What guitar do you play?

Everybody seems to be talking about and praising Neural DSP nowadays. Have you guys tried their stuff? How does it sound compare to, say, TH-U (which is good IMO)? CPU, latency?
 
Record-breaking temperatures today, so what did I do? Take an hour-long drive to a guitar store and buy an acoustic. :lol: The shop's moved to appointments-only and I booked it in last week, if I'd known what was coming I'd have left it.

But anyway, I bought myself a nice Cort acoustic, never owned a decent acoustic before. I sold my SG recently as it'd spent the best part of five months hanging on the wall not being played, I was gonna buy another electric (I had my eye on about four LTD's) but couldn't make a decision, I also figured I didn't really need another electric if I'd just sold one I wasn't playing.

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Now to sit and look at her because it's far too hot to be playing. Good thing she's pretty. :wub:
 
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Had some pickup changes to both my Jackson Kelly and Jackson Dinky Adrian Smith done today:
Kelly now with EMG Kerry King setup (EMG 81 & 85), Dinky AS mid- and neck pickup exchanged to Hot Rails. A true blast now both of them. :D
Though in the beginning it took me some time to get used to the DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker, but now I love its tone with the Dinky.

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Had some pickup changes to both my Jackson Kelly and Jackson Dinky Adrian Smith done today:
Kelly now with EMG Kerry King setup (EMG 81 & 85), Dinky AS mid- and neck pickup exchanged to Hot Rails. A true blast now both of them. :D
Though in the beginning it took me some time to get used to the DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker, but now I love its tone with the Dinky.

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Cool! On my Jackson Adrian Smith SDX, I have a Super Distortion in the bridge and an Air Norton S in the neck. With my new amp I realise that the neck pickup is waaaay dark and boomy compared to the bridge which is super bright, making it hard to dial in a clean tone that sounds good for both pickups at once.
 
Cool! On my Jackson Adrian Smith SDX, I have a Super Distortion in the bridge and an Air Norton S in the neck. With my new amp I realise that the neck pickup is waaaay dark and boomy compared to the bridge which is super bright, making it hard to dial in a clean tone that sounds good for both pickups at once.

Did you change the pots? Or was it 500k stock?
 
Don't know why I asked really.

500k should make it brighter. Funny thing is, Seymour Duncan's single sized humbuckers are voiced for 250k. (So if you put a regular humbucker into a Strat you should change to 500k volume pot but with the single coiled sized ones you shouldn't.)
 
Which one is more beautiful? It's really hard to decide. Next year I'll definitely purchase one of them two. Gibson 70s V on the left, Gibson Lzzy Hale Explorerbird on the right. The Lzzy Hale Signature comes very close to Adrian's old Ibanez Destroyer, which is out of production for a long time yet.
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Which one is more beautiful? It's really hard to decide. Next year I'll definitely purchase one of them two. Gibson 70s V on the left, Gibson Lzzy Hale Explorerbird on the right. The Lzzy Hale Signature comes very close to Adrian's old Ibanez Destroyer, which is out of production for a long time yet.
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I’m not a big fan of spiky guitars but the red one looks nicer.
 
Which one is more beautiful?... Gibson 70s V on the left, Gibson Lzzy Hale Explorerbird on the right.

I'm a sucker for red guitars, so I'd say the Lzzy signature. Although, when I heard it was meant be a Firebird/Explorer hybrid I was expecting something similar to a Dean Cadillac, maybe the lower half of an Explorer body with the upper horns of a Firebird. But it's just an Explorer with a different headstock, I was a bit disappointed.
 
Definitely the V... Classic model. That is an ugly Explorer.

I've got so many guitars there's literally zero out there I'd like to get. Nothing beats a Strat for me, and I've got enough Strats.
 
Definitely the V... Classic model. That is an ugly Explorer.

I've got so many guitars there's literally zero out there I'd like to get. Nothing beats a Strat for me, and I've got enough Strats.
But do you have a Music Man JP6 Mystic Dream?
 
@Dick Brucinson you know a thing or two about pedals, wonder if you could help me out. I'm having a little issue with my Hotone noise gate, when I switch it on it cuts all the treble from my tone, it sounds as though I just threw a blanket over the speaker. While the pedal does have an additional cut switch, I don't have that engaged when I have the treble loss, and even when it is switched on it has never affected the tone this badly before.

I've had it about three years now, is it likely that it's just become old and worn-out or could there be an easy fix?

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@Dick Brucinson you know a thing or two about pedals, wonder if you could help me out. I'm having a little issue with my Hotone noise gate, when I switch it on it cuts all the treble from my tone, it sounds as though I just threw a blanket over the speaker. While the pedal does have an additional cut switch, I don't have that engaged when I have the treble loss, and even when it is switched on it has never affected the tone this badly before.

I've had it about three years now, is it likely that it's just become old and worn-out or could there be an easy fix?

77508-tmpA813.jpg
I will get back to you later today when I'm back home from work. I have a few ideas about it.
 
@Dick Brucinson you know a thing or two about pedals, wonder if you could help me out. I'm having a little issue with my Hotone noise gate, when I switch it on it cuts all the treble from my tone, it sounds as though I just threw a blanket over the speaker. While the pedal does have an additional cut switch, I don't have that engaged when I have the treble loss, and even when it is switched on it has never affected the tone this badly before.

I've had it about three years now, is it likely that it's just become old and worn-out or could there be an easy fix?

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Alright. It's difficult to say from out of the distance whether or not a fixing is possible. My feeling says it makes no sense which is why I would consider spending money on a high end Noise Gate. For a guitar rig there's actually only two devices available that really are an option when in search for a high end Gate as a pedal. All others don't even come close.

One option would be Fortin Zuul, the second option is the Decimator G-String Pedal V-II by ISP Technologies. Both leading to brilliant results as they both have a bit more to offer than just the regular signal in --->signal out routing that all other Noise Gate pedals come down to.

The Fortin Zuul has an additional "key"-input. On the one hand the signal goes through the device - wherever it is placed in your signal chain (most likely behind all Drive/Distortion and EQ and before Reverbs and Delays). This, so far, is the way any other Noise Gate would be used/routed as well. BUT: When putting a signal splitter box at the VERY BEGINNING of your signal chain, right after your Guitar and before any of the effects to occur, you can also route the "untouched" guitar tone right into the "key"-input of the Fortin Zuul. The Fortin Zuul then will "compare" the signal that goes through with the pure and unedited guitar signal, grabbed earliest in your signal chain. On that basis of comparison, the Fortin Zuul will separate anything good ( = wanted tone) from everything bad ( = noise, hum, buzz, shit). You just should make sure not to use the cheapest of the cheap signal splitter boxes, because that again can cause issues (hum). I use the Lehle Split Box and I'm perfectly fine with that.

As to the ISP Technologies G-String Pedal V-II: This one has no "key"-input, but it has two different throughs. And it will work ONLY if BOTH circuits are paralled and in use for the same time. You place the device as the last one of all your effects pedals INFRONT to the amp, then go into your amp, and ADDITIONALLY you'll have to route your FX-Loop signal through it. So this one won't work in any amp setup that doesn't have a FX-Loop.

The general thing about Noise Gates is: With any other type of effects pedal - let it be Chorus, Overdrive, Wah, whatever - you can come down to compromises in a way if nescessary, and you don't always need the expensive ones. However, with a one trick pony like a Noise Gate there is just no compromise possible, because inbetween the choice "noise" versus "no noise" there isn't much of a wide field really...

I never tested the Hotone one you have, but I would imagine the switching between high cut and low cut might be a massive source of failure (and I don't see the point in that circuit at all).

As I myself think the You Tube guitar gear testings and tutorials by Andertons Music Co and also Rob Chapman are very good in general, you might wanna check if you find some videos about the ISP and the Fortin devices, I'm sure they did a review on both of them. They review pretty much everything. :) And their videos are really entertaining and fun to watch IMHO. If you have any further questions, just ask me any time.
 
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You can do the same with the Boss NS-2... It's got a send/return. Put the noisy pedals in there and your tone will be unaffected.
 
Anyone around here an expert on Charvel Jacksons? A friend is trying to find out more about a guitar he bought years ago but can't find anything about it on any guitargeek forums
 
Alright. It's difficult to say from out of the distance whether or not a fixing is possible. My feeling says it makes no sense which is why I would consider spending money on a high end Noise Gate. For a guitar rig there's actually only two devices available that really are an option when in search for a high end Gate as a pedal. All others don't even come close.

One option would be Fortin Zuul, the second option is the Decimator G-String Pedal V-II by ISP Technologies. Both leading to brilliant results as they both have a bit more to offer than just the regular signal in --->signal out routing that all other Noise Gate pedals come down to.

The Fortin Zuul has an additional "key"-input. On the one hand the signal goes through the device - wherever it is placed in your signal chain (most likely behind all Drive/Distortion and EQ and before Reverbs and Delays). This, so far, is the way any other Noise Gate would be used/routed as well. BUT: When putting a signal splitter box at the VERY BEGINNING of your signal chain, right after your Guitar and before any of the effects to occur, you can also route the "untouched" guitar tone right into the "key"-input of the Fortin Zuul. The Fortin Zuul then will "compare" the signal that goes through with the pure and unedited guitar signal, grabbed earliest in your signal chain. On that basis of comparison, the Fortin Zuul will separate anything good ( = wanted tone) from everything bad ( = noise, hum, buzz, shit). You just should make sure not to use the cheapest of the cheap signal splitter boxes, because that again can cause issues (hum). I use the Lehle Split Box and I'm perfectly fine with that.

As to the ISP Technologies G-String Pedal V-II: This one has no "key"-input, but it has two different throughs. And it will work ONLY if BOTH circuits are paralled and in use for the same time. You place the device as the last one of all your effects pedals INFRONT to the amp, then go into your amp, and ADDITIONALLY you'll have to route your FX-Loop signal through it. So this one won't work in any amp setup that doesn't have a FX-Loop.

The general thing about Noise Gates is: With any other type of effects pedal - let it be Chorus, Overdrive, Wah, whatever - you can come down to compromises in a way if nescessary, and you don't always need the expensive ones. However, with a one trick pony like a Noise Gate there is just no compromise possible, because inbetween the choice "noise" versus "no noise" there isn't much of a wide field really...

I never tested the Hotone one you have, but I would imagine the switching between high cut and low cut might be a massive source of failure (and I don't see the point in that circuit at all).

As I myself think the You Tube guitar gear testings and tutorials by Andertons Music Co and also Rob Chapman are very good in general, you might wanna check if you find some videos about the ISP and the Fortin devices, I'm sure they did a review on both of them. They review pretty much everything. :) And their videos are really entertaining and fun to watch IMHO. If you have any further questions, just ask me any time.


Thank you for your input :ok: I assumed the Hotone was on its last legs, it was fairly cheap and getting a little old now (I also tended to leave it switched on when I wasn't playing which could've led to premature burnout), sadly they're not made anymore or I'd have just bought a replacement.

Funnily enough mini versions of the Fortin and ISP were my two choices for replacements, as I'm looking to downsize my pedalboard and those were the two best small-sized gates I could find. The Fortin's additional input is interesting, I'll have to play around with my rig to figure out how noisy my board actually is and whether it's worth forking out the additional money for it. Regardless of that it does seem to be the best-reviewed noise gate around.
 
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