The New Tone Thread

Greg_L said:
. I know you've not liked it for a long time for just that reason, and I can now see why.
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Yeah, ..... ya' know, I wouldn't mind having a Marshall in my stable.
I've had them before and there's that Marshall 'bonk' that I absolutely adore ..... If I still had my 50 watt plexi I'd use it for everything.

So that's why I got excited about the 6101 and snapped it up at a pawn shop about 12 years ago.
It's really been nothing but a disappointment. :(


and I'll tell ya' something ..... the old plexis weren't as fragile as people say.
Yes, you do have to have enough brains to not run it without a speaker and to have the impedance right.
But if you're too dumb to be able to do that you deserve to have your amp blow up real good.
But barring doing something dumb they'll just run and run.

Hell ..... my 50 watt plexi was not even in a cab and had a huge glass of ice water fall on it while it was at full roar on a gig! :eek:
All the power tubes immediately exploded like flash bulbs ..... hahahahaha! :laughings:

Next day I replaced the tubes and it was fine.

I mean, nothing but a block of concrete is as durable as my old Ampegs but the old Marshalls are pretty solid too as long as you pay attention.
 
Yup, and look at how many ancient Marshalls are still alive. There was nothing to them. It seems to me that if you just leave them alone, they're fine. The only old Marshalls with problems are the ones that have been hack modded....like mine was. Now it's back to stock and it kills.

You need a JTM 45. The way you play, you'd kill through one of those things! :)
 
Greg_L said:
You need a JTM 45. The way you play, you'd kill through one of those things! :)
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a quick search showed a 30 watt re-issue ..... is that what you mean or an older issue?

I'm happy with a single channel amp ....... even though I have the Mark V (which I do like ) on amp gigs I tend to use my Mesa Blue Angel which is single channel with no master.

I get a lot of my tonal variations by how I pick .... when I use the V I tend to use the channels for that and it's not as expressive as doing it by how you play.
 
Lt. Bob said:
a quick search showed a 30 watt re-issue ..... is that what you mean or an older issue?
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Shit, either one. One of the few things Marshall does right these days is reissue their classics. The JTM 45 is a head, or you could get it as the "Bluesbreaker "combo. They're pricey though. You could find a clone for way less. The 2061 is a pretty cool little simple old school design too. They won't have the headroom of the bigger "Plexis" though. These things will break up fast and they have sag because of their tube rectification. The typical Plexis are SS rectified and have more bite.
 
Greg_L said:
Shit, either one. One of the few things Marshall does right these days is reissue their classics. The JTM 45 is a head, or you could get it as the "Bluesbreaker "combo. They're pricey though. You could find a clone for way less. The 2061 is a pretty cool little simple old school design too. They won't have the headroom of the bigger "Plexis" though. These things will break up fast and they have sag because of their tube rectification. The typical Plexis are SS rectified and have more bite.
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well, the head is 2 grand .... that's not that much for a quality tool.
The Mark V was $2300 ....... I've been pondering on selling it.

I can't really justify buying an amp though ..... and if I decided to go the Marshall route I think I'd want a 50 watt plexi like I had before.
That would mean I'd have to build one or get a clone since the old ones are stupid expensive I imagine.
I could prolly get enough for the V to pay for a good clone kit.

Maybe that ...... I've been kinda halfway wanting to build an amp ...... I dunno ...... right now I'm just trying to motivate myself enough to go wash the dishes.
 
Lol. Well obviously, you know, your Mark V is about umpteen trillion times more versatile than a 50w Plexi circuit.

An original 50w Plexi/Lead is stupid expensive. You could find a 50w reissue though for about a grand. You could build one a little cheaper than that probably, but if you want good transformers and stuff that will cost ya. Add a PPIMV or get an attenuator because they're loud as fuck. Juggle the bright cap value to dial it in how you want it.

I was ready to build one myself. I was set on the Metro kit. But then a reissue fell into my lap for 600 bucks, so I went that route instead.
 
yeah ...... I don't really have a need for such a thing ..... I don't even need the amps I have.

My career, such as it was, is over ....... doomed to play small bars and restaurants 'till I fall over dead. :(

I dunno why I even try to get better .... doesn't make any difference ..... an old man playing pretend.

Pays the bills but that's all it'll ever do ..... when I was young being obsessed with music and gear was fun and exciting with the promise of things to come.

Now it's just sad and pathetic.
And unable to let go I keep on playing and looking at gear ..... I always said when I was young that if I got to where I couldn't play I hoped I would have the guts to quit and not be one of those old guys trying to keep on.

But here I am, playing the best I've ever played and I never gave a thought about how to handle that.

I SO wish I'd get a gig of consequence ........ :(
 
Lt. Bob said:
yeah ...... I don't really have a need for such a thing ..... I don't even need the amps I have.

My career, such as it was, is over ....... doomed to play small bars and restaurants 'till I fall over dead. :(

I dunno why I even try to get better .... doesn't make any difference ..... an old man playing pretend.

Pays the bills but that's all it'll ever do ..... when I was young being obsessed with music and gear was fun and exciting with the promise of things to come.

Now it's just sad and pathetic.
And unable to let go I keep on playing and looking at gear ..... I always said when I was young that if I got to where I couldn't play I hoped I would have the guts to quit and not be one of those old guys trying to keep on.

But here I am, playing the best I've ever played and I never gave a thought about how to handle that.

I SO wish I'd get a gig of consequence ........ :(
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Hey, don't feel bad dude, you're actually making/made a living from it. That's more than pretty much any of us are doing. And none of us are playing legendary gigs. Maybe since you're knocking on death's door :-)p)...what about session work? Have you ever done any?
 
Lt. Bob said:
yeah ...... I don't really have a need for such a thing ..... I don't even need the amps I have.

My career, such as it was, is over ....... doomed to play small bars and restaurants 'till I fall over dead. :(

I dunno why I even try to get better .... doesn't make any difference ..... an old man playing pretend.

Pays the bills but that's all it'll ever do ..... when I was young being obsessed with music and gear was fun and exciting with the promise of things to come.

Now it's just sad and pathetic.
And unable to let go I keep on playing and looking at gear ..... I always said when I was young that if I got to where I couldn't play I hoped I would have the guts to quit and not be one of those old guys trying to keep on.

But here I am, playing the best I've ever played and I never gave a thought about how to handle that.

I SO wish I'd get a gig of consequence ........ :(
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Hey Lt Bob, look at it this way. You've mastered more than one instrument and felt the joy of playing music at a proficient level for decades. Millions of people haven't even experienced that for one single hour. Also, there are SO many older musicians that due to illness and arthritis can't play anymore. THEY WOULD GIVE THEIR LEFT NUT TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!

Longevity is on you side brother. Don't be bummed out, celebrate it!
Nothing is the least bit pathetic about it....you rock!
 
thanks guys ..... I know I'm blessed and don't think I'm going around all sad sack about it ..... I generally have a happy demeanor ..... I am struggling with this though.

In the last 6 months or so I've had maybe a dozen friends/musicians die .
Some of the very best I've ever known .... some were good friends ..... and some significantly younger than me.
Did you know I played gigs with Percy Sledge? He wasn't a bud .... but I knew him .... he's dead as shit.
A couple of the dumbasses killed themselves ....... that was rude. :mad:
Other friends just got old and reaper-man paid them a visit.
I knew John Fred very well (Judy In Disguise ) ..... he's been dead quite a while now but he was a good friend.
Best drumber I ever knew was Billy Shumski .... he died in a house fire. Holy crap he was good ..... now he's not.

Man ..... seems like just the other day we were all playing our first band concerts in junior high ..... the colors of the lights reflected in our horns ..... OMG, I remember that so well ..... it was so beautiful ..... magical.
Earlier than that ..... in the second grade I was in choir and we learned 'What Child is This?' and me, being me even then, did learn it .... first verse everyone singing .... about 30 of us .... 2nd verse only me ... no one else remembered any words .... I'm 7 and have never sang before and suddenly I'm singing by myself .... my voice is quivering .... am I wrong? ... should I even be singing?
I finished and teacher says, "Well ... at least one person learned their song."

Even earlier ..... I'm 4 years old and the neighbors had a white baby grand and a Hammond B3 ..... I'd never seen such a thing.
I went up to the piano ..... and played a song! I had seen a cartoon with Bugs Bunny where they had drawn his fingers hitting all black keys in a boogie woogie and I played it ...... so the first time my parents ever saw me touch an instrument , at age 4, I played a song.

I was on my first record at age 12 and playing gigs on weekends.
Randy Lee had a Fender Princeton and I thought it was gorgeous until he got a Super that I lust after to this day.
In '69 I graduated ...... a few years of college (playing with house bands 6 nights a week ) and I was on the road where I got to play with or meet a LOT of players you all wish you'd played with and literally played 7 nights a week until I moved to Florida ..... and even here I play a lot although it's mostly solo ......... hell, I'm in a music hall of fame.
What a blessed life for someone who loves it so much. And even a wife who encourages it.

But here I am with arthritis in my hands definitely facing the last go-around and I find I have a need to leave something behind and I don't know how.

I've had a home studio since 1969 starting with a Teac 3340 ...... and while I have hundreds of hours of stuff .... what I do doesn't translate to tape very well.
I'm a live player and that's hard to capture on tape ... I can play with people I've never met and do music I've never heard ( my very favorite thing to do ) and play a solo that'll make people plotz .... one band I sat in with I heard two of the guys talking and one said, "It's like you point at him and say 'Go' and he turns it on".
They were amazed .... but it just doesn't come across in a recording.

Meanwhile I have to do these solo gigs 'cause we need the money so there's been a few bands around Orlando that I could have got with but they didn't play enough right at first and it just didn't work for me but now they're growing and becoming things I would want to be part of.
And I have responsibilities ..... I have a 93 year old mom-in-law that I have to do stuff for everyday ..... hey, it's what I have to do and she thinks I'm a great guy ..... like I'm her son.
I'm honored to have the chance to take care of her and she's awesome ..... but between her and the things around the house I never have time to even try to record something.

I'm just babbling here ....... I dunno what I'm gonna do but music dominates my life to an extent that even other fulltimers find a bit over the top and I simply have to find a way for it to not all have been for nothing.
I need to start writing but I can't find my muse anymore ......all music seems the same to me including my own.

If I could just write something that excited me I think I could manage to find a few days to record ....... wifey would help me do so.
And though I'd have to use keyboard drumbs, between Greg and RAMI I know I could get real drums for anything I might come up with and they'd sound great.

But right now I got nothing ..... man ..... this is hard for me ..... but one thing for sure, the time I had to spend typing up this whining could have been put to better use.

I apologize guys ...... I'm just talking out loud as I ponder what to do.
 
I agree.... start recording some covers. I'm going to record some fun R&B covers that I want you to play on. It's going to be a blast! The drummer I record with has the same thing going on with his 93 year old mother. Between taking care of her and working it'd hard for him to find time to record, but he called me and says he is jonesin' to record. I may not be the best mixer around but there are some very good ones in this site and I think we can make some recordings to be proud of.

One thing that I don't want to be is a "ghost musician". A,musician that was a good player but there are no recordings to document it. When the crowd that heard them play dies out...so does any musical legacy. We all want some recordings that can be around after we are gone....at least I do and I think most musicians do also.
 
Fuckin'ell Bob, you've lived an awesome life. You got to live your life through music - something most of us wish we could do, wish we were doing, or regret that we didn't do.

I'm finally starting to take writing and recording seriously at the age of 35, even though I've been playing 20 years I've never done anything with it aside from a few club gigs in my late teens.

Like you said before - it's going to be a right shame when you die.
 
Boob, recordings are nice and all, and I will do anything I can to help you with some drums if you need them, but another way you can "live on" forever is to give some lessons if you have the time.

Touch some kid (not literally!) with your musical gift and he/she will always have it. I know it's kind of corny, but suppose you mentor some youngster that has the drive to actually do something with his life besides date rape and instagram. Or maybe give some bored latch key kid something positive to do and look forward to before he shoots up a mall or something. Stuff like that. I used to give drum lessons to neglected and abused kids a long time ago. Some of them were special needs kids. It wasn't so much "lessons", it was more I'd show up, play some basic beats, and then let the kids bash away. A few of the kids had the coordination to actually carry a beat, so I'd show them some basic things. I like to think that one of them one day could become a famous drummer and in an interview he might say "There was this guy that used to come and play drums with us at the youth center. He got me interested in drums". It could happen.
 
Some of you know, my son did the jazz band thing in school. This was the first year the high school actually had a worthwhile band to show off. The director was contracted to do 10 practices and one show, but he ended working every week for half a year and did 5 shows. He was bucking for a permanent teaching position in the school's music program, so it wasn't all selfless.

But he is one of these guys like Lt Bob. Been in the industry for over 5 decades and played with all kinds of people. He can pick up any instrument and impress people with it. With his years winding down, he is trying to get into a teaching job to carry on until he can't. Maybe that's something to consider down the road.

And if not in Florida, come to Texas where they still invest money on music in schools.
 
No,stay in Daytona! That way, once my mom's gone, I've got an excuse to come visit.

And just remember, us posers and bedroom warriors help keep the musical instrument industry alive and kicking. :o
 
And it could be worse. You could be a life-long bedroom warrior with arthritis facing the last go around like me.

After essentially losing my hearing in one ear, my goal of a home studio where I could record my Alan Parsons-esque music is pretty much dead in the water. No stereo perception.

My only goal now is to someday briefly play with a band again. Also not likely to happen.
 
Ha I saw what you said, just couldn't respond right then. But anyway, thank you for the kind words.

Since we're all stroking each other now, where the fuck has minerman been?
 
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