Internet versus reality

In my experience it is the speaker cab making the most difference in overall sound, then the amp, than the guitar type/pickups. I constantly read how somebody “changed everything” by swapping pickups or string brand/gauge. Or switching from Indian to Brazilian fretboard and such.
 
Epiplatys said:
In my experience it is the speaker cab making the most difference in overall sound, then the amp, than the guitar type/pickups. I constantly read how somebody “changed everything” by swapping pickups or string brand/gauge. Or switching from Indian to Brazilian fretboard and such.
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I just changed the speaker cable and now 5 o'clock gain on the red channel of my marshall sounds like a blackface twin through my orange 1x8.
 
I just know that if put on the space heater, so that I can stand the Mr. Freeze BnB that is my basement, all the amps sound better. But my guitar necks instantly get too much relief and piss me off 😉 🥶
 
skoora said:
I just know that if put on the space heater, so that I can stand the Mr. Freeze BnB that is my basement, all the amps sound better. But my guitar necks instantly get too much relief and piss me off 😉 🥶
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When I switched over to digital thermostats from mercury; all of my Gibson guitars headstocks snapped off.
 
skoora said:
They could even had been out of the house at a jam and just decided to end it all then and there, rather than face the inevitable homecoming of horror.
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I hadn't even ordered them yet! They were still just neck blanks at the Nashville factory!
 
Mad Axe said:
Anyone else feel like your real life experiences are always at odds with prevailing opinion on most of the other gear forums or Facebook groups?

My latest experience with this phenomenon involves my ‘71 Marshall Super Tremolo. I have owned the amp since 2019 but rarely used it because it had no master volume and I didn’t really like it through an attenuator. I had thought about adding a master volume but read all the comments on various forums saying “it neuters the amp and won’t sound good” so I never did.

A few weeks ago I listed it for sale because I don’t use it much and figured it was better off going to someone else than getting “neutered”. I had it sold but then the buyer ended up backing out. After that happened I said f*ck it, I’m trying a simple pre phase inverter master volume. I only had to disturb one original solder joint and was able to use an existing hole in the chassis so I figured I could easily reverse it if it doesn’t sound good.

Guess what? Now the amp sounds great, exactly the way I hoped it would and is totally usable at all volumes! It’s like I got a new amp and I can’t stop playing it. If I had listened to the hive mind it would be gone and I’d be back down the amp shopping rabbit hole again..
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I'm glad it worked out. It seemed like it was going downhill there for a bit. Glad you took the situation into your own hands :yes:



NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
Outside of parroting; I feel like part of the problem is that people rarely state their purpose/needs/wants/budget so you have a lot of people chiming in with things that don't always make sense or fit the bill for the use case. I see this on all hobby forums from computers to motorcycles and of course musical gear. I suppose part of it is not knowing the right questions to ask, also. 🤷‍♀️

"What's the best distortion pedal?" a hundred answers.
"What's best distortion pedal for this amp, style, and budget?" two or three answers.
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We had a rule at Ultimate-Guitar if someone wanted to create a "What amp" thread, and there were a lot of them, they were asked to provide: Budget, generes, home or gig, new or used, current gear.
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
I hadn't even ordered them yet! They were still just neck blanks at the Nashville factory!
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Was your silver SG a custom order or just a run they did one time….at bandcamp? I imagine the finish is called sassy silver.

sassy Medium.jpeg
 
Smash said:
The worst one for me is when people describe the quality of tube amps that dont play them at volume.

From gates, to feel, to fullness, an amp behaves completely different.
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+1 and also never putting the amp in a full band mix
 
I don't know about always being at odds with the internet, but I definitely find that my experience with amps in person doesn't usually match with online videos/demos. E.g., I never really liked the recorded Marshall sounds I was hearing but owning and playing one is completely different and it's now my favorite amp.
 
7704A said:
You should try using an instrument cable, speaker cables are so big that they let the signals rattle around inside. Music shops only sell you them because more copper == more money.
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I actually just use old power cables from thrift store lamps.
Tone lamps.
 
A fair amount of posts on these Facebook groups and guitar forums commenting on whatever the subject may be are coming from posters who have no actual real-world (or other) experience with whatever topic may be at hand and are just parroting something they read or heard at some point.
 
Mad Axe said:
Anyone else feel like your real life experiences are always at odds with prevailing opinion on most of the other gear forums or Facebook groups?

My latest experience with this phenomenon involves my ‘71 Marshall Super Tremolo. I have owned the amp since 2019 but rarely used it because it had no master volume and I didn’t really like it through an attenuator. I had thought about adding a master volume but read all the comments on various forums saying “it neuters the amp and won’t sound good” so I never did.

A few weeks ago I listed it for sale because I don’t use it much and figured it was better off going to someone else than getting “neutered”. I had it sold but then the buyer ended up backing out. After that happened I said f*ck it, I’m trying a simple pre phase inverter master volume. I only had to disturb one original solder joint and was able to use an existing hole in the chassis so I figured I could easily reverse it if it doesn’t sound good.

Guess what? Now the amp sounds great, exactly the way I hoped it would and is totally usable at all volumes! It’s like I got a new amp and I can’t stop playing it. If I had listened to the hive mind it would be gone and I’d be back down the amp shopping rabbit hole again..
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A lot of money and over 20 years later, YEP!
 
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