Gear interests?

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
Ok, so admittedly I'm running out of ideas on gear stuff. I like doing the gear stuff for AAP sessions, and I have some ideas of my own, but not a ton...

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?
 

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
How bout a primer on digital FX setups?
I've read many of the scattered posts regarding digital FX, amps, and related gear. But what I think would be helpful is some sort of topic that explains what these varied bits of gear are and what they do, and also the paths they take.
For example, starting with the guitar, what comes next and why? What kind gear is involved?
I think this stuff is interesting and I might even be inclined to move in a digital direction but I have no idea where to start or where to go once I start.
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
You know what would be cool is a couple of things come to mind, of course it depends on what gear you personally have

1) Headrush vs the 11r for sound differences
2) Headrush alone
3) Microphones, even understanding guitar terminology, the terminology singers use I get lost in. SO maybe a comparison of microphones and explanations as writing and singing seems to be getting more and more popular here, and of course add in when recording acoustic vs electric vs direct USB
4) Cables, I see sometimes people say use a TRS (as came up on a discussion) vs this cable or that cable. I have a TRS for my volume pedal, but thats only because it said it needed it, and guitar cables and speaker cable, then a bunch of other 1/4 audio cables

5) String comparisons ?- just kidding, couldn't help myself
6) Pciks- we could get real nerdy on the different pic sounds, you could ask people what picks they have and we could mail you different ones, live I use DAVAS a lot for electric and red dog for acoustic, but I also have those acoustic Attak picks I hate
 

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
Wow!! I've spent the last few minutes searching the AAP sessions, and you've covered all the stuff I was going to suggest. Modulation pedals, attenuators, Studio One... I should probably go back and rewatch some of those. Here's one idea that may've been covered but I didn't find right off. It might be beneficial for some of the newer folks...I'm thinking this would be on the level of someone that just got BBG and is working through it and not someone that has been around the block a time or two already.

How about the basic differences in different types of guitars and pickups and what kind of sounds they stereotypically make. Singles (like Strat and Tele) vs P90s vs PAF-type humbuckers vs active humbuckers as well as Strat vs Tele vs LP vs 335 vs hollow body (big Gretsch/jazz box or a thinline like a Casino). Maybe a brief history of who played what when you talk about them. To make it more interesting to some of the older guard, maybe talk about your Fender and Suhr Strats and what makes them different or your PRS and Gibson LP and how they're different. Or maybe talk about why your 335 has Lollar Imperials in it (I think I remember you saying in another session that's what it had) instead of the usual 57 Classics - what kind of difference you hear in those.

Or, as another thought, since AAP has been going for 5+ years now, go back to some of the first couple year sessions and refresh them. "Favorite reverb and delay pedals 2023 edition" kind of thing. I know that you want to avoid repeating too much so you can be sure that everyone is getting their money's worth, but I bet most of us are enough of a gearhead that we're not going to care if you talk about the same thing twice in five years. Do another OD/delay/reverb/whatever pedal shootout. Just go back and see what pedals you did before and throw in a different pedal or two into the mix.

Another idea... Not to copy from the youtubers too much (or spend your money for you), but do an afford-a-board kind of session. Go to Amazon and find some really inexpensive pedals and work your magic to show that you can outfit a decent sounding pedalboard for around (whatever price you set). No, they're not going to sound as good as the gig board you use, but, for a beginner, they'll get them started and carry them for a good while. Plenty of recognized brands like Behringer and Joyo and Donner have some good sounding pedals in the $30-$40 range. If you go with some of the Chinese copies you can sometimes get them for $20-$25. Or, if you want to throw used in the mix, hit Reverb and see what you can get there. I've had pretty good luck buying brands like NuX and even EHX on the cheap there (although sometimes you kind of have to wait on the deals). BONUS: Since they're cheap pedals and not something that you'd probably use on the regular, after the session, raffle it off to an AAP member (or at BGU Live 2024) and give the proceeds to Guitars for Vets or the Texas Music Project or some other musically-inclined charity.
 

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
Funny you ask, I just re-watched your technique session from last week where you mentioned how good the new 20 watt Plexi sounds. I could go for a full hour review of that.
 
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