
	gear sounds like to an audience.  I really believe that a guitar has 
	your name on it, if there's a nagging feeling it's probably the wrong 
	guitar, you'll feel really comfortable with the right one (trouble is
	the right one is usually the $5000 one you can't afford but that's
	one of the problems with life in general).

	As regards the "Leps" sound, Phil Collen(SP?) used Jackson/Charvel
	on Hysteria, the other guitarist (forget his name) uses a Gibson 
	Les Paul only & won't swap for anything.  The Heavy sound is 
	normally produced by a humbucker pickup in the bridge position,
	ask the sales person to show you a selection of guitars with this 
	feature, if all you want is that sound then a single humbucker may 
	be all you need, I used a single pickup Gibson SG for years when I 
	played metal & rock/blues stuff.  The only problem is a limited sound, 
	the advandage is less bucks.

	I don't own a guitar with a locking trem unit (yet) but from the 
	ones I've used I can say that they're things that you get used to.
	They can be a little awkward to set up but they don't need it 
	that often that makes a difference IMO.  All the ones I've seen
	can be disabled by screwing them down & you dont have to lock the 
	nut (I only lock for gigs & full rehearsals).  I do feel that the 
	fine tuners on the bridge unit are a must & check they turn easily.
	Once the strings bed in they hardly need touching, I set the bridge
        tuners low to start with this allows more compesation for string
        stretching, then I tune at the Machine head,  work the trem like crazy,
        tune...& keep going till the trem work no longer de_tunes the strings, 
        then lock & fine tune...theres another note explaining locking trem 
    	set up *somewhere*.

		The double locking type that clamp the string at the bridge 
	(as opposed to using the more standard brass buttons) are best I feel 
	as if you do break a string it normally goes at the bridge so you can
	let a bit more string through & re-clamp.  Intonation is usually set 
	in the shop (if they're any good) & would expect a decent store to 
	put the required strings on & set the bridge as part of the purchase.

	I have a Korg chromatic tuner that I use & I got it cos I used to 
	work with a brass section.  I think they're worth having as you never 
	know when you'll need a wierd tuning & for the little extra they cost
	the extra functionality is worth it IMO.  You don't have to switch
    	for each string either which may be a benifit.

	Colour is a personal thing....  I believe you have to like your 
	guitar in order to get the best out of it so from a psycological 
	veiwpoint colour is important.  I'm convinced black Les Paul's
	(like mine) are the only ones worth having but the only difference 
	is a coat of paint really.

	I think you're approaching this well, many people start off with 
	substandard equipment & give up cos they get disheartened.
	You've a good idea what you want to sound like & play like & appear 
	prepared to get the right tools for the job...good stuff.
	The thing is you can always trade up later if you want & if you get 
	good gear it holds its price better, conversly if you give up again 
	you'll get more of your money back.

	I'm sure that fellow noters will help out more if reqired...you 
	could arrange to visit a store with one of us if you think it would 
	help, I'm in Reading in the U.K. if thats any good.

	Cheers
		Pete (Reading, United Kingdom).

     re .0   Isn't node STAR:: in zko?  Daddy's in Nashua (just around
    the corner) sells Ibanez now so you should be able to hear both
    types of guitars in one place.  As for inexpensive guitars, I love
    my Fender Squire Strat, I play that much more than my Les Paul and
    both are set up beautifully.  You can narrow your shopping down
    to a certain type of guitar but, you really should try as many as
    you can.  I have tried many guitars that cost more or less than
    mine but they "real" right and that helps alot.  I have tried some
    $1000 guitars that I hated and some cheap ones that I hated too.
    
    
    Don

>    I've used all kinds of electronic tuners...the chromatic are nice
>    'cause ya don't have to move a switch for each string.  My tuner isn't
>    chromatic and I don't mind.
    
    This is not correct.  A chromatic tuner has all twelve notes of the
    octave whereas guitar/bass tuners only have EADGBE (no C, F or
    sharps/flats).  Many chromatic tuners *also* have circuitry which
    figures out what note you are closest to and reads this out.  But there
    are also chromatic tuners with switches, and non-chromatic tuners with
    auto-note finding.
    
    							Brian

    Thanks for all the replies so far, both here and off line.  Yes, I
    work in Nashua, NH.  I checked out Daddy's and Hampshire Music, and
    did listen to the Ibanez vs others last night at Daddy's.  I don't
    know why they didn't show me the Ibanez at first.
    
    I've narrowed it down to the Ibanez EX350 and EX360.  Until yesterday
    I thought they were basically identical.  Finally realized that the
    350 has two humbucking pickups and one single, vs the 360 with two
    singles and one humbucking.  Also the 350 has a pick guard.  I'm
    currently leaning toward the 350, but will listen to them both again
    today.  I'm really psyched about this!
    
    I'm not sure yet what amp or color I'll get, but feel that I've found
    the right guitar and that's, for me, the most important part right 
    now.  I've been staring at the colors and realize that I like ALL
    the colors they come in!  Good position to be in I guess.      
    
    I hope to head over to Hampshire Music after work today, and with
    any luck will come home with a new guitar!
    
    I figure I'll spend the weekend playing with it, just getting
    familiar with it -- and probably scaring my husband, and the dogs
    and cats out of the house...  Then I'll worry about the best way
    to learn.  I'm not sure yet whether I want to teach myself or 
    take some lessons.  But that can wait.
    
    Thanks,
    Karen.

    This may be a little late, but I'll say it anyway.
    
    I rarely plug in electric guitars in stores, not until I've played it
    without an amp for awhile.  My reasoning is that I want a guitar that
    feels right to me.  If I don't like the way it sounds, I can change the
    electronics around and get that without too much trouble.
    
    I think that the Ibanez models are an excellent choice, the ones I've
    played recently I've been very impressed with.  Basically it's what
    feels good to you.  I played a really nice Strat+ awhile back and while
    it sounded great, I couldn't get used to the way the neck felt.
    
    I love the double locking tremelo systems.  I find that I only have to
    unlock the neck end of the strings to retune every couple of weeks or
    so.  The initial setup is kind of a hassle, but that's normally done at
    the store, as long as you use the same tuning and the same gauge of
    strings, this doesn't need to be done very often.  If you don't feel
    like you want to do it yourself, should it become necessary, most any
    store can do it for you for a minimal fee.  Changing the strings is a
    little more hassle then without the trem, but I think it's worth it.
    
    FWIW, I've never played a Peavy guitar that felt or sounded good to
    me...
    
    Greg
                                                                        

    Yes, I got one.  I bought the Ibanez EX350.  It's white with a black
    pick guard if anyone cares.  :-)
    
    So far I've learned a few chords and am mostly just playing around 
    with it.  I've found a teacher (currently negotiating a meeting time)
    whose tastes in music sound like mine, so I should get off to a good
    start.
    
    How long before my fingers stop hurting?  These steel strings are
    murder!
    
    Karen.

    
    	re: .7
    
    	White with a black pickguard is a less common and very tasteful
    	selection.
    
    

    Karen,
    
    I can't tell ya when yer fingers will stop hurting, but ya shouldn't
    stop practicing until they do!   8^)
    
    Steve

    If your fingers hurt put surgical tape on the ends and keep going!!!

    Try methylated spirits - rub it into you finger tips. I have heard
    of alcohol being used as well.

re: .7

Yer fingers never stop hurting.  Haven't you learned yet that all guitar 
players are masochists?  ;^)

boB

    REAL encouraging, Bob!  8^)

    I don't really remember how long it took for that to stop, I think it
    was probably two or three weeks, not *too* long.  Hang in there, if you
    stop practicing, you'll have to go through it again.

    I thought it was interesting the progression of my hands over time. 
    When I first started playing, my fingers got sore a lot, then that
    stopped and I started to form calluses on my fingers.  As I played
    more, the calluses got big and tough.  Then later on, the calluses went
    away, and now the tips of my fingers are kind of tough, but I can't
    really feel a difference between them and the fingers on the other
    hand.  It's kind of nice, because they don't get sore much, but they
    don't look ugly and they don't peel and feel funny like the calluses
    did (and people don't say "What the heck's wrong with yer hand?"...). 
    Anyone else notice anything like this?
    
    Greg

    Your fingers never stop hurting completely, if you practise hard.
    My fingers are always losing skin, but you get used to the pain!!
    
    My fingers tend to ache the most when I'm working on getting my
    bending up to scratch. Last night, I was working on the solo to
    "When the children cry" by White Lion, and I noticed my bending
    was so far out, and I really had to put in some hours to get it
    sounding right. Practise makes perfect! 
                                   
    Work hardest on stuff you find difficult, like certain fingers which
    you find it hard to play with (my problem used to be my little finger
    and ring finger working togerther, but I developed some exercises
    which use this finger configuration, and its improving).
                                                           
    Have fun!                                              
    -Tony                                                  

    More questions...
    
    I also have a nylon string classical Aria guitar that I played as
    a teenager.  Besides the obvious difference in sound, the fret
    board is quite a bit fatter.  Is it wiser for a beginner to stick
    with one guitar, and one guitar only for practice?  I ask because
    I'm thinking ahead to some vacations.  I'd like to bring a guitar
    along for practice, but am not sure I want to risk my new electric
    guitar.  Of course, if it's going to confuse the heck out of me to
    switch back and forth, I'll take the risk -- you could argue that
    that's why I payed extra for a good case.  :-)
    
    It's also occurred to me that the nylon string guitar might be 
    good for practicing when my fingertips are too sore to carry on
    with the steel string.  Although I'm thinking of trying the 
    surgical tape, as Buck suggested, I'd like to save that as a last
    resort.  I figure the longer I can last without it the sooner my
    fingers will toughen up.
    
    If it's no problem to switch back and forth, how do I know what kind
    of nylon strings to buy for it?  It's been a LONG time since I've 
    bought strings.
    
    Thanks for the advice so far, this file is great!
    
    Karen.

    The acoustic that I learned on has really poor action.  I went through
    the same problems with the sore fingers, etc.
    
    It goes away.  I still have hard callouses(sp?) on my fingertips, but I
    think they'll go away when I get a guitar with decent action.
    
    It sure built up my hand strength though! :-)
    
    Mike

    I hope this is the place to ask.I just bought a fender side kick
    bass amp and would like to know what the line out jack is used for
    and also what is the function of a limiter (a little led that comes on
    at high volume, deep bass note). Thanks for any help.
     
                                                    Jim

    
    The line out jack will provide the signal from your bass, processed by
    the volume and tone controls before it gets to the power amplifier. 
    This can be used to feed additional power amps, to feed into a tape
    deck or mixer for recording, etc.
    
    The limiter is a circuit which places a limit on how loud the amp will
    get, so when you play at higher volumes you won't generate so much
    signal that the amp starts to distort.  You may have a switch to turn
    this off and/or a knob to adjust at what volume the limiter begins to
    act.  On a small amplifier like the one you have, it will allow you to
    play louder and still maintain a clean sound than if you turn it off.
    
    Type dir/tit=compress or dir/tit=limit for more notes dealing with
    limiters, and their cousins, compressors.
     
    							Brian

    I just ran across a classified ad for a 'small Peavey amp, $175'.
    Since I'm in the market for a practice amp, I called for details
    and was told that it's a Peavey "Studio Chorus 70".

    Has anyone ever heard of this model?  I've never run across any 
    mention of it (in GUITARnotes or elsewhere), and I'm wondering if 
    the guy's confused.  And if anybody *does* recognize it, is $175 a 
    decent price for a supposedly brand new one?  Thanks for any info,

                                                              Brian

    Yeah, I've seen the Chorus 70 amp. It's two 35-watt amps in one
    head, acting together to produce "true" stereo chorus (kind of
    like the JC-55 and JC-77 amps from Roland. I played one before 
    I decided on my Peavey Special 130. I thought it sounded pretty
    good (not as much high end as the JC's, but much cheaper). At
    the time (summer '88) they were selling for about $350 new.
    So that seems like a good price to me.
    
    -Dave

    
    
    
    	While were at it, anyone care to comment on the Lower 
    -End PV combos. I'm looking for a 100W or so combo that I
    can use for band practices.
    
    	I saw a couple of TNT 130s in the Want Advertiser this 
    week. Are they any good?
    
    -Tom
    

    
    
    	re: .-1
    
    	Er, that *bass* combos, y'know. :-)
    
    

    
    Re last two.
    
    Yeah TNT130 is a bass combo.  My bass player has one, and it gets the
    job done!  Even with my MB half stack, Greg's Kitty half stack, and 
    the drums all playing!  Pretty good sounding bass amp, too!  He picked
    it up used for $170!  Whatabaaagin!
    
    J.

I recently bought a used amp (a Peavey Studio Chorus 70) which didn't come with
any instructions.  Since I've never used an amp before, I'm totally clueless on
some of the controls.  I'm hoping that somebody out there can explain the
following: 

1)  There are two input jacks, one labeled 'HIGH GAIN' and one labeled
    'LOW GAIN'.  What's the diff?

2)  The first section on the panel is labeled 'LEAD GAIN'.  Here we've got:

    a) A push-button labeled 'LEAD' and 'NORM';
    b) Another push-button labeled 'OFF' and 'BRT.';
    c) Three knobs labeled 'PRE', 'SATURATION', and 'POST'.

    I thought that pre-gain controlled the pre-amp, and post-gain controlled
    the amp, but playing with these settings doesn't seem to affect the sound.

3) Next section is labeled 'NORMAL' and has one knob labeled 'GAIN'.

4) Next section is 'EQUALIZATION'.  I can handle 'LOW', 'MID', and 'HIGH',
   but what's 'PRESENCE'?  There's also a push-button labeled 'OFF' and
   'THICK'.  Does that affect distortion somehow?

5) Then it's got two 'CHORUS' knobs labeled 'DEPTH' and 'RATE', and a
   'MASTER' knob labeled 'REVERB'.

   I'd really appreciate any help I can get.  Thanks!

   Brian

    
    Hi Brian, I hope to answer some of your questions...
    

>1)  There are two input jacks, one labeled 'HIGH GAIN' and one labeled
>    'LOW GAIN'.  What's the diff?

    Low gain is, in most amps, 3-6db lower than the high gain input.
    The high gain input provides a somewhat stronger signal to your
    amp's preamp section (where the GAIN is), thus making you able
    to overdrive the preamp stage into distortion easier.  basically,
    if you REALLY want it clean, plug into the low input, and vice-versa
    if you want heavy distortion.  
    
    Of course, I'm talking extremes here...you *can* get a clean sound
    out of the high gain input, and vice-versa with the low gain input,
    but they are more like "compromised' sounds.
    
    
>2)  The first section on the panel is labeled 'LEAD GAIN'.  Here we've got:
>
>    a) A push-button labeled 'LEAD' and 'NORM';
>    b) Another push-button labeled 'OFF' and 'BRT.';
>    c) Three knobs labeled 'PRE', 'SATURATION', and 'POST'.
>
>    I thought that pre-gain controlled the pre-amp, and post-gain controlled
>    the amp, but playing with these settings doesn't seem to affect the sound.

    Ok...
    
    A - sounds like a switch to switch your channels...LEAD will be your
    dirty channel...see below in "C" for a description of sounds available
    from the three knobs located in the LEAD section.
    
    B - BRT = Bright, as in a treble boost...not sure what OFF would mean 
        (no treble boost?)
    
    C - Knobs on LEAD channel, for distorted rhythm/solo playing.  For a
    crunch rhyhmn sound (Marshall), I would put the PRE gain to 10, and the
    POST gain to the desired loudness, while keeping the saturation knowb
    low.  The SATURATION knob is for a thick sounding distortion...makes
    your dist. sound fatter and smoother, as for lead playing.  PRE to 10,
    SAT. to 10, and POST to 3 should get you a SCREAMING lead sound ala a
    Mesa/Boogie!
    
    
>3) Next section is labeled 'NORMAL' and has one knob labeled 'GAIN'.

    This is your CLEAN channel...adjust gain (loudness) to taste.
    
>4) Next section is 'EQUALIZATION'.  I can handle 'LOW', 'MID', and 'HIGH',
>   but what's 'PRESENCE'?  There's also a push-button labeled 'OFF' and
>   'THICK'.  Does that affect distortion somehow?

    Presence is the ultra high frequencies (8,000 cycles per second or
    about)...it gives your sound a "sizzle".  Thick makes the frequency
    have a wider bandwith, ie, THICK will make the frequency (HIGH, is
    it?) have a wider frequency range, and will fatten the sound up in this
    frequency range.
    
>5) Then it's got two 'CHORUS' knobs labeled 'DEPTH' and 'RATE', and a
>   'MASTER' knob labeled 'REVERB'.

    Depth is how much of a notch you're going to have on your sweep.
    Rate is how fast the depth knob will be sweeping.  If you know
    anything about the priciples behind flanging or the doppler effect,
    you might understand this, otherwise it's pretty hard to explain!
    
    If you keep therate slow, it will have a more subtle chorusing effect.
    Half way up it should be much thicker sounding, and a very fast rate
    will make your guitar detune quite a bit, and sound more like a leslie
    organ (the one with the rotating speakers!).
    
    The master reverb effects both channels (clean and dirty), and adds
    just that, reverb.  The more reverb you add, the 'farther away' it
    makes your guitar sound seem.  When you think of reverb, think of
    DISTANCE!
    
    Good luck dude...
    Buck

    Brian,
    
    	There's also a foot switch that comes with that amp that has three
    stompers on it. This allows you to set distortion, reverb and one of
    the others, I forget. Anyway, this allows you to preset your sounds
    and turn them on and off at will. You can be playing a nice clean
    rythm and hit the stomper and switch it into distortion or the sound
    of your choice...If the pedal did not come with the amp you could
    order one from your local peavey dealer..
    
    Rj

This topic's been dead for a while, but it seemed appropriate for the question,
and the "next unseen"ers will see it, soooo...

Anyone have any info on the Ibanez PUE5-Tube preamp/effects unit?  Price?  
Anyone ever try one?

Just curious,

-- Sam