Twi does death metal

[T-Bone]

3 hours ago, chockfull said:

Axe #1 - my Jackson Frankenstein.  Re wired it all with high output pickups.  

Some great sounding guitars! I don't know if you've ever read anything on them or the founder - but as a techy I get into that stuff: 

Jackson Guitars - Wikipedia

Grover Jackson - Wikipedia

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Speaking of modifications – I Had a piezo bridge installed on my Kramer  fretless and it gives the strings a very organic wooden tone. The factory DiMarzio P Bass pickup sounds great and the guitar tech installed a mixing knob so I can blend piezo bridge with DiMarzio…still have another modification on the docket - I bought a thing called Black Ice from Amazon – it’s an on-board battery-free overdrive for bass or guitar…holding off on installing it for several reasons: still haven’t decided how I want to integrate it with a switch to change options or cut it off, the wiring diagram lists several ways to wire it up for options on lighter or heavier distortion – and I want ALL the options – so I have a 12-pole rotary switch on my Wishlist – and want to rig up a temporary model with flying leads coming out the electronics access panel on the back of the body – experiment before I make anything permanent – and since It will necessitate the addition of at least one more control knob on the front side – I’ll wait until I’ve got the body “re-stained”…which brings me to the next project:

 

This is an older picture of my Kramer (before piezo bridge installed- note the 3^rd mixing knob is not there) was originally a burnt orange color ( at least that’s what I called it     ). I stripped off the finish, used a propane torch to give it some darker tones, then clear-coated it…now I’m wanting to give a very light hint of colors here and there – which means I’ll have to remove the clear-coat…and consult my wife for a color scheme  …I’m thinking some really just a hint of a really light wash of some greens, reds and yellows…but that’s just my thinking…and I’m open to suggestions…(I'll post a newer picture of Kramer & Yamaha Bass and effects pedal in another post)

(note: the old-fart addition of wheels on the bottom of the Peavey amp – a no-no cuz it disconnects the bass amp feature of further transmitting the low-end frequencies when touching the floor – but it’s great for me rolling this bad boy around the house wherever I want to jam...also that's our old dog T-Bone - he was named after me - listening to his master's bass - this belongs on the Absent Bass Player thread  ...the picture cuts off  our other dog Boo Radley - they were brother and sister...Boo was the silent assassin...we had two different contractors come by to bid work on our pool - and she quietly followed us around - and when I went to let contractor out of gate, Boo quickly walked up behind and bit the guys on the a$$ - no torn clothing - no blood drawn - but surprised us both)

The backstory on my getting this Kramer goes back to my first year in-residence. I brought into the corps my Peavey amp and a Fender Squire P Bass. We were sent as Light bearers to southern Chicago. I was in a music store there and spotted this used Kramer fretless. Played it and fell in love. Talked to the store owner about trading my Fender Squire.

(Also Loved the idea of an aluminum neck since I had a bad experience of having a Gibson EB3 Bass – my model was one of the only years – I think – when they set up the tuning pegs perpendicular to the headstock – like on an acoustic standup bass…maybe it was a bad design or a combo of a bad design on the hard-shell case - cuz the tip of the tuning pegs pushed the headstock upwards – and the glued-on neck developed a bow in it…sold it – and bought a Fender Jazz bass…gave that away when I went WOW and slowly worked my way back to getting some decent gear)

Anyway…when we got back to Rome City – I talked the assistant corps coordinator to let me and the elder corps / drummer in our band Fred B drive back to Chicago and make the trade.

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by T-Bone
revision

[T-Bone]

1 hour ago, OldSkool said:

Heres one zoomed out showing the deadning panels, window, pic, guitar, vocal mic, desk...I need to get some blackout curtains for amibiance....about to get a large corner desk. My home has hardwood throughout so the panels were VITAL because otherwise it just echos the heck out of anything one would play. I have those panels on all four walls in various patterns for decoration, but more importantly to make the room useable. Also have a grey area rug on the floor that helps too.

Nice set up! Thanks for the pics…inspirational for me to get off my bu++ and do something!

Here’s my 2 basses – Yamaha 6 string and Kramer fretless

 

 

Here’s my Korg AX3000B Bass Effects Pedal   - I’m wearing my wife’s cat-slippers for a goof

 

I have some alternate practice options:

Play-along via bass/Peavey amp with CD or iPhone music through stereo system.

Play bass thru Korg Bass pedal with headphones – for some reason this is my wife’s favorite setup 

Play bass into one channel of Behringer XENYX 802  8-input mixer, plug iPhone music into another channel of mixer – use mixing controls to adjust both inputs and I use mixer output to headphones – another setup my wife likes  

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by T-Bone
revision

[OldSkool]

1 hour ago, T-Bone said:

Nice set up! Thanks for the pics…inspirational for me to get off my bu++ and do something!

Here’s my 2 basses – Yamaha 6 string and Kramer fretless

Responding to both posts but only quoted one. Man o man I love the pics...the work you did on that burnt orange bass is phenominal. Love it when artists persoanlize their musical instruments..awesome stuff!

You still digging the Korg effect board? I just gave my son my old guitar, amp, and Digitech RP355...Ill use his stuff if I ever play live again, but for now I push everything through my computer and use two speakers I purchased for it when I want to use an amp versus headphones. Eventually I will be less digital and get back to more of a traditional set up. I think the castors on the amp just shows a high level of intelligence...nobody trying to lift that thing...Ive had several Peaveys and they were NEVER light.

I got a pretty good chuckle out of your saga with amps/headphones and happy wife happy life....curious how that works...love the slippers, keep em...

1 hour ago, T-Bone said:

Behringer XENYX 802  8-input mixer

This the same one, or similar?

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-802-Premium-8-Input-Preamps/dp/B000J5XS3C

Edited November 27, 2022 by OldSkool

[T-Bone]

3 hours ago, OldSkool said:

Responding to both posts but only quoted one. Man o man I love the pics...the work you did on that burnt orange bass is phenominal. Love it when artists persoanlize their musical instruments..awesome stuff!

You still digging the Korg effect board? I just gave my son my old guitar, amp, and Digitech RP355...Ill use his stuff if I ever play live again, but for now I push everything through my computer and use two speakers I purchased for it when I want to use an amp versus headphones. Eventually I will be less digital and get back to more of a traditional set up. I think the castors on the amp just shows a high level of intelligence...nobody trying to lift that thing...Ive had several Peaveys and they were NEVER light.

I got a pretty good chuckle out of your saga with amps/headphones and happy wife happy life....curious how that works...love the slippers, keep em...

This the same one, or similar?

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-802-Premium-8-Input-Preamps/dp/B000J5XS3C

Yeah still enjoy the Korg effects box – partly because it keeps me from getting bored playing by myself all the time…If I was playing in a band I’d probably use just a few simple effects – at different times – reverb, flanger, fuzz, compression.

 

Yeah that’s the Behringer mixer I have…bought mine at a local Guitar Center. The setup I described works / sounds good – I can mix my bass to blend-in or be more out-front when I’m trying to learn a bass line – bad notes stick out like a red flag. I have an iPhone 7 Plus – and almost 30 days of music on it, which uses 93.71GB of storage (I like to Bluetooth my music to my vehicle’s JBL sound system   - and have a Bluetooth adapter on my Yamaha receiver at home too – so another way to jam with records is play iPhone thru stereo and bass thru Peavey amp…now if I put on Beatles, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, The Eagles, Stones or something of that nature – my wife usually doesn’t mind if I practice to one of them    …and she might request I repeat a track   )…so anyway – I plug in a 3.5mm stereo patch cord from  iPhone Lightning to 3.5mm headphone Jack adapter to mixer. Haven’t had any issues so far…

…which reminds me – it’s true confessions time: this was back in my formative years as a wannabee bass player – about 15 years old…when my older brother was out I would plug in my Frankenstein bass to an aux input of his Pioneer receiver. It sounded way better than my dinky 10-watt cheapy practice amp made for guitar…one day I noticed a little bit of distortion – sounded a little like something rattling when you played records or radio at about half volume – so I quit using that as a practice amp after that.  ...and since then my brother has had a few more stereo receivers anyway 

 

I’ve noticed some heavy amp enclosures come with snap-on casters – so you can pull them out once on the stage floor.

 

[chockfull]

7 hours ago, T-Bone said:

Some great sounding guitars! I don't know if you've ever read anything on them or the founder - but as a techy I get into that stuff: 

Jackson Guitars - Wikipedia

Grover Jackson - Wikipedia

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Speaking of modifications – I Had a piezo bridge installed on my Kramer  fretless and it gives the strings a very organic wooden tone. The factory DiMarzio P Bass pickup sounds great and the guitar tech installed a mixing knob so I can blend piezo bridge with DiMarzio…still have another modification on the docket - I bought a thing called Black Ice from Amazon – it’s an on-board battery-free overdrive for bass or guitar…holding off on installing it for several reasons: still haven’t decided how I want to integrate it with a switch to change options or cut it off, the wiring diagram lists several ways to wire it up for options on lighter or heavier distortion – and I want ALL the options – so I have a 12-pole rotary switch on my Wishlist – and want to rig up a temporary model with flying leads coming out the electronics access panel on the back of the body – experiment before I make anything permanent – and since It will necessitate the addition of at least one more control knob on the front side – I’ll wait until I’ve got the body “re-stained”…which brings me to the next project:

 

This is an older picture of my Kramer (before piezo bridge installed- note the 3^rd mixing knob is not there) was originally a burnt orange color ( at least that’s what I called it     ). I stripped off the finish, used a propane torch to give it some darker tones, then clear-coated it…now I’m wanting to give a very light hint of colors here and there – which means I’ll have to remove the clear-coat…and consult my wife for a color scheme  …I’m thinking some really just a hint of a really light wash of some greens, reds and yellows…but that’s just my thinking…and I’m open to suggestions…(I'll post a newer picture of Kramer & Yamaha Bass and effects pedal in another post)

(note: the old-fart addition of wheels on the bottom of the Peavey amp – a no-no cuz it disconnects the bass amp feature of further transmitting the low-end frequencies when touching the floor – but it’s great for me rolling this bad boy around the house wherever I want to jam...also that's our old dog T-Bone - he was named after me - listening to his master's bass - this belongs on the Absent Bass Player thread  ...the picture cuts off  our other dog Boo Radley - they were brother and sister...Boo was the silent assassin...we had two different contractors come by to bid work on our pool - and she quietly followed us around - and when I went to let contractor out of gate, Boo quickly walked up behind and bit the guys on the a$$ - no torn clothing - no blood drawn - but surprised us both)

The backstory on my getting this Kramer goes back to my first year in-residence. I brought into the corps my Peavey amp and a Fender Squire P Bass. We were sent as Light bearers to southern Chicago. I was in a music store there and spotted this used Kramer fretless. Played it and fell in love. Talked to the store owner about trading my Fender Squire.

(Also Loved the idea of an aluminum neck since I had a bad experience of having a Gibson EB3 Bass – my model was one of the only years – I think – when they set up the tuning pegs perpendicular to the headstock – like on an acoustic standup bass…maybe it was a bad design or a combo of a bad design on the hard-shell case - cuz the tip of the tuning pegs pushed the headstock upwards – and the glued-on neck developed a bow in it…sold it – and bought a Fender Jazz bass…gave that away when I went WOW and slowly worked my way back to getting some decent gear)

Anyway…when we got back to Rome City – I talked the assistant corps coordinator to let me and the elder corps / drummer in our band Fred B drive back to Chicago and make the trade.

 

So awesome thx for all the details and the beautiful instruments!

[OldSkool]

2 hours ago, T-Bone said:

…which reminds me – it’s true confessions time: this was back in my formative years as a wannabee bass player – about 15 years old…when my older brother was out I would plug in my Frankenstein bass to an aux input of his Pioneer receiver. It sounded way better than my dinky 10-watt cheapy practice amp made for guitar…one day I noticed a little bit of distortion – sounded a little like something rattling when you played records or radio at about half volume – so I quit using that as a practice amp after that.  ...and since then my brother has had a few more stereo receivers anyway 

ROFLMAO! I have popped several speakers in similar fashion...usually drugs were involved...lol

[T-Bone]

33 minutes ago, OldSkool said:

ROFLMAO! I have popped several speakers in similar fashion...usually drugs were involved...lol

oh, this was way before my pot and acid "daze"...at 15-years-old this was 100 % pure dumb-a$$

Edited November 28, 2022 by T-Bone
revision

[OldSkool]

9 hours ago, T-Bone said:

oh, this was way before my pot and acid "daze"...at 15-years-old this was 100 % pure dumb-a$$

Yeah...no doubt...I was I think 16 and sober first time I fried one of my guitar amps from plugging an active bass into it with the electronics on...yeah...fried my guitar amp...popped the speakers...Ive blown other speakers too...but that was my Beavis/Butt-Head move on that one...lmao

[T-Bone]

1 hour ago, OldSkool said:

Yeah...no doubt...I was I think 16 and sober first time I fried one of my guitar amps from plugging an active bass into it with the electronics on...yeah...fried my guitar amp...popped the speakers...Ive blown other speakers too...but that was my Beavis/Butt-Head move on that one...lmao

mark my words - this will continue to happen until they have forbidden signs plastered all over stereo receivers

[OldSkool]

12 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

mark my words - this will continue to happen until they have forbidden signs plastered all over stereo receivers

That could work...lmao