CEB

Back in the day the cash was okay. But lack of medical and other benefits kicked my ass when I came down with Mono when on the road. The pension, 401k and good medical benefits mean a lot. Apparently the cash is worse now.

It’s a plywood body. Is it heavy? Some of those are pretty heavy. Tremolo block looks thin. If it becomes a good playing guitar many guys will install heavier tremolo blocks for better sustain but that will depend on how things fit together. Looks like a great learning project guitar.

Yes. If the guitar will tune and is playable I would change the entire harness. It's relatively inexpensive for someone with your electronics skills. New pickups can get pricey depending on what you want. But wire, a decent switch, CTS pots, and switchcraft jack will not break the bank. Strats offer some pretty cool wiring schemes. Personally I'm a fan of either the standard 5-way scheme or the Memphis Wiring Scheme.

If I buy a new guitar I better not get it in an unopened box. That s*** needs to be setup. Even then getting my Acoustic stuff right is often a process. Unopened box is cool for keyboards but, guitars are a no. But that is just me.

Could be really cool guitar. Do you have a hard budget limit and are you a player??? I guess my point is ... I would probably buy a decent set of bridge saddles. Then clean the whole guitar up, especially the neck, fretboard and frets. Change strings and intonate and set the action and see where you are. I would hesitate to change out the whole bridge (especially at first) because you never know what you will run into with the lower budget Asian guitars. You may be lucky if replacement bridge fits. It's good if you have guitar experience so you can easily tell where you are at and what needs to be done and what will work. Be very careful when choosing replacement tuners. Same problem, replacement parts may not fit. The holes may be too big for what you buy. You can make holes bigger but making holes smaller is more difficult. If you have no real budget limits and its a labour of love. Then with enough time and money you can make practically anything eventually work well. It will be a money pit and you won't get you money back out of it but if you are going to play it it doesn't matter. My number one guitar for about 25 years was a early 90s Mexican Standard Tele with microphonic bridge pickup I paid $225 for. Over the years I put well over $1000 in parts in it. B and G benders, several different pickups, replacement hardware etc... I will never get that money back. I don't care. That was my guitar. If if wasn't so heavy it would still be my #1. Be careful on tuner selection and do the work yourself, you are a very smart guy. If you can repair digital electronics you can learn basic guitar repair. It will be fun.

The PC4 is basically just piano here. I’m using a single Quick Access bank. Three pianos one EP one Clav and a string program I use for a Gary Moore tune. It’s only 28 pounds My piano has to be on bottom because I need it where the keybed is even with the bottom of my forearms while parallel to the floor with the elbows at 90 degree angle when seated. I found only one stand that lets me do this

This is my “I’m retired from gigging but playing some summer Blues jobs. This is first time I have taken the Kurzweil to a job. Nothing fancy.

XB-2 is fine. It has balls. I still have one that I used for years. I wouldn’t spend much money on one. If you find one you may be on borrowed time. Not sure what to do with mine. It’s Anvil case is worth more than the organ. 1) The chip set can’t be replaced if one fails. 2) The keys are held into to the action with two little plastic teeth that wears down or break. I have had to replace several black keys. Last time I did this I was able to get them through Bill Brown. The shipping from Addison was ridiculous. Shipping cost more than the keys. Not sure if you can still get replacement keys or not. Never used a Vent with it. Always used real cabs until 2015.

Thanks. I've bought a lot of K&M stuff from Thomann and never paid any tariffs. I didn't know about the $800 threshold. I learned something today! Thanks again!

First thing I think of when you say Sam Ash is ... they bought out Thoroughbred Music in Tampa. I did a lot of business with them. They custom cut a lot of my cases. I still use an Armadillo Anvil style rack in my keyboard gig. I miss Thoroughbred Music.

1) Pre-1998 Ensoniq. Great tech in good products that working players could better afford. That was a great company. 2) The Yamaha S-90 series.

Not sure if anyone wants to talk shop or not … How do we approach using Verb? My perspective is one of a live performer. My gigs are often open air or larger halls. In studio I just did what I was told. I think as keyboardist we may be able to get away with more verb because we play a lot of pads. But I posted on another thread “Reverb should be felt and not heard”. That post was given without context and probably made no sense. I can’t play without any verb. It feels too raw. I use just enough that it feels okay. I usually use Overb with a wet:dry ratio of around 9:91 to 12:88. IEMs vs wedges has an impact on how much I use. I hear younger guitarist use beautiful digital reverbs. They sound great alone but I think the tone washes out in a mix. I tell them dry has more balls. There are exceptions but to a large degree I approach synth leads the way I approach guitar. Most Roland and Yamaha presets are useless to me without stripping out effects. Hell I don’t know anything but I bet the forum has a lot of wisdom to share. Have a great week.

Duplicated some how

From a pure keyboardist perspective: Verb should be felt but not heard.

I play Modern Pop and I use a lot of ‘synths’. Well actually ‘VST engines’ which is what I consider the Korg engines. VST apps ran on a Linux workstation. I could carry 3-4 synths to do the gig but using a Kronos and Roland workstation is a lot more convenient. If I was smart I would have went software back in 2013.

McDuff was always my favorite.

The Matrix Brute I always thought would be a killer synth centerpiece for someone into Eurorack stuff.

Gilmour’s solo on Another Brick in the wall is often mistaken as a Strat. He played it on a 1955 Gold Top.

The boutique I have is the D-05. It’s is pretty much a D-50 with 16 voice polyphony … I don’t how difficult that would be for pianos though. I never thought about the polyphony issues.

I use the original Mini Vent for Organ with the remote mod installed by Bruce. I hope to never replace it… knock on wood. It’s mounted in the back of my rack. It kept coming loose in transit. I told my tech that I don’t want it to come loose ever again It could flop around and break other stuff in the rack. Mark said “Okay!” He fixed it. It is permanently mounted down with steel straps held by rivets. God willing it isn’t going anywhere. 😀

The greatest Strat sound in history was a Les Paul. 😀

I want a simple thing. Roland Boutique format release housing their classic and Supernatural pianos and EPS and clavs. I’d buy one for my S90XS.

The information access that is available today as opposed to 1975 helps a hell of a lot though.

The power of the Rev2 is the modulation matrix. I don't mind DCOs. DCOs require less maintenance. I have vintage synths in the herd right now that are not really usable on the job. Sometimes if you change the pitch range on a vintage analog that is in tune it will go badly out of tune if the oscillators need recalibrated. The Rev2 has the slop knob to mimic old VCO squirreliness. Just a little bit is okay I guess but I'm not personally a fan of the slop knob. I don't think DCO vs VCO is a big deal either way in a live in a crowded mix but that is just me. But I must admit ... shredding a Memorymoog with the 18 vintage oscillators in unison mode is glorious.... if it is well maintained and in decent calibration. And an added plus is those 18 oscillators will heat your house in the winter. You already own a Jupiter X. That may be my favorite current VA but I grew up with Roland synth slider interfaces.

FWIW I think the Korg VA engines are easier to program than VAST but that is probably because that is what I'm used to.