Do Cute Amps Matter?

[WA Paul]

The main reason? Because I’m storing everything my kids ever owned before they graduated College, plus everything my wife and I ever owned in a much larger house, plus all my mother’s stuff from before she moved to a retirement home, plus all of my boxes and junk for all of my guitars, studio gear, amps, car stuff, you name it.

Also my wife saves boxes from everything she buys. Just in case she wants to return stuff, which rarely ever happens.

Just getting rid of the boxes would be a three day effort! So I start thinking about that, and going through all the boxes to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, and then dumping a ton of stuff, and I want to sit down, have a drink and forget all about it.

In fact, the thought is so exhausting I’m sipping on a Monkey 47 martini right now to get over thinking it.

My wife and I have been living through this with just our..stuff this year with our move - despite cleaning out, donating and getting rid of stuff we still put a ton of it in movers storage! Dang, where’s my drink! Gotta work on that part myself now!

 

[bodia]

The main reason? Because I’m storing everything my kids ever owned before they graduated College, plus everything my wife and I ever owned in a much larger house, plus all my mother’s stuff from before she moved to a retirement home, plus all of my boxes and junk for all of my guitars, studio gear, amps, car stuff, you name it.

Also my wife saves boxes from everything she buys. Just in case she wants to return stuff, which rarely ever happens.

Just getting rid of the boxes would be a three day effort! So I start thinking about that, and going through all the boxes to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, and then dumping a ton of stuff, and I want to sit down, have a drink and forget all about it.

In fact, the thought is so exhausting I’m sipping on a Monkey 47 martini right now to get over thinking it.

My wife and I have been living through this with just our..stuff this year with our move - despite cleaning out, donating and getting rid of stuff we still put a ton of it in movers storage! Dang, where’s my drink! Gotta work on that part myself now!

One of the best things about the Mrs retiring, other than her much improved attitude, has been her “cleaning” out things. I’ve heard more times than I can count, “why the hell did I keep this.” Slowly, the house is returning somewhat normal from weirdo hoarder!

 

[HANGAR18]

And now the sad reality of Studio Craptastic; though the workstation area belo is admittedly not too terrible compared to the back, Studio Craptastic is not very inspiring compared to the dream room above, in fact, it’s relatively cheesy. My big redo last month? I put the amps further out from the back wall, where arguably they sound a little better (or at least different):

Not messy and cluttered enough for any level of credibility. hahahaha

 

[WA Paul]

One of the best things about the Mrs retiring, other than her much improved attitude, has been her “cleaning” out things. I’ve heard more times than I can count, “why the hell did I keep this.” Slowly, the house is returning somewhat normal from weirdo hoarder!

Normal is relative (to what, I’m not sure )

Weirdo hoarder...I prefer hunter / gatherer

 

[László]

Not messy and cluttered enough for any level of credibility. hahahaha

I’ll accept the disbelief, cash the royalty and production checks, and leave the mess-making to you.

 

[DougUSMC]

They’re that way stock. Power light is red, second channel setting is red.

Yes, the red light is standard... Channel one is green, channel 2 red

Man, I gotta work on my Sarcasm Font a bit better....

That recording room really is amazing. I'm looking @ that cabinet, wondering a couple of different thoughts:
1) I wonder if that's actually humidified
2) If that's where the acoustics are, what does the electric display look like
3) I bet I could build that, now which room can I hope to reclaim...

 

[László]

Man, I gotta work on my Sarcasm Font a bit better....

That recording room really is amazing. I'm looking @ that cabinet, wondering a couple of different thoughts:
1) I wonder if that's actually humidified
2) If that's where the acoustics are, what does the electric display look like
3) I bet I could build that, now which room can I hope to reclaim...

I think a cabinet like that would be easy enough to humidify; assuming that it’s relatively well-sealed, it’d take spreading out enough of those larger humidipaks made by the company that makes them for D’Addario. I’ve seen the larger packs advertised for folks who have very large humidors for cigars.

I wouldn’t want to put a humidifying machine in a small cabinet. One could always simply humidify the whole room.

Since I’m not into putting guitars on display, I’d set up that cabinet a little differently, maybe keep amp heads in a rack in it, pull-out drawers or shelves for microphones, etc.

I like the pine flooring, the wall color, and the look of the black tin ceiling tiles. It’s a pretty bold statement!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Not messy and cluttered enough for any level of credibility. hahahaha

aha! Someone who would appreciate MY music room.

 

[veinbuster]

I think a cabinet like that would be easy enough to humidify; assuming that it’s relatively well-sealed, it’d take spreading out enough of those larger humidipaks made by the company that makes them for D’Addario. I’ve seen the larger packs advertised for folks who have very large humidors for cigars.

I wouldn’t want to put a humidifying machine in a small cabinet. One could always simply humidify the whole room.

Since I’m not into putting guitars on display, I’d set up that cabinet a little differently, maybe keep amp heads in a rack in it, pull-out drawers or shelves for microphones, etc.

I like the pine flooring, the wall color, and the look of the black tin ceiling tiles. It’s a pretty bold statement!

For what it’s worth, my small cases with a volume of a few cubic feet are fine with two packs in them. I use two sets per winter in each of the very well sealed cases.

My bigger full wall case I keep only electrics in so don’t humidify them independent of the house itself. Volume of each segment is about 8 cubic feet. I would put 4 standard packs in each segment if I kept acoustics in it. It might use 3 set of humidipaks a year.

 

[DougUSMC]

I think a cabinet like that would be easy enough to humidify; assuming that it’s relatively well-sealed, it’d take spreading out enough of those larger humidipaks made by the company that makes them for D’Addario. I’ve seen the larger packs advertised for folks who have very large humidors for cigars.

I wouldn’t want to put a humidifying machine in a small cabinet. One could always simply humidify the whole room.

Since I’m not into putting guitars on display, I’d set up that cabinet a little differently, maybe keep amp heads in a rack in it, pull-out drawers or shelves for microphones, etc.

I like the pine flooring, the wall color, and the look of the black tin ceiling tiles. It’s a pretty bold statement!

There's a great Mom and Pop instrument shop near me, Appalachian Bluegrass, that's been there for a million years. They have a great, wall-long case full of acoustics, with a build in humidification system. It's the best kind of "homemade case, with homemade humidification, dialed in over 50 years of trial and error". You can see it on their homepage, and that's what I have in mind for the "someday".

Great people, I've bought both of my acoustics from them, and support whenever possible.

 

[László]

There's a great Mom and Pop instrument shop near me, Appalachian Bluegrass, that's been there for a million years. They have a great, wall-long case full of acoustics, with a build in humidification system. It's the best kind of "homemade case, with homemade humidification, dialed in over 50 years of trial and error". You can see it on their homepage, and that's what I have in mind for the "someday".

Great people, I've bought both of my acoustics from them, and support whenever possible.

That looks like a great store to do business with! I get my guitars from Northeast Music, Jack Gretz’ shop, that’s run by a person that truly “gets it” in the same way that your acoustic store appears to.

Jack’s also a luthier who does expert repairs on both electrics and acoustics.

 

[WA Paul]

There's a great Mom and Pop instrument shop near me, Appalachian Bluegrass, that's been there for a million years. They have a great, wall-long case full of acoustics, with a build in humidification system. It's the best kind of "homemade case, with homemade humidification, dialed in over 50 years of trial and error". You can see it on their homepage, and that's what I have in mind for the "someday".

Great people, I've bought both of my acoustics from them, and support whenever possible.

Appalachian Bluegrass? You must be near Ellicott City MD. I lived there for a short period of time back in ‘94-‘95 and bought my first Taylor, a 510 Honduran Mahogany from them. Used to go there to gawk at the fine acoustics and Bills Music for some of the Electrics. Never got a chance to go visit PRS unfortunately before I moved out to the PNW...small world!

 

[DougUSMC]

That looks like a great store to do business with! I get my guitars from Northeast Music, Jack Gretz’ shop, that’s run by a person that truly “gets it” in the same way that your acoustic store appears to.
Jack’s also a luthier who does expert repairs on both electrics and acoustics.

Yup, I really dig them. Since my PS Acoustic plan is down a couple of spots on the PS Wishlist, I still love my lefty Martins. We're really close to them in PA, and Appalachian (and the original owners) has been a Martin dealer a LONG time, so they can really hook me up.

Appalachian Bluegrass? You must be near Ellicott City MD. I lived there for a short period of time back in ‘94-‘95 and bought my first Taylor, a 510 Honduran Mahogany from them. Used to go there to gawk at the fine acoustics and Bills Music for some of the Electrics. Never got a chance to go visit PRS unfortunately before I moved out to the PNW...small world!

Yup, I'm waaaaaaay western EC myself. Technically about .5 mi from Clarksville and Glenelg both. Bill's is my go-to for anything that requires electricity too! (Unless it's a PRS, then I tend to call the guys @ Moore Guitars).
We're really lucky to have two great local music shops, both 50+ yrs old, and about 2000 yards from each other!
Door to door, I think I'm about 45 mins from the PRS Factory. I pretty much have the route memorized:
My house to Cracker Barrel. Breakfast/lunch. Cracker Barrel to Factory parking lot.

 

[shinksma]

It occurs to me that my amps are far nicer looking than my Studio Craptastic in which they sit.

This has been my problem: I really want to redo the studio, but whenever I make up my mind to go for it, PRS comes out with a guitar I want, or an amp, so I buy that instead, and put off the studio thing! Or some damn thing goes wrong with my back, and I can’t move the gear out of the way to get the room redone, like this year.

Here’s a studio room that I like a lot. It’s kind of dreamy! It’s not a fancy, high-tech room, but it’d be a nice place to work and record in with the addition of acoustical treatment. I love the flooring, cabinet, ceiling, materials. Whoever designed this had a great eye:

And now the sad reality of Studio Craptastic; though the workstation area belo is admittedly not too terrible compared to the back, Studio Craptastic is not very inspiring compared to the dream room above, in fact, it’s relatively cheesy. My big redo last month? I put the amps further out from the back wall, where arguably they sound a little better (or at least different):

Les, your studio is super organized. My two music rooms (which double as a pool table room and Home Theater room, respectively) are a nightmare of piles of under-used equipment and cabling. They resemble this, to an extent (photo is Steven Wilson not playing a PRS...), except imagine a pool table for theater seats interfering too:

I have so much respect for folks that can keep their music areas organized. I can barely keep it so that I'm not tripping over three layers of cables.

 

[László]

I can barely keep it so that I'm not tripping over three layers of cables.

If your recording room looks like the pic you posted, consider me suitably impressed! And a little jealous!

When I’m recording, the studio looks more like this, which is the setup for this week’s series of sessions. Note the three layers of cables (and the headphone cable isn’t even in the pic)!

 

[shinksma]

If your recording room looks like the pic you posted, consider me suitably impressed! And a little jealous!

Oh, I was in no way trying to say I have that quality of equipment available. I do have some mediocre rack stuff, but mostly it is old PC towers, computer monitors, receivers, DVD players, that kind of stuff just piled up in some vain hope I can re-use the technology.

They don't let you put old electronics in the regular trash because it is considered hazardous waste. If my house ever burned down, I suspect it would be declared a Superfund site.

 

[László]

Oh, I was in no way trying to say I have that quality of equipment available. I do have some mediocre rack stuff, but mostly it is old PC towers, computer monitors, receivers, DVD players, that kind of stuff just piled up in some vain hope I can re-use the technology.

They don't let you put old electronics in the regular trash because it is considered hazardous waste. If my house ever burned down, I suspect it would be declared a Superfund site.

Haha! I love the Superfund site joke. You just made my evening!

 

[JonW]

They resemble this, to an extent (photo is Steven Wilson not playing a PRS...), except imagine a pool table for theater seats interfering too:

By the way, this is not Steven's, this is Paul Stacey's studio – which seems to be quite a bit chaotic.
This is (or was, he might have moved in the meantime) Steven Wilson's Studio:

 

[Tucson Thump]

Oh, I was in no way trying to say I have that quality of equipment available. I do have some mediocre rack stuff, but mostly it is old PC towers, computer monitors, receivers, DVD players, that kind of stuff just piled up in some vain hope I can re-use the technology.

They don't let you put old electronics in the regular trash because it is considered hazardous waste. If my house ever burned down, I suspect it would be declared a Superfund site.

If you are looking to move stuff do a search for "Urban Miners" in your area. They direct it to places that will tear old equipment down and recycle what they can.

Re-using old computers is getting to be a problem if you update your software. Code changes.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

By the way, this is not Steven's, this is Paul Stacey's studio – which seems to be quite a bit chaotic.
This is (or was, he might have moved in the meantime) Steven Wilson's Studio:

I would rather see a man’s ball sack than his bare feet. Put some shoes on, Steven!!!