Living on the edge, folks.
Connecticut has the lowest Covid-19 infection rate in the nation, yet local authorities are playing it safe by not opening indoor bars or restaurants. The hazard seems to be large groups not wearing masks, talking loudly, or in close proximity with each other contributing to higher infection rates. Governor of CT is holding back on allowing unmasked groups from gathering indoors, citing that he believes CDC guidelines will help mitigate infection.
That being said, I spent my afternoon visiting a friend via Zoom, chatting about gear, and connecting with someone else who needed advice regards his rig and effects.
The friend whom I was visiting via Zoom said that I had much more experience than he did regards gear, so, could I answer the 3rd guy's question? I just wanted to let you folks know that since 1997, and my forays with online guitar forums, it's been the online forum community that has provided me with the knowledge and experience regards gear. I honestly cannot take any credit for this knowledge; it's all been acquired by asking and answering forum questions, viewing YT videos, personal experience with certain pedals, and exchanging viewpoints of the latest gear. These exchanges either revealed gear that improves upon a classic design or makes something more expensive, within budget reach and cost-effective.
My feeling is that over the years this has produced a healthier personal attitude that might otherwise be less than a model viewpoint.
FTR, the 3rd guy's question involved a SSH Strat, a Tubescreamer, other unnamed pedals, his Vox 15, and a compressor. His question was regards a DOD 280 Compressor he located on an obscure deal site, and whether we (my friend and I) thought if this was a good deal. His question further involved whether a compressor would help reduce the hum and hiss in his rig.
As much as I wanted to yell "Buy a PRS" loudly, I could not. It was necessary to relate to him that SSH Strats typically have 60Hz hum and hiss because of the single coil pickups, even though the bridge was a humbucker. Also necessary to relate that compressors will only reduce volume and gain transients, making for a more even gain/volume level across the frequency range. A compressor is not designed to reduce hum or hiss, though.
In a separate email, it was necessary to tell him that if he were to plug the guitar directly into his amp, he might notice hum and hiss then, and that pedals only serve to amplify the noise in the signal chain. It was painfully obvious that the guy would need a HH pickup design to do away with the hum and hiss that plagued his rig. My other suggestion was to invest in a Boss 7-band EQ, to help tame brightness and similar tone issues that would occur from his guitar and amp together. Regards a noise gate, my suggestion was that a noise gate (TC Electronic Sentry) works best for noisy pedals, not so much single-coil guitars that are the primary source of hum and hiss.
To make a long story short, it was necessary to hold back from suggesting to buy a PRS, in favor of the guy's limited budget. My feeling is that it is far more cost-effective to deal with the tone/gain question and tolerate the hum/hiss given what guitar one owns.
My only recourse is that had I the knowledge that I currently have, back in 1997, I'd daresay that a large part of my tone search would not have occurred, and the relationship I tried cultivating with said gear would have never happened.
I have guitar forums such as this one to thank for teaching me what I currently know. By contrast, the time I spent in music shops did not help me determine what works better for a specific tone, the time spent only helped me understand the reasons why guitarists gravitate towards certain gear, and what is trending these days. Just wanted to thank forum's like this one for being a source of knowledge that would otherwise be obtainable only by word of mouth. Given the current state of Covid-19, meeting people and chatting about gear is much less likely than sitting at home behind a computer and learning about gear on online forums...
