Pipeline panorama, and rack amp... panorama?

Nature and technology, co-existing in moss-covered harmony.

There was a really cool shot nearby, looking down the inlet, with cities in the distance, but my friend was the only one with a camera / phone on them, and they were out of storage space. And, so, no other great pic.



Rack and rack gear, co-existing in screw-mounted harmony.



This isn't the completed thing, but it's getting there. Most of what remains to be done to give me my ideal setup is technical work, like modding, or replacing parts of some gear.

That TC Electronic 1128 equalizer, underneath the ADA MP-1 preamp (has blue buttons), is renowned for its top-quality, and non-colourizing presentation of input audio. However, many of them have a display that has faded in visibility over time, rendering the unit basically useless, without an external controller. Fortunately, for myself, I found someone online selling an upgrade kit for the display, which TC Electronic used to give out to people, to replace the original blue non-LED display with a green LED display, which is easy to see, and can have its LED screen replaced, if it's ever needed.

It's fortunate for myself that I found the person selling the upgrade kit, because TC Electronic hasn't had them available for, probably, many years. The one I found could even be the last one, anywhere.

The sound this setup is putting out is incredible. I've now improved my guitar sound even further than I had with all my previous recordings, and, I think that I just might have the best-sounding amp setup I've ever heard, per my personal taste.


Of course, great guitar sound ought to be made use of in recordings, to be listened to.

I'd really like to be recording and releasing track after track, just as I'm coming up with new track after new track, but I rarely feel as though I have the energy necessary to make a full recording. I keep recording new tracks and bits of music on my phone, which is enjoyable to do, but I don't want to be posting them as presentations of the music, on this blog

Whenever it is that I'm able to work on my music in the manner that I'd like, I'll have more than the 2 - 3 full careers worth of music that I already have, ready to be recorded.

I think I really gotta get a band going to make use of all this music I've got.

C~ Soundscapes
 

Happy Trudging (sound demo)

Today I made the effort to set up 3 microphones on my speaker cabinet once again, which can take a little bit of time to get right with the placements... except, I just had them set by eye, and when I checked their sound, it was all perfect, with no adjustments needing to be made. That's a first, for me.

I checked their sound with this short bit of music that I made up on the spot. It has double-tracked rhythm guitar, and then I added some accompaniment layers to it, and then did some editing (which took far longer than recording all the parts), and here is the music that afternoon's effort produced.

By the way, all the distortion on this track is produced by my JMP-1 preamp being boosted by the El Distorto Segundo (which is an MXR Distortion II clone) pedal that I put together and posted about here:

As paint dries...
And now, with shiny new knobs.... a presentation of pedals

The MXR Distortion II pedal is the fuzz / distortion that gives a lot of the earlier Smashing Pumpkins music its characteristic sound, and for this demo I partly aimed to make something that sounds as though it would fit in with the various clips played within the Pastichio Medley compilation from the Smashing Pumpkin's Zero single, both to show off the pedal's ability to get the sound, and also because I just really like it.


There are two overdrive circuits in the MXR DII, as well as its clone, the El Segundo Distorto. One is more trebly and sizzling, and the other really bassy, muffled, and rippling. And dialing-in the two circuits to different degrees causes their characteristics to blend in ways that produce a wide range of tones.

The El Distorto Segundo clone of the Distortion II has even more sonic potential, with an added 2-way switch that changes the clipping type, effectively changing the distortion shape between being more organic, rippling, and broad, to more focused, flat-headed, and consistent.

C~ Soundscapes

 

Checking in with two acoustic pieces of music: The Thoughts of Clouds & Snowfall's Interlude

I haven't really been recording anything for a while, other than with my phone to capture many miscellaneous bits of music that I've been coming up with. Partly, probably, because I needed to temporarily dismantle my recording setup while visitors were staying here. But also just because I just haven't and that's just how it's been. Oh well.

But, anyway, here I now have to present a couple of melodic acoustic + effects tracks.

The Thoughts of Clouds

Snowfall's Interlude

C~ Soundscapes
 

Some guitar noodling, demoing new guitar neck

So, this is the guitar neck that I had custom built and installed onto my '57 strat body, replacing its original neck. It's also the neck that I said I thought sounded too bright for my liking, and so I was likely to sell. And this is a demo video, which might help me sell it, though I'm not entirely committed to the idea of selling it.

I made this video to demo out how the neck sounds, and played in all the different pickup configurations that this guitar has, to show off its general sound.

Also, some clumsy playing, courtesy of my lethargy.




It's a little weird being a headless performer in the video, so you can put this head on top of the body, and imagine it as it were unshaven. And I think that's also the first time I've posted a picture of myself on this blog (edit: other than in a previously uploaded video). There I am.

 

 

 

C~ Soundscapes

 

Guitar customization trials, some error

2 necks, one guitar.

 

 

The typical nickel material used for guitar frets wears down over time, leaving indents on frets where the strings make contact with them, and making frets rough, which makes it more difficult to bend strings.

 

The nickel frets on this strat have become very worn down, making it difficult to play. And because replacing a neck is only slightly more costly than replacing the frets on an existing neck, I thought to just buy a new guitar neck.

 

And I did. I ordered a custom neck with every refinement I'd want, which is the one in the picture that's to the left of the guitar. But the maple neck I received is too bright-sounding for my taste, and a lot brighter than the original neck... so I've ended up doing what was my alternative option anyway, which was getting a fret-dress for the original neck.

 

A fret-dressing means to shave down all frets until there are no more worn indents, and all the frets are levelled and polished, and even, all the way down the neck.

 

I also applied copper shielding to most of the body cavity-space, but I ran out of material to finish the top two pickup cavities. The copper shielding prevents the pickups and wiring from picking up excess noise, and sending it through the amp, and out the speakers.

 

 

 

 

There's a pic of the guitar with the custom neck installed. Very little of the original guitar is included in that customization.. just the main body wood, the bridge and tremolo system, the input jack, and some of its wiring.

 

I'm going to play the guitar with that new neck for a (likely very short) bit. But, ultimately, I'm going to sell that neck and put the original one back on, and get a few more years out of the levelled frets before replacing them all (the top 6 have been replaced before).

 

But even with the original neck fret-dressed, I'll still not be entirely satisfied with how it feels, and I think I'll shave down the neck thickness some, and apply a different finish to the back of it.

 

 

 

C~ Soundscapes

 

New track: You're My Natural Cocaine

Here it is, and there it is:

C~ Soundscapes

 

That next track that is definitely coming sometime soonish (and some photos)

Yeah, I think it takes me too long between releasing tracks, too. But I have a really good one on the way, with Will Jones again working out some drumming for it this week. This is the track that I previously mentioned, while also saying that I put a hold on working on it. It's coming.


In the meanwhile, here are some scenic photos I've recently taken in areas outside the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada. If you're from there, you can see if you know what all the different cities and areas are that are visible in these first ones.

 

 

 

 

 

C~ Soundscapes