Tone Freaks and Gear Geeks

the truth is I worry less about equalling Mike's tone and more about achieving something that I'm happy with. For instance.....I prefer the tone of humbuckers over p-90s. Its all a matter of personal opinion. Tone is the most personal thing that any musician has and many will go their whole lifetime trying to achieve something unique. another thing, im sort of a purist when it comes to gear and I dont like to modify amps and guitars at all because i try to keep a balance between collecting and playing and i like to keep my shit 100% original.

Wolfpits- I definately agree that tone is a subjective thing, and the important thing is to find your own individual sound. Look at how many different rigs Mike has used in the past. I've been playing around with p90s for years and think they are just killer. Totally my sound. When the new Social D album came out I thought, wow, that's damn near MY sound! That's what I hear in my head all day long!

I'm into modding my stuff, but then if I owned any truly VALUABLE guitars (not just players) they would stay original. I'm almost finished with my latest project. It's a '67 harmony Rocket single cut, 2 pickup. Locking Sperzels, Tone-pros adjustomatic, B3 Bigsby, CTS pots, Switchcraft, Tung oil finish on back of neck, and black nitro body and headstock. Kept the original Rowe-DeArmond pickups, they just sound awesome!

EDIT-

In re-reading what I wrote above about tone, I think I should clarify. I am not in any way implying that I can come anywhere near doing what Mike does. Just that I really like what he does, and it is very similair to "that elusive sound" in my head.

<font color="#FFFF00" size="1">[ November 08, 2005 02:23 PM: Message edited by: axeslinger ]</font>

As far as Mike's Bassmans are concerned. Sickboy79 is the man to talk to about that. One of his Bassmans was modded by Zoom to Ness' specs. Sweet sounding amp.

When I play with Mommy's Little Monsters I usually use either my Gibson Les Paul Gem...

http://www.spookywhatsqueeks.com/gear/gem.jpg

or my MIA Tele (the red one)

http://www.spookywhatsqueeks.com/gear/teles.jpg

As for amps I use a Blackface Fender Bassman (unmodded) into a Mesa Rectifier 4x12. I use a THD Hotplate with the Bassman so I can crank it but keep the volume managable. On top of that I run a Digitech Bad Monkey overdrive into the front of it set as a clean boost (volume all the way up, gain all the way down) just to push it over the edge. Sounds Social D-ish enough for a tribute band but has it's own thing going on at the same time. I love it.

<font color="#FFFF00" size="1">[ November 08, 2005 03:36 PM: Message edited by: PrivateHell ]</font>

Privatehell- I'd like to hear you guys! Do you play out regularly? Where and when?

I know this has been bantered around here a little, but let's get specific about Mike's current rig. Cause we all know it sounds sweet.

A little info I picked up along the way...it could all be wrong, just stuff I remember reading.

As far as Social D is concerned, Mike has 2 main guitars. A 1953 Martin acoustic that he does all the writing on, and a 1975 Les Paul Goldtop Deluxe with the mini-hums swapped out for Seymour Duncan hot P90s (SP90-2). Which, incidentally, he says is a trick he learned from Neil Young.

The amp is a blackface Fender Bassman modded by Billy Zoom. Does anyone know what year? The mod is something to the bass portion of the tonestack. Anyone know the details? How about the Marshall cab, year and series? I remember reading that Mike prefers vintage Celestion Greenbacks in the cab.

How about amp settings? Anyone know?

I can get some pretty convincing Mike tones from my cheap set-up. I've got an '83 Gibson Challenger with a single Kent Armstrong p90 at the bridge. The amp is a '97 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, JJ tubes, Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. Drive channel, bass 1/3 up, mid 1/2 up, treble 3/4 up, presence 2/3 up, reverb 1/4 up. Crank and go.

Anyone else? How 'bout you tribute guys (and gals)?

Quote:

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Originally posted by axeslinger:
Privatehell- I'd like to hear you guys! Do you play out regularly? Where and when?

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<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">Once we get some things in order we're gonna start looking for shows.

There comes a time in the life of every guitar where it needs a good make over...about 16 years ago I bought a 52 Reissue Fender Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde.
Actually a very nice guitar, but unfortunately Fender doesn't make em like they used to back in the days and use a really thick and heavy Poly undercoat with just a little Nitro over it for good measures.
Talking about...well, basically lying to the customer...especially since it's advertised as a "Nitro-Finish"!

So what I'm going to do is I'm getting it stripped and refinished with a very thin Nitro coat.
The only problem atm is that I cannot decide upon whether or not I should get vintage frets on it again or medium jumbo's?

Anyone here who has an opinion on this topic?

Does anyone know what kind of fretwire Jonny is using on his old beat-up Tele?
And what about the other trademark Blackguard Tele-players?
Roy Buchanan, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen...does anyone know if they changed the fretwire somewhere down the line?

I know that medium jumbo frets are easier to play and bend, but do they alter the sound of the instrument in any way?

Any help is appreciated...

<font color="#FFFF00" size="1">[ November 10, 2005 05:57 PM: Message edited by: lostheart ]</font>

*bump*
Noone?
Don't you guys care about fretwire?
IMO one of the most important parts when it comes to buying a new guitar!
I've just tried out a custom made Telecaster with a Charlie Christian Pickup in the neck position that had a very fat and prominent V-feel to it, paired with jumbo frets and that was I combination that I totally disliked.
Again...if anyone here has ever refretted a guitar...opinions on the various fretwire sizes, please!

Well, I'm not a tele player, but from what I've heard... not very many people care for the playability of vintage Fender wire.

My Gibson Challenger was re-fretted with Dunlop 6105 (wide, average height), and it is the best feeling neck I've ever played.

Quote:

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Originally posted by axeslinger:
Well, I'm not a tele player, but from what I've heard... not very many people care for the playability of vintage Fender wire.

My Gibson Challenger was re-fretted with Dunlop 6105 (wide, average height), and it is the best feeling neck I've ever played.

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<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">Thanks for your input!
Atm I'm also tending towards medium jumbo's but I think I'll go to a guitar shop at the weekend.
They have two Fender Custom Shop Nocasters (the transition model between the Broadcaster and the Telecaster) sitting around.
A "normal one" and one with bigger fretwire and a humbucker in the neck position (Instant-Keith!)!
I'll try them out and go for one or the other (fretwire that is).

Btw...since I have heard only bad things about the customer service of Fender and Gibson.
I called up Fender Germany and told them about having the guitar refinished and that I would need a new decal (mine was also slightly damaged) and they've been nothing but helpful.
I only needed to provide them with one photo of my guitar, it's serial number and they send me one! Fab guys...