Apis Mellifera
Apis Mellifera Dork
8/8/24 8:53 p.m.

I have bought my last guitar for the last time. 

It's a Martin HD28 and a 30 year dream come true. 

11GTCS
11GTCS SuperDork
8/8/24 10:06 p.m.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

14" Zildjian New Beats are the standard that every other hi hat cymbal is measured by without question.   

The set I played (college, the school's set) had a pair of 14" New Beats, an 18" crash, an 18" medium crash and a 22" medium ride.  All were open logo A Zildjians and each one was legit but the 22" ride was special.  

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito UltimaDork
8/9/24 8:46 a.m.

In reply to 11GTCS :

Yup... we had all A Zildjian stuff in school growing up. They work well for just about everything. My love for them probably came from playing them growing up. 

Funny thing: Zildjian is headquartered in the town next to my hometown, and many of the Zildjian kids actually grew up in my hometown. My dad grew up with one of the kids in the 60's; they lived right down the street from where my grandparents lived. I remember trying to get a job there or an amateur sponsorship when I was in my band; it was tougher to get in there than Fort Knox! Closest I got was getting a big bag of merch and sticks from a coworker of my mom's that moonlighted over there. That was pretty great, and I still have some of that stuff. 

One of my regular customers when I was slinging auto parts in college worked as a cymbal smith in the foundry. He told me that was not a glamorous job and his back always hurt, but he enjoyed making cool one-off experimental cymbals when he could. 

Sabian also had a big North American distribution center a few towns away as well. Not sure if it's still there, but when I was a gigging drummer, the guy at my local shop would make weekly visits there to grab inventory, and he snagged a few cymbals directly from them for me back in the day. It was cool to know someone with that access. 

11GTCS
11GTCS SuperDork
8/9/24 9:53 a.m.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

LOL, I grew up in Norwell and my Mom worked at Zildjian for 10 years as the admin for the VP of North American sales.  Got some cool concert tickets over the years when an endorser's band was playing in town.  Best thing ever was working there the summer between my junior and senior years of college for the plant engineer.  I got involved in a lot of things out in the plant and generally had a blast at work most days. (Thanks Mom!)   I had brought home a practice drum set and the cymbals from school for the summer, I cleaned them all up and had the guys put new logos on before I went back to school.  The crews that worked the annealing furnaces and rolling mills really earned their paychecks in the summer, they'd start at 4:00 AM in the summer months to try and beat some of the heat.   

I was there in the early 80's when the family "divorce" between Armand Zildjian and Robert Zildjian was ongoing; that's when Sabian started in the old K Zildjian factory in Meductic Canada.  The legal agreement was that while Robert couldn't use the family name he could make cymbals.  The "SAB" in Sabian are for Sally, Andy and Bob his children.  They're still running Sabian today. 

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito UltimaDork
8/9/24 10:58 a.m.

In reply to 11GTCS :

Small world! I would've loved to get in over there. That's awesome!

The family split is pretty wild. I guess they couldn't sell Sabians in the US for a year after the split. The funny part is that for some reason, even though it's nearly the same formula and made by the same family, I've had vastly better luck with the durability of Zildjians than with Sabians. I don't get it, but I can't deny it. Every Sabian I currently own, save for my hi-hats, has cracked. I don't think I have ever cracked a Zildjian. 

barefootcyborg5000
barefootcyborg5000 UltimaDork
8/9/24 11:30 a.m.

There's someone selling a JCM2000 half stack locally for a great price. I can't buy it, because my house is going to be finished this month, and I have no reasonable justification, and I don't need 100w at home, but dammit if I can't stop thinking about just how mad could she possibly get?

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito UltimaDork
8/9/24 1:12 p.m.

Back to guitars...

That green Sonic Esquire I got a few weeks ago did something odd. I picked it up to noodle around last night, and I noticed it was completely out of tune. I started tuning it, and the A string was basically resting on the frets. The action was low before, but not like this. It's been sitting in an air-conditioned room on a stand. I've never had anything like that happen before. Guess I'll have to do a setup on it, which is annoying, because it played so well when I brought it home. I hope I didn't buy a dud. 

barefootcyborg5000
barefootcyborg5000 UltimaDork
8/12/24 11:51 p.m.

Just pulled the trigger on replacement/upgrade parts for the oddball bridge on the spotlight. I've never bought anything in Euros before. Plus also, it'll be fun to see how long international shipping takes. The guitar is so neat, it deserves to be restored to full function. Just look at the headstock. 

mtn
mtn MegaDork
8/13/24 12:07 a.m.

In reply to Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ :

I use a dining room chair, armless, probably 60% of the time. 35% of the time over the past 2 years or so, since kiddo has been more or less independent in the bathtub, I play a sitting on the toilet with the lid down. It lets me play, make sure kiddo doesn't drown while she's playing in the tub, and hopefully expose her to some music. 

barefootcyborg5000
barefootcyborg5000 UltimaDork
8/13/24 12:43 a.m.

In reply to mtn :

Plus, playing on the throne doubles as a humidifier. Also good parenting. Win-win

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
8/13/24 7:06 a.m.
barefootcyborg5000 said:

There's someone selling a JCM2000 half stack locally for a great price. I can't buy it, because my house is going to be finished this month, and I have no reasonable justification, and I don't need 100w at home, but dammit if I can't stop thinking about just how mad could she possibly get?

Careful... it's amazing how 100W heads can muliply if you aren't careful and the next thing you know you have a half-dozen of them and start shopping for load boxes and amp switchers... 

I saw a really sweet setup on a FB group the other day.  3 x 18 space rack with amp shelves above it.  Definitely has me thinking... 

Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ
Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ MegaDork
8/13/24 8:00 a.m.

Going to visit family this weekend. Want to be able to bring the bass along and get some practice in. Trying to decide best option.

I could drag along my 25 Watt Amp... it's bulky, but not overly heavy. Feels like overkill though.

Leaning towards getting either a headphone amp like this NUX MP-2.

Thoughts? Experiences? Advice?

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito UltimaDork
8/13/24 8:15 a.m.

In reply to Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ :

For a travel setup, I'd probably go with the headphone amp or something like the iRig. That way, it's less to carry since it fits in your case and if you are just playing for yourself, it's less noisy to others. 

Recon1342
Recon1342 UltraDork
8/13/24 8:25 a.m.

In reply to Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ :

Get the Vox headphone amp. They are like, $50 and sound great.

Vox Amplug

Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ
Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ MegaDork
8/13/24 9:01 a.m.

In reply to Recon1342 :

The Vox is also on my radar, and Amazon has them for like $37 right now. The advantage of the NUX is it will stream bluetooth in, so I can listen to backing music or online lessons while I practice.

Weighing if that feature is worth the extra $40 though.

barefootcyborg5000
barefootcyborg5000 UltimaDork
8/13/24 9:17 a.m.
Recon1342 said:

In reply to Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ :

Get the Vox headphone amp. They are like, $50 and sound great.

Vox Amplug

This. I have one. It is awesome. 

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
8/13/24 10:33 a.m.

I have a Boss Waza Air headphone amp I bought for hotel room practice.  Not cheap, but works well and the headphones do a good job of blocking outside noise, which is nice. 

mtn
mtn MegaDork
8/13/24 4:05 p.m.

I would expand my budget and find a u-bass/Uke bass/Bass ukulele. 
 

Remember, other gear is great but another guitar is always the best choice. 

Antihero
Antihero PowerDork
8/13/24 5:49 p.m.

In reply to mtn :

U-basses are awesome!

wearymicrobe
wearymicrobe PowerDork
8/13/24 5:55 p.m.

Ten years with this one as my primary for recording and playing backup gigs. Took almost a year to make, koa was a fallen tree pulled from the waimea by hand. Abalone and ebony that I legally harvested from a 1870's piano. Intonated and setup for finger-picking and very modern bracing on the inside. 

 

Went UV finish on this one over french polish because it actually survives. 

 

Antihero
Antihero PowerDork
8/13/24 9:54 p.m.
wearymicrobe said:

Ten years with this one as my primary for recording and playing backup gigs. Took almost a year to make, koa was a fallen tree pulled from the waimea by hand. Abalone and ebony that I legally harvested from a 1870's piano. Intonated and setup for finger-picking and very modern bracing on the inside. 

 

Went UV finish on this one over french polish because it actually survives. 

 

That's awesome!!!!

Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ
Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ MegaDork
8/14/24 10:15 a.m.
mtn said:

I would expand my budget and find a u-bass/Uke bass/Bass ukulele. 
 

Remember, other gear is great but another guitar is always the best choice. 

...dammit. Those are really cool...

Recon1342
Recon1342 UltraDork
8/14/24 1:07 p.m.
Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ said:
mtn said:

I would expand my budget and find a u-bass/Uke bass/Bass ukulele. 
 

Remember, other gear is great but another guitar is always the best choice. 

...dammit. Those are really cool...

Yeah, they are. I have a Kala U-Bass, and it is a riot. I also have a headphone amp, so...

Antihero
Antihero PowerDork
8/14/24 1:43 p.m.
Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ said:
mtn said:

I would expand my budget and find a u-bass/Uke bass/Bass ukulele. 
 

Remember, other gear is great but another guitar is always the best choice. 

...dammit. Those are really cool...

I got my dad an off brand one and a headphone amp when he was in the hospital.

 

It very much sounds like an upright bass and awesome 

Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ
Beer Baron ๐Ÿบ MegaDork
8/14/24 1:45 p.m.

In reply to Antihero :

Rubber strings or metal?

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
5C7U7TrRkMoNYW22TrZ5VedFwxkDm90gh3BfW9JgtVLbYeO6cImVTrVFNZ78YvWE