BoomMF

Being a fucking moron is apparently a badge of honor down on the bayou.

Marshall is in such a weird place right now. The top brass has cleaned house and much of the talent that created Marshall's winners over the past decade are now gone, including the aforementioned Steve Dawson. There is considerable scuttlebutt that Marshall has no plans to reissue any of their 100W catalog and there are currently no new designs on the launchpad. Origin may represent the the new era of wholly new yet tonally derivative low-wattage amps. Gone is the handwired line. The Custom Shop, small that it was, is shuttered. We might not see a new amp launch for at least a few years, including, and perhaps especially, reissues. Maybe longer. The Astoria seems to mark the end of the Jim Marshall era proper. If so, it went out with a bang... and a whimper. Astoria was the last project he greenlit, the last project to get his complete support, the last project to be given carte blanche, but a project that didn't become fully realized until after his death. That's important because some of the late decisions, were made by accountants, which would not have happened with regards to the Astoria project had Jim been alive. Luckily, Astoria was too far along for the accountants to dramatically affect the line and in its final form Astoria retains most of the high end design, materials, and build as was originally intended. The marketing, probably the aspect most responsible for the line's failure, was all handled post-JM. He would not have allowed that to happen the way it did. These next few years are going to be interesting as we see how the new post-JM Marshall leadership position themselves in the marketplace. The early returns look like a dramatically different company. That said, the Origin line looks like a winner, top to bottom. There have been many complaints of knob crackle and distortion, which seem to imply a lower QC commitment, but it's still early and the Origin line have been selling briskly.

My dad came over and I finally convinced him to try the Oculus. Video games are from another planet as far he's concerned. I'm thinking video games was how I chose to rebel, but that's a conversation for my therapist. He's an avid hunter and plenty comfortable around guns so I fired up Gun Club VR for him. He played for 2 hours straight and refused to answer the phone when my mom called wondering where he was.

I do not remember the Rossington Collins Band, but in my defense I am a racial minority.

Word. The Custom I've played had vinyl shims to kill the grill vibration. Do they all have those?

Sorry for partying. Just bustin' your balls. If it wasn't for you I'd still probably not know that those aren't silverface reissues and probably wouldn't have investigated to learn otherwise. I'm talking to my dude at Sweetwater about a Custom Deluxe demo they have. I'm so close to pulling the trigger I can already feel the wife's exasperation. (But I just picked up an Astoria enclosure to match the Custom head, so I probably need to chill for a bit.)

Fucking hell. I've lived my whole life thinking he bit it with Ronnie in that crash. Lol Ronnie's wearing a Neil Young shirt at that show. Sly devil.

This. Cuts way down the fuckery you must endure as an owner of vintage gear. And you get 99% of the performance and 500% of the reliability. If you MUST get something P2P/turret-based check out Alessandro. His handwired retro'd Fender Reissues are the closest thing we have to a time machine. And he's cheaper than Fender and uses arguably better materials (arguably!). To wit: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F232806592693 That store carries all of his stocked jobs. He'll handwire any reissue, though. Check out his Deluxe Reverb. It's art. But if you want the sound without the hassle, reissue reissue reissue. Though not a reissue, the Fender Custom line with the silverface aesthetic that Deej won't shut up about are damn fantastic. Seriously, the Custom Deluxe Reverb is the best of the old and just the right amount of the new. I'm probably not the best to give a reasoned even argument though. My list of preferred amp types are as follows: 1. New handwired 2. PCB 3. No amp at all 4. 60 year old electronics Vintage amps wouldn't even be a thing today if SRV wasn't a complete unmitigated badass. And his amps were pretty damn far from stock vintage!

The Chewbaca Relic Defense.

Weird for a guy to support institutional rape coverup and be a bible-thumping Christian.

I just watched that today too. Collins goes bonkers. And in 3 months he'll be dead. Such a damn shame.

Y'all some nerds.

I think someone says it, then someone cites what was said, and we let the Woozle effect take it from there. Do you even internet, bro?

i've been collecting MP3's since I had dial-up and Napster (Napigator for life!) and well before this $.05/GB prices for mechanicals, so I started my whole home system with MP3s. As space no longer became an issue (I currently have a redundant 16TB NAS serving up movies and music) I wish I had been more choosy with my file formats. Now that I've transitioned to hi-res audio for the essentials and quite a few non-essentials I look at my voluminous collection of 128kbps and, cringe, below, and wonder what might have been. In my defense, though, those early dial-up lines were the pits and even a well seeded MP3 could take half a day! A poorly supported MP3, like the infamous Egypt Egypt Download of 1999, could take weeks. Now I'm laying CAT6 throughout the house and installing Popcorn Hour media players all over the place to stream content to anywhere I have a fancy. Works very well, even the hi-res stuff. The Popcorn Hour A-500, for example, is damn near bullet proof for off-the-wall Asian CODECs, because sometimes I get a sweet tooth for funky anime. @jimmyjazz I'll have to check that out. Always in the market for new sounds, and even though your ear doesn't seem that well tuned for overwrought 80s solid state hero guitar, your tastes otherwise are unimpeachable.

Mine is Mile Davis Kind of Blue. I know that album like I know myself. I have it in multiple versions in many forms - From SACD to MFSL LP to cassette and of course FLAC and DSD for portability. When I want to audition a system or new component, that's what I fire up. As a dynamic recording, there are parts that will expose lesser quality playback devices easily enough, though not as easily as other recordings. I'm just really familiar with it, so I know what to expect and it sticks out like a sore thumb when it's not there or otherwise altered. What are your favorite recordings for testing out gear or environments?

The movie/music room is almost done. All the LPs, CDs, SACDs, and Laserdiscs are on their shelves, none of which are organized. (The Blu-ray/DVD wall is behind the seating and not pictured. And also not organized. Zzzz) Many of the LPs are sleeved, the rest of the sleeves are waiting for one of the kids to need a chore. Out of necessity, this room is on the second floor. I'm rethinking the safety of that decision.

I watched a Gibson artist lay a sunburst, like watched it happen right in front of me, and I still don't know how they do it.

Airbrushing outside is asking for pain. I used a homemade hood like this: https://makezine.com/2015/08/08/build-an-easy-and-cheap-tabletop-spray-booth/ Cheap to make and works really well.

Have you tried Iwata airbrushes and compressor by chance? When I started airbrushing it was with a cheap kit off eBay. The performance wasn't consistent and created as many do-overs and it did marginal successes. Moving to a quality airbrush, even an entry level Iwata, like an Eclipse, immediately made a difference. Less flow issues and better control. You can make a cheap compressor do good work so long as it's stable and can manage the condensate. /endderail

This is the lowest I've seen in 3 years for this set. And he might even take less. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F283043331620 Live your best life.

Well, hello there. Team anything but Fender's prehistoric trem system. I don't even like looking at the bent or stamped steel saddles the base model comes with. At least give me the Deluxe saddles to church up the trem system I will never use.

Word. Well, I have no idea who those dudes are, but Iknowwhatyoumean.

Salieri from Amadeus.

Aw man, it didn't even get going yet! As a technical manifesto (it was for a lecture at Musicians Institute), that version of Purple Rain covers just about everything humans have accomplished on guitar up to that point. State of the art kinda stuff. I'm not a big Petrucci fan, can't listen to Dream Theater for too long before I get fatigued, but I appreciate what that dude is able to do with his fingers. I could watch it just for that, damn the music. He has a Charlie Parker level of precision and accuracy. I know perfection often feels antiseptic and too clean, like a hospital, and this reaches those levels at times, but man, that version of Purple Rain belongs on the Voyager so aliens know not to fuck with us. And Jimmy, that tone seemed to perfectly pay homage given the context of the song. Did it need more chorus? lewl But a context-be-damned cover can be pretty fun too: TLDR: I will pay real money if anyone can find me tabs of Petrucci's Purple Rain.

If you're down with The Floyd, and it appears you are, check out Roger Waters The Wall (2014) to stretch the legs on your home theater. It contains, dare I say, my favorite version of Comfortably Numb and Gilmour isn't even on the track! I know, I know, I'm not happy with myself either. But if you want a concert of kick ass music recorded with 5.1 in mind, it's the shit. Crank it!