Fuck that, punk rock

I find using chord tones really difficult because I have to actually think about what chord is playing and base my leads off that. It's hard to think about that stuff and play fluidly. Especially difficult to play something rhythmically expressive that isn't just quarter and half notes.

Sometimes I also find that leads based on chord tones harmonize too much and get lost in the chords, so I need some non-chord tones in there to make the leads stand out more.

I might play a minor sixth or major seventh over a major chord, and a minor seventh over a minor or dominant chord.

But most of the I just don't think about chord tones at all and just play whatever sounds okay from the scale.

Just ordered a DigiTech Supernatural. At first, I was stuck between the Supernatural and the Line 6 Verbzilla. I think I like the Verbzilla's "octo" setting better than the Supernatural's "shimmer" setting, but the Supernatural has more weird and funky settings, whereas with the exception of "octo," the Verbzilla has pretty conventional reverbs.

I've been thinking of getting an analog delay for a while now, and its mostly been between the Malekko Ekkos (either the regular, Dark, or Lo-Fi) and the Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail. These just looked more convenient to me than the Carbon Copy, because all the knobs are readily accessible on the exterior and there are no internal ones. The Dark Malekko seems really cool, but I dunno if its one of those things that seems awesome in demo videos, but turns out to not be as versatile as just a normal one. Similar deal with the Lo-Fi one

I'm starting to lean toward a Memory Boy instead, because it allows for an expression pedal and triangle/square waves. I think the only reasons I kind of overlooked it before are superficial ones. Like Malekkos and Vapor Trail just look cooler, and I've never seen them on anybody else's pedal board in real life, whereas Memory Boys are ubiquitous, so they'd make me feel special.

Is there a particular way one is supposed to take care of a patch cord? My patch cords always start to wear out and then have to be placed in just the right position in order to transmit the signal. And then I have to get a new one.

What am I doing wrong?

What chords are you buying? They might be cheap, if they keep wearing out. Even good ones can wear, but I've been using my patch cables for years and they haven't worn out.

The ones I use between gear are flimsier than the what I use for guitar cable. But I don't really move the ones I use for gear, and don't bend them sharply. The ones I use as guitar cables have braided cloth around them, and they aren't as flimsy as normal instrument cable.

just learn how to solder 'em yourself

it makes life so much easier and cheaper

besides, it'll help you get all the hottest girls

"you know girl... i can solder some cables for u if u want" :smoke:

I solder my equipment cables, but I'm not sure I'd if that way would be as durable for guitar cables. As I said, my guitar cables have reinforced braiding around them, making them less flexible, but less prone to wear.

If you solder your guitar cables, then what do you think about the durability of the ones you make?

This is the most recent cable I bought for soldering:
http://www.redco.com/Mogami-W2524.html

I think it's the same cable as is used for Mogami Gold prebuilt cables.

it's only about learning to make strong, solid solders

bending your cables as little as possible would be the go-to advice on this, generally speaking

also, re: songwriting



it's easy to say and watch on youtube, but i'm trying, man. i really am. just be out with it and do stuff. you may dig it later on.

I usually just get the cheapest cord because I've heard that guitar cords are essentially all the same and the expensive ones are just marked up.

But today I bought one cheap one of the variety that I usually buy, and one more expensive Fender-brand one. Gonna see if brand really makes a difference.

I'm not sure man was meant to harness the wild and awesome forces of fire and lightning. I leave those to god, who would surely punish me for my hubris if I tried to solder.

Actually no I should learn it. I've never been good at anything handy, though. I use a butter knife as a screwdriver.

I need to heed this. I never finish anything because I'm worried it's not good or worth it. I just need to do shit now because so far I've produced nothing.

Aaaaand I just pulled the trigger on a Verbzilla, too. It was pretty cheap, as I was able to cop it for less than $100 (before shipping). For some reason, unlike most pedals, which tend to cluster around a particular value, I see a really wide range of prices for the Verbzilla, from the $100s to the $300s.

It's funny, since I'm not super particular about reverb, when I bought my first one, I was like, "yeah, I'm good for reverbs now. I'll never need another one."

And I still have to get a DigiVerb because, unlike the Hardwire RV-7 I have, the reverse-reverb on it lets you mix in the dry signal. I find the reverse on the RV-7 pretty much unusable, because of the lack of dry signal.

Maybe I would had saved money if, instead of having four inexpensive reverbs, I just got one of those higher-end ones, like a Strymon or something. I bet they have something that has the functions of all of mine combined. Oh well.

i can't imagine a musical use for reverse delay that would justify getting a pedal for it

I have one, I use it a lot. You can get a nice warm delay and also some cray stuff as as well.

Shoegaze, m'boy! Shoegaze!

I can't find much use for the reverse reverb on the pedal I have, because there's no dry signal, so that creates a number of problems. One is that the tone is weak as fuck when all you have is the reflections (if you're using distortion, it takes the bite out of it). Second is that it creates a delay from the time you play a note to the time you hear it, which makes keeping time more difficult because it means you have to play a little before the beat.

I already have reverse delay, though. I think reverse-delay is pretty standard, whereas I've only seen a few pedals with reverse reverb. I like the reverse delay, but the problem is that not all the repeats will be reversed, only every other one (because when the feedback is up and it's delaying another delayed signal, it's reversing a reversed clip). I don't know if anybody's made a pedal where all the repeats are always reversed. That'd be cool.

How is it for slapback? I've just noticed that brighter delays seem to be better than darker ones for slapback, from the demos I've listened to.

yeah sorry i meant reverse reverb

i need to quiet down a noisy expression pedal. it's a metal enclosure. squeaks like death every time i move it.

suggestions?

have you tried turning it off and on

good one. :rolleyes:

the noise isn't in the signal, the pedal itself is noisy as fuckles.

maybe you should take it apart

if i mail it to you, would you do it for me?

Yes but don't expect anything but a mass of parts sent back

U mean it's squeaky when you expression it? Spray that bitch whisker with a butt ton of WD-40

yes, squeaky when i express. my understanding was that WD-40 wasn't actually a lubricant.

Buy some de-oxit

Not as great. Maybe upgrade to the Memory Man for a slapback.

I'd try white lithium grease. I think WD-40 isn't good to use on any plastic parts.

1. Don't most advanced delays have a tone knob where you can control the darkness/brightness of the delay? I know the DD-20 has one.

2. Use some Deoxit for the pedal, as suggested. It's made for electronic/instrument gear. Personally I wouldn't go messing about with anything else.