It Has All Been Revealed - Horse - Course - Of Course

[László]

Well, this is kind of embarrassing.

Before the DG Cab came a couple of weeks ago, I had sent my 408 to the PTC for some TLC. The 408 is the guitar I bought the DG30 for.

Then I sold the Artist V to help fund the McSinglecut.

When the DG Cab came, I had the Artist V for maybe a couple of days, during which I was mainly messing with studio acoustic fixes, so for all practical purposes, had only the McSinglecut to play it with as the 408 was still at the PTC.

The McSinglecut I call the Hammer of the Gods (HOTG) is a perfect match for the HXDA, an amazing, natural combination. As to the DG30, a little less so. I became forlorn, as I had forgotten all about how great the DG head sounded with the 408, even with the Mesa cab I'd been using with it. Though I am now getting great tones dialed in with the DG/HOTG combination, the HOTG's even more amazing with the HXDA.

My memory apparently hadn't embedded the aural combination of DG and 408, and it had become lost in the mists of time. And at my age, that's a whole lotta mists (as most here know, I'm nearly 800 years old).

In the meantime, the 408 was on its way home to me, and today it arrived. I fired up the DG30 head and for the first time played the 408 through both head and cab, all pedals off, and...BOOM!

This combination sounds so good I can hardly believe my ears.

If it's not perfection, it's something close. This combination is every bit as good as the HOTG/HXDA combination. It's my naked ears were tortured by the Sirens Sweetly Singing For the sparkling waves are calling me to kiss their white laced lips. It's The Natural hitting the home run and breaking the lights in the stadium.

Turns out I didn't waste all the time I spent dialing it in and working on the room acoustics! I got what I wanted with that head and cab combination!

So...what did I learn from all my angst?

Well, as we all know, horses for courses. Of course! :rock:

Doh!

 

[toothace]

Sounds like guitar heaven Les!!

 

[László]

Sounds like guitar heaven Les!!

Yeah, I think now I'm starting to get things straight.

Some amps sound better to me with certain guitars. And some guitars sound better to me with different amps.

Duh.

I am so stupid.

However, it's a great excuse to have an amp for every guitar. :top:

 

[sergiodeblanc]

horses for courses.

Un-intersting story: I played a horse race once. In Texas no less.

 

[László]

Un-intersting story: I played a horse race once. In Texas no less.

Who won?

 

[John Beef]

Un-intersting story: I played a horse race once. In Texas no less.

Hahaha, nice. I played a bowling alley in New Mexico once.

I was in a band called After Any Accident for a long time. We kept pestering the people who ran the demolition derby at the AZ state fair to have us come play, but they never responded.

Les, what tweaks were done to your 408?

 

[László]

Les, what tweaks were done to your 408?

Just some TLC along the fingerboard edge and a setup. No mods.

 

[xjbebop]

In our collecting frenzy the last few years, what you talk about was often very clear... some guitar+amp combinations play well together, while some don't.
And as you also mentioned, it seems easy to forget that little fact sometimes.
I often wonder about so many reviews of gear where the results are less than stellar, that a different combination could/would change everything...

 

[sergiodeblanc]

We kept pestering the people who ran the demolition derby at the AZ state fair to have us come play, but they never responded.

I played a fair once too... They were offended by the singers rubber machete and fake blood, they said we were too violent.

To stay somewhat relevant to Les' thread I have seven guitars and three amps. I obviously need more amps.

 

[László]

I often wonder about so many reviews of gear where the results are less than stellar, that a different combination could/would change everything...

I do, too. And it's not just equipment used -- reviews are only as good as the reviewer, and we all have different ideas about what's good and what's not.

And when it comes to gear that's supposed to be truly outstanding, I've found that a review can introduce me to a piece of gear, but ultimately I have to make that decision for myself.

To stay somewhat relevant to Les' thread I have seven guitars and three amps. I obviously need more amps.

Or fewer guitars! (I'm runnin' on only two guitars and two amps these days!).

 

[jfb]

It's interesting to hear your story about the 408. I have a very similar experience with the 408 and channel 1 of the Bogner Uberschall Twin Jet. That combo is rock heaven to my ears/hands. Really important to me to say hands as well because it felt great. Really helped me love that amp. Admittedly the 408 sounds great with all my amps though.

 

[László]

It's interesting to hear your story about the 408. I have a very similar experience with the 408 and channel 1 of the Bogner Uberschall Twin Jet. That combo is rock heaven to my ears/hands. Really important to me to say hands as well because it felt great. Really helped me love that amp. Admittedly the 408 sounds great with all my amps though.

Yeah, the 408 is pretty darn adaptable!

I've heard an Uberschall, but not a Twin Jet version. What are the differences? The Bogner site implies that the Twin Jet clean channel is more of a semi-clean channel. That sounds pretty good to me, I like to have a little bit of crunch in my cleans.

In fact, even though I use the DG30 as more or less my clean amp, I generally set it up with a taste of the crunch.

 

[jfb]

Twin Jet is KT88 powered and higher wattage. Channel one isn't so much a clean channel as it is anther dirty channel.

 

[Boogie]

...In Texas no less.

They were all in love with dying...

In a perfect world, yes Les, it should be one guitar for each amp. Harmony and balance, as it was intended. Why doesn't Mrs. B understand this?

 

[László]

They were all in love with dying...

In a perfect world, yes Les, it should be one guitar for each amp. Harmony and balance, as it was intended. Why doesn't Mrs. B understand this?

Don't feel bad.

Mrs. S' idea of harmony and balance is one guitar and one amp; "They all sound exactly the same to me."

One day recently my daughter was visiting from Chicago with her young family. At dinner my son-in-law asked me what was happening in the world of music, and at the time I had found Blue Chip picks. So in the course of the conversation I mentioned this exciting discovery (I'm being ironic here).

The three sets of eyeballs at the table that weren't mine rolled.

There were giggles from my daughter.

My son in law tried to keep a straight face.

My wife made that "You see what I have to put up with?" smile and her eyes connected with my daughter's.

I laughed it off. "OK You-Who-Laugh-Now, after dinner I'll show you." And when the meal was over and cleaned up after, I pulled out the acoustic and an assortment of picks, all of which sound notably different to me, and set up shop in the living room because no one wanted to move this crucial event to the studio.

My wife stood up and announced, "I've already seen this, there isn't any difference, and I have some laundry to do." One customer gone. I now had only to demonstrate this to my daughter who has some musical training, and my tone-deaf son-in-law who pretended to be interested so as not to offend his father in law. The pained look on their faces was that of prisoners forced to watch the warden's unattractive girl friend play the accordion.

I did the demonstration. "There really IS a difference!" may daughter exclaimed in complete surprise. "I think I hear a little difference," my son in law obliged. I was vindicated.

"So, I'm not crazy, right? Of course you can hear it."

"Well Dad, you're still crazy," said my daughter, "but there is a difference between picks."

 

[László]

Another case in point: yesterday evening.

I was out of guitar polish yesterday, and bought a bottle of a brand I hadn't tried, Virtuoso. It worked great. Put me in a good mood.

At dinner last night my wife said, "Anything going on?"

By "anything going on," my wife really means something like, "Did you win the lottery today?" Usually I don't even bother to answer the question, because frankly, nothing makes the woman happy, and, short of winning the lottery, only news about my grandkids who are cute toddlers brings a smile to her face. Still, I wanted to make conversation just for the sake of being polite.

This is how life works in my empty nest.

"Yeah, I had kind of a nice thing happen."

"Will I think it's a nice thing?" my wife asked.

"Depends how you feel about me finding a really good guitar polish," I answered.

She looked at her plate in disappointment.

"Well, you're the one who asked," I said.

 

[xjbebop]

fwiw, I really enjoy your stories... :beer:

 

[László]

fwiw, I really enjoy your stories... :beer:

Thanks man! I have fun writing them!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Or fewer guitars!

Funny.

 

[László]

Hey, I almost went fewer amps today, Serg.

For political reasons, I had the HXDA on the block for 5 minutes. But then I realized WTF was I doing?

A political solution will have to come elsewhere. A man needs two amps.